BCC in the Wayback Machine

What a delightful surprise to have Jason Pettus-- er, um, excuse me: I mean, Dr. Jason Pettus bringing the message this past weekend. To those who have found a bittersweet homecoming in this rebuilding transition at the church, having a former minister to students beloved by many return to guest preach was surely a blessing. Jason -- I'm sorry again -- Dr. Pettus ;-) is now the lead pastor at Living Hope Baptist Church in Bowling Green, Kentucky and came to deliver part 5 in BCC's Relational Realities series after a postponed engagement to speak at BCC in the Spring.

I remember when I first met Jason. It was probably 1998. The church was still meeting at the middle school, and I had e-mailed just expressing interest in where Becky and I might plug in to ministry. Jason took the time to meet me for coffee at the Bean Central (?) on Murfreesboro Road, and so he was the first (and really only) staff member I knew from then on for several years. I started volunteering in the student ministry, and I always enjoyed hearing his heart for youth. His speaking style I would always characterize as "warm."
Seeing him this weekend was great, and I see he's only gotten warmer.

Jason said a lot of great things this weekend -- among them highlighting how we tend to touchy-feely passages like 1 Corinthians 13 that ought to scare us to death -- but my favorite was probably when he shared a word of exhortation and promise regarding our lead pastor search. He said God is right now preparing our new lead pastor for us just as He's preparing us for our new lead pastor. I thought that was a good word reminding us of God's sovereignty in this situation. God cares about our church; finding our shepherd will not be a crap shoot.