It’s been a crazy couple of days at our church offices. First, our copier/printer ran out of toner. And apparently, there is a national shortage of toner. Right now it looks like it will be delivered on Friday – hopefully.

Then, AT&T decided to replace our phone line on Tuesday morning. We have been having some trouble periodically and this seemed to be the best solution. They said it would mean that our phone/internet would only be down for about 30 minutes. 6 hours later, the first guy left and said another guy would be coming before the end of the day and get us up and running. Of course, he never came.

No copier/printer, phone, internet, email meant the next day I called AT&T and went “Old Testament” on them. They promised someone would come and finish the job. Well, someone did come. When he finished, he came inside to check that our phones were working. As he stood in our offices, he asked, “So, what is the real ‘F’ word?” (He was reading our church calendar.) I told him it was “Forgiveness” and then told him about the series we were doing. Almost in tears, he then said, “Can I ask you a question? How do you do that? How do you forgive when someone has hurt you terribly?”

Are you kidding me? Guess what my sermon is on this Sunday? Forgiving others! For the next 10 minutes we talked about forgiveness and the deep pain he was experiencing. He then asked, “Do ya’ll baptize by immersion here?” He saw on our calendar that we are having a baptism service on Sunday. “Why do you ask?” I said. “Well, I was talking to my dad the other day and he told me that I needed to get baptized by immersion. I was sprinkled when I was a baby, but now that I know what I’m doing I need to get baptized by immersion.” Again, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! Thanks for the softball, God!

I then asked him to follow me into our auditorium where I showed him our portable baptistry that we had just set up two days earlier. We talked for a few minutes longer and I got to tell him what baptism represents and how it fits right in with our forgiveness and how God’s forgiveness allows us to forgive others. He also asked if we had a Youth Group. He has a son who has never been to church. He works on Sunday, but said that he might come after work to our 6PM service and get baptized.

Will he show up? I don’t know. But I do know this, there are no accidents in the Kingdom of God. And if we let Him and if our eyes are open, God even uses our frustrations, like a down telephone line for His glory.

Our new portable baptistry that is! It arrived today! I’m jacked! At Coastal we baptize by immersion and for almost 20 years whenever we have Baptism Services we typically do them at the beach. When we met at Ashley Hall School, we used their indoor swimming pool. We’ve also borrowed other church facilities that have a baptistry.

However, even though it’s December and 74 degrees today here in Charleston, we only use the beach during the Spring, Summer, and early Fall. And anyone who has been at Coastal knows that we have a history of having to reschedule and reschedule and reschedule our Beach Baptism Services because of weather. We will continue to use the beach for baptisms. There is something powerful about baptizing people in the ocean.

However, if I’m honest, one of the drawbacks of outdoor baptisms is that not everyone comes out to the event. The crowds aren’t terrible, but I think it’s important for as many people as possible to see real examples of life change. And that’s what baptism is – a beautiful illustration of life change – a celebration! It is an outward symbol of our faith. It is a public profession of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. It symbolizes new birth and a washing away of our sins. It’s also saying to the world that your life is now under new management. Therefore, I think it’s important to act when someone gives their life to Jesus and is ready to be baptized. It’s something we shouldn’t keep putting off.

So, with all that in mind and our new portable baptistry in hand, we’re going to be having our first Baptism Service in our own building on Sunday night, December 20th, during the 3rd service, the 6PM service. Not only is it the Sunday before Christmas, it is the 3rd week of our series on Forgiveness. I can’t think of a better time to do it!

True to Coastal style, we’re going to make the event a celebration – a party! At 4:30PM we’ll be having an Oyster Roast. We’ll provide the oysters (local, disease free), butter, cocktail sauce, crackers, knives, gloves, drinks, hotdogs (for those who don’t like oysters), and paper products. You bring whatever other food you want share – chili, desserts, etc.

At 6PM we’ll move into the auditorium for a time of awesome, rocking worship and the baptism service. You won’t want to miss it. If you are interested in being baptized, simply let us know. Wear shorts and a t-shirt for the baptism and bring a change of clothes, we’ll provide towels and a changing room. And yes the water is heated! It’s going to be an awesome celebration! I can’t think of a better Christmas party!

Had a great weekend at Coastal! On Saturday we had volunteers decorate for Christmas and help clean out some of our storage sheds at the church. Actually, we had to clean out the sheds to get to the decorations. The church looks great!

We started a new series on Sunday entitled, “The Real ‘F’ Word.” I said leading up to this series that it has the potential to be one of the most life changing series we’ve ever done. Why? Because the “F” word is Forgiveness. On Sunday I talked about receiving God’s forgiveness. Between our 3 services we had over 30 stand up, recognize their need for God, confess their sin, and ask God for forgiveness. It was very moving! Our attendance on Sunday was 275! I think we’re going to break 300 during this series!

Today, as I shared with a friend what series our church was doing, she shared with me how starting at the age of 5 she was molested by a family member for several years. You see, for her the subject of forgiveness is a raw, in your face, sometimes even offensive topic. For her, it IS the real “F” word. But she also shared how, by the power of God, she has been able to release her offender. She knows that vengeance is God’s and only He can settle the score.

If this weekend was any indication, the next several weeks are going to be powerful!

On a side note, Sean (our Youth Minister) had a great Parent Meeting on Monday night! Some of you might not know this, but Sean’s Grandmother in Virginia passed away the end of last week and the funeral was Monday morning. He went home to be with his family over the weekend, spoke at the funeral Monday morning, and then drove straight to the church for the Parent Meeting on Monday night! That’s dedication! I think we had more parents than I’ve ever seen at a Parent Meeting. We even had parents I don’t know. That’s what I call growth!

It was quite a blur of a weekend for our family. On Thursday afternoon we took off for Virginia to pick up our daughter from Liberty University for Thanksgiving break. We drove to our good friends Buck & Laurie Wardle’s in Martinsville, Virginia. We had a great but very quick visit and late Friday morning we finished our trip to Liberty. They live a little longer than an hour from the campus.

Lydia got out of class at 12:15. We at lunch on campus and then took off. It’s right at a 7 hour trip. Traffic was terrible on the way home. Janet drove several hours of the trip and enabled me to finish up my sermon. Thank God for laptops.

On Saturday morning I went to the church and finished up everything for Sunday. Saturday afternoon Lydia went with me to a wedding I was performing at Kiawah. It’s kind of a Daddy/Daughter thing we enjoy doing together. She likes seeing the dresses and we both enjoy hanging out together. It was a nice wedding except for one small little detail. They failed to get a SC Marriage License – big oversight for a destination wedding.

Sunday was cold, wet, and dreary for Charleston. Our attendance was slightly down, but we still have 1st time guests each week. It was week 3 of our, “Questions?” series. I talked about handling life’s problems. We also introduced our December series, “The Real ‘F’ Word.” In case you’re wondering the “F” word is Forgiveness. I really think this series is going to make a huge impact.

We had some guests who came to Coastal on Sunday who used to go to the church who formerly owned our building and campus – St. John’s Episcopal Church. They were genuinely impressed with all the changes we have made. And you can imagine the huge changes from a traditional Episcopal church to Coastal! After their tour, the wife told me how impressed she was with all that we had done. She said it was like seeing a dream come true – all the life and children!

Sunday was also Newcomers Day. We had a lunch immediately after the second service and then dessert and coffee immediately after the 6PM service. We hold these event about once a quarter for anyone new to Coastal. It is one of those initial next steps and entry points into our church life. We tell people it is a chance to enjoy a good meal, meet new friends, learn more about Coastal, and discover possible next steps. I share my testimony, tell our story and mission, and talk about LIFE Groups and Ministry opportunities. It is one of my favorite things we do.

Love meeting new people and getting to hear their story as well. One newcomer shared how much they have loved coming to Coastal. She shared how her out of town daughter was having a hard time finding and connecting to a church family. She had come to Coastal on a visit and brought her children with her. She said that during this time of searching for a church home her grandson said, “Can we go to grandma’s church. They love us there!” Wow! I hope that continues to be the mark of Coastal – a place where they love people.

Anyway, it was just a great weekend. Love having my whole family together. My throat is raw and ragged out after preaching 3 times and talking for our 2 Newcomers events. We’re now getting ready for Thanksgiving. Invited anyone who doesn’t have plans to come to our home for Thanksgiving. Hoping a bunch of people take us up on our offer. I am so blessed and have so much to be thankful for!

Today after one of our services, a first time guest was walking down the hallway with her two children in tow. One of them shouted, “I want to do it again Mommy! I want to do it again!” You can’t get a better endorsement than that. By the way, our 1st Impression Team did a great job with her as well, especially Nancy (my mom) and Beth. Way to go guys!

Today was just awesome! Not only did we have a great attendance, but we had 15 1st & 2nd Time Guests fill out Connect Cards! My message was on understanding God’s will for our lives. And while that might seem kind of dry or ho hum, people were moved. Several people told me that they were going to try to get their friends to the evening service.

At 1PM today Bryan Miller from our church organized his reserve unit, LIFE Group, and anyone from our church that wanted to go down to the VA Hospital to love and serve. It went great – so well in fact, that is going to be a quarterly event. On Friday, over 50 people showed up for the OCC wrapping/ packing party. On Thursday of this week, our Servolution LIFE Group is taking clothes to the Lowcountry Orphan Relief. On Saturday, Dec. 12th, they are organizing a Free Yard Sale for our community. Three different families contacted me last week wanting names of families to help for Christmas. Walk around before and after the services and you’ll hear and see people laughing, sharing, praying, crying, loving and serving.

Sure the music is awesome at Coastal – in fact it just keeps getting better and better! Craig Burden was awesome tonight! And yes I love the lights and sometimes the guy preaching doesn’t completely screw it up, but don’t you see? It’s all this other stuff that gets me jacked up!

The impact we are making in our community is palpable. I’ve heard people say, “If your church were gone, would people in your community even notice?” The answer for Coastal is a loud yes! Tonight after the 3rd service two teachers from Oakland came looking for me. They wanted to tell me that the longtime secretary at Oakland found out that her dad was murdered over the weekend here in Charleston. I went to her home. They live right around the corner from our church. She introduced me to her family as the Pastor of Coastal, the church across the street from the school, the one who prays with the teachers and brings coffee and doughnuts. Yes, we are making an impact. Lives are being changed. Sure, today was a long day, but honestly, I feel just like that child, “I want to do it again! I want to do it again!”

“was getting to serve in Children’s Ministry.” That’s what my daughter said about church this past Sunday. You see my daughter is a freshmen at Liberty University in Lynchburg VA. She doesn’t have a car on campus and so for the most part she has been attending the Campus Church. And while she loves the worship at Campus Church and it has been a great experience, she wanted to find a church off campus where she could serve and get involved.

So she did what most people do when they are in a new area, look for a church. She asked around and looked on the internet. She visited a couple of churches with some people from campus, but they just didn’t seem like a fit. We helped as much as we could from home with the internet search. We found two churches that seemed like possibilities. Lydia emailed both of them to introduce herself and see if they possibly had students from Liberty attending that she could connect with for a ride.

Lydia went to one of those churches this past Sunday. It is a large, contemporary church with great music, a big ministry, and a beautiful building. But she texted me that morning and said, “Felt like home as soon as I saw a clorox wipe.” You see, Lydia went early and observed and served in their Nursery Ministry. She said it was the best part of the day – serving.

Now, obviously, I have the best daughter in the Universe, but I want to make a few quick observations. People are fulfilled through service, make the ask. Sometimes we are so hesitant in recruiting people for ministry, we’re almost scared. At Coastal we have discovered that the best way to recruit new people for ministry is to simply ask them. One fulfilled servant tapping someone on the shoulder, casting the vision of their ministry, and asking them to join them. Bulletins, announcements, slides, sign-up lists, are all nothing more than a support. The real secret is one person asking another person. But the key in making the ask is knowing that you are actually doing them a service – not the other way around. Jesus said that we find our lives by giving our lives away. People are looking for something greater than themselves to invest their lives in.

One more point. The key to keeping students involved in church is getting them involved in ministry. Students are leaving the church in droves today. There are all kinds of alarming statistics that show that as soon as students are on their own, in college or otherwise, they leave the church – even students who were involved in a Youth Group.

The only thing that seems to make a difference? Serving in ministry. Students need to learn early on that they are here to make a contribution, not just consume. And students need to feel that their contribution matters and makes a difference in the church that they serve. And I’m not just talking about “Youth Sundays” when the Youth Group leads worship, passes out the bulletins, takes up the offering, and gives the message on one particular Sunday. I’m talking about where Students serve on teams with adults, are given training, responsibility, and value.

Somebody wiser than me once said that the measure of a healthy church is not just it’s seating capacity, but it’s serving and sending capacity. I pray that we are expanding all three at Coastal.

What?! Sunday night reflections on Sunday night? I know – it’s a miracle! Let me just begin by saying that last week was simply crazy. I was sick and needed to take some time off and didn’t. I basically lost my voice last week and needed to rest my voice, but didn’t. And then just a bunch of weird things happened throughout the week. Our main video projector in the auditorium was doing crazy things and ended up needing to be replaced. And then our old mount didn’t fit the new projector. But we didn’t discover that until Friday. And then to complicate matters even worse, our phones went dead and we had to get Bell South out to the church. We also changed out everything from one series to a new one. And then just all the regular stuff of life and ministry.

Add all that up and it seems like a recipe for disaster. And yet God keeps reminding me that He is in control and it’s all about Him and not me. And He keeps using Coastal to do amazing things and draw people to Himself! Today was just awesome!

We kicked off a new series entitled, “Questions?” For the past month we collected cards where people could submit questions that they wanted answered in my sermon. We would then pick at least 4 of those questions and address them on Sunday morning. And of course in true Coastal style we also had some fun with it as well. By the way, the stage design with the question marks and banners looked great! Very simple and clean, but at the same time very big. It’s amazing what you can do with a sheet of blue construction foam board. Good job Cindy!

Today’s message was, “What does the Bible say about Heaven?” The greatest thing about Heaven is that Jesus will be there. The greatest question about Heaven is, will you be there? And after today there will be at least one more person there! That’s what was so powerful about today!

Our total attendance was 277! It sounds strange even saying that. Last year this Sunday we had 119 people! I think we’re going to bust through 300 soon! Adding the third service has definitely given us room to grow! In fact, I think we could almost double with our current Sunday morning configuration. And how could that happen? Simple. Everyone invite and bring a friend.

Lots of other stuff happened this weekend. Great Walk for Life for the Lowcountry Pregnancy Center on Saturday morning at our church. Wedding for a great couple from Charlotte on Saturday afternoon. Clemson won big Saturday night. And now it’s time to relax, reflect, and rest (my voice). Very excited about the future. Ready to reveal some big stuff. Time to start planning our Egg Drop. Got some great ideas for our next series during December! Okay, it’s difficult to shut down. Good night.

Wow, I never intended to take a month off from Blogging. Believe it or not, I actually enjoy it quite a bit. And I think about it all the time, “That would make a good blog post.” However, for whatever reason, it’s been a little over a month since my last post. A lot has happened:

• Wes, Sean, and I went to Catalyst Leadership Conference in Atlanta. Had a great time! Learned a lot. Had fun with our team. Stayed with some great friends!
• Finished up our “UFC” series – probably one of the most well received series we’ve ever done. Great “look” to introduce new lights!
• We’re still learning our new lights, but I absolutely love the look in our auditorium.
• We added a third service! Sunday nights 6PM – same great music, message, and ministry. The third service is going surprisingly well. Still trying to get in a groove physically. But the cool thing is that we have people coming who would not otherwise come to church.
• Started a new series, “Voices.” Lots of cool creative elements during this series. Built a “shack” in the auditorium to represent poverty. Worship Artist. Guest speakers from Lowcountry Pregnancy Center, Water Missions International, Samaritan’s Purse, and Habitat for Humanity.
• LIFE Groups are going great. My LIFE group (Servolution) has done a lot of great things: made dinner for a kids football team and their parents, fed the faculty, teachers, and staff at Oakland Elementary School, collecting clothes for an Orphanage, cleaned the church, and more.
• Beginning the process of planning out the next year of message series, outreach, special events, etc. Very excited about the new year.
• We really need an Administrative Assistant! At the very minimum we need someone to come in on Mondays and do FellowshipOne database entry and contact work. And then to come in on Fridays for the Bulletin and Connect Card. That is the BARE MINIMUM, but that’s what we need. Let me know if you’re interested.
• Our music is simply getting better and better and better. Sunday was off the hook!
• For me personally 2009 has been all about systems and leadership. 2010 will be more of the same. We will break through the 300 barrier soon. I need to be talking to Pastors of churches of 500 and start figuring out next steps for Coastal. Reading. Reading. Reading.
• Very excited about the next couple of series at Coastal. Christmas is going to be amazing! We’re going to unveil some exciting stuff for the New Year.
• Lydia came home for Fall Break! It was too short, but glad to see her.
• We went to Liberty to see Lydia for Parent’s Weekend! Longer visit. Had fun seeing Lydia in her new environment. She’s adjusting well. As always, very proud of her.
• Got sick late last week and was losing my voice on Sunday, which is difficult when you have 3 services. Trying to rest and talk less this week – very difficult for Pastors.

Okay, maybe that’s why I didn’t blog in October. Whatever the reason, it’s good to be back!

It’s kind of late for a weekend reflections post, but here are some random thoughts:

• On Friday, did a wedding for wonderful young couple at Coastal. It was at Charlestowne Landing in a beautiful outdoor setting. Had lots of fun afterwards with some folks from Coastal. Met with another couple that I am marrying next weekend and I was able to talk to them about what a difference Christ and His church can make in their marriage. I think they might visit our church. They loved our “UFC Cage” we built in our auditorium.
• Our Youth Minister Sean had a “Dress Up Night” for the High School Students on Saturday. They looked great and had an awesome time.
• Sean and Melissa are the real deal. We are blessed to have them. Middle School and High School LIFE Groups are GROWING!
• Sunday was a long but great day!
• The first service had a lot of technical issues, but it still rocked!
• I am a firm believer that when Paul was talking about the “prince of the power of the air” he was referring to sound difficulties.
• Janet had a great Coastal Kidz meeting. She has an awesome team!
• I miss my daughter Lydia! I can’t wait to see her during Fall Break!
• Had a ton of guests on Sunday! So proud of Coastal!
• We have a 1st Impressions Meeting this Saturday, 9:30AM, before FUEL. As our church continues to grow, it’s so important that we do everything in our power to create a friendly, welcoming atmosphere! With adding another service and a real Cafe’ we also need more volunteers in this ministry.
• We still need about $4000 to pay off our new lights! Got the house lights hooked up with the system and the dimmer pack. We will slightly dim the house lights during my message. Will help with taking notes and filling out Connect Cards (and writing checks!).
• Had a great meeting this week with some folks from Habitat for Humanity. Looking forward to a great partnership.
• This “UFC” series has been great! People eat up marriage/relationship sermons! People love free stuff!
• Can’t wait for our 3rd Service – starting Oct. 11th, Sunday nights 6PM.
• LIFE Groups ROCK! Matt Beam and our LIFE Group Leaders have done an awesome job!
• Next week Sean, Wes, and I are going to the Catalyst Leadership Conference in Atlanta (Wednesday-Friday). Going to miss my family, but can’t wait to soak it all in. Last year’s conference was a real turning point in my leadership. And I have a feeling the three of us might even have some fun and get into some trouble!

Well, that’s enough for now. Let’s close out UFC this Sunday with a bang! Invite and bring your friends. On Oct. 11th we kick off a new series entitled, “Voices.” It’s all social justice and Christians being a voice for the voiceless. We’ve got some exciting elements planned for this series.

In January of this year, I kicked off the New Year with a short two week sermon series. The first sermon was the Year in Review. I talked about where we had been as a church, the ups and the downs, and what God had done in our midst (truthfully, 2008 was a difficult year). The next sermon was the Year Ahead. I talked about some upcoming message series, vision, and goals. At the time we were a church of about 125-150.

We also started FUEL in January. FUEL is our monthly gathering of all Coastal volunteers and ministry leaders. At our first FUEL and at our first service of January I told everyone that we were going to be making changes and that it was time to pull out all the stops and reach people who don’t know Jesus. I also stated that by the end of the year we would be a church of at least 250.

Now for many churches 250 is no big deal. But for a church that’s never been over 200, that’s crazy talk. In fact, statistically the older a church is without ever growing over 200 the less likely it ever will or at least the more difficult it is. This coming year we are 20 years old. Well, this summer we averaged just over 200 people. That’s right – during the summer! And then this past Sunday our attendance was 255! That was our highest non-Easter attendance ever. In fact, last Easter we had 256.

9 months into the year and we go over 250! What does the rest of this year hold? I don’t know really. I believe we are going to bust through 300 soon. On October 11th we add a 3rd service, Sunday nights at 6PM. These are definitely exciting times and we do have a lot of momentum. 255 represents growth and LIFE change, but it is just the beginning! My prayer is that God will continue to use Coastal as a place that He can draw people to Himself.