IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM IT MIGHT AS WELL BE A GOOD ONE, RIGHT?

Just recently a visitor commented that they loved the worship experience at JIBC but they had a hard time finding a parking space. Don’t think of this from our perspective. We members know the ins and outs of where to park. But as a guest, as far as they know, JIBC folk can only park on JIBC property. IF that were the case, we really would be in a parking jam. Don’t get me wrong. I would much rather have a problem finding parking than having so many empty spaces you could park anywhere. So, let me share part of the answer to this challenge.

First, we have a “collaborative” relationship with all the businesses around JIBC. I use the word collaborative intentionally. The County loves when businesses share space in what they call a collaborative relationship. Some of our relationships are very formal with signed agreements and some are based on a verbal agreement. That means they use our parking space during the week and we use their parking space on Sundays. Winner, winner chicken dinner.

Second, here is the challenge. You may not have known our parking arrangements with our business neighbors. It is very likely that our guests would have no way to know. So how can we accommodate those who are guests, those who have babies/children and those who are Senior Adults? Join me and some of our leaders by choosing the off campus parking spaces across the street. You can park in front of the flower shop (Keepsakes) or in front of Brysons Garage, etc. You may also park in front of any of Sifly Homes Building businesses on Plymouth. For those with trucks, we also have permission to park in the undeveloped lot across from our campus on Plymouth. Really, you may park where you like. We can make parking for guests, parents with babies and small children and Seniors a little easier. The only place we encourage you not to park is in the lot behind the church off of Maybank Highway. That is the space we designate for Luz Y Verdad, the Hispanic Church. If you park there and get blocked in, just remember they get out of worship around 1:00 or 1:30. Choose wisely! Lol.

So, I repeat, if you have to have a problem it might as well be a good one. Needing parking is a good one. The down side is they are not making any more real estate!

See you Sunday, good Lord willing. Remember, with all the sickness going around…wash your hands often, get rest and drink fluids.

Pastor Tom

Things aren’t like they used to be!

Things aren’t like they used to be! I can tell I am getting older when I hear myself saying this so often. Things aren’t like they use to be. Or as Bob Dylan puts it “the times they are a changing”. We are just finishing up our regularly scheduled staff meeting. Because it was a National Holiday, we had the entire staff present…that was great.

It dawned on me how different things are today though. We talked about our Safety Team and made some plans to help train and equip them to help protect the church family. The Charleston Baptist Association now offers training for all churches. When I began ministry back in 1975, this kind of ministry was almost completely unheard of. No one thought of active shooters in a sanctuary. The very word “sanctuary” implies a safe zone, off limits to certain activities and attacks. Evil has translated the word sanctuary to mean soft target, unprotected, easy access. Recent horrific events remind us things aren’t like they use to be and therefore, we need to be ready for how they are today! So we talk about the police officer we hire to be on campus with us Sunday morning. He is more than an onsite officer, he has become our friend and has occasionally brought his family with him to worship. We have a team who monitors the video cameras that are placed around the church and walk the campus on a regular basis. We review our procedures for checking preschoolers and children in and out of their classes. There is really much more we talked about that does not need to be shared here. We are working and praying about doing our best to provide safety. And that is a conversation and activity that we were not having back in 1975! It is, however, a conversation every church and school should be having today. Let me say thank you to our safety team and to our onsite police officer. May the Good Lord bless us to never need our team to respond to danger. On the other hand, I am thankful they are here and ready to do just that! By the way, they are also here to help respond to medical emergencies should the need arise.

See you Sunday, good Lord willing,

Pastor Tom

Spiritual Disciplines

Spiritual Disciplines. The very words sound like something comparable to gym workouts. In some ways that is not a bad comparison. Why would someone go to a gym or try to exercise? You want to get healthy or stay healthy. Janie and I try to exercise 5 times a week. We have a routine that we follow that includes getting our heart rates up, lifting light weights and stretching. Some of the exercise is to correct problems we already have and others are to prevent issues in the future. So Monday through Friday we try to start our day with “physical discipline”. We also start the day with “spiritual disciplines”. We begin our day with Bible Study and prayer. We do it for some of the same reasons we do physical exercise: we are trying to correct some problems and trying to improve in other ways.

My current Sunday morning teaching series comes under the category of “Spiritual Disciplines”. In Matthew 7:24 Jesus said “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” How do we build our lives, our families and our connection group and even our church on a solid foundation? We have talked about how living in the word and living the word brings blessing. This past week we looked at how we can learn to pray in faith. If you missed these and would care to hear them you can go to the podcast at the church website.

This coming Sunday we will be talking about the spiritual discipline of living in community. We really are better together. I have found one of the greatest sources of strength in my life comes from the small group I do life with. I am blessed with a great wife who is a source of spiritual encouragement. I love my family and all the joy they bring. I am also blessed beyond what my words can express for the small group that I meet with every week. These guys bless me, challenge me, encourage me, push me as we walk together. I am, without a doubt, a better husband, a better dad, a better pastor because of the time invested with these guys.

You know, walking on a treadmill or working on the elliptical may not seem all that effective. But it helps. We stay with the discipline of working out regularly. It helps. We need to fellowship together because it helps. It does make us better and helps us to grow and individuals and as believers. Need help connecting with a group? God has supplied us with a pastor whose full time job is to help you get connected. Call Pastor Scott at the office, 843-762-0244 or send him an email. He will be committed to help you connect.

I love being pastor of the church family known as James Island Baptist.

Pastor Tom

Beautiful Ending and a Wonderful Beginning

When I think back at the end of the JIBC church year, I think it was absolutely beautiful. For the first time in my 34 years at JIBC we had two Christmas Eve services. Our thanks to our staff for encouraging me to double the blessing and add a second Christmas Eve Worship opportunity. What a great decision. We had a very full 4:00 service and a nicely attended 6:00 service. Combined, we had just over 500 people at both services. And what a fantastic job our Worship and Praise Teams did. Thanks to all the teams who served at one or at both of the services. We could not pull that off without your help! Now here is some extra good news. We had been promoting the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions. The total offering going to the Lottie Moon Offering will be $10,000! The Christmas Eve Offering enabled us to give extra to Lottie Moon, the Southern Baptist offering, to help support 3,700 full time International missionaries. We also will be able to do more and will see that amount go to almost $14,000 going to international missions. I have always liked being able to send an offering to the churches where Mark Livengood serves in Ukraine and where Cheryl Parish serves in Romania. Your generosity literally goes around the world. By the way, as soon as we hear the final results, we will tell you how much food was donated to James Island Outreach and Backpack Buddies as well as how many diapers went to the Low Country Pregnancy Center. What a beautiful ending to 2019!

Then the first Sunday of 2020 was one of the best attended in recent days. It was encouraging to see the worship center “comfortably full” again. The two screens in the balcony make viewing so much better. We started a new teaching series I am calling “Foundations: Building Better Believers”. For five weeks we will be looking at spiritual disciplines and habits that are needed to build solid believers. I am praying that they will help you on your spiritual journey. Make sure you check in with Pastor Scott about his recommendation for reading the Bible through in 2020. It is not too late to start or catch up. Bottom line for reading the Bible through in a year is to read 3 chapters a day. The plan Scott is recommending gives you a different approach than starting with Genesis and plowing through to Revelation. Feel free to join us on Wednesday nights as we continue our Introduction to the Old Testament. We will finish with the Minor Prophets and then will begin with the New Testament later this spring. Come for a great meal and fellowship at 5:30 and stay for Bible Study or a Connection Group at 6:15. What a beautiful ending to 2019 and a wonderful beginning for 2020.

Pastor Tom