This week has been one of the most challenging of my entire life (and many others that are in our extended Center City Church family). If you follow this blog at all, you have noticed that one of our closest friends, Hunter Prevatt, was diagnosed with Hodgkins Disease this week. The diagnosis came with the feeling that we had all been punched in the stomach. I have been so proud of Hunter's response. The doctors say that 4-6 months of treatment should bring him to a place of full recovery. And Hunter is up for the challenge. But he is also keeping his head up and choosing to focus on what he...

We just received word from the doctor that our friend and brother, Hunter Prevatt (23 years old), has been diagnosed with a form of cancer called Hodgkin's Disease (lymphoma). While this type of news is hard to hear, we are encouraged by the fact that this has been discovered relatively early. Doctors are extremely optimistic in the treatment and recovery. Our full expectation is for Hunter to fully recover - whether that is from the miraculous touch of God's hand or from the treatment being prescribed. We have not known what we were fighting the past couple of days. So we decided to...

We received news yesterday that one of our closest friends, Hunter Prevatt, has a growth in his lymph nodes. The doctors have immediately gone to work to run a battery of tests to determine if this growth is malignant or benign. And around that same time the news broke, each one of us that love and care for Hunter felt a wide range of emotions. Fear is a very difficult emotion to navigate. God's Word instructs us that "God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and self discipline." (2 Timothy 1:8) But this is so hard to put into practice when emotions are raging...

To my friends in the Uptown Charlotte community: Maybe you have heard of what we are doing from a friend, worked alongside us at a community service project, read this blog from a distance, listened to our podcast or simply came across our website via Google. However you found us, I want you to know that you are loved. And you are always welcome at Center City Church. We started our church almost six months ago on Easter Sunday (April 4, 2010). Seeing that we are a new church, it's important to note that we don't have a lot of "stuff." We don't even have programs at our church. This may be...

Affection and gratitude. These are two things that reside deeply inside each one of us, yet all too often never make it above the surface of our lives. The simple spoken words of "I love you" can change a person's day. The act of expressing gratitude brings life to others in our world. I have been challenged recently to not just feel these things, but to express them. And it's not just in my relationships with family and friends. My affection and gratitude for Jesus is immeasurable. And it helps me to end my times of prayer, Bible study or journaling with those five words: I love you. Thank...

We all love the mountaintop. The view is beautiful. It's what every climber lives for, right? To see all the beauty from that perch thousands of feet in the sky. But here's the reality: life can't be sustained on the mountaintop. I'll take it even a step further: What are we observing from the mountaintops? We are observing the beauty that can be seen as look down into the valleys. Let that sink in for a moment. If we are going to describe life as a journey filled with mountaintops and valleys, we might need a bit of perspective. Mountaintops are usually referred to as the great seasons of...

I sat on my couch completely terrified, staring at a stack of addressed envelopes. I was just about to send out a request to every person I knew asking them to financially support our dream to start a church in Charlotte. And I was absolutely freaking out.That's when God started to speak to me. "This is only the beginning. It's like lifting weights. The amount that you are requesting right now is small in comparison to what you are going to need to raise in the future. This process of raising your salary will prepare you for the future." I wanted to throw up. Two years later, God has...

If you are interested in serving the Charlotte community in a practical way, we have great opportunities through "I Love Charlotte." We will be updating our website with opportunities as they are confirmed. If you are interested, email us at [email protected] to get more information.

We just kicked off a new series, "The Gospel of Luke", at Center City Church this week. During the sermon, I realized that I had a TON of facts about Luke's life that I wanted to share, but may have been too much to share in one setting. So, as I promised our church on Sunday, here's some interesting facts about the author of The Gospel of Luke (taken straight from my notes): - Luke is the longest of the four Gospels- There are over 1,000 verses in The Gospel of Luke. Roughly half of them are verbatim the words of Jesus.- Luke and Acts are written by the same author. Both historical...

Here's the thing about laboring in the foundation of a new work: it's laborious. Now that may seem to be a redundant, unnecessary statement. But I am convinced that we need reminding. Human nature leads us to want things quickly. Unnaturally fast. We see other businesses, other churches, other start-ups that have "blown up" and we make that our aim. And while we aim for that anomaly, we begin to neglect the most important part of the building: the foundation. We all can say it 'til we are blue in the face with conviction. But it's much harder to live in the reality of building a strong...