O.K., I know we’re not a big city. But I’ve been reading about the Little Caesars Arena and “The District Detroit.” It’s a 50-block span of sports, entertainment, dining, business, and public parks. If you’re a hockey fan, you probably know that – upon completion – this will be the new home of the Red Wings. It’s a $1.2 billion development. Some have already dubbed it the “Pizzarena.”

According to Amy Eckert, the goal of the whole project is to create an “athletics nirvana.” Hmmm. Paducah. Hmmm.

I know that we don’t have the Tigers or the Lions around here, except for an occasional performance at Market House. But, Paducah’s got spunk! We also love eating out and strolling our own riverfront. We’re also very proud of our downtown, and we’re really enjoying our own Midtown renaissance. Good things are happening.

But here’s what struck me in my reading: Paducah loves sports! Despite our limitations of size, can we think outside the box? Ponder with me, downtown dreamers. Is there any way that we can bring sports into the downtown vision here? That would allow us to dramatically expand the horizons of our own city center. And, if we could get really creative about some mixed-use spaces like Detroit is doing, the sky could be the limit! I’m imagining creative tentacles into LowerTown. Picture this: a building that becomes an art gallery by day, and a large space for community theater rehearsals at night, and a “curb appeal” locale for an FBC “LovePaducah” event on Sunday. Imagine more hotel space, and a decisively “destination” feel, albeit with our own version of small-town Southern charm.

Lots of walkable area for sports fans, singles, families, athletes, and even those who would otherwise be couch potatoes. A vibrant setting for Paducah to connect at its core. And how cool would it be to add to our community all of the new jobs – and all of the people those jobs would represent – in order to make even some of this begin to happen?

For now, I have a sermon to finish. So I’ll leave the downtown dreamin’ behind for a while and get back to work. Maybe our friends Paducah Convention & Visitors Bureau will dream with us.

But I’ll leave you with this compelling thought from the Lord: “Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you … and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare (Jeremiah 29:7).”

God bless Paducah. #LandThatILove

Pastor Charles

It was a treat to participate in END IT last night at First Baptist Paducah. Those who led us in worship, as well as those who called us to action, are very passionate about the cause: “Shine a Light on Slavery.” If there were ever an issue where Christ’s gospel is relevant and real, this is it. What we are seeing in the END IT movement is a grassroots viral effort to stop human trafficking in its tracks. This is an impassioned social movement to which – in my opinion – the church must speak.

In advance of yesterday’s events across the globe, U.S. Senator Bob Corker, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, convened a hearing to examine progress in U.S. global efforts to end slavery and human trafficking – including recent authorization of legislation for the End Modern Slavery Initiative. The February 15 hearing featured powerful testimony from actor Ashton Kutcher, co-founder of Thorn, and Elisa Massimino, president and CEO of Human Rights First, both sporting the END IT red “X” pin. That red “X” means that “you’re telling the world that slavery still exists and you won’t stand for it.” By using our influence and our hand, we carry the message of freedom on behalf of millions upon millions of victims.

It was so beautiful at our evening gathering to hear Samantha’s testimony. It takes a brave young woman to tell the story of her own depravity, just so she can testify of God’s redeeming grace! May we, like our new friend whom God brought from Los Angeles to Paducah, likewise humble ourselves and speak boldly of His power to deliver and set captives free. Our God is a rescuer, and He is on the hunt for those who are broken, marginalized, abused, and seemingly hopeless.

We who know Christ know freedom – because we’ve been set free – “free indeed” in the language of Jesus (John 8:36)! All Americans should value freedom, as our nation was founded upon the principle of “liberty and justice for all.” Our First Amendment guarantees freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and freedom to petition our government for redress of grievances. Such freedoms form the very underpinning of our civic culture, and political freedom is a priceless blessing, but spiritual freedom is infinitely better.

We who are in Christ owe our spiritual freedom to none other than God, who by the death of His own Son, paid for it in full upon the Cross. Christ is the only Way for any of us to know true freedom (John 8:31-32). Christ’s sacrifice for us was not measured by money or political advance, but He gave and accomplished everything for us because of His great love for us.

Now you and I can enjoy the privilege of loving, as we have been so marvelously and lavishly loved. Love means noticing, caring, embracing, helping, and serving – and sometimes love requires even more. It is an action verb. I need those who are younger than I – and sometimes, I must admit, more energized – to remind me never to allow my love language to be all talk and no action.

As a matter of fact, I look forward to all of the ways in which the young people of our church and community will help us see the needs which are all around us. These are real needs. Human needs. Needs of eternal significance. May we respond like Jesus would have us practically love our neighbor in distress (Luke 10:25-37). Such mercy reflects Christ’s own heart, and so you and I must depend desperately upon His Spirit to make freedom a reality in and through us.

For freedom,

Pastor Charles

It started out as a little fun for Valentine’s Day. Now it’s not so much fun. The Harvard Computer Club created “Datamatch” so that students could find romance for the holiday. Now the eager computer programmers are in hot water. They’ve been officially reprimanded. Their crime? They included only two genders among the options for users of Datamatch.

The Undergraduate Council is fuming, and club funding has been threatened. Where were the options for “genderqueer” and “non-gender conforming”? What self-respecting companionship site would allow for expressions of sexual preferences, but include only two options for self-identifying gender? Students interviewed by the Harvard Crimson were outraged because the website implied that “gender binary” was somehow “normal.” Nicholas Whittaker said that “the idea of it [Datamatch] being romantic does not necessitate that it be stuck upon strict gender bearings.” Another student who happens to be a leader of the Datamatch development team, Raynor Kuang, responded that it’s “impossible to make enough categories to encompass everyone of every gender, particularly those whose gender is highly individualized.”

What’s wrong with male and female, friends? When the phrase is used in the Hebrew Bible, it always indicates a sexual pair – not a “range” of options for a smorgasbord of self-determination. This truth holds even for the animals entering Noah’s Ark “two by two,” which we just studied in our Sunday morning preaching series. According to Mark 10:5-9, Jesus cited “male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27) alongside Genesis 2:24 (“For this reason a man shall … be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh”) in order to establish a duality principle in regard to gender and sexual relations. Jesus predicated a limitation of two persons to a sexual union, and He reestablished God’s foundation of a complementary sexual pair.

We’re hearing more and more about the problems of “intersex,” so just a heads up on this one. This is an extraordinarily rare situation, where something goes developmentally wrong, physically (inhibition of testosterone production, XXY in an essentially male child, etc.). The overwhelming percentage of the tiny subset of the population categorized as “intersex” are marked predominantly as one gender or the other in terms of the possession (or lack) of a mostly functioning X chromosome. Even when Jesus discusses “eunuchs” in Matthew 19:12, He maintains maleness and femaleness as binary distinctions, entirely. I would urge you to read that passage starting at Verse 3. Our Lord seems to presume that if “born eunuchs” cannot enter into marriage as men, then they should remain celibate.

You and I must be full of compassion for a confusing time like this. This is Christ’s calling! But we must not lose our Biblical moorings as we attempt to ride these cultural waves. “Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). We left that station millennia ago. We’re back.

After reading extensively the report from Harvard’s BGLTQ+ Caucus, I’m frankly exhausted. It was LGB. Then LGBT. Then LGBTQ. Then LGBTQ+. Letters keep getting added, and now they’re getting rearranged. Though I’m trying to keep up, I must admit that I’m happiest with a BLT. A little extra mayo please.

Pastor Charles

It’s snowing in New York City. Today is the first time in history – since reliable weather records were kept at least – that the Big Apple has received more than six inches of snow on a day immediately following a high of 60 plus degrees. Yesterday’s high in New York City was 62. Eight to twelve inches of snow are expected today, with a high of only 28.

Up and down. In the wacky world of weather, we know what that’s like here too, though this year winter has been mostly hard to find. The temps have been more up than down.

Sometimes our spiritual lives are up and down. We can experience something like a spiritual roller coaster ride – especially when we’re driven by our feelings. As we grow up in Christ, we learn with more tenacity to trust the facts of our salvation – what Jesus has already done for us (John 10:27-28; Philippians 1:6) – but sometimes that’s not so easy in the moment (either up, down, or moving at warp speed in either direction).

Now I want to take this a little further, if you will permit me. Now that I’ve urged you not to lean too heavily upon your feelings, I’m going to challenge you to something radical: Don’t completely ignore your feelings either! Sometimes our feelings are designed to alert us, like dashboard warning lights. For example, my sadness may be because I’ve sinned against God, and I need to repent (Ephesians 4:30). That’s a wonderful opportunity to come clean with the Lord (Psalm 139:23-24), and it could be that my sad feeling was in fact very helpful. The Lord will help us sort out our feelings if we will humbly ask.

But even beyond our feelings, sometimes LIFE is just up and down. Though we generally remember the Cross on which Christ died, we often forget the crosses which He expects us to carry. They’re not so easy. Christ is calling us to be salt and light – agents of radical influence on a larger society. A society which is broken and confused. A society which will on occasion bite us even when we’re trying to help. We all like the “city on a hill” part, but my point is that the ride to get there may be more than tumultuous. The same for First Baptist Paducah. If we think we can preach, live, and share the gospel without some chaos along the way, we definitely have misunderstood the gospel.

One reason why the ride gets bumpy is because you and I are driven by faith, justice, mercy, and a whole lot of other countercultural values. We have not boarded a carnival attraction for wimps. We’re in for the grace-ride of our lives!

So if you feel like throwing up, or giving up, don’t. Deep down and for eternity, there is joy on this journey. As you ascend the coaster’s next hill, and you feel that lump in your throat and those butterflies in your gut, consider lifting your hands in reckless abandon. God’s got this. Up, down, and in between.

Pastor Charles

Sunday night I preached from Matthew 16:1-12. My sermon seemed to resonate with the people, so I thought I’d share a few highlights with a broader swath of friends. In a nutshell, my attempt was to unpack some of the spiritual dangers faced by all of us on a regular basis.

First, there is the danger of HAUGHTY OVER HUMBLE. It was a bit unusual for the Pharisees and Sadducees, together, to confront Jesus – because they represented opposite ends of the theological spectrum. But the one thing that seemed to “unite” both groups was their spiritual pride. Religious pretense. Religious pride will make even enemies friends for a season. You and I must make sure that “church work” never lulls us into thinking too much of ourselves. It’s about Christ.

Then there is the danger of SIGN OVER SAVIOR. It’s certainly O.K. for us to ask questions as we seek to grow in our faith, but when our spiritual searching becomes all about the next exhilarating “sign” or experience of goosebumps – or even answered prayer – we’re in trouble. If we have Christ, and if He has us, then we have all that we will ever need. “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign.” Just saying.

Next there is the danger of OBSCURE OVER OBVIOUS. Some things are so right-in-front-of-us that we miss them! Jesus had to explain to the religious elite that – although they were adept at interpreting things like the weather – they were blind to the realities of His kingdom work all around them (“the signs of the times”). They had majored on the temporal while overlooking the eternal. Do you and I really delight in the eternal gospel?

Then there’s the danger of THRILL OVER TRUTH. Sunday night I pointed out a simple fact: we’re on a battlefield, not a playground. The Pharisees believed in resurrection, taught resurrection, and preached resurrection. They represented the very best in Biblical scholarship on the subject of resurrection. But most of them would be totally unmoved by the resurrection of Jesus. Sad and sobering.

Next there’s the danger of AMNESIA OVER ALERTNESS. The disciples had forgotten to bring any bread with them across the Sea of Galilee. This should have been no big deal to them, as they were accompanied by the Creator of all, and in light of the fact that they had just witnessed and experienced the miracles of the feeding of 5000 and 4000. But, when we read Matthew, we get the distinct impression that they’ve forgotten everything that matters! Sometimes we need even more spiritual alertness after a major spiritual victory, as that’s when we tend to fall asleep at the wheel (when “all is well”).

And lastly, there’s the danger of TOMORROW OVER TODAY. Have you ever tried to use your GPS in a large city, only to find out that it couldn’t calculate your desired route because you were too close to your destination? This has happened to me more than once. I was close, but still very much lost. My destination was within reach, but I couldn’t get there because I hadn’t acted soon enough. It’s a silly illustration, perhaps, but it reminds me to acknowledge my “lostness” while I can. When Christ walked the earth, the incessant pride of the religious leaders prevented them from embracing the Savior who was as close to them as their own breath.

“At ease in Zion?” The phrase is stolen from Amos 6:1. Israel and Judah assumed that God was “on their side,” even when He was not. You and I must guard against a false sense of invincibility. Spiritual arrogance and overconfidence are never fitting for those who know Jesus – those who have been captured by His amazing grace.

Pastor Charles

For those of you who asked for an update on Wednesday’s blog posting, here are a few of Eileen’s phone pics from D.C.

The Lord is good (Psalm 100:5)! Have a blessed weekend.

Pastor Charles

I married up. It’s that simple.

If you’ll allow me room for just a little bragging, Eileen has been appointed to serve on the Leadership Council of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. If you had known Eileen as long as I have, you’d understand just how excited she is about this! My wife has felt a strong calling from the Lord to defend religious freedom since before she entered law school back in 1984. As a matter of fact, that’s why she went to law school.

This appointment means that Eileen will be part of the team of pastors and leaders who serve as ambassadors for the ERLC. From the ERLC website: “From coast to coast, from mega church to country church, from men to women, and from various backgrounds, these leaders represent a cross section of evangelicalism in general and the SBC in particular.” Under the leadership of Dr. Russell Moore, the ERLC is the moral and public policy agency of our nation’s largest Protestant denomination.

Please pray for Eileen as she takes up her first assignment this weekend, which will be her first opportunity to interact with other members of the Leadership Council. The date has been chosen so that the team can participate in the March for Life, aimed at providing all Americans with a place to testify to the beauty of life and the dignity of each human person. On the anniversary of legalized abortion in the U.S., pro-life leaders will organize, unite, and strategize around a common message, and seek to communicate that message to the government, the media, and the nation in a way that is powerful and life-affirming.

Eileen will leave this Thursday morning for Washington, D.C., where the ERLC Leadership Council will tackle not just the sanctity of human life, but a number of other important issues facing followers of our Lord Jesus Christ. If you’re interested, I’ll attach Eileen’s bio from the ERLC’s announcement page. Soli Deo Gloria – to God alone be glory!

Pastor Charles

Eileen Moore

Eileen Moore graduated with honors from Northeastern University with a B.A. in biology and a certification in respiratory therapy. She attended Wake Forest University School of Law and graduated in the top of her class. Following law school, Eileen clerked for the Honorable Eugene H. Phillips on the North Carolina Court of Appeals. Subsequently she has worked primarily for the federal government in the Department of Justice; Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection; and the Federal Judiciary. She also had the privilege of working Of Counsel with the firm of Mauck and Baker while living in the Chicago area. Eileen trained as an Allied Attorney with the Alliance Defending Freedom, and volunteered in that capacity during the period she was not working for the federal government.

Eileen is married to Charles, who serves as the senior pastor of the First Baptist Church of Paducah, Ky. Charles also earned a law degree and shares Eileen’s passion for religious liberties. They have one son who is in high school. Together they have served congregations in North Carolina, Kentucky, greater Chicago, and Southern California. Eileen enjoys leading in women’s ministry, mentoring pastors’ wives, and planning special church events.

Someone in Illinois just sent me Ed Stetzer’s blog posting for January 16. You can find The Exchange at christianitytoday.com (“November 8th Is Long Gone, So Where do Christians Find Themselves?”) if you’re interested. In his blog, Dr. Stetzer – always the astute observer of culture – unpacks the aftermath of the 2016 national election from an evangelical perspective. This particular claim caught my eye: “20 years from now, we are going to look back at this election as a last gasp in which some Evangelicals thought that they could get their influence and culture back.”

I agree with much of Ed Stetzer’s reasoning, but I would like to add a few of my own thoughts not as rebuttal but as “further reflection” (if you’ll allow me to call it that). First of all, I think that you and I must guard against a mindset which is so pessimistic about the future of Christian influence in America that we lose the hope of real revival here and now. America can change only one person at a time, and one heart at a time. Got it. But there is surely no harm in hoisting our sails and begging the Spirit to blow triumphantly upon our churches for such a time as this! The 2016 election did not, and does not, define us. It is our Sovereign God who writes every chapter of human history, and He has used stranger things than last year’s election to accomplish amazing things for His glory. We as His people must remain unwaveringly hopeful, not in the political process but in the God who rules over it.

Secondly, I understand that the USA is not a special covenant “land” in the sense that “we pray, and so God must bless America.” But here’s why I’m not going to stop praying for America as a nation: God purposes to use His people to bless even “lands” which are thoroughly pagan. The first Biblical example which comes to mind is Jeremiah 29:7, where God calls His people who are living in exile to pray for their godless government. We must pray for God to bless America, but we must recognize that we’re praying for Him to make needed spiritual change first and foremost. We must hold out hope that real revival can happen here – and I am uncomfortable simply accepting the fact that our nation will slide more and more into post-Christian thinking. Can’t our salt be salty and our light shine like halogen on steroids? Further cultural deterioration may be our future, and God will still be good if that happens, but sometimes real revival does intervene and impact multiple generations for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Lastly, as I’ve come to better understand the thinking of many of the people who supported President-elect Donald Trump from the beginning, I recognize that many of them were not motivated by the lure of political power or prestige – or even by a desire to re-create some notion of “Christian America.” Yes, political influence can be an illusion and a trap – and even an idol. But many Trump supporters saw their candidate practically as the only person who could win against “the other side” – which they viewed as a sure and rapid slide into widespread cultural demise. Like it or not, friends, here’s the reality: older Christians are more pragmatic than Millennial Christians, and many of our more senior saints recognized full well that they were supporting someone for President who would not be the best choice to lead their Sunday School. What some younger believers saw as an impossible choice, they saw as their only choice. Now we need grace to move forward.

I guess that what I’m trying to say is that the 2016 election caused a lot of Americans to label other Americans grossly unfairly – and that I saw this happen throughout our Christian community as well. Consider the ongoing post-election struggles within our own denomination in the areas of religious liberty and free speech. Much of the continuing debate – let’s face the facts, friends – all boils down to Trump vs. never-Trump. There is harsh judgmentalism on both sides, if I may be so blunt, and I pray that it stops now. For Christ and His honor.

We are gospel people. Period.

I’ll close my own blog posting with my closing line from my response to my friend in Illinois: We need Christ’s grace to hold our tongues long enough to try to understand each other.

Pastor Charles

And he said to her, “Give me your son.” And he took him from her arms and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his own bed. And he cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, have you brought calamity even upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by killing her son?” Then he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord, “O Lord my God, let this child’s life come into him again.” And the Lord listened to the voice of Elijah. And the life of the child came into him again, and he revived. First Kings 17:19-22.

Once Elijah spoke truth to King Ahab, things were different. Elijah was removed from what he thought was his primary calling. It must have felt something like a transition from “widely-respected prophet of the Lord” to “lone minister to some poor widow.” And, by the way, it was a move from Israel to outside Israel. This woman was not just poor, but destitute, and probably without a real knowledge of Israel’s God. There would have been no thought in Elijah’s mind that this was career advancement. A demotion for sure.

But God had big plans.

Through Elijah, this starving woman would be fed daily by a miracle of the Lord. The drought would not harm her. Even more important, she would also receive the Word of God, so that her soul and her son’s soul could be nourished by the bread of life. The flour and oil would symbolize Christ and the Spirit working together.

All would not be easy though. More suffering would come, and “after this” the son would die. After the arrival of the prophet sent to minister. After the wonderful daily provisions. After some real faith had grown in this woman’s heart. The point I’m making is this: the widow must have felt demoted too.

Have you ever experienced a moment like this? “Totally unfair.” “I don’t understand.” “Why me?” “I thought the storm was over.” A totally unexpected, and thoroughly devastating, turn in the road of life. Now the widow was bitter toward Elijah.

Elijah could have defended himself. Or defended God. Or left angry and hurt too. But, instead, Elijah reached out in love and took the matter directly to the Lord. He knew on some level that the Sovereign God of the universe was in charge and working out His purposes, but Elijah also knew that this woman’s heart was absolutely broken. So, even though no one had ever before been raised from the dead, Elijah begged God to do the seemingly impossible. In the middle of nowhere, Elijah’s faith had grown. That’s how God works!

Think of all the ministries and miracles we miss because they don’t seem large-scale enough for our liking. Sometimes we miss the most important opportunities which are right under our nose. Elijah had to be right there, because this was God’s moment.

There had been no demotion for Elijah or the widow, but only a promotion in disguise.

Pastor Charles

Human trafficking is modern-day slavery. It’s a multi-billion dollar criminal industry which denies freedom to at least 21 million people around the world. (Some estimates are over 50 million.) Human trafficking happens right here in Paducah, as the I-24 corridor serves as a popular route for sex traffickers. As you might imagine, Paducah’s multiple interstate exits and hotels all too often become a dropping-off point for this horrific activity.

Human trafficking includes the girl who is forced into prostitution at a truck stop, as well as the man in the restaurant kitchen who was stripped of his passport and held against his will. All victims share one thing in common: they are trapped. They feel hopelessly trapped, though often they’re hidden in plain sight.

Mark your calendars for Sunday, February 19 and Thursday, February 23, 2017! On February 19 we’ll devote the morning sermon to an appropriate Christian response to this global epidemic. Then, on the evening of February 23, we’ll participate in END IT: an international “gathering” for the purpose of shining a light on slavery across the globe – on campuses, at corporations, in neighborhoods, and in gymnasiums. We pray that our awareness will become action for the glory of Christ! End It is a coalition of the world’s leading organizations in the fight for freedom from human trafficking and slavery. Their main goals are awareness, prevention, rescue, and restoration.

Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law. Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it (Isaiah 42:1-5) …

I am particularly calling upon our young adults and high school students to help us make a difference! Please help First Baptist Paducah get creative in ministry in 2017. Please help us capitalize on your social media skills. If this challenge lights your fire, please get in touch with me (or Pastors Steve or Rusty).

Pastor Charles