Over the last two evenings we have experienced what I’ll call “church extraordinaire.” As First Baptist Paducah has strategically invaded the neighborhoods of Paducah, we have seen the Lord use us to minister to hundreds of people in Christ’s name. It took many of you to pull it off, but you made the block parties happen.

It’s too bad that sometimes we Christians are known as “un-party.” Throughout the Old Testament we see God using festivals and feasts to show His people much about Himself. Historically these events were sometimes somber occasions for purposes of soul-searching and reflection, but often the Lord wanted His Beloved to simply celebrate His gracious work on their behalf. To enjoy the moment for His glory.

Check out the Feast of Booths in Leviticus 23:33-44. The Roman historian Josephus referred to it as “the greatest of the Hebrew celebrations.” It ended with a parade, loud music, and a water-pouring ritual – and was likely the backdrop for Christ’s glorious self-attestation as our “living water” (John 7:37-39). We’ve been invited to drink of His Spirit! An ancient rabbi observed: “Anyone who has not seen this water ceremony has never seen rejoicing  in his life.”

We also learn from the New Testament that wedding receptions and related festivities often lasted for a full week! We remember the ultra-celebrative setting of the first miracle of Christ’s earthly ministry. If you and I are supposed to be “un-party,” then Jesus definitely did not get that memo.

THANK YOU for helping us end our “Summer of Service” on such a high note. I am grinning from ear to ear as I write these words. Thank you.

Thank you for cultivating the soil for gospel planting. Thank you for planting gospel seeds. Thank you for praying with me for gospel harvest.

THANK YOU for loving Paducah.

Someone has said that there are three keys to church growth: 1. gathering people; 2. gathering people; and 3. gathering people. I think you get my point. Great job, FBC Family!

I’ll close with this verse from The Message (John 1:14): “The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.”

Pastor Charles

We’ve totally enjoyed showing Julian his seventeenth American state in two summers: Massachusetts. He’s been a great sport about all of the traveling, new foods, and unexpected adventures. You’ll see a few pics from our journey thus far, including the Statue of Liberty, the Manhattan skyline, and the Monument to the Forefathers in Plymouth. Our one day in downtown Boston was picture perfect.

Joshua has reunited with his cousins, and they’ve been thicker than thieves over the last few days. This year the boys built a fire pit to make the late nights even later. The joys of summer.

I know that you know that this part of our nation feels very “post Christian” in a number of ways, but it’s amazing how many gospel roots just can’t be obscured. Everywhere you go around here, you can discover evidence that this was the cradle of American Christianity.

When Jonathan Edwards came of age in the 1720’s, New England had been settled by Englishmen for a hundred years. The famous Puritan preacher Cotton Mather recorded in 1702 that every aspect of life in early New England reflected significant Christian influence. The region’s spiritual and social history were inseparable in fact. From the time the Pilgrims landed in 1620, it had been assumed by the populace at large that the point of the new land was the building up of a godly commonwealth.

If you haven’t done so in awhile, pray for the people of New England. There is tremendous need for vital evangelical renewal here, and for strong pulpits where Christ and the Scriptures will be heralded for generations to come. Our own North American Mission Board labors tirelessly to this end. O God, breathe new life into America, from sea to shining sea!

I look forward to seeing you all Sunday morning.

Pastor Charles

Grace to you, friends!

We’re having a blast showing Julian, our Romanian son, the sites of our nation’s capital. As usual, the city is buzzing with people from all walks of life and from every corner of the world. The summertime temps are sizzling, just like in Paducah. Since this is a whirlwind tour, I won’t write much this morning.

Just being here always makes me grateful to be an American. We enjoy freedoms and opportunities known nowhere else on the planet. You’ll be encouraged to know that I’ve observed multiple examples of Christian believers living out the gospel here in this ultra urban context. Many social ills are also obvious, so it’s reassuring to know that God’s people are choosing not to retreat. “Lead On, O King Eternal …”

If you haven’t yet prayed for our government leaders today, I encourage you to do that (First Timothy 2:1-4). We are blessed with the privilege of speaking into the halls of power, so let’s speak to our Lord first. May He keep each one of us “lightly salted” for His glory!

After Washington, we’re off to New York and Boston. Josh will enjoy a few days with his cousins, so plenty of sleep deprivation awaits us all.

Sending love in Christ to all of you,

Pastor Charles

If you’re unfamiliar with the Spanish language, a “puente” is a bridge. Earlier this summer my family and I drove over the new Ohio River bridges between Louisville (both downtown and in the Prospect area) and Southern Indiana. Very impressive. Gorgeous in fact. Massive accomplishments of design, engineering, and construction. In fact the experts were planning those bridges when we moved to the Louisville area in 1998.

Are you old enough to remember Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge over Troubled Water”? I thought about that song this morning as I read the news from Cairo, Egypt. Six tourists were violently assaulted at the Hurghada resort – three from Serbia, two from Ukraine, and one from Poland. These people were simply enjoying a vacation when a man stabbed them in the face, neck, and feet. How did the attacker gain access to the vacationers? He simply swam from a nearby beach, under the radar screen of security officials.

Will there be international outrage over this incident? Likely not. It’s far too commonplace. Most people will “ho hum” through the news report and go on with their daily grind.

But you and I know that we need a bridge over the turbulence of this fallen world for such a time as this. By His death on the Cross, and by His glorious resurrection from the dead, Jesus has made a way – in fact He has become the Way – for us to triumph over our own sin (John 14:6)! Our Lord comforts in the storms of life, and He shelters us from the paralysis which would overtake us all if – for even a moment – we took seriously the troubling circumstances raging all around us.

Jesus is our safety when no other refuge exists. It is by communion with His Spirit – who lives within us and who never ceases to pray for us – that we find peace in seasons of uncertainty and fear.

Our Messiah is also our very best friend. He is always there for us. He leads and guides for the glory of His own name. When we have lost our way, as we’re quite prone to do, He finds us like the very best of shepherds. He sticks with us, especially when the going gets tough. He never leaves us, and He never forsakes us. He loves us like no other.

In the words of the ancient prophet (Isaiah 9:6): “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Whether we’re in Cairo or Kentucky, we’re desperately in need of Christ. He is our Bridge over every troubled water.

Pastor Charles

I love pastoring this church, because I love the people of this church. But, sometimes, your burdens become mine. By that I mean that I find myself tossing and turning at 3:00 in the morning because of obstacles that my sheep are facing. Trials that my sheep are experiencing. Burdens that my sheep are bearing. Tears that my sheep are shedding. I am a feeling person – I don’t apologize for that – but sometimes it hurts to be a feeling person.

Sunday morning I will continue in our series “The Mission.” I want to further unpack the idea of God’s call. And the testing which inevitably follows God’s call. Some of you – if not many of you – are being tested right now. Severely tested in some cases. Though I have no magic wand to make those trials go away, we do have God’s certain Word to guide us for such a time as this. When God tests us, He proves that our faith is real.

If you want to be really prepared for Sunday morning, please accept this challenge: read and meditate on James 1:2-4. Ask the Holy Spirit to apply it to you. Ask the Lord to bless those three verses to your understanding. Ask God to open the eyes of your heart. And I will do the same.

Sunday morning we will go all the way back to Abraham, but not just for historical purposes. We will consider Abraham as an example of God’s providential dealings with us. Don’t miss it! Because one of our enemy’s biggest lies is that we are all alone. We are not.

If you’re at a place right now where you’re thinking, “How can this be happening to me?” – come!

If you’re at a place where nothing makes sense – come!

If you’re at a place where one misfortune after another has you feeling like blaming God – come!

Christ is our Refuge, friends. He is enough. He is more than enough. He has given Himself for us, and He has given us to each other. While we’re here, we’re learning to “count it all joy!”

You are loved,

Pastor Charles

No mortgage and no marriage? Though statistics and demographics seem clearly to indicate that American young adults are putting off “growing up” in favor of some kind of extended adolescence, nobody likes to hear that they’re stuck in some state of immaturity. Truth is, we all get stuck from time to time.

Second Peter 3:18 instructs believers to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” If we’re stuck, we need to get unstuck. But how do we do that?

To grow in grace does not mean the same thing as searching for more grace – quantitatively – because somehow our supply has run low. The problem is not that our grace-tank is empty, as God’s grace is infinite by nature. Has He who saved us by grace left us with minimal supply? Hardly! He has given us infinite grace. That’s the nature of God’s grace.

It seems to me, then, that to “grow in grace” is to grow in our awareness and application of what Christ has done for us – as well as to grow in our appreciation for the amazing grace which we have so lavishly received. It’s one of the many reasons why we need each other as the body of Christ. We build each other up in truth. We encourage each other. We love each other through the storms and trials of life.

How are you doing in all three?

Awareness. Do you notice, regularly, the goodness of God? Do you thank Him for your eyesight, your daily bread, and your best friend? What I mean is: do you thank Him for the blessings which are easy to overlook?

Application. Do you overlook offenses against you, preferring to pray for your offender instead of setting them straight? Do you choose to forgive instead of choosing to hold a grudge? Do you choose to trust the Lord – stepping out in faith instead of demanding that He show you the detailed plan in advance (a demand which most often translates into a paralysis of zero progress while we “wait” on something that isn’t coming)? On a regular basis, do you preach the gospel to yourself?

Appreciation. Do you remember Christ’s Cross with affection? Do you praise God even when you’re afraid? Do you worship Him even when you’d rather be checking off the items on your daily “to do” list?

I would submit to you that these three areas of growth will lead to a fourth: agreement. When we’re full of the knowledge of God’s grace (which we internalize most effectively by poring over God’s Word), then we’re in the very best position to agree with God about who He is – and about who we are (in light of who He is). That’s where real spiritual maturity begins to bear good fruit in our lives.

The famed English preacher Frederick W. Robertson summarized it like this: “It is not the number of books you read, nor the variety of sermons you hear, nor the amount of religious conversation in which you mix, but it is the frequency and earnestness with which you meditate on these things till the truth in them becomes your own and part of your being, that ensures your growth.”

But perhaps Jeremiah captured God’s heart best when he said this (9:24): “Let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord.”

Here’s to your growth in grace, and mine,

Pastor Charles

The Lakes of Paducah is a wonderful assisted living facility here in our community. Wednesday night, as our 2017 SUMMER OF SERVICE continued, our goal was to “love on” the Lakes residents – some of our faithful church members are among those residents – and to provide for everyone gathered an evening of beautiful and inspirational music. Church family: job well done!

Just before folks began to gather on the lawn, puffy clouds far ahead of Tropical Storm Cindy coalesced overhead, blocking the most direct sunlight and dropping the temps by at least 5 degrees – accompanied by a gentle breeze off the water. A perfect and unexpected surprise on the first day of summer! The outdoor venue was absolutely breathtaking.

The evening began with a welcome by Dr. Bob Meriwether, and a time of prayer. And throughout the evening, the hospitality and fellowship were exquisite.

The music was spectacular – glorious anthems and riveting solos alike – with each selection chosen and timed by Pastor Howie to tell the story of God’s grace. Pastor Tommy interspersed a few thoughts about the power of Christ’s teaching “by the lake” (Mark 4:1). The residents and their guests, some of them watching from the upper balcony, expressed their delight with applause and an occasional “Encore!”

The Lakes staff blessed us with chilled lemonade and cookies, and a few of the residents gave our church members a tour of their elegant apartments and grounds. As the event drew to a close, First Baptist Paducah gave every Lakes resident a beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers.

In the words of Mrs. Gloria Meriwether in a text to me just this morning: “Thank you so much for bringing the choir to the Lakes. It was a beautiful evening.”

May Jesus Christ be praised! I’ll see you Sunday morning.

Pastor Charles

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Phoenix. I’ll share just one pic – which is downtown Phoenix (and the convention center where #SBC17 was held) just after take-off for the return trip. Shirley Barlow and Pat Rogers were on that flight to Chicago with me, and getting home ended up being more than an adventure – sometime I’ll tell you the whole (mostly funny now) story.

With a couple of minor exceptions, the desire for denominational unity was obvious. People want to serve Christ. They want to get along. They want not to divide over trivial differences. They recognize that this is not the moment in American history for the body of Christ to carelessly splinter over peripheral and non-gospel matters. They recognize the need for prayer and real spiritual power for such a time as this.

That being said, there was one particular statistic that robbed my joy: we are steadily declining in weekly worship attendance. Sadly, I must report, the Southern Baptist Convention has joined the mainline denominations in spiraling downward in terms of actual people present for corporate worship on a typical Sunday morning. I find that heartbreaking. I know you do as well.

Right now in our churches, 5,200,716 of us are regularly present for worship. Last year that same number was 5,577,088. That’s a loss of 6.75%. “Oh,” you might be tempted to think, “those are just numbers.” As you know, I almost never focus on numbers. But this number I can’t overlook: 376,372 people. 376,372 bodies. 376,372 lives.

What if you woke up tomorrow morning to learn that Bakersfield, California, had vanished? That’s about the same number of people who are nowhere to be found.

What if you were hit with the news that New Orleans had fallen into the Gulf of Mexico? Again, roughly the same number.

What if the people of Tampa just disappeared?

I’m sure you get my point. We are in desperate need of revival. We need a revival of grace. We need a revival of truth. We need a revival of love for the body of Christ.

The writer to the Hebrews (10:25) warns against such spiritual passivity and neglect: not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

All the more … not all the less …

Pastor Charles

So some of the boys in the church enjoyed my last blog posting. How about pirates, then, one more time?

Robert Louis Stevenson, way back in 1881, penned his famous Treasure Island. Las Vegas has a pirate-themed hotel by the same name. (Of course Josh wanted to see it when he was a wee lad and we were there, and we obliged.) It’s no doubt Treasure Island which gave us the impression that “walking the plank” was a regular occurrence on pirate ships. Walking the plank is mentioned at least three times in Stevenson’s novel.

Apparently the phrase “walking the plank” dates back to 1769, and the first documented reference was a seaman named George Wood, who confessed to a chaplain that he had made several men “walk the plank.” For thousands of years, pirates of various sorts have preyed on ships at sea. Their exploits have been documented by Cicero and Homer, and Vikings were once the scourge of the sea. But the pirates most commonly portrayed in movies today are from the 16^th and 17^th centuries. Spain, for example, hired privateers to do some of their dirty work when it came to spices, silver, and gold. Before Captain Hook, Captain Flint, and Captain Jack Sparrow were Blackbeard, Calico Jack, and Captain Kidd. I did a little homework on the subject, guys, and there really wasn’t much plank-walking. But it does make for some fun and fantastic tales.

But here’s what I wanted to add to my last posting: Jesus walked the plank for us. All the way to the cross!

Christ took away God’s wrath, and satisfied God’s law (First John 4:10). Christ became our substitute (Galatians 3:13). Christ justified us, and set us free (Galatians 2:16). Christ restored our relationship to God, and marvelously displayed God’s love for us (Romans 5:6-11). Only a divine sacrifice would do.

Pirates got their “arrr” (that famous pirate rolling-“r” sound) from folklore, and not from actual history. (Most likely it came from Robert Newton’s character in a 1950 film.) It is likely that some pirates had a few parrots on board, as you could get rich selling such exotic creatures in London. Having them attached to their shoulders? Not. The pirate flags with skulls and crossbones? Likely indeed. It was a feature of fear and intimidation. So – as you can see – with pirates comes a little truth and a lot of fiction.

But Jesus did walk the plank for us. The Via Dolorosa. All the way for you and me. The righteous for the guilty. Unbelievable grace.

You are loved. Me too. “No condemnation now I dread …”

Pastor Charles

I remember well my first trip to Walt Disney World as a kid. It was 1971, and the year that the Magic Kingdom opened in Florida. What was my favorite attraction? The Pirates of the Caribbean! The original version at Disneyland, in California, had debuted in 1967. In fact Pirates was the last attraction for which the construction was overseen by Walt Disney himself.

It’s still a hit. Even the fifth installment of the movie (“Dead Men Tell No Tales”) earned $62.2 million in its first three days. The film cost $230 million to produce, but ticket sales and related revenues will far exceed that mind-blowing number. The international appeal is nearly beyond description, and most of Disney’s profits will come from overseas. Hopefully you didn’t invest everything you own in Baywatch. We’ll see what Wonder Woman can do, but I doubt that Johnny Depp is staying up late worrying about it.

We’re fascinated by pirates. (Especially we boys.)

O.K., so maybe you didn’t let your kids play pirate. Burning villages, robbing, stealing women – not exactly Christian virtues. But aren’t we all just a bunch of mischief-makers and scoundrels desperately in need of mercy? We’ve gone rogue. Check out Ephesians 2:1-3 before you write me off. Paul the Apostle describes us like a bunch of half-crazed men still trying to find our treasures in all the wrong places – and in all the wrong ways. We were the sons of disobedience.

That’s the wonder of the gospel! It reaches the likes of you and me. And it’s even better than mercy – it’s grace! Read further and soak in Ephesians 2:8-10. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Can you believe that? The riches we’ve been looking for – and far more – are all in Him.

Without Christ, we were like those skeletons scattered along Disney’s pseudo-beach in that Pirates attraction. But now we’ve been forgiven and freed (Ephesians 1:7). Now we have received Christ’s resurrection power! We can move with His life and breath in us. We can even obey God – and accomplish great things by His grace and for His glory. Imagine that.

There, I said it. God loves scallywags. I am so glad He does.

Pastor Charles