Here is a short video of our Baptism @ the Beach that Jeremiah put together. We'll be showing it on Sunday, but I thought you might like a preview. I love the black & white to color effect - very cool! Great job Jeremiah! Great job Coastal!

I've said something recently to a couple of different people that I want to share with you. Basically, it went like this, "As the Pastor of this church, I'm not listening to my critics or my cheerleaders. I'm listening to God." Now let me explain that a little bit. If you lead anything, you will have both - critics and cheerleaders. The temptation of leadership is to keep the peace, make people happy, avoid confrontation at all costs, and simply be a people pleaser. So what tends to happen is that as a leader you allow whatever it is you're leading to be directed, even if in little ways, by one of those two groups. Read More...

Go check out some pictures of our baptisms over the Summer!

Less than a week now until my son Christopher and I travel up to Clemson for the big game on Labor Day (I think the girls have some Labor Day shopping in mind)! I can't wait! Hope always springs eternal in August! Regardless of the game, Christopher and I will have a blast hanging out together! He is one cool dude. Of course winning does makes the ride home that much sweeter.

The Power of Story was the title of today's message. Someone once said, "A picture is worth 1,000 words. A good story is worth a 1,000 pictures." I love that quote. We have the privilege and responsibility of sharing the greatest story of all time - God's redemptive story of love and grace through Jesus Christ. The reality is however, as Christians we don't think through how to effectively, succinctly, and humbly tell that story. We also don't think through our own story - our life before Christ, how we came to faith, and the difference Christ has made in our life. In a nutshell that's what today was all about - being prepared to share God's story and your story. Your homework was to read through chapters 6-8 of "Just Walk Across the Room" and then write out your own personal before-and-after faith story. And then I challenged everyone to email those stories to me for a little constructive feedback. Then we'll be posting those stories on our website. I'm looking forward to reading your stories.

Overall it was another great day. Everyone is getting pumped about our upcoming series, "Wild Ride." I'm hearing a lot of feedback about who you're praying for, inviting, and bringing. It's going to be awesome. Janet had another training/demonstration before church for our Wee Worship ministry. There are so many opportunities for service in Children's Ministry. If you think you can't volunteer because you don't teach, then you haven't talked to Janet recently. We are really trying to raise the level of excellence in Promiseland. We want the overall experience of what happens with our children to be so great that when the kids get in the car with their parents after church, they are begging to come back! Talk to Janet and let her bend your ear about how you can get involved. We need team players and team builders.

Actually, there are so many opportunities for giving back to God and others through service at Coastal: 1st Impressions, Welcome Center, Communion, Sound, Worship Presentation (computer), and 3C's Cafe to name just a few. And there are so many faithful servants who give of their time each and every week. I am so thankful for you and your willing service. It's an honor to serve with you and be your Pastor.

After church I drove out to Kiawah and performed a Wedding Vow Renewal on the beach for a couple that I married one year ago today. It was very sweet. But the absolute highlight of the entire weekend was Saturday! We baptized another 6 people at Folly Beach. Each one of them has an beautiful story - the Beam's, the Brown's, Rebecca, and Jake. It just doesn't get any better than watching lives change. Coastal that's why we do what we do. We exist to share and experience LIFE!

Ever see those beautifully orchestrated commercials for some new wonder drug that cures all ills? We all have. And then almost as an after thought, some mono-tone voice over lists all the side effects of said wonder drug in one long run-on sentence that you can hardly make out except for words like blurred vision and vomiting. Well the other day, our entire family saw one of those commercials and couldn't stop laughing.

The ill is RLS. Honestly, I had never heard of RLS before. It stands for Restless Leg Syndrome. I looked it up. It's a real condition. Restless Legs Syndrome is a condition that is characterised by an irresistible urge to move one's legs (insert joke here). Disclaimer - let me apologize to those of you who either suffer from this condition or know someone who does. I simply have a sick, sometimes insensitive sense of humor.

The wonder drug was called Mirapex. Here are the side effects as quoted from their website and commercial: "Most people who take MIRAPEX tolerate it well. Some of the more common side effects can include: Nausea, Headaches,Tiredness." Not too bad, but wait, there's more. "When beginning to take MIRAPEX, you should be cautious until you know how the drug will affect you. Some people who take MIRAPEX can become sleepy or fall asleep while doing normal everyday activities like driving a car." What!? You mean I can either have restless legs or I can fall asleep while driving my car! "It is possible that MIRAPEX treatment can cause someone to feel faint or become dizzy when standing up from a seated or prone position. There are reports of some people having hallucinations (seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling, or tasting something that does not actually exist) while taking MIRAPEX." I don't have restless legs anymore, but they've locked me up in a mental institution. Believe it or not, it gets worse.

"There have been reports of patients taking certain medications to treat RLS, including MIRAPEX, that have reported problems with gambling, compulsive eating, and increased sex drive. If you or your family members notice that you are developing unusual behaviors, talk to your doctor." My legs don't shake anymore, but let's go to Vegas! We couldn't stop laughing!

Just a few Special Event updates for our 4 week series Wild Ride that begins Sunday, September 9th:

- Sunday, September 16th, with the help of the Coastal Carolina Covette Club,
we will be hosting an Open Car, Truck, & Bike Show!
- Sunday, September 23rd, Jeff Gordon's #24 Show Car will be on display!
- Sunday, September 30th, our local chapter of the H.O.G.'s (Harley Owner's Group) will be at Coastal for a show/display!

Don't miss this opportunity to invite and bring your friends!

This past Sunday we announced the name of our new Fall message series - Wild Ride! It will be a four week series that will kick off on Sunday, September 9th. Our Creative Team has been working on this series since the Spring. The basic premise of the series is that Christianity is an adventurous wild ride! We're going to be talking about what it takes to follow Christ. The music, decorations (if you have anything you think we can use - give me a call), and give-a-ways are going to be off the hook! And the special events we are planning for the series are going to be awesome! On Sunday, September 16th, Coastal is hosting a Car Show! All over our campus there will be 50-75 cars, trucks, and bikes! And this week we'll be finalizing a few other special events for the series. All I'm going to say right now is that they have to do with Harley's and Nascar! Let me throw down the gauntlet especially for our men - start talking about this series now and get your friends here!

(Harvey & Janine - thanks for the work on the logo - love it!)

Our WAVES Student Ministry had a "Funeral" last night at church to say good-bye to the summer. Here a few of their pictures.

Well, it's Sunday night, I'm back at the office writing a few visitor letters (we keep having new people each week), uploading my sermon on the web, and reflecting on the day. Jeremiah and the students are outside getting wet and messy as they close out the Summer with their "Summer Funeral."

One of the things we've been working on in our Sunday morning worship service is transitions - the flow from song to song, getting up and down from the stage, the music in the background while people are speaking, and even the music we play during the welcome, greeting time, and communion. It might seem like small details to many, but believe it or not, each week in our Creative Team meeting we go through every detail of our service. We try to be very intentional in what we do. We are constantly looking to improve. And each and every week there is a lot to work on, but I believe our hard work is paying off. It's not about the "production" or excellence for the sake of excellence, it's about glorifying God. It's about Jesus and lifting Him high and clear and doing everything in our power to provide an experience that points people to Him and communicates a dangerous, life changing message.

That said, sometimes it's so easy to get distracted by the details of everything that happens on Sunday mornings. And that doesn't even include the different ministries, people who forget to show up and do whatever it was they were supposed to do, people who are ticked off about something and need to tell you about it 5 minutes before the service starts. I know - it sounds like I'm saying that this whole church thing would sure be a lot easier without people! That's not what I'm saying at all. People are why I'm in Ministry. But when I do get distracted I take a few minutes, quiet my heart, and just tell God how much I love Him, how blown away I am by His grace, and that today more than anything else I want it to be all about Him and about someone coming home.

We continued in our series, "Just Walk Across the Room." We talked about living in 3D - Developing Relationships, Discovering Stories, and Discerning Next Steps. One of the highlights for me today has been reading through the "Next Steps that Mattered to Me" cards that people turned in. We'll be posting them on a bulletin board in the Welcome Center. They're very inspiring and a great reminder that we need to be praying about the next steps we can take with the people God puts in our lives. It was also cool to have a couple of friends from Camp Edisto in the service (Hey Britanny & Morgan!).

Janet had a Children's Church Training and Demonstration before church this morning to introduce some new material and recruit volunteers. She sent out letters, emails, and personal invitations. She's really been working hard in Children's Ministry this Summer - trying to build a team and prepare for growth. If you're interested in the front lines of Ministry and want to make an eternal impact, talk to Janet about serving in Promiseland.

Well that's about it for now. As soon as Student Ministry is over my daughter is wanting me to "leave quick" so we can get home to watch the sing-along version of High School Musical 2. If you have teen or pre-teen girls - you can relate to my pain.

A huge part of the current series, "Just Walk Across the Room," is the Small Group Experience on Wednesday nights. It's for the entire church - even if you've never been to a Small Group. It's for four weeks (you can do anything for four weeks), and meets in the auditorium of our church. We move the chairs, set out a bunch of round tables, provide drinks, snacks, and even childcare. Even if you missed the first one, come this Wednesday, 7-8:30PM. No one bites, forces you to share your "innermost feelings," or will make you do anything strange. Okay - sometimes I bite. But seriously, we had a great time this past Wednesday! Sunday mornings is important, reading the book is important, but Wednesday nights helps put feet on this whole experience and series. And then after the four weeks - that's it. But who knows, you might just meet some new friends and you might just want to join a Small Group!

People leave churches. That's a fact of life. Early on in my ministry that was a harder fact to deal with - I took it too personal. It was very painful. "You've got to close the back door," people would say. And so I would scramble around trying my best to keep people from leaving the church. And if I'm honest with myself I spent way too much time, energy, and effort trying to keep people happy. And little by little, the church gets off course - not by huge leaps, but incrementally. Years later you wonder what happened. And instead of walking by faith and trusting God, you find yourself and the church in survival mode - not following the vision of God, but the feelings of people. Never again.

What I've been learning lately, from others much wiser than me, is that it's good to leave the back door cracked a little. All Pastors joke about ocassionally having, "blessed subtractions" - those times when people who need to leave the church finally move on. But the truth is, as churches grow and Pastors cast clear passionate vision, people leave. They get upset. They don't like change. So and so hurt their feelings. They don't agree with the vision. They care about their own needs more than the needs of others. On and on and on.

I had someone tell me this week they were leaving our church. They didn't like all this emphasis on inviting a friend. Yes, that's what they actually said. I was told that it began on Easter Sunday when I invited everyone to come back. It was just too "over the top." I said very little - it wasn't worth my time. I told them, "We'll have to agree to disagree. I hope you find another church." By the way, my sermon on Easter Sunday was, "He Came. He Died. He Conquered." And yes, I did invite our guests to come back. And yes, there is a renewed emphasis here at Coastal on our mission and vision to "share and experience life." And members of Coastal do make a commitment in our 101 Membership Class to, "share the responsibility of my church by praying for its growth, by inviting the unchurched to attend, and by warmly welcoming those who visit." So if any of that makes me "over the top," that's a badge of honor I'll wear proudly.

I am very open to input, suggestions, and ideas. But I am also very passionate about the vision God has given me for Coastal. And that is the vision we're going to follow. Don't mistake passion for being unapproachable or for being a dictator. If someone wants our church to become something it's not, they simply need to pursue that dream at another church. I tell people all the time, "There are many great churches in Charleston. We're one of them. We're not in competition with any of them." So find the one that you can serve and grow with, that you agree with it's essential beliefs, and you support it's mission and vision. If you can't do those things, you aren't doing yourself, that church, or the kingdom any good. And when we see each other at Wal-Mart or the Mall, I'll give you a hug and pray that you're fulfilling God's purpose in your life at your new church. By the way, if you're not "over the top," where are you?

I have never watched an episode of the Simpsons, but I couldn't resist the temptation to Simpsonize myself.

Does this really look like me? Now it's your turn!

I know, I know, Sunday reflections on Tuesday morning is kind of lame - but here we go. On Sunday, we kicked off our new series, "Just Walk Across the Room." It's intended to be more than a typical series, it's a church-wide campaign. What makes something a church-wide campaign these days? It's when the entire church for a period of time participates in something together - as a large group, a small group, and as individuals. It creates focus, unity, and synergy. In the past 17 years, we've been a part of at least 4 similar campaigns, "Step of Faith," "For Such A Time As This," "40 Days of Purpose," and "40 Days of Community." (The first two were giving campaigns.) Each one served a specific purpose. Each one focused and unified our church.

"Just Walk Across the Room" is all about demystifying evangelism. It might sound crazy, but it can be as easy as taking simple walks across rooms. Why this? Why now? Well, this is what Coastal is all about - sharing LIFE! We have constantly got to be raising the evangelism meter - so to speak. Why? Because left to ourselves, we forget why we're here and we will focus on ourselves. So for four weeks we're going to read a book together - "Just Walk Across the Room," by Bill Hybels. By the way, it's a great book. It's an easy read, it's inspirational, and it's practical! We're going to listen to the same messages on Sunday morning. And for four weeks, we're going to apply what we're learning in small groups on Wednesday nights.

Now the reality is, it doesn't make sense from a calendar standpoint to start a campaign in August. Experts would say, "You're crazy to do a campaign in the Summer. People won't come. It's not worth the effort. People are more focused in the Fall or Spring or after the New Year. Families are taking that last hurrah before school starts." And they're right. Except for one thing. I felt this is what God was telling us to do. God has been up to something at Coastal. We've been more focused - praying, planning, preparing, building relationships, inviting people. And He has been blessing that. It's obvious the Fall is going to be big! We have visitors every week and they're returning. Yes, it's still the Summer and a new group of people seem to be out of town each week, but still this Summer has been different. You can just taste the momentum, enthusiasm, and excitement. We've just come out of two big, somewhat over the top series - "Old School," and "Reel to Real." We really wanted to create a buzz with something big for the Fall (more on that soon!) And so it was just so clear that God was telling me to refocus and regroup Coastal around our central mission - sharing LIFE!

And so we started on Sunday. The title of my message was, "The Single Greatest Gift." We talked about leaving our "Circles of Comfort" and entering the "Zone of the Unknown." We were reminded that that's exactly what Jesus did for us - Philippians 2. We talked about listening to the Holy Spirit and being led by the Holy Spirit. And finally, like the old Nike ad campaign, we were reminded to, "Just Walk." One of the highlights of the service was our little homework assignment - filling out and sending a small "God Used You to Point the Way" postcard. After the service we had our Ministry Leader Lunch and Meeting. It's a time for me to meet with those in our church who lead our various Ministries and remind them of our purpose and cast vision. I'm excited about tomorrow night! Make an extra effort to be there!

Actually, I don't have a guest blogger, but our WAVES Students got back today from their Summer Retreat in Atlanta and I got this awesome letter from Kathy Beam, one of the adult chaperones. I just had to share it with you:

To the Parents of Coastal Youth,

"Since I knew I wouldn't be here to tell you in person (Kathy and her family left for Shelby, NC after they got back), I wanted to make sure you were aware of a few things. You have the most amazing, loving, kind, all-around wonderful kids I have ever had the privilege to spend time with. You should all be in awe of the people they are, and are becoming. Parents - good job! Kids - way to go!"

"We should all be thankful to have found a man like Jeremiah who gives so selflessly and loves them so much. He does such an awesome job. I consider my family to be truly blessed by him. After spending a week with these 12 teenagers, all I can say is - sign me up anytime."

Love In Christ,
Kathy Beam

Great job Jeremiah! You make your Pastor proud!

At the end of a rather long blog earlier this week I explained that we hope to hire an Administrative Assistant sometime in the next two months. Because of the importance of this position and how serious we are about this hire, I decided that it deserved its own post. In other words, I didn't want anyone to miss it. So forgive the "re-posting." However, we have had one person already approach me. And honestly, I think they would do a great job!

This person will answer directly to me and will work closely with me in improving systems at our church. This will start as a part time position (10-15 hours a week) and hopefully move quickly to a full time position at which point we'll move to hire more of a receptionist, office person. However this person might also be able to help manage a volunteer office staff. This position is not a church secretary (no offense intended to church secretaries). We are looking to build a team. I guess you could say that it's a secretary on steroids. However, there ARE many office tasks that need to be done or managed, that Jeremiah and I currently do and most people take for granted. This person will also help Mary, our Treasurer, with several financial responsibilities and will need to be proficient with several computer programs or the ability to be quickly trained (Quicken, Adobe InDesign - and yes, we use Macs). This person will help with overseeing and managing volunteers, schedules, and church calendar. I'm looking for someone who is... A member at Coastal (at least that's where we're starting). Completely sold out to the Coastal mission and vision and loves Jesus. A leader. Great with details. Relationally savvy. Experienced with project management. In other words, I'm not going to be constantly holding this person's hand. Committed to delivering projects with excellence. A multi-tasker. If you are from within you must be already honoring God by tithing.  If you are going to get paid from the giving of our people, you need to be leading by example in this area. You must be a team builder and a team player. You must be organized. You must have a huge vision! You must be able to work in a pretty insane office environment! I’m sure I’ll think of more things, but that should get you started.  So if you feel led to be part of a great team that is looking to impact this community and change lives, let me know!

Got an email from Bryan Miller this week. He's the South Carolina State Trooper from our church who's in Afghanistan training Afghani police. In fact, this is a picture of him in a helicopter. Anyway, he wanted to let me know that he just listened to my sermon from Sunday on iTunes. I just thought that was so cool! Maybe in this week's message, I'll send him a little "shout out." Technology is truly amazing. Many churches are using the internet and their websites to show video of their entire services. Some, like Life Church or our own local Seacoast, are showing live, real time feeds and other interaction through their internet campuses. We're not there - yet. But for now, it's nice to know that Bryan can stay a little more connected to his Coastal family even though he's half the world away. Bryan, if you read this, we pray for you and your family daily. May the Lord bless, keep, and protect you. We love brother!

This week my kids have been gone on the WAVES Summer Youth Retreat to Atlanta. That's right - they're both gone! It's just been me and my wife Janet at home this week! Which is probably why I haven't blogged much. In fact, this is the first retreat that one or both of us have not been on. We have definitely missed them, but I must say that I have absolutely loved this time with Janet. People talk about dealing with the empty nest syndrome and how hard it is - I don't think so. Why do I think that? We're not a child centered home. Don't get me wrong - we love our kids and can't wait to see them tomorrow. But I just love hanging out with Janet. We've stayed up late, been to the movies, eaten out, talked, laughed, played, and she's come to the office with me and worked at the church (yes I did get work done this week). Now I'll be the first one to admit that when Lydia and Christopher head off to college I'll probably "cry like a baby girl." But when I wipe my eyes, as long as Janet's by my side - we'll be just fine.

Wow! Yesterday was awesome! We had to bring out chairs to make room for everyone! People come out of the woodwork (whatever that means) for children. Yesterday was our VBS Closing program and the kids sang some of their songs on stage and we watched a video of the week. Parents eat that stuff up. I do too. Other highlights of the day included Jeremiah's communion illustration of washing feet where he washed his wife Cyndi's feet on stage. My message was on parenting. It really hit home with a lot of people. I will definitely be working on a Parenting series later this year. Scott Wagner, a juvenille probation officer at our church told me that messages like that would put him out of a job - which is a good thing. A few comments however that might have raised a few eyebrows were me saying I want to take a few parents out to the "wood shed." Addressing any future suitors of my daughter I said, "I am the Protector. I am willing to go to prison for my daughter. If Michael Vick can do it for his dogs, I'll do it for my daughter." And speaking of my wife Janet, "I want my kids to know that their daddy thinks their mommy is the hottest woman in the world." Actually the message was about the different stages of parenting. But the biggest piece of advice I can pass on to parents is to live their faith before their kids. We don't need child centered homes or even marriage centered homes. We need Christ centered homes. Last night we took down all of the decorations from VBS. Jeremiah had a ton of kids and the D.O.G.S. kids (2nd-5th Grade) met last night as well. It was a great day! Read More...

I know it's been a while since my last installment of Freak of the Week, but this morning was just too good to pass up. We had an awesome week of VBS - but the church was a mess! Everything needed to be cleaned. Janet announced at the last night of VBS that we would be cleaning up the church on Saturday at 10AM. I sent out a very late email Friday night. It usually takes 3-4 hours for one person to clean the church. Honestly, I thought only a couple of people would show up and my family would be there most of the morning. Boy was I wrong. 16 people including several students came and cleaned the whole church. It took about 45 minutes! You guys are awesome!

Be sure to check out the new WAVES Student Ministry Website! Jeremiah did a great job! You can also go there directly from our home page and clicking on their logo. This will be a great way to communicate with parents and students and keep everyone up to date. I also want to give a shout out to a couple of other Coastal bloggers:
http://www.jeremiahjbrown.blogspot.com/
http://www.andywgill.blogspot.com/

If there are others out there, send me a link and we'll get the word out. Just sharing the love!

It never fails. Every first post of the new month feels like starting all over again. But alas, all of my previous posts are neatly archived by month on the left. So catch up if you need to on the Coastal journey.

VBS has been awesome so far this week! Everything is pretty much running smooth as silk. And that's because we have awesome volunteers! But as always, it's never too late to bring kids or lend a helping hand. If you show up - we'll put you to work. VBS goes through Friday, 6-8PM. Sunday is our VBS Closing Program - the kids will sing some songs, we'll see a video of the week, and I'll share a message on parenting. Get people here on Sunday!