News & Updates

Our CCC offices, my Facebook page, and the news media are all a buzz about the new Braves stadium.  In less than three years, the crack of bat to ball will be resounding in a major league way just down the street from Cumberland.  How crazy is that? What is a reasonable response to all of this hard ball frenzy?  How should we respond to 40,000 people knocking on our front door eighty days a summer?  A small wooden sign…

Isn’t anticipation an incredible thing?  What determines whether or not you anticipate something with dread or great excitement?   Anticipation is attached to dread when:  1) you’re out of your sweet spot; 2) you’re unprepared; 3) there has been absolutely no assurance of any type outcome. What about excitement saddled up to anticipation?  How does this work?  Three keys to being excited with whatever looms in the future are:  1) confidence given from one who is an authority; 2) consistent rehearsal,…

My family gets a kick out of Halloween.  We like to engage our neighbors and not hide.  We project Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” onto our garage door.  We usually get standing audiences.  This year we made a big cave out of our front porch.   Kids had to come into the cave and get their candy from a creepy old man (Lauren… not me!).  All the while, several adults from our community group sat outside and engaged the beggars of all ages.…

Soooo… this week I caught a cold.  Blah & ugh.  There’s much controversy on what to do when you get sick.  Most will confuse the old adage:  feed a cold/starve a fever… or is it the other way around?  Idk!  Some are quick to get the pink antibiotic, while others are slow for even ibuprofen. My path this week has been fresh juice, popping oregano oil capsules every three hours, drinking hot, herbal, green tea, getting good sleep, and heading…

Would God really put aspartame in His holy, ordained Testamints?  THAT should get you a thinkin’ on this awesome, Fall Friday! How about this question…  Is all that Christian stuff bad?  You know what I’m referring to:  t-shirts, CD’s, coffee mugs, books, Bible covers, key chains, scripture wrapped mints, and anything with Jesus’ white, American, blue-eyed face plastered on it.  Is that stuff bad?  It continues to be debated in church world. Some will tout the benefits of Christian supplies,…

This week I’ve had the privilege of being in New York City with CCC’s Outside The Walls Pastor, Rob Irvine.  We’ve participated in a 10-city covenant conference attached to the New York City birthed Movement Day.  BTW, Rob did a brief presentation about what God is up to at Cumberland.  He spoke with great passion.  He was one of the few presenters to receive lively applause when he concluded.  I was very excited and proud of how God is using…

I was in court this morning for a relative.   This hard-but-childish young man will turn eighteen in eleven days.  He has taken the juvenile system to the brink.  As family lined the observer seats and the black-robed judged walked in, I began wondering how things got so broken.  How did we get here? A young man not yet eighteen was sitting in ankle and wrist shackles.  This didn’t feel so juvenile.  The judge’s poignant words were certainly not juvenile-esque.  The…

I never understood why my dad wore a flat top haircut.  I still don’t fully understand how barbers made those things of wonder happen.   I also wondered why adults back in the 70’s were all about keeping up with the Jones at various levels.  Spanking certainly was a hard concept for me to understand as the 60’s paved the way into my teenage years.  Fidgeting in church was always frowned upon by my parents.  Why?  What harm could a little…

In so many ways and in at so many levels, I’m still processing through last Sunday.  How about you?  Tom McGuinness’ story blew anyone and everyone away at our CCC gathering last week.  You can click here to watch the entire service, again.  You can click here to watch just Tom’s video story, again.  Amazing.  Hard.  Challenging.  Yea, God. As a dad, I’m incredibly challenged to make sure I’m passing down a legacy of faith that is sure of what…

Hebrews chapter eleven, verse one, should be as touted, memorized, and heralded as a John 3:16, Matthew 6:33, or Romans 12:1. “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see.” How much faith do you have?  What are you so sure of that hope abounds?  What certainties beyond your eyesight are in absolute focus? This Sunday will such a very special day at CCC.  We’ve been calling it “Back To Church…