Sunday was great! I’m really enjoying this series. I actually had someone come up to me after the service and say, “They ought to make a movie about Abraham!” Someone else said, “I used to think the Old Testament was boring. I didn’t think anyone could make Genesis come alive, but you guys are doing it.” Now the reality is God doesn’t need our help. His Word is alive! But what really made Sunday great was changed lives! Several Connect Cards reflected people making decisions to leave things behind, renew their hope, or to continue to walk by faith. That’s what it’s all about!

I am a blessed man! Today is my daughter Lydia’s 16th Birthday. Sweet 16 – I can’t believe it! On top of that, she’s driving! She’s growing up on me. It seems like only yesterday she was the little girl in this picture.

Lydia, I just wanted to take a minute today and tell you how proud I am of you. I love you so much! I love everything about you. Second only to Mommy, you are the most beautiful girl I know. I love your smile. I love your sense of humor. I love “Daddy Daughter Days.” I love all the inside jokes that only you and I get. I love your sense of style. I love what a great big sister you are. I love the kind of friend you are. I love our prayer times in the evenings. I love it when you come to work with me.

But most of all, I love your heart! You love Jesus, you love people, and it shows. And that’s all I could ever ask. You are the answer to my prayers. In fact, you are more than I ever dreamed or imagined a daughter could be. I am in awe of the young woman you are and I am constantly amazed at who you are becoming. I pray you always know how much God loves you and how much Mommy & Daddy love you too. You will always be my little girl. Happy Sweet 16 Lydia!

Hey Everybody! We’re baaaack! We had a great time. Hilton Head is a beautiful place – and now I know why. This is what we saw on our way home this morning.

If you can’t make out the words on the car, it says, “Pooper Trooper” 843-815-POOP. Our first thought was, “Who did this guy tick off to get this job.” But then our conversation digressed pretty quickly. You think you’ve got a ****** job! How does he make an arrest? What if the lawbreaker resists or flees the scene? What does the CSI team for this unit do? I told you we laugh a lot. I actually know several Neighborhood Associations who would like to have one of these units.

Here’s the story of the bride (Christi Groetz) that I married yesterday. Needless to say, it was quite a joyous occasion for their family. It was great just to be there and be a part of it. Rachel Ray and Oprah are talking to them about sharing her story. She’s a walking miracle. And you know what? So are you! You were created in the image of God. If you are a Christian, you too have been rescued from death to LIFE. And He uses you and me to share the Greatest News in the world – there is new LIFE available in Christ! So live like the miracle you are today and share it with a friend!

Husbands, put this verse in your wallet, on your dashboard, or on your refrigerator – somewhere you’ll see it. Ecclesiastes 9:9, “Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love.” Let that sink in. Read it again.

Today I’m heading down to Hilton Head to do a wedding. I am so pumped! No, not about the wedding, but about the fact that MY bride is going with me! The kids are staying with some friends and Janet and I are going down together. Truthfully, I’m excited about the drive down and back. I just love hanging out with Janet – talking, laughing, sharing, and laughing some more. She is my favorite person to be with and my very best friend! We just have fun together. We enjoy life together. The best gift I can give my kids is a healthy marriage.

I’ll do the wedding (get out of there as quick as possible – I know that sounds bad), go out to eat and run around Hilton Head together, spend the night at a nice hotel (got a great deal through Priceline.com), and come back tomorrow morning. I also love doing weddings when Janet can come, because I think about her and our marriage just a little bit more. I try to catch her eye during the ceremony. And I enjoy going down to Hilton Head because that’s where we spent our Honeymoon 20 years ago. Actually, it was about this same time, because although we were married on Valentines Day, we went to Hilton Head a little over a month later during our Spring Break (she was teaching and I was still in school – she’s much older than me).

Anyway, it’s just a quick trip – about 24 hours, but I will enjoy every minute of it with my wife whom I love! If there’s an emergency, call . . . . Jeremiah!

A few quick notes about Sunday:

- I’ve got a new song to sing (a.k.a. annoy people with) all week – “I’ll Be Around,” originally written and sung by the Spinners in the early 70’s and rocked out by the Coastal Praise & Worship Team in 2007.

- Our Praise & Worship Team is awesome – they could be my Freaks of the Week every week! Now they’d be the first to tell you about their varying levels of skill and about the times when they make mistakes and get on each other’s nerves. But that’s not what makes them awesome. It’s their servants heart. It’s their faithfulness. It’s their willingness to change and adapt and work on the details. It’s their willingness to make room for new people and let them in to community. It’s that they do all of this not just because they love to play – although they do and it shows. They do all of it because they love Jesus and they want people to know Him. I love you guys!

- We’re having visitors every week. We had a family show up Sunday who saw one of our “stick in the ground” signs my son Christopher and I put out around Easter. The signs simply say, “Get a LIFE!” and then have our church website listed. They were simply meant to get attention and direct the curious to our website. And guess what? It worked! Christopher was so jacked! We need work on a new church t-shirt with our website on the back and give them away – great advertising! Some of you creative types get busy on that!

– Yes, your Pastor did have hair in the early 80’s! Everyone has really enjoyed this part of our series – “Old School” pics of Coastal Folks (I still need more). I’ve put up a page on our Church Event Photos page with all of the “Old School” pictures used so far. Can you remember who they are? The names have been removed to “protect the innocent.”

- The lava lamps are my secret way of hypnotizing you during my sermon – “You are under my power.”

- We’re covering some important stuff in this series. Sunday we talked about the doctrine of sin. We looked at the tactics Satan uses and the consequences of sin. But praise God that “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) This coming Sunday we’re going to talk about Abraham and the covenant God establishes. These are “heady” subjects, but hopefully we’re communicating them in a way that makes sense and makes changes in our every day lives. Get your friends and neighbors and co-workers and anybody you can to Coastal! Because every week we’re going to introduce them to Jesus! He is the only answer to our problems! He is the only way to real life!

- And finally, this is actually a great theme song for our Small Groups (a new 6 week Small Group starts Thursday, May 3rd):

Whenever you call me, I’ll be there
Whenever you want me, I’ll be there
Whenever you need me, I’ll be there
I’ll be around!

No, this is not a picture of me. It’s actually “Elvis” Eddie Powers in front of the “Say I Do” Drive Thru Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas. Sometimes I do feel a bit like this guy. I do a lot of weddings. In fact, I’m headed out to Kiawah to a Wedding Rehearsal in just a little while. I have two rehearsals and three weddings this weekend. I think I have like 8-10 weddings this month. I started doing weddings about the same time I started our church. I had no idea at the time how many people come to Charleston to get married. I also had no idea at the time how big an “industry” getting married is here in Charleston. Not to brag or anything, but I do a pretty good job. And now over time, places like the Sanctuary, Seabrook, Middleton Place, and people like Wedding Planners and Photographers all have my name.

I know this is a little late for my Sunday Reflections, but better late than never. Actually the power was out at my house until Sunday night. But thankfully it came on by the time we got home and the kids got to watch the Amazing Race. Beth Duckworth told me her power didn’t come on until 10:30 this morning!

Our series, “Old School” kicked off in groovy fashion Sunday morning – literally! The band rocked out the opening song, “Hurt So Good” – great job Wyatt! This is a picture of the stage from practice on Saturday night. My family is especially ready for the next song. You see, I have this annoying habit of getting a song stuck in my head and then running it in into the ground. For several days now, in the shower, in the car, in the grocery store, I’ll just burst out very loudly in, “Come on baby make it hurt so good!” I know, I need help. Everyone seemed impressed with our “Old School” decor in the auditorium – lava lamps, album covers, beads, polyester, video games, tie dye. Where did we get all the “stuff” you ask? The video games (80’s) came from Ricky Spell. The album covers (70’s) came from Eddie Evans. The beads, clothes, and other props (60’s) came from Junk & Jive Retro Mart and the Footlight Players prop warehouse.

Every so often someone will ask me if we have any older adults at Coastal. And when they do, I’ll rattle off a few names (don’t worry – I won’t name names here). And then without fail I’ll say something like, “Oh, and there’s Henry & Carol Biering, but they don’t really fit in that category.” You see, Henry & Carol are the youngest older adults I think I’ve ever met and they are my Freaks of the Week! I absolutely love this couple! I snapped this picture of them this morning cleaning the church – which they’ve done many times. They are great examples of humble servant leaders. Their rich spiritual journey, their love for the Lord, for Coastal, for others, for their family, and for each other is nothing short of inspirational. If you ever get a chance, sit down with them (if you can keep up with them) and ask them about their journey. What will blow you away is that they’re still going and growing strong! You never get the sense that they think they’ve arrived or that it’s time to be put out to pasture, which is how many people many years younger than them act. Retire? Slow down? Puhh-leeaase! There’s too much still to be done.

Our WAVES Student Ministry(6th-12th Grade) has a cool event coming up – “The Amazing Race.” They also have a cool new website that Jeremiah has been working on. Check it out at www.coastalcommunitychurch.org/WAVES. Speaking of Jeremiah, he and Cyndi tie the knot in one month – May 12th! We are having a church wide Wedding Shower for them this Sunday, April 15th, at 6PM. Now typically for me, wedding showers would fit in that category of “not a guy thing.” But not this one! Church wide means that it is for the whole family and for the whole church. Come and show your love and support for Jeremiah and Cyndi and their ministry to Coastal and our Students. And we might even serve some “meat” for us guys!

Don’t miss this Sunday as we kick off our new series “Old School – Today’s Questions, Yesterday’s Stories.” It’s going to be a lot of fun! We’re going to do a lot of creative stuff with decorations, music, and multi-media. The band is really jacked! Come early – you’re going to want to hear their opening song every week. Also, I need old pictures of Coastal folks from “back in the day” (High School, prom, sports, etc.).

Now obviously, “Old School” means different things to different people depending on your frame of reference. Andy Griffith or The Cosby Show. Poodle Skirts, Bell Bottoms, or Leggings. Albums, 8-Tracks, or CD’s. Beatles, Bee Gees, or Backstreet Boys. The Twist, The Hustle, or The Running Man.

Romans 15:3 says, “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” That’s what we’re going to do in this series. We’re going to go back and take a look at what was written in the past – the first 5 books of the Old Testament – and see how it applies to our lives today. The stage design, music, and multi-media that we’ll be using in this series – these are just fun, creative methods of communication. These are simply tools that change with the times, just like music, fashion, t.v., dance, and technology have changed. The message, however, never changes. It is the message – the Gospel, God’s Word – that changes lives. It is the message that teaches, encourages, gives us endurance, and hope. And that’s what Coastal is all about – changing lives!

So, get your friends here this Sunday! Pray. Invite. Invite. Invite! God is doing something here at Coastal. Get on board and join us in this adventure! How quickly will we go to multiple services? How quickly will we average over 150 and then 200? How quickly will we add a 3rd service? And when will it be? How about a Saturday night service? How big is your dream for Coastal? See you Sunday! Join me in living the dream!