One of our family traditions each Christmas has been to see a living nativity pageant, a dramatic reenactment in biblical costume of Christ’s birth. For Drake’s first Christmas, Parker and I went to see the pageant; Drake and Kelly stayed home. Parker’s buddy Zeb, who is four years older than Parker, played the significant role […]
Read More »We’re making a list and checking it twice at First Baptist. We have so many ways to celebrate that “God is with us” through our giving, sharing, and going. I hope you’re finding ways to get involved. Pray for International Missions. We are in the week of prayer for international missions. This summer we heard […]
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Hurricane Ivan struck Pensacola with a vengeance in 2004. While I was moving to a new house, my mother and extended family in Florida were riding out the storm in her house. They discovered quickly they were right in the middle of the storm’s path. My heart wanted to be with them through the storm, […]
Read More »Advent collides with our Hallmark sense of timing. Just when we’ve finished the Thanksgiving turkey, headed out the door for the Black Friday sales, or checked another score from the never-ending series of games, suddenly the church starts talking about Jesus’ return. We sing, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” while everyone else sings, “Deck the […]
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In a cabinet at home is an old box of Kodachrome 8 mm movies. I let them sit for a long time on my desk. They’re silent films of family from long before I was in the world. I had them converted to DVD last year as a Christmas present for some of my relatives. […]
Read More »This week, we gather around tables and televisions to remember the things, people and country for which we are thankful. Thursday, however, could be more than a sentimental journey through the Norman Rockwell moments of life. This day we should be grateful for gratitude. Robert Emmons has studied gratefulness in his book “Thanks!: How the […]
Read More »I read about a family with young children traveling on vacation through Italy. When they entered a large cathedral, they noticed the church was in the middle of a service. The three year old was quite inquisitive and saw a woman at the front of the church kneeling in prayer. “What’s she doing?” the three […]
Read More »When I arrived in March, one of the first suggestions you offered was to develop a process for helping new members get involved in the life of First Baptist. As any new person will tell you, it’s hard to break into new groups—no matter what kind. It’s even more difficult to find where you fit […]
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You just never know who might show up in your neighborhood. As I was walking through ours on Halloween night, I passed another family who lives down the street. Their daughter was dressed in full costume. They looked as American as the next person, but they didn’t speak English to each other. At the end […]
Read More »On November 10, 1849, nine people formed the Baptist Church of Tallahassee. For 164 years, God has blessed their efforts and bound us together across the years. This Sunday is Heritage Sunday. We will pause to give thanks for the generations who have become a part of the “great cloud of witnesses” that has gone […]
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