Too Early? Never!

“It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere I go”. I know, it seems too early to say or sing that. But ready or not, here it comes. I was visiting at MUSC Ashley River Tower last week and they already have two, count them, two Christmas trees up in their lobby. Costco has had their Christmas items up since July 4th! And local radio station 102.5 is playing Christmas music as we speak. I’ve got to tell you, I am not all that upset about it. I say it each year, I love all things Christmas except anyone who goes into debt to buy Christmas. Never forget the meaning and purpose. Then celebrate the King!

For me, Christmas officially starts this Saturday when Janie and I put up our decorations. Friday night I pull the storage boxes out of the shed and all day Saturday, fire blazing and football games playing, the magic of Christmas decorations happen. This Sunday will be our Thanksgiving Sunday at JIBC. A few of the decorations will be up at JIBC Sunday and all of them will be up we you arrive on Sunday, November 28th, the first Sunday of Advent.

Another thing I love about this time of the year is our tradition of giving to certain Missions and Ministries. Our first gift of the year is to the Lottie Moon/International Missions Offering. I love this because 100% of every gift goes to the missionaries and their support. Not one penny is taken out for administration or advertisement. Our second gift goes to James Island Outreach. We give this at the community Thanksgiving Service. This year it will be an outside worship event held at St. James Presbyterian Church on the corner of Fort Johnson and Secessionville Road. By the way, it will be at 4:00 PM and it is outside, so bring your own chair! Really…that will be different. There are other missions and ministries that Janie and I give to, but these are always the first two!

Advent begins on November 28th with the theme of Celebrate Jesus. Each Sunday of Advent we will celebrate a wonderfully unique attribute of our Lord Jesus Christ. Of course we will be collecting jelly for James Island Outreach and offerings for Lottie Moon and more. I love it. It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas…Worship, giving, fellowship, family, decorations, festivities, etc. I love all things Christmas…except going into debt to pay for it. Don’t do that!

Love you all,

Pastor Tom

Some favorite Christmas songs: Tran-Siberian Orchestra Christmas Canon; Anything by the Rat Pack/Sinatra, Martin and Sammy; Baby It’s Cold Outside; Rod Stewart Merry Christmas; Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer…only if Janie and the Grandkids are in the car!

Thanksgiving Next!

It seems as though time is flying by quicker than ever. It may have to do with that age thing, lol. Whatever it is, Thanksgiving is just around the corner and the Sunday after Thanksgiving is the first Sunday of Advent. Oh my. Our local radio channel 102.5 has already started playing Christmas music. They started on July 4th. So here are a couple of Thanksgiving opportunities for our church family and friends.

First, just a little hint…you might want to put the November 17, Wednesday Night Supper on your calendar. I have been sworn to secrecy, but not sworn to strategic leaks! Trust me..put your reservation in this week. Come as a family or invite a friend. You will not regret it.

Second, On Sunday, November 21 we will celebrate Thanksgiving week together. We will observe the Lord’s Supper together. We will build the service around the Eucharist…giving thanks. We have so much to be thankful for and now we will have a service dedicated to helping us give thanks. Now, after this service, believe it or not…our team of volunteers will be decorating the Worship Center for Christmas! The first to see it will be those who attend Celebrate Recovery on Sunday, November 21. Our lovely Worship Center becomes alive with Christmas colors.

Third, here is a new twist. On Sunday, November 21 at 4:00 PM you are invited to join together for our Community Thanksgiving Service. Here is the twist: the time will be 4:00 so no one will have to fight the night time. Second twist, the service will be held OUTSIDE. Yep, outside. St. James Presbyterian will be hosting this year’s celebration. They are located on the corner of Ft. Johnson Road and Secessionville at 1314 Secessionville Road. Those attending are asked to BYOC…bring your own chair! You could bring a blanket if that works better. In the event of inclement weather, the worship will take place inside and the event will be live streamed. Want to help out…we need two or three volunteers from JIBC to help with parking and guest arrival. Volunteers need to show up at 3 PM. If you can, bring a food item donation or a cash donation for the worship service. Oh, you do need to wear a mask to this event. Your Pastor will be singing a solo this year. Not really. I volunteered Janie to sing a solo…our attorney contacted me and suggested I withdraw her name. That being said, there will be some incredible music as always.

After that..Advent! We have a really good theme for this year’s Advent Season. I think you will really be challenged.

Let us give thanks to our Lord, for He is good. As they say…God is good all the time and...

Love you all,

Pastor Tom

Reason 2789 why I love our church family!

I love the sound of this old familiar song…“This Year’s Fall Festival May Have Been The Best Ever!”

You know, there is absolutely no way we could ever get a count of how many people attended. We know the number is somewhere between a lot and all we can handle. LOL. This year’s Festival had guest arriving at 5:30 and not leaving until 9:15…that is over an hour longer that we have had in the past. So the number of guests who attended were spread out over an additional hour.

You could almost feel the joy of those attending to experience a fun, free, family friendly event. Especially after such a long time struggle with Covid-19, Isolation, mask mandates, etc, etc. Man, this party for a thousand people was just what the Good Doctor ordered.

There is absolutely no way we can do an event this big without all the volunteers that came out to make it happen. Every volunteer was needed and help carry the load of serving our community. Thank you to those who prayed, those who gave, those who brought candy, those who volunteered at the booths, those who set up, cleaned up, showed up, came early, stayed late, worked on rocks, played great music, made phone calls, used their friend-fluence, stuffed bags, tended to emergency scrapes, purchased food, cooked food, served food, cleaned up food, picked up trash, brought friends, spoke to new people, loved on old people, and on and on we could go. Job well done good and faithful servants. Well done.

I just talked with a woman who said she and her family do not do “Halloween” because they do not go out on the streets. When I told her about our Fall Festival, she immediately thought of how wonderful it must be to have a safe event for families. We are thankful for Bill, our onsite police officer, the Firemen who stayed for an hour or so and our own safety team that stayed ever watchful. To God be the glory for a safe and fun time.

Our prayer is that every family that stepped on the campus of JIBC felt the love of God and the friendliness of His people. Perhaps, if they decide they would like to try a church out, they will consider JIBC. Maybe, just maybe, if they have a need, they will reach out to the people who seemed so real and genuine. Hopefully, they will remember…and decide to check us out some Sunday, Christmas Eve or some other special day in their lives.

Again, this is reason 2789 of why I love our church family! I love you all,

We are here for the harvest,

Pastor Tom

What Kind of Fish Hook?

What kind of fish hook should a person use in order to catch fish? If you are not a fisherman you might not ever give that a thought. If, however, you want to catch fish, it does make a difference. Are you fishing freshwater or saltwater? It makes a difference. You might not have even known fish hooks have sizes. Weird, the larger the hook number, the smaller the hook. Then when you go the other way, as the aught gets bigger the hooks get bigger. Are you fishing for trout or tuna? Ok, you know this is not a fishing lesson…especially from a guy that does not fish. Then what is it about? We are, as Jesus said, fishers of men. That is part of our calling as disciples, followers of Jesus. Sometimes we are fishing for little fish and sometimes we are fishing for the BIG one. We do not always use the same size hooks or the same kind of bait. The Gospel is always the same, but the methods vary depending on who we are going after.

Much of our fishing for men is done in what we call the “Community”. Most of the people in our community are not that interested in organized religion. So offering Bible Studies is not great bait for them. What might interest them is a Fall Festival where families can come to have fun in a family friendly environment. Another way to attract “Community” is our Weekday Preschool Ministry. Laura Holmes and her team do a great job of providing reasonably priced child care in a loving environment. Celebrate Recovery is a unique type of hook trying to reach people who are ready to change and recognize that Jesus Christ is the Higher Power. Those are three different types of “fish” requiring three different types of “hooks” but all of them motivated by the same Gospel.

What I love about our JIBC family is that you are fishing all over our community, using a variety of hooks and a variety of “baits and lures”. As you follow Jesus he leads you to sprits outings, to coach teams, to join clubs, go to events, watch ballgames…all places where we can find all types of “fishes”.

We have been commissioned by our Lord Jesus to go into the entire world and catch fish…to be fishers of men and to make them disciples. Keep up the great work.

Dear Father, I pray for your people known as James Island Baptist. May we be faithful to your call to become fishers of men. Give us wisdom, compassion, eyes to see, ears to hear and hearts ready for action. May there be a bigger catch this year than ever before. May we have the joy that comes from seeing changed lives. In Jesus Name, Amen.

Love you all,

Pastor Tom

WHAT ARE YOU DOING FOR THANKSGIVING?

I have been asked by a few people about the next mission trip to Louisiana. I am not sure when I will be making the next trip. I am sure about when Charles and Judy could use some help…Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving this year is Thursday, November 25. I feel quite sure Charles would love to have a team come to help pray for, pray with, cook, serve, give out Bibles etc.

Right after Katrina hit New Orleans 16 years ago, we had a big crew that cooked complete Thanksgiving Meals then we took the food to New Orleans and fed the masses! This trip may be a little different. I don’t believe Janie and I will be making this trip. But we would be glad to help plan and coordinate a trip for anyone interested in going.

Charles and Judy are currently working in LaFitte, Louisiana. That is right at 800 miles away which translates to about a 12- 14 hour drive each way. The last group that drove agreed that it really should be a two day drive and not just a one day drive.

JIBC might be sending the funds to help purchase some Thanksgiving Meals. So there should be no food to transport. They could always use help cooking, serving and loving on people. This would be a great trip if you have a desire to go. There are a lot of loose ends to tie up. If you want to go and need some help connecting with Charles, let me know. We will be glad to provide a support network.

We are still trying to provide Charles Dillon with some of the supplies and equipment he needs to carry on his work. If you would like to know more about going and how you could help, please contact me at tombrown41@comcast.net or 843.762.0244.

God has blessed Charles with great contacts with the Mayor of LaFitte, the Chief of a Native American tribe in the area and over a dozen pastors’. It sounds to me like Charles has found the place for the base of his mission of mercy. Let’s pray for and continue to support Charles and Judy Dillon.

Blessings in His Name,

Pastor Tom

FALL FESTIVAL #36

It is hard to believe we have been hosting the Fall Festival for 36 years. We started back in 1985. It has become a part of our culture. Again, let me walk through the vision and the mission of Fall Festival. We started this outreach event as a positive alternative for families. I know there are lots of people, JIBC families included, that love Halloween. It can be a fun day for families. Any way you look at it, the origins of Halloween has a dark side to it. Realistically, I know one could make the case that Halloween has evil origins connected with it. I also know one could make the case of how the Roman Catholic Church tried to influence and change the day into a day to remember their dead. This became connected to All Saints Day. I realize this is a very simplistic explanation. I could go much deeper into the specifics. I at least admire the Roman Catholic Church for trying to overshadow a day they viewed as evil or at least not helpful. Sacrificing to deities is a good way to bring down wrath!

When some of us were growing up, we made no association with Halloween except as the bonanza day for getting enough candy to last the rest of the year! In my neighborhood, you basically dressed up as a ghost or a mummy…or anything else a sheet could be used for. As the years went by, there were horrific crimes done on this particular day: candy being spiked, treats that were meant to do harm, children being harmed in various ways. It no longer seemed safe to send children to the homes of strangers to ask for treats. I know, I know, this is such an extreme position for what so many see as a harmless day of fun.

So, let’s get biblical: This is the day the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it. We do not have to surrender any day to the devil or to evil. And we do not live in fear. We go head to head with Halloween by offering a positive alternative for families. There is no doubt that any child wanting to get candy can get more than enough at the JIBC Fall Festival. In addition, they can have a couple of hours of fun playing games, enjoying the atmosphere, winning candy and prizes, having a meal, listening to great music…all in as safe an environment as we can provide.

This is the largest community outreach event of the year for JIBC. It is an opportunity to love on the community and to meet a need for positive, wholesome fun! To make this year a success we need three things: prayer, volunteers and lots of candy! If you have never been to one of our Fall Festivals, please come and check it out. Volunteer at one of the booths for one or more shifts. We still have several slots to be filled. Pick up a bag of candy this week…especially if you see a “BOGO”.

Thanks for loving the community! See you Sunday, good Lord willing,

Pastor Tom

What’s in a name?

Mr. Shakespeare, in one of his most well known works, Romeo and Juliet, says: “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet”. What is in a name? Often time it is quite a lot, good or bad. Other times a name is just a name, a handle by which someone is known or called. I mentioned a while back that Southern Baptist were putting forth the idea of a name change. The thought was to change from “Southern Baptist” to “Great Commission Baptist”. For two reasons I think that is not a bad idea. First, we have long since left the region of “southern” as the place we live and breathe and do the work God called us to do. We really are “Global Baptist” more than we are Southern Baptist. The name Great Commission Baptist does help identify who we are and at the very same time remind us of what our mission is to be. Second, try as we might, it is very hard to remove ourselves from our roots. Our start as Southern Baptist was only a little about missions and a lot about slavery. So, what’s in a name?

Well, let’s take a look at the name Great Commission Baptist. Did you know that as Baptists we have given over $5 Billion to international missions through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering? That does not include what was given through the Co-operative Program for International Mission Support. This year, concerning International Missions, we have approved 422 New Missionaries; have engaged 247 New People Groups; saw 86,587 Baptisms; welcomed 144,322 New Believers; and have planted 18,380 new churches. That really does sound like Great Commission Baptist. The Southern Baptist Convention/Great Commission Baptist, consist of 47,000 churches in North America. When we cooperate, we can do missions together that makes an impact around the world. A rose by any other name still smells the same. My prayer is that whatever we call the rose known as Southern Baptist/Great Commission Baptist, we will still make the same world wide effort to make disciples who make disciples that change the world. The lost person does not care much if we are called “southern” or “great commission”. They do care that we shared Good News about Jesus Christ, brought hope, lived out our love for God and people.

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of Him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ…” 2 Corinthians 2:14-15.

It is not too early to start thinking of making an offering to the Lottie Moon International Mission Offering this Christmas season. Can’t believe I said the word Christmas before Thanksgiving.

Pastor Tom