by David Docusen | February 22, 2013 | Uncategorized
God placed a dream in my heart six years ago. Instead of building a church building that takes revenue, what if we created a multiple use venue that was for the community and generated revenue? The idea continued to form in my heart as I discussed this with my wife, Dara. We could then turn all the profit back into the community and into overseas missions. We I started to dream. It was around that time that we met Mark Batterson, a pastor in Washington DC. We started to dream together about the possibility of taking an idea that he started in DC, Ebenezers Coffeehouse, and creating an affiliation model where we could do the same thing in Charlotte.
Fast forward six years.
After an incredibly joyful and frustrating journey, near misses on buildings and God-given miracles, we have just put a contract on a building in the heart of Uptown Charlotte. It’s a two story building that we are planning to put a
2,000+ square foot coffeehouse on the street level and a
250+ seat venue on the second level. All profit from this building will go into missions projects at home and across the world.
The journey has been formative in so many ways. Learning how to navigate God given vision, exciting developments, painful disappointments, discouraging moments and incredible generosity from many has shown us that God will take as long as he chooses to make sure that he gets all the credit in the end.
I don’t know what the days ahead include, but I have seen God’s power in the midst of all the ups and downs. We are resolved to stay on the ride, no matter what comes around the next corner.
The journey of seeing a vision come to life is never about a property or the dream itself. It’s about the glory that will be given to God when He brings it to pass and the influence that it will bring to shine the light of Christ to all that become a part of the story.
by David Docusen | February 21, 2013 | Uncategorized
Leviticus. Numbers. Exodus. All a bunch of books that most of us just don’t quite understand. Lots of rituals and requirements that we don’t get in our culture. But it was incredibly important to the people of Israel. As God demanded obedience, he required them to do things very specifically. His way and no other way. And because of this obedience, Moses was able to hear God’s voice. Watch this…
**Numbers 7:89 – Whenever Moses went into the Tabernacle to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from between the two cherubim above the Ark’s cover – the place of the atonement – that rests on the Ark of the Covenant. The Lord spoke to him from there.
The Lord spoke to him from there. The place that he built. The place that Bezalel (his construction foreman) built. The place that required exact measurements. Exact offerings. Exact precision. From all of this obedience, this was Moses’ reward. This makes for boring reading for many of us that are detached from this culture and this reality. But this obedience led to seven words that I long for desperately: the Lord spoke to him from there.
My prayer tonight is that my obedience (and yours) would lead to our ability to hear from the maker of heaven and earth. Our God. Lord, speak to us.
by David Docusen | February 6, 2013 | Uncategorized
I am so glad I’m not an Old Testament priest.
I just read the first three chapters of Leviticus (that’s our reading today in our community-wide reading plan). Their duties included killing animals, snapping the heads off of birds, delicately carving out the insides of animals, cooking (I’m a terrible cook) and top it all off with splattering blood on the altar. All of these things were representative of God using the sacrifice of these animals as a sign of the atonement for our sins. But it doesn’t make it any less gross.
Sounds like a job for my good friend John Gum (he likes hunting). For me, however, not so much (I don’t like hunting). But something really stuck out to me today. It was the care that was found by the priests in just doing what God told them to do. Does this make any sense when I read this? Not really. Why these rules and rituals? Because God said so. And that was enough for them.
I am struck by the amount of obedience this took. The amount of time. Hours upon hours. All so that this could be “a special gift, a pleasing aroma to the Lord.” That phrase is used over and over again through these first three chapters (I’m reading the New Living Translation). That’s so beautiful. I find myself asking today, “what’s my special gift to you, Lord?” And I honestly can’t answer that yet as I reflect on this today.
God…help this to resonate with me today. What is my special gift that I intentionally prepare for you today?
by David Docusen | January 17, 2013 | Uncategorized
In a culture of rapid response and instant gratification, it’s easy to minimize the overarching story of the Scriptures. We have conditioned ourselves to lean on quotable moments instead of narratives that take time to develop.
While all Scripture is beneficial, it’s also important to remember that all Scripture is interconnected in an overarching story of God’s love, grace and mercy. The Old Testament is incredibly relevant because it’s a part of the story. The New Testament is easier to digest because it seems to better fit into our current world view. It’s easy to dismiss reading the Word because we don’t understand. But if we stay in that frame of mind, we will never truly grow. Just like any other part of our lives, we have to challenge and stretch ourselves to grow spiritually.
If you are following along with us, don’t give up when you don’t understand. Fight the urge to live off of moments that you can post on Twitter. There is a story that has been unfolding for thousands of years. It’s compelling, meaningful and ultimately beautiful. And the only way to fully appreciate this story is to settle in to the rhythm of reading the Word and slowly, methodically growing.
Choose to appreciate the story today. As I said this past weekend at Center City, this is going to take some time. Spiritual growth is not fast. It’s establishing a pattern of consistency one day after another.
If you want to join us in this reading plan, click here. We are on day 17 of the reading plan. Start with us and follow with us throughout the year.
You will never regret digging into God’s Word. Ever.
by David Docusen | January 11, 2013 | Uncategorized
I remember how excited I was to start learning how to play the guitar when I was 14 years old. I was going to pick up my ax and totally wail. That was the plan. I would write love songs for Lindsay (one of my earliest crushes) and she would marry me on the spot. The reality turned out to be quite a bit different.
Contrary to my plans of swooning Lindsay like a mid-90’s Dave Matthews love ballad, I sounded more like Animal from the muppets trying to impress her. It was a mess. Turns out I had to practice. A lot.
I wanted to just play the thing, but I had to work at it, practice, fight through frustration. After years of practice, I was able to write songs and travel all over the country leading people in worship. Huge honor. But I would have never realized that dream without wrestling with that guitar and fighting through the frustration.
The same can be said for our excitement to read the Word of God. We find ourselves so excited about the idea of reading the Word, but then we realize that we don’t understand everything. We have unanswered questions. We get frustrated. And instead of wrestling with the Word, many times the choice is made to just give up.
Don’t give up. If you don’t understand the Word, welcome to the club. The Scriptures themselves say that God’s plans are a mystery in 1 Corinthians 2:7:
No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God —his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory before the world began.
The word of God is a mystery. In almost every other area of life, mysteries evoke feeling of intrigue, wonder and anticipation. My prayer is that your heart would be full of this same intrigue, wonder and anticipation. Allow those feelings to replace frustration, detachment and disappointment. You weren’t wired to understand everything. You were wired to go on a journey.
I never did end up writing Lindsay a love song. In fact, I don’t even remember her last name. But that’s not the point. I did, however, learn how to play the guitar and continued to grow in that gift over the years.
Dig into the Word today. You won’t ever regret chasing this mystery.
