Pastor's Desk - Post Melissa
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” – Psalm 46:1 (KJV)
The Friendly Church
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” – Psalm 46:1 (KJV)
“Vision without action is merely a dream. Action without vision just passes the time. Vision with action can change the world. Let us rise up and live out God’s vision with passion today.” – Joel A. Barker/adapted
Jamaicans went to the polls on Wednesday, September 3, and have chosen to give the ruling Jamaica Labour Party a third term in office, albeit with a majority of three. We congratulate the JLP, and we commend the PNP, as well, for gaining fifteen new seats in the parliament.
Freedom - The Awesome Responsibility of Christians in a World of Shifting Norms
“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” — Galatians 5:1 (NIV)
“Love is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever truth wins out” (1 Cor. 13:6 TLB)
There are two public issues that I want to use to illustrate an important ministry of the church, which is advocacy, that is, speaking up for and acting on behalf of others for their rights and welfare. These are the Mario Deane’s case and Kelsey Ferrigan murder.
“This month, we are focusing on the family. But the question is: which family? Most of us are part of many—our immediate biological family, extended relatives, and most importantly, the family of grace, the community of believers to which we all belong (Ephesians 2:19).
As we reflect on family, we must also consider the external forces that affect it—policies, economics, and global shifts that reach across borders and disrupt relationships, hopes, and livelihoods.
"I will give you the treasures of darkness and riches hidden in secret places..." (Isaiah 45:3 NRSV)
The experience of grief and loss in any form tends to create so much pain, anxiety, and disappointment that one may ask, “Where are the 'treasures’ in grief and loss when your 'treasures' have been lost?
The curtains have been drawn on the 175th Assembly of the Jamaica Baptist Union, held in Montego Bay between February 19 and 23. This marked the first time the Assembly took place outside of Kingston since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020. The Assembly's theme was “Keeping Faith with the Word in an Ever-Changing World,” complemented by the sub-theme
“Wholeness.”
What's love but a second-hand emotion?
What's love got to do, got to do with it?
Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken?