Pastor's Blog - March-April 2023

We are now in the Season of Lent as this pastor's blog for March-April 2023 is prepared. Beginning on Ash Wednesday, which was on February 22 this year, Lent runs for a 40-day period, or approximately six weeks, leading up to Easter/Resurrection Sunday (which is April 9 in 2023). Lent is generally observed as a time of fasting, prayer, repentance, and self-reflection.

While many Baptist congregations have not traditionally observed the season of Lent, there is an increasing number of Baptists who do cite Lent as a special time on the annual church calendar to give closer attention to the closing days of Jesus' earthly ministry as he moved toward his final week (what we call Holy Week which runs from Palm Sunday - April 2 this year - through what some call Holy Saturday or the day before Easter Sunday when the resurrection is celebrated. It has been tradition in many congregations to move quickly to the resurrection and bypass the crucifixion. Certainly, the resurrection is what affirms the deity of Jesus and confirms that he overcame the penalty of sin for us. However, it is very important that we take time, at least on an annual basis, to prayerfully consider that course of events leading up to the arrest and trial of Jesus, his atoning death at Calvary, and the depth of meaning of his passion.

We have Lent devotional guides available. I would also recommend your spending time in the Gospels to read directly about what is recorded regarding Jesus' final days prior to the crucifixion. The Gospel of John, in the second half of that book, presents the final week of Jesus' life in some detail. There are numerous online sources - which I will be glad to share upon request.

As stated in one summary of the meaning of Lent: "The purpose of Lent is to prepare Christians for the joyous celebration of Jesus' resurrection. It is also a time to acknowledge our sinful nature, repent of our sins, and recommit our lives to God. By spending time in prayer and meditation, we can renew our spiritual lives and prepare ourselves to give thanks for the gift of salvation. Lent is also a time to serve others and show God's love by our actions."

Following Lent, we come to the joyous celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus. This is the good news and highlight of our faith because Jesus arose from the dead - he is alive - the tomb is empty! This is a life-changing truth, a transformational message, and the permanent solution to our sin problem. Praise be to God that Jesus Christ is alive and that he shall return some day!

COMMENTS ON THE 2023 ASBURY UNIVERSITY REVIVAL:

We have recently witnessed an amazing outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the campus of Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky that began among students in a chapel service. I have been impressed, from a distance as a pastor and minister of the Gospel, with the approach that the Asbury administration has taken in protecting the students and not commercializing the time of revival and not allowing some outside groups to come in and take over and potentially manipulate the spirit of revival. Most of us would acknowledge the need for revival and renewal among God's people in this post-pandemic era. We face a "new normal" as has been stated numerous time since March 2020 when the pandemic first became evident. May we pray that the spirit of revival and renewal, which appears to be the "real deal" at Asbury University, is the beginning of a widespread movement of the Holy Spirit among God's people in Kentucky and beyond. "Revive us, O Lord."

Pastor’s Blog – January-February 2023 – Pastor John E. Chowning

We are excited about all that lies ahead in the New Year of 2023. While 2023 will bring its share of challenges and concerns, the dawning of a new year always offers us the opportunity for spiritual renewal and new beginnings in our relationship with our Lord and with our families and friends. The new year reminds us that in Jesus Christ, each day is a new day, and we are renewed in Him as we move through the challenges that come our way. We are forgiven on an ongoing basis of our sins and shortcomings as we come to Him in repentance and prayer and asking forgiveness for the mistakes we have made. God grants us renewal, transformation, and hope for each day that we live in and for Him.

What are some of the things that may be holding you back as we begin 2023? What are the barriers that may be keeping you from having that full relationship with Jesus? Are there unconfessed sins in your life, regrets that you still carry with you from the past, hard feelings that you may hold toward another person? What is it that is keeping you from fully experiencing the joy of your salvation and the full and abundant life that Christ came to provide us here and now as well as the hope of eternity with Him? So many of us grow tired in our daily walk with Christ, and it is because we allow things of this world to take our attention from the call that is on us to live daily for Jesus Christ.

So, as we move forward in 2023, let us commit anew to turn to God for direction, discernment, forgiveness, and leadership. May we allow God to pervade all areas of our lives rather than only allowing Him to influence certain parts of our daily living. This new year can be a time of new beginnings, a time for renewal and rededication, and a time to be about the important work of our Lord. Will you commit to that call upon your life in 2023 and beyond?

Pastor’s Blog – November-December 2022 – Pastor John Chowning

The months of November and December provide an array of opportunities for special worship and fellowship experiences. It can be a very busy and exhausting time for many people as they contend with numerous gatherings and as they sometimes spend excessive amounts of money on purchasing gifts for family and friends. Some people can handle all the business and rush of the season while others can become physically, mentally, and spiritually exhausted. Let me take this opportunity to offer a few suggestions for your consideration as the very busy holiday season comes upon us during November and December.

First, let me suggest that our priority in approaching the “holidays” should be to give honor and praise to God for all that He has done for us in 2022 and in the past. It should be a time to inventory our blessings and to prayerfully consider the many ways we are truly blessed. The expression of thanksgiving should be manifested in our “thanksliving” in all areas of our lives. We should reflect our gratitude to God not just in words and phrases, but also in how we live our lives. Are we living lives of gratitude by serving others and giving of ourselves in Christian servant leadership?

Second, we should make certain that we take adequate time to spend with our families and perhaps a very few close friends. Many of have evaluated our holidays – especially going into December as Christmas approaches – by how many parties, meals, and gatherings we are part of during the two or three weeks leading up to Christmas. Of course, we should participate in a couple of these type gatherings, but perhaps we need to be more selective and make every effort to maximize our time with our families including our church families. When you become exhausted and frustrated and “too busy,” you really don’t have enough energy left to truly enjoy and be renewed by the “holiday spirit.”

Third, I strongly recommend careful planning and budgeting when it comes to the purchase of gifts for our families and our closest friends. It is certainly fun to see our children, especially when they are young, “open” their gifts or to see their reactions of joy and excitement on their faces when they first discover what is “under the Christmas tree” on Christmas morning. It really will not hurt your child, or grandchild, if he or she doesn’t receive everything on their Christmas list. There are many people for whom it is very difficult to find something they really need. And the greatest gift you can give them, again, is your time, attention, and love. I strongly urge people to not run up large charges on their credit cards in amounts that will require you to spend the next several months to a year to pay them off – or to have to go to the bank and take out a loan in order to cover Christmas expenses – or to buy a number of items that will require you to make multiple monthly payments over the coming year with exorbitant interest rates attached.

Four, a practice that Cathy and I have adopted, several years ago, is to donate to a Christian cause in honor of each member of our family, including our children and their spouses, and our grandchildren (and spouses of those married). We generally choose a Christian ministry organization where examples of the use of each donation can be provided to the recipient so that the family member understands where the donation has gone and what it is being used for. Each family member receives an envelope and card that shares with them what the donation in their honor has gone to support – and individually gets a picture that illustrates the use of the donation. Before any material gifts can be opened, we go around the room, beginning with the youngest to the oldest, and everyone opens the envelope and then shares what their donation will support. We have a brief discussion of the importance of giving – giving gifts to others and serving others in the name of the Christ of Christmas. Our goal is to help them understand the importance of the spirit of Christian giving and to illustrate that wee must be attentive to the needs of “the least of these.”

Five, all of us should take the opportunity during the holidays to reflect upon the meaning and application of the great gift of all time – the gift of God’s “only begotten Son” Jesus Christ, how he became the “God Man” in Bethlehem more than 2,000 years ago, how he ministered and taught for a little over three years before he gave his life on Calvary for the redemption of our sin, how he was resurrected on the third day and appeared to many people over a period of weeks, how he ascended into heaven and sits at “the right hand of God the Father” and intercedes for us, and how he will return some day for his church! Are you prepared for his second Advent? If not, we encourage you to receive him as Savior and Lord of your life. That would be the greatest and most important thing you could ever do “during the holidays.”

Pastor’s Blog – Saloma Baptist Church – September-October 2022

As I prepare this bimonthly blog as pastor of Saloma Baptist Church, our local schools and area colleges and universities have begun the fall semester of the 2022-2023 academic year. Our congregation is also a week into what we call a “Season of Prayer for Our Schools.” Purpose of this special season of prayer is to focus attention upon the importance of education to the growth and development of our children and young people, to the preparation of the next generation of Christian servant leaders in their chosen fields of service, and to the future of our community, state, nation, and world.

At Saloma Baptist Church, we are praying for all involved with our educational institutions – parents, grandparents, and guardians; faculty members; staff members; administrators; all others involved – from the custodial staff to the bus drivers to the school resource officers who are placed in most schools for the safety and security of all to the family resource center staff who minister to students in terms of physical and social needs; and, yes, above all, we are praying for the children, youth, and young adults, as well as all ages, who are involved as learners.

Specific areas of emphasis for our prayer include: praying by name for all individuals that we know who are involved in education; praying for their safety and security during this school year; praying for the important role of parents, grandparents, and guardians in the educational process; praying for the teachers and assistant teachers who stand in the gap each and every day with the learners in their classroom; praying for the administrators who are working to make sure that every component of education is operating at optimum; praying for all the staff, as listed above, who play such crucial roles in the education enterprise; praying for the academic growth and social development of those who are students; praying for the ability of and opportunities for Christian faculty, staff, and students to share the love of Christ in word and in deed to others; praying for the many adults in the educational process who serve as mentors to their students and who, in some cases, must serve as primary advocates for students who may not be able to speak up for their own interests or who do not have parents, grandparents, or guardians who are able to provide support and advocacy. I ask you this important question – will you join us in this ongoing Season of Prayer – not just during the next month or few weeks, but throughout the academic year and into the future. Most students spend more time with their teachers and educators than they do in active interaction (not counting the time they are sleeping) with any other group of people during the average school week. And we should remember to pray for those college and university students who are away from home for the first time as they begin their postsecondary careers.

Saloma Baptist Church is blessed to have several people involved in the educational process within the ranks of our members and friends. We have teachers, administrators, school staff, and students of various ages, as well as parents, grandparents, and guardians. From our local public schools to Campbellsville University, SBC members are engaged in the educational process. Saloma Baptist Church has long been involved in the support of education – we have supported the local Christian school, Kentucky Christian Academy, for 30 plus years. We support and affirm those who choose to home school their children – with adequate accountability for the young person’s educational progress. We support various projects and activities for our local public schools – Project Graduation, backpacks via the Family Resource Centers, joining with other churches in the community a few years ago to help provide a package of school supplies for the year for every student in the Campbellsville and Taylor County school systems, Fellowship of Christian Athletes projects, our local city police department’s outreach to the schools, and honoring our graduates annually at various levels of educational completion. There is no contradiction between the Christian faith and the cause of educational attainment. And a part of the mission of the local church is to be an advocate for the engagement of Christians in all sectors of the educational process including public schools and for the welfare of all children and young people.

Let me close with an important thought. It is fashionable in many political and social circles to blame public schools for all the social and moral woes of our culture. This really is not a valid charge in my opinion. While there are always situations in the educational process that we, at any point in time, might be concerned about, the truth is that our schools in general do a very good job in educating our children and young people. Many of those issues that we criticize the public schools for are areas that involve shortcomings of the home and the church. Let me repeat that for the importance of emphasis: We blame the public schools in particular, the educational system in general, for problems and issues that are largely caused by the failures and shortcomings of the family and, yes, even the church. Perhaps in a later blog, I will delve into this in a more detailed manner. But the decline of the other basic institutions of our culture cannot singly be overcome by the educational institutions. Take some time and consider that point.

I am thankful for our schools, educators, students, parents, and guardians, and all those who accept a calling to be involved in the education of the next generation of servant leaders. God bless you and keep you.

Pastor’s Blog – July-August 2022

I certainly pray that all who take time to read this blog for July-August 2022 are doing well and living in the full joy and peace of a saving relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ. That is certainly our heartfelt prayer for all people with whom we have contact as we seek to bring the Great Commitment to our community and throughout the world. We live in an age when the mission of the church is increasingly compromised by other forces. While we are certainly called to do all we can to improve the conditions of this world, our core mission is to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to bear upon a lost and sinful world. Each of us, individually and collectively as a church family, must take inventory of how we are working to fulfill the true mission of the church. Are we living for Jesus Christ? Are we good stewards of our time, talents, and resources as we invest in the mission of the church? Do we share the Good News with those around us in both word and in deed? Are we concerned about the spiritual, as well as the physical and emotional, welfare and health of those we know? Are we willing to support missions beyond our own church, neighborhood, and community by investing financial resources, engaging in regular prayer for missions and those following the Lord’s leadership into missions work, and advocating for the cause of missions in “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8b)?

 Yes, we must heed the call to carry out the Great Commission. The Great Commission must be coupled with the following of the Great Commandment. In Mark 12:30, Jesus stated that we are to: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” Then he expanded this commandment by adding: “Love your neighbor as yourself! There is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:31). In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus stated this imperative: “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). Jesus presented the love commandment, in its totality including the love of enemies, as an absolute requisite of the Christian faith. 

If we do not carry out the Great Commission in the spirit of love as required in the Great Commandment, our work will not fulfill its full potential as Jesus intends. How can we effectively share the Gospel to bring the masses into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ, if our image is one of being self-righteous, judgmental, negative, prejudiced toward those who are not like us, and being known for what we are against rather than what we are for. If we show no love and compassion for those who are less fortunate, how can we effectively witness for Jesus? If we treat the “least of these” (Matthew 25) with indifference and even cruelty, do we really have any credibility if we espouse to be Christ followers? If we are racist and mistreat our fellow human beings as second- or third-class citizens because of their race or ethnicity or language, are we really showing that in Jesus Christ we are all one and the same? If we fail to practice the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) in our everyday living, then our Christian witness is of questionable effectiveness. 

In Galatians 3:26-28, we read these important words that should guide us in our relations with other people: “So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you all one in Christ Jesus.” Here is the bottom line, my friends – we either believe these words or we do not! As we seek to carry out the Great Commission, let us be certain that we do so as we follow the Great Commandment and that we heed the words in Galatians 3:26-28. There is no other acceptable path if we are to carry out the mission of the church in the 21st century.