AN INTERESTING SEASON

I want to thank you for your continued prayers and patience during this interesting transition period for our church family.  For 8 years we have had a strong pastoral team working together. Now we are down to one full time staff person.  That means the rest of the staff and volunteers are picking up many of the duties.  As a result I find my time a little more stretched, and I am not as available for some activities.

The prospect that we brought up for a weekend, David Johnson, received very good reviews from our leadership team.  We invited over 40 of our leaders to meet and interview David and his wife Lauren.  At this time it looks like we may have hit a snag because of some significant health insurance needs on their part.  The door is not completely closed, but we are moving on with the search for a full time Worship and Small Group/Connection Pastor.  I have great confidence that our Father knows just what we need and is fully aware of the timing.

Until then, I want to thank Fred Hudson and our praise team (band and singers) for stepping up and doing a really good job.  It feels a little bit like a roller coaster ride changing from 8 years of one style, then the interim Timmy Glover (my continued thanks to Timmy for his help and service) and now with Fred and the Praise team leading.  Remember, our goal, no matter who is leading, is to give you the opportunity to enter into continual worship and to experience the presence of God as the gathered Body of Christ.  It is a continual temptation to think of worship as “something I like or do not like.”  The real question is not whether you like worship.  It is not for you.  The better question is did our Father like the worship?  Again, let me quote the old song:  “I’m coming back to the heart of worship and it is all about You, all about You, Jesus.”
 
With a little extra prayer and effort, let us make it all about Him.

See you Sunday.

SCHOOL'S BACK!

This week the Charleston County Schools resume.  Wow, what a blur this summer has been.  I hope you and your family had a great summer and were able to enjoy some time off in spite of the unusually high summer temperatures.

Now, back to starting school.  For some parents that means the comfort of getting back into more dependable and predictable routines.  It also means some added stress of homework, new relationships, adjusting to new schedules etc.

I want to encourage you to add the start of the new school year to your prayer list.  When you ride by one of the schools in our area, let that be a call to prayer.  Pray for the administration, office workers and especially the teachers.  I really believe one of the best ways to positively influence the lives of children and teens is to be a public school teacher.  Jesus said we are to be salt and light.  If there ever was a place that needs light and some salt it would be our public school system.  It is a mission field.  Pray for our teachers.  They are often under paid and over worked.  They daily interact with our children.

On a personal, James Island Baptist note, I want to ask you to pray for the new James Island High School Head football coach, our own Randy Hilyer.  Talk about a great opportunity filled with good stress and bad stress.  Pray for Coach Hilyer.  Many of us were influenced by the coaches we had through our life time.  He will have a unique opportunity to impact the lives of his team, the student body, coaches, parents, faculty, etc.  Randy is a follower of our Lord Jesus, he loves his family and has served James Island as a teacher and coach for years.  Pray for him as he takes on this exciting new challenge.  Pastor Brent will be partnering with him as the Chaplain for the football team.  When we can, let’s go out and see the home team play!

Schools back…it’s a great time to focus and increase our prayers.

See you Sunday, good Lord willing.

Significant Shift in Our Culture

Dr. Thom Rainer is the president and C.E.O. of LifeWay Christian Resources, formerly known as our “Sunday School Board.”  He cut his teeth, so to speak, at Southern Seminary where he taught and did research about current trends in America, Southern Baptist Churches and North American Christianity.  I have read several of his books and look forward to reading his latest that he coauthored with his son, Jess Rainer.

The title of his new book is “The Millennials.”  It is a collection of his research and findings after a massive research project.   Millennials are those born between the years 1980 and 2000.  His research focused on the older portion of that group, those born between 1980 and 1991, those between the ages of  20 and 31…if my math serves me correctly.

Here is the significant shift: this generation has now become the largest generation in American history, surpassing the long reigning champion of this category, the Baby Boomers.  There is much that I am very excited about this generation.  Research shows they desire to be mentored and learn from the older generations; they have a generally gentle spirit and do not like the current lack of civility in politics or churches that are prone to be negative and divisive.  They like transparency and authenticity…keeping it real.  They are not asking “what about me” as much as “how can I make things better?” and  “What can I contribute?”   They desire to serve others and are family oriented.

To me, they sound like a very kindred spirit to the greatest generation in our recent history, the Builder Generation.  There is a lot of promise in this generation.  Thom Rainer says that they are watching us closely.

What will they see at JIBC? 

It is a major shift in our society.  Our job is not so much to create the waves, but to ride the waves that come.  Let’s get busy paddling, looking for the next thing God is doing to reach this large generation.

See you Sunday, good Lord willing.

Prospective Staff Member This Sunday

This weekend JIBC is hosting a prospective staff member.  We have received and reviewed over 100
resumes during this process.  We are looking to find a full time person for the position of Worship and Connection/Small Group Pastor.  We have interviewed several and have one or two that we are taking to the next step.  The one coming this weekend is David Johnson.  He is currently living in Orlando, Florida. (No, I did not meet him at Disney World!)  He has already been up to visit us once and worked with Pastor Brent during the “Love God/Serve Charleston” Week of Mission back in June.

While we do not know this is “the one” for us, we do feel confident enough to have David and his wife, Lauren, up for an extended weekend.  He will be meeting with our Praise Team/ Worship Band Thursday night, meeting with the larger leadership team on Friday night and then leading in worship on Sunday morning.  Then we will meet together and process the weekend with him. (That may have to take place at Disney World, closer to David’s home. Just joking.)

We are asking you to continue in prayer.  We have every confidence that our Father is able to do more than we ever have the faith to ask.  We trust He will continue to lead and give guidance.  You have heard me describe this process as periods of “dating, engagement and marriage”.  We have dated many prospective staff members during the resume and interview process.  Now, we are down to dating just two or three.  Having David here this weekend will give him and our leadership a better sense of going to the next step of engagement.  During this next phase, we will handle the important issues and details that will help us and David make a decision.

So, again, I say let us continue to seek Him in prayer.  This is just another step in the long journey. We are seeking someone who will come and do life with the family we call James Island Baptist.  It is a wonderful time is our church history.

See You Sunday, good Lord willing.