Look! The Moon!

So, I know I am late in posting this, but in my defense I have not sat down since returning from Ski Retreat on Saturday evening. Let me tell you, we have the best students in the world at Coastal. I had the privilege of driving the Middle School van and leading the Middle School cabin for the four days we were in Gatlinburgh, TN. It was a blast! Here are a few of my most memorable moments:

- The personal encounter time in the morning and evening. Loved seeing the students getting into the Word of God and CONNECTING with Him.

- Seeing Jeremiah wipe out at the END of the slope. Still haven't figured out how he fell. He just kind of tipped over. :)

- Myself falling over more when I was in the line for the lift than when going down the hill.

- Seeing the Claudes!

- Mastering (Ok, maybe not mastering) the Bear's Run, and Castle slopes.

- Connecting with some of the High Schoolers that I hadn't really gotten to know. Mainly Dillon, and Jamie.

- Hanging out with the middle schoolers until Midnight every night.

- Getting to know Donna more. Cool volunteer!

- Getting to talk to my wife and son at home in the evenings. :) I missed them!

- Certain things that people had thrown into the trees on their way up the ski lifts... None of our students did this... it was just interesting to see what other people had thrown off the ski lifts. I'll leave it at that.

- How well behaved our students where. I have been on a lot of youth events and this one ranks up with the best. Hardly any issues of discipline were necessary.

- I am glade Cameron S. was able to ski the second day. He was sick the first day.

- Walking around Gatlinburgh Friday evening.

- The excellent meals the the Beams coked for us!

- The entire middle school van singing Gwen Stefani at the top of there lungs at 10:30 p.m. on our way back to the cabin.

- Whitney thinking that lights on a hill were stars, and a Burger King sign was the moon. I will never again look at a BK sign the same. Thanks Whitney.

Well, those are just some memories of ski retreat. I can't wait until Summer Retreat! Comment back with your most memorable moments!

AG

Connect - Ski Retreat 2008

So, tomorrow I leave with WAVES student ministry to go to Tennessee for our annual ski retreat. Hear are a few thoughts before I leave:

1. This is my first ski retreat with WAVES, and I am hoping that there isn't any initiation... trust me I have served at many youth ministry's and they do this sort of thing to newbies.

2. I am really jacked about one of the games we are playing. We will get it on camera and Ill post it on here.

3. I am leading the middle school cabin... please pray for me... really!

4. Along the same subject... Sunday night at youth group I reminded all middle schoolers to bring deodorant, and also reminded them they actually have to wear it.

5. I have only been skiing once in my life about 11 years ago, and snowboarded once about 4 years ago. Also pray I come back with no broken limbs.

6. While we are talking about praying... please pray that our encounter time (Thursday and Friday night services) goes well, and God challenges the kids.

7. We are calling it Connect with an iPod theme. And yes, the rumors are true... we will be giving away a few iPod Shuffles.

8. Jeremiah doesn't often get mentioned enough... He really has worked hard on this retreat and I know God is going to use him mightily on this trip. He truly has a heart for God and these kids.

9. In my cabin I also have Matt and Kathy Beam, and Donna (I don't know her last name) as cabin staff. They are really awesome people to take time out of their schedules to help out with this trip. Donna is our medically trained person... hopefully we won't need to use those skills of hers. Kathy is cooking... for everyone! GOD BLESS HER!!!

10. I really am looking forward to this trip and what God is going to do. But, I really will miss my wife Miranda, Little Andy, and baby Ainsley. I was on the road last week for business, this week for the trip, and next week I'll be on the road for business again. My wife really does an awesome job with the house and kids and I don't nearly thank her enough. You are awesome babe, and I thank God for putting you in my path of life.

Well, that's it for now! I'll post when I get back!

AG

1-1-1 Challenge

Two weeks ago, Pastor Chris challenged the church to pray for one person for one minute at one o'clock every day for the month of December. Now, I have ADD so this seemed to be a daunting task. I set my cell phone alarm to ring every day at 1:00 p.m. and that way I wouldn't forget. I started praying for my co-worker Joe and his family of 6. They are not saved at all. Joe's wife was raised Catholic and he was raised half of his childhood in a catholic church and half of his childhood on an Indian reservation. I have witnessed to him before but was at the point in our working relationship that if I pushed the issue, it would drive him away. He has come to me in the past asking for advise about his son who is searching for what to believe (he is only 16). I decided to do the 1-1-1 challenge with him and his family since I can see them searching. I have been doing it daily for two weeks now.

The other day during a conversation at work about how I was going to pay him back for a lunch he bought me, he simply said... Just pray for me, that can be your pay back. Think about it. The person I have been praying for for two weeks in this challenge actually came to me and asked me to pray for him. He didn't want me to pray for him right then and there, he meant it like just pray for him in general. I simply responded by saying... "I can do that, actually I already do that." I do not know where this is going, but I am going to ask him to come to the Christmas Eve service. Who knows what God has in store for them.

It is times like this, that make me realize the importance of what we learn and do through Coastal Community Church. the Holy Spirit is truly guiding our congregation, and I can not wait to hear all of the things God is doing through this 1-1-1 challenge. If you have a report about your 1-1-1 challenge, please post a comment below about what God is doing!

AG

Life Update

So, here is what is up with me lately

- Chris (little Chris) told me that I never blog anymore... atleast I know someone reads this.
- Coastal life is awesome! We go to two services on January 6th.
- God is guiding Miranda and I through a time of trusting in his guidance. Sometimes that is REALLY scary!
- We are at Pastor Jeremiah and Cyndi's apartment.
- I am speaking tomorrow night at youth group. Very excited! It has been since May that I spoke to them.
- I am reading through the prophet books of the old testament. Right now Joel.
- I really want to be in full time ministry. God will provide.
- Halo 3 is awsome!
- I am getting fat... gotta lose weight.
- We ate tostados at Jeremiah's. MMMmmm...
- OH YEAH!!! WE ARE HAVING A GIRL!!! WAHOO!!!
- Her name is going to be Ainsley Marie Eden Gill (probably).
- She is going to be soooo spoiled.
- I love my church
- I love God
- I'm tired. Good night.

AG

The Spirit of Joy!

Wow, I just wanted to say that I am having more and more fun at Coastal Community Church every Sunday. This morning I woke up ubber excited! Yes, I just said "ubber". I was jacked for service today. I don't know what it is, I just was excited. I think it might have to do with the new SiMPLE CHURCH series that we are doing, but whatever it is, it seems to be not just me that is pumped. I just sense a spirit of joy in the church lately. That we are coming to realize the true implications of what we do and why we do it.

And man! What a week of visitors and return visitors. We had a ton of new people and a ton of people come back for a second time! I couldn't keep up with all the new people I saw this morning. January 6th could not come soon enough. Going to two services is exciting but let's not forget why we are doing it. It isn't so we can come at 11:15 and get a few more minutes of sleep. It is to promote growth! Like Pastor Chris is always saying... "Who are you praying for? Who are you inviting? Who are you bringing?" I always am asking myself that question. I can't wait until right after we go to two services and we quickly realize that that is not enough. I can't wait until our biggest problem is fitting all the people into the building that we are inviting... and then seeing their lives dramatically change because of Christ! That is what it is all about... LIFE! and experiencing LIFE together!

Well, I have to calm myself down and go study. Man it is good to be in Christ!

AG

Why I Did It Again

The bible is clear that water baptism is an outward expression of our inner faith that we already have. Meaning, baptism by water is not necessary for salvation. It also is clear that Jesus instructs us to be baptized by water after you come into faith in Jesus Christ. For this reason, I was baptized again this past Tuesday. I was first baptized when I was around 6 or 7. I believe that I was a Christian, but I cannot remember it. I have a vague memory of the event, but I doubt I truly knew the meaning and importance of the event. About four years ago, I rededicated my life to Christ, and truly starting living the Christ like life. For this reason I decided to die to my old life publicly, and resurface as a new creation in Christ outside of water. I had the privalige of being baptized by my really good friend and Youth Pastor at Coastal Community Church, Jeremiah. It was an awesome evening. My wife, Justin (my friend), and Justin's finance Sarah were all baptized as well.

Cameron forgot to press record on the video camera for my baptism, so I actually got baptized twice! :) Thanks Cameron! Really, Cameron is awesome. He comes every Tuesday to watch all the kids in our group. Great guy. We had an audience for the baptism as well. These two college age guys were watching curiously the whole time. Pastor Chris went over afterwards and talked with them. They said that it was cool, because they had never experienced something like that in person. He told them about the church and who knows... maybe they will come.

I am so happy and exciting to see what God is doing in my life, my family's lives, and my church. Seeing the hand of God move in our midst is sooo awesome. I love it! I get a little excited about this stuff. Wouldn't it be awesome to see 562 people baptized in one afternoon? It happened at Newspring on September 9th. READ ABOUT IT HERE It can happen at Coastal. Just continue to be Jesus, and allow God to use you and we can see change to this size. I truly believe it. Love you all.

AG

If you find this boring, you are probably who I am writing about!

As I was doing my school studies I came across a story that I have never really spent a lot of time with before. It is the story of Phillip and the Ethiopian Eunuch -- Here is the link. I have read this story before but have never given it much thought as to what it was teaching. When I spent some time with it and my study guide expanded on it, it was freshly revealed to me what it meant. I just thought it was something we could all learn to do a little better.

Let me set this up:

Phillip has just spread the new redemptive gospel of Jesus to a Samaritan (Non-Jewish) city for the first time in history. He is lead by the spirit to go down a certain road while traveling to another city. Meanwhile, there is this unnamed Ethiopian Eunuch who has just finished a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to worship God. Not that significant of a detail is it? Well, picture this... Jesus has recently been crucified, died, raised again, built up 11 disciples to start his church, they have expanded that church to at least over 5,000 people, Stephen was just martyred (the first Christian murdered for their faith), Saul has started the persecution of Christians on a big enough scale to cause most of them to flee Jerusalem in fear, and this Ethiopian has been in Jerusalem for a while and NO ONE has told him the story of Christ. I don't know about you, but I think it is odd that he has spent so much time at the temple worshiping God, but hasn't heard the story of Christ. One must ask, why?

To Jews, Ethiopians were dirty. Actually, to Jews, anyone who wasn't a Jew was considered dirty. But, Eunuchs were not even able to enter the temple beyond the outer courtyard even if they converted to Judaism. Even if he had to stay out of the temple, how was it that none of the members of the first Church spoke to him about Jesus in the courtyard? I am not accusing the Church of a failure since I wasn't there, I am simply raising a question. Was it because of fear of Saul's persecution? Maybe it was mere coincidence that he didn't hear. But what if it were the fierce prejudices in their society. Could it have been? Sure it could have.

For whatever reason he didn't hear the gospel the entire time he was in Jerusalem. But on his way home he was reading from the prophet Isaiah. Specifically he was reading Isaiah 53 : 7, 8 where it prophecies about Jesus being crucified. While reading this, the Holy Spirit prompts Phillip to go up to him. Phillip asks him if he knows what he is reading. The Ethiopian says that he can not understand unless someone teaches him, and asks of who the scripture is talking about. Phillip begins to tell him the story of Christ. They pass by a body of water and the Ethiopian becomes a Christian and is immediately baptized. Wow! The Holy Spirit prompted Phillip to reach out to someone that would normally be overlooked. And since Phillip responded, the Ethiopian became a follower of Christ. Amen!

How does this apply today? Christians are suppose to NOT be prejudice towards people. But, it is ramped in the church today. I have seen it. The person that is avoided on Sunday morning because of the way they look, or dress. The unwed mother that other parents tell there children to not talk to because they look down on them for their failure as if they themselves had never made a mistake. It is the faces that you see every Sunday, but never notice when they stop coming to church. Phillip listened to the Spirit telling him to talk to someone that most wouldn't think of talking to. If we only ever reach out to people that we approve of, then we are NOT doing what we need to as Christians. Let me say this again, if YOU are not reaching out to people that you do not know, or people who you would not normally talk to, then you are failing the Lord by what he said in Isaiah 56 : 3 - 8. Maybe the church needs more Phillips.

AG

It's Not About Me!

Man was tonight's new series "It's Not About Me" awesome! Pastor Jeremiah talked about how we sometimes feel/think that this life is all about us, when the Bible teaches us that it's all about God! If you ever start thinking that this life is all about you and what you have accomplished you really should read Job 38. God lays it out like none other. God can really put us in our place sometimes. He is da man!

We had 17 students tonight at Undercurrent. That is a good number for us, and I am encouraged by it. It would be nice to have a line out the door, but that time will come. Our students are committing more and more to inviting their friends. We want to see hundreds of students dedicating their lives to God at Coastal. And no, that is not an unachievable task. Try me... just get out and invite people. If they don't have a ride, call a student leader... we have cars! :)

Finally, I just want to say how awesome it is for me to be a part of a student ministry that is about changing lives and not just about having fun. You guys/gals encourage me so much every Sunday night. And this morning at Coastal Community Church's main service I was taken by a group of our teen girls who stood in the front of the service during communion and prayed with each other. They didn't see it, but the whole church saw that, and I know were encouraged by it. I know I was! You all know who you are, and you rock!

AG

Wild Ride series

I am so excited about our upcoming series at Coastal Community Church. Wild Ride! Isn't it true... Our lives after Christ comes into our hearts are so crazy! You know the roller coaster... You get saved, things are exciting, life couldn't be better, and then *BAM!!!* you wake-up and realize that there is this resistance to this eternal relationship with God, and his name is Satan. My buddy recently got saved and he was saying that he didn't understand why life was so hard after he got saved. I told him, because Satan doesn't want him to be saved! I think Satan is strategic to. I think he waits until the initial "spiritual high" wears off, and then makes your life a living hell... and no I didn't just curse... I mean a literal hell! The key is to rely on God's Promise for us.

Romans 4:20 "Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God"

If you can rely on the promise and have faith, then God can totally blow your mind! If you haven't already... start inviting your friends! This could impact their eternity! We are going to have a Car Show, a Nascar Nextel Cup car (A real one! Can't disclose who... but come and check it out!), and a ton of giveaways! Hold on, it is exciting, it is crazy, it is dramatic, it is adrenalin pumping, it is God sending you on his Wild Ride!

Awesome Week!

So, tonight wasn't the last night of VBS, but it was the last night for us. We are leaving tomorrow for Richmond, VA. We are going up to see my family and celebrate all the July/August birthdays that are in my family. Miranda turns 24 on Monday. :) Anyway, I just wanted to share how awesome this year's Vacation Bible School went for all the kids. It was tremendous. Miranda and I were in charge of the game time. At first, I thought it would be easy to think of games. let me tell you, my hat is off to all Pre-School teachers out there. Pre-Schoolers are a hard bunch to keep attentive, and busy. Just trying to figure out a game they can all do was a challenge. We did it though. It was great seeing how the kids responded to some fun at church.

I also want to say how awesome all the Waves Students were in helping with the kids. They did a great job as well. We really couldn't have done it without them. Tonight Chris had to fill in for his dad (Pastor Chris) doing the Keynote (multi-media) for the presentation. He wouldn't say it, but I think he was a little nervous. I helped him calm down by saying "Don't mess anything up now!" :) Hehehe... But he did awesome! He didn't miss a beat, and the service went smoothly.

Well, I have to wake up early tomorrow morning and go to a doctors appointment, and then drive six hours to Virginia. So, I gotta hit they sack.

OH! Just in case you hadn't heard yet, our Student Ministries web page is up and running so please check it out! www.coastalcommunitychurch.org/waves

AG