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Should I Get Baptized Again If I Was Baptized as a Baby?
As a pastor of a church with the word “Baptist” in the name, baptism is important. And as I talk with people about baptism, here is a common scenario that arises: Me: “Hey Frank, have you been baptized before?” Frank: “I have!” Me: “Awesome! Where at?” Frank: “I was baptized as a baby at ________ Church.” And from their perspective, they are set. But there is a problem with this way of thinking. Here at Island Pond Baptist Church, we…
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…
Porn Causes Sexual Problems
Warning: This blog covers some mature themes of a sexual nature. What if I told you that your sexual problems were caused by pornography? In his book, Your Brain on Porn, Gary Wilson discusses how porn causes sexual problems in the brain. Mind you, this is not some conservative Christian saying this. This is coming from a secular (non-Christian) scientist. Too often people think that porn either 1) enhances sexual experiences, or, at the very least, 2) won’t have any…
Why Should The Government Be Involved In A Christian Marriage?
Why even talk about this issue? I am on a number of Facebook groups for pastors and a question comes up on a regular basis pertaining to this issue. It usually goes something like this: “Betty and Arnold are living together and want to be married ‘in the eyes of God’ but not by the state. Betty is a widow who is receiving her former husband’s pension and if she get’s married she will lose that financial help. Therefore, she…
Pictures of Trunk or Treat 2024
Last week, we had about 450 people attend our Trunk or Treat outreach in the parking lot of our church. The weather was on the cool side, with some occasional strong winds, but it was such a fun time. We handed out a lot of candy and hopefully the kids left with a big smile on their faces. Mike’s trunk presented the gospel in a very easy to understand way. May we do all we can to make Jesus shine…
Who are the Nephilim and sons of God in Genesis 6?
Who are the Nephilim and sons of God in Genesis 6? Genesis 6 contains one of the most well-known stories in all of the Bible. That is, of course, the story of Noah in the ark. But before Noah gets going there is a really strange passage that Bible nerds love to debate over. In fact, when I preached on Genesis 6 earlier this month a 10 year old kid came up to me after the sermon and wanted to…
Ask The Pastor: Why does Island Pond celebrate Satan’s holiday?
Ask The Pastor: Why does Island Pond celebrate Satan’s holiday? This past week I was stopped before the service and asked this question. The reason this person asked is because we do an outreach close to Halloween called Trunk or Treat. While we do not mention anything about Halloween at the event, any reasonable person can put “two and two” together when it is within a week of Halloween, people dress up, and candy is given out. But this begs…
Ask the pastor: What’s the difference between the United Methodists and Southern Baptists?
Ask the pastor: What’s the difference between the United Methodists and Southern Baptists? This is a timely question as a number of people have recently left United Methodist churches (UMC) and some are ending up at Southern Baptist churches (SBC). This begs the question… what are the differences between the two denominations? Before I got this question, I did not know a ton about the UMC so I had to do some research and below is what I found. But…