Our team from Center City Church was so blessed this week to accept an invitation to attend Renovatus Church today. Their Senior Pastor, Jonathan Martin, and I had connected this past week after we found out that we had officially secured Elizabeth Traditional Elementary School as our new venue. This was the venue that Renovatus had occupied for the past three years. Pastor Jonathan brought our entire team in front of the church and had their leaders pray over ours. It was an incredible act of unity. And I know that God was glorified as two local churches shared the same stage in genuine...

Today we celebrate the birthday of my beautiful bride, Dara. I'm so blessed to share my life with her. We started off the day at Enso Sushi Bar at the Epicentre in Uptown Charlotte. Then off to Tasty Yo for some frozen yogurt. Football in the afternoon (because she's just that awesome). Delicious dinner tonight at home with the family and then finishing off the night at Amelie's French Bakery with our friends. We're celebrating Dara today!

**Psalm 119:105 - Your Word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. I am inspired daily by this Scripture. God uses this analogy to show us that he gives us just enough light to illuminate our path. This is so comforting. The thought of knowing that my steps are ordered by the Lord gives me great confidence. But it also can be very uncomfortable. I am the type of person that wants a spotlight. I want to be able to look to the future and know where I am going. When I drive with someone in the car, I don't simply want the next turn we are taking. I want the next four turns. As I...

I'm excited to pass along the news that we have just secured our first public venue for Center City Church! Starting on February 7th, we will be moving our services to Sunday mornings at Elizabeth Traditional Elementary School in Uptown Charlotte! This is the same school that our son, Max (6), now attends. And it's only 1/3 of a mile from our new townhouse. We have enjoyed incredible favor from the principal, administrators, faculty and staff. We look forward to continuing to build a meaningful mutual relationship with this school. We will settle into our new location during the months of...

**Proverbs 4:25-27 - Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.I was at Central Coffee Co. last week when I came across this Scripture. Tears began to fill my eyes as I started to think about what it meant for me to "fix my eyes on what lies before me." This is an excerpt from my journal on January 4, 2010 as I responded to this Scripture: ----------------------------------------------What is before me, God? I see you, standing in front of me, but you...

**My son, Max (6), asked me if he could write his first blog. This is his entry, word for word. Ladies and gentlemen...Max David Docusen...Good morning, everybody.Today is a good day. Today is a really sunny day and today is wintery.And today is a really fun day. Soon it's going to be snowing. After it snows, it's gonna be summer again and really warm.We could be so happy it's summer. Today is going to be a great day because we are celebrating the Lord.We get to go home, eat lunch, take a nap and then start more fun stuff. And come to www.CenterCityChurchHome.com (<--- this website does...

I am so grateful that God has given me an amazing wife. She is my best friend. The love of my life. And an amazing mother to our four kids. We are together in this thing. Raising our kids. Starting Center City Church. Life. We're together. The days start early and end late these days. More times than not it feels much like a whirlwind. Bottles. Diapers. Homework. Refereeing (our children). Studying. Leading. Planning. More diapers. Breakfast. Lunch. Dinner. Pick up Max at school. Dates. Broken dishes. More bottles. And the list goes on. Everyone says that this stage goes by fast. We just...

Happy birthday to our littlest munchkin, Baby Ben! He turns one today and is such a joy to have in our lives. He is doing all that he can to learn to walk so that he can better defend himself in the madness of the Docusen home. His older brothers (Max - 6 & Jack - 2) and sister (Mary, 4) keep his life very interesting. We love our baby!

I had a great meeting yesterday with Jonathan Martin, the pastor at Renovatus Church in Charlotte. Pastor Jonathan and I share common vision and values and I have a great deal of respect for him and his team. After hanging with him for two hours yesterday, I'm reminded of the beautiful fact that we're all in this together. Our expressions may vary from church to church, but we share the common central foundation of our faith: Jesus Christ. If you are looking for a church in the Charlotte area, make sure you take a look at what they are doing over at Renovatus. Great people. Great church.

During lunch on Sunday after church, I noticed our son, Max (six years old), was slumping down in his chair with his eyes closed. I'll never forget the moments that followed: Me: Max, are you sleepy? Max: No. Me: Are you ok? Max: Yes, Daddy. Me: What's up? Max: God just spoke to me. Me: What was that? Max: God just spoke to me. And I listened. Me: What did God say? Max: He told me he wanted me to teach at church. My heart melted. I told him to come on a walk with me and I kneeled down to his level and told him about the story when God called me as a boy to help people ("help people" is Max's...