God has blessed us so much in our fund raising process. As of today, we have raised almost 75% of our salary for the coming year. We are doing this totally by faith and through the support of amazing people and churches all over America.I will be breaking away from my work routine tomorrow to dive in head first to round two of our fund raising effort. I will be mailing out 30+ more magazines to people all over the country. Please pray that people would respond and we would see the remaining amount raised! I am so humbled every time someone gives. God has used so many to make this dream a...

We had our second service today at the movie theater! This was a great gathering - 50 adults and a bunch of kids showed up today. It was great to see some brand new faces at Hope. This is such an incredible feeling. We are gearing up for our GRAND OPENING on September 14th.This is such an exciting time for us. God is doing so much in our lives and we've never felt his leading and guiding as much as we do right now. God has been so faithful every step of the way.I am loving this...

I just need all to know that I still haven't recovered from the events this past week with the Bucs flirtation with Brett Favre. Here's what ticks me off about all this:You don't pass up a chance to get a hall of fame QB who just passed for 4,000+ yards and went 13-3 last season. And for what? A DRAFT PICK? Are you kidding me?Everyone who knows me knows that I love the Bucs, but they are testing my metal as a fan right now. I absolutely do not like Jon Gruden (head coach) and Bruce Allen (General Manager). They are shifty people that I don't trust. Players don't like playing for them....

There is something incredibly powerful about joining together in unity. I thought about that last night as I looked out at a crowd of 12,000+ worshiping God. I was holding my little Jack (1.5 years old) and I was just taking it all in as we heard the sounds of worship all around us. I love it when the music stops and the singing continues. What a beautiful sound.This brings me to a thought that I have been thinking all week long...I believe in the Assemblies of God. I know that there are things that many wish could be different within the A/G, but I believe in the power of unity. There is...

I have been coordinating all of the leadership workshops this week at the Fine Arts festival and we just finished our last session. This was a great opportunity to connect with leaders from around the country. The week's activities end tomorrow night with our finale tomorrow night at the Bobcats Arena. Great week!

Planetshakers is leading worship this week at the National Youth Conference that accompanies the Fine Arts Festival. 12,000 students and adults pack into the Bobcats Arena in Downtown Charlotte each night for the services.If you are not familiar with them, you have to check them out. Amazing musicians, great leaders, sensitive to God's spirit. I had a chance to have dinner with the band and their pastor - Russell Evans - on Monday night. Pastor Russell planted the Planetshakers church in Australia 5 years ago and they are currently running 4,500 people. Some thoughts from our conversation:-...

Blogging has been slow this week because I'm at the National Fine Arts Festival for the Assemblies of God. 7,000 students from every state have come to Charlotte this week to compete in singing, dance, art, drama, graphic design, short films, etc. This is an amazing event put on by the A/G every year to promote students discover, develop and deploy their God-given gifts and talent.I'm blessed to be a part of helping run this event with a great staff from the National Youth Office!

I am so happy to report that Jack is playing in the little playroom here at the hospital. He took a great turn for the better around 5pm and it looks like we're going to be able to go home tomorrow! Praise God!

Talk about timing...We went to the doctor yesterday and he sent us straight to the hospital because Jack was really dehydrated. Turns out that he has a very early stage of pneumonia and they are treating him as we speak.I don't know how all of this stuff works...attacks from the enemy and such. However, I don't find it to be a coincidence that all of this is happening the day before we move into our new location and are starting this church from scratch. All I know is that the God that I serve is so much bigger than any sickness or any attack. I believe my son is healed in the name of Jesus....

My little guy - Jack - is not feeling so good today. We had one of those classic parent moments where we were up all night long holding him and praying over him. Puking. High fever. No sleep.There is so much to do at Hope for our launch this weekend, but I find myself putting it all on hold right now making sure my baby and my family are ok. We're taking him to the doctor in a bit. Your prayers are appreciated.Nothing is more important than family.