A group called the Alliance Defense Fund is encouraging pastors to endorse a presidential candidate from their pulpits. The leaders of this movement say they are trying to provoke a legal battle over the Internal Revenue Service restriction which, as a condition of churches’ tax exemptions, prohibits them from endorsing political candidates.
I have been a pastor for 38 years and I have never endorsed a candidate for president in any church I have served. A member of New Hope asked me recently if I would vote for a certain presidential candidate. I said, “They put curtains around the voting booth so that no one will know how I am voting.” There are some good reasons why I won’t endorse any political candidate for any office.
The main reason is that I want to be the pastor of all the members of New Hope Baptist Church. The Bible in Romans 14:19 tells us to “aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up.” That is what I want to do: aim for harmony. Getting us divided over presidential candidates or any other candidates would promote disharmony and would keep us from building each other up.
Brent Walker, director of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty wrote that pastors endorsing political candidates from their pulpits would “politicize churches more than it would Christianize politics.” I agree. We don’t want our church to pursue something as fleeting as a partisan political agenda when our purpose is to create a spiritual community that loves God and each other and reproduces followers of Jesus Christ.
Churches exist to enrich people’s spiritual lives, not act like political machines that issue marching orders to voters. Our church is tax-exempt because we are a spiritual community, not a political block. I am more interested in keeping our spiritual harmony than in keeping our tax exemption, but let’s keep both.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Halloween and All Saints' Day
Halloween means so many things to so many different people that some Christians are perplexed about how to observe it, if it should be observed at all. More and more Christians are rediscovering the ancient connection between Halloween and All Saints’ Day.
In the seventh century, All Saints’ Day was first observed to honor all those who had been designated as saints but did not have a particular day dedicated to them. In the ninth century, All Saints’ Day was placed on the calendar on November 1. The preceding day, October 31, which had been observed as the Celtic festival of Samhain, was renamed All Hallows’ eve, or Halloween. (Hallow is an archaic word for saint.) Around the year 1000, the church began to observe All Souls’ Day on November 2.
More and more churches are reclaiming Halloween’s relationship with All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, and are using it as a time to acknowledge the power of death and celebrate our victory over death through Christ. “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Cor. 15:54b-55).
Drawing on the apostle Paul’s use of “saints” in the New Testament, most Protestants consider anyone who belongs to Christ a saint, not just an individual who has been recognized by the church for living an exemplary life of faith. Many churches use November 1, or the Sunday closest to that day, as a day to remember and celebrate their members who have died over the past year and to celebrate the victory their loved ones have won over death through Christ’s death and resurrection. When the Lord’s Supper is celebrated, the living are reminded that, at the Lord’s Table, they share that “mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is won.” (I am indebted to Pastor Steve Lytch who wrote a Sunday School lesson about Halloween for thethoughtfulchristian.com.)
On Sunday, November 2, New Hope Baptist Church will observe All Saints’ Day in our morning worship service. We will celebrate the Lord’s Supper and remember church members, family, and friends who have died during the last year. Worshippers will be invited to come to a table with a light-of-Christ candle in the center and light a small candle in memory of someone who has died. Please be with us to reclaim this important celebration of our loved ones’ victory over death through Christ.
In the seventh century, All Saints’ Day was first observed to honor all those who had been designated as saints but did not have a particular day dedicated to them. In the ninth century, All Saints’ Day was placed on the calendar on November 1. The preceding day, October 31, which had been observed as the Celtic festival of Samhain, was renamed All Hallows’ eve, or Halloween. (Hallow is an archaic word for saint.) Around the year 1000, the church began to observe All Souls’ Day on November 2.
More and more churches are reclaiming Halloween’s relationship with All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day, and are using it as a time to acknowledge the power of death and celebrate our victory over death through Christ. “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Cor. 15:54b-55).
Drawing on the apostle Paul’s use of “saints” in the New Testament, most Protestants consider anyone who belongs to Christ a saint, not just an individual who has been recognized by the church for living an exemplary life of faith. Many churches use November 1, or the Sunday closest to that day, as a day to remember and celebrate their members who have died over the past year and to celebrate the victory their loved ones have won over death through Christ’s death and resurrection. When the Lord’s Supper is celebrated, the living are reminded that, at the Lord’s Table, they share that “mystic sweet communion with those whose rest is won.” (I am indebted to Pastor Steve Lytch who wrote a Sunday School lesson about Halloween for thethoughtfulchristian.com.)
On Sunday, November 2, New Hope Baptist Church will observe All Saints’ Day in our morning worship service. We will celebrate the Lord’s Supper and remember church members, family, and friends who have died during the last year. Worshippers will be invited to come to a table with a light-of-Christ candle in the center and light a small candle in memory of someone who has died. Please be with us to reclaim this important celebration of our loved ones’ victory over death through Christ.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Radiant Over the Goodness of the LORD
For several days now I have been “radiant over the goodness of the LORD.” Fleda and I experienced a blessing when we traveled to Columbia, South Carolina last week for the annual homecoming service and covered dish lunch of Greenlawn Baptist Church. I was amazed at how connected we felt to people who were our church family 25 years ago. This was our first church after I graduated from seminary with my doctorate in theology. They remembered us and we remembered them in so many positive ways. It was good to share memories and to reconnect after all these years.
“I am a part of all that I have met.” I don’t know who said those words, but they come to mind as I think of how I was called to serve a suburban church in 1974, went through many joys and sorrows leading that church, and left to come to DeLand, Florida in 1983. The experience shaped me in some ways that I can identify and in others that I cannot see. The people of that church are still in my heart after all these years. I have a deep sense that through it all God was at work for good.
Bob Hubble was our host in Columbia. He picked us up at the airport, rented us a car, set up a drop-in for us to have some time to talk to those who came to see us, took us out to dinner, and then suffered a heart attack and missed the homecoming worship service. He had triple heart bypass surgery on Tuesday morning and called me on Wednesday night just as we at New Hope were going into our prayer time. Do we not live in an age of medical miracles? God is so good.
I listened this morning to Boyd Frank’s message to New Hope recorded last Sunday. He spoke about Jesus as our Good Shepherd and told of how God had surrounded him with care when his first wife died at the age of thirty. His conviction of the loving presence of God in a time of trouble, born of his own experience, enlarges our trust in God’s goodness.
We are living with uncertainty these days because of America’s economic crisis. Whatever is going on in your life, don’t let your heart be afraid. Keep your eyes on the goodness of God. Live out the prophecy of Jeremiah: “They shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD” (31:12).
“I am a part of all that I have met.” I don’t know who said those words, but they come to mind as I think of how I was called to serve a suburban church in 1974, went through many joys and sorrows leading that church, and left to come to DeLand, Florida in 1983. The experience shaped me in some ways that I can identify and in others that I cannot see. The people of that church are still in my heart after all these years. I have a deep sense that through it all God was at work for good.
Bob Hubble was our host in Columbia. He picked us up at the airport, rented us a car, set up a drop-in for us to have some time to talk to those who came to see us, took us out to dinner, and then suffered a heart attack and missed the homecoming worship service. He had triple heart bypass surgery on Tuesday morning and called me on Wednesday night just as we at New Hope were going into our prayer time. Do we not live in an age of medical miracles? God is so good.
I listened this morning to Boyd Frank’s message to New Hope recorded last Sunday. He spoke about Jesus as our Good Shepherd and told of how God had surrounded him with care when his first wife died at the age of thirty. His conviction of the loving presence of God in a time of trouble, born of his own experience, enlarges our trust in God’s goodness.
We are living with uncertainty these days because of America’s economic crisis. Whatever is going on in your life, don’t let your heart be afraid. Keep your eyes on the goodness of God. Live out the prophecy of Jeremiah: “They shall be radiant over the goodness of the LORD” (31:12).
Friday, October 3, 2008
What It Means to Be Saved
Arthur Burns, Jewish economist and a man of influence in Washington circles, offered a provocative prayer before an evangelical audience:
“Lord, I pray that Jews would come to know Jesus Christ, And I pray that Buddhists would come to know Jesus Christ, And I pray that Muslims would come to know Jesus Christ, And, Lord, I pray that Christians would come to know Jesus Christ.”
When I read those words in a sermon by Mark Buchanan, I realized that the prayer is also mine. “Lord, make us Christians here at New Hope Baptist Church come to know Jesus Christ.” To be saved is to be more than casual admirers. It is to know Jesus so well that when we come to a difficult decision or a conflict with someone or face a tragedy, we have his teachings in our heads and his Spirit in our hearts and react with obedience.
In 2006, five Amish girls, aged 6 to 13, were shot and killed by a man in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, who then killed himself. The event stunned the world. But what happened next stunned the world all the more: a whole community not bent on retaliation, not shouting with anger or collapsing in despair, but standing with quiet dignity and deep calm. The community was quick to forgive. They even established a charity fund for the killer's family. We saw a people face the worst and become their best.
What does it mean to be saved? It means being freed from our sins and being given eternal life. It also means being given freedom and power, here and now, to live a life transformed by obeying Jesus.
I would rather be in a small church that is coming “to know Jesus Christ” than in a large church with lots of resources that is challenging no one to take up a cross and follow Jesus. Please, let us be a church whose members are learning to see every personal struggle, every conflict, every joy, and every sorrow as an opportunity to live out the teachings of Jesus.
“Lord, I pray that Jews would come to know Jesus Christ, And I pray that Buddhists would come to know Jesus Christ, And I pray that Muslims would come to know Jesus Christ, And, Lord, I pray that Christians would come to know Jesus Christ.”
When I read those words in a sermon by Mark Buchanan, I realized that the prayer is also mine. “Lord, make us Christians here at New Hope Baptist Church come to know Jesus Christ.” To be saved is to be more than casual admirers. It is to know Jesus so well that when we come to a difficult decision or a conflict with someone or face a tragedy, we have his teachings in our heads and his Spirit in our hearts and react with obedience.
In 2006, five Amish girls, aged 6 to 13, were shot and killed by a man in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, who then killed himself. The event stunned the world. But what happened next stunned the world all the more: a whole community not bent on retaliation, not shouting with anger or collapsing in despair, but standing with quiet dignity and deep calm. The community was quick to forgive. They even established a charity fund for the killer's family. We saw a people face the worst and become their best.
What does it mean to be saved? It means being freed from our sins and being given eternal life. It also means being given freedom and power, here and now, to live a life transformed by obeying Jesus.
I would rather be in a small church that is coming “to know Jesus Christ” than in a large church with lots of resources that is challenging no one to take up a cross and follow Jesus. Please, let us be a church whose members are learning to see every personal struggle, every conflict, every joy, and every sorrow as an opportunity to live out the teachings of Jesus.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
The Need for Community
I spent lots of time Monday night and Tuesday morning, September 29 and 30, watching the cable news channels tell us that partisan disagreements kept Congress from being able to pass legislation that would prevent the collapse of the American economy. They couldn’t agree on whether the plan was to be a “rescue” of the economy or a “bail out” of “fat cat” CEOs who got us into this mess. The President looked and sounded absolutely defeated when he gave his 8:45 A.M. speech on Tuesday.
This is a crisis. There are ominous signs. Some banks are having to sell out to larger banks. Mine, Wachovia, has been bought. Some businesses in our area (Heard Chevrolet for example) are closing. Jobs are being lost. Our daughter-in-law, an experienced elementary school teacher, applied for a teaching job in Ft. Myers, and learned that more than 300 people has applied for the same job. A wealthy eccentric who lives in Port Orange told me that he had taken his money out of banks and put it in a vault. First Baptist Church of DeLand, where I used to serve as pastor, opens the church office on Monday mornings at 8:30 to people who ask for help with bills such as utilities and rent. In the last few weeks, people have begun to line up at 1:30 A.M. to be first in line when the church office opens.
The message I keep hearing is this: The Church is called to be on the front lines in the difficult days ahead. In hard times, people look for community. When we are faced with challenges to our financial security, and we see others suffering for lack of basic necessities, our better instincts tell us to come together and rely on each other for moral support. Without a sense of community, we go off into competitive individualism and start fighting over scarce resources.
I believe God is saying to New Hope Baptist Church, “Be a strong family of faith. Look out for one another’s interests, not just for your own. As things get more difficult, people are going to need you to be their community. They are going to need to find hope to make it through hard times and come out on the other side.”
We at New Hope can work together to serve each other and the strugglers that come to us looking for a place to belong. They need us to accept, love and teach them. In times like these we all need the knowledge that we are loved and that we belong to a family that is healthy and strong. That is what I hear the Spirit saying to our church.
This is a crisis. There are ominous signs. Some banks are having to sell out to larger banks. Mine, Wachovia, has been bought. Some businesses in our area (Heard Chevrolet for example) are closing. Jobs are being lost. Our daughter-in-law, an experienced elementary school teacher, applied for a teaching job in Ft. Myers, and learned that more than 300 people has applied for the same job. A wealthy eccentric who lives in Port Orange told me that he had taken his money out of banks and put it in a vault. First Baptist Church of DeLand, where I used to serve as pastor, opens the church office on Monday mornings at 8:30 to people who ask for help with bills such as utilities and rent. In the last few weeks, people have begun to line up at 1:30 A.M. to be first in line when the church office opens.
The message I keep hearing is this: The Church is called to be on the front lines in the difficult days ahead. In hard times, people look for community. When we are faced with challenges to our financial security, and we see others suffering for lack of basic necessities, our better instincts tell us to come together and rely on each other for moral support. Without a sense of community, we go off into competitive individualism and start fighting over scarce resources.
I believe God is saying to New Hope Baptist Church, “Be a strong family of faith. Look out for one another’s interests, not just for your own. As things get more difficult, people are going to need you to be their community. They are going to need to find hope to make it through hard times and come out on the other side.”
We at New Hope can work together to serve each other and the strugglers that come to us looking for a place to belong. They need us to accept, love and teach them. In times like these we all need the knowledge that we are loved and that we belong to a family that is healthy and strong. That is what I hear the Spirit saying to our church.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Storm Warnings
On Wednesday afternoon Fleda called me from her office at Freedom Elementary School to tell me there was a tornado warning in our area. She was concerned to make sure that I knew and took shelter. The warning was soon canceled, but the experience set me to thinking that we are hearing other storm warnings these days, and we need to pull together and be prepared to help people.
The News Journal headline Thursday, September 18, was “Wall Street wallows in financial quagmire.” We may be entering an economic storm such as we have never seen. How is this going to affect our church? Hearts and minds may get turned to God. That would certainly be what God wants. The Bible is clear that God wants us to come to him in our times of confusion and need. Perhaps going through tough times financially will help us to realize that everything we have is a gift from God. Maybe we will see more people reaching out to our church, because they are being made aware of their dependence on God.
At the Port Orange Ministerial Association meeting on Wednesday, September 17, Dennis Bucher and I heard ministers from several churches agreeing, “More and more people are coming to us for help with paying their bills. More are needing the basics of life than we have seen in a long time.” I am grateful that we have a “Benevolence Fund” to which we give every first Sunday as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper and every Wednesday night as we thank God for the good things he is doing and give our “Happy Dollars.” We have recently helped people referred to us by Westminster By the Sea Presbyterian Church and by Chaplain Jim Smith of Halifax Hospital. We will continue to help people financially, and we will also help people to have faith in Jesus. We will help them understand in their own experience what Jesus meant when he said, “If you keep on obeying what I have said, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)
We have an important task these difficult days. When people ask us what we have to give them, our mission is to be ready with some compassionate help. Our compassion may involve helping them to pay the rent or the power bill. It will also involve offering them the truth and love of Jesus. That is why our worship, our teaching, our relationships, and our fellowship must be healthy – the best we have to offer. Having a daily relationship with Jesus and belonging to his people who obey what he has said, is the way to true security and freedom. That is more important than having a secure retirement or plenty of money in the bank.
When a storm is coming, a family pulls together and concentrates on the things that really matter. It looks like a storm is coming. Let’s pull together. Let’s be ready to help others. Let’s point them to the Way that leads to life and peace.
The News Journal headline Thursday, September 18, was “Wall Street wallows in financial quagmire.” We may be entering an economic storm such as we have never seen. How is this going to affect our church? Hearts and minds may get turned to God. That would certainly be what God wants. The Bible is clear that God wants us to come to him in our times of confusion and need. Perhaps going through tough times financially will help us to realize that everything we have is a gift from God. Maybe we will see more people reaching out to our church, because they are being made aware of their dependence on God.
At the Port Orange Ministerial Association meeting on Wednesday, September 17, Dennis Bucher and I heard ministers from several churches agreeing, “More and more people are coming to us for help with paying their bills. More are needing the basics of life than we have seen in a long time.” I am grateful that we have a “Benevolence Fund” to which we give every first Sunday as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper and every Wednesday night as we thank God for the good things he is doing and give our “Happy Dollars.” We have recently helped people referred to us by Westminster By the Sea Presbyterian Church and by Chaplain Jim Smith of Halifax Hospital. We will continue to help people financially, and we will also help people to have faith in Jesus. We will help them understand in their own experience what Jesus meant when he said, “If you keep on obeying what I have said, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)
We have an important task these difficult days. When people ask us what we have to give them, our mission is to be ready with some compassionate help. Our compassion may involve helping them to pay the rent or the power bill. It will also involve offering them the truth and love of Jesus. That is why our worship, our teaching, our relationships, and our fellowship must be healthy – the best we have to offer. Having a daily relationship with Jesus and belonging to his people who obey what he has said, is the way to true security and freedom. That is more important than having a secure retirement or plenty of money in the bank.
When a storm is coming, a family pulls together and concentrates on the things that really matter. It looks like a storm is coming. Let’s pull together. Let’s be ready to help others. Let’s point them to the Way that leads to life and peace.
Friday, September 12, 2008
The Joy of Reaching People
Scott and Cheri Heatherington joined us last Sunday. They were members of New Hope in our earliest days and joined a larger church that had more activities for youth. Now that their children are out of the nest, they are back with us. We are grateful to God to have them in our church family. Cheri’s mom and dad are our Marge and Herm White who live in Monongahela, PA in the summer and in Port Orange in the winter.
This has been a good week for me as I have visited in three homes where people are interested in New Hope. I talked with five couples in those homes. I enjoyed all the visits and was especially thankful for my conversation with Samantha “Sam” Senatro and Gabbi Abdenabbi; two sweet teenagers who have been attending our youth group for a while. They indicated to Cheryl Secunda that they wanted to become Christ followers among us here at New Hope. It was my privilege to talk with them and their parents about what it means to accept Jesus as your savior and your teacher. I put together a PowerPoint slide show about baptism to show them on my laptop. I look forward to introducing these two new believers to our congregation and to planning their baptisms.
We celebrate new members. God is adding to his family. Fleda and I look forward to the New Members Class after worship today.
Thank you, John Rising, for the work you have done to make sure our sign got moved, properly placed, repaired and cleaned up. How about our sign! Doesn’t it look good at the corner of Taylor and Summer Trees? The new visibility will help people to notice that we are here. Soon the sign will be lighted at night again. If you are interested in volunteering to change the letters on the sign, please see me or call me. I want us to make good use of it, now that it is so very visible to people driving by our property. There are ways we can use our sign to serve our community.
This has been a good week for me as I have visited in three homes where people are interested in New Hope. I talked with five couples in those homes. I enjoyed all the visits and was especially thankful for my conversation with Samantha “Sam” Senatro and Gabbi Abdenabbi; two sweet teenagers who have been attending our youth group for a while. They indicated to Cheryl Secunda that they wanted to become Christ followers among us here at New Hope. It was my privilege to talk with them and their parents about what it means to accept Jesus as your savior and your teacher. I put together a PowerPoint slide show about baptism to show them on my laptop. I look forward to introducing these two new believers to our congregation and to planning their baptisms.
We celebrate new members. God is adding to his family. Fleda and I look forward to the New Members Class after worship today.
Thank you, John Rising, for the work you have done to make sure our sign got moved, properly placed, repaired and cleaned up. How about our sign! Doesn’t it look good at the corner of Taylor and Summer Trees? The new visibility will help people to notice that we are here. Soon the sign will be lighted at night again. If you are interested in volunteering to change the letters on the sign, please see me or call me. I want us to make good use of it, now that it is so very visible to people driving by our property. There are ways we can use our sign to serve our community.
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