Have you ever accidentally purchased 14 tickets to game one of the Orlando Magic's second round playoff series? No?I have.So...I'm not the world's best ebay-er I guess. I was so excited because I won six tickets on ebay today, but then I had also put in offers on 2 other four packs earlier in the day that I was SURE were going to get out bid. They didn't.You should have seen the look on Dara's face when I told her how many tickets we had...looks like I'll be SELLING on ebay in the coming days 🙂

Dara and I came across an article yesterday that gives us a frame of reference for the miracle that God is doing in our lives right now. Yahoo has listed Orlando as the 2nd worst housing market in the country right now. That's not the best news when we have our condo listed and need to sell it in order to get another home in Charlotte. Did I mention that we are schedule to move in 7 weeks?Here is the lesson I am learning: TRUST.I trust God fully. I know he has called us to move to Charlotte. I have never been more confident in any decision I have ever made. I am writing this down publicly so...

This has been a great week in both my personal life and my ministry life. Sometimes it helps to simply reflect on God's blessings. Tonight is one of those nights for me.:: Dara and I had a date night last night. Those are always welcomed :-):: I was able to share extended face to face moments with all three of my kids this week. That is so priceless.:: I was able to be a part of two separate conferences: Exponential (a church planting conference) and Fusion (a twenty-somethings conference).I have been equally challenged and encouraged this week. It's brought me to a realization that I have...

Dara had to work today (my day off), so I had the kids all day by myself. We had so much fun!Mary cooked me an imaginary breakfast in her play kitchen (complete with coffee and sweet tea...a very nice touch), Max and I played Madden for a while and Jack somehow ended up with two fists full of his own poop. That was a rather unexpected moment, but all ended well.I love making memories with my babies!

Here's a thought from a series of events today that simply made me smile:We all have desires that are deep in our hearts. I know that I have dreams that I hold on to and reside deep my spirit. I love the idea that God not only wants to GRANT the desires of our hearts, but he is also the AUTHOR of our desires...Psalm 139:13-16 - You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous – and how well I know it. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your...

Got to sit in on Andy Stanley's session today called Making Vision Stick. What a great communicator. Here is a portion of my notes from the session...1. State it Simply - What is the vision? - Say it quickly, say it succinctly - MEMORABLE IS PORTABLE2. Cast It Convincingly A. Define The Problem - If people don't feel the weight of a problem, they're not excited about the solution, EVER. B. Offer a Solution - How is your church a solution to a problem? C. Answer why/why now - Why should your church exist in our community now?3. Repeat It Regularly - No matter how many times you repeat...

I had a chance to spend today with Mark Batterson (lead pastor of National Community Church in Washington DC). It was great to hear the story of when he planted NCC. It gives me a shot of encouragement as I am about to enter this new season of life. We had a great time talking life, family, sports, ministry, etc.I was then able to sit in on his session on creative communication. There were about 100 church planters in the room and the dialog was so helpful. Mark's teaching was great and I really took away some practical things for Hope Church.These days are a lot of fun for me. First off, I...

I am going to be spending the next week at the Exponential Conference (www.exponentialconference.com) here in Orlando. This is a conference completely dedicated to church planting, so it's right up my alley. Looking forward to hearing from great speakers including Rick Warren, Mark Batterson and Ed Stetzer (among others). It's great when a conference comes to Orlando so I can still be with my Master's Commission students. I'll be back and forth all week long between Calvary and the conference.If you're in town for this conference, make sure to look me up!

Last night was our first gathering for Hope Church that we actually had "church". What a great feeling. Mike started the evening off with updating everyone with the latest happenings of Hope Church. Our big announcement came when we introduced Teresa Hucko as our new children's pastor. She is leaving that same position she has held for 17 years at one church to help make the dream of Hope Church a reality. I followed with leading worship and Sam ended with a GREAT message on bringing lost people to Christ.It was so cool to stand up there leading worship again. It has been a while since I...

I figured I would give a visual of my new office for everyone. What's cool is that there is a $10,000 espresso machine, freshly brewed coffee, free wi-fi and there are multiple locations all around Charlotte. If you are looking for me in June during work hours, you'll most likely find me at Caribou Coffee. No actual offices for us...the coffee shops will do for now...