FESTIVAL OF HOPE

REMOVING THE STIGMA

MAY 17, 2025 FROM 10:00 TO 2:00

FBC ATHLETIC FIELDS

2051 George L Griffith Blvd

An inadequate mental health system affects individuals, families and communities. That is one reason we are hosting and promoting one of the largest health care events ever to be held on James Island. My heart was touched by the goal of removing the stigma of mental health illnesses and at the same time, raising awareness of substance use disorders/addictions. It is my belief that almost all addictions are driven by some type of mental health issue. But not all mental health illnesses lead to addictions…if that makes sense?

Take a look at these statistics supplied by NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness). High school students with depression are 2X more likely to drop out than their peers. 56% of South Carolinians age 12-17 who have depression did not receive any care in the last year. Many homeless people live with a serious mental illness that leads to their homelessness. In the USA 1 person dies of suicide every 11 minutes. There are 2 million jail bookings of people with serious mental illness each year.

I know I cannot accomplish these two goals in just one Festival of Hope…but we can try. You miss all of the shots you don’t take. We are taking this big shot from half-court. It is a big, really big plan. To God be the glory, He has shown us favor is so many areas. We have almost 30 of the leading agencies, services, ministries, organizations in the Lowcountry participating. We have a back up plan if it rains; a football and soccer field at First Baptist Church Recreation facility to use; one of James Island’s favorite bands playing; free food and drinks; vendors that all are working to help bring hope into the lives of all people regardless of race, creed or background. Inflatables for the children!

What can you do? #1) Pray for over 1,000 to attend and for great weather. #2) Plan to attend and bring someone you love. We all know a family that struggles. We are bringing the Vendors of Hope together in one place. You might never see this again! #3) Volunteer to help in one of the dozen ways: greeters, parking, shuttle, runner, servers, set up or take down, etc.

See you Sunday, good Lord willing,

Pastor Tom

Policies and Procedures in the Prevention of Child Abuse

For years, even decades, JIBC has had taken Prevention of Child Abuse seriously. We have made it a part of our Class 101:Discovering Membership at JIBC. Our staff has received additional training from area attorneys. We were doing our best long before it was and “church industry” standard. My how things have changed.

Our insurance carrier asked to see a copy of our Policies and Procedures in the Prevention of Child Abuse. They are requiring that we make important and significant additions to our existing policies and procedures. To the point, they will not provide coverage if we do not make these changes in our training and policies. We think that is a very good thing. It is, however, a much more involved process of training all volunteers. It is even more involved for those of us in leadership positions that recruit and train volunteers.

Under the new guidelines from our insurance company, in addition to background checks for anyone working with preschool, children, youth or vulnerable adults they will also receive a copy of our Child Abuse Prevention Policy and will need to sign a form stating they will abide by the policy.

All volunteers and teachers in the Day School will be required to complete an on-line training video course (approximately 1 hour long) and take a short quiz. All Staff and volunteers who are part of the enlistment process will be required to complete a more detailed on-line training video course (approximately 2 hours long) and take a short quiz.

This will not be new to anyone volunteering in the public school system or to anyone who goes to camp as a counselor. Logan’s volunteers have been doing this for a few years now.

This article is just to give our church a “heads up” that this is indeed coming. It is a good thing and we fully support this requirement. I am grateful for the insurance company giving us the info we needed to do our best!

See you Sunday, good Lord willing,

Pastor Tom

“THINGS ARE NOT ALWAYS AS THEY APPEAR”

Perhaps many of us have seen an event that we were sure was exactly as we saw it. Example: you see a grown man run up and physically tackle another man. It appears as if an assault just took place. The reality of this story is “not so fast”. The man who tackled the other man saved his life. He jumped, at risk to his own life, to save the other man from an oncoming out of control automobile. All the other misunderstandings assigned a bad motive and a bad action to something that was rather heroic.

Jesus was arrested, falsely accused, beaten and crucified. To make their point even more brutal, they buried him and put a group of guards around his grave to make sure no one took his body. Point is “things are not always what they seem”. They only knew half of the story…the death and burial. From their perspective, death was final. No one walks away from a Roman crucifixion. The Jew from Nazareth is dead. Not so fast. That was Friday but they forgot Sunday is coming. They forgot the prophecies; they ignored Jesus’ own testimony. On the Third Day Jesus was raised to life defeating sin, death and the grave. Things were not as they seem.

We see from our perspective. We may need to ask God to help us see from His perspective. What seems to us to be a sure thing, we could not be mistaken, I saw it with my own eyes could in fact be not the whole story. Give God a moment to finish His work. Things are not always as they seem. It would be arrogance to think our way of seeing things is always right. After all, dead men don’t walk again or talk again. Problem is that just is not true. God was up to something. Why not pause and see what it might be. Things are not always as they seem. Just because we do not see it does not mean it is not so. You may be down but you might not be out if God is in the plan.

Blessings to you. See you Sunday, good Lord willing,

Pastor Tom

 

 

Journey To The Cross

LORD’S SUPPER THIS SUNDAY, MARCH 16

This coming Sunday, March 16, we will celebrate with the Lord’s Supper. We are currently going through the Gospel of Mark on Sunday mornings. This week the passage happens to be Mark 14:12-26. The Lord’s Supper. Jesus was on His Journey To The Cross. On the way, He gives to His followers an ordinance the Church has kept for over 2000 years. Whether you call it The Lord’s Supper, Communion or The Eucharist, believers have been obediently observing this ordinance. We do this in “Remembrance of Him”. I hope you will be able to join us this week as we remember the great sacrifice of our Heavenly Father and the obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ.

IT'S NOT TOO LATE

This past Sunday we put the Annie Armstrong, North American Missions prayer guide in the worship bulletin. This little brochure will offer us 8 different missionaries and their families to support in prayer. Each little vignette will give you a short detail about the missionary and several ways to pray for them. We also encourage you to consider a financial gift to help support North American Missions. Just a reminder: North America has 386 million people, speaking 350 languages (We have 3 languages here at JIBC) and has 61 Unreached People Groups. It is estimated that 286 million are spiritually lost. Let’s join together in prayer!

IT STARTED SUNDAY

This past Sunday was the first official Sunday of the new Slavic Church starting at JIBC. Although they have been meeting here for the last 2 months, this past Sunday was their first as the new “Zion Church”. Their commission is to reach out to all Slavic peoples in the greater Charleston area. To God be the glory! They are currently meeting in the Youth Assembly/Worship room. Right now, they are having around 20 people attend. These are primarily the leader’s family. Let’s pray with them as they reach out to win precious souls to Jesus. Amen!

See you Sunday, good Lord willing,

Pastor Tom

LAST WEEK WE DID A THING

On Friday night, February 28, JIBC kind of did a thing. Actually, we did a thing again, and again. Now this is the third time we kind of did that thing.

On Friday night, February 28, we hosted an evening meal for our church leaders, the leaders of the Ukrainian Church, and the Ukrainian leaders from their “sending/sponsoring” church in Charlotte, NC. Almost two months ago, a small group of young adult Ukrainian believers showed up in worship at JIBC. They were welcomed and well loved. They went on to share that they were looking for a place they could meet for worship, discipleship and mission. We began a series of talks with them and started doing our due diligence allowing us to know them better. Everything we considered looked like it was put together by our Heavenly Father. They have actually been meeting at 11:00 every Sunday morning. They meet in the Youth/Student Worship Center after the Students are dismissed and leave to attend JIBC worship. They are easy to spot. They are the ones singing in Ukrainian language! Lol

Our leaders were asked to be in prayer and come prepared to hear the story of the Ukrainian group. You know we don’t really “vote” on many things. Instead, we ask “What do you sense God is doing and do you sense God is in this situation?”. That is the better question. Not “What do I want or what does anyone want?”. We only seek to discern what does God want. We have been blessed with a pretty good track record having hosted a Chinese Church family that grew to over 100 here at JIBC. And it is happening again with the Hispanic Church who is also reaching about 100 people per week. Now, let’s see if we can help provide fertile soil for the Ukrainians so they may reach 100 Slavic people living in the greater Charleston area.

Yep, we did a thing and agreed to welcome the Ukrainian Church to the JIBC campus and the JIBC family. We celebrated with food and observed the Lord’s Supper together. To God be the glory and may we see many come to know Jesus as Lord and our Great God as their Heavenly Father.

Next? Who knows. We did not manufacture this one, we were just trying to be ready when we saw Him working. As our old buddy says “You can’t make the wave, you can only ride it.”

See you Sunday, good Lord willing.

Pastor Tom

SOMETIMES YOU ARE THE WINDSHIELD AND SOMETIMES YOU ARE THE BUG!

That is an old saying that rings true for a lot of us. Sometimes you are on your game. All is well, the wind is at your back and the sun in your face. That is when you are the windshield. Then comes the time you feel more like the bug who meets the windshield with a sudden and abrupt stop! Splat. On occasion, there are events and happenings that are less than stellar. You would not choose them if you had a choice. Splat…the bug hits the windshield.

Janie and I were traveling to Savannah to watch our grandson’s team play. We never know if he will make it to the mound or not. So, we go, make a nice day out of it and enjoy Savannah. This time we were the bug…splat. Somewhere in the middle of beautiful country, a Tom Turkey decided to test out the windshield and bug theory. Splat. We hit the big old gobbler at 55 miles per hour. He was running at full speed perhaps trying to out run whatever was chasing him. He did not look left or right only straight ahead. That proved to be a fatal error: we hit him so hard he did not say gobble gobble, he said wobble wobble!

It sounded just like we hit a frozen solid butterball turkey. Poor guy survives Thanksgiving only to be made into a gobbler cobbler. It begs the question why did the turkey cross the road? Maybe to prove he was not chicken. Bad move, very bad move. We did not call the police even though there was fowl play involved.

“But Thou, LORD are a shield around me, my glory, the One who lifts my head.” Psalm 3:3 We were so blessed he ran across and did not fly across into the windshield. No airbags deployed and the only one injured was the poor turkey. The car damage can be repaired and all the feathers can be plucked from the headlight and grill. We are blessed, even when we are on occasion the bug. His blessings are a shield around us all. To God be the glory.

Remember, it is not just the deer you are watching out for. I will chip in $10 if someone will put up a “Turkey Crossing” sign.

Love you all, see you Sunday, good Lord willing!

Pastor Tom

Unpleasant at first and then it got better!

Wouldn’t you agree that at times, somethings start off not so good but they tend to get better with time? My wife, Janie, had a knee replacement a month ago. The doctor told her he did not know when she would be ready for the knee replacement, but assured her she would know. He was spot on with that little nugget of wisdom.

So, the surgery was scheduled, performed, went great with no issues. Now, to the recovery. It was a little unpleasant at first but then it got better. She was a great patient and did what her doctor and physical therapist said to do. She took her meds, did the exercises, iced it regularly and walked as prescribed. It helped that she had an outstanding home health care provider! It was, as I said, a little unpleasant at first and then it got better. She is not back to her normal free range of motion but she can tell it is coming soon. She is doing more and more each day. I have a note that says she is completely cleared for operating ovens and such! I wrote the note, but it is a note none the less.

Sometimes on our spiritual journeys we come across things that may be a little unpleasant at first and then it gets better. Like apologizing to someone. Ugh, it can be a little like swallowing a bitter pill…and then, it got better. Stopping an old habit that has been a part of your routine can be a little unpleasant at first. Then it starts to get better and better. Practicing new spiritual disciplines can be a little uncomfortable at first, like a new pair of shoes that are a little too tight. Just a little unpleasant and then it gets better.

Don’t be afraid to try something just because it starts out being a little unpleasant. Prayer, Bible Study, having Sabbath rest, confession, giving generously, not having to have the last word…they all might take a little practice…and then, it gets better.

So, back to Janie. When ever she wants to do something new for her knee recovery, I just look at her and say “Knees-see does it!”

Love you all, see you Sunday, good Lord willing.

Pastor Tom