The more things change, the more they remain the same.

Have you ever heard that phrase before? At first glance, some situation appears to change for the better only to find out everything is still the same. We on occasion hear about a big drug bust with loads of drugs being confiscated and dozens of people being arrested. That is a good thing, right? But the next day, there is a new drug lord with even more drugs ready to take the place of the first ones. It does not mean the arrests were not worth the effort. It does mean the battle goes on.

I wonder if this could be applied to the church, to followers of Jesus Christ. Perhaps we all have made valiant efforts in allowing God to change us, inside and out. Our spiritual maturity is making progress; we are practicing the spiritual disciplines and are becoming more like Jesus, then bam! Something happens that triggers our old nature and we find our self acting like our B.C, before Christ, self. It does not mean the journey and effort was not worth it…it means we are human. It means we “backslide, relapse or have a reoccurrence of our disease…sin. It was the grace of God that got us, got us going and growing and it will be the grace of God that does it again.

The residents at the Transition House can remind us of this. They are in the process of transitioning to a sober, sane and serene life. It is hard and it is a journey with lots of ups and down, forward progress and backward steps. As they work their spiritual discipleship program they are reminded: I cannot do this on my own; I have a God who can help me; I must surrender my life and will to Him. We expect there to be slip ups and mess-ups. We are hoping that each time the way back is clearer and shorter.

See the comparison? We all are going to have slipups, mess-ups, backslides, etc. All of us. It does not mean the journey was not true or genuine. It means we are human, still on this side of glory. One day we will be free not only of the guilt of sin and the poser of sin but also of the vey presence of sin. Until that day…it may seem like the more things change, the more they remain the same. We all need grace, forgiveness, patience and love. We all need to be a people who offer grace, forgiveness, patience and love. As George Washington once said “The people must be ever vigilant against tyrants…” In our case, our tyrants include the devil and his evil minions. Or, as the Bible says: “Be sober-minded, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”

The method of carrying out the great commission changes but the message always remains the same. The more things change, the more they remain the same.

See you Sunday, good Lord willing,

Pastor Tom

Better Together

This year’s theme for JIBC is “Better Together”. That almost goes without saying…almost. When I was a child, I loved to play baseball. Every day that I could, I would take 2 or 3 baseballs, my baseball bat and my glove and walk to the baseball fields next to Dorchester Terrace Elementary School. It was like a second home for a lot of us kids. You never knew who might be at the field: best friends, older kids, younger kids, parents, etc. Whoever was there, no matter the age, we played ball.

Every now and then, there would be no one at the field. Did not stop the fun, it just changed the rules. I would play home run derby…toss the ball up and swat! I would pitch to the back stop or throw the ball as high as I could and work on catching pop flies. I was determined to have fun. All that being said I would still rather play baseball with my friends. The whole baseball experience is better together.

Really, God has wired us up as humans and particularly as followers of Jesus to need each other. We are without a doubt better together. After great loss, I might have a need to be alone for a moment of time. I will also need friends, hugs, tears, laughter, encouragement, presence, etc. I can’t do these on my own; certainly I cannot do them as well on my own. The Bible speaks to us about loving one another, praying for one another, admonishing one another, forgiving one another, etc. Over 40 times we hear about these one another’s. We cannot do the one another’s without one another. We are better together.

Doing life with my small group has been a blessing to my life. Together, we can face bad news, rejoice together over good news, tackle giant problems, and share our collective wisdom (limited as that might be).

If you are in a Connection Group, stay connected! If you are not, but would like to be, please let Pastor Scott know. He will pray for God’s help and will give you his best effort to get you connected.

You can play baseball by yourself…but it is not as fun or challenging! We are better together.

Pastor Tom

Hallelujah 2022!

I am thankful for a lot of blessings that came to JIBC in 2021. We were blessed and chose to be a blessing. I love that about our church family. There are also a lot of struggles and pains that I am all too happy to turn the page on. Let’s count them as learning opportunities and move on in Kingdom work.

Being outwardly focused has brought many blessings to our church family. During the Advent season, we focused on the birth of Christ and many of the theological implications: Christ in Creation, Christ in the Cradle, Christ on the Cross and Christ wearing a Crown at His return. We also focused on blessing the underserved.

To support world-wide missions, you gave $14,325 to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. You also gave an additional $3,316 at the Christmas Eve Worship Services, all of which will go to missions. During the Advent Season, you gave $17,641 to Missions. Back during August, you gave an additional $22,000 to missions during what we called Kingdom Giving Sunday. That is $39,641.00 given above the $30,000 we budget to missions. Thank you for loving those you have never met but one day, in heaven, we will!

Another part of Advent involved giving to support the James Island Outreach. Years ago we made the commitment that no one on James Island goes to bed hungry unless we don’t know about it. We were designated as the “jelly church”, so jelly it is. You understood the assignment and responded with enthusiasm. You gave 270 jars of jelly! You gave so much jelly that the Director of JIO asked that we not bring any more for a while. By the way, keep bringing jelly. We will house it here at JIBC and give it to them when they run out!

In addition to the jelly, you gave 57 bags of groceries for the BackPack Buddies Ministry. This is a ministry to help underserved children. They may get a hot meal at school but possibly not a hot meal on the weekend. You gave enough healthy snacks to pack, in my estimation, backpacks for almost 200 children. All together you gave 968 pounds of groceries…just short of ½ a ton of love!

And, we have not even mentioned the diapers, diaper wipes and new clothing for the clients at Low Country Pregnancy! I lost count when I hit 4000 diapers and 5,000 baby wipes!

Now that is the way to celebrate Christmas! Great music, solid theology, helping the underserved, and on and on we go to the GLORY OF GOD OUR FATHER AND LORD JESUS CHRIST!

Hey, did you save your Christmas cards? Mark Livengood is collecting them in case the door opens for him to go to Ukraine. He uses them in his mission work there!

See you Sunday remembering…Better Together!

Pastor Tom

BETTER TOGETHER

That really is the truth, when it comes to being followers of Christ, we really are better together. We have said so many times that there are over 40 “One Another’s” in the Bible. Love one another, pray for one another, admonish one another, etc, etc. You know what you cannot do alone? You can’t do the “one another’s”. We need each other and we are definitely better together.

Better Together will be our theme for the 2022. Let’s think about some of the ways we can be “Better Together”.

When it comes to Membership and Fellowship in the Family of God, we are surely better together. I like the old definition of fellowship…two fellows in a ship rowing in the same direction! I can row by myself, but it is easier to row with someone. Like it or not, you are my Forever Family. I chose to like it…even love it. You are a part of the Family of God with every other believer. Better Together.

Take a look at how Better Together is true in Maturity and Discipleship. For sure, we need each other. I can learn a lot of facts by myself. I can read and put more info into my brain. What I cannot do on my own is grow. It takes others to grow. We need some who will share their journey and we must have some that will allow us to share ours. Jesus had a small group of 12 that he met with on a regular basis. They did life together and the 12 were better for it. If you are not in a Connection Group, my guess is you are not growing. You can certainly be learning…but not growing.

Ministry and Serving are 100% better when we do it together. We all have people groups or causes that we are passionate about. Maybe you love working with children. You will, by necessity have to have someone helping you. Why, because we are better together. If you are serving..literally serving a meal, you will be better if someone is helping. It is more fun and more productive. By the way, whatever we are doing in the area of ministry and service, let’s make sure we are “training our replacement”.

Mission and outreach are dependent on the one another’s. We need to be praying for one another as well as helping one another. International Missionaries sometimes say “if you will hold the ropes, I will go”. They understood the assignment of doing this together.

Last, we Magnify His Name and Worship together. I know, I can and I do worship alone every day I have my Time Alone With God. I enjoy the solitude and lack of distraction. But I also love the thrill that I feel when I get together with God’s wonderful people. I love to praise him when I am by myself, but I love it more when I join you and we join them and together, we praise the LORD.

I am looking forward to a year of emphasizing “Better Together”. See you Sunday, good Lord willing.

Pastor Tom