Pastor’s Study

  • From the Pastor January 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”
  • From the Pastor December 2024
     “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”
  • From the Pastor November 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”
  • From the Pastor October 2024
    “So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9 (NRSV) The trail of tobacco leaves along the route of my drive home this afternoon reminded me the harvest continues.  When I was a child, practically all farmers hadContinue reading “From the Pastor October 2024”
  • From the Pastor September 2024
    “Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Ephesians 5:14 NRSV Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep! It’s time to wake up! For nearly three months, teachers, parents,and students have been able to avoid the dreaded sound. They have turned over, pulled the covers tighter, and settled in for a few more Zs.Continue reading “From the Pastor September 2024”
  • From the Pastor July 2024
    “For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1 (NRSV) “Don’t go there!” That’s pretty much Paul’s line of thought in his correspondence with the people of Galatia (Central Asia Minor/Modern-day Turkey). Why would theyeven think of doing so? I mean, someContinue reading “From the Pastor July 2024”
  • From the Pastor June 2024
    “Blessed Trinity” “Holy, holy, holy!Merciful and mightyGod in three personsBlessed Trinity!” As the month of June arrives, we are coming off of a very busy stretch within the Christian calendar which began on Ash Wednesday and last Sunday culminated with Trinity Sunday. In between, we celebrated Lent, Holy Week, Resurrection Sunday, Ascension Sunday, and PentecostContinue reading “From the Pastor June 2024”
  • From the Pastor May 2024
    The Gift of Pentecost “All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.” Acts 2:4 (New Revised Standard Version) Happy Birthday! Come on, let’s celebrate! Okay, so maybe it’s not your birthday month, but there’s a pretty good chance that someone who’sContinue reading “From the Pastor May 2024”
  • From the Pastor April 2024
    Calm in the Storm “They went to him and woke him up, shouting, ‘Master, Master, we are perishing!’ And he woke up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves; they ceased, and there was a calm. Luke 8:24 NRSV I have a love/hate relationship with storms. I don’t care for the wind, hail, flooding,Continue reading “From the Pastor April 2024”
  • From the Pastor March 2024
    Lent for a Lifetime “Lent comes providentially to awaken us, to shake us from our lethargy.” –Pope Francis I love spring! In fact, it will officially arrive in just a few weeks. Soon the time will change, daylight will lengthen, and the earth will begin teeming with new life. As I sit to write, myContinue reading “From the Pastor March 2024”