Roughing it in Charleston, SC

I'm in Charleston for Blackbaud's Conference on Philanthropy. Already I've had an incredible time!

• Saturday, the US Airways folks in Portland, ME kindly put me on a United flight to make sure I got to Charleston in time. The airlines worked together! That seems like a miracle.


• Then I met a brand new believer in O'Hare that was coming to this conference! We had a great talk about things ranging from Jesus and Judaism to Christians and the arts.


• Then I found out I had been put in First Class by the Portland folks! So cool.


• In first class, I got into a wonderful conversation with the passenger across the aisle. Turns out he was a senior official in South Carolina government and a creator of businesses I've heard about. He invited me to his church, St. Andrews.


• I didn't see him at St. Andrew's but that didn't surprise my, he'd just flown in from Beijing! But I did have a wonderful time worshipping with the folks at St. Andrew's. I was even taken in by a family. Paul and Ellen have kids similar to our kids age and had familiarity with Augusta, Maine! They ended up taking me out to lunch and showing me around Mt. Pleasant.


• In the afternoon, I attended a terrific pre-conference seminar about marketing planned giving. It's so nice to hear someone else stress the things I stress in my teaching: relationships, asking people when they want to be asked and what they're interested in, and using research to be a more relational fundraiser. (I actually thought he might have heard my CDE program!)


• Then last night, after a lavish reception hosted by Blackbaud, I went to a Sara Groves, Chris Rice, and Jars of Clay! What an incredible concert. I've used Sara Groves in a sermon a few months ago. Chris Rice's "I'm Smelling Coffee" inspired the URL of this blog. And I'm inspired by Jars of Clay's focusing on being great artists for the King.

So, here I am, roughing it in Charleston, SC. *grin*

Who knew 80's music could become a plug for VCW?

Yep, that was me on Mix 107.9 today around 8:15 a.m. (You would have known from the corny "cram spelled backwards" comment I made on the air!)

I heard a quiz on my way to get my van oil checked. The question was: what was the name of the 2 old guys in the balcony in the Muppet Show? Statler and Waldorf. (I didn't know this. They gave three options and this was the most natural to me.)

I called on a whim, figuring someone else probably had won, but I got through. The DJ took my name and phone number and asked me to stay on the line while he "checked something out."

The next thing I knew, I was on the radio. They must have had a lot of dead air to fill because they kept me on for a while. I was able to plug Central Motors Group (they heard the auto work in the background.) They asked me if I knew the names of Columbus' three ships. (I got 2 out of 3. Evidently the "Pinto" wasn't invented until the 20th century. *grin*)

Then they asked me if I had an 80's song to request. Naturally, I chose "Eye of the Tiger." On the spur of the moment, I decided to dedicate it to the folks at the Vineyard Church of Waterville. I was sure to tell them about the time the worship team started strumming "Eye of the Tiger" as I came up to preach. When I heard the song, I dropped to the floor and started doing military push-ups, trying to be as Rocky-like as possible.

My wife made them promise to not do that again. Our worship leader, Mike Allen, told her not to worry, he never would do that again.

Who would've guessed I'd get to tell that story on Mix 107.9 during one of the highest listening times of the day? And that I'd win a free car wash and 80's CD in the deal.

Looks like this will be an interesting week!