I know this sounds like a broken record, but we had a wonderful weekend. On Friday, my family and I spent the day painting Wes’ office. Actually, Caleb, one of our students, spent the day painting with us as well. Late in the afternoon I had a wedding rehearsal. The bride was a teacher at Oakland Elementary School two years ago. She taught at another school this past year, but asked me to do her wedding.

On Saturday, Delma was ready to get an early start on round two of putting the playground together. He arrived at the church early, but the two guys he was counting on were not able to come, and one of the guys had most of the tools we needed. But here’s the amazing part. I made a few phone calls and within an hour Charlie, David, and Jr. were all there to help. And Dan, Scotty, and Jeff brought tools. You guys are awesome! Delma tells me we have about 5 hours of work left – probably, Sat. the 12th.

Our attendance was down a bit today, but that does happen some over the summer – vacations, etc. But it was just a great day. The Praise Team was awesome. I love getting to worship with my wife next to me in the service. And everyone really seemed to sing out today! We closed out the One Prayer series listening to a powerful message by Pastor Craig Groschel – Lord, Make Us One. One of the things that seemed to be the most powerful was closing out the message by asking everyone to kneel as we prayed for other area churches.

And here is the other thing that happened today that you might not have seen. I mentioned at the end of the service that there were a few things that we needed volunteers to help get done. George and Charlene took home the see-saw that needs to be put together for our playground. Christy and Jr. came back to the church and painted the trim in Wes’ office. Brooklyn and Austin came back to the church and put Wes’ desk together and changed out several lights around the building.

To some, these things might not sound significant. But to me, they are signs of servanthood, ownership, and life change. We have so many volunteers at Coastal! You guys blow me away all the time! The percentage of people who serve here is unbelievable.

I can’t wait for VBS! Pray for 100 kids! Several people took home yard signs and flyers! Pray & Invite!

We start a new series this Sunday – WANTED: Healthy Families! (Speaking of our new series – I need a saddle for decorations on the stage.) I can’t wait to preach Sunday! Enjoyed the time off – but jacked up, fired up, and ready to go this Sunday! Wes will be here on Sunday! Woo-hoo!

Loved Student Ministry tonight. Had an awesome time of prayer!

Well that’s about it. Get someone here Sunday! We all need this message!

In just a little over a week our new Youth Pastor/Worship Leader, Wes Roberts, will be driving down to Charleston. I’m so excited on so many different levels! He will be driving a moving truck down on Saturday, July 5th, with his brother-in-law, come to church on the 6th, and then move into their apartment on Monday, July 7th (his birthday, by the way). Brianna and Charlotte will be driving down with her mom on the 7th. I know it’s a working day for most of you, but if you’re from Coastal and can help unpack their truck please let me know.

Even though it’s only been a “long distance” relationship to this point, the more I interact with Wes, the more I like and the more convinced I become about God’s sovereign plan in bringing us together. Bill Hybels talks about the “three C’s” in building a leadership team – Character, Competency, and Chemistry. To build a Kingdom Dream Team, as he calls it, you need all three.

“When searching for someone to add to a volunteer team or a paid staff position, I remind myself, Character first. By this I mean that I need to have confidence in a person’s walk with Jesus Christ. I need to know that they are committed to spiritual disciplines. I need to see evidence of honesty, teachability, humility, reliability, a healthy work ethic, and a willingness to be entreated.” (Bill Hybels, Courageous Leadership, pg. 81) In Wes, first and foremost, we are getting someone of utmost character who has a genuine, personal, growing walk with Jesus Christ.

Next Hybels says comes Competence. He makes no apologies for saying that you should shoot for the moon. Look for the highest level of competence you can find. Again, in Wes, we have a man who has a proven track record in both Youth Ministry and Worship. In fact, someone in our church said, “Wow – that’s a big time hire.” He’s right.

And last, but definitely not least, Hybels lists Chemistry. Why is Chemistry so important? Because most of ministry is done in teams and through relationships. Not only do we have to get along to be effective, but we need to like each other. Ken Blanchard, co-author of The One Minute Manager, told Hybels never to invite a person onto his team who doesn’t have a positive emotional effect on him the minute he walks into his office. Simply put – I genuinely like Wes. Other than his affinity for the Georgia Bulldogs, if he were my neighbor, we’d hang out, we’d get along, we’d be friends.

Hybels says that now after almost three decades of team building – when character, competence, and chemistry are all in place – when he goes to work he feels like a schoolboy going out for recess. Coastal, I can hear the bell ringing! I’m already praying about the next member of our Dream Team. Who knows? It might be you!

P.S. Here’s a little video of Wes “goofing around” with his guitar. Those are some happy fingers!

Just a quick shout out to our students here at Coastal. I am so impressed with them! At the last minute I announced to our students on Sunday night that on Monday morning we would meet at the church to CLEAN IT! That’s right – to clean to whole church! Afterwards we would go grab some pizza and then see a movie. I honestly didn’t think that we’d have many students show up. I was wrong. We had 17 students! They were cleaning ninjas! Thanks guys! You never cease to amaze me!

Wow – it’s been quite a wild and crazy week since my last post. I left for Senior Week of Camp last Sunday (Father’s Day) and spent the week with 142 students (a record at Camp Edisto). It was a great week. Several students gave their lives to Jesus and many rededicated their lives to Him. Camp is a great place to make new friends and see old ones. It keeps me young. The weather was surprisingly bearable as well. One major change at Camp Edisto – no Churn! It was destroyed along with City Hall, Ott’s Grocery Store and several other buildings by a tornado this year. The Churn is a local restaurant (ice cream, shakes, burgers, fries, and anything fried) in Branchville. It’s more of an icon than anything else. We’ve been going there for milk shakes during and on the way home from Camp since I was 13. The Subway and China Fun (yes Branchville does have a Chinese Restaurant – scary) just doesn’t cut it.

When I got home on Friday, I hit the ground running. I borrowed a trailer from my good friend C.W. and went and picked up a new playground for our church from Sam’s Club. On Saturday, Delma, Matt, and Otis spent about 5 hours putting the new playground together. They probably have another 5 or so to go this weekend. It’s going to be awesome (but no where near as awesome as the friend who donated the money for the playground and men who donated their time to put it up)! Later that day I had a wedding at Kiawah and still had a few things to get ready for Sunday.

I know what you’re thinking, “Chris, you didn’t have to preach, what did you have to do?” Well, Sunday’s for me is a lot more than having to preach. That being said, I’ve really enjoyed the preaching break. I needed it. And on top of that, it came at a great time with me at camp. I have never not preached at our church for two or more weeks in a row in the history of our church – 18 years. And the messages have been phenomenal. It’s been great exposing our church to other great preachers and ministries around the country during this series.

I have the gift of faith. I have always been a “the best is yet to come” type of Pastor. But you know what? I truly believe that! We are on the verge of something big here at Coastal. It’s so real to me I can almost reach out and touch it. First of all, there is something to be said for faithfulness and perseverance and keeping your eyes on Jesus and His vision for our church in the midst of pain and difficulty. But more than that, a lot of little things have been happening that I believe are simply preparing the ground for a great harvest. As Perry Noble said on Sunday, “Hold on to your fork!”

Pray, build relationships, live the life of Christ in your world, and invite like never before. We are going to fill the two services we have and be forced to add a third. Our Student Ministry is getting ready to grow in ways never seen before at Coastal. Our Praise & Worship on Sunday mornings is going to be the talk of our community and friends. Our Children’s Ministry is going to have kids begging their parents to bring them to Coastal (by the way – how many kids are you bringing to VBS?). After we add a fourth service, we’re going to enter a Building Campaign and expand our campus by building an 800 seat auditorium. Our current campus will be our children and student facility. And after we go to two services in our new facility we’re going to have to figure out what to do next – multi-site? plant a church? Those are the things I’ve been praying about lately. Join me in that prayer. The best really is yet to come! Lord make us obedient, make us audacious, and make us dangerous! I can’t wait to preach!

I am packing up the truck and heading off to Camp Edisto in Branchville, SC for Senior High Week of Camp with my daughter Lydia. Camp Edisto is the place I gave my life to Jesus, so it holds a special place in my heart. Been going there since I was 13. So – I don’t have much time for my Sunday Reflections blog. But we had a great Father’s Day at Coastal. Loved Baby Dedication and loved Pastor Steven Furtick’s message, “Lord, Make Us Audacious!” I’ll share more about Sunday when I get back.

There is no internet connection at Camp – so no blogging until Friday (I don’t even get good cell phone connection). Truthfully, I will miss it – and you. Keep us in your prayers. I hate being away from Janet and Christopher. Pray that Students lives are changed! Check back on Friday and I’ll tell you all about it. If my phone works, I’ll try to Twitter! Happy Father’s Day!

I’ve seen this a couple of places in the last week. But it’s so good, I didn’t want you to miss it. Enjoy!

Okay, I realize it takes a couple of minutes for the temperature in my truck to adjust, but this is ridiculous! It’s been hot here the last few days!

I know this is extremely late for my Sunday reflections, but here goes. If you read my previous post (camping) you know that the whole weekend was jampacked. I’ll be honest with you – I was tired and sore on Sunday. I hope it didn’t show. It felt like the Holy Spirit infused me with His power. I know sometimes this must sound like a broken record, but Sunday was great! We had several first time guests and return guests. Mike is a very gifted worship leader and the entire Worship Team did an awesome job! It was also great to look out in the first service and see our musicians Jeff, Prisca, and David all worshipping in the audience.

I kicked off the One Prayer series on Sunday with my prayer, “Lord, make us obedient.” I talked about how I was having a difficulty narrowing my focus to one thing. In fact, I could make a strong case for many things. Lord, make us evangelistic. Lord, make us servants. Lord, make us worshippers. Lord, make us faithful. Lord, make us courageous. And then it hit me. You see, my daily prayer for Coastal goes something like this, “God, let us be the church You’ve called us to be.” In other words, “Lord, make us obedient.” Obedience is simply a willingness to say, “Yes, Lord.” I will do whatever you call me to do. I will simply listen to your voice and follow. John 10:27, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

Does God want the church to be evangelistic? You bet. Does God want the church be filled with servants? Absolutely. Does God want the church to worship Him in Spirit and Truth? No doubt. Does God want the church to be countless other things that we see all through out scripture and that I could make a strong case for? Yes, but we will never be those things until we have the attitude of obedience and simply say, “Yes, Lord. Whatever You say, I will do.”

Following Jesus and saying, “Yes, Lord,” is not always the easy road. But the great news is that whatever God asks us to do, He gives us the power to accomplish. And that’s why we also looked at the Jesus’ prayer in John 17. It’s encouraging to know that Jesus is praying for you and me. We can be obedient, we can say, “Yes, Lord,” because Jesus is praying for us. He is praying for our protection (vs. 15). He praying for our unity (vs. 21). He is praying for our joy (vs. 13). He is praying for our purity (vs. 17). He is praying for our mission (vs. 18).

Over and over again Jesus uses two simple words to call His disciples – “Follow me.” That’s the heart of the Christian life. Our life in Christ begins by saying, “Yes, Lord. Yes, I believe Jesus is who He says He is. Yes, I am a sinner. Yes, I need Your forgiveness.” And then the rest of our journey is simply a matter of listening to His voice and saying, “Yes, Lord.”

A few other highlights from Sunday: My good friend C.W. is now engaged to Mindy! He asked her to marry him on Saturday night and she said, “Yes.” We had a great Newcomers Lunch after church. Kathy Beam made homemade lasagna! We didn’t get home until after 3PM, rested for a short time, and then turned around and went back to the church for Youth Group. Even though we had a few kids out of town and at Camp, we had a good crowd and a great time. We broke them up into 3 groups and let them come up with their one prayer and then make their case to the large group. Here were their one prayers. Lord, make us grow (spiritually, numerically). Lord, make us determined. Lord, make us into whatever You want us to be. Like I said, it was a great day!

This past Friday we took 18 Students on an overnight camping trip at J.I. County Park. For the past several years we’ve had a Lock-in at the church to welcome the new Students into WAVES (our 6th-12th Grade Student Ministry), but this year we decided to go camping. I’m glad we did. Even though it’s hard work, camping is a great memory maker. We went to the primitive site, which means no power or running water – real camping. It was hot – very hot (especially sleeping), but we had a blast!

Late Friday afternoon we all went to the Climbing Wall where many of our Students displayed their Ninja Monkey climbing skills. Trent Lee and Sarah Darley stood out to me – Trent for getting all the way to the top when he didn’t think he could and Sarah for her pure speed and extreme climbing skills. I was also very proud of my daughter Lydia. She climbed all the way to the top. This is something she never would have attempted in the past. She can do anything she puts her mind to. She never ceases to amaze me.

We roasted hot dogs over a fire and just had a great time riding bikes, throwing football, hanging out, roasting marshmallows, eating smores, and praying. Thanks to everyone who loaned us tents and supplies (the Bowicks have the Mac-Daddy of all tents). Note to self: I must heed my wife’s advice and take an air mattress next time. Famous last words, “An air mattress? I don’t need one of those!”

On Saturday morning after breakfast and breaking camp we went kayaking and paddle boating. Again, the Students had a blast. When we got back to the church we unloaded our stuff and went home. I was exhausted. I still had stuff to do to get ready for Sunday. I took a very brief nap, went back to the church, and got home at 10:30PM. But you know what, Janet and I actually talked about going camping again. Slap me silly. A special thanks to Ricky, Matt, and Les – our fearless chaperones. We have the best Students! I would take them anywhere!

This Sunday, along with over 1300 churches (as of this morning), representing over 777,500 Christians from the U.S. and all over the world, we begin the One Prayer series.  Before Sunday, take a few minutes and visit the One Prayer website.  Over the next month, this site will become a focal point for discussion and prayer.  On Tuesday of each week during this series we will fasting and praying specifically for the church.  

But here’s what I want to know – what would your one prayer be for Coastal and the Church at large?  If God would answer one prayer for the church, what would you pray? “Lord make us __________?”  I’d love to hear your response. Leave a comment.