I’ll try to keep this short and sweet. Just a few thoughts racing through my head on Sunday night:
- Sometimes our church reminds me of the Charleston Riverdogs. How you ask? Their motto: “Where Fun Is Good!”
- Just had a lot of fun at church today.
- Gave away WD40 sticks to all the men. What man doesn’t like WD40?
- Also gave away a couple of Home Depot Gift Cards and Power Drills.
- Daniel is a gifted singer and worship leader. Our Praise & Worship Team keeps getting better and better.
- And how about Wes playing keyboards today! I think next week he’s playing the violin! Just joking.
- Had another teacher from Oakland come to church today.
- Loved Craig Groschel’s message. And yes, I hate cats too!
- People loved eating in between the services. Jamie Westendorf of Charleston Outdoor Catering brought all the food - shrimp & grits, crab cakes, barbeque, chicken, coleslaw, mac & cheese - and didn’t charge us a dime! That’s right, nothing, not even the cost of the food! If you need a caterer for your event, give him the business.
- Several people gave their lives to Jesus today!! Several people recommitted their lives to Jesus today! I had a couple of conversations with people who haven’t been in church in a long time. One man talked to me about getting more involved at Coastal.
- Attendance remains over 200.
- The new carpet in several of the rooms looked great!
- And finally, my family made me feel very special today! Steak, presents, and season 7 of 24! I got a new Clemson shirt! I don’t think I have any of those.

What a great kick off to the One Prayer series on Sunday! For those of you who don’t know, One Prayer is a global initiative where over 1800 churches representing over 1 million believers are participating together in the same sermon series, serving with other Christians in their communities, and giving an offering used to start churches around the world. I preached on Sunday and then the next 3 weeks we get to listen to some of the best communicators from around the country.

The band just seemed in the groove on Sunday. They really rocked! Honestly, it was just one of those days - hard to describe, but the energy level was just high. It’s like people are excited before they even get to church. They just know that God is going to move and lives are going to be changed!

The message theme for this year’s One Prayer is “God is . . .” My message was, “God is not finished with you.” I talked about how people don’t think that God can or wants to use them because of who they are or what they’ve done. I used the lives of Joseph and Peter as examples of people that God used in spite of their circumstances and their mistakes. It really seemed to connect with people.

We were back over 200 on Sunday and had lots of guests. We also had 14 children in Splash Zone (3-5 year olds) during the second service! We’re in the process of moving those kids to a bigger room. The most important thing that happened Sunday was that someone gave their live to Christ for the first time and several recommitted their lives to Jesus!

We also had a Baptism Service at Folly Beach on Sunday afternoon. If you know anything about Baptism Services at Coastal, you know they are always memorable. This was no exception. Sunday was a beautiful day and then about 4PM one of those afternoon showers popped up. But this was no “normal” shower. There were tornado warnings and they got everyone out of the water and shut down Folly Beach County Park. Traffic was crazy and many couldn’t even make it out to Folly. But there was a group that made it and we decided to walk past the “guarded area” and go for it! We did and it was awesome! We ended up baptizing 12 people and now have at least 6 more to baptize later. We will schedule another Baptism at the Beach later in the Summer. God is definitely not finished with Coastal!

I love our church! I do. I love seeing all the new faces. I love seeing people take steps toward Jesus, life change, service, and community. I love the diversity of our church. I love that we reach people who probably wouldn’t darken the door of a church otherwise.

A couple of weeks ago, we announced that we were going to be having a Baptism at Folly Beach on June 14th. We had several people who were going to be Baptized. But then I started getting a lot of questions and I really sensed God telling me to take a Sunday and preach a message about Baptism, what it means, why you should do it, why we immerse, and who should do it. I shared that with the Creative Team and that’s what I did this morning. Wow! That decision was definitely a God thing. Right now we have 16 people who are getting Baptized next Sunday! If you’ve never been Baptized by immersion as a believer in Christ, we’d love for you to join us! Even if you’re not getting Baptized come out to Folly Beach with us for an awesome celebration and cheer everyone on!

The music absolutely rocked today! Billy is an unbelievable guitarist! He and Wes really jam well together! And I absolutely loved his pink guitar.

We were back over 200 in attendance today - 212 I think. In the second service I was talking about what to wear for the Baptism at the Beach and made a joke about me wearing a thong! It brought the house down. I wasn’t sure I was going to get everyone back. You never know what’s going to come out of my mouth.

Every week we have 1st & 2nd Time Guests! Between the 2 services they had 18 preschoolers. 121 in the 1st service was a record.

We introduced our new Student Ministry Intern and his wife today - Sean & Melissa Clements. I just love this couple already! Sean is going to end up doing a lot more than just Student Ministry. They are the real deal! Introduce yourselves to them and welcome them to the Coastal family.

This afternoon we had our annual Adult vs. Student (and sponsors) Softball Game & Cookout! Let me just say it was a lot of fun - the food, the laughter, just hanging out, and yes even the game! We easily had 50+ people show up! The Students won as usual, thanks to their excellent softball skills and their excellent umpire, I mean our umpire - you get the picture! The game wouldn’t be the same without Charlie!

Had a great FUEL on Saturday! Love talking about next steps and the future of our church. We start the One Prayer series this coming Sunday - God is ________. It’s going to be awesome!

Like I said, I love our church!

Last year one of the most exciting things that we got to be a part of was, “One Prayer.” The idea for the series was started through the ministry of Life Church and Pastor Craig Groeschel. The premise is simple and powerful. Hundreds of churches from around the world simultaneously doing a series together called, "One Prayer." As of right, now over 1600 churches from around the world are participating in 2009, representing almost 1 million Christians.

At Coastal we will start this years series on the weekend of June 14th and run for a total of 4 weeks. Last year, the preaching theme of One Prayer was, "If God would answer 'one prayer' for the church at large, what would you pray? Lord make us _________." This year, the preaching theme is, “God is ___________.” How would you fill in that blank? “God is Powerful. God is Love. God is Holy. God is a Fortress.”

Just like last year, I will preach live the first Sunday, kicking off the series, expressing how I would fill in that blank. Then, the next 3 weeks we will have the opportunity to watch a video message from some of the best preachers from around the world. Simple.

But also powerful. We get to be a part of something bigger than ourselves to promote unity in the Body of Christ. We will be fasting, praying, and seeking God in concert with hundreds of thousands of other believers. We will be exposed to other great teachers and ministries. We get to experiment with video teaching. We will be mobilizing our church to do something ministry related in our community. And we will receive an offering toward the end of the series and combine it with hundreds of other churches to plant churches around the world. Last year over 600 churches were planted in China, India, Sudan, and Cambodia.

I can't wait! So, what about you? How would you fill in that blank? What do you think I'll preach? For a brief explanation of the series visit the One Prayer website and watch this short video:

Typically for most churches, Memorial Weekend marks the beginning of Summer. Although we still have a couple of weeks left of school in Charleston County, it definitely had a Summer feel this weekend. I performed two weddings on the beach on Saturday - one in the morning and one late afternoon. Both of them were destination weddings on Kiawah. Both were for very sweet people. I met several strong Christians from around the country at both weddings. I met a retired Pastor and seminary professor from California. He was very encouraging and gave me some great advice about loving people and prayer. I also met a former Miss America from the 70’s. I jokingly asked if there were any “scandalous” pictures of her coming out. She said, “No, times have changed. When I won, my next appearance was at a Billy Graham Crusade.”

In between the two weddings we went to Charlotte Roberts’ one year birthday party! It’s hard to believe Wes & Bri’s little girl is one already. It seems like yesterday we were waiting for the details of her arrival in Connecticut and their move to Charleston. She is such a precious little girl. I love her smile. The party was at their new home on John’s Island. I love their home and their community! I wonder what John’s Island will look like when Charlotte is all grown up. When I was a little kid, John’s Island wasn’t much more than farms and hunting land and home to the very poor or the very rich. Times have changed - and continue to change. By the way, I think Wes wants a fire pit in his back yard. Just ask. : )

On Sunday I talked about God’s presence in uncertain times. There is no doubt that we are living in uncertain times. People feel uncertain about their jobs, their finances, our government, and our future. However, we learn from scripture, history, and even our own story, that God does his greatest work in the darkest days. He is faithful. Will we remain faithful even when, from our perspective, we can not see His hand? We used my message to move right into Communion. The Lord’s Supper was birthed in a time of tremendous uncertainty. It was a dark, dark hour. And yet, it was then that God was doing His greatest work. A friend called me this morning to tell me how meaningful Communion was to him yesterday.

With the rain and the holiday weekend, our attendance was down a little bit, but we continue to have 1st time & return guests each and every Sunday! Actually, yesterday’s low in attendance would have been a high just six weeks ago. More people brought food yesterday. I hope to tell you soon about the family or families that we will bless. Jim, our regular drummer, was out Sunday and Billy filled in admirably. If you’ve ever wondered where we get these “guest” musicians - Louis Camblor is the Charleston musician connection! He is the man when it comes to finding musicians. However, even he was having a hard time this weekend finding someone.

I hope you and your family have a wonderful Memorial Day! Take a moment and give thanks to those who gave their lives so that you and I can enjoy the freedoms we so often take for granted.

Mondays are typically my day off. Sometimes I still have a few things to do, but if there’s a day where I’m going to try to recover from the weekend, it’s Monday. Christopher still had some school to do with Janet in the morning, but he and I spent the afternoon and evening together. First on the agenda was seeing the new Star Trek movie at the IMAX Theatre. The IMAX here in Charleston had been closed down, but evidently someone bought it and reopened it. We both really enjoyed the movie, especially on the big screen, and had a lot of fun. After the movie, we ran home, changed clothes and went to the gym together to workout. It was just a great afternoon and evening with my son.

I finally got around to getting a shower right after Christopher went to bed (I don’t usually get showers at night, but I do after the gym - stinkaroo!). Anyway, when I walked by Christopher’s room I saw that he was still up reading. I asked him, “Whatcha readin’?” He said, “My Bible.” I told him that was great and went on my way to my shower. On the inside, I was jumping up and down. My 13 year old son was reading his Bible on his own, with no prompting from me or Janet. I am so proud of Christopher and the young man he is becoming. He is beginning the process of personalizing his faith. He is starting habits that will serve him well his entire life. Christopher and Lydia have a special relationship and he will definitely miss her next year when she’s off to college. But Janet and I really believe that this is going to be a great year of growth and development for Christopher. In some ways we’re just as excited for him as we are for her.

So - “Whatcha readin’?” I love you Christopher!

Well, I think we have officially broken through the 200 barrier. 4 weeks straight of attendance over 200. Now on to 250! We kicked off a short 3 week series called, “Where’s MY Bailout?” After going all out for “Beautiful,” we intentionally scaled back decorations and props for this series. We just thought that was appropriate while talking about the difficult times our country finds itself. So instead of props and giveaways, we decided to challenge our church to give! During this series we’re asking people to bring canned goods and non-perishable food so we can bless some hurting families in our community. We’re off to a good start so far, but let’s pack out the Welcome Center with food!

We continue to have lots of 1st time and return guests. Had a great Newcomers Lunch after church. Thanks to Kathy Beam and Susan Brown for taking care of the meal and set up. I don’t even have to think about it. Great job and as always, great food. Thinking about making a few changes to our Newcomers Lunch. Might add a quick survey for people to fill out, similar to something we use in our 101 Class where we can begin the process of learning more about people - jobs, interests, talents, experiences, etc. Would help in connections and next steps.

Glad to have Lora, my Administrative Assistant, back in town. She learned a lot at the Dynamic Church Conference (FellowshipOne) that we sent her to! Great investment! She’s very excited about helping us take some next steps - all instrumental in advancing the Kingdom! As our church continues to grow I can’t wait to step out in faith and hire Lora full time. Anyone want to speed that up and donate a years salary? In the meantime we are going to expand our administrative volunteer force. Soon we will be looking for some people to regularly help on Sunday nights or Monday with data entry, email, and letter writing for Guest Follow-Up. Also, wondering if anyone out there has any skills with Adobe InDesign and desktop publishing (bulletin, connect card, etc.). Give Lora a call.

Wes did a great job with his WAVES Parent Meeting Sunday afternoon. He’s done a great job this past year with our Students. Truthfully, as our church continues to grow, he’s between a rock and a hard place. Wes is our Worship Pastor & our Youth Pastor. A growing church means a growing Worship & Student Ministry. He won’t always be able to do both and do them well. The next step, which we talk about all the time, is to continue to raise up volunteers from within and find some interns or part time people for Wes to oversee in Student Ministry. These are great “problems” to have and prepare for. But don’t worry, Wes isn’t going anywhere and he has a great Summer planned and lots of exciting changes for the Fall.

And speaking of Wes, the worship was great Sunday too. Love having a full, loud sound! Daniel & Tristan did an awesome job! Our music this Summer is going to ROCK!

Well, that’s about it. Gearing up for VBS this Summer! Also, making plans now for revamping our Small Groups for the Fall and making some improvements in our auditorium - LIGHTS! Oh, Happy Birthday to Charlotte Roberts! Wes & Bri’s little girl turned 1 on Sunday!