How do I love thee?

Do you remember the old poem from high school by Elizabeth Barrett Browning, How do I love thee? “How do I love thee? Let me count the ways” May I paraphrase that just a little? What mission projects do you do well? Let me count the ways. There are really so many.

This summer we are partnering again with Rev. Doctor Brandon Sweeper, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church on Folly Road. We just received the notification that this project, the school supply drive, was going to take place again this year. Every year we have attempted this school supply drive project you have met and exceeded the wildest expectations.

Hopefully, we will have the list available in our worship bulletins, in the weekly messenger and online. Then the rush will be on to Walmart, 5 BELOW, Dollar Tree or your other favorite shopping stores. There are so many ways to participate. If you physically cannot go, you can give financially and we will find shoppers for you! There are those people who absolutely love going after the best bargain available. Parents can take their kids, let them help and see a mission project in action. We will start bringing the supplies to the worship center. By the way, you do not have to purchase everything on the list, Anything you buy will help fill one of the school book bags.

The day of the giveaway will be Saturday, August 8. Times to be announced later. The last day to get your donations in will be Sunday, August 2.

Part of the fun for this mission project is being present on the give-away day. You are more than welcomed to join us on Saturday, August 8 at Emmanuel Baptist Church on Folly Road. You will meet some very happy parents and grandparents.

We are blessing local schools who serve local families. This will be a big relief to their back-to-school costs.

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways… new pencils, erasers, bottles of glue, etc!

See you soon,

Pastor Tom

ONE OF THE THINGS I REALLY LOVE!

There are a lot of things I really enjoy and a lot of things I really love. I love watching my children raise their children. I love going to their games and recitals. I love our church family. I love singing praise songs, baptizing new believers.

One thing I really love is going to the Celebrate Recovery Summit. Each year Celebrate Recovery offers two conferences. One is on the west coast in California and the other is in Nashville, Tennessee. Janie and I have been blessed to attend both of them several times. This year, if fact, later this week, Janie and I will leave to go to Nashville for the Celebrate Recovery East Coast! What I really love about this conference is the 2000, give or take a few hundred, recovering believers who worship together. At that event, you are in the presence of God along with over 2000 people who know they have been rescued, forgiven, born again, changed and set free. There is a deep sense of God’s grace and mercy.

I would agree with anyone who said “All believers should feel that way and all worship should be fueled by such joy.” That certainly should be the case.

So, we look forward to a time of training, a time of refreshing, a time of healing and a time of “recovery fellowship”! By the way, one of the most often misunderstood aspects of Celebrate Recovery is who is CR for? The overwhelming majority of people who attend Celebrate Recovery are not there for alcohol or drug abuse. Many of us attend for past trauma, co-dependency, mental health issues, grief, etc. Substance Use Disorder is certainly a part of CR but not the only part.



The Celebrate Recovery Ministry of JIBC has diminished in size over the past two years. The need for recovery has certainly not diminished. If anything, it has greatly increased. A fellow pastor in West Ashley said as they surveyed their community for felt needs, recovery issues were among the highest on the list. Pray for Celebrate Recovery, for our leaders, for our outreach, promotion in the community, our volunteers. It is a real need!

See you soon,

Pastor Tom

NEED A HELPING HAND?

Do you ever need a helping hand? We all do at one time or another. Like the Beatles would sing “I’ll get by with a little help from my friends” So, here is the story. We were blessed by a family member who offered us their place in Costa Rica for a week. My daughter Brook and her kids went and my youngest daughter Erin and her family met us there mid-week.

This place is ruggedly beautiful. One excursion involved going through a preserve with a guide. Great! At any moment I expected to see jaguars, snakes or crocodiles. That matters because I can no longer outrun any member of my family but Janie!

With no advance warning, we come to a swamp crossing made up of old tree stumps. We have to walk across 20 stumps of various sizes and heights. All my kids crossed that so fast you would think they were auditioning for American Ninja Warriors. Did I mention the little stumps were all wet and muddy? I am wondering why we paid good money to put my life at risk. I was already planning if I would fall into the mangrove root system or into the green murky swamp water. Five stumps in and I was stuck. I mean froze up, scared, not going forward and can’t go backwards. I started shouting out instructions on how to get me to the nearest hospital!

Then came the helping hand. My grandson, Noah, walked right through the swamp to come and rescue me with a helping hand. Maybe in the day I could have crossed the swamp with grace and confidence. Now, I humbled myself and took my grandson’s hand and made it to the other side. He went back to get Grandma too!

That’s life. Sometimes we all need a helping hand. There is no shame in the game when we have to ask for a helping hand, a hand up or a steady hand for balance. You can’t lift it, ask for help. You can’t figure it out? There are wise people around you willing to help you. Spiritually, we all needed a helping hand when it came to being made right with God. That helping hand just happened to be nail scarred. Jesus’ helping hands healed, they blessed children, broke bread, were often raised in prayer. We all need His helping hand.

From time to time, we all need a helping hand. My guess is more often than not you are offering a helping hand. Thank you. By God’s grace, we can get by with a little help from a friend. See you

Sunday, good Lord willing.

Pastor Tom