Around 9 months ago, God began challenging my wife and me to dream bigger dreams. Your dreams are unbelievably important, because how you dream shapes how you pray, and how you pray determines who you become.

As we prayed, we both felt like God was calling us to enlarge our “circle.” To shuffle the deck, and to reorganize our church in a way to reach way more people.

Yesterday we announced at Access that we’re going to start multiplying. From day one, our desire has been to be a church that continues to multiply itself by starting new churches. Jesus said it this way: “…you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) Jerusalem was the city they were in. Judea and Samaria were their country. To the ends of the earth… well, that one makes sense!

Through lots of prayer and counseling, we’re excited to announce that our “circle” is getting bigger. Our vision and dream is to see Access Church become a church with locations all over the greater Tampa area.

Think about how exciting this will be:

• One day, you show up at the airport to go on a missions trip, and find yourself meeting other members of our same church, who have the same heart to serve others as you do.
• One day, we’ll join with Access Church campuses from all over the Tampa region to have an incredible, united Night of Worship!
• One day, all of our campuses will converge on one location, and hundreds or thousands of us will join to serve and bless a city!
• One day, you’ll have a friend or family member move to the greater Tampa Bay area, and you’ll be able to invite them to our church, even though you may live 45 minutes away from them. We’ll be the same church, with the same excellence in Worship, Children’s Ministry, Creativity, and Messages – just dispersed.

Loved this response!

The truth is, the more I think and pray about it, the more excited I get. Since making the announcement, dozens of Access members have had unique, beautiful responses:

• One guy told me his job is transferring him to Tampa. He’s been worried and praying about finding a church there. Now we’ll be there and he can help us launch it!
• One lady told me that God has given her a specific burden for the people of a certain community in Tampa. We’ll be starting a location right next door. It was a direct answer to her prayer.
• One family has been driving an hour each week to attend Access, and at one point had actually began searching for a new church closer to home. After a year of searching, they committed to making the drive each week back to Lakeland, only to find out we’re starting a second location in their neighborhood.
• One guy told me last night that he has a friend that he’s been talking to about God for years. He “just happens” to live right where we’re starting a new location.

The stories go on and on. The bottom line is this. We exist to lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. Everything we do is about that one simple truth.

I believe with all of my heart that this is the start of something big… Something bigger than we can even imagine.

Over the next few days, I’ll be blogging lots of posts about what this means and what it looks like for us as a church. I’ll answer lots of the questions you have. I’ll let you know how you can specifically pray and help us. I’ll be explaining the process.

For now, please start by dreaming bigger dreams with us! I know that God has bigger plans for our church than we can even begin to imagine. Together, I believe He’s going to do something so big that He gets the credit for it!

I love you. I’m excited to start this journey with you!

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Here is the video message from yesterday. The Tampa announcement starts around 22:45.

As my friend, Perry Noble said, “In order to hear from God clearly, you must get out of your routine.”

Just wanted you to know why I’ve been so quiet here. That’s all changing now. I can’t wait to share this new process with you!

In reading through Romans 12, Paul says that we don’t have to allow our minds to be inundated with garbage. He says that our minds can be transformed, but we have a part to play. We are responsible for the continual renewing of our minds.

How many times have you done something completely wrong, and asked God to just fix it for you? I know I have. Too many times to count.

God is ready, willing, and able to do his part – AFTER WE DO OURS.

This simple principle applies to every area of our lives:

• God please bless my marriage – How about you love, honor and respect your spouse FIRST – even when you don’t feel like it.
• God please help me to stop worrying - Focus on something (namely, Someone) bigger than your problems – FIRST.
• God please bless my health – Take care of your body and exercise FIRST.
• God please bless my finances - Honor God by trusting Him with your money through giving FIRST.

One thing that really jumped off the pages (actually the iPad) today was this simple principle. We follow. Jesus Equips.

Look at Matthew 1. It’s easy to skip right over it. It’s a genealogy. If you’re not careful, you’ll mindlessly skip over something significant. The people listed in Jesus’ lineage aren’t perfect. There are adulterers, murderers, a hooker, cheaters, liars, and other in there. Also, the genealogy lists women. In the first century Jewish world this was written in, NO ONE mentioned women. They were after thoughts. They were treated as less than human. Yet, the Bible specifically mentions them.

Why is this?

Then, skip down to Matthew 4. Jesus begins His public ministry by calling the guys to be His disciples. Look at who He chose. Tax collectors. Fishermen. These are guys who were Middle School dropouts.

The simple idea here is this. You don’t have to be perfect to follow Jesus. He wants to use you.

I can’t tell you how many people have told me that they’d never be “good enough” to serve God. Good news – YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE. Just follow Him with your whole heart and allow Him to equip and shape you into the person He has called you to become.

We simply follow. He equips.

#NT60

I’m reading the New Testament in 60 Days. We’re calling it New Thru 60. It kicks off on Thursday, September 1.

If you’ve been a Christian for more than a week, you’ve probably tried a reading plan. One of the problems I’ve had with Bible reading plans is that I’ll start strong, then miss a day, then miss another day, then I’m so far behind that I give up. One thing I love about New Thru 60 is this. The reading is relatively light – only about 4 chapters per day (about 15 minutes of reading), and there are 7 “catch up” days in the mix. This gives you time to catch up if you miss a day for any reason.

I’m asking God to clearly speak to me through this, and I hope you’ll join me.

Here are the requirements:

1. Leave a comment on my blog to let me know you’re in. I’ll be praying specifically for you every day of this.

2. After your reading, take a moment and leave a comment on Facebook or Twitter with a thought that stood out to you, and end your thought with #NT60 (for New Thru 60). It’ll give us a way to track what you’re learning.

3. Don’t read just to read. Prepare your heart every day. Ask God to speak to you through your reading. Remember this: We don’t read the Bible for information, but transformation!

I love you and am excited to do this with you!

Here is a link to the PDF of the New Thru 60 reading plan. Thanks to my friend Dave Clayton for the help on it!

I took a break from writing this summer for one simple reason – to create space for God to speak to me. And boy has He messed me up. I’ve got some exciting things to share with you in the coming months. I can’t wait to share.

There is so many profound ideas stirring deeply in my soul. Some I’ll share here eventually, others I believe that God is doing in me… for me.

I’ll be back in a few weeks. New. Improved. Changed.

Today, we planked. Let me know which is your favorite!

Me Planking on Top of My Desk Hutch

Jordan, planking across my desk

Than, planking on top of our mailbox

Megan, planking on the couch

Mike, planking outside our offices

Jay, planking it up in our break room!

Our awesome intern, Chris, planking it up!

Than, planking at Office Depot

Crikey, Jay is planking!

So, which is your favorite? Leave a comment to let me know!

I am a blessed man. Joey and Gavin are blessed little boys!

When you marry a person, you really don’t know what kind of parent they’ll turn out to be. Sure, you can watch the way they interact with kids, or dream with them about the way you want to raise kids together, but when it comes down to it, it’s all an educated guess.

Joey & Gavin on Mother's Day... Studs.

When I married Lis, I knew she had a great example, as did I, but I never knew how great of a mom she would be. She continually gives of herself, sacrifices for, and constantly loves our boys. She gives and gives and gives… then she gives some more. Our boys will always be raised in a home where they know that their mom loves them, believes in them, and supports them. I am so thankful for that!

The other thing about Lis that I love is that she lives to have fun with the boys. Whether it’s taking Joey to the zoo, or tickling Gavin until he can’t breathe, she just lives to see a simple smile on their precious faces. Couldn’t ask for anything more.

I also had the privilege of having an amazing mother, Vickie Burns. When I was born, my parents were full time, traveling evangelists. That meant every week, we were in a different city. To many, this would be too much to handle. Not for my mom. She’s super-mom. I grew up in a home where mom’s love was always a given. Where it didn’t matter how much I succeeded, or how badly I failed, the love was constant. I hope to be as good of a parent to my boys as my mom was and is for me!

Finally, I’m thankful for my mother-in-law, Angela Munizzi. She’s always been such a source of love, encouragement and support. I love the example she set for Lis. Many of the beautiful characteristics we’ve worked so hard to instill in our kids came from the example she set.

Bottom line: I’m a blessed guy. Happy Mother’s Day. I hope you’ll take time to honor and celebrate today.