Aaron Bartsch is the recently minted Director of Facilities and Maintenance at First Baptist Church, or as we like to call him around the office, the Minister of Maintenance. He has also served on our Deacon Board and plays bass guitar for our worship team. Most people at First Baptist are aware of these facts, but what you may not know is that Aaron is an actual, real-life Samurai. I’ve seen his...
Life Is Hard… Grace Is Sufficient
“Life is hard. Then you die. Then they throw dirt in your face. Then the worms eat you. Be grateful it happens in that order.” I don’t really know who David Gerrold is, but I’m grateful for this quote that is attributed to him. While it certainly presents a painfully dark and narrow view of life, there are times when it paints a fairly accurate picture of the struggle I feel in my heart. For any...
Months of Mondays
I was greatly amused by a meme I recently saw while scrolling through Facebook. It was a simple white background with words over the top. It read, “We are 5 months into 2020 and it’s still January.” Though we have turned the page on the calendar and made our way into February, the slow slog still continues. My daughter made a profound assessment of the last month and change. As we prepared for...
Rediscover the Wonder
I have done dozens of baptisms over the years. Of all of the things I do as a pastor, I find baptism to be particularly meaningful as it is a very public declaration of faith in obedience to the command and call of Jesus and because of the beautiful symbolism it demonstrates. I find myself getting emotional every time I lower someone into the water and pronounce the words, “Buried with Him...
Recent Comments