This weekend C3 is celebrating our 20th Anniversary! God has done so many amazing miracles since we first planted C3, and it blows me away to see where we are now.

I wanted to take you down memory lane a little bit, and share some pictures along the journey. 

Paul narrowed it down to one thing in Philippians 3:13.

“…I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.”

This makes me think of when the Israelites were going into the Promise Land. They sent the 12 spies into the land, but 10 of the spies came back and began to spread a negative report. Why? They were focused on the wrong thing. They were focused on the past. They would rather go back to slavery in Egypt than trust God for the promise land! They said things like, "There are giants in the land (truth) and we look like grass hoppers to them (lie)."

Numbers 14:1-4, “Then the whole community began weeping aloud, and they cried all night.² Their voices rose in a great chorus of protest against Moses and Aaron. “If only we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!” they complained. ³ “Why is the Lord taking us to this country only to have us die in battle?...

We see how Paul is Focused in Philippians ¹³ No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead."

It is so easy to get distracted. With my personality I can get bored really easy. Sometimes if a conversation gets too serious for too long I like to just throw in some random humor, but Martha doesn’t call it humor, she calls it a distraction. LOL. 

Sometimes it’s a movie quote from one of my favorite movies like ELF,  “Why are you smiling?” “Smiling's my favorite” "Make work your favorite."

What are you focusing on?

You have the option to focus on:

• Your problems
• Your limitations
• Your circumstances
• Your feelings
• Your enemies
• Your critics
• Yourself

OR

• You can Focus on God and His plan for your life!

I am blessed to have 3 awesome kids, and they have grown up way too fast. I’ve told them and I tell any young...

Being connected to God is about more than just a union; it’s about communion with Him. When Martha and I got married, it wasn’t long before I began asking, “Who is this woman?” And trust me, she was asking herself, “Who is this guy?” We both realized our marriage was not playing out the way the fantasy did in our minds.

We learned that relationships—real, lasting relationships—take work. We learned that communication is key for success. Whether good or bad, we found out we had to be honest about how we felt, and we had to encourage each other even when we didn’t feel like it.

We have worked at being connected not just by a marriage license, but by communing with each other and with God in relationship. To be successful in marriage and any other significant relationship, you have to be led by God’s Spirit and not your feelings.

Christianity—a relationship with God—is more than just saying a prayer of commitment....

How do you find a Proverbs 31 woman? What does she look like? I don’t have all of the answers but I do know what a Proverbs 31 woman looks like because I married one! And we are celebrating her birthday! The birthday card I gave her said Happy 39^th Birthday! But seriously when I think of Martha I think of what Proverbs says,

Proverbs 31:29-31“Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.” ³⁰ Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. ³¹ Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.”

What I appreciate about Martha is that

1. She serves God with all of her heart.
2. She has a whatever it takes attitude.
3. She’s willing to do the hard stuff.
4. She has a compassion for hurting people.
5. She will go the extra mile to help someone find freedom.
6. She is constantly growing.
7. She’s beautiful inside and out.
8. She has a passion for our...

Amidst Hurricane Florence, I have been meditating on this Scripture from Psalm 46 (MSG) and in particular verse 1 which says, ^"God is a safe place to hide, ready to help when we need him."

Everyone of us have probably been hurt and we have hurt someone else. Because hurting people often hurt other people. Sometimes we are even hurt by those who are close to us. But when I realized that Jesus is my Good Shepherd I now have confidence that even if people do or say hurtful things to me I’m ok because I have a relationship with Jesus who declares that He is my Good Shepherd. People may come and go out of our life but Jesus promises that He will never leave us or forsake us!

The Bible often refers to Jesus as a shepherd and to us as His flock. Let’s talk about what that means for us.

The shepherd served as the door to the sheepfold. He stood guard there during the day, and he slept across the threshold at night, making sure the sheep stayed where they were supposed to be and the thieves and wild beasts kept away from his precious flock. This is what Jesus was trying to explain to the Pharisees in John 10 about who He was—and who He is to us.

He is our...

• What is your passion?
• What are you passionate about?
• What do you cry about?
• ...

Today begins a new week, so I am excited for what lies ahead! Everyday, we encounter someone who is living in darkness, whether we are aware of it or not. Therefore, we have an amazing opportunity to be a light everywhere we go. Simply by changing our attitudes, we are communicating that light to others. 

We all know that the moon doesn’t produce light on its own; it just reflects the light of the sun. When we shine the light of Jesus, it is different because we don’t just reflect the light of Jesus. When He is in us, His light shines through us out to the world. We aren’t just capable of showing His light, though. We are called to share it with the world.

This instruction in the Book of Matthew is one of the most intimidating things God tells us to do. Many believers have no problem loving God, praising Him, and even obeying Him. But when it comes to going out and telling others about Him, we clam up. The good news is that there are a lot of different ways to...