4th annual "Carolina vs. Clemson Day"

Upon moving to South Carolina, one of the first questions I was asked was, "Are you for Carolina or Clemson?" Being a Miami Hurricane fan, neither of those names had ever crossed mind. Taking advantage of a natural rivalry, our church began hosting "Carolina vs. Clemson Day" on the Sunday before the big game (that way neither team could gloat.) Our guest preacher each year is the chaplain from USC or Clemson, on an alternating basis. This year, we had Tony Eubanks from Clemson. Our people decorated the auditorium, the fans sat on their respective sides (yes... we divide the church intentionally), we usually do a coin toss to see which team parks on which side of the building, we played the team fight songs, we had tailgate parties during Sunday School, and we even asked our people to dress in their game day, fan attire. There were painted faces, garnet wigs, tiger faces, and more. It was exciting! The most exciting part was that it gave our people an "excuse to invite" their unsaved friends and people who don't usually attend a church service. We always have a large number of guests and Tony made sure they heard a very clear gospel presentation. Each year, spiritual decisions are made and it happened again today!

You ask... "Does everyone like all the hoopla and the different format?" The answer obviously is "no;" but most have come to see the success of such days and the eternal impact, so they tolerate it. 99.9% of our folks LOVE IT! You should hear them talk. I enjoyed hearing the stories of people inviting friends, coworkers, relatives, etc. They were praying for people to be saved and they see these special days as "tools" for evangelism. I like to call them "hooks." Jesus told us to be fishers of men and I want to have as many lines in the water as possible; BUT I don't want to be fishing inside the boat and merely swapping fish from one cooler to the other (stealing members).

Today was, again, a HUGE eternal success! So, what do we plan to do in the future? Everything we can and whatever it takes to make an eternal impact on Hartsville and Darlington County. I like the way the Apostle Paul put it in 1 Cor 9:22-23, "I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. 23 Now this I do for the gospel's sake..."