The vainness of self vindication

It doesnt matter who you are – to some degree, you care about what others think of you… self vindication is a vicious cycle. Why do we care so much about what others think?!? It can consume us and become a huge distraction in our relationship with God. Consider the words of St. Augustine..
St. Augustine [...]

Protect the space with your family

This picture was taken on Lily’s favorite ride, The People Mover. Shortly after it was over, we made our way to find a spot for the parade. 90 minutes before it started we had tons of space, as time passed by it got more & more crowded.  People inched in to personal space trying to [...]

God’s character flaws

Here is a quote from a man in whom most of his writings never became famous until after his death. His name is Oswald Chambers, and his devotional, “My Utmost for His Highest” is one of the most widely read devotional books of all time.  This is what I read in the October 31st entry…
“Faith [...]

Leaders give & take…

I learned a lot about leadership over the past week. Wednesday night East Coast had a planning meeting that mapped out in detail what the preview service was going to look like from start to finish. The next day I received a phone call that the school we were going to use pulled the plug [...]

The best moment at Catalyst ‘09

This was BY FAR the best thing about Catalyst. If you look closely East Coast Church is stage left. We got to sit right up on the stage for this moment. Let me recommend sponsoring a child through Compassion International. We have one child for each of ours.Watch this video (when you have 18 minutes) [...]

When opportunities roll your way…

Thats my little girl on the left. She’s a natural, dominating the soccer field! She’s my girl, I’m so proud of her! In all actuality, she stepped up and kicked the ball when the opportunity came to her… yeah, you know where I’m going with this.
I proud of my daughter no matter what, but Im [...]

Catalyst 09

Six years ago, I attended Catalyst… five years ago at this conference God began to call me to plant a new work. In years past, every time I would attend God would hammer me with the calling of starting church, every year I ran.
Some of you know in early spring this year, I submitted to [...]

Ownership is taken by letting go

Friday and Saturday I went to the Catalyst Conference, God showed me MANY things. I will blog a full post on what I learned later. Tonight I want to share with you one thing I heard Reggie Joiner say.
“You can win the battle — and lose the child”
Yes that applies mostly to the family, but [...]

inside the heart of a lead worshiper

I am honored to work with the people who have bought into the vision of East Coast Church. I’m not in any way honoring one in particular above the others, I just wanted to share with you a little of his heart. He will be leading us to God’s throne in worship. He has led [...]

Critical distraction…

When was the last time you heard someone being critical about you or the vision God has uniquely given you for your life? Today, yesterday, last week? Unfortunately critics will ALWAYS be there. Some you may need to listen to, for God can surely use a critic, for others… consider the source.
This morning I read [...]