This weekend we gathered for our Leadership Retreat at The Lodge... Early Saturday Morning we took a prayer walk around the property as a team. As we were finishing up our prayer-walk we stopped at the entrance and I gathered our team to show them this writing in a Black Sharpie, at the bottom of one of the post. The writing says this "Grace Lodge So Be It!" This was a defining moment in my faith journey for this property and I will never forget it. Let me explain...  The Bible says that our faith impacts our lives, our prayers, our future, and well, everything. James 1:6 reads; Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who "worry their prayers" are like wind-whipped waves. Don't think you are going to get anything from the Master that way, drift at sea, keeping all your options open. We had prayed for the purchase of this property for almost 5 years. I had personally prayer-walked it many times believing that God wanted us to ...

Yes we are expanding at Grace Community Church. God has been stirring in our hearts for over 2 years and we believe now is the time. This past Sunday I presented the vision in this message  . There were audible cheers and many amens. The vision has 2 phases and we believe that God wants us to reach the 150K people in Elkhart County who do not have a place to call their home church. Too much is at stake for us to not reach them. Their eternity is up for grabs and we want them to know Jesus! The 1st Phase has people in mind, as we always want to be a church that is in the community and for the community.  We are building a two story youth center, a 4-6 grade wing, a new infant and toddler area, new store, new office spaces, a youth lounge, and a Playland for our community to bring their children to, new renovations to our exterior buildings at The Lodge in Syracuse, and so much more.  We are thrilled about this Massive Playland that will be built on the W...

This past week I was greatly impacted by the memorial at Pearl Harbor, and i t left me asking this question; "what will I be remembered for?" I have a deep longing in me to do things that really matter. Let me explain... I do not want to waste my life on earth with things that have no eternal value. I do not want to just be a blip on the radar screen that was here for 75 years, yet didn't make the world a better place. I have a deep longing to use my gifts, abilities, skills, and talents to point people to Jesus. With that being said this is my life goal. "To Be Partially Responsible For _______________"  I long for my life to inspire others to reach further, achieve higher, believe more, push harder, dream bigger, laugh more, attempt quicker, get back up sooner, go deeper, run faster, risk longer and become the person that Jesus intended them to be after spending time with and around me.  That is my life goal, to be partially responsi...

Just yesterday this ESPN article hit the airways and I have a backstory to it... I have had the incredible privilege of spending time in South East Asia with some precious rescued orphan children. In 2007 our Church, Grace Community Church made a monumental commitment to build two orphan homes in Cambodia and Thailand. We made this pledge on a cold Sunday morning in February after I had asked our church to rescue orphans. People wrote checks and made pledges in the two services that Sunday that blew me away. I had originally hoped that enough money would be collected to sponsor one home, but our generous church pledged enough for two homes. It truly was a God-moment. My family and I, along with a team from our Church, made the first trip to visit our children that Summer. We fell in love with these precious kids right away. In my mind, this is still the best thing that Grace Community Church has ever invested in.  So as this article above hit the press yester...