my heart is jacked up for this city (repost)

(This is a repost from November 6, 2008.)

A couple weeks ago driving back into Charlotte from ATL I was overwhelmed when I got into Charlotte. I just saw all the headlights. Headlights with people in those cars. Souls in those cars. Tens of thousands of people & souls in Charlotte and they don't know God. 

God wants them to know them. God wants their praise! I was worshipping and was overwhelmed as I was shouting along with the chorus = "Here is our KING, Here is our LOVE, Here is our GOD who's come to bring us back to Him... He is the ONE, He is JESUS!" (Crowder) I just want all those peeps to know that God came to rescue them! He came to be their King, their love... He came to bring them back to Him. I want them to know! I want them to know His name is Jesus.

I am going to spend these years of my life in Charlotte consumed with making sure they know. I'll do whatever I have to do. God wants their worship and they won't be satisfied until they're giving it to Him. I was still worshipping God and the next words of that soundtrack were so profound and my heart was beating out of my chest as I was singing the truth to God = "You should be the praise of every tongue! You should be the praise of every heart!" (Redman)

God should be the praise of every tongue in this city. There's a lot of worship He's not getting from peeps in Charlotte. There is a ton of praise that's going somewhere besides God.

I just want them to know that rescue is here... His name is Jesus and He wants their worship. I'm going to leverage my days to relevantly communicate that to the people and souls of Charlotte.

letter to Lebron James

This was a letter in the Charlotte observer yesterday to Lebron James.
It's actually not even from a Charlotte person, but from a guy who is a columnist for the New York Times.
Basically an appeal for Lebron to come play for the Charlotte Bobcats next season!
Pretty cool. I would love to hear Lebron's and Jordan's thoughts!

"Dear LeBron:
On Monday many of us watched the young Charlotte Bobcats fight the good fight before falling to the Orlando Magic in a first-round sweep.
Charlotte was the young kid with a big heart fighting the playground bully and holding his own. Ultimately, the bully was too big and the Bobcats were not good enough.
Charlotte was missing one piece, LeBron: you.
For the past two years the world has been advising you about where to play next season.
Where can you make the greatest impact? Where can you make the most dollars?
In Charlotte, where Michael Jordan, your basketball hero, is majority owner. Jordan became the second African-American owner of an NBA franchise. He bought the franchise from the first, Robert L. Johnson. More significantly, in terms of power dynamics, Jordan is the first former NBA player to become a majority owner in the league.
Why should this matter?
It matters because from the beginning of your career, you set your sights on being different, on being more than a basketball player.
You began your career by saying you wanted to be Warren E. Buffett and Muhammad Ali. That struck many as an odd combination. Buffett became famous for amassing wealth, while Ali, standing on courage and principle, did it without spending a dime.
You won't achieve immortality by selling sneakers. You can achieve acclaim, however, by doing something completely counterintuitive, perhaps by joining a 6-year-old franchise and a first-year majority owner and making Charlotte a championship destination.
Why Charlotte?
The answer is simple: Jordan.

How to achieve real greatness

Last year you said you wanted to honor his legacy. You proposed that the NBA retire his No. 23.
Forget the number, LeBron. The greatest tribute you could pay him is joining forces with him next season and creating a dynasty in Charlotte. The two of you could forge a powerful alliance and achieve in an unprecedented way.
Imagine the story line: Charlotte became the 30th member of the NBA on May 3, 2004. Six years later, LeBron James joins the franchise and takes it to heights previously unknown.
Not even Jordan did that. Jordan was drafted into his role. He was drafted by the Bulls in 1984 and led Chicago to its first NBA championship in 1991 at age 28.
Your advisers may tell you to stay as far away from Jordan as possible. He will block your light, they say. Jordan will steal your thunder.
No. The only one who may do that is a 6-foot-9 do-everything forward named Kevin Durant.
That's the thing about sports, LeBron. Fame is so fleeting. What is hot today is old news tomorrow. A good friend was recently lamenting that his teenage son couldn't understand all the fuss over Jordan. LeBron James was the hero of his era.
Most athletes are destined to be overtaken by the next new thing - unless they become Babe Ruth, Joe Louis, Jackie Robinson or Muhammad Ali.
The only way to achieve such stature is to do something bold and timeless, like taking an unpopular stand or making an unpopular move.
For you, LeBron, that would be leaving Cleveland to join forces with Jordan in Charlotte. Jordan wins his first NBA championship as an owner, you win your first as a player. Then another. And another.
Where are the marketing opportunities in Charlotte? Where are they in Cleveland? The opportunities go where you go, LeBron. Marketing follows you - it has been that way since you were in high school. You go to Jupiter, you put Jupiter on the map.
Charlotte is the Queen City. And you are the king without a crown.
There is no wrong answer - unless the question is, How do I achieve greatness? If that's the aim, go to Charlotte, team with Jordan and win championships."

After reading the letter do YOU have any thoughts?

(repost) ridge church - a movement of God in charlotte

*This was my 6th post ever on renown way back on January 8th, 2008. Ridge was just a couple months old then. God has done so much since i wrote this article over 2 years ago. I was looking back on it after Throwback this past Sunday and thought i would just repost this... Enjoy.

Crystal and I are really stoked to be part of an amazing community called ridge church. We launched the church to the public just a few short months ago and God is already doing some amazing things! Ridge is made up of an incredible group of Jesus followers who want to see God's fame break out like an epidemic throughout Charlotte. God has also blessed Ridge with an amazing staff that I am privileged and humbled to be a small part of. The vision for ridge began years ago in the heart of our fearless leader and stellar lead pastor Chris Brown who also has a black belt in karate (just kidding about the karate part).

Maybe you're asking - "Why start a church in Charlotte of all places?" From the beginning Chris has made it clear that "Charlotte doesn't need another church. You probably drove by several today. Charlotte does need relevant environments where believers can feel confident and safe to bring their unbelieving friends." These relevant environments set us up to accomplish our mission which is to "lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ - through intimacy with God, community with insiders, and influence with outsiders."

(Check out this video of our 1st 2 gatherings.)

This is the healthiest church I have ever been a part of or seen and I'm so thankful to be part of the team. My heart was drawn to Ridge when I heard Chris say things like - "We don't want to raise a banner in Charlotte that says 'Ridge Church' but one that says 'Jesus'" & "We just want to build a platform for Jesus to be made famous in this city." Pimp stuff. That's what I'm all about, so it was a natural thing to jump in with Ridge. Now, I'm all in!
Ridge is a strategic partner of Northpoint Community Church led by Andy Stanley. Our DNA is identical to Northpoint's and we function like a home just like they do - you can read about our foyer, living room, and kitchen environments here. We also have the same 7 core values as Northpoint that I was so stoked about when I first came to Ridge = Authentic Community/ Relational Evangelism (Evangelism is NOT an event or something we do it's simply who we are)/ Intimacy with God/ Relevant Environments/ Biblical Authority (what else would the authority be... a deacon board?)/ Strategic Service/ & Intentional Apprenticing. (you can read more about these core values here.) I can't explain how refreshing it is to be a part of a church that is all about these 7. We also follow 7 practices that will absolutely rock your world when I write about them in depth in a later post.

(check out this video of our amped kid's environments)

Ridge is a church that is committed to life change. We are all about the stories... stories of people's lives being changed by God - & those stories keep rollin' in. There is SO MUCH more I would love to tell you about this movement that is about to rock Charlotte for God's glory... but this post would be WAY too long. But don't worry, I'll be writing A LOT more about Ridge church. For now, why don't you check it out for yourself if you live in the Charlotte area + everybody should definitely visit our website at ridgechurch.net. If you have any friends in Charlotte who are unbelievers or are burnt out on "church" then Ridge is the perfect place for them... in fact our worship gatherings are designed specifically and unashamedly for them.

You've also gotta read our lead pastor's blog - Ridge Behind the Scenes. He's an amazing leader and God has His hand and blessing on Him in a special way. His passion for God and this city is infectious. (+ I think he's giving away a free 52" plasma TV to the very next commenter... totally just kidding.) Click here to listen to all of our talks from the awesome communicators at ridge church. You'll love them!

Also, consider this your own personal invitation with the fancy calligraphy & everything to come join the Ridge Church facebook group! (of course without the calligraphy - I never learned how to do that.)

God gets all the glory for what He's doing in Charlotte & I am flippin' pumped to be a little part in the story!