I’ve noticed something happening more and more often at our church that just gets me so excited and makes me very proud. In fact, it happened several times on Sunday. Can you guess what it is? Somebody from Coastal introduces me to their friends that they invited to church! That might sound like a small thing to you, but really it’s HUGE! It’s a sign of LIFE change, of growth. It means that our people, you, have been praying, investing and inviting. It means that you are excited about what’s happening here, you believe in what’s happening here, and you take seriously the Great Commission! I just love watching our people anxiously look out the window or look in the parking lot anticipating their friends arrival.

To me, as your Pastor, it’s an honor to meet your friends! In fact, I view it as a sacred trust. We’re in something bigger than ourselves – TOGETHER! So from here on out, when they’re not looking, if you wink at me or I wink at you – we’ll know. You keep bringing your friends and I promise that we will glorify God in worship in a way that both makes sense in 2009 and stirs the heart and head. I promise that we will do things with excellence – from the parking lot to the auditorium to the Welcome Center to the bathrooms to the Nursery and Children’s Ministry. I promise that we will strive to make a positive first impression and lasting impression. I promise that I will preach the life changing gospel of Jesus with passion and creativity. We are in this together!

Anyway, it was just something that I’ve noticed and meant to share with you. You make me proud.

Don’t forget that this Saturday, May 2nd, at 10AM is our next FUEL Leadership Development Meeting. FUEL is for all Ministry Leaders and all Volunteers. It’s a great time of prayer, worship, vision, information, and instruction. Don’t miss it!

Today is my daughter Lydia’s 18th Birthday! 18 – wow! It’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that I have a daughter who is 18. Today was also her last day of High School – exams, papers, everything, over and done. When school was done we came home and opened up cards and presents. Afterwards Lydia decided that she wanted to go to Atlanta Bread Company for dinner and then we went out to the movies. She wanted to see the movie “17 Again” starring Zach Efron. “17 Again” on her 18th Birthday – pretty funny. I even managed to keep my commentary down to a minimum. Janet and Lydia tried to trick me and Christopher by telling us it was a musical. Thank the Lord it wasn’t. Actually, it wasn’t that bad.

What can I say about Lydia! She is absolutely the most beautiful, wonderful girl a Daddy could ever ask for! I am so proud of her and the young woman she has become. I love her heart for God and people. She is smart, funny (very funny), a great writer, thoughtful, and a great big sister. I’m preaching a series for women at our church right now called, “Beautiful.” In many ways Lydia is way ahead of many women twice her age. She understands who she is, whose she is, and what God’s word says about her. And as a result she has a security and confidence about her. She is truly beautiful!

And yes, next year is going to be hard for her parents. But honestly, I am so excited for her. I can’t wait to hear about new friends, new experiences, and new adventures. I’m so excited to see what God has in store for her. Happy Birthday Lydia! I love you!

Wow! I know I keep saying that a lot lately – but it’s how I feel. It’s just like God is doing something here and I’m hanging on for dear life enjoying the ride.

Before I talk about Sunday, I don’t want you to miss what happened Saturday on our campus. Oakland Elementary School used our campus for their School Carnival. They weren’t able to use their place because of construction, so they asked if they could use ours. Of course we said, “YES!” I got to the church at 7:30AM and not only did we let them use our campus, but we let them use a tent, tables, chairs, and various other things throughout the day to help make it run smoother. All day long, I was overwhelmed with words of thanks from teachers, staff and parents. In fact, one of the Teachers at Oakland who also is an active part of Coastal put this on her Connect Card yesterday, “Thank you for the wonderful example of community outreach yesterday by letting Oakland use the church for their Carnival.” That’s what being Jesus in the community is all about.

By the way, as I walked around the carnival, people were still talking about our Egg Drop! But this was way cool: another teacher said that she was blown away when she received a Thank You note from our church for coming to our Egg Drop! She couldn’t believe that we were doing that and that we actually had volunteers to do it! She was very impressed.

Our WAVES Students had their Amazing Race competition on Saturday as well. From what I heard and saw, they had a blast! Saturday was a very long, but very good day!

And Sunday was even BETTER! I’ve been telling Janet lately that we were going to have another jump in attendance soon. I could just sense it – all signs pointed to it. Sunday we had our largest non-holiday or non-special event (VBS, Christmas Eve, Easter, etc.) attendance – 198! After church my son was convinced that there had to be at least two pregnant women at church that we could count their babies and break the 200 mark! He’s a future Pastor! I told him not to worry, we’ll break it soon enough! But most importantly, we had someone give their life to Jesus yesterday, someone wants to be baptized, people wanting more information about Coastal, lots of prayer requests, and lots of people volunteering to take next steps! It was just an unbelievably awesome day! I can’t wait for our next Newcomers Lunch! I can’t wait for our next Baptism on the Beach!

And then our Sunday Night of Worship! Wes & I both talked about not really having any expectations of the evening. We were just simply looking forward to worshipping with our people and whoever showed up are the ones who needed to be there. Back in January we talked about it being a “dry run” for a third service. We later changed that to simply being a service by itself for worship. I’m glad we did. We did have a pretty good crowd of people show up. And what was interesting was that we still had 8 people who showed up thinking it was a third service who didn’t come Sunday morning (so Christopher that makes 206 for Sunday!). And in the process we did learn a few things about having a third service on Sunday night. Wes and the band did an amazing job. It was a long day for them. We will definitely need more volunteers for a third service – worship, 1st Impressions, children. But that’s why were talking about it now. I believe that most of the volunteers that God is going to use aren’t even at our church yet!

At the end of the day, Janet and I just sat and looked at each and couldn’t keep from smiling about how great the weekend was. And it really is just the beginning. I feel like a kid all over again. I feel the same excitement and passion of 19 years ago – hopefully just a little wiser.

Here’s just a few thoughts running through my mind on this Friday night:

- I absolutely loved our new series that we kicked off this past Sunday, “Beautiful.” I really think the Ladies loved the free manicures – nice touch.
- The auditorium looked, “Beautiful.”
- I was sick last Sunday – congestion, ear ache, etc. In fact, I couldn’t hear anything. I felt like I was in a bubble. During the first service I broke out in a sweat. I thought I was going to have to preach with a towel. I was breaking a fever. Wes said that it didn’t show.
- When you throw peanut shells out your car window, is that littering or replenishing the earth? (not that I do that)
- Had several more families from our Egg Drop show up on Sunday. I really think we’re going to see the effects of the Egg Drop for a long time.
- Lots of people have been calling my wife, “Slugger” this week (see message).
- My son said that he can tell how powerful the service is by how many people cry. Last Sunday was very powerful.
- In case you haven’t heard, our Youth/Worship Pastor bought and moved into a new home last week! I’m very excited for them.
- Wednesday was Secretary’s Day or more politically correct, “Administrative Professional’s Day.” Janet and I took Lora out to lunch, gave her a gift certificate, and thanked her profusely.
- Does anyone really care about the NBA?
- On Thursday I went to the Ground Breaking Ceremony for the new Oakland Elementary School across the street from our campus. If you haven’t noticed, they are building a new school behind the old one. Charleston Mayor Joe Riley and the Charleston County School Superintendent Nancy McGinley spoke. When the principal of Oakland spoke she made a point to thank everyone in the community who works to make Oakland successful. She mentioned me and our church by name. I was very humbled and proud of our church.
- When I was at the Ground Breaking I couldn’t help but think of the day that is coming in the not so distant future when we break ground on a new auditorium.
- I’m thinking about joining a gym.
- Janet has already been working hard planning VBS. She had a meeting with several people this week to get the ball rolling.
- I loved The Office this week!
- I have a lot of fun with my kids!
- I’ve got to get up early tomorrow and be at the church by 7:30AM. Oakland Elementary School is using our campus for their School Carnival. I’m glad to do it and glad that our church is looked at so positively in the community.
- My daughter turns 18 on Tuesday!! I am old!! And then on Friday she goes to prom with two very nice young men from our church, Ryan and Caleb. They are good friends to my daughter.

Well that’s about it. Sermon is done for Sunday, but I need to finish my outline and keynote before I go to bed. Can’t wait for Sunday! I really believe that we are on the verge of busting the 200 barrier soon on a “regular” Sunday.

We begin a new series this Sunday entitled, “Beautiful.” We got the idea from NewSpring Church and several other places that either did a series called Beautiful or something similar. Over the last several years we’ve done several series that were quite masculine in nature or at least packaged that way. We did a series called “Wild Ride” and talked about the adventure of the Christian faith. We decorated with Harley’s, 4 Wheelers, etc. and even had a car show. We did a series called, “Gametime” where we transformed the auditorium into a football field and even had a tailgating service. This year, in the fall we’re doing a series entitled, “UFC – Jesus, the Ultimate Fighting Champion.”

So, the idea is why not do a series more packaged toward women? Don’t worry men, you won’t be left out! The tag line of the series is, “A series for women and the men who pursue them.” The series begins this Sunday and culminates on Mother’s Day. I can’t wait for you to see the auditorium! Yesterday I was at the office when one of our students who lives in the neighborhood dropped by. He walked in the auditorium and the first thing he said was, “Wow! Are ya’ll having a party?” When I explained what we were doing he said, “It looks like an outdoor party, indoors!” That’s exactly the look we were going for.

Now women, be prepared, this is not going to be your typical Mother’s Day feel good message spread out over 4 weeks, everyone sighs a collective, “Aaahhhh,” pats themselves on the back, and feels better about themselves (although you will know that your Father sees you as Beautiful). When we do a “manly” series, I don’t pull any punches. The same will be true during this series. I believe every woman has a strong desire to feel beautiful. The problem is that your identity is wrapped up in the wrong things. As always, this series will be truth wrapped in grace. And we will have a few surprises! You won’t want to miss the first week. In fact, you need to come early, we have something special just for you and your girlfriends! So, ladies, show me what you’ve got – come early, invite and bring your friends! See you Sunday!

That might become our new slogan after this past weekend! Our Egg Drop was unfreakin’ believable! It far exceeded my expectations – and that doesn’t happen a lot! God showed up in a mighty way and He brought a ton of people. When we first started planning this event, we talked about the possibility of 1,000 people showing up. Never did we imagine over 3,000 cramming on to our little campus. And I mean cramming!

I can’t say enough about our Volunteers! You guys absolutely ROCK! They showed up at 7AM and had everything pretty much ready by 8:30. And the obvious thought at that point was, “Okay, I wonder if anyone will show up?” And show up they did! I felt for our Parking and Registration Volunteers at one point. That was a stressful position. But everyone handled everything with the grace and kindness of Jesus and it showed. We received countless compliments about our volunteers!

The Helicopter was awesome! He did come a lot lower than I thought he would, but the kids loved it. All 20,000 eggs were completely gone in 4 minutes! That’s right 4 minutes. Yes, there were some kids who didn’t get any eggs – mainly because of some sinful parents who were scooping up eggs like they were winning lottery tickets. We’ll definitely work on that for next year. But again, overall it was a huge success. People will be talking about it for months to come.

And yes, there will be a next year. At our next monthly FUEL meeting, Saturday, May 2nd, we’ll spend some time talking about what went right and how we can improve. Speaking of FUEL, it was our January FUEL Meeting that we announced our goal of being a church of 250 by next year. We now know what that looks like! We had 256 yesterday at church – our largest Sunday morning attendance ever! And you know what? It was more than doable! In fact, I think we can easily grow to over 300 with our current two services configuration. We will however definitely have to rearrange our children’s meeting rooms (which is already in the works). We had 18 babies in the second service. But the good news is that we have the space – now.

And yesterday was awesome! We had several families come from the Egg Drop. They continued to express how awesome it was! We had friends and family that were prayed for and invited show up and we had people give their lives to Christ! There was one woman who was at the Egg Drop and who came to church yesterday. She has a chemo treatment this week. She cried all during the service. She said that she has not been in church in a long time. She loved it! It was not what she expected and she will definitely be back! Just the sort of person who needs to hear how Beautiful (starts Sunday) she is! The music was awesome! My message was about clearing up the confusion about what Jesus came to do. People definitely seemed to connect and respond!

Honestly, I can’t wait for this Sunday! Obviously, Easter is different from all other Sundays. But we did have several people who told me that they couldn’t come to church on Easter because of family obligations, but would come the following Sunday. That happens a lot on a holiday like Easter. I think this Sunday will be a better barometer of where we are at. And I can’t wait for “Beautiful: A Series for Women and the Men Who Pursue Them.” Let’s see just how good you ladies are at inviting people!

Here are a few pictures from the Egg Drop (I’ll post more later):

That’s how I feel! I’m so excited to see what God has in store for Coastal this weekend! The work has been done. The calls have been made. The flyers have been passed out. The only thing left is to see who shows up and how lives are changed. If the last several weeks is any indication whatsoever, it’s going to be an unbelievable weekend.

Random thoughts:

- I’ve been meaning to post since Sunday – great but crazy week. It was the beginning of Spring Break here in Charleston and we still knocked it out of the park. It was just a great day! My message was about our mission as a church. The momentum at our church right now is palpable!

- I’ll be honest with you. Usually the night before a big event, I’d be stressing out about a ton of stuff still needing to be done. That’s not the case this year with the Egg Drop. We’ve had so many volunteers step up – it blows me away! I really feel like we’re prepared.

- Tonight’s pre-set up was easy and stress free for me. And truthfully it’s because not everything flows through me! That is definitely a needed shift for our church. But it’s just the beginning. My focus this year is on leading leaders.

- We need to hire Lora as my full time Administrative Assistant! She has worked her tail off for this Egg Drop. Pray about that! You never know what can happen. (Thanks Lora!)

- A friend of mine is coming to church on Sunday! I’m so excited!

- I’m ready for college football.

- I’m excited about our next series starting after Easter – “Beautiful.” The auditorium is going to blow you away.

- We need about $4,000 for lighting in our auditorium. Let me know if you want to meet that need.

- Josh invited our family over for Easter dinner on Sunday! Typically, we come and crash after church on Easter and late in the afternoon wish we would have done something for dinner. I think Janet is making carrot cake for dessert!

- When we dropped off the eggs at Charleston Helicopter, there was a Clemson Helicopter in the hangar! It was awesome – shiny purple and orange! I want one! Someone work on that. Did I mention I’m ready for college football?

- I think we’re going to break the 200 barrier soon and then we’re going to be at 250 way before the New Year. Can’t wait to see what God’s going to do with the 3rd service we’re going add in the fall – a 6PM Sunday night service.

Well, I need to go over my message for Easter Sunday and work on my outline and keynote. And then I need to get to bed. Probably won’t sleep much! I’ll try to post a quick overview of our Egg Drop late tomorrow. Keep us in your prayers.

I’m at the church today working on my message for Sunday and for Easter Sunday and I can’t help but notice all of the projects going on:

- Louis is working on putting up a new main speaker for our auditorium. It’s still a single speaker, but it has a fuller sound and wider spread. In other words, we’ll be able to better “rock the house!”

- There’s a couple of guys doing a “buff & restore” to the Welcome Center and Nursery floors. In other words, they will be nice and shiny when they’re done.

- Down in the Youth Room, there are a couple of guys painting. Carpet for the Youth Room gets laid on Friday. In other words our children and students are going to have a much “cooler” room.

All good stuff. All stuff that needs to be done. All signs of life.

This Saturday is our monthly Leadership FUEL meeting. We decided to use April’s FUEL as a final prep for the Egg Drop, prayer, and a church-wide work day! In other words, we’ll meet in the auditorium for about 15-20 minutes for final Egg Drop instructions and a time of prayer. And then we will break up and tackle several projects around the church – most of it deep cleaning, organizing, and throwing away. Come ready to work hard for about two hours. Let’s get this place ready for Easter weekend!