We have decided to scrap our plans to do our next sermon series - ENGAGE. We were going to do this series out of the book of Acts and talk about not just believing, but engaging our faith in the form of action. The idea was to mobilize the people to engage their world around them and share their faith. Great ideas that we have placed on the back burner.Last week in our staff meeting, Mike came to us and asked us to consider changing direction in light of the recent economic turbulence. We have to respond - as a church - to what is happening all around us. This is not just effecting us on a...

We were at Taco Bell today (gross) with the kids and I hear Dara say, "Mary, quit picking your nose." Mary looks back at Dara and says, "But there's something in there!"It's so funny how kids frame their sentences :-)A little bit later I hear "Mary, quit blowing your nose!" Granted, she was just blowing her nose into the air, not into a napkin. "GROSS!", Dara said. Just then a piece of quesadilla came flying out of our daughters' nose.I guess there really was "something in her nose". She was right 🙂

Dara and I were blessed beyond imagination to be able to lead an incredible ministry in Orlando prior to our move to Charlotte. Calvary Orlando Master's Commission was an amazing 3 year experience that impacted so many lives - including mine.I look across the country and see people that came through this discipleship program making an impact in so many ways. Jerred leads a growing and thriving sports league that connects so many people. John Gum is taking major steps toward his calling. Sprague is off at Southeastern studying to get his bachelor's degree in Pastoral Ministry. Ginny is living...

Holding our church services in a movie theater is an awesome experience. I absolutely love the feel of going to a comfortable, familiar place like the theater for church.We went to the theater yesterday after our team meeting to pray together. As I'm walking through the aisles praying for the people in our community, I couldn't help but chuckle when I'm praying and I hear the likes of Rihanna, Kid Rock and the Jonas Brothers in the background.Inspiration comes in so many forms 🙂

We would have never made it to Charlotte without the kindness of John Norris. He is a man in the church that allowed us to stay in his home RENT FREE until we got things settled in Orlando with our condo. The home was so cute, albeit a bit small for our family of 5. That open door allowed us to make the move and get here.Last week, a woman in our community found out about Dara and I. She heard that we were looking to find a bigger home to rent in the Charlotte area. She talked back and forth with Hutch and Adrian Vollendorf (friends of ours from Hope) and she said that she had a home that...

I got this text message today from a great friend. I had to post it as a way to show how God is so faithful to encourage us at the right moments. The recent economic downturn has had some direct implications on our fundraising for our salary. It's going very, very slow right now. However, that's no surprise to God. Thank God for friends that simply respond to God's prompting to encourage others. Check this out:10:24am...May God bless you with more than money, but with passion. May your needs be met supernaturally. May he smile on all you do, may your ears be sensitive to his voice. May you...

I've gotten into a pretty consistent blog habit, so I apologize for my disappearing act over the last week. We have moved into a beautiful new home (story to come soon) and the internet has not been hooked up yet (Friday). I'll be back in the saddle soon 🙂

Sunday was amazing. It was our second week and the momentum was still there.Monday was filled with following up with visitors and working on our website and podcasts.Tuesday (today) was our staff meeting. We took our list of visitors and went through every person on our list of visitors and called them out by name. We talked about connections that we made with each of them. We made sure that every name had a face in our minds. We talked about their families, their challenges, their victories and their prayer requests.That's when it hit me: this has been my favorite 3 days since I've been...

Dara's dad came back from the beach this weekend with a special gift for the kids. He went down to the beach and picked them up a handful of beautiful sea shells. There's nothing like seeing our kids get excited! They were so happy to receive this thoughtful gift.That got me thinking. We used to get sea shells. When I went off to college, my mom used to call me everyday just to see what was going on in my world. She wanted every detail. Now I am in North Carolina and she is in Florida. Oh, she still calls every day, but mostly to say "can I talk to the kids"?It's amazing what happens when a...

The adrenaline started pumping today at 7:38am. That's what time we realized how many of our main volunteers would be missing. In the same day our sound engineer, regular bass player, head of our set up team and one of our main tech guys were not able to come for legitimate reasons.Adrenaline is an amazing thing. We had half the team and the same amount of time to complete all of our setup. We did it. The craziness lasted all they way until 12:15pm when we put the final piece of equipment away.Thank God for so many people who have committed to helping. Thank God that they will all be back...