all about the kingdom (+ shot glasses)

There are a lot of great churches in Charlotte who are spreading God's fame... and like I said yesterday, we're on the same team. I'm really excited to tell all you guys about another one of these churches besides the one I'm at.

Next Level Church is making waves for the kingdom here in Charlotte. They're doing something called "project 485" (not to be confused with these guys). Basically they are going to plant a Next Level campus near every exit around 485 here in Charlotte. That's a rockin' goal & I'm excited about what they're doing to spread God's renown!

They're 1st campus is in Balantyne & they just had their 1st worship service this past Sunday. Robbie McLaughlin is the Balantyne campus pastor & a friend of mine. Let me tell you something really cool about Robbie. He is the campus pastor at this awesome church which is a pretty "lofty" position. BUT he leads worship for us regularly in Upstreet - one of the children's environments at Ridge. "Let me get this straight," you're probably asking about right now... "This guy is on staff at a big church and is the campus pastor launching a new site + he foregoes his Sunday naptime to come and lead worship for a group of elementary kids!???" - YEP. Actually he AND his wife Samantha... & they do an amazing job! No pride or ego there. I think God will take their humility & amazing talent and do awesome things.

Now you're probably thinking "where have I heard of this next level place?" (I know, I know, I'm psychic & a mind-reader... a little freaky isn't it?) You may have heard about them recently in the Charlotte Observer, foxnews.com, CBS evening news, Fox News, and several other media outlets!!!

Kinda crazy, but Robbie walked into Ridge a few Sundays ago for soundcheck in Upstreet & said something like "you better be thankful I love you guys because I'm turning down an interview with Fox News to be here." Not sure that I would have done the same for him... just kidding... well, maybe. Next Level's lead pastor Todd Hahn (who I'm pretty sure also planted Warehouse 242) took Robbie's spot on the interview & did an awesome job.

"OK Patrick, tell us what got them all this attention??" Shot glasses. That's right... shot glasses. They took them to the bars in Balantyne with their logo on them and an invite. The glasses read "give us a shot." Pretty cool, huh?

Check out Todd's interview on Fox News here.

To read the Charlotte Observer stories click here & here.
You can check out the video about the shot glasses from Robbie & Todd here.

Anyway, I was stoked for several reasons when our lead pastor Chris announced several weeks ago that the Ridge staff would be joining Next Level Balantyne's first worship gathering & helping out in any way we could. That was this past Sunday. That was really cool to be a part of another church's opening service when we just had our 1st a few short months ago. It was sweet & Robbie's got a great team that's ready to rock Balantyne for God's renown.

So, does it seem odd that one church should want to help a new church that is starting so close to their own? Is it weird that Next Level offers to help us in some really big ways? Aren't we competition? There's a Greek phrase that is a great answer to this question = HECK NO!!! We're not competition, we're both all about the kingdom! We're on the same team & I'm happy to be working along side Robbie & these guys in this awesome city!

***The Balantyne campus' public launch is this Sunday - February 10th. If you live in Balantyne or know someone who does - give these guys a shot.