Growing a church can feel like solving a mysterious puzzle—complex, layered, and sometimes baffling. After more than 20 years of founding and pastoring Oasis Church in Arlington, Texas, with my wife Karen, we found ourselves in that very place. We were exhausted. Discouraged. Despite doing many things “right,” we simply could not break the 200-member mark.
We had great children’s and youth ministry, inspiring worship, solid pulpit teaching, and truly friendly people. Yet the growth we prayed for never seemed to materialize. After two decades of pouring our hearts into Oasis, we wondered if our season was ending. It felt like defeat was knocking at the door.
Just as I was ready to throw in the towel, God placed two key things into my life—keys that became a turning point of hope.
A Book with an Unusual Title
First, the Church Growth Magazine publisher handed me a book with a simple yet intriguing title: XLR8.
Second, the author wasn’t a stranger to me. I’ve known Michael Murphy for over 30 years. He is now the Managing Editor of CGM but I had known him as part of Christian Men’s Network.
Michael now leads a coaching organization called Leaderscape. His credibility and history gave immediate weight to the book I was about to read.
I didn’t just read it—I devoured the book. Though XLR8 is easy to read, it is absolutely packed with insight—insight that fundamentally shifted how I viewed church development.
Then Karen got her own copy and devoured it. We underlined and highlighted and compared notes and discussed.
Finally—A System That Makes Ministry Work Together
Despite having a Master’s in Theology and reading countless books on ministry and leadership over decades of determined study, I had never encountered a book that explained church development and integration the way XLR8 does.
Michael Murphy and his coaching team helped me see how every ministry element—children’s, worship, teaching, small groups, guest follow-up—can work together as a unified system.
Instead of isolated moving parts, Karen and I saw how to create a clear, closed-loop system that feeds people’s needs, serves first-time guests effectively, and allows us to pinpoint weak areas to fine-tune them.
Our church has always been vibrant, but no seminar, lecture, book, or church growth training had ever shown us how to turn that vibrancy into an intentional, measurable, and scalable process.
The Results: A Healthy Church That is Growing Again
Since implementing the XLR8 principles, Oasis Church has seen a significant rise in first-time visitors—and we are now assimilating 40–50% of first-time guests into the life of the church.
Internally, everyone is aligned:
- our pastoral staff
- ministry leaders
- small groups
- volunteer teams
We are operating like a well-oiled, unified system—using what we were already doing without additional work, but improving it, clarifying it, and integrating it in a way that produces real, sustainable results.
And the results are powerful. More lives receiving Christ’s love. More people healed. More families restored and blessed. More believers mobilized to impact the community.
I cannot recommend this book strongly enough. Get it for yourself. Then have your staff, team, leaders, volunteers, and teachers read it—and discuss together how you can take your church to the next level.
For us, XLR8 has been a Godsend. We are encouraged and full of hope again.
The book is insightful for leaders who want to reach more people for Christ and make more disciples. If that’s you, I believe it won’t sit on a nightstand or desk. And you probably won’t put it down until you finish. It’s that readable. And it’s that helpful.
