ODDS AND ENDS

A few odds and ends in Mission and Ministry I would like to share. Sometimes, God is moving and I don’t always take the time to give Him praise and thanks. So here are a few areas that I want to share with you.

First, the Transition House if full. We have three women and one infant in the home right now. For those who are new to JIBC, our church family runs a Transition Home for women coming out of the Charleston Center Alcohol and Drug Inpatient Center. We are one of the few, if not the only place in Charleston that is willing to take women, with infants who are on “step down” drugs. It is a part of our mission to reach, redeem and restore a lost and broken world. We now have a Transition House Team that helps to lead this ministry. What a wonderful gift they have been. We gauge the success of the Transition House by opportunity. We are 100% successful in giving women the opportunity to transition in an environment that is loving and supportive. It is a hard, hard ministry and the needs in the community are as deep as they have ever been.

Second, we had a successful assessment trip to LaPlace, Louisiana as a follow up to Hurricane Ida. We met and worked with Charles Dillon to love on the community around First Baptist LaPlace. We were able to see the need first hand and see how we might work together. Your JIBC team did a great job. While we might not go back to First Baptist Church, LaPlace, I do suspect we will go back to work with our church member, full time volunteers, Charles and Judy Dillon. No plans have been made for our next trip. I do think we will go and when the plans are being made, we will try to let you know asap.

Third, mission at home is always a good thing. The Annual Fall Festival is the largest community outreach of the year for JIBC. Remember, we started this in 1985 with the intention of going head-to-head with Halloween. We wanted to offer a positive, safe, “non-Halloween” event for families. We don’t spend a lot of time beating the drum of the down side of Halloween. We do try to emphasize safe, family fun at a price you can afford…free! We usually have an unofficial count of around a thousand people come to the campus. Three things you can do to help make this another successful year. First, pray that God is honored, that families are drawn and that everyone is safe. Two, you can volunteer. This is a Volunteer intensive event. There is no way to have too many volunteers. Even our safety team will need more help. You can sign up for 1.5 hours or for the entire 3 hours of the event. By the way, the axe throwing booth is an inflatable…not a real axe! You can dress up, we just ask that there not be “sexy” or “bloody” or scary costumes. Third, you can pick up a bag or two of your favorite candy. We make sure no child is deprived of candy because their parents brought them to a church event! You can drop the candy by the church office or on the counter across from the office.

Odds and ends, but good ones right? I love that all three of these are outward focused on how can we bless others. We do a lot for our JIBC family of course, but I love the outward focus!

See you Sunday, good Lord willing as we continue our teaching series on the Beatitudes.

Pastor Tom

And They Are Off!

We have three teams that are well on their way to LaPlace, Louisiana. Hurricane Ida stalled out for 5 hours over LaPlace according to Charles Dillon. The damage was massive. So we have a team of 12 going to do an “assessment trip”. We want to see how the JIBC family might be able to help over the next months and maybe even years.

So as we go, we are taking the supplies that the people on the ground say they need the most. Thank you JIBC for so generously giving to make giving possible. We had just received word last week that the FBC LaPlace “free store” ran out of supplies. It is a free store where the community can come by and get what they need. Your gifts should allow us to re-supply the store for a little while! We have one SUV and two Sprinter vans loaded from top to bottom, front to back. There is just enough room for the driver and passenger. Joanne Brown and her father, in his SUV, left Sunday afternoon to drive half way there and are planning on driving the rest of the way Monday. Mary Braxton and Martha Faye Blankenship are driving one Sprinter Van (the big tall vans) and Ron Corry and Roddy Watts are driving the other. Ron Corry has some family on the way so that is a comfort. It is a 12 hour drive, perhaps 13, with stops for gas and food breaks. The rest of our team leaves Tuesday. Everyone on this trip should be back Wednesday. So, by the time you read this article, we should all be back into our regular schedules.

So, what should you do if you want to go? By the way, not everyone needs to go or even wants to go. Don’t feel bad about that for one minute. But if you want to go, we can help you make your plans so you know what you are going into and what you will be doing. We are blessed to have former members, Charles and Judy Dillon on the ground, now living in LaPlace, helping to coordinate incoming teams. There is no need to panic about when you might go…the needs will be there for quite a while. Just about any skill set you have could be used in these types of settings. Some people go to minister to the volunteers while others go to help those who have fallen through the cracks. I know people who would be great to take a thermos of hot coffee and just sit with victims and hear their stories. They could use prayer teams who prayer walk and set up booths for prayer. Some will go to provide music, children’s activities, grief counseling, yard clean up, etc, etc. As we get plans together, we will let the church family know in case one of the trips interests you and/or your family.

Again, the number one request from the people of LaPlace is prayer. We go in Jesus’ name, to offer hope, help and hands. Thank you for making this trip possible. May Our Heavenly Father grant us favor. Remember them in your prayers.

Pastor Tom

Another Round of Blessings!

I like the little phrase “Here we go again!” It kind of leaves it open to whether that is good or bad. It does suggest that something is being repeated, we are doing something again. I hope in the case of these two things, it represents “another round of blessings”. So, let’s talk about it.

The first round of blessings is in reference to our opportunities to bless the relief work and the community in LaPlace, Louisiana. Our former church members, Charles and Judy Dillon have set up their home and base in LaPlace, where they will likely live for the next few years. Hurricane Ida stalled out over LaPlace for 5 hours doing an incredible amount of damage. Remember when Hugo was the most destructive hurricane in history? Then came Andrew in South Florida that topped Hugo. Then came Katrina in New Orleans and other coastal communities proving to be the most expensive and destructive hurricane on record. Now, Hurricane Ida comes along and says “watch this!” So, here we go again. We are sending our first scouting team on Monday, September 20. We have four or five people going on the short bus loaded with supplies and loaded with love. Another group of 6 will meet them there Tuesday, September 21. Our goal is to meet with Charles and Judy Dillon, the local pastor and his staff, and hopefully some pastors in the surrounding community. We will have an African American Pastor, Larry Goss with us on this trip. He is the Pastor of Destiny Church, a part of the Charleston Baptist Association. Pray that our Father will open doors for us to speak to and encourage local pastors as they deal with terrific devastation on top of the Corona Virus pandemic.

My goal is kind of like what we do when we prayer walk a community: we are praying on site with insight. What has God blessed JIBC with that could be a blessing to this community. When we return we will put together a list of possibilities. Really, almost anything we do will be a help. I imagine things like prayer teams, cooks, kitchen cleanup crews, blood pressure stations, people to hand out food and Bibles, listening stations to have coffee with distressed people, children’s activities, bands to play praise music and lead in healing concerts, construction crews, chain saw teams, etc, etc. Here we go again…another round of blessings.

Now, the second round of blessings I was referring to. Janie and I celebrated our 36th year serving our Lord and His church family at James Island Baptist. I know it is so very unusual and uncommon for a Pastor and church family to stay together for anywhere near 36 years. I just read one survey that said the average stay of a pastor is 3.5 years in smaller churches and 7.7 years in larger churches. Janie and I have been honored to raise our children at JIBC and now to work on raising some of our grands here. I find myself saying it over and over…I love our church family. So, here we go again…another round of blessings, good Lord willing.

Hope to see you Sunday!

Pastor Tom

Do you like banana splits?

Do you like banana splits?  Many people do and that is part of what keeps Ye Old Fashion Ice Cream in business.  If you like ice cream…and what’s not to like…you can’t go wrong with a banana split.  Three scoops of ice cream layered with lots of deliciousness.  OK, I am going to push this analogy into our church world.

We have a “banana split” of blessing to be enjoyed.  I get it, not everyone loves chocolate or vanilla or strawberry.  None the less, we have three opportunities to move your discipleship forward.  I think all three are part of a wonderful mix of blessing.

First, the Wednesday night course based on the book by Emerson Eggerichs, entitled Love and Respect.  The full title is Love & Respect, The Love She Most Desires and the Respect He Desperately Needs.  This is one of the four books I recommend to young couples who are getting married.  Please hear me say this is an important presentation of Biblical principles presented in a way everyone can understand.  This study is being taught by John and Cindy Bohr.  If you don’t know John and Cindy, you are in for a blessing.  Both of them are wonderful followers of Jesus who are easy to love.  There is still time for you to sign up for this Wednesday Night blessing.

The Second Scoop of blessing happens every week…Connection Groups.  We have old groups, new groups, groups that meet on JIBC campus and groups that meet in homes.  You can find a group on your own of course.  Or you can use our very own spiritual GPS, Pastor Scott.  He is always up and excited to help our friends get plugged into groups.  For those who are not in a group I can only compare you to those who have never tried a big old scoop of banana split.  Try it...Connection Groups are one of God’s major delivery systems of blessing and growth.

The Third Scoop, so to speak, is the 8 week course I am teaching on Grief.  We are using the book Life’s Healing Choices by John Baker.  We grieve over many things: loss of loved ones; loss of health; loss of jobs and careers; loss of reputation; loss of friends when we move; etc.  Not dealing with our grief can lead to what we call hurts, hang-ups and habits.  So, we want to journey together in learning how to grieve in a healthy way that will move us toward healing.  We have all been there.  This group will meet on Sunday nights.  Join us for a fellowship meal at 5:30, Worship at 6:30 and the class at 7:00.

OK, three really great discipleship options for you to consider. Come on and enjoy the blessing of our Lord Jesus.  You will be glad you did.

Pastor Tom

 

HALLELUJAH! KINGDOM GIVING SUNDAY! HALLELUJAH!

This past Sunday, we made a commitment to give the entire Sunday morning offering to three relief causes: Afghanistan; Haiti and Carpenter’s House (Charles and Judy Dillon, JIBC Missionaries). Our typical weekly budget requirements are around $14,715. That is the projected amount we would need each week to carry out the missions and ministry of JIBC. So my hope and thought was that we might come close to that weekly amount for the Kingdom Giving Sunday. Hallelujah and glory to God. The offering was over $22,000! You gave so generously and God blessed so abundantly. To God be the glory.

We will get busy this week deciding how to give the offering to the relief effort for the Afghan people, the earthquake victims in Haiti and now, the Hurricane Ida disaster response. Thank you for being such a loving and generously giving church family. You can check out more of what Southern Baptist are doing at www.sendrelief.org. Here is one of the great things of Southern Baptist relief work: 100% of everything you give goes to the relief work. Not one penny goes to administrative or promotion or solicitation of funds. That is as effective as you can get!

By the way, on the home front, JIBC has now given over 440 jars of jelly to James Island Outreach and another 125 pounds of groceries. I asked Scott Graule, the Director of James Island Outreach how long that 440 jars of jelly would last them? He said just about 2 months. Wow, that is a lot of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches made in Jesus’ name. You can keep bringing jelly any week or every week. Our Awana ministry has built that into their mission; one of our school teachers offers extra credit for brining jelly! I love you all, I love you all, I love you all. Our next major push for jelly will be at the beginning of the Advent Season, just around Thanksgiving and Christmas time.

Just one more item for today. Please be safe when it comes to Covid. We have 18 JIBC members, that we know of, who have Covid. This current surge is real. I do not believe anything that comes out of Washington and I have lost confidence even in the CDC. I do, however, believe our members and my family members in the medical field. When they tell me the ICU is full, I know it is full. I hate that a pandemic was made a political pawn and that this is so horribly divisive. Wear your mask if you are concerned. We encourage that. Get the vaccine if you, your family and your health care provider decides that is best. (Janie and I are fully vaccinated and plan to get the booster). Be kind, be encouraging, no mask shaming for wearing or not wearing. Protect yourself and use common sense. You are loved and we want to spend a lot more time with you. We are followers of Jesus Christ first. May He be glorified in everything we do.

Pastor Tom