John Gum (Associate Pastor at Center City Church) and I spent time today working on our budget for Center City Church. This is such a vital piece to the puzzle for us. And it's an area that we are praying for God's wisdom and direction as we aim to steward well the money God brings our way. I am so grateful that God has placed great people around us. John has a great business mind and really enjoys crunching numbers. This is not an area of strength in my life, so it's vital to have John as a part of our team. Starting a church is a team effort. I love our team.

This has definitely gone down as "one of those weeks." Every person in the Docusen family got sick this week. We have traced it all back to Chuck E. Cheese. It seems that our three year old, Jack, picked up something from Mary's birthday party there last week. He got a stomach bug and it effectively passed to all six of us. Lesson? Don't suck your thumb. Jack does this. Maybe this will motivate him to break that habit. Let's hope.We're all back to full swing and looking forward to another great morning at Center City Church tomorrow. Thank God for a healthy family again!

Dara and I have spent the past three days caring for three of our four kids while they have been sick. Two of three days have been all nighters for mommy and daddy. All of this while we are in the days and weeks leading up to the opening of Center City Church on April 4th. Life doesn't seem to take note of the busy seasons. Kids still get sick. House still has to be cleaned. Appointments still have to be kept. This has been a very challenging week. And that's ok. It's all a part of the deal. Dara and I are in this together. The kids are our privilege to be able to raise. Center City Church...

We had a great meeting yesterday at Center City Church. It was so great to see a handful of new faces and then to see multiple people make commitments to Christ. I've been so encouraged by the way that our group has taken ownership of Center City and consider it "their church." We have had so many new faces come through because our group has really responded to the challenge of spreading the news about what God is doing in their lives personally and at Center City Church corporately. I taught yesterday on the power of God. I have been so motivated by 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 in our calling to...

I read a couple of days ago that Pastor Rick Warren (author of the Purpose Driven Life) and Saddleback Church are celebrating their 30th anniversary on April 4th. This is the same day that Center City Church opens to the community. Just this morning, I read that Pastor Steven Furtick felt God's call to start Elevation Church five years ago today while driving around Charlotte. It just got me thinking: everyone starts somewhere. We are in the beginning stages of Center City Church. And I've taken the advice of so many church planters that have gone before me. They all said - each one of them...

I woke up this morning with an incredible feeling of anticipation and a grateful heart. I am so excited about the momentum we are experiencing right now at Center City Church as we lead up to our public opening on April 4th. I am so grateful for the fact that Dara and I feel healthy on the inside. And we are joined by an absolutely phenomenal team (that continues to grow each week) to experience this ride with us along the way. This mixture of anticipation and a grateful heart makes me thank God for all that he has done. And I'm anticipating the great things that he's about to do. Only He...

To all my friends and family that come together to form Center City Church: Nothing makes me happier in ministry than when I see each of you taking steps of growth and maturity in your walk with Christ. I pray for you. I love you. I believe in you. But it's up to you to continue to grow. We are in the middle of a 40 day fast leading up to our opening of Center City Church on April 4th. We're in this together. And I can guarantee spiritual growth that leads to maturity if you will willingly abstain from something to draw closer to Christ during this season of unified fasting and prayer. As...

Center City Church is joining together in a unified commitment to fast and pray for the next 40 days leading up to the opening of our church to the community on Easter Sunday, April 4th. I taught today on these topics, and gave our group a very specific challenge. Here's the outline:- Challenge yourself. - Don’t abstain from eating steak and lobster. - Don’t fast from Twitter, if you don’t have an account. - Don’t fast from meat if you’re a vegetarian. - Strength comes from resistance.- Set an attainable goal. You know yourself. - If you’ve never done this before, start smaller. - Twitter -...

We have felt some serious momentum in the past couple of months for Center City Church. We received a $15,000 gift from a church in our area on February 1st. We got a $30,000 grant from the Church Multiplication Network this week. We got a $3,500 grant from Speed The Light two weeks ago for audio/visual supplies. This is combined with the $1,500 every month that comes in from our monthly supporters. A great, great burst of support that is allowing us to get the necessary items for our new venue. All of this adds up to around $65,000 total in support raised. For us to reach our goal of...

We just got an online donation from a missionary family for $43 to cover the rental cost of one hour at our new venue. What an incredible act of generosity! This family has spent the last year and a half driving across the country raising their support to realize their dream to minister overseas full time. And they invested into our work at Center City Church. So humbling. **$43/one hour. $216/one week. $864/one month. If you want to open the doors of our new venue, you can give online at www.centercitychurch.net.