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Our Journey to the Cross When our journey through the Lenten season concludes in a few weeks, we will have a great opportunity to join together in worship with fellow believers March 27-April 5! Over the past few months, the pastors from the churches in the Lattimore Group of our Greater Cleveland County Baptist Association have been planning a week of revitalization through reflection on the cross of our Lord Jesus.  The churches with which we regularly cooperate for our…

This week begins the season of Lent on the Christian calendar. “Lent,” from an old English word meaning “springtime,” is the 40-day period leading up to Easter and it is designed to be a time of repentance as well as a time reflection on the death of Jesus. “Springtime” is meant to also direct our attention to the good news that new life and spiritual growth is on the horizon as we come to the Lord in repentance and surrender.…

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34 “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” 1 John 4:11 Yes, on Valentine’s Day, and every day, for followers of Jesus, our brand is love!  God started it – he loved us first in the sending of Jesus to die for us.  Now, he looks to us to finish it by the way we interact with…

This week, after much prayer and preparation (and input from our congregation), our Pastor Search Committee will post the position (see below) for Pastor of Poplar Springs Baptist Church. Thank you for your continued prayers for this process of discernment and for your intentional prayers for the Search Committee: Ava Bryson, Clyde Buckner, John Harmon, Tara Hayes, Clay Putnam, and Leslie Queen. As the post goes public this week, we pray for the Lord’s guidance as we did this past…

…For a Pastor I was so thankful last Wednesday evening to hear the report from our Pastor Search Committee. The gathering was well-attended by our PSBC family and the session proved to be one of great encouragement to my heart. I was delighted to hear how you all have shared your hearts and minds with the Search Committee and to see how they have organized your responses to be able to communicate well with pastoral candidates. The meeting was an…

Janet and I love the time we can be with Erin, our daughter, and Matt, our son-in-law, and our grandchildren!  There is a never-ending joy that comes in listening to our grands talk as we play with them.  We have done our part in giving them toys and they enjoy playing with them. Even so, it always tickles me how in their play they will ask me to “make” something to fit into the play agenda for the day.  Once…

Many of the famous quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr. have been remembered this week but one of the less famous ones is also one of the most applicable for our approach to relationships with others every day, and it makes for a great “before and after” puzzle on Wheel of Fortune. King is quoted as saying, “We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.” Add that quote with the question, “now what?”…

One of the books that I am starting out the year reading is by Mark MacDonald and it is titled, Be Known for Something. It is a book to challenge churches to embrace an intentional church-specific approach to reconnecting with their communities. I am looking forward to the insights gained from the reading but, as I begin the journey of its pages, I am thankful that Poplar Springs Baptist Church is known for its love and care for others! On…

The Scripture calls on us to “be still” and draw our attention to knowing God (Psalm 46:10). Just a couple of Psalms later, we also read, “O God, we meditate on your unfailing love” (Psalm 48:9). The worship song by Chris Tomlin encourages us in this way as well singing, “In the secret, in the quiet place. In the stillness, you are there. In the secret, in the quiet hour, I wait, only for you, ‘cause I want to know…

Our prayer for you and your family is that you will have a wonderful Christmas holiday time remembering together the birth of Jesus and the impact his coming into our world has made upon your lives. As our Sanctuary Choir encouraged us to do this past Sunday, let’s be sure to “Sing Noel” wherever we find ourselves and thus share the good news of Jesus’ love and grace with folks we meet. Merry Christmas! While it is uncertain how the…