I CONSIDER IT A PRIVILEGE

Each year for around the last 20 years, I have been invited to participate in “The Four Chaplains Service”. The American Legion, Post 147, on Folly Road, invites me along with a few other Pastors, Priests and Rabbis to participate in the reading of the story. This Sunday, February1st at 2:00 will be the time of the meeting. If you have never seen the service, I invite you to join us. It is an inspirational story of faith and bravery.

On February 3rd, 1943, a German submarine sank the USS Dorchester, a transport ship with 902 souls on board. With total chaos and panic of the explosion, smoke and fire many were killed and many were terrible wounded. In the midst of such pandemonium, the four Chaplains on board joined together to bring hope and comfort. They offered prayers and help to those disoriented. They also offered their own life jackets giving hope to soldiers but sealing their own fate. They never asked are you Protestant, Catholic or Jew. They were an inspiring example of their faith, courage and selflessness. Only 230 of the men on board survived. All four of the Chaplains perished. Almost 82 years later, their story is still told and their names are read with gratitude: Lt. Rev. George L. Fox; Lt. Rabbi Alexander Goode; Lt. Priest John Washington; Lt. Rev Clark Poling. They were posthumously awarded The Distinguished Service Cross and the Purple Heart.

Our thanks to the many men and women who serve and have served our beloved country. We pray God’s protection on all who serve. May you all come home safe to your homes and your families. May we remember those who did not.

God bless America,

Pastor Tom Brown

 

DON’T YOU HATE IT WHEN THAT HAPPENS?

This past Sunday I read to the church family, the resignation letter of our Associate Pastor, Kyle Hooss. As I said Sunday, no one could have been more surprised than me. It has been a joy to work with Kyle. I have been blessed by his friendship and greatly helped by his giftedness. We were in one of those times when the staff seemed to be working together on all cylinders as the old saying goes.

Kyle and his sweet family felt called to a small church in Hartsville, South Carolina. He will be the “Campus Pastor” for up to three years while he learns the spiritual DNA of the sending church, Cornerstone Baptist Church located in the Florence/Darlington area. After 3 years, with the Lord’s blessing, they would be launched as an autonomous church and Kyle would be the Pastor. There is no doubt that he will do a great job. He is as talented and dedicated as anyone I have worked with in that position. Like you, I wish him and Melissa the very best. We say to Kyle what we say every Sunday about prayer: “If you write it down, we will lift it up”. We will pray with him for favor with God and man.

Kyle’s last Sunday with us is February 8 and his last day is Wednesday, February 11. Until then, you will find him working as hard as he always has. Make sure you speak to him and bless him.

Now, our journey begins. We will pray, seeking God’s guidance, do some reviewing to see where we are and what we need to do next. Pray for us as we begin the “Mystery of the Hunt!” As you can figure out, the way this process often works is we will likely be talking with someone, who like Kyle, is serving another church but is open to a move. And there will be another church like JIBC who will miss the departing staff member. It is not the best system, but it is one of the main ways this process is worked out!

We love the Hooss family and will miss them. See you this Sunday, good Lord willing.

Pastor Tom

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO PRAY CHARLESTON 24/7?

I have been thrilled that for the last year few had 168 of our JIBC family and friends praying for our beloved city, Charleston. We were a part of a multi-denominational, city-wide effort to cover Charleston in prayer every hour of every day for one entire year. Well done thou good and faithful servants, well done.

So, do we just quit praying now that the year is over? As the Apostle Paul says “May it never be!” Now we pray differently, with a little different schedule. You are, of course, welcome to continue to pray at your selected time slot on the 10th of every month. That would be fantastic. Or…you might “expand” your selected time to include a moment or two of every day you have your own personal time with God.

Pastor Kyle will continue to send out a monthly reminder to pray for the greater Charleston area. The exact details will be fleshed out as we go along. Until then, how does this sound? What if every Sunday we offered prayers for local Pastor’s and Spiritual Leaders in Charleston. Praying that the Gospel would be preached and lives would be changed. Perhaps on Mondays we would pray for local Law Enforcement Offices (LEO’s), National Guard and ICE-AGENTS. Tuesdays we could lift up the mayors of our surrounding cities, our police chiefs and fire chiefs and their teams. Wednesdays, let’s make it a point to pray for the churches we pass on our way to work, shop or play. See if you can find out the name of their pastor and pray for that pastor by name. Thursdays, be in prayer for our educational institutions: schools, colleges, teachers, professors. Pray for students. Fridays could be praying for political issues: racial reconciliation, President Trump, politicians at any level. And Saturday could be your day to pray for Christian ministries like James Island Outreach, Lowcountry Pregnancy, Charleston Baptist Association, etc.

All I wanted to do here is give you an idea, an example, of how we can continue, grow and expand the wonderful idea of Pray Charleston. We are not stopping our prayer for Charleston, we are expanding it…every day, 7 days a week to intercede for our beloved city! I love you all so much.

See you Sunday, good Lord willing.

Pastor Tom

 

FINDING THINGS STORED AWAY

It is the time of the year when Janie and I will start “de-decorating” our home. I have loved the Christmas decorations, all the Nativity scenes, and especially the Christmas Tree with all of the lights. But for us, it is time to put them away. So, this Friday and Saturday we will start packing the decorations and start putting them away.

Now, there is a hidden bonus in this “storing things away chore”. Every now and then, we come across something that has been “missing” only to find it was not missing. It was only resting safely where we last put it! When you find something that has been missing, it is like getting a gift.

I hope these next five weeks will find us excitedly finding some spiritual gifts, some spiritual disciplines, that have been stored away for a while. Let’s discover them together as we unpack some of these gifts. It could very well be that for you, these gifts, these spiritual disciplines have never gone missing. I really do believe many of our church family and friends practice these spiritual habits on a regular basis. For others, it may require dusting off a little and finding a place in our lives for these missing treasures. Some may have forgotten what the Bible says about some of these disciplines and habits. For the next five weeks, let’s celebrate them together. These gifts of spiritual disciplines help us strengthen our inner man and outer lives. Perhaps they can help reshape us back into a deeper maturity to live the life of abundance Jesus’ spoke of in John 10:10! There are inward disciplines like prayer and Bible reading and mediation. There are also outward disciplines like rest, sabbath, solitude and service. The end result we are aiming for is to bring us closer to God and to one another.

A popular TV add as the questions: “What is in your wallet?” I modify the question to ask : “What is in your stored away box?” Let’s take some things out and see. Let’s start with Prayer. As we finish up the PRAY CHARLESTON 24/7/365, let’s see how we can continue praying for Charleston. Someone said “to pray is to change”. OK, then let’s make 2026 about prayer…and about change!

See you Sunday, good Lord willing,

Pastor Tom

2026…What are your plans to become more like Jesus?

The old saying is “failing to plan is planning to fail”. I surely do not want to fail when it comes to becoming more like Jesus. Ok then, what will be my plan for growing more like Jesus in 2026?

This year, I will start my 2026 Teaching Series on the topic of Spiritual Disciplines: The Habits Every Believer Needs to Grow. Spiritual disciplines are spiritual habits. They are the intentional things we do that allow the Spirit of God to shape us as we become more and more like Jesus. These include spiritual habits like prayer, Bible Study, Worship, rest, etc.

The firs six weeks of the year will be given to helping us build a strong foundation or strengthening the foundation that we already have. Think of spiritual disciplines/spiritual habits as spiritual “workouts” or spiritual “training.” It is what we do to get stronger, better, more holy (in a good way not in a “holier than thou” way).

It is the transforming work of God we sometimes refer to as sanctification. In Philippians 1:6 Paul says it this way: “being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on until the day of Christ Jesus.” This is one way He continues His good work in us.

I am 70 years old. A physical trainer once asked me my goal for working out and lifting weights. He kindly suggested I had to deal with the reality that I would never again “bulk up”. I assured him I was not going after the Arnold Schwarzenegger look with 22” guns. I just wanted to be able to carry my own luggage on vacation, keep my balance and have a healthy heart and always be able to outrun Janie if I needed to! Exercise to keep me physically and mentally healthy. Spiritual disciplines help keep us healthy, spiritually, emotionally, even physically. At the end of 6 weeks, let’s see if we can develop a plan to help us become more like Jesus!

See you Sunday, good Lord willing,

Pastor Tom

“You gotta let the big dogs eat!”

“You gotta let the big dogs eat!” This is a phrase used by a professional football player for motivation. It means you are going to perform at a high level and give it your best. That is the way I feel when Pastor Kyle and Pastor Logan preach for us at JIBC. When I am gone on vacation or am away from the pulpit teaching ministry for some reason, I usually say “It is time to let the big dogs eat.”. Both Logan and Kyle are very good pastor/teachers…what many refer to as “preachers”. I am usually the one in the pulpit bringing the message. There are times, though, when I feel like “letting the big dogs eat”…letting them do what they love to do and both of them do at a high level. We are blessed to have two such gifted men on staff. When I am away, I do not hesitate to ask either of them to fill in for me. I know they both will do an excellent job, giving it their very best, with rock solid theology presented in an interesting way. The other side of that saying is “Let the old dog sit one out!” It is probably a good idea for me to take a break…and give you a break!


“ALL HAIL KING JESUS” has been the theme for this 2025 Advent Season. I have found it interesting to remember the baby Jesus was the “born king of the Jews”. Prophesied over 400 times in the Old Testament; born in a manger as the serpent crusher Lion King; showing all a different kind of King and then remembering Jesus is coming back. This time, not a babe born in Bethlehem but as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. All Hail King Jesus! This Sunday we will look at the promised second advent of Jesus. The King is coming…again.

Christmas Eve we will have a more traditional Carols, Communion and Candle Light worship experience. I so hope you can make it to the 4:00 or the 6:00 service. It looks like this will be a beautiful Christmas Eve Celebration.

See you Sunday, Good Lord willing,

Pastor Tom

MISSIONS COME IN ALL DIFFERENT SHAPES AND SIZES

Just like presents under the tree, missions come in all different shapes and sizes. Some missions are big…I mean really BIG. For instance, it has been a year since the JIBC family joined in with over 50 other churches to be a part of “Pray Charleston”. Each church took one day a month to pray 24 hours that day for Charleston. JIBC took the 10th of every month and so for 12 months, we were committed to praying “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in Charleston as it is in heaven”. We had 168 people commit to praying and interceding to cover every 15-minute period of the 24 hours and then some. We even had our partner church in Romania join us in this prayer mission effort! Thank you, Father.

The second package is just as amazing. Asked to provide 300 Christmas toys for children in East Tennessee and Western North Carolina, you crushed the effort! We quit counting after 400 toys. I don’t think “Santa’s” sleigh could carry this many toys in one trip, so we rented a UHAUL! We packed 30 XL boxes full of every kind of toy you can imagine; 2 XL boxes of candy and 300 little stockings (to be filled by the Greenville, Tennessee High school ROTC and the BETA club, an international honor society for students in the 4th through 12th grades.) In addition, we are sending 6 boxes of potato chips for the party they will be having on Saturday, December 19. Our members, full-time volunteer missionaries, Charles and Judy Dillon, will be there as Santa and Mrs. Claus to tell the children the Christmas Story about baby Jesus. Thank you all for crushing the goal of 300 toys! Yay God and Yay JIBC!

The third mission present is “unwrapped” on Wednesday, December 17. Everyone is invited to go Christmas Caroling at the Bishop Gadsden Rehab Center. Note, it is the “Rehab Center, Gadsden Glen”. Our worship pastor, David Martin, has put together the best caroling booklet I have ever used. You get the words to the Christmas songs and a brief and informative story about the songs. It is a fun event that carries a lot of potential for making the season bright!

See you Sunday, good Lord willing, as we continue this year’s advent theme, “All Hail King Jesus”. He is a different kind of King!

Pastor Tom