Happy Anniversary, Coach

I’ve been going to Malibu Presbyterian for over a month now and am consistently blown away by the powerful worship times. They are blessed with the duo from some band called Kepano Green. You can listen there, but it’s not so much my cup of tea. But the dude can really sing and play, and most of all, lead a congregation in worship.

The only other times in the last few years I’ve been so into worship have been playing with Greg on a few Sundays last year and Phlashlight nights with Mike and Cray and others. Solid. I’m considering still going to Malibu Pres even after I move to Santa Monica, which would be a 20 minute drive.

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Today was also my first official Malibu encounter with a “celeb,” though it was hardly the paparazzi experience you might think it was. Well. Sort of not. It was Craig T. Nelson, or Coach, from the show, Coach, and the recent Bill Ferrill hit, Blades of Steel.

Where did I see him?

At church. Giving his testimony. Making me cry.

During the service I saw the back of his head and joked in my own head, “That looks like Coach.” Then it was. Then at the end of the service he stood up and told his story of coming to Jesus through AA and his loving, faithful wife. They were also celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary.

Coach shared that one of the principles of AA is admitting that alcohol and drugs can be more powerful than man. Admitting that there is something more powerful than man is a big step. He said he called this power that was bigger than man “Bob” (strange enough, since Bob goes to my church). He decided that he would seek the power out for himself to see what it was. So he took over a year to read the Bible from beginning to end, taking notes with all of his objections to bring up after he was done.

When Coach was done reading the Bible he said that, while there were objections and questions he had, he learned the most powerful thing of all: before he loved anyone or anything, he was already loved first by God.

So he got into Jesus. And he wanted his children to get into Jesus. 2 so far have. He said one night he was in Hawaii with his wife and at 5 AM his son called him from a missions trip in Germany. He went out to the patio to take the call so as not to wake his wife.

“Dad! Dad! You wouldn’t believe the power of this trip! People are getting saved, the Holy Spirit is moving!” cried his son. Just as his son was sharing the story of God’s Spirit stirring people up in Germany, a strong wind came in from the sea so powerful that it knocked Coach to his knees. He said all he could do was weep with joy about his son, and that God said, “I am everywhere. I can do anything.”

He is still waiting and praying for his daughter. I think I’ll join him. He was very tenderhearted and moved us all to remember that our story is His story.

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After church I had my camera and felt kind of awkward. I’ve been wanting to take a picture of Bob to show you that he goes to my church. But then I couldn’t find Bob, so I started to leave.

Whoops. Bad timing. Coach was walking out to his car at the same time. Great. Looks like I’m some creepy paparazzi stalker. So I dropped back a lot of paces to let him get to his car. But he kept walking exactly to where I parked, so it just looked more and more like this photographer was following him! Shoot!

Ends up, I parked right next to Coach without realizing it! Dang it! I felt so dumb hiding my camera behind me. He got in his Vibe-like car and drove away. I got in my car and sat there feeling silly…

Then he drove around in front of me on the hill so I took a picture anyway! (see above)