News & Updates

I have in-laws who will drive 8 hours from Indiana to Georgia just to catch a birthday dinner for a grandchild. The next morning the drive back to Indiana begins. That’s a 16-hour sacrifice. Crazy. You will sacrifice greatly for something you desperately love. On Monday night my 20-year-old, Lauren, was having a very bad migraine. The pain was increasing and the vomiting ensued. Finally, around 10 p.m., we asked Lauren if she wanted to go to the ER. She…

Hello Church! I wanted to make you all aware of some changes to our monthly Prayer Gatherings. First things first: Our normal Prayer Gathering will NOT be meeting in October. In light of the “seismic shift” that is going on in our vision for Community Groups (see this video for more info), we are redirecting some of our efforts… Instead of inviting you to the church to pray and worship one Wednesday each month, we’re going to bring prayer TO YOU…

The family has been in Blue Ridge, GA for a few days. All of us! With just 22 days away from Brooklynn’s wedding, the timing of this get away could not have been better. After lunch today, the plan is to pull out our Bibles and do a little Bible study while gazing out over God’s great, mountainous creation. We’ll create our own Mastercard commercial. Priceless! I’m expecting to see life and light and energy fused into my wife and…

Do you ever have the need to enlarge God? Sometimes I can let my circumstances, the whispering lies of Satan, and my own version of self-discovered greatness make God seem small. So often, the need to glorify, magnify, and enlarge God becomes a very necessary exercise. How does one enlarge God? Each year on study break, I pull out Gungor’s song, “We Will Run,” stick my chair deep into the Oceanside sand, plug my ear buds into my wandering head,…

Our oldest daughter, Brooklynn, gets married in 36 days… and 15 painful hours. I can’t imagine how I’ll be feeling when the wedding is about to start, and my baby girl is only minutes away from not being mine anymore. I’m thinking about a smokin’ bribe to get her to escape to Six Flags with me in that exact moment. Our son, Michael (who is all of and text book thirteen), asked Brooklynn why she was packing up so soon.…

Can the glow of a Facebook page cause discontentment? There are pictures of people traveling to exotic places, status updates touting new relationships, folks eating at yummy eateries, and emoticons as billboards for happiness beyond words. Could too many late night thumbs up “likes” begin to tear into our own substance and satisfaction? Researchers at the University of Missouri say we’re likely to experience “negative relationship outcomes such as cheating, breakup, and divorce” if we check our Facebook walls once…

What would a church “moving rhythmically and easily” together look like?   Those are the words of Eugene Peterson as he creatively writes from Ephesians 4:13. Do you think a church CAN move rhythmically and easily together? Most have experienced otherwise. The Apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 4 how we are to be mature to the full measure of Jesus. What does THAT mean? This Sunday is “Let’s Do It” Sunday. The emphasis will be on moving the church forward in…

“He (Satan) was a killer from the very start. He couldn’t stand the truth because there wasn’t a shred of truth in him. When the Liar speaks, he makes it up out of his lying nature and fills the world with lies.” – John 8:44 Are you getting tired of Satan’s lies? You ready to lay down your brick? Just in case you have no clue what I’m talking about, CLICK HERE and watch this little brick video. Then… let’s…

On Sunday you’ll encounter a stack of bricks when you come into CCC. We’re asking everyone to pick one up before you walk in. I trust you will. We’ll also be studying our way through Genesis 3:1. One verse, that’s it. It’s a snakey verse. What in the world do you think bricks have to do with a snake? You may know the snake is Satan. What, pray tell, are the bricks? Hmmm… You should bring a friend, and eat…

There I was, over 34 years ago. Somewhere off of Roosevelt Avenue in downtown Chicago, a nervous, skinny 18 year old was enlisting in the U.S. Air Force. I stood amongst 30-some-odd, probably equally nervous, 18 year olds. Alright maybe some guys weren’t nervous, but I can almost guarantee that all of us were feeling pretty doggone awkward. Because all of us were in one room, in a line, without clothing. In the raw. Disrobed. Naked. Awkward. Uncle Sam would…