Every time that I want to learn more about my wife, Dara, I go to her Uncle Forrest (pictured above). He has known Dara for her entire life. He loves her so much and he's a great story teller. I ask him questions about her. He tells me story after story about Dara's life. I don't talk right to Dara. I just talk to Uncle Forrest because he's known her for a lot longer than I have.There are other times that I want to learn more about her from other perspectives, so I always call her sister, Tori (pictured above). She and Dara are as close as sisters can be, so Tori is a treasure trove of...

I recently wrote this letter to a group of friends at Center City Church. Seemed appropriate to put it on my blog so that as many people from our community as possible can get on the same page with where we are headed in 2013 as a church family.---------------------------------------------- Friends…If you want to know where God is taking us as a church family in 2013, check out the front page of our website and click on the first picture you see (read, pray, gather, go). This is a simple gathering of people who want to dig into the Word together. It's not formed by the leaders, but by...

We just ordered 150 Moleskine journals (pictured below) that we will be handing out to everyone at Center City this weekend. We are going to be reading through the Word together in 2013 as a community.The following is a letter from our Spiritual Formation Pastor, Joseph Phillips, that will be included in each journal. Gives a great description of what we are aiming to do this coming year as we gather around the Word as a community. Read. Pray. Gather. Go.------------------------------------------------------------------Center City Family -Four words sum up our desire for you at Center City...

We hit another mile marker this past week in the journey of bringing Ebenezers Coffeehouse to Uptown Charlotte. We found out that we have officially finalized our filing with the state of North Carolina. Thanks to the generosity of many, the filing fee for the state and the lawyer fees have been covered and we are able to move into the next phase of the journey and we are prayerfully considering next steps.Thanks to all that have invested into this process. Each one of you are shareholders in this vision to bring this coffeehouse/venue to Uptown that will in turn give all profits to...

You have a name. That's a given, of course. Now think about this: the God of all creation knows your name. He knows everything about you. Good. Bad. Trivial. Deep. Surface. Everything. He knows the great victories and shameful defeats. He knows the public successes and the private struggles. He knows the doubts that you have about him and the questions you ask. And in spite of all of this, he is madly in love with you.He knows your name and he calls you by name. He wants to talk to you. How can you talk to God? Start with the Word. He speaks to us through the Bible. Continue the...

I taught this past week on a simple phrase: the first impacts the following. Matthew 6:33 beautifully depicts this principle: "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." It's pretty easy to get things out of order. In our effort to live a meaningful life, we invest our first (and most valuable) efforts into various activities: __ social justice__ pursuit of financial security__ relationships__ insert your first hereWhen we seek FIRST the Kingdom of God, the Word tells us that it impacts all of these...

If you call Center City Church home, I have a confession to make: You don't need me.As your pastor and shepherd, I find unspeakable joy in leading this church family. It's a calling that includes great passion and commitment. But I always want to be careful to make sure that our church family is pointed to Jesus, not to a person given temporary oversight of a community of faith. You don't need me. You need Jesus. You need the Word of God as your guide that points you to him. My entire aim as the shepherd of this community is to try to find creative ways to help you engage with the Word...

One of my favorite things that we do at Center City is a once a month prayer walk around Uptown Charlotte. There is something so unifying about joining together with others to agree in prayer as we walk around the city. I am not sure of all of the significance of this, but there's a unique perspective that comes from actually getting out and walking the streets of the city that you love. People come to life as you walk by each individual. Businesses pop out of the landscape that you otherwise would have never noticed as you drive. And there is a spiritual dynamic that comes from getting...

I am coming out of a monthlong funk.This month has been a season of wrestling, questioning and struggling. And I'm becoming more and more convinced that it's not all that bad to be dissatisfied. On the outside, all things have seemed great. Our church has grown. Lots of involvement from our people. Our church is simple, powerful, beautiful and meaningful. But something has been missing. And so the wrestling ensued. Questions. Complaints. Doubts. Insecurities. Lamenting.Thanksgiving helped me come out of my funk. Taking a couple of days to break away, pray, spend time with my family...

Click the link to view this week's message from Center City Church. This was one of the most impacting week's that I've had, personally, in the 2.5 years that we've been blessed to be in Charlotte. A beautiful word picture of what I see when I pray for our community.[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/53906440 w=400&h=225] reIMAGINE - Imagery of the Field from Center City Church on Vimeo. Matthew 13:31-32 paints a beautiful picture of the Kingdom of God as a mustard seed that is planted in a field. We explore this passage and Pastor David then shares the picture of what he sees when he prays for...