Robert Pooley

Chris Sligh

For those of you bummed about Chris...  Here's his official blog 

His band Half Past Forever has released a CD and they are selling well on Amazon.  So there are good things ahead.  I just hope he doesn't lose his mind if Sanjaya wins. 

Just remembering...

I was just thinking to years back... 

**when you could leave your house unlocked because it would be safe while you were gone.

**when children could leave the house in the morning on a summer day and then play outside all day, and no one was worried.

**when you could fill up your grocery cart at the store and only spend about 50 dollars.

**when American Idol was a "Singing" competition.

Grrrrr. I can't believe that Sanjaya is still on and Chris Sligh is gone.  If Sanjaya wins this thing, this will be my last AI season.

Tuesday Ramblings

Just a few thoughts for a Tuesday....

1) I love the new names that bands are coming up with these days...  Names like the "Future of Forestry" or "Star Turtle." 

2)  I want to give a shout out to Travis Johnson for listing me as one of his blogs that he follows.... He is doing a great work down south in the part of Florida that actually seems like another state.

3)  This is for some reader today...  Read 2nd Chronicles 20... the story of Jehosophat...  God tells him that Israel will not have to fight in the battle because God will care of them... I really feel like thats a God reminder for someone reading this blog...

4) I'm curious about the new Adam Sandler movie called Reign over me...  Its about a guy dealing with the loss of his family after 911.... and how he basically just vegs out on life.   Don Cheadle, who I think is a great actor is his co-star...   the negative... the R rating...

5) I am really looking forward to April at Coast...  starting with our Easter Egg Outreach at Swenson Park on Saturday... through Easter... which is always off the (insert your word here... hook, chain, shizzle...) Everyone needs to start inviting your friends now!!!!   Also we are celebrating our 9th anniversary on April 22nd... and we will be telling everyone more about that soon.... but I can you this... our anniversary days always rock! Its going to be a great month and a load of fun!

6)  Its beach weather again here in Florida... As I drive over the 3 mile bridge, I always think about the people who save up all year to come spend a week here...  I feel so blessed to live in a place like this.

7)  Loving all the new people at Coast... there is so much happening here right now... I almost am too excited to sleep. 

Friday night Concert

Vicki and I caught a concert at the Pensacola Civic Center tonight thanks to our friends Ken and Julie Arnold...There were banks of intelligent lighting, booming bass, a four hour show with an opening act.  There was dancing, singing, and it was solid entertainment.  It was also the Gaithers.

Now you need to understand, in my ipod I have everything from classic rock, to Mute Math, Switchfoot, Coldplay and on and on...  The Gaithers are not my normal style of music...  but I had a great time.  These guys were funny... the harmonies were amazing... and they were absolutely worshippers...

So here's a few rambles on my night with the Gaithers...

1)  On the average, I was one of the younger people in the building... that was nice for a change.  It will be a different story next month when Leanna and I go see "My Chemical Romance" and "Muse."

2)  The show was entertaining.  I am amazed at how people can get upset and say Christianity cannot be entertaining.  You know what I mean... people who fuss about entertainment in Church...  Right... Church should be boring then?  No, I think most people like to be entertained... they just want what they want... and if what you are doing doesn't rock their boat... then it ain't God.  Phoooey!  Tonight was a lot of fun, even though I don't normally listen to this type of music... and God was in the house.

3)  A couple of the old songs really hit my heart...  specifically, "He touched me" and "Because He Lives."  I love the lyric, "Because He lives, I can face tomorrow. Because He lives, all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future, And life is worth the living,  Just because He lives!"  No way around it, that is a great song of hope...  and the world needs more hope...  Faith is the substance of things hoped for.

4)  I think the Gaither folks had to have a separate semi truck just for their product... what a lot of stuff!

5)  I think its good to let God speak to you in ways you don't normally have Him speak to you.

6)  These guys that were singing tonight were projected onto big screens on either side of the stage... and you could really see their expressions as they sang... they felt what they were singing.  I can enjoy almost any kind of music... almost... if the people doing the music feel it... if it is real to them.

7)  Who'd have guessed the Gaithers would do a four hour show... last time I saw a band do four hours it was Springsteen.

8)  Thanks again to Ken and Julie Arnold for blessing us with the tickets... it was a lot of fun...

From this week's newsletter

One of the things that you will hear over and over again at Coast is that God is calling us to love Him, and to love people. "Love God, Love people." I ran across an interesting quote today from holocaust survivor Ellie Wiesel... He said, "The opposite of love is not hate, its indifference." That is so true. We think we are violating the scripture only when we are hateful to our neighbor, to the people around us... but what about when we just plain ignore them? What about when we are indifferent to them, and apathetic to what's happening in their world?

Then I saw this quote from Thom Rainer based on research by his company, " Of the 160 million unchurched Americans, about 60 million (almost 4 in 10) are eager for a Christian to share the gospel with them." Wow! That should be exciting to us... that so many people are willing and open to hearing the gospel...

And yet the truth is, we are indifferent. Shocking, but true. Is it fear? Do we not know what to say? Or do we just not care that people are dying every day without a relationship with Christ?

In John Chapter 1, verses 40 through 42 we see the story of Andrew, the brother of Peter. Andrew hears Jesus speak, and his life is changed... and what happens next is interesting. Love compels him to act. He goes and gets his brother, Peter and takes him to a place where he too can meet Jesus.

When you read the passage you will notice that it doesn't say that Andrew had the gift of an evangelist. In fact Andrew had just met Jesus. Notice it didn't say that Andrew was prepared to answer all of Peter's questions. It didn't say that Andrew had been to a class to learn how to share his faith. No, Andrew simply brought Peter to where Jesus was.

I think sometimes we make this stuff so hard. I have often quoted something Doug Murren said that Evangelism is simply being a "bringer and includer." That's what Andrew did. He included Peter in what God was doing in his life, and he brought him to a place where Jesus was.

You can make a difference in the life of the people around you by not being indifferent... by including them in what Jesus doing in their life and by bringing them to church... where they can meet Jesus for themselves.

When you bring them to Coast, we are going to do our best to present the gospel, the message of Christ in a way that will truly touch their life. We are going to team with you, so that when you bring your friend to church, it will be an atmosphere where they can truly experience the presence of Christ.

So think about it... you can make a difference in the lives of the people around you... you can show the love of Christ... and love people by being a "bringer and includer." Why not get started today? The world around you needs you!

Let's rock the world together!

Cya Sunday,

Robert

American Idol

Ok, ok, ok...  I realize that my fav Chris Sligh will probably not be this years American Idol... although you have to love the signs...  Chris: Bringing chubby back...  and Fro Patrol.   Still, I realize, that even though he is my pick and has a phenomenal voice... he probably won't make it past some of the other contestants... 

But here's the deal... if you read the blog... consider voting for Chris...  I'm ok with him not winning it all, but he has to beat Sanjaya.  Has to. Anything else would be... well, it would be wrong!

A few rambles on a Monday

1)  How barbaric was life before the ipod?

2)  My friend Bobby Lepinay and I have been going to conferences together for years... today, his blog accused me of snoring...  I am deeply hurt...  The truth is, Bobby snores so loud, after a night in the Ramada Inn of Anderson, SC... I looked out the window and there were lovesick cows looking longingly at our Motel door... I think they mistaked Reverend Lepinay's snoring for a cow love call.

3) The FSU baseball team is still undefeated!  Go Noles! 

4)  How long is it till football season?

5)  I am absolutely loving the new people I am meeting every week at Coast.  Its exciting to see what God is going to do.

6)  i like Ken Blanchard...  here's a Balnchard quote.  "As a leader you provide for people only what they can’t provide for themselves."

7)  The new Delirious DVD, The Mission Bell: Live at Willow Creek is awesome!  I had kind of lost Delirious in the shuffle somewhere... but here they are again... reminding me how they grabbed me in the beginning.

8)  Gearing up for the ARC Conference in Austin next month...  If you are a church planter and not aware of ARC you are missing out... and... the conference is free.

9)  Have you met the Steves?  Into outreach... two names you ought to know... Steve Sjogren and Steve Bowen.  I am proud to call both men friends.

10)  I wish Starbuck's delivered.

Unleash

Just got back home from the Unleash Conference in Anderson, SC. I went with my good friend Bobby Lepinay. We had a great time... even though Bobby snores.  The conference was hosted by Newspring Church, and what a group of volunteers they were.  Always smiling... ready to drop whatever they were doing to lend a hand...  Amazing.  Spent some time with one of the tech guys when we first got in on Wednesday night... His name was DJ and what a great guy.  What I liked about DJ and every staff person I talked to... they get it!  They know the vision... they buy into the vision... they understand their place in the vision...  That's great leadership!

On our way to the conference we had to stop and change a flat tire on the car we were in... Vicki's Eclipse Spyder...  so as we were coming in, who should greet us at the door but blogger extraordinaire, Tony Morgan.  He asked how we were, and we told him about the flat, and asked about a place where we could get the tire fixed or changed...  Next thing I knew, they came and got my keys, and had the tire changed (literally a new tire) and wouldn't let me pay for it.  Wow!  That's really above and beyond, and it blessed my socks off... and I wear tight socks too!

So, let me give you some thoughts on the conference.

1)  One of the better conferences I have been to in awhile.  Well organized, exceptionally staffed... and lots of fun...  Plus plenty of snacks too... can't beat that.

2)  The meal was great...  Conferences should always be in the south... how many places up north do you get real peach cobbler for dessert?  Pay attention Willow and Granger.

3)  Tony Morgan did not have a pink shirt on.

4)  Both of Perry Noble's sessions were awesome.  Because we are not a transitioning church, and many in attendance were... some of the things that were said really didn't apply to us... and if you really want more in depth of what Perry said, you can look at Tony's post's here and here.   Here's some of my take homes.

Perry said, "I own the vision of this church... God gave the vision to me... not a committee."  Now, to me, what he was saying is that as Pastors, we have to own the vision first...  We need to bleed the vision... and if we do, it will affect everyone around us... and by the way, Perry's staff, and volunteers... they get it.

Perry reminded us that Andrew simply took Peter to a place where he could meet Jesus.  That is a privilege our people get every week.  They bring their friends to church to meet Jesus.

Perry said that Christianity is one of the most exciting things to hit our planet and it took Christians  2000 years to make it boring.  (I kinda disagree, I think they really started hammering away at it somewhere around the third century.)  But the point is...Church should be the most creative place around.  And Newspring is a very creative church... from the great worship team to their creative teams...

There really were so many things... again take a look at Tony's blog for more... The breakout sessions were pretty good... but I would've liked to see the Q and A time mixed with some teaching.

A negative for me?  Too short!  2 days would've been better for me... 

I enjoyed the time with other pastors... great to see people like Gary Lamb, Gary's a true wild man,  Tony Morgan, and Scott Hodge. By the way, Scott said something to me that I can't quite get away from... He went on a missions trip recently and said this, "Why can I go to a foreign country and be moved with compassion, and really want to do everything to minister, and then come home and not really give a crap about my neighbor?"  Wow, how true is that?  We need compassion and ministry in foreign countries, but we need it next door too...   Also, nice to meet Jimmy Britt... Seems like God is doing something cool at his church in Concord, NC...   And cool to meet Steven Furtick from Elevation in Charlotte... They had 50 something people with them, and these guys are blowing it out of the park... 

Finally, just a thanks to Perry Noble...  Great job dude.  Do it again...

Off to South Carolina

Headed to Anderson, SC with my buddy Bobby Lepinay to Newspring Church for Unleash... (Buddy Bobby... heh... sounds like a Nascar Driver)  Should be a great conference... one really intense day and headed back on Friday...   Will try to blog during the conference from the laptop...

I love this!!

A friend of mine, Steve Bowen is on staff at the Dayton Vineyard and was recently visiting Crossroads Community Church in Cincinatti... He went to the creative department and asked them how many creative people there were in the department...  Their answer...  We are all creative here!  Great answer!