PASTOR NEWSLETTER
JUNE 2025
A Good Laugh
One of my favorite times each week is my Thursday D-life meeting with three of my pastor buddies. What would you imagine happening when four preachers get together for a couple of hours? There is no swapping of sermon outlines, nor do we preach to one another and critique the messages to see if they can be shared in a different light. We certainly talk about the Word of God, and we certainly pray together, but there is also another aspect of our time together that we thoroughly enjoy–we laugh.
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As we gather around the table for our meeting each week, each of us shares what is going on in our lives. We talk about our families and our communities. We talk about sports, politics, and religion in general. We carry on the same conversations that any other group might discuss over lunch or at the water cooler.
Pastors are people too, so we laugh at jokes, and we can even get a little silly at times. On one wall of the meeting room at the DBA is Acts 1:8. The verse is in large letters, but the way it is arranged has the word “Samaria” by itself on its own line. One pastor last week said he had been looking at that verse for weeks now, wondering why “Samaria” was on a line by itself. He said it was driving him crazy. We all had a good laugh and spent the next five minutes joking about how we could fix it.
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Have you ever wondered if Jesus had a good laugh with the disciples or those who were listening to Him teach? I would say absolutely they did. While the Bible gives us no specific Scripture passage mentioning Christ laughing, the Bible does give us this enlightening verse in Hebrews 1:9 “You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.” If Jesus was anointed with the “oil of gladness” by the Father, then we can safely assume that the joy with which Christ lived His earthly life had some wonderful times of laughter as well.
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As Christians, we are filled with the Holy Spirit, which produces with us the fruit of joy. May we enjoy the righteous laughter we share with friends and family, with brothers and sisters in Christ.
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“Then our mouth was filled with laughter, And our tongue with singing. Then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.”” Psalms 126:2
Upcoming Events!
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June 8-12: Vacation Bible School at LBC.
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June 21: Father/Son Pinewood Derby children’s ministry.
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July 6: Quarterly Deacons’s meeting at 9 a.m.
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July 9: Quarterly business meeting after the Adult Bible study.
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July 14-18: ARISE youth conference.
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July 27: Bro. Ryan Barrontine will be preaching.
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August 3-6: Revival with Rev. Mark Carr
FROM THE PASTOR'S DESK
There are many articles that can be found concerning the last words of people before their deaths. Some are from people you and I have never heard of, while others are from well-known individuals, whether they were athletes, actors, musicians, or politicians. The comedian W.C. Fields, shortly before his death, was found reading the Bible. When asked why he was reading a book that had not previously interested him at all, Fields quipped, “I’m looking for loopholes.”
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I love reading the last words of believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. There are many quotes that we can read that speak of the peace we have through our faith relationship with Jesus. Hudson Taylor was a British missionary to China and the founder of CIM (China Inland Missions). He spent his life ministering to the Chinese people and recruiting missionaries to spend their lives in reaching the country for Christ. Listen to his last words before he died and was buried in the land of his Kingdom service: “I am so weak that I can hardly write. I cannot read my Bible, I cannot even pray. I can only lie still in God’s arms like a little child, and trust.”
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The verses found in Genesis 49 also contain some last words. They are the words of Jacob (Israel), who gathered his sons together for what was not a traditional blessing. The words of Israel to his twelve sons were more of a comment on the future of the tribes, in part based on the actions of the sons during their lives. While some have tried to surmise why Jacob had the names of the sons in this particular order, we cannot surmise anything particular about the order other than stating the obvious. Jacob did not address his sons in chronological order; instead, he addressed them in relation to their mothers. Israel spoke to Leah’s sons first, followed by the sons of the handmaids Bilhah and Zilpah, and lastly the sons of Rachel.
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Most of the attention with these last words went to Judah and Joseph. The importance of Judah cannot be stated more clearly here. Jacob says the scepter shall not depart from Judah, which speaks of the royal line that began with David, Solomon, and their dynasty which followed. The royalty spoken of here eventually leads us to the coming of Shiloh, which is a messianic reference. The Messiah, who is Jesus Christ, is referred to in Revelation 5:5 as the “Lion of the tribe of Judah.” Judah was the largest tribe who always led the way for Israel during their wilderness wanderings.
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From the consequences of Reuben’s sin to the military might of Naphtali, from the agricultural bounty of Asher to the disappearance of Dan in Revelation 7, we are reminded that our choices have results, either good or bad. May the last words attributed to us be words of blessing that honor Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.