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Start With A Yes

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“Leaders are visionaries with a poorly developed sense of fear and no concept of the odds against them.” (Robert Jarvik)

Today I want you to think like a comedian and grab the microphone. The most basic rule and premise of creating comedy (which makes for strong leadership skills) is agreement. Radical agreement.

When you're improvising on the fly, this means you are required to agree with whatever your partner has created and thrown out there. Always agree with a Yes.

When two performers agree in the moment, the scene moves forward. To create a Holy Shift, your default must be to start with a Yes.

When you start with a Yes, you will generate ideas faster and more efficiently. Yes-thinking helps you pivot out of tight and uncomfortable spaces at church by creating agreement and a shared path forward.

“No” grinds invention, innovation, and forward-movement to a screeching halt. Pressing into the Yes reminds you to respect what your partner has created and to start from an open-minded place. The fun is found on the other side of Yes.

I am the founding pastor of Life Church Michigan which serves the Great Lakes Bay Region of the High Five State. Launched on St. Patrick’s Day in 2013, we are one church in two locations growing faster than water on mogwai. I get asked all the time why our church is growing so fast when we started with absolutely no people and no money. The answer is simple: I believe deep down in my core that Christ followers are given the mission by God to reach the lost at any cost.

Because of that passion, I am willing to do whatever it takes to reach people who normally will not darken a church door. As goes the leader, so goes the church. If you want your people to be fired up about reaching out and making heaven crowded, look in the mirror, because it starts with you!

Midland Comic-Con Craze

Comic Con Craze: Midland Mall hosts largest Comic Con yet, drawing an estimated 9,000 to 10,000

5th annual event took place March 7-9

By Max Milne,Community News Editor

Parking lots surrounding Midland Mall were packed over the weekend as cosplayers, creators, and collectors from all walks of life gathered for the fifth annual Midland Mall Comic Con, held March 7-9.

With the addition of a third day this year, Midland Mall declared 2025 the largest Comic Con it has hosted so far.

"I’m happy for the big turnout of Comic Con this year," said mall owner Jordan Dice, who estimated a total of 9,000 to 10,000 attendees over the three days. "It was a lot for the mall to take on internally, but as a team we did it, putting on the largest Comic Con event that has happened here.” 

In a social media post on Saturday, the mall said, "We NEED a bigger parking lot."

"We had people parking in the Meijer lot and walking over (on Saturday)," said Beccah Billmeier, operations manager for Midland Mall. "We estimate that we had over 7,000 people just through (Saturday)."

This year marks the first year that Midland Mall itself has organized Comic Con, after deciding to part ways with the former organizers. The mall received help from 35 volunteers through Life Church in Saginaw. Life Church Pastor and founding member of the Midland Mall Comic Con, Jonathan Herron, led the event volunteers.

"Because the event has grown so much, you need a solid team of volunteers," Herron said. "Back in 2020, when we started (Comic Con), we only needed a handful of volunteers - now we have people handling crowd control, helping with contests and activities." 

Although the mall was equipped to handle security, Billmeier stated no incidents had been reported as of Saturday night. She believes security was not an issue in part due to the event schedule the mall had in place.

"There was so much going on that people didn't have time to be bored," she said. 

In addition to more than 130 vendors, visitors could participate in or watch multiple cosplay contests, gaming tournaments, and other activities throughout the weekend. Vacant store spaces, including the BatCave and the old Men's Warehouse store, were opened to accommodate more vendors.

Stores throughout the mall, as well as food court tenants, reported record sales on Saturday. Some event vendors even sold out of products.

"I am so happy that Sarah (Thomas, Midland Mall event coordinator) invited me this year," said vendor Heidi Abbey, owner of Simple Treasures Handmade Crafts. "I've done the Midland Antique Festival for about 10 years now, but this is my first time doing Comic Con. I'm doing really well and meeting and making a lot of new friends with the other vendors and customers."

Other businesses, like Kakes the Great Popcorn Co. — another first-time vendor — were embracing the Comic Con culture.

"We're sort of new to the area and very new to (Comic Con)," said Kaylynn Martin, owner of Kakes. "It's a great treat to take pictures of the people all dressed up that walk by."

Cosplayers had plenty of photo opportunities and contests to participate in at Comic Con. There was a Kids Cosplay Contest on Friday, a Fursuit Contest on Saturday, and Individual and Group Cosplay Contests as well as Cosplay Parades on both Saturday and Sunday.

Additionally, cosplay panels were held on Saturday, including Ladies of Cosplay and The World of Competitive Cosplay.

"A lot of people said they didn't know what to expect - being that we are a mall - but that they were blown away and are already excited for next year," Billmeier said. "We didn't quite know what to expect because this year is our first year taking it over, but it has surpassed all of our expectations and then some."

The Midland Mall intends to make the Comic Con bigger and better next year, but has not yet announced the dates.

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Life Church hosts Midland Comic-Con this March

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Here’s something you don’t hear everyday: a church hosting a comic-con! Turns out the event we founded in 2020 has grown to become the state’s largest free comic-con. We’re proud to be part of this event and can’t wait to see it all unfold this March…

Midland Mall Comic Con Adds Kids' Night, Expands Cosplay Events

Originally published in the Midland Daily News on February 3, 2025.

Article by Dominic Sevilla.

Pick up your cape from the dry cleaners, start preparing your cosplays, and get your Pokemon cards ready to trade at the March 7-9 Midland Mall Comic-Con.

Midland Mall Event Coordinator Sarah Thomas is looking forward to this year’s event.

"One of the things we really wanted to concentrate on this year was making it a real Comic-Con," Thomas said. "So when you walk in, you see everything you would see at a Comic-Con—comic collectors, toy collectors, cosplay accessories. You name it, we've got it this year."

The Midland Mall Comic-Con is now being run directly by mall staff, with volunteers and event staff provided by Life Church Midland after a change in event organization in 2024. 

Life Church Lead Pastor Jonathan Herron and Thomas said the emphasis this year is on being a family-friendly event, with the introduction of Kids' Night on Friday, March 7.

"What I'm really looking forward to is Kids' Night on Friday," Herron said. "We have a lot of local businesses coming together to provide a free, fun, family event with contests, games, inflatables, lightsaber-making, and all kinds of stuff."

"The other thing we really concentrated on this year was making it family-friendly," Thomas said. "I have four children, and everywhere we go, it is ridiculously expensive. One thing we really wanted to do was make it so families could come in, not pay a ridiculous amount, and have a good time. This year, we put a lot of emphasis on Kids' Night, and there are tons of businesses that stepped up to do activities for kids for free."

Families and kids can expect to see the following at Kids' Night:

  • Wand making

  • Face painting

  • Lightsaber making

  • Free Pokémon cards

  • Make-a-superhero-mask station

  • Make-a-superhero-cape station

  • Temporary tattoos


Additionally, there will be a free show on Saturday for kids on the main stage, presented by Neverland Entertainment, along with a free kids' cosplay contest to help introduce them to the world of cosplay.

Speaking of cosplay, Thomas and Herron said they hope to make this event feel like a full Comic-Con experience by offering different cosplay contests, cosplay vendors, and more.

"There are five cosplay contests over the course of the weekend," Herron said. "It's really exciting that we've been able to expand to categories like group, furry, and things like that."

Other vendors will be on-site selling items, such as:

  • Chainwear

  • Furry costumes and accessories

  • Jewelry

  • 3D toys/gadgets, dice towers, helmets, and resin figures

  • Original work from artists and authors

  • Cosplay designs

  • Lego

  • Tabletop games

  • Pokémon, Tamagotchi, Splatoon, and Ghibli items

  • Handmade horror, paranormal, true crime, and pop culture vinyl decal stickers

  • Potion bottles themed around Harry Potter and Greek gods and goddesses

  • Pins, stickers, and posters

  • Hand-painted dragons

  • Plushies

  • Oddities

  • Knives and swords

  • Anime merch

"I'm a voracious collector of Funko Pops," Herron said. "I'm definitely in the community of loving pop culture. What I think it means to us (at Life Church) is that we get to serve with no agenda. That's been our heartbeat the whole time. It helps that I'm a bit of a nerd myself, and my son is excited about Pokémon cards being exchanged. It's kind of bringing all of these passions together."

More information and a full schedule can be found on the Midland Mall Comic Con Facebook page.

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One Way Missionaries

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“The spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions. The nearer we get to Him, the more intensely missionary we become.” — Henry Martyn, missionary to India and Persia.

There was an era of missionary zeal around the turn of the 19th century that bred a group who became known as One-Way Missionaries. When they departed for the mission field, they packed all of their belongings into a coffin and bought one-way tickets because they knew they’d never return home.

A.W. Milne was one of those missionaries. He felt called to a tribe of headhunters in the New Hebrides. All the other missionaries to this tribe had been martyred, but Milne didn’t shrink back into safe Christianity.

Milne did not fear for his life because he had already died to himself.

His coffin was packed.

He served in the New Hebrides for more than fifty years. The tribe buried him and wrote the following words on his tombstone:

“When he came there was no light. When he left there was no darkness.”

What an incredible inscription of someone’s life.

Imagine what the church would look like today if every single follower of Christ exhausted their lives to reach more people far from God.

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CUT THE CHEESE: 3 STEPS TOWARD CREATING A NON-CHEESY RADIO SPOT FOR YOUR CHURCH

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I’m a big believer in leveraging all media by all means to reach all people for the gospel. There’s just one thing that drives me crazy… Cheesy Christian Media.

Let’s be honest: if Christians excel in one area of media, it’s the cheese. We try to clumsily lump theological doctrine into 30 second church ads thinking that the goal is information-transfer.

Nope, sorry.

Effective advertising is more about connecting emotionally and relationally.
If you can touch the heart (or funny bone), you earn permission to invite people into your story.

 

First, here’s a recent spot:

Three steps we’ve learned in cutting the cheese:

1) KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE! 

This radio spot is not designed for deeply theological, life-long Christians.  In fact, I’ve already taken heat from over-saved Christians on the internet.  And I don’t care, because I’m not called to make men happy but instead to obey the Lord.

The message in this radio spot is aimed toward people who wouldn’t normally darken a church door.  When you know exactly who you are communicating to, it won’t bother you when the rocks come flying from outsiders.

2) CONSISTENCY BREEDS TRUST! 

When I lived in north-east Ohio, I was impressed by the media strategy of Knute Larson, a now-retired pastor of The Chapel. Over the course of many years, by consistently lending his own voice and personality to church radio and tv ads, people throughout the region began to trust Knute. Even people who never attended church began to naturally think of Knute as “their pastor.”

If they ever encountered a crisis in their lives, they knew Knute Larson and The Chapel were a safe place to go to for help. That’s my heart for Life Church in the Great Lakes Bay Region.  Consistency breeds trust.

Proverbs 22 says, “A good name is more desirable than great riches.”  Life Church has a strong reputation and name recognition among unchurched Millennials and Gen Xers in our region of Michigan as a safe, non-judgemental place to ask real questions about faith.  That is important to me as our church continues moving forward.

3) EXAGGERATE THE TABOO!  

In this 2017 ad, we were told by the radio station that we couldn’t say the full title of the movie in our radio ad for legal reasons.

What could have been a hurdle was instead turned into an opportunity.  

In my improv-comedy training, I learned about the power of exaggerating the taboo. I talk more about this in my first book, Comedy-Driven Leadership: there are no mistakes, only opportunities.

In this case, we thought it would be hilarious for our 60 second radio ad for a church to have words that are being beeped out.  It would actually make the radio spot more interesting, like playing a little game with the audience!

The result is a fresh and fun radio spot that is gaining traction in the Great Lakes Bay Region.  More people will feel welcomed at Life Church and the story of God’s love will echo into more hearts.

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Current Stats on the Post-Pandemic Church

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While there is much yet not understood about the effects of the post-pandemic/post-Christian climate we are now experiencing, some data and research is beginning to emerge to paint a picture of today’s spiritual environment.

What follows are three important articles that church leaders should take under serious consideration when planning ahead for the future.

Losing Their Religion: Why U.S. Churches are in Decline

Churches are closing at rapid numbers in the US, researchers say, as congregations dwindle across the country and a younger generation of Americans abandon Christianity altogether – even as faith continues to dominate American politics.

As the US adjusts to an increasingly non-religious population, thousands of churches are closing each year in the country – a figure that experts believe may have accelerated since the Covid-19 pandemic.

The situation means some hard decisions for pastors, who have to decide when a dwindling congregation is no longer sustainable. But it has also created a boom market for those wanting to buy churches, with former houses of worship now finding new life.

About 4,500 Protestant churches closed in 2019, the last year data is available, with about 3,000 new churches opening, according to Lifeway Research. It was the first time the number of churches in the US hadn’t grown since the evangelical firm started studying the topic. With the pandemic speeding up a broader trend of Americans turning away from Christianity, researchers say the closures will only have accelerated.

READ FULL ARTICLE

The New Very Large Church

It’s time to rethink church size. For the purpose of this article, I define church size as average weekly worship attendance, including children and youth who may not be in the primary worship service. In other words, we count every person attending a worship weekend (or other days for a few churches).

Let’s look at the breakdown of churches by average worship attendance:

  • Under 50 in attendance: 31% of all churches

  • 51 – 99: 37%

  • 100 – 249: 24%

  • 250 and above: 8%

All of the numbers are fascinating, but the largest category should cause us to pause. Only 8 percent of churches have an attendance of 250 or more. These churches now define the category, “very large churches.”

READ FULL ARTICLE

In Church Planting, More Money Means More People

A church plant’s attendance is directly proportional to the money spent at launch and in the congregation’s first year, the research found. At churches with average attendance over 200 in the first five years, average startup costs were $100,000 and first-year costs $225,000—a total launch cost of $325,000.

Smaller churches tend to spend far less. Church plants more than two years old with less than 100 in attendance averaged $10,000 in startup costs and $60,000 in first-year costs. For churches more than two years old with between 100 and 200 in attendance, average startup costs were $84,500.

The correlation between spending and growth held over time. Growing churches continued to spend more as they continued to grow, while nongrowing spent less.

READ FULL ARTICLE

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