Pastor's Blog for April 2016

We live daily in the power and spirit of the Resurrected Lord. So often following the high point of Easter Sunday, we return to the "humdrum" of everyday living. Unfortunately, our spiritual life often enters into a stale period as well following such celebrations as Easter. 

Join me in 2016 to making a commitment that we will not return to an apathetic approach to our relationship with Jesus Christ. We have the spiritual power as displayed in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. We have eternal life through our faith in the Risen Lord. The Holy Spirit indwells us once we have professed our faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord! 

Will we live daily in the power and spirit of the Resurrected Lord? Will we daily show the love and compassion of the Risen Lord in how we live and treat others? That is my prayer!

Pastor's Blog for March

The month of March is a busy and eventful time for most all people. From the "March Madness" that basketball fans enjoy with tournaments and championships at stake to the official beginning of the spring season to the remembrance of the passion and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, March is a season of transition, transformation, and new beginnings. It is also a month in which we can go from snow and cold temperatures on one day to very warm temperatures and bright sunshine the very next day.

Easter Sunday is early this year - Sunday, March 27 will bring our annual celebration of our Lord's resurrection. From Palm Sunday on March 20 through Easter Sunday on March 27, we will observe what is called Holy Week in the Christian tradition. Holy Week is a very special week and should be a time in which we daily take time to consider that course of events that led to Calvary where Jesus Christ died for the atonement of our sins. In many ways, there is a very clear "road to Calvary" that we can follow through the combined accounts of the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) in the Bible. It is important that we take time this year to study and pray for greater understanding of the "road to Calvary" and the impact this historic event has on our lives 2,000 years later.

On Easter Sunday, we will join together once again for a joyous celebration of the historical fact that "He arose, He arose, Hallelujah, Christ Arose!" But before we get to the empty tomb and the wonderful and transforming truth of the Resurrection, let's be sure we go by the "Way of the Cross that leads Home."

Pastor's Blog February 2016

February is the shortest month of the year. In many ways, it's a "bridge month" in that it connects January, which is typically the height of our winter weather, with March, which brings us multiple signs of spring. We will often see a mix of weather patterns in February - need we be reminded of last winter's heavy snow and sub zero temperatures during the last half of February - and let's hope and pray we don't have a repeat of such weather this year.

Rather than debating whether the groundhog saw his shadow or not and whether we will have six more weeks of winter weather, let me throw out some challenges for this bridge month of February:

•Make Sunday School-Small Groups a weekly priority every Sunday morning at 10 am.
•Be faithful in worship attendance. Join us as we continue in my sermon series on the fruit of the Holy Spirit based on Galatians 5:22-23.
•Support our ongoing collection of items for Zambia that is coordinated by our WMU.
•Attend our Winter Bible Study that continues on Sunday evenings at 5 pm. The study is on 2 Corinthians and is led by Dr. John Hurtgen.
•Support the Shoe-Per Bowl mission project in partnership with Audience 1. Donate new or gently-used shoes that will be sent to people around the world. Financial donations are welcome to help defer the shipping costs.
•Join us in observing Focus on WMU Sunday on February 14. Dr. Twyla Hernandez will share about her recent mission trip to Cuba which our church supported.
•Join us for Easter Cantata Practice on Wednesday, February 10 at 6 pm. We will be preparing a really powerful musical presentation for Easter Sunday. The children are also working on an Easter cantata. Bring your young ones to practice on Sunday evenings.
•Invite unchurched people to visit our church and then help in reaching out to them. Share Jesus with those who don't Him as Savior and Lord.

These are just a few of many ways in which Saloma Baptist is ministering to and positively impacting our community and world for Jesus Christ. We invite you to join us as we move forward as the people of Gof!

Pastor's Blog January 2016

A new year is always an exciting time in the life of Saloma Baptist Church. It brings a new season of mission and ministry and a time of new beginnings. We are in the midst of the winter season and may experience periods of very cold temperatures, snow, and bad weather.

However, the spirit of God is ever present in all seasons of the year. While many people indicate that they become depressed during the month of January and following the excitement of the holidays, I have long experienced a renewed sense of energy and consider the new year as a time of new beginnings and new opportunities - it is in essence a new season.

Life is full of new seasons. Having just retired from my full-time role at Campbellsville University, I have begun a new season of my life in this new year of 2016. I'll continue on a part-time role at CU, an institution which holds a very important place in my heart and life, but I felt that the Holy Spirit was definitely moving me to a new season of life and a time of new beginnings. I'm truly excited about 2016, about what God is going to do in the mission and ministry of Saloma Baptist Church, and what lies ahead this year.

Will you join me in this new beginning? Actually, each new day is a day of new beginnings in Jesus Christ. That is truly something to be excited about! May 2016 be a year of kingdom advance for Saloma Baptist Church and for our individual walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Pastor's Blog December 2015

"All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet, 'The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel' (which means 'God with us')" Matthew 1:22-23 (NIV).

We are once again in the midst of the Advent and Christmas season. There are numerous special gatherings and observances, services at church, exchange of gifts in the home and place of work, and a hectic schedule of celebration. By the time Christmas Eve arrives, many people will be completely exhausted, bank accounts will be strained, and the spirit of Ebenezer Scrooge may be more evident than the true spirit and meaning of Christmas.

In contemplating once again the message of verses 22-23 from the first chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, there is a powerful and important message that cuts to the core of the real meaning of this season of the year. The prophecy from Isaiah 7:14 has been fulfilled in the amazing news of the conception of a baby by the Holy Spirit and that a girl by the name of Mary, who is a virgin, will give birth to a son and that he will be called "Immanuel."

Immanuel - God with us! Take a moment and consider the power of that simple summary of the meaning of the name Immanuel - God with us! That is what this is all about. It's not just about the secular manifestations of the season. It's not even just about the services we have at church in celebration of the season. And while we are called to minister to the "least of these" in the season and in all seasons of the year, it's even more than that! It is about God becoming man; God sending His only begotten Son so that you and I might have life eternal; God intervening in the course of history so that might have the opportunity to choose everlasting life; God Incarnate - that is God becoming flesh!

Will you join me, and our congregation, in considering the meaning of "Immanuel?" God with us! That, my friends, is a powerful and important summary of what Christmas is really about. God is with us - now and forever!