Top 3 Reasons to Invite Someone to "A Next Level Christmas!"

Number 3:  Because you've been waiting all  year long to find that one perfect service to invite your disconnected friend to...and let m...

Two Big Christmas Gifts (Todd)

I read two newspapers every day - the Charlotte Observer and the Wall Street Journal. To be a missional pastor in Charlotte means you need m...

Wired For Sound (Todd)

So, today I walked into the new auditorium on the Matthews Campus and heard the sound system for the first time. I was prepared to be impres...

Pigpen in the New Auditorium

It's funny how different people are just wired up differently by God to enjoy different things. This comes out the most clearly when we...

The Incidental Memorial

I was reading Harrison's post below and it reminded me of the person this past Sunday morning who asked if someone in the church had di...

Great Start

I just wanted to say that yesterday proved to be an excellent start to our brand new Christmas series, "Jesus, Tupac, and Elvis". ...

Jesus, Tupac, & Elvis

First, I like this picture of Tupac because he is giving the peace sign.  I'm not sure whether that's ironic, comedic, or just plai...

Our Only Growth Strategy

It is a fairly common question - "What has fueled NLC's growth in the three years you have been in existence?" Common question...

Thanksgiving Cuban Style

Well, Todd may be forgoing the traditional Thanksgiving blog post, but I'm not! Thanksgiving is now over and for me it was great.  At my...

Way To Go, NLC

I am now officially forgoing the obligatory church blog Thanksgiving post to say... THANKS NLC! For coming up huge on the first phase of the...

What a Weekend!

If you attended Shattered this weekend on the Matthews Campus, thank you so much for joining us. It was such an awesome worship experience. ...

NLC Christmas Schedule

Not sure how to top Jared's musings about huntin' and such, but I gotta let you know how Christmas is going to come down at Next Lev...

Life In the Woods

I hung out in the woods this past week in Central Arkansas. It was... woods-y. As you might have guessed, there isn't much to do in Cent...

A Complete Music Worship Experience

Music is clearly designed by God. It's his invention. Listening to a good song with the windows down on a cool day makes that pretty cle...

ALMOST DONE!!!

No matter which campus you attend at NLC, one of the most exciting things in our history is about to happen. We are less than 2 months away ...

Coming November 23

Something we have never ever done before. What I predict will be our most amazing Sunday morning ever. More very soon. Already be thinking a...

LAUNCHED!!!

Well, Next Level Mint Hill is finally a reality! This past Sunday was their launch Sunday, and it was an unbelievably huge success!!! Past...

Mint Hill Campus - Finally Here!

It's been months and more than a few obstacles in the making, but the launch of the Mint Hill Campus is finally here this Sunday! We'...

Who I'd Rather Know

So I managed to see Coldplay in Atlanta on Wednesday night.  Normally, I wouldn't dare drop that much cash on anything entertainment rel...

Historic Night

We don't do partisan politics at Next Level and, no, I ain't gonna tell you who I voted for! All that aside, this is a historic nigh...

Change Huh?

Let me just start by saying that we at Next Level Church couldn't care less about who you voted for in the last election, or who you'...

Countdown 3:2:1 Still ON

No shock here, but you guys responded great to the Countdown 3:2:1 challenge! Dozens of folks signed up to fill volunteer opportunities at t...

The Majestic

So last night I stayed up till 1am watching  The Majestic  (with Jim Carey, 2001) over at Harrison's house.  Besides being almost techni...

Jonah: forget the freakin' fish!

I didn't go to church when I was a kid, but I have been exposed to the christian sub-culture enough to know that in Sunday School people...

The Sadness

Well, it's the last week of House of Blues for us on the Matthews Campus. I am both happy and sad; happy because the series has been a b...

CountDown 3...2...1...

There is never a more intense time than right before something big is about to happen.  Think about it...right before a space shuttle launch...

The Search for Pleasure

Pastor Todd recently talked about pleasure, and as he loves to thoroughly prepare for his messages, he wanted to get a little ground level e...

Mint Hill and Project 485

It is hard to believe that the launch of the Mint Hill Campus is less than a month away - November 9th! Lots happening around that launch: -...

Woulda, Coulda Been A Meltdown

So, what if they have a worship service and the soundboard doesn't show up? Well, it happened this morning. It was eight minutes till th...

Locusts and Banks

I have been reading a lot in the Minor Prophets in the Old Testament lately - guys like Micah, Nahum, and Amos. (I know, I know, I am a wild...

House of Blues

We normally prepare our series months in advance and the House of Blues series is no exception.  So I can't help thinking that it was Go...

The Big Mo

A good weekend for two of my three sports teams! First, the beloved Tar Heels crushed UConn and entered the ranks of the Top 25 for the firs...

House of Blues

Maybe when it comes to church stuff, I shouldn't have favorites. On this one, I just can't help it! My favorite series of the year i...

Jared's Post Below...

...about Life Groups was way more interesting than my post below about Life Groups. Sad, but true.

Refrigerator Rights or Someone Please Love Me...I'm Hungry

When I was still in grade school my best friend in the world, Brian Miller, lived five doors down from me.  We did a lot together and when I...

Life Groups Sunday!

This Sunday is one of the most important in the NLC calendar - Life Groups Celebration Sunday. A couple of times a year we launch our Life G...

You're Giving Love Away!

In six words, way to go Next Level Church! In spite of the predictions of economic Armageddon..... In spite of mainstream media using the wo...

It's Go Time

I was a competitive runner for a lot of years. And meaning to get back to it, but that's another - ahem - story. Runners are nervous bef...

Music This Weekend

So this weekend is gonna be a big deal. It's the culmination of our current series, "Give Love Away". It's gonna be a big ...

Prayer for Give Love Away

Well, we are in the home stretch. We're praying, strategizing, discussion, reconfiguring, rebalancing...all of us trying to figure out h...

Give Love Away Week 2

This is a stretch unlike any other I can remember in a lot of years in ministry. Intense. Prayerful. Risky. Way busy. Did I mention intense?...

Prayer for Mint Hill Campus Search

Just a prayer SOS here...we are nearing in on the launch date for the Mint Hill Campus and the site we thought we had secured fell through y...

Title-1

My wife is a teacher at Rockrest Elementary just South of Monroe. She got her 15 students two weeks ago knowing very little about them beca...

The Four Month Challenge

Thrilled to have both campuses synced up yesterday as we kicked off Give Love Away. We are trusting God for huge things the next three weeks...

Give Love Away

Well, it's finally here. The most important month in the short history of Next Level Church. Give Love Away. A month of radical generosi...

Baptism

What a great Sunday this was! We baptized eleven people after church on the Matthews Campus and it was an amazing scene. Baptism is an ancie...

Commitments Leaders Make

Harrison was dead right - Leadership Community was an awesome time Sunday night. 130 of NLC's key leaders and volunteers - what better r...

A Great Night

If you weren't at Leadership Community last night, you missed out on a great evening! Leaders from Matthews and Stone Creek met together...

Leadership Community

Next Level Church Stonecreek is only 6 months old and very excited about hosting our very first Leadership Community this Sunday night, Augu...

Backpack Party Success!

One of our core values is Giving Ourselves Away, and yesterday the people of Next Level Church lived that out in fine fashion.  The challeng...

Operation BackPack

I am so excited about this coming Sunday, which is the culmination of Operation BackPack at both campuses. In case you don't know what I...

Looking For A Mint Hill Crib

Had a great turnout at the interest meeting for the Mint Hill Campus on Sunday. I am praying for 150 folks to leave Matthews and pioneer our...

Roller Coasters And The Amish

So, the boys and I went to Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio - roller coaster capital of the world. (We drove straight up on Thursday, did the p...

Saying "So Long" To Dan

Yep, it was bittersweet to celebrate Dan Southerland's last full-time day with us in Matthews yesterday. He announced that he is taking ...

What A Week!

Discovery Center just wrapped up and as I always am after a week of this I'm both exhilarated and exhausted. Amazingly fun and humbling ...

Discovery Center So Far

Wow, what a week - and it is just getting rolling! People from all over the world are on the Matthews Campus this week - and I am not exagge...

Today and This Week

Great day today in both Matthews and Stone Creek. Wrapped up the Movies series with The Dark Knight and a challenge to fight for the souls o...

The Next Two Campuses

I am so excited to get to tell you about the next two Project 485 campuses. But, first, let me back up... We fully believed that we were hea...

Batman - The Dark Knight

Christopher Nolan is a freakin' genius. And Heath Ledger could flat out act. Can't wait to talk about it on Sunday!

Connection Lunch

We had an amazing time at Connection Lunch on the Matthews Campus yesterday - 121 people showed up, severly taxing our pizza supply chain, b...

Replacing Idols

Once we have gotten into the process of unmasking our idols of the heart comes the life-long work of replacing them with the one true God, w...

Unmasking Idols

As promised, I want to follow up on yesterday's Matthews teaching with some practical helps for dealing with our spiritual idols. This p...

Are You New To NLC?

Very excited about the Connection Lunch this coming Sunday at NLC Matthews (and the following Sunday at NLC Stone Creek). If you are new to ...

Breaking Down The Idols

The Summer At The Movies series is great fun, and designed to be that way. From the tone we are trying to set, the environments we are creat...

Life Rafting

Justin is at NLC Crossroads Camp this week and so BJ and I are heading up to the mountains of NC for some dad-son time and some white water ...

Preview of Coming Attractions

I am on vacation - and glad to be - but I had to check in and let you know how excited I am about the next stretch at Next Level. Bottom lin...

Giving Ourselves Away in Mexico

When I asked them what their favorite part of the trip was I got the same response almost without fail.  It wasn't seeing the Pacific Oc...

Summer at the Movies!

Coming soon: a new teaching series from Next Level... Summer at the Movies! And how better to remind you to bring a friend than to show you ...
 

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