This is not one of my baby pictures. However, it does represent how I felt late last night after my Clemson Tigers were humiliated on national television. The only good thing about the game last night is that I wasn't there to see it in person. I've been the Georgia Dome twice to watch Clemson play and we've lost both times.

I actually didn't get to watch the game because we were driving home from North Georgia and Janet's parent's 50 Wedding Anniversary party - which went very well by the way! It was a small family affair - just Janet's parents, their children, and their families. The renewal was very touching. Something special about seeing a couple get emotional, looking into each other's eyes, and saying their vows again after being married for 50 years.

Okay, back to the humiliation. On the way home, I got updates on the game from 3 different people. Wes even called, not to check in on his Pastor, but to make sure I knew my team was getting pummeled by an SEC football team. Your day is coming Wes!

We got back home around 11PM last night. Believe it or not, I had to go over to the church to print out, copy, and cut my outine, print out my message and highlight it for our Computer Team. My sermon and outline were done, but I still had a few things to do. I got home around 1:45AM and got up at 6:30AM. I am exhausted. At church this morning, however, I felt pumped. I get energized when I preach - then I crash.

It is Labor Day weekend - had a lot of people gone (or just out) today. Don't forget - every Sunday is big at Coastal. Every week is the Super Bowl! Every week we need everyone here to meet and greet guests. If you're in town and not sick, don't miss out on being a part of that process. We still had several 1st time guests today.

Love Baby Dedication. Love praying for Wes, Bri, and Charlotte. Love the thought of growing with them and doing life & church with them for a long time. And is Charlotte a beautiful baby or what?!

Wrapped up the "At the Movies" series today. Used "Batman: The Dark Knight" to set up my message about sin. Another very hard hitting message very well received. 5 people renewed their commitment to Christ! Lots of prayer requests.

Can't wait for our "Gametime" series kickoff this Sunday! We are going to rock the campus! Invite! Invite! Invite! It's going to be a blast! Remember: one combined service outside at 10:30AM. And yes, if it rains we will bring it inside and we're still going to eat! Bring plenty of food to share. We're providing hamburgers, hotdogs, barbeque, lemonade, and paper products. It's going to be a pep rally atmosphere complete with tailgating. Seriously, we're going to be backing up pick-up trucks to our outdoor seating. Outdoor games, volleyball, jump castle, live rocking music! It's going to be awesome! Did I say invite people to come? There are several volunteer needs we have to pull off the event. I'll be sending out an email with the info.

Well that's about it. I'm ready to call it a day. Right now I'm wondering if we can beat the Citadel. Later.

Our family leaves for Atlanta today to see Janet's parents and celebrate their 50th Wedding Anniversary. We'll be back late Saturday. 50 years! I was talking to someone this week about what an accomplishment that is today. Because of people waiting longer and longer to get married and the current state of fractured families (in other words, adding up the years from all your marriages doesn't count), it will be very rare for this current generation to celebrate that milestone.

If Jesus doesn't return or take me home, I'll be 69 when Janet and I celebrate our 50th anniversary. Janet's mom wanted a nice dinner with their children and grandchildren and then I have the honor and privilege of renewing their wedding vows. I'm curious, if you make it to 50 years - what would you like to do at the celebration? Big party, band, dancing (if you're still able), video of old memories, friends and family present, renew your vows? Or would you take a big trip or a cruise?

By the way, Christopher wanted to know if we could just go ahead and go to the Clemson/Alabama game while we were in Atlanta on Saturday. I personally thought that would make a great 50th Anniversary party, but I don't think everyone else shares my opinion. Oh well. Hey, speaking of the game, I need someone to show me some love and tape the game! See you on Sunday!

No Pam Beasley doesn't work at Coastal and I'm not Michael Scott, BUT we have hired a new part time Administrative Assistant! Her name is Emily Abrams and she is a junior at the College of Charleston. She started on Tuesday and will work about 10 hours a week.

We have talked about hiring office staff for a long time, and have finally taken the step of faith. Actually, Wes, after seeing how much I do, asked if he could take it upon himself to advertise for the position, screen the applicants, and bring me a qualified person. I said, "Absolutely!" Truthfully, I was jacked up about it! I've known for a long time that this one hire has the potential to change my life and the life of our church in huge ways. What will an Administrative Assistant do you ask? Take as many things as possible off of my plate to enable me to do what I do best and what God has called me to do - people, lead, preach, vision.

She was at church two weeks ago. Introduce yourself to her on Sunday. Make her feel welcome. It will probably take a while for her to learn the ropes and for us to get into a good rhythm. When she's at the office she'll answer the phones, send out email reminders, letters, maintain our database, begin and implement FellowshipOne (a web based database management system), take care of buying and maintaining supplies for the office, cleaning, communion, coffee, bulletin, and a whole myriad of other things that I just do without thinking (and that you probably take for granted), but keep me from being who God has called me to be. Again, basically her job is to enable me to do what I do best and what God has called me to do. That's a full-time job. But this is a start. We'll see where it leads.

By the way, she did a great job on Tuesday and bonus - she works on Macs! Like I said, I'm not Michael Scott, but I might just have to get this coffee cup:

I mentioned BBQ ribs in my message yesterday and I announced that at our "Game Time" series tailgating kickoff we are BBQ'ing a pig. Two separate women have told me that their husbands insisted on eating ribs yesterday. We're weak ladies. Beware - next week I might mention t-bone steak!

Wow - we had a load of 1st time guests today! As a result our attendance was way up. I don't know if it's that school is back or what, but it was great. Although before I get too excited, I need to remind myself that next weekend is Labor Day weekend. I'm sure a lot of people will be out of town, but if you're here, don't miss this Sunday! We'll be closing out our "At the Movies" series.

Speaking of our series, we used the movie, "Mamma Mia!" to set up our talk today about the Father's love. I know I ragged out the movie a little bit - but like I said, come on, it's a musical! But there's a line in the movie where the daughter says, "I feel like a part of me was missing. And when I meet my dad everything will fall into place." Wow - that will preach. Just like Sophie, whether people recognize it or not, we are all searching for our Father. And the good news is that He is searching for us, drawing us to Himself. Most of our problems in life come from not knowing our Father and understanding how much He loves us.

Ephesians 3:17-19 (NLT), "And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it. Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God."

Wes was very sick today. He told me he actually contemplated what it would be like if he threw up on stage. I told him it would definitely be memorable. Our Middle School students would probably go, "Coooolll!" But you couldn't tell at all that he wasn't feeling well. Our music at Coastal rocks! God has been moving in a powerful way at our church lately. People's lives are being changed. We are sharing and experiencing LIFE!

I just wanted to take a moment and express how proud I am of our church. Prisca Denton's mom died on Sunday night and the outpouring of love and concern from our church has been nothing short of overwhelming and impressive. There were so many people from our church who came by during the visitation and to the funeral itself, not to mention the phone calls, food, and offers to help in any way. And you know what? Most of them had never met her mom Jesse, but they know and love Jeff and Prisca and their family.

Prisca prays for me, our church, and your requests probably more than anyone else. And for a change I wanted her to feel a tangible expression of our love. She did. You make me proud!

Is life completely out of our control or what? We make plans, but God is still sovereign, still on His throne. I posted last night about our day and our weekend (actually feeling pretty good that I posted yesterday instead of today or tomorrow). My plans were to head home and crash, with nothing really big going on this week, except for school starting.

Before I left the building last night, Prisca called to tell me that her dad called - something was wrong with her mom and he was calling EMS. She'd call back to let me know what was up. If you knew Prisca's mom and her health history, this was not necessarily cause for alarm. But after the weekend they had with her, Prisca knew in her heart this was different. She called back from the hospital to tell me her mom died. I had just left the Post Office, dropping off some 1st time guest letters, and was heading home. I drove straight to the hospital to be with my good friends Jeff & Prisca.

When Jeff & I found Prisca, she was doing what Prisca has always done - caring for her mom. This time, however, her mom was absent from her body, but present with the Lord. But even so, Prisca was there wiping her mom's brow, talking, laughing, crying, sometimes even helping the staff with their job. Jeff embraced his wife and escorted her into another room while they finished their job. We talked, laughed, cried, and prayed. Family and loved ones needed to be called. Phones were ringing off the hook.

We left the hospital and headed to their home. Prisca needed to tell her girls about their Nana. Prisca was able to relay a story they had just read about a woman dying. She talked about their Nana needing to be free from her earthly body, free from pain, free to dance. She talked about their Nana seeing Jesus and a whole bunch of loved ones they knew. In her heart, Madison knew. Mahli, of course, was Mahli. They were very sad, but both handled it very well. Like everyone else, they cried, laughed, and told stories. If you knew Jesse, Prisca's mom, you know she would have liked a little drama.

Jesse was the true, one and only Drama Queen. And I mean that with love and respect (knowing that if there was a way, Jesse would send some Angels to wreak some havoc). Sorry Prisca, try as you might, you and the girls will only be Drama Princesses in your Mom's kingdom. To meet Jesse was to never forget her. She was larger than life. She joked that when she died she wanted the family to contact a taxidermist and mount her body sitting in a chair with her arm raised and finger pointing, directing her family and everyone else in her path. She was the true Matriarch of the family.

But for all the drama, this one thing I know, it all brought everyone around her closer to Jesus. And Jesse knew Jesus. And after all of life is said and done, that's all that really matters - knowing and loving Jesus and loving people. Jesse did both. Like I said, Jesse was larger than life. But her generosity, her love for her husband Ted, her love for her children and grand children, her love for her friends and family, and her passion for God were even larger. Every time I saw Jesse, no matter her condition, she always ministered to me.

Before I left Jeff & Prisca's home last night, Prisca sat at the piano and started playing, "Blessed Be Your Name." Read the words, give thanks to God, love and hug your family and friends, and pray. That's what Jesse would want:

Every blessing You pour out
I'll turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in
Lord still I will say

Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your glorious name

Blessed be Your name
In the land that is plentiful
Where Your streams of abundance flow
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's all as it should be
Blessed be Your name

Blessed be Your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be Your name

You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord blessed be Your name

Jeff and Prisca, as always, it is an honor to serve alongside of you through all of life's ups and downs. You would and have gone through the fire with me and I for you. I love you and so does Coastal. Like I told you last night, Prisca - your mom loved Jesus, loved you, and knew how much you loved her.

Okay, so this really isn't a satellite picture of Saturday afternoon here at Coastal - not even close. But for about 2 hours before our community "Movie on the Lawn" event, it sure felt like it. Obviously, it got cancelled. It was like a mini-monsoon here in West Ashley. For the first hour we kept saying, "It will let up. It will pass. We'll wait it out." It got worse and worse and worse. What made it more scary is that we already had everything set up - sound, amps, chords, a GIANT 16' X21' SCREEN now being used as a very large sail. But you know what? Nothing was damaged or broken. We got it all back inside safe and sound.

I want to thank our band for all the work they put in to practicing, preparing, setting up, and scrambling to break down and clean up! You guys and your families are awesome. Your whatever it takes attitude never ceases to amaze me!

We will look at the calendar and try to reschedule the event. The giant screen is ours now and we want to make good use of it. If you haven't seen it - it's quite impressive. But you know what Coastal? Even though it didn't happen, I believe that God blesses a church that is willing to work hard and do whatever it takes to bless the community and reach out to people. And that's what Saturday night was to be all about - just inviting our community and friends to join us on our campus for a little "community," Coastal style. And now it makes for a good story and an opportunity for you to simply continue the conversation with your friends about our good God and our crazy do whatever it takes church.

Today was awesome at church. Had a few technical snags, scheduling snafus, and a need to tighten up a few things, but we never let those things distract or deter us from what God is doing and what He is calling us to do. There's simply always room for improvement. It was also the last Sunday before the start of school, but we still had several first time guests.

Used the movie, "Sex & the City" to talk about adultery today. I think we did it in a way that was very truthful, but also full of grace. I really wanted to use the message as a way of offering some tools to strengthen and encourage marriages. When I got home I told Janet, "I think I'm about sexed out." Now before you wonder if someone else has hijacked my blog, I just meant that after talking about sex and the single life during our "Wanted" series and now again during this series, I'm ready for a new subject (don't worry, I had to revive my wife as well). But the reality is that for far too long the church has either been silent on this subject or has been so full of judgement and venom that we've done more harm than good. We need to take back this wonderful gift that the world has stolen. We do need to teach truth, but we need to wrap it in love, grace, and kindness. So many people are truly hurting and simply need help. We are all guilty of sin. And we all need the grace of Jesus.

Wes had his first Student Ministry Parent meeting. I think everyone is very pumped about the future. As always, had a bunch of kids and students at church tonight for D.O.G.S. (1st-5th grade) and WAVES (6th-12th grade). Wes is doing a great job!

Making big plans for the fall. Can't wait to share them with you. Don't forget that if you need Dave Ramsey tickets to let us know. We're getting closer to hiring a part time Administrative Assistant at the church. I am so jacked about that. It is going to change our church and more specifically my life for the better! Well that's about it. Keep our schools, teachers, parents, and students in your prayers - school starts this week! (Traffic is about to get bad again - yuck!)

This Saturday night Coastal is hosting it's second ever "Movie on the Lawn" night for the community. We did it last summer and it was a huge success. Around 7PM we'll be serving free hotdogs, chips, popcorn, drinks, and whatever people from our church bring. We'll set up a volleyball net, Bag-o (a horseshoe like game), and soccer goals. We'll also have a jump castle/giant slide. Our band will play a set of live rockin' music. I've heard them practice - they're going to be awesome!

Around 8:30, maybe a little before, we'll show a G/PG movie on our own 16' x 21' outdoor screen. Yes, I said, "our own." After last year's successful outing we bought the screen from my friend who set it up last year.

Actually, that's a longer story. We bought it about 2 months ago. It was shipped in two large containers. One got here quickly. The other one got lost at UPS in Columbia. Fortunately, I have a good friend who works in IT Management at UPS in Columbia and he got to the bottom of it. I kept picturing that final scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark where the Ark of the Covenant is stored away in a box in a giant warehouse and lost forever. My friend from UPS said that's closer to the truth than I realize. But it was recovered and arrived just recently.

Right now, I think we're showing the movie, "Hoodwinked." It's a Shrek-like movie geared toward kids with some humor adults can appreciate. Wes, Josh, and I set up the movie screen today, just to make sure we know what we're doing. It's huge! We're going to use the screen again when we have our combined outdoor tailgating service on Sunday, September 7th to kick off our "Game Time" series. And we'll use it again in our auditorium on Monday night the 8th for our community Monday Night Football party. Hope to see you Saturday night, August 16th! Invite and bring a friend!

Am I the only one who noticed this? I can't watch the U.S. Beach Volleyball team of Phil Dalhausser (below) and Todd Rogers without hearing the very annoying James Carville in my head. Same person? Evil Twin? Or Demon Seed? By the way, I love the Olympics! Can't we just have an all Olympic cable channel?

In his book, The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell talks about the principle of broken windows. This is how it goes. Typically, in a community wreaked with crime, you'll see a lot of homes or businesses with broken windows. Studies have shown that when the people in those communities take back their neighborhood and fix the windows, crime goes down. Gladwell uses the illustration of the N.Y. subway system. A new administrator took over and instead of going after the violent criminals, he went after turnstyle jumpers. As it turned out - these were the people who were committing many of the crimes.

In other words, there are little, visible things that, once fixed, can lead to success in a much bigger area.  As leaders, we often have to work on the big picture - vision, systems.  But at other times, we have to fix the very visible and very broken window.  This symbolic gesture actually helps address the root problem.

We are constantly working behind the scenes, thinking about the vision God has given our church and implementing systems to carry out that vision. However, those are things that many people don't see - at least not initially. People see the playground. People see the new Welcome Center. People see better signage. People also see broken nursery windows and an uncompleted fence.

Like I said, sometimes the "broken window" is the broken windows. Recently another window in our Nursery was broken. We've already known that these windows needed to be replaced. The new broken window just heightened the need. Janet has been working behind the scenes making changes in Promiseland - better systems, training, recruiting, etc. Those are things that not everyone sees initially. People (in our church and outside our church) notice the Nursery - especially the windows. Replacing them will create an immediate "wow" factor and improve an already growing ministry.

We always need to work on the behind the scenes, big picture, systems, vision stuff; but we can't forget to fix those "broken windows." What are some small, visible things that you can work on in your area of ministry that would make a larger impact?

Back to the windows - bottom line - to replace them and wrap the wood with metal costs approximately $300 per window (9 windows on the back of our Nursery & building - $2700). Let's get this done.

Well, it's been a while since my last post. We got back from our Summer Youth Retreat on Saturday. The rest of the day was spent getting everything ready for Sunday. And after church on Sunday I came home and crashed.

We had a great Youth Retreat in Atlanta! Our students are awesome. I would take them anywhere. I'm very excited about the future - the future of our Student Ministry and our church. The basic schedule of the week was head off to somewhere fun in the morning (Georgia Aquarium, Six Flags, Stone Mountain), be back at dinner time, eat, worship & devotions, hang out (play "Mafia"), and off to bed. We also have an awesome Youth Pastor. He did a great job of leading our students.

Sunday was great. The worship team is starting to get in a groove. You could really sense our people were engaged in worship. It's just a glimpse of things to come. We had several first time guests. My message was on managing your anger (a.k.a. "The Incredible Hulk"). I love reading our Connect Cards from week to week. It's our first connection with guests. It's the place people share their prayer requests, needs, and most importantly the steps they are taking toward God. This week several people, including students, responded that the message was what they needed and would be working on controlling their anger. However, I laughed out loud when I read this comment on a Connect Card, "The Incredible Hulk gets mad and then grows right out of his clothes! I grow out of my clothes and THEN I get angry!" Guess or beg, I will not reveal the source.

For several weeks in a row now, including Sunday, we've had around 20 students at WAVES (our Middle School & High School Ministry). I can't wait to see what happens between the start of school and the first of the year. I believe our Student Ministry is going to explode! Get your student and their friends here.

Some time soon we're going to begin transforming their room (the old "Fellowship Hall") into the "Beach House"! Why "Beach House" you ask? Well, for starters this is Charleston. It's also the room our 1st - 5th grade Coastal Kidz use on Sunday morning. And our Student Ministry is called, "WAVES." To me, it's a no-brainer. And we can really do some cool stuff with this theme and it won't go out of date anytime soon. So be on the lookout for plans, ways you can help, and changes. Why the old "Fellowship Hall"? Well, after much prayer and thought I believe that it's simply a matter of good stewardship of our building and our money. We've already out grown the room as a place for meals for the whole church. Kids & Students were eating in the classrooms. We were only doing that about once a year anyway, while our children and students use the room every week and then some. For mid size meals and larger we've been using the Welcome Room and Auditorium. And when the time comes (and it is coming) for us to build, we will spend our money to build an auditorium to seat 800 people and our entire current campus will be used for children and students. How awesome is that going to be?!

Well, that's about it. Don't forget about our "Movie on the Lawn" night this Saturday. At 7PM we're going to be serving hot dogs & drinks. We'll have live, rockin' music, games and fun for the whole family. And then around 8:30PM we'll show a PG family movie. Bring some chairs and a blanket, but most importantly, bring some friends.

Well, we're scrambling around today, getting last minute things ready for our Summer Youth Retreat - food, supplies, packing, etc. My whole family is going. Should be a blast. There are 14 students and 4 adults. We're going to Atlanta and staying at Atlanta Christian College (Janet's & my alma mater). Can't wait to show the students the site of our first kiss in a special "behind the scenes" tour. I'm sure there's a plaque or statue there.

Each day we're taking a trip to an Atlanta attraction and then having a fun evening of worship, devotions, and group activities. We're going to the World's Largest Aquarium, Six Flags, and Stone Mountain. Stone Mountain just opened up the nation's largest family adventure course called, "Sky Hike." It looks like a lot of fun. I doubt I'll be blogging much this week. We get back on Saturday around 1pm.

And speaking of our Student Ministry, Friday night we had our Spaghetti Dinner/Silent Auction to raise money for the trip and Student Ministry. It was a huge success! The students sold a ton of tickets for the dinner and we raised over $2,200 just from the auction. I want to thank everyone who helped, donated food, bought tickets, donated and bought auction items, and helped clean up. A special thanks has to go to Melanie Bowick. She was a woman on a mission as far as getting people to donate stuff for the auction. Thanks Melanie for all you did!

On Sunday we kicked off our "At the Movies" summer message series! Our auditorium looks like a movie theater. We talked about being a real superhero and bringing your friends to Jesus. It was a very strong message, but very well received. Lots of people wrote down names of friends and family needing Jesus. Our prayer team is joining with you in praying for your friends. Don't give up. Pray. Keep loving and serving. Invite them to Coastal. And when they come to Coastal, let's all join together in making them feel welcome. Remember, everything we do here at Coastal is about pointing people to Jesus and seeing them experience the abundant life of Christ.

A great opportunity to invite your friends is our "Movie on the Lawn" on Saturday, August 16th. It will start around 7PM with free food, jump castle, and live music from our band. Just as it starts to get dark (around 8:45) we'll watch a family movie (PG) on our 16'X21' screen! (If you have any suggestions about the movie let me know). It's going to be a fun evening for the whole family.

We're having visitors every week and they are coming back - and so is our Youth Group on Sunday nights! If what we are beginning to see is any indication, the Fall is going to be awesome! Speaking of the Fall, our message series for September is going to be called, "Game Time." It's a sports theme and it's going to ROCK! And get this - are you ready? To kick it off, on Sunday, September 7th we are going to have one combined service - OUTSIDE - complete with tailgating (think food, fun, and music)! It is going to be a huge event! And then on Monday night September 8th we're going turn our auditorium into a Monday Night Football Party - another chance to invite your friends! There are a few other things that we'll be doing for this series, but I don't want to give it all away just yet. Believe it or not I'm already pumped up about our series in October. I'm going to be preaching through the book of Jonah and we're calling it, "The Deadliest Catch." Be on the lookout for our plans for a Deep Sea Fishing Trip in October! Join me in thinking, "What if?"

Well, this is much longer than I intended. Keep us in your prayers this week. If we get internet access, I'll blog. If not, I'll just Twitter. As you can tell, your Pastor is very pumped about Coastal and our future. Like I said Sunday - join us in the adventure of a lifetime and beyond!

On Monday night of this week Janet and I went out on a date night. I had received two passes to see a preview showing of the movie, "Fireproof." Honestly my first thought was, "FREE! Cheap date night!" We even have large cups that we've saved for several years now from Regal, that we can refill for only a dollar instead of the normal $4.50 highway robbery they charge for a drink.

But I'm glad we went. The movie is made by the same people who made, "Facing the Giants." Like their first movie, it obviously isn't made by a huge production company, but the quality of filming has obviously improved. And like the first movie, it isn't filled with big name actors, although Kirk Cameron (still not exactly a big time actor) is the main actor in this movie. But like Facing the Giants, Fireproof has a powerful message. However, this message is all about marriage and unconditional love. It will have you laughing and crying. And most importantly, it will inspire you to love your mate. And because the movie is set in the context of the lives of firemen and their families, the movie will be especially powerful in Charleston.

They are even providing material to strengthen marriages. You can visit their website to access the material. The primary tool that they reference in the movie - "The Love Dare" - will be available on September 26, the release date of the movie. So mark your calendar. We'll probably get a block of tickets and go on a large group "Date Night." (Since Janet & I have already seen the movie, we'll probably sit in the back and make out. Just joking - she won't let me.)