I'm In Awe

I'm in awe of God. What we experienced on Sunday is difficult to put in words.

Quick Aside:
As I shared on Saturday, our church showed up big time at our East Baltimore location where we are preparing to launch our next campus. The Baltimore Sun ran a story about an initiative that some political leaders are trying to get started in our area. Unbeknown to us, we are on the cutting edge. :) Check out the story by clicking here.

Back to Sunday: This Sunday was one of our most powerful services to date. We baptized 6 at the beginning of service. I'm including the video at the bottom of this post. CHECK IT OUT. When we baptize I like to take time to tell their stories. I truly believe Baptism becomes one of the greatest avenues for the Gospel to be shared. It's one thing for a Pastor to preach and tell people what they should do. It's an entirely new ballgame when someone sees an adult profess Jesus as Lord and follow through in Baptism. Suddenly it's not the Pastor preaching... its their friend or someone with whom they can easily identify. (See pictures at the bottom of the post)
I preached from Luke 15 about the lost sheep and then asked people if they would like to respond to the prompting of Christ in their life. What happened next was powerful. Over the next few minutes we saw 10 people come forward to respond to the invitation to receive Christ. We have people come forward to make a public decision. One by one I hugged each person as our church celebrated. This is new life in Christ! Every one of those people are special but one of them was my own 15 year old sister. I was wrecked when I saw her coming.

What you should keep in mind about our weekend was that not only did a bunch of our people come to serve in East Baltimore on Saturday. They brought friends and 10 received Christ. Then after service we had a "VIP" team meeting. (We've jacked the VIP concept from our friends at Elevation Church) While the previous week we had 12 sign up... close to 40 came out to the training!

Not only that but it was raining here and the restaurant we selected wasn't conducive for a meeting so a few of our guys went and grabbed our VIP tents and set them up outside of the restaurant. Right there, outside, in the middle of the Towne Center we held our VIP team training! Our people are ready to do whatever they can to reach people with the Gospel and I love them for it!

What a weekend, what a church, what a God!

East Baltimore Block Party

I could not be more proud of the people of Captivate Church than I am today!

If you want to see the photos in an album, simply click: View all  

We hosted a 'Back to School Block Party' in East Baltimore today.  For those of you who don't know our story, we were given this property in East Baltimore last year.  This property is actually my former home church.  I accepted Christ and was baptized in this church.  God has called me back to Baltimore to reach this entire city.  One of the ways we're going to do that is by creating new models for how suburban and urban churches interact.  Instead of having a 'mission' in the city, we want to be one church in two very distinct areas.  Captivate Church is outside the beltway and most of the people in our community are educated and financially stable.  Our East Baltimore location serves a population segment  with very high unemployment and very little education.  To captivate the entire city we're going to build a prototype of a singular church in diverse areas that can function as one church.

Our 'model' hasn't been done as far as we know.  I was told to my face by someone who approves church planting that they wouldn't have supported our concept because "You can't get suburban white people to care about inner city black people."  This person has obviously not met the people of Captivate Church!


Here is a random stream of thought from the day.  I'm so humbled and thankful for what God is doing here in Baltimore.  It isn't flashy, it's just seeing the gospel of Christ saturate a city one life at a time.  In word and deed we saturated a community with Christ today.

-  Today we were able to supply many kids with backpacks filled with school supplies.  Everything was donated by the people of Captivate.  The same people who served at this event today.

-  We had a prayer tent set up.  It was cool to glance over and seeing our people talking to and praying with people.  Praying in public doesn't draw the crowds like games or food so whenever I saw one I silently prayed for them and the Captivate church member doing the ministering.  About 10 years ago I saw a prayer tent as part of an outreach strategy in New York.  I thought it was the absolute stupidest idea ever.  I thought that until I actually prayed with people.  I realized in that moment that some people don't have a clue what it feels like to hear their name spoken before a holy God.  That act alone, praying out loud by name for someone can be one of the biggest bridge builders there can be.  Not a lot of people are willing to come over to a canopy with "prayer tent" written on it... but when they do, it's usually one of the most powerful moments of that person's life.


-  Over 500 meals were eaten at our event today.  Because the event lasted 3 hours on a city block it's hard to estimate the crowd over that time but the food is a decent indicator.

-  We hired a DJ who is a Christian and loves what we're doing.  He's been amazing to work with and always knows how to keep a crowd into it.  As a church the community is expecting to dismiss you.  We've built a great reputation in the neighborhood and little things like a DJ help in that regard.

-  This is the community where a little 9 year old girl asked me last year "what's a Pastor?"  

-  This is also a community where a program called "Safe Streets" exists in an effort to reduce gang violence.  We've had many shootings and several murders in this community within the last few months. Click here to see a video of a shooting response from a few years back.  It's good in giving you a tone of what they do.


-  Safe Streets came out to our event today.  We believe in developing great partnerships.  Unfortunately in the city environment most churches get taken because they don't choose partners carefully.  I've come to appreciate Safe Streets and I'm glad they're in our area.  I've got love for them.  They show love to us as well.

-  The McEldery Park Community is practically begging us to start Sunday services.  Today I received no less than 15 requests to start the church.  I've been waiting for the right time.  I think we're close.  It's good when people start to nudge you to open.

-  I talked to a young man who had a good friend shot 3 times in the face around Memorial Day.  The shooter unloaded the rest of the gun.  The murdered young man was 18 years old and the one arrested for the crime is 18 as well.  Two lives gone over what amounts to nothing.  This incident happened right behind our church building.  We must start and revitalize churches in Baltimore.  There is a hope in Christ that people don't know because we're not there.  As a side note I wonder how many of our famous Christian leaders minister in areas where violence like this is commonplace.  I'm concerned we have our priorities out of whack in pop-Christendom.

-  One young woman from Captivate Church worked a 16-hour shift at Johns Hopkins Hospital and then drove over to work another 4 hours at our block party!  I was in awe to see her serving children and sharing Christ in her scrubs and a Captivate T-shirt!


-  Several of our Captivate families stopped me to tell me that they have never before felt so alive than to be in a church as active as Captivate.  I firmly believe the way to grow a great church is to put people on mission following Jesus and being the ambassadors He's called us to be.  2 Corinthians 5:17-21

-  Another man in our church shared with me that God is working him over about priorities in his life.  We had this conversation on a street in the middle of East Baltimore.  If you knew just how different his life is from where we were standing at that moment, you'd never again doubt that God can move hearts to care for those who are very different than us.

-  In some of the pictures above you'll see we had a rap group perform.  I was a little nervous (I rapped in college a little bit and I enjoy the music) because Christian rap suffers from quality issues but these guys tore it up.  If your ministry doesn't require a rap group from time to time, come hang with me for a while :)


-  Several of the people who served today are being baptized tomorrow!  God has been moving in lives at Captivate in a big way.  I'm so thankful for what HE is doing.

-  My family has been big in supporting the work I've been doing.  My mom and two of my sisters attend Captivate while today my other sister (who attends a church plant near her house) came with her husband to help as well.  From my grandfather to uncles to several cousins, God has given me a huge blessing by seeing my family drawn closer to Christ over these last two years.  In some ways that was happening before I came home and in others it's been noticeably stronger upon my arrival here.  In both ways I thank God that I get to have a front-row seat to their spiritual growth.  He's an amazing God.

-  Our staff team and a few others who organized this event were absolutely incredible!  I did NOTHING for this event today.  I cast vision and started to work on other things.  They did everything from dealing with the city to shut down the block, to calling the Fire Department to get them to bring their truck, to organizing, purchasing, picking up supplies (using the church truck which means they had to unload, then load, then unload and reload again tonight before they unload into the church tomorrow and reload again...did you get that?)  God has brought to me a group of loyal and strong men and women who want to see God sweep across the city of Baltimore through Captivate.  They are truly 'Heart and Soul' type of people.  I love them dearly.

Wheels on The Bus

Today was Caleb's first day riding the bus. He couldn't wait. To him this was like getting to ride a roller coaster by himself.

He's enjoying this stage. Kristy and I don't want him to grow up.

Kristy wants to create a scrapbook of him holding the name of the grade he's in on each of his first days. In Kindergarten this is fun... I'll be interested how he reacts in the 9th grade.


At the bus stop! The little girls on the left were enamored with Ainsley. I understand, she's a cute kid.


Cman was pumped. He almost forgot to give his mommy a hug... almost. :)
A new chapter in my little man's life has begun.

Jesus: Your Pocket or Your Platform?

I've been fascinated over the last few years to observe the body of Christ become 'the body of everything else'. When the local church of the living God becomes the local church of anything and everything else it loses its spiritual power and worth.

On a regular basis I remind the people of Captivate that while there are many ‘good’ things we could do, we are intent to focus on being ministers of reconciliation. We are not the Boy Scouts, we're not the 4H club, we're not a social justice organization, and we are not a social welfare agency. Those groups have a purpose and are intentional about their scope. They don't apologize about their focus and they work hard not to shift from their focus. The church has a focus. Jesus. We are a local expression of the body of Christ who is charged to use everything we have to be Christ's ambassadors.

There is nothing more powerful, more relevant or more exciting than the local church focused on the glory of God through His son, Jesus Christ. Conversely there is nothing more pathetic than to see a Pastor put Jesus in their back pocket and use the pulpit and platform to point to something else.

One of the most powerful verses of scripture is found in 2 Corinthians 5:11-21.

The passage of scripture focuses on the final few verses:

²⁰ We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. ²¹God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

When church is about something else and not about reconciling men to God as its primary and ultimate focus... it is no longer a church. It may 'look' like a church. It may 'feel' like a church. There may be music and there may be a person who talks but if it's not a body of believers acting as Christ's ambassadors... it's not a church.

What is the unmistakable message of your church? In your church could someone do what is asked of them without Christ? Could they 'do' what is taught and not speak the name of Christ? When your Pastor preaches this week, is Salvation in Christ his focus or something else?

No matter what you're talking about it must ultimately be about the person and purpose of the gospel, Jesus Christ.

The church has life when the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are not only invited into the room but invited to the front and given the spotlight.

Pastors, please take Jesus from your back pocket and put Him on the platform. Jesus is the first, last and only reason for the church to exist. Don't allow your church or yourself to become spiritually bankrupt by maintaining a focus on anything else. Many things are good for the church to do but there is only one who should get our worship. Let no one be confused about who or what you worship.

Captivate in Pictures 8-29-10

Today at Captivate we finished up our "Together" series with a challenge for all of us to come together and grow up into and under the headship of Jesus Christ.

I'm a product of a fatherless home. In my life I was on track to be a statistic when it comes to boys growing up without a father and passing that on to a third generation. Fortunately along the way God brought people who believed in me and I have been blessed to be mentored by a few men who love Jesus and His Church. Sadly, many young men don't have those examples. I believe the Church should provide examples of biblical manhood to the culture. We first have to teach boys how to grow up and be men. To say this message was well received today would be an understatement.

There are many reasons that boys don't grow up and that men don't learn biblical manhood. They range from the subtle to the obvious. We take our cues about manhood from so many places other than Christ. Its part of my passion to develop boys into men. Captivate will do that.

To give men a proper view of self we have to begin with a proper view of Jesus. I took some time to read a 'poem' (church song) to a big African American biker who I pulled from the crowd today. I asked the audience how many men felt comfortable singing "Cause nothing else could take your place, to feel the warmth of your embrace. Help me find a way, bring me back to you." The reality is that singing is awkward for many men and on top of that the average guy has no desire to sing songs about feeling warm embraces with a man.

In the picture above I also addressed our own view of Jesus. This picture I brought on stage used to hang in the fellowship hall of my childhood home church. I described all of the graven images it sends. A white man with long perfect hair and a manicured beard gazing off into the distance. God didn't give us a description of Jesus because none of us has a corner on the identity of God. I reminded our church today "We are made in the image of Christ but yet we spend time making Christ in our image." That is a sin we must repent of and stop. It's idolatry. We don't worship an image, we worship a Savior.

Finally we discussed headship of Christ by pointing out his attributes in Hebrews 1:1-4. He is creator, sustainer, forgiver of sins, savior, higher than any other... etc. I then closed by taking the men in our church to Revelation 19 where we see a returning and triumphant Jesus coming back. He makes the UFC men look like they prance around with tulips and daisies in their teeth. Our coming Savior returns to handle business. Men can afford to worship that Savior. Men need to learn to worship the fullness that is Christ. The compassionate, just, righteous, loving, powerful, mighty and masculine "radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being"(Ephesians 4:3)

We need our churches to be under the headship of Jesus Christ. We must be about nothing else that can distract us. We are indeed His body on this planet and He alone is our head. Men, lets become great men of God who demonstrate to the world who our Savior is. Lets lead our churches with grace, love, truth, boldness and strength.

References from today: (Ephesians 4:11-16, Hebrews 1:1-4 and Revelation 19:11-21)

Article about 20-somethings: http://tinyurl.com/233doxp

Article by Mark Driscoll: http://tinyurl.com/2exdoe3

Coffee Talk (a cure for new-church isolation)

A few months ago we started to do "coffee talks" at a local independent coffee shop. We stole the idea from Tadd Grandstaff and Pine Ridge Church. As you can tell from the pics below we moved this month's gathering to "The Empire: Starbucks" because of some repairs being made to the independent up the road.

The concept is simple. If you've started to attend Captivate Church in the last 8 weeks, we'll buy your drink. If you're a part of Captivate we'd like you to come and welcome new families to the church. It's a simple but effective way of getting people connected who may never realize others share similar interests.

From our staff's perspective we know a lot more about families in our church than they usually know about one another. We typically spend time during the coffee talks getting to know recent additions to the church and then going across the room and introducing them to someone who share similar interests.

Last night we had a volunteer fireman who is also a police officer get introduced to a full time fireman and then later in the evening I introduced both of them to a college student who is taking the fireman exam in about a month. These guys had a connection based on fire fighting that they may not have realized just by attending services each Sunday.

When people come to the church they find out that we exist to send them on mission for Christ. Anyone attending Captivate for more than a week understands that. What we as a church understand is that in order to be fulfilled while on mission our people need the feeling of connectedness with one another.

When you look across the room at a stranger and then you find out you share 15 years of an interest (hobby, job, unusual workout routine, etc.), you instantly have a 15 year bond with this stranger. He/She knows many of your frustrations, hurts, pains and victories. Then when they talk about the mission of the church together, they now have some common language already built in to unite together and get a task done.

No one likes to feel alone. The only thing worse than being alone is being alone in a crowded room.

Great People build Great Churches

(random photo: myself and Mr. Jim McBride, Executive Pastor of Sherwood Church)

Great Partner Churches:

We have been able to do what we're doing in part to some great partner churches. One of them is Sherwood Church in Albany, GA. Sherwood is a church that is changing the world from Albany, GA. Do you know where Albany, GA is? No? It's okay, most people don't. Many of you probably don't even know who Sherwood Church is. It's your loss. They are best known for being the makers of "Facing the Giants" and "Fireproof". They have a forthcoming movie about fatherhood coming in 2011 called "Courageous".

Their Pastor, Dr. Michael Catt is a great leader who is passionate about Jesus, the local church and revival in the hearts of God's people. The true test of a leader however is several levels down from the church office. Dr. Catt leads a church that is one of the most passionate group of Jesus-followers I've ever seen in my life. They have been beyond generous to us in Baltimore and I can't thank God enough for the impact their church is having in my hometown. God is using Sherwood in ways they may never know in order to advance the Gospel.

Some of the 'Great People' who make Captivate Church happen have never even been to a service and most will never travel to Maryland. The great people of Sherwood Church in Albany, GA are not unlike the great people of a dozen other churches who contribute to make Captivate happen. Individuals who give their tithes and offerings to their church to advance the gospel and then their Pastors send some of those resources to places like Baltimore where we need the supply line to keep going to battle every day over souls. These are some of the great people who make Captivate happen.

Thank you Dr. Michael Catt, Mr. Jim McBride and Mr. Jim Jewell for investing in Baltimore through the ministry of Captivate Church.

Great Captivate Attendees:

Last night my wife and I sat down with eight recent additions to Captivate. Seven of them (to my knowledge) are believers and one accepted Christ this past Sunday.

This group is a breath of fresh air. They all didn't know one another prior to last night but they all were connected through one of the couples who started coming to the church. As I talked to them about their stories and as they responded to the vision of Captivate Church I can tell that these are solid people who just want to see God move in their lives and through the life of their church.

A few quotes from last night that caught my ear:

"I appreciate when you give high standards because it lets me know you're serious and you value the church."

"I expect to serve, service in the church is a built in part of being a member."

"Our son is going through a hard time and he watched Captivate online. He wants to get things together and after seeing the sermons online he's moved down here to come to the church and get things right in his life."

As we got to talk to these families I got the sense that God was doing something I prayed for many months ago. I started to pray that God would send us missionaries. I asked God to send us people who were NOT connected to a local church but who would come in attracted to our mission of reaching Baltimore with the gospel, not come in to try to make us something different. As I heard story after story last night I couldn't help but to feel like God is bringing us some great people to build a great church. I'm so excited for where we are and where God is leading us.

We've been able to add some believers to our mix who love Jesus and love His Church without losing sight of our mission to reach people with the gospel. We baptized two on Sunday and saw one come forward to receive Christ. We have several more baptisms lined up for September 12th. God is doing a great work and we're honored to be part of this church.

Adorable Kids Post

This weekend my bride went down to Lynchburg, VA, home of Liberty University (Lets Go L.U.) where she set up a photo shoot with Jane Bradley Photography. Jane is a gifted young woman who has become a great photographer. She has a great family and is married to a young man who was in a youth group of mine in Virginia Beach. I highly recommend her work if you live within a drive to Central Virginia.

Here are some recent photos of my adorable children. Click to enlarge.

"Sons are a heritage from the LORD, children a reward from him." - Psalm 127:3

The Real Captivate

So often you see pictures of the lights, the preacher with the microphone, the band rockin' it out and the the pictures say "This is our church." Usually they don't tell the real story.

Much of the real church happens before and after the service. Those people who sacrifice to arrive, set up and tear down equipment at the end of the day. These are my heroes in our church. They are the special forces. Along with the people changing diapers and the greeters giving a great "hello" they make up the backbone of Captivate Church.

Here are a few pictures from today. Check out the REAL Captivate Church!

We're collecting 100 backpacks filled with school supplies that we'll distribute as a church on September 11th at an East Baltimore block party.

These guys are loading up our baptistry which we used this weekend. We baptized two! Another baptism is scheduled for September 12th. We get excited whenever we dunk around here.

This new generator is a beast. We had to purchase it because someone broke into our box truck and stole two generators and a few other expensive things. Mikael bought this new generator as a replacement.

The guys bought a pretty strong chain to temporarily hold down the back door. It's what you gotta do when someone breaks in and steals from the church box truck. We kept rolling... didn't flinch... and God kept blessing. We had two baptisms and a man came forward to receive Christ.

What a powerful service today! Some of the people who makes this happen each and every week are found in the pictures above.

I Will Let You Down

As I type this post I sit on my recliner in the living room. It's Thursday. It's 10:44 p.m. It's quiet. My family are all sleeping and I just walked in from a fantastic visit with a family who has recently started to attend our church. As we continue to grow I will not be able to have these dinners, coffees and deserts with most who come to Captivate so I genuinely value these times during this season of our ministry.

As I talked with this great couple we discussed all the usual things a meeting like this would entail. We talked about our testimonies, the Bible, God, culture, vision for the church, our city, etc. We just had a great conversation. This couple is a 'diamond in the rough' kind of family. It was sincerely a pleasure for me to be with them this evening.

As we wrapped up our conversation and before I departed I shared a sentiment that your Pastor would likely share with you. I said something along these lines (insert your Pastor's voice for my own):

"Just so you know, I'm human. I'm likely to let you down. I'm likely to say something, do something or neglect to say or do something which may cause friction. Please know, even now, I will not willingly do so. If you would pray for me regularly I would appreciate that very much. If I do happen to cause you pain please feel the freedom to speak with me. If we come together in humility we can always end up at love even if we disagree on an issue at hand. I commit to come to you in humility longing for reconciliation and I ask that in that spirit you come to me as well. In doing so we can honor Christ and His Church."

If you're at Captivate Church I want you to know that this is my heart. If you're not a part of our church family I want you to know that most Pastors who love Jesus and the Church will carry a similar heart. We may use different words to say things but we share one common Holy Spirit. It is in that Spirit that we all long for reconciliation.

Reconciliation does not mean however that your Pastor will always agree with you. He is not made in your image. He is made in the image of God. As you pursue maturity in Christ and your identity is found in Jesus you will usually find that your Pastor is on the same road. He wakes up every day, washes his face and in that image on the mirror he sees many enemies, insecurities and uncertainties. It is not the absence of those things that cause Him to move forward, it's in spite of those that he steps forward to serve Jesus and His Church. He has no "S" on his chest and his calling didn't come with a red cape. What he has is a certainty that he is set aside by God to be a priest among priests. He is broken and sinful and saved by grace the same way you are.

Your pastor is called to be committed to the gospel (good news) of Jesus Christ (Gal 1:6-10). Your pastor is called to encourage and equip you to fulfill the work that God prepared in advance of your life for you to do (Eph 2:8-10, Ephesians 4:11-16). Your pastor is called to lead the church to be ministers of reconciliation "...as though God were making his appeal through us." (2 Cor 5:21).

So as your Pastor is attempting to live up to God's standards there will be times when he will fall short of your standards. He's sorry. He's sincerely sorry. Even better than that you can expect (whether public or private) there are times he will royally blow it in your eyes. He needs your grace. He needs your forgiveness. He needs to hear that you love Him. Most of all he needs your fervent prayer. If he's anything like me (or you)... he needs a Savior and therefore he will let you down.

Pray for him early and often and pray that if he does let you down it will not be because of sin issue but rather because you simply saw a time where it was confirmed to you that he is indeed human and you were reminded that he doesn't wear a red cape. Pray then for reconciliation, grant forgiveness and ask God to grant him the strength and wisdom he will need to continue to point people to Jesus in a way that honors both the Father and the Father's people.