Pastor’s Study

“Don’t Bury Your Faith” “ As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” James 2:26 (NIV) “Oh, you go to the church with the big cemetery beside of it.” Growing up, that was one way in which people identified the location of my home church in Winterville. Although trueContinue reading “From the Pastor September 2025”

“Are You Drinking Enough?” 1 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” John 4:10 (NRSV) “Freedom Week” at Camp Vandemere proved to be a scorcher thisContinue reading “From the Pastor August 2025”

“Yes, He Does Care”37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” 39 He got up, rebuked the wind andContinue reading “From the Pastor July 2025”

Intersections. They are all around us. I often find myself standing at the office door looking out toward Little Rock and Blalock as they cross a short distance away. From rolling stops to close calls, you can observe a little bit of everything in only a few seconds. Our theme for this year’s “Freedom Week”Continue reading “From the Pastor June 2025”

The arrival of May means this year’s “Change for the Children” campaign for the benefit of the OFWB Children’s Home is underway. In the past week, you should have received an insert in your worship bulletin providing information about this denominational ministry as well as a plastic bag for the purpose of collecting spare changeContinue reading “From the Pastor May 2025”

“Are we there yet?” I am pretty sure you have heard that question if you have spent any amount of time with a child on a long drive. Who knows? You might even be an adult who has posed that very question. My answer to you this day is “not quite.” In fact, it isContinue reading “From the Pastor April 2025”

March? Really? Didn’t we just celebrate Christmas? The turn of the calendar reminds us “the hands of time stand still for no one.” In just a few weeks, spring will arrive and with that we will see things all around us come to life. This brings to my attention the words of Revelation 21:5 whereContinue reading “From the Pastor March 2025”

“Reach, Provide, Grow” Why are we here? What is our purpose? What are we trying to do to people? They are all questions I have heard over the years within the Church, denominational committees, and the academic classroom. Just recently, I was in a meeting with other Original Free Will Baptist ministers and laity, andContinue reading “From the Pastor January 2025”

 “Happy New Year!”  You may be puzzled by that wish as January 1 is still a month away.  No, I haven’t turned an extra page in my office calendar and I haven’t gone completely crazy (yet), but, with the First Sunday of Advent, we start something new.  It’s the beginning of the Christian year whichContinue reading “From the Pastor December 2024”

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High, to declare your steadfast love in the morning and your faithfulness by night.” Psalm 92:1-2 NRSV I’ll admit Thanksgiving Day isn’t exactly what it used to be.  Time changes many things, new traditions develop, and certain practices driftContinue reading “From the Pastor November 2024”