Pastor's Blog - July/August 2024

Time passes quickly. That is an adage that we often hear and use. It becomes particularly true as we get older. That is certainly the case for me. It is hard to believe I have now served as pastor of Saloma Baptist Church for 30 years - from 1994 to 2024. Needless to say, I was 30 years younger in 1994 when I became your pastor. I had a few gray hairs at that time, and today, I have a full head of gray hair. Now, let me be clear that my gray hair is not because of the responsibilities of serving as pastor of Saloma Baptist Church. My gray hair is a product of age - nothing more.

In retrospect, the past three decades have certainly passed quickly, and God has blessed us in many ways. Many lives have been touched and positively impacted as a result of our ministries. I have had others outside the church family remark that it appears that Saloma Baptist Church is a very close community of believers who have a global vision and commitment. I certainly agree with that statement. 

Let me thank our congregation and friends for the love, dedication, and support through the years. None of us know what tomorrow will bring, but this I do know - that I am very thankful to be the pastor of Saloma Baptist Church and pray that we can move forward in a spirit of unity and commitment as we minister to our community and world in the name of Jesus Christ. There is much to be done in His name, and each of you have an important role in the work of the church. The church is the Body of Christ. He is the head of the church. We are his servants and ministers.

As I move to another subject in this blog, some of you may recall a recent mid-week Facebook Bible Study that I shared on the subject of "easy religion." As king of Israel, Jeroboam tried to wean the people away from loyalty to the house of David. Jeroboam found a solution, so he thought, by making religion easy. He completely cut them off from their ancestral roots. This is unfortunately a popular strategy today in many churches. Jeroboam's easy religion had tragic consequences, and the same is true today where "easy religion" is in vogue. Unfortunately, there are those, even within the Christian movement, who seek to compromise the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to seek to make it more "relevant" in the increasingly secularized culture in which we live. While the way we present the gospel changes generation to generation, and the ways we worship are different and change, the Gospel itself does not change. We must not - we cannot - compromise on our Christian faith. What we do we must do in grace, love, humility, and by example - but we must never back away from the transformational power and life change that results from coming to know Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Easy religion does not get the job done. Living our Christianity is not easy - nor has it ever been easy - but it is the life choice that leads to eternity, abundant life, and transforming power.

Pastor's Blog - May/June 2024

The months of May and June busy months for many families with graduations, changing of seasons, beginning of summer vacations, longer hours of daylight, travel, and more time spent outdoors. It is a time of transition and change for many people. 

 During these months, we also celebrate two traditional days that emphasize the importance of family life - Mother's Day on Sunday, May 12 and Father's Day on Sunday, June 16. Regarding Mother's Day, we find this information from one source: "Mother’s Day celebrated its 100-year anniversary in 2014. In the year 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed into law Mother’s Day stating that the Day would be celebrated on the second Sunday of May and be a national holiday." As stated on one internet site regarding Father's Day: " The first time Father's Day was held in June was in 1910. Father's Day was officially recognized as a holiday in 1972 by President Nixon." Neither Mother's Day nor Father's Day are official legal, federal holidays, but they have become a part of the fabric of American life over the past decades. It has become tradition in most churches to honor mothers and women of the church and community on Mother's Day and father's and men on Father's Day. 

To the primary point of this blog, the months of May and June should be a reminder of the importance of our families and homes. The first institution ordained by God was the family - before the church, government, business and industry, and other such entities. While our principal loyalty is always to God and we are called to place Him first in all things, a very important part of our calling as believers in Jesus Christ is to place emphasis on our families and homes. In serving God and doing His will, we will place priority on loving, nurturing, providing for, spending time with, and being involved in the lives of our family members. That includes our fathers and mothers, our children and grandchildren, and other members of our extended families.

One of the real blessings I enjoyed, as I grew up, was being surrounded by multiple generations of our family - parents, brother, grandparents, great-grandmother, aunts and uncles, cousins (from first cousins to more distant cousins). And many of our neighbors and friends were like family in terms of their love, support, and concern. While there may have been times when it seemed that "everyone knew everyone else's business," there was a sense of security and stability for the most part that is often lacking in our families and communities today.

This is not to suggest that any particular family or home is perfect - certainly not. We are all "sinners by nature" and are saved and enabled by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ. All families have their struggles and challenges in the course of moving through this world. The church is called to be supportive of our families and to encourage parents and others taking care of our children and youth. Whether the home is a traditional structure, headed by a single parent, one where grandparents are raising their grandchildren, adoptive parents raising their children, or legal guardians providing for young people, we must be supportive, encouraging, and involved in helping our families with the love and compassion of our Lord Jesus Christ.

A lot of families are struggling today. Many of our children and youth do not have the connections to grandparents and other family members that many of us enjoyed. Let's be sure that we are supporting and encouraging our families and stressing the importance of our homes and families and ministering to them in the name of Jesus Christ. This is an important part of the mission of the church.

Pastor's Blog - March/April, 2024

We have entered into a very special and important part of the annual calendar - the Season of Lent which runs from Ash Wednesday through Holy Week leading us to the annual Easter celebration. In many ways, this season of the year has become increasingly commercialized and secularized - much like the annual Advent and Christmas season. Even among those who are believers in Jesus as Savior and Lord, there are trends away from the sacred message of the Season of Lent and Easter and more emphasis on commercialized and secularized observances of this season.

This season of the year is one in which we recall and prayerfully consider the passion and crucifixion of Jesus Christ on the "Old Rugged Cross" at Golgotha - and then the celebration of the Good News that the tomb was empty - and that Jesus Christ arose from the dead! Let us never forget the message of the Cross and the Resurrection as the foundation of our Christian faith. Without the Cross, there is no Resurrection. Without the Resurrection, the Cross is nothing more than the story of the death of one among many enemies of the Roman state and a would-be Messiah of the Jews.

Let's make the months of March and April 2024 as a period of time in which we place emphasis upon the Cross and the Resurrection. On the Cross, Jesus paid the price of our sins. In the Resurrection, Jesus has conquered death. What a powerful and wonderful message we have to share with our community and world.  Let's be about the business of our faith - sharing Jesus Christ with others - and ministering to the "lost and least" in the name of the Resurrected Jesus. Amen.

Pastor’s Blog – January-February 2024

“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland” (Isaiah 43:18-19).

“For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love, and self-discipline” (1 Timothy 1:7).

As I prepare this Pastor’s Blog for January-February 2024 as the pastor of Saloma Baptist Church, I am thankful for having experienced a joyous and blessed Christmas season with my family and with our church family. We have witnessed once again the eternal truth of the Christmas message and its transformational impact upon all of us who choose to profess Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of our lives. The baby of Bethlehem is the same Messiah who died on the Cross for our sins some 33 years after his birth, the same Messiah who arose from the dead, the same Messiah who ascended into heaven and sits this very day at the right hand of God the Father making intercession for us, and the same Messiah who will return some day for his church. Praise be to God for this message – one that we should celebrate every day.

 You will notice two verses listed at the beginning of this blog. These are the two verses – Isaiah 43:18-19 and 1 Timoth 1:7 – for the new year of 2024. As some of you may recall, I have followed this practice for many years – choosing an Old Testament and a New Testament verse for the year. These verses become a guiding light and point of meditation, motivation, and study for me throughout the year. I have long recommended this practice as one of the spiritual disciplines for the members and friends of Saloma Baptist Church.

What are the benefits in choosing a verse(s) for a year? This practice helps us to focus on the Bible and may help increase our commitment to the discipline of regular Bible study. These verses can help keep us focused over an extended period on the particular message that is given by the scripture passages. Memorization of key verses, as many of us learned as children, becomes an important source of inspiration and guidance as we face those inevitable challenges that come our way over the course of twelve months. God may be leading us in a particular direction over time and encouraging us to depend more on Him on a daily and ongoing basis. We benefit from the consistency in reading and prayerfully focusing on the meaning of the verse – it may be something that we really need in our lives and that God is speaking to us to help guide us in the right direction.

Let me offer a few thoughts on the two verses that I have been led to choose for 2024. In Isaiah 43:18-19, the Lord is reminding us that we should not look backward but that we should focus on what is yet to come. We are being reminded that should not focus on the past, and that God is “doing a new thing.” Do we see what is coming? God is “making a way” for us in the wilderness of our daily living and providing “streams” even in the wasteland of this life. He’s directing us to look forward and to not dwell on the past – to look forward to the opportunities in 2024 and that he is preparing “a new way” in the days to come.

In 1 Timothy 1:7, Paul is reminding his young friend Timothy that God did not create and save us from our sins to be timid and fearful. So often we dwell on the past and live in fear of what may happen tomorrow. We should not be anxious about what lies ahead, nor waste out time in dwelling on the past. In Jesus Christ, we are given “power, love, and self-discipline” to live boldly for the Lord.

On this day, I am once again claiming the truths stated in these two powerful verses – one from the Old Testament and one from the New Testament. My prayer is that I will not dwell on the past, nor worry about the future – that I will not be timid and live in fear – but that I will live with the “power, love, and self-discipline” as Paul wrote. In 2024 I encourage you to live in the same way – looking to the future with the hope and faith that are ours in Jesus Christ – living boldly without timidity and fear. May 2024 be a great year of service to our Lord.

Pastor's Blog - November/December 2023

The months of November and December are always a very busy time in the life of a church as well as in the private lives of the members of the church family and community. No doubt, this year will be no different as we move into the late fall and early winter seasons. The Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays will bring with them a lot of added pressures and busy schedules – ranging from family gatherings to workplace pressures to what to buy others for Christmas presents to the possibility of near physical and emotional exhaustion because of busy schedules, financial pressures, eruption of differences in some families, and loss of joy that this season of the year can bring.

 Let me offer a few suggestions for your consideration that might help you get through this upcoming two-month period and that might result in more joy and fellowship rather than exhaustion and pressure:

• During November leading up to Thanksgiving season, take some time to consider the many ways in which you and your family have been blessed. Despite any challenges and difficulties you may have encountered this year, you remain a blessed individual. “Count your many blessings – name them one by one! And it will surprise you what the Lord has done!” The words of this gospel hymn should cause us to shout, “Amen.” Spend some time with God in prayer, study, and fellowship – thank him for all he has done for you and your family in 2023. You will be surprised.

• During the actual Thanksgiving holiday and as families gather, make a commitment to yourself and to God that you will be on your best behavior, you will enjoy time with family (even when there may be some difficulties within the family unit). Avoid discussions related to politics or other topics that may erupt into arguments. Be thankful for your family, enjoy a meal together, watch some football or basketball, play some board games, or card games, and enter into a time of prayer and thanksgiving.

• Then as we move into December and Advent, the pace will pick up no doubt. You will feel the pressure of Christmas related shopping to find that “right gift” for that “right person.” A few suggestions on Christmas 2023: don’t overspend and run up a large credit card debt that you will not be able to payoff in a timely manner; don’t try to outgive others in terms of spending more than you should or try to impress others by what you buy them; look for others that you may be able to help during this season (and year around) – those who are less fortunate – those who may not have family members with whom to celebrate the Christmas season; make a donation to a Christian missions organization or Christian ministry to honor a family member or friend – and there are numerous groups deserving for such support who are serving “the lost and the least” in the name of Jesus the Christ.

• Spend time reading the Old Testament prophecies on the coming of the Messiah and the Gospel accounts of His birth and life. Even though you may have read these accounts many times in years past, it is always rewarding to spend time in the Scriptures as we seek new discernment and deeper understanding from the Holy Spirit as we delve into the coming of God into the world in the form of the Babe of Bethlehem. What a story – what a joy – what a history-transforming event!

• To reduce pressure during this season, you may need to cancel an event or two – you can’t do everything and be everywhere. The most important activities are spending time in your church services, with your family, and in once again understanding the meaning of the Christmas story and how it has transformed our lives because of the death and resurrection of the Christ of Christmas.

 From my family and me, we wish all of you a very blessed Thanksgiving season. We are thankful for all of you and the opportunity to move through these days with you as church family and friends. And we wish you a joyous Advent and Christmas season. May the truth and power of the Christmas story be manifest in your lives.