NOT TOO EARLY TO PUT THIS ON YOUR CALENDAR

We have a prospective staff member coming February 15 and staying through Monday, February 18. Terry Candler, his wife, Denise and one of their children, Simon, will be with us for an extended weekend. Terry is being considered (and considering us) for the position of Associate Pastor. He will be preaching for us on Sunday, February 17. I am so excited about his being here and I feel sure you will love him and his sweet family. The staff and I have had multiple conversations with Terry and we all liked him a lot. Janie and I flew out to visit him and see him in his church community. We loved what he was doing and what his church family was all about. We flew Terry into meet some of our leaders to make sure he passed what I called the “likability” test…which of course, he did. We also wanted to make sure he liked what he saw here at JIBC and in our community. So now, we are bringing in momma! That is a big deal. As we all say, jokingly yet seriously….if momma ain’t happy, nobody will be happy. We want the entire family to love JIBC the way Janie and I do. So, they will see our community, our schools, visit with more of our church family, be with us in worship, etc. All important steps in making a decision to relocate your family and ministry.

Terry is from Union, South Carolina and Denise’s family is from Atlanta. So they are looking forward to moving from the West Coast to the East Coast to be closer to family. I don’t think they will miss the harsh snowy climate either! At any rate, it is not too early to get this on your calendar. Please try to arrange your calendar to be present. I would be thrilled to see the church packed on that Sunday. We will be sending out more details about Terry and the ministry he could have here at JIBC. Until then, let’s do something kind for someone in need, attempt something great with God to bring God glory.

See you Sunday,

Pastor Tom

WORSHIP HIM IN SPIRIT AND TRUTH

Sunday mornings I am teaching a series on Worship. It is based on the John 4 passage where Jesus says two very important things about worship. First, our Father is seeking you to worship Him. He wants you, desires you and is waiting and expecting you to come to Him in worship. Far from being a fearful experience, He looks for us as a long awaited family member or friend coming to visit and spend time. That changes our perspective. We don’t “have to” worship; we don’t just “get to worship”…we love to worship; we long to spend time with Him who longs to spend time with us.

Second, we worship Him in spirit and in truth. We worship him with our head and our heart, with emotion and well as logic. We express our love to God with all of our heart, all of our mind, all of our strength. Some may be a little intimidated by worshiping God in spirit, with emotion. I grew up in a church tradition and time when we were taught the following verse about worship: “the Lord is in His Temple, let all the earth be silent”. So speaking out, clapping hands, raising hands, saying amen or hallelujah was all but forbidden. The problem is that is not the majority of worship as portrayed in God’s Word. We are not just a mind, a brain or just purely logical. We are also emotional, expressive, and spiritual. We need to clap, shout, sing, dance and be fully engaged. If you have ever seen Jewish people at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, you see them swaying back and forth, rocking with abandon. They are praying with their minds and worshiping with their bodies, their whole being. 

I am taking my four favorite Bible passages about worship and using them to show Biblical worship…in spirit and in truth. Worship cannot be optional for us, it must be primary. It cannot be a spectator sport, we must be full participants. It is not something we do only on Sunday mornings. Sunday mornings becomes the time we offer him all we did the previous week as a sacrifice of worship. Sunday morning is the time we seek to give Him the honor and the glory He is due. In doing so, by His grace, He can give us the power we need to face the week ahead. Join us as we continue to focus on the invitation to Worship Him in spirit and in truth.

See you this Sunday, good Lord willing.

BTW, you can still join me on Wednesday nights at 6:15 as we survey the Old Testament. We finished Judges on January 16 and will introduce the Book of Ruth on January 23. Great group, great study, come on and join us.

Pastor Tom

HARD NUMBERS TO LOOK AT

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has declared the opioid epidemic a public health emergency. Opioid related deaths exceeded over 42,000 in 2017. That is about 130 deaths every day, day in and day out, all year long. It is estimated that over 11 million people abuse prescription opioids and that 90% of those struggling with addictions are not getting any help. Many of have used and are using opioids as prescribed by our physicians. Opioids include legally prescribed drugs like oxycodone, hydrocodone, and morphine. It also can include illegal drugs like heroine. Heroin is sometimes mixed with Fentanyl which is so strong it has caused many overdose deaths. Fentanyl can be deadly even by just touching it. By the way, we keep a dose of “Narcan” in my office. This is a drug to be used in case of an opioid overdose. Trust me, they never went over this in seminary! Here is the reality: this is the world we live in. If you or someone you know needs help, this is a 24- hour hotline: 843.722.0100.

Thank you for taking on the areas of darkness. Celebrate Recovery is not the answer, it is a way to the answer. Only the Gospel of Jesus Christ can change and heal any of us. Those struggling with addiction are fighting on at least three different fronts. First, their addiction is a disease. I know that seems controversial to some. It is a complex disease of the brain and body. Second, it is very likely that many of us who struggle with addiction were self-medicating to deal with a known or unknown mental health issue. We were in pain and used our drug of choice to relieve the pain. Third, all of us are dealing with a sin issue. We are broken because of our sinful human nature. Some of us manifest and show our brokenness in more socially acceptable ways like overeating, controlling, perfectionism, etc. Some of us chose more harmful ways to deal with the pain. If you add all three of those together, it results in a pathway of pain. And so Celebrate Recovery steps up to join the fight. Last Sunday night we had 40 adults in Celebrate Recovery. Only about 1/3 of those attending come because of alcohol or drug issues. Others come for co-dependency, anger and control, pornography, grieving, etc. We are glad they come! Our goal is to introduce them to the Healer, the Higher Power we know as the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thank you James Island Baptist. Thank you for taking a chance, for reaching out, for providing resources, for donating food, for giving a bus for transporting from the Charleston Center, for volunteering to serve, for keeping the lights on, for buying Recovery Bibles, for training leaders, for praying great prayers. Thank you. The struggle is real and so is the healing.

Pastor Tom

Wow and Wow!

I can almost put on the proverbial broken record…this year’s Christmas Eve worship service was wonderful. I cannot say for sure that it was the best ever, but it would be very hard to pick one that was any better in any way. Wow. Well done praise band, youth praise band, security, greeters, chair stackers and un-stackers and the strong backs that brought and returned the chairs. Well done. And I was personally thrilled and grateful for the effort of the Hispanic Church leadership for coming over to join the JIBC service. Afterwards, they went to their Christmas Eve service that lasted until after midnight! Janie and I dropped in on their service at 10:00 pm and they were just getting the food cooked for their celebration. What a wonderful way to end the 2018 year. To God be the glory.

Staff Update

We are just about ready to announce some very good news about the Student Pastor position at JIBC. We went through dozens of resumes and had a few interviews. We worked with our Finance Team to come up with a new approach to this position. It appeared that we were stuck looking for a “part-time” Student Pastor. That was basically the salary we had to offer. That was a very difficult assignment. The decision was made to offer a full time salary and that seemed to open the door for a wonderful conversation. All along, I was sad about Frankie Gilmore not being able to stay on board with us. So…here is the wonderful announcement. FRANKIE IS BACK! We have not finalized all the details, but we do believe we were able to present a salary package that made it possible for Frankie to re-join our staff. I am very pleased. The students love Frankie, the parents trust him and I think he is a quick study and learns quickly. He is surely the kind of person I would want leading and mentoring my grandson! We will most likely have the details ready for official celebration this next week.

Now the next addition to our staff: We have been in conversation with a prospective staff member for quite a few months now. Janie and I flew out to visit him at his current church and we have brought him here to meet some of our leaders. In the old days we would have called this staff position an “Educational Director”. More currently they are called “Associate Pastor”. Some larger churches will call them the Executive Pastor. I think for our purposes, we will work with the title Associate Pastor just to make things easier. We will probably switch to something a little more 21st Century like Pastor of Discipleship and Ministries. Enough about the title. Sometime in January, we will start getting you information about the person and the position. He, his wife and one of their children will be here on the weekend of February 15-17. He will preach, have a meet and greet, talk strategies, answer questions and ask questions. I really like this prospective staff person. He and his wife are easy to talk to and quite easy to get to know. Even though he currently lives on the west coast, he is from Union, South Carolina. I am looking forward to their coming to visit.

Both of these positions were the main part of the budget increase this year. It is my prayer that God will continue to bless and a year from now, we will be writing about how God has blessed with such a wonderful staff! Again, to God be the glory!

See you soon, Pastor Tom

Christmas Countdown!

Before you know it Christmas day will have come and gone. Thank you all so very much for the generous gifts given to Lowcountry Orphan Relief, Lowcountry Pregnancy Center, and James Island Outreach. I can hardly wait for Susan to count up all the donations…poor Susan! Don’t you just love her? I really am excited to hear the final tally at the end of the year. The groups that went out Christmas Caroling were great! This Wednesday we have the Children’s Christmas presentation.

The Sunday after Christmas we are scheduled to have two pastors from Ukraine at JIBC. These are the two pastors that Mark Livengood works with, the two pastors that we include in our budget each year. Try your best to be here on Sunday, December 30. I know they will share briefly in the worship service, and we are considering having an open meeting in the Fellowship Hall for anyone who would like to hear more details about how God is working in Ukraine. Thank you for giving to our budget so we can bless others.

We have another new resident at the Transition House. Her name is Karissa McCray. She has a two year old that will join her once she gets settled in with transportation and a job. It is a joy to work with Jada and Karissa. I love what we see our Father doing. Both of them are a part of Rose Haselden’s Sunday Connection Group. That class serves as “big sister” to the House residents. By the way, last Sunday night we had 43 in Celebrate Recovery plus the band, plus the prayer group, plus the children and students. The volunteers who cook, serve, give, clean…God bless you. Many thanks to the Charleston Crab House, Kickin Chicken, Chef Barry, our fabulous Kitchen Krew, Al who provides pizza, classes that volunteer, etc. Thank you JIBC for making these ministries possible. We could not have a Transition House without the ongoing regular giving to the church budget. That ministry could never pay for itself. You don’t see the estimated $20,000 in support in the church mission budget, but it is there. Because you gave so generously, we could purchase the old Parker Home and renovate it. We have had over 30 women come through that mission!

The largest attended service of the year in coming on Monday, December 24. The Christmas Eve service of Candlelight, Communion and Carols is a favorite. We read the Christmas story and sing many of our favorite Christmas songs. It is a lovely service and a wonderful way to end the “Prepare Him Room” Advent season. See you there! 

Pastor Tom

ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS

Many of us remember the immortal Christmas classic “All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth” as performed by Alvin and the Chipmunks! Lol. Thankfully, the song has been updated and upgraded. Still, I like the sentiments of the old song…if I had my two front teeth, then I could wish you a Merry Christmas. What would you like for Christmas that would help you bless others? I love the spin JIBC puts on Advent…find a way to bless the underserved, the widows, the orphans and those in need. Our Worship Center Stage is looking fabulous filled with diapers, jars of jelly, bottles of cooking oil and children’s pajama’s. Thank you for wishing Low Country Orphan Relief, Low Country Pregnancy Center and James Island Outreach a Merry Christmas. Wednesday we will be going Christmas Caroling at the Savannah House Nursing Home and in the community to some of our homebound members. Susan Warren, thank you for working so hard to make the arrangements for these projects. Well done.

This is the time of the year when my grown kids start asking Janie “What can we get dad for Christmas?” The answer is always the same: put some money toward one of your bills and then buy me a cool pair of socks! The only part I do not like about Christmas is when families or individuals go too far in Christmas spending. Don’t go into debt or put yourself in a financial bind for something that will be forgotten about the same time as the Christmas trees start to come down. Spend time with family, do for others, give to missions, and remember those in need.

Now, this is what I am asking our Heavenly Father for this year. We are down two staff persons and I would love to see them delivered to our church family and community this coming year. We are talking with a prospective Associate Pastor who would lead our Connection Groups. He would focus on discipleship, evangelism and leading our different team ministries in addition to other pastoral duties. Second, we are looking for a Student Pastor. The number of Students that we have at JIBC is not that large but the number of unreached Students in our community is very large. The Student Pastor would be a shepherd to the Students, leaders and families that we already have as well as a missionary to the majority of unreached students in the community. Join with me in seeking our Father’s will concerning these two leadership positions. He is able to do above and beyond what we have faith to ask.

See you Sunday for the third Sunday of Advent as we “Prepare Him Room”.

Pastor Tom

Prepare Him Room

“Prepare Him Room” is our Advent Theme for this Christmas season. The word advent means coming. It usually refers to the first coming of Christ, the Christmas Story. It also can refer to the Second Coming of Christ as well. Either way, let us prepare Him room. I hope this letter finds you enjoying the beauty of this time of year. I love the Christmas lights, the decorations, Christmas music and the increased spirit of giving. Make sure you take advantage of the many Christmas activities going on at and through James Island Baptist.

As we are approaching the last month of the year, I wanted to write a letter to thank you for your faithfulness this year. I really do mean that. Whether you are a person who gives a little, a lot, or nothing at all, I thank God for you. If you are praying for JIBC to be faithful to our God called purpose, you are a part of the family. If you are serving in any area, you are a part of the reason for our blessing and success. If you give financially, you are directly involved in making a difference. You feed the hungry, provide ministry for the addicted, help support missions all around the world as well as right here at home. You provide worship and education space for Luz Y Verdad, the Hispanic Mission that meets here at JIBC. They feed the community, sometimes up to 45 families at a time. You have a part in making that happen. You provide this mission and ministry space to Luz Y Verdad at no charge. I estimate that would be about $30,000 to $40,000 a year in mission support. You are not afraid to take on the toughest problems in our community…drug and alcohol addiction. The Transition House has blessed over 30 women since it has opened. Again, other ministries could be making tens of thousands of dollars with this type of mission. You provide it as a mission and ministry of JIBC and you do it with love and grace. You do such significant ministries they seem natural. They really are not. That is not counting the mission support that comes from your weekly tithes and offerings. I love it, love it and love it some more. Thank you.

I want to remind you that it is not too late to make a year-end contribution to our mission and ministry. For some, this might be a catch up offering that will help us end our fiscal year on a strong note. Others may have a year-end “thank you “offering” in gratitude for all God has done for you. This is a great time to make a gift to Daring Faith to help with the new side entrance and the new elevator. As I helped our custodian carry the tables back upstairs, I thought I would put some extra in that mission myself!

This Advent season make sure you prepare Him room. Don’t fall for the trap of overextending your calendar or your finances even for things that you enjoy. Prepare Him Room daily as you spend time alone with God. Prepare Him Room as you find ways to help those less fortunate this year. Prepare Him Room in a time of the year that began with Him. I look forward to celebrating the first Sunday of Advent with you on December 2.

Blessings In the Name of Immanuel…God with us,

Pastor Tom