I love lighthouses. Over the years I have collected a number of different lighthouse items. More than the lighthouse themselves, I appreciate what they represent. Hope. Hope to the sailor lost at sea. Hope to the lost struggling to find a safe harbor. Hope for the aimless looking for direction.

Hope. Perhaps more than anything, the world we live in needs to know that there is hope. People around us are struggling in seemingly hopeless circumstances. Families are shattered by divorce. Companies are shutting down, leaving people without income. Children are looking for direction and boundaries and finding none. Communities are searching for answers while at the same time turning from God. If only there were some beacon that could guide people to a place of hope.

To the church that has been strategically placed in a community of people seeking light the ancient words of Jesus echo in Scripture:

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ “Nor do men light a lamp, and put it under the peck-measure, but on the lampstand; and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. [Matthew 5:14-16 (NASB77)]

It’s us! Me and you! We are the bearers of the light that the world is longing for. In a world of people struggling in darkness, are we going to place a shade over the light we carry and conceal it, or go to a world in need and reveal it. Jesus told His followers that they were the lifht of the world, and he asked them to let that light shine, but He doesn’t force us. We must see the need and respond. We must decide to be the lighthouse in our community. We must shine the light of hope in Wallingford and allow that beam to spread through the region and the world.

“Trim your feeble lamp my brother

some poor seaman tempest tossed

trying now to make the harbor

in the darkness may be lost.”

-From “Let the Lower Lights be Burning” by Philip P. Bliss

My prayer is that our church will be the lighthouse the community needs to lead them into the grace, mercy, and love of God found in Jesus Christ.

Go Light Your World, Church! 

Pastor Dave

How do you know that someone is a king?  Is it any wonder that Jesus confused the people of His day who were expecting a king and instead were given a baby in a manger?  The Gospel of Matthew is written to people who were living in expectation of the King of Kings to prove that Jesus fulfilled those ancient promises. 
First Baptist Church of Wallingford will be starting a series of Sermons on the book of Matthew this Sunday.  Join us for worship at 11:00.

As we turn the calendar to the new year I begin a new chapter in life and ministry.  I am now the pastor of First Baptist Church in Wallingford, Vermont.  It’s interesting because this church is located just miles from where my wife and I started out almost three decades ago.  Over the course of the years we have traveled and served in a variety of places and ministries, but God has allowed us to return home and minister in an area that is near and dear to our hearts and lives. 

Looking Back

2013 was an interesting year.  There were many challenges and trials over the course of the year.   At the same time we experienced many blessings.  We did a number of things we had never done before and began new traditions for our family.  We were able to spend time with all our grandchildren over the holidays as well.  I’m glad to be turning the page to a new year, but I enjoyed the previous year too.

Looking Ahead

As I write we are experiencing the first winter storm of 2014.  We were blessed with a snow-day off from school at the end of our Christmas break.  (We are hopeful that tomorrow will be a repeat).  We are making plans for the year to come and have several things coming up as we both continue our education, begin the ministry in Wallingford and move forward in the journey we are on with God.

It’s going to be a great year.  Keep us in your prayers.

Blessings,

Dave “Big D” Bentley

A VETERAN’S DAY THOUGHT

Over the course of history men and women of various backgrounds have stood up and answered the call to don the uniform of military service and place themselves in harms way for the protection and promotion of the causes of liberty and freedom.  Most have completed their courses unscathed, but many have left the service with life-long injuries, physical and emotional wounds they will carry the rest of their lives.  Others have not returned, paying the ultimate price for the country and citizens they serve.  Thank you Veterans, for being willing to serve, to go, and to pay the price. 

Now, I challenge the rest of you, myself included, to live a life and be the type of person that strives to be worthy of such devotion and sacrifice.  Do not let their sacrifice be in vain.  Honor them by living honorably.

Today is the first Sunday in November, which means that it is HOMECOMING Sunday for Smyrna Baptist Church in Dothan, Alabama. As I look back over the almost 20 years I’ve been a pastor this little church, where I served for just over two years, was one of the best experiences of my ministry and my life. I remember every detail about the building, the parsonage, the grounds. I spent many moments walking with God around the property and the cemetery across the street. God did amazing things in my life and in the life of the church during that time. I have often regretted the decision to leave that place of ministry.

As they celebrate Homecoming today I offer my thanks to God for their faithfulness and ministry and for the privilege of being one of their pastors through the years. Lord willing, one day I will have opportunity to visit with them and join in the sweet fellowship they share one again.

God bless you Smyrna Baptist Family!  You are still the Sunday place to be!

A thought from my quiet time this morning:

Deuteronomy 10.12-13
And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to observe the Lord’s commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?

Don’t parents intend for our rules to be for the good of our children.  In love parents set boundaries and establish expectations for their sons and daughters.  The same is true of The Heavenly Parent, God.  In His love for us He has determined, from ancient times, to establish rules, boundaries, codes of conduct if you will, for the benefit and blessing of His children.  We often look at rules as constrictive, but God intends them to be constructive.

Have a Blessed Friday!

The following BLOG post is reposted from Dr. Terry Dorsett.  It comes a timely interval as we are about to trek through the increasingly busy and demanding holiday season toward and beyond Christmas.

Jesus Vs. Video Games

Dr. Terry Dorsett: http://thoughtsfromdrt.blogspot.com/

My primary ministry is to help coordinate church planting across the state of Connecticut. In that role I get to spend time with a lot of fine young couples who have a passion for changing their world. One of the things I work with those couples to do when they first get started is to find some partners who would stand with them in prayer, giving and volunteerism. Those partners come from other area churches and from churches outside our area that have a burden for Connecticut. It is a lot of work to find partners willing to sacrifice their time, their treasure and their talents to help a church they are not even part of. But the Lord touches the hearts of partners and they join the cause.

Recently one of our church planters sent a Facebook message to me. He had been working the social media angle pretty hard trying to find partners. Though some people had responded, many had not. In a pointed moment of realization it occurred to him that many of the same people he was contacting about partnering with him in church planting were ignoring his messages about partnering but sending him countless messages inviting him to play games on Facebook. He found it ironic that they would talk to him a lot about games but none about Jesus. His message pondered what it would be like if he could get people as excited about partnering with him as they were about playing games on Facebook. I wonder the same thing.

And it is not just Facebook games. People who tell me they do not have time to volunteer have the time to play on both a softball league and a basketball league. People who tell me they do not have money to donate somehow have the money to drive the latest model car with all the upgrades. Pastors who tell me their church is too stretched to help plant another church find money for another round of renovations in a sanctuary that already looks pristine and take their senior adults on amazing sight seeing trips on fully equipped buses, but seem unable to take those same people on a mission trip. Once I got a letter from a mega-church asking me for money, not to start a church, but to build an $120,000 playground for the children in their already well funded private school. I sent them a letter back suggesting they tithe off their playground fund to a church plant in New England. I am still waiting on that donation to come through . . .

It is all about priorities. The American church has gotten our priorities wrong. Now we play games and have fun instead of being about the business of winning others to Jesus. I am not suggesting that we should NEVER have fun or play a game, but somewhere along the line we must stop playing games with our faith and start doing whatever it takes to win our nation to Jesus. The team of church planters we have in Connecticut are in it to win it, will you join them, or are you too busy playing games on Facebook, planning your next trip to the beach or getting a message at the spa?

This video is from the Springfield Community Chorus, Springfield, Vermont, Spring presentation of Mozart’s “Requiem in d minor.”  My wife and I enjoy being part of this group. 

Next performance will be December 7 & 8 in Chester and Springfield.  Come and enjoy!

I’m tired of the democrats.  I’m tired of the republicans.  I’m tired of politicians saying whatever they believe to be expedient for the purpose of getting votes, winning party favor, or playing to their party’s base.  The following provides a striking example–and these are available from people on both sides of the political spectrum.  
March, 2006, then senator Barack Obama had this to say:

“The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership FAILURE It is a sign that the US Government cannot pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s RECKLESS fiscal policies. Increasing America ‘s debt WEAKENS US domestically and internationally. Leadership means that, ‘the buck stops here.’ Instead, Washington is SHIFTING THE BURDEN of BAD choices today onto the backs of OUR CHILDREN and grandchildren. America HAS a debt problem and a FAILURE of leadership. Americans deserve better.”

I don’t beat the drum for any current politician or party anymore.  Both political and ideological sides have been a serious disappointment as far as I’m concerned, and our country is worse off by having any of them in office.  The best thing the voters could hope for is a clean sweep of fresh faces and new ideas in the next few election cycles.  It’s time to elect some people who don’t view the office as a privilege to enjoy, but rather a duty fulfill. 

Before you ask, I’m not planning to run for any sort of political office, and unless things change I probably won’t vote again either.

A Confounded Constituent

I remember September 11, 2001.

But, I also remember September 12, 2001, when the hearts and minds of our nation were stirred to turn to God and people from all walks of life prayed. We prayed for the people still trapped beneath the fallen towers. We prayed for the first responders who had so bravely faced that horrible and tragic day. We prayed for the families who would have an empty seat at the table. We prayed for a nation that had been rocked from one coast to the other by the events in the east. We prayed for the soldier, men and women who would be leaving home to respond across the ocean to this attack. We prayed, and we worshipped, and we looked to God.

I remember the days following September 11th. The people of our nation were moved with patriotism and we were The UNITED States of America. There was no black…no Hispanic…no white, just American. Flags were raised on the homes and business of people of all colors and nat…(tharr be more)ionalities in our country. We joined hands with the people next to us in solidarity without first looking to see what color their skin was, or what political party they were part of.

I remember September 11th, and I’m left wondering: Why does it take tragedy and crisis to unite us? Why can we only seem to look past race and politics when we are in trouble. Hurricanes, earth quakes, floods, and terrorist attacks seem to force us to look past the surface. There we see the elements that unite and strengthen us. Patriotism…Loyalty…Tolerance…Love for Country and for our Fellow Man.

Today people will be remembering September 11th. But I wonder will they remember what September 11th revealed about our nation? Will the remember what we experienced together in the days following that tragic Tuesday? Will they regret that our nation has lost sight of that sense of unity in the larger community? Will they long for the spiritual drive of those days that compelled people to look toward the heavens in prayer?

Will it make a difference on September 11, 2013?