Posts from 2025
Why We Don’t Use Secular Music or Movies at Church Functions
As our church continues to grow, more activities are taking place each week and more types of people are attending. Non-Christians, new Christians, and long-time Christians. And all these additional people means that the amount of events, groups, and gatherings we have is increasing. In order to make sure we remain focused on our mission to make disciples of Jesus Christ, the Church Council (the group of leaders at the church composed of the pastors and deacons) made a decision…
Why we don’t celebrate Lent at our church
If you’ve been online or talked with Christian friends from different backgrounds, chances are you’ve heard people talking about Lent. But, if you have been at Island Pond for any period of time, you may have noticed that we don’t include Lent in our traditions. Why is that? Are we missing out on something? Are other churches that participate in Lent doing something wrong? I want to answer these questions. But first, what is Lent? Lent is a 40-day period…
Why We Use the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message Instead of the 1963
Why do some Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) churches use the 1963 Baptist Faith and Message (BFM) while others use the 2000 BFM? I want to take a deeper look at this question so we can have a better appreciation for the statement of faith we use, which is the 2000 BFM. Every generation of believers face the same challenge: stay faithful to the gospel while navigating a changing world. For Southern Baptists, the BFM serves as a guidepost to clarify…
Why Do We Not Baptize Infants?
In this blog series, Deeper, I look at a theological or biblical topic more deeply and see how it applies to our lives. Today I will be looking at the topic of infant baptism. As a Southern Baptist pastor, I do not believe that infant baptism is biblical. However, there are some wonderful pastors from other denominations that do believe in infant baptism. Just this week, I was reading one of my favorite commentaries, while preparing for my sermon on…
Changes to Online Giving
Dear Island Pond Family, If you never give online, then you can ignore this email. If you do give online, please continue reading! With the start of the new year we are transitioning to a new online giving platform called Planning Center. Please read the following information, particularly if you use recurring giving. The giving page on our website has been updated, so if you normally give by clicking on that link, then you can continue doing what you normally do. You…