The Center City Church video podcast is now up and running on iTunes. Click here if you want to download a sermon or subscribe to the podcast. The audio podcast will be following close behind. Many thanks to Jerred Peacock for working so hard on this!

We had a great time at Max's second tee ball game today! I'm loving being his coach, spending time with him and making memories with our family at the field each week. Max was hilarious today. He got all spunky and slid into home plate (completely unnecessarily) and got the crowd all fired up. That's our boy! So proud to be his daddy 🙂

I am so grateful for close friends. I had a conversation today that was a timely reminder of why we are doing what we are doing at Center City. It basically went something like this: "Let's not forget about one of our foundational callings at Center City. We must serve our community." It's so easy to get caught up in doing church instead of being the church. We did really well at serving our community in the pre-opening days of Center City, then got caught up in actually opening the church to the community. Distractions are still distractions, even when they are for good purposes. We...

God put a very different approach to starting Center City Church in our hearts. Instead of going for a big launch, we felt like we were supposed to go slowly. Enjoy the process. Focus more on the people that God brought our way. No advertising. It was such a strange directive for me. Very counterintuitive. There's nothing wrong with the other ways to start a church. For us, however, this was the plan God gave us. And I'm loving every minute.We have so enjoyed the process of getting to know the people God brought to Center City. We are slowly and intentionally building relationships with...

It's so easy to read the Bible and turn it into nothing more than a pleasurable read. Even fiction can be inspiring. But there is nothing fictitious about the Bible. This stuff really happened. The Bible is more than inspiring. It's empowering. I am reading the story in Joshua 6 today. God commanded the Israelites to take the city of Jericho. It was a military mismatch. No reason they should have been able to do this. Jericho was completely fortified with huge walls around the town. And the Israelites were just coming off of a forty year trek across the desert. God's command was for them to...

I used to hate scheduling things. Spontaneity was part of the fun. Picking up on a whim and hanging out with friends. Going out of town. New day, new adventure. I still love to be spontaneous, but it's fewer and much farther between these days. And that's ok. I've found that as life has continued to progress, keeping to a tight schedule during my days has really freed me up to spend time with people I love, get all my work done and be available to the community of people that I pastor. It's not better or worse. It's just different. Here's a look at the way I schedule my weeks:Monday: Day...

Our time of worship and sharing God's Word on Sunday was deep and meaningful. As crazy as last week was, this week was the exact opposite. There was a wonderful sense of peace and community on Sunday throughout the entire service. Goes to show that God can do anything he wants, no matter our perspective on how things are going. I spoke on Matthew 14:22-36. It's the story of one of the earliest disciples of Jesus. A man named Peter that had so much faith in Christ that he was able to walk on water. In the midst of this incredible, miraculous moment, he was distracted by the wind and the waves...

Last week (April 11) at Center City Church was one of the most frustrating services I have ever been a part of in my life. And it was absolutely beautiful. All was well until about an hour before service started. Our sound system went absolutely nuts. Feeding back, making noises at us like an old dial up connection to the internet, microphone didn't work, etc. We started service about 5 minutes late, only to realize that we had left bags, a coffee cup and some trash on the stage. Perfect. I'm a big believer in excellence. I believe God deserves our best. And this was absolutely driving me...

There is no feeling quite like being gone and coming back home. It happens every time I come around I-77 and see Uptown Charlotte. Such a beautiful sight. I love that we call this town home. This feeling comes from knowing that we are raising our family, sharing life with friends and pastoring in a community that we love. I love Charlotte. And I love being home.

I have spent the past two days in Raleigh, NC receiving sixteen hours of training in ministerial coaching from Sam and Vicki Farina. Here's what I've learned more than anything else: Declaring truth to people is far less effective than allowing them to discover the truth for themselves.Let me explain... I've been handing people answers far too soon. My opinion has, many times, trumped thought and self-discovery from the person seeking answers. Instead of allowing them to figure it out by allowing them to talk through it, I have interjected all to often.This training has been revolutionary...