Listening to Jud and Mark chat through their own personal challenges and what they have learned is so encouraging and personally challenging.There is so much information coming it feels kind of like drinking out of a fire hydrant. I just keep telling myself "keep writing, process later". Great stuff. My spirit is refreshed and I feel alive today. I'm so grateful to be here.

1. Establish boundaries2. Put your family first3. Set Life Goals4. Personal Growth5. Create MarginRandom Notes from Q&A during this session: I know my tendency is to hear what God is wanting to say through me and not TO me. - The speed of the leader is the speed of the team- If you start slipping, so will the team- The church is an unparalleled place in culture that is like no other: where else do people gather on a weekly basis to listen to someone talk for 30 minutes? Nowhere.- Journal the life of your kids. You can be their personal biographer.- Notice how your kids love you and that...

- Clarity of vision is more important than inspiration- If you do are celebrating wins from six months ago more than you are celebrating current wins you are experiencing "drift".- Vision not only unifies. It separates. Give people an opportunity to "get off the bus" if they cannot get behind the vision.- Vision leaks every 30 days. You must have a vision that you don't mind sharing 30-40 times before people really catch on. - Vision from every angle you can bring it. Music. Graphics. Storytelling. Preaching. Discipleship.- You must be clear first...inspirational secondary- One of the most...

- Always remember that unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vein.- If you do the right thing for the wrong reason...it doesn’t even count.- No one wins in the comparison game. So many times in ministry we are constantly trying to compare ourselves to other people. When we compare ourselves to someone and we come out favorably, we lean toward pride. When we compare ourselves to someone and we come out lacking, we lean toward jealousy.- What is the reason we are doing this? The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.

The Unplugged Conference centers around one idea: less conference, more conversation. I enjoyed today more than any conference I have ever attended. We are talking about the 5 Greatest Challenges of a Leader. Great thoughts to chew on.Registration was limited to just over 50 pastors and we were able to hear from Mark Batterson and Jud Wilhite (the lead pastor at Central Christian Church). What a great concept. I will post some notes and some of my personal takeaway from the sessions.

Here is the new logo for Hope Church (ignore the square around the logo). A big thanks to Luke Bolin for his creativity and input on helping us design this.I wanted to do something that we could "stamp" on things all over Charlotte - banners, billboards, letterhead, flyers, etc. I believe that branding is one of the most important things a church can do as it markets itself to the community. The recognizability of the logo is one of the most important elements of branding. Hope you like it.

I am still amazed every time we get another donation for our fundraising. As I was headed to bed, I just checked our online giving account and saw that we received another $200 donation from some great friends in Orlando. So humbling. So amazing.I have so enjoyed this process of raising support. I know that may make me a bit crazy, but it's been so exciting to see how God provides. We have raised about half of our budget for the coming year, so God is going to continue to provide in a big way in the coming months. I have been so humbled to see how every little bit means something. The gifts...

This is our fourth time in DC in the last 5 months. Today - out of all of them - was my favorite day by far. Dara, Ginny and I took an open-top tour of the town today. It was so much fun to be sitting on top of a bus riding around town with my wife. We just sat back and enjoyed the ride and took in all the random facts about our country.I love being able to break away with Dara to just hang out. These past couple of days have been a great retreat for us after the madness of moving and attempting to get settled.

I'm excited to be attending the Unplugged Conference on Thursday and Friday this week. I also just decided to change my travel plans to stick around on Saturday to attend NCC's small groups training. They have offered for all of the attendees of Unplugged to come see how they train their small group leaders. Might as well!This is one of the things that I love so much about NCC...they are completely open source. They want to share what God is doing at NCC with as many people as possible. Their website has resources that can really spark creativity and help in reaching people. I really believe...

Dara and I are in DC for the next couple of days. Our wonderful Ginny Peterson is heading up with us and we're hanging out at Ebenezer's Coffeehouse and spending some time with Mark Batterson and Michelle Warner. Dara and Ginny are taking off on Wednesday and I'm sticking around for a the Unplugged Conference at Ebenezers. Great fun.Ebz is one of my favorite places on the planet. Here's a pic for you to see me at one of my favorite places on the planet...