I am absolutely NOT a Los Angeles Lakers fan. This post needs to start with that. The Orlando Magic will rise this coming year and bring the NBA championship to O-town (admittedly, Orlando was my home for 21 years). However, I just read that the starting point guard of the Lakers, Derek Fisher, turned down more lucrative contract offers to stay with his championship team. That is a great story in itself, but not quite what caught my attention. After giving his reasons for staying in Los Angeles, Fisher made the statement, "Let the hunt for six begin."People that achieve greatness have a...

I am so blessed to pastor a group of people at Center City Church that are so hungry to learn and grow. God's word is so incredibly practical and applicable to our lives, but it must be received with an open and willing spirit. I felt that so strong today as I taught out of Mark 2:18-22. I posed the question to our church, "What is something old that you need to trade in for something new today?" I genuinely felt like each person in the room was doing their best to apply this question to their life. God's mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23), which means that there is...

God has placed huge dreams in my heart for the future. I drive around Uptown Charlotte and dream. Ideas coming left and right. Vision exploding in my heart. What an exciting season of life!It has been so amazing, however, to have a holy change of perspective over the past few years. The dreams that God has placed in my heart are not my dreams at all. They are HIS dreams. And these dreams include so many other people. I can't wait to see how all the pieces fall into place as we continue to dream and continue to be open to partnerships. I can't wait to meet the people that God has ignited...

Dara and I just returned from a whirlwind twenty-four hour trip to Washington, DC. We met with some of the staff at National Community Church about the dream that God has placed in our hearts to open a coffeehouse/venue in Uptown Charlotte. We were so encouraged by their generosity of spirit and willingness to help. NCC opened Ebenezers Coffeehouse four years ago. It is the largest coffeehouse on Capitol Hill & has been awarded the prestigious title of "#1 Coffeehouse in DC" by AOL CityGuide. We left feeling so encouraged, and the dream is alive in our hearts. Opening a...

I never thought the day would come that David Docusen would write this line, but here goes: I miss my routines.I used to live by the spur of the moment. Spontenaity was my preferred way of life. Now I am irritated because I don't have a clue where my razor is located. Our house is all out of sorts. To make it worse, I couldn't find the cinnamon sugar this weekend for my specialty pancakes. Don't mess with my pancakes. I guess the progression of life, family and ministry has simply shown me that order, planning and sticking close to a calendar helps me to keep everything balanced in my life....

Dara and I have spent the week (with the help of dozens of people) moving from one street to another in our neighborhood. Townhouse to a house with a fenced in back yard for the kids to run and play. Great move for our family, but it's made for a really hectic week. We are now moved out of the old place and into the new one. No internet for the next week, so this blog may be (and has been) neglected a bit. I will get back into the regular routine of writing once life gets into to our new normal in the coming week. A huge thanks to all of our friends and family that gave of their time,...

I am so grateful for the people in our community at Center City Church. We have had close to twenty people come out to lend a hand over the past few days during our move. Moving can be one of those stressful times of life that really press you on every side. But I have seen a group of people come together that have pitched in as much as possible to help and I'm blown away. I have said this to so many people at different times, but it still holds true. The greatest part of leading this church is the fact that I simply get to be involved in this community. This is a rare group of people that...

Our leadership team at Center City Church has made an incredibly important shift in our weekly schedule. And it was such a simple, yet powerful decision:We start off every one of our leadership meetings with prayer and worship. One of the guys will grab a guitar and we will weave in and out of moments of worship, prayer, listening, etc.It may seem a bit counterintuitive to slow down to get more done, but that is exactly what is happening. We always prayed before our meetings, but this has been an intentional shift that is helping us to fix our eyes on Jesus as a leadership team before we...

It's been such an encouraging season of life as Center City Church continues to grow. Every week we are meeting new people as word continues to spread of the things God is doing in the hearts of those who are drawing close to Christ. And this week was no different. I had some great conversations with new friends today. I am so blown away by the amazing people that continue to come and respond to the vision of our church. We are fixing our eyes on Jesus. We value friendships and sharing life. We hold high generosity and compassion. And we continue to meet more people every week that value...

The principle of plain ole' hard work is timeless. If you work hard before you can see the results, the results are sure to be beautiful. I was struck this morning by this proverb that speaks straight to this: Proverbs 27:25-27 - After the hay is harvested and the new crop appears and the mountain grasses are gathered in, your sheep will provide wool for clothing, and your goats will provide the price of a field. And you will have enough goats' milk for yourself, your family and your servant girls.This proverb teaches us that this farmer had to diligently work to attain provision. Because of...