First Union African Baptist Church

05/28/2026

Pastor’s Perspective in a small community May 28, 2026

In my ministerial capacity, I’ve performed many weddings over the years. Weddings have a tendency to be days that epitomize some notion of love that we hold, and often times they are carefully scripted to showcase the love between two people. The traditional vows are meant to stand as promises made to each other in the sight of God that explicitly state that the precious love that unites the couple will stand in times of plenty and little, in good times and tough, and health and sickness. The beautiful bride and the adoring groom, looking better than they ever have in their lives, celebrating with the most important people in their lives, looking forward to the honeymoon, and feeling on top of the world. In many ways, it is the easiest day in the life of that couple to love one another.

Unfortunately, too many of the marriages that I and others have performed do not last. Loving one another is easy when times are better, when we are richer, when we are healthier. Those times allow us to gloss over weaknesses in relationships that might get exposed when the pressure increases, and if you are going to be in a relationship that perseveres, the one promise that I can make is that the pressure will always increase. If our notion is that love must be as easy as it was on our wedding day, we are heading for divorce.

I was reminded of this recently when I watched an older couple get off the ferry. The man stood first, placing himself within arm’s length of the woman. As she stood, it was clear that both the agility and mental acuity of her youth were no longer with her. The distant look in her eyes suggested that she had little understanding of where she was or who she was with. This was not the bride who stood before her groom on their wedding day. But the man gently grasped her arms and looked intently into her eyes as he guided her up out of her seat. Once both were standing, he walked backwards while holding onto her, in a tender dance that gradually led her off the boat and onto the dock where a golf cart was waiting to drive her onto the shore.

This was even more beautiful an expression of love than the first dance between husband and wife, because this waltz took place not when everything was going great. This was the poignant expression of love that has been refined not just through the good times, but through the hardships that are inevitable. Not love that comes from shared celebrations, but love that comes from mutual sacrifice. I have no doubt that this woman never wanted to be a burden to this man, but it was clear that this man would do anything to be able to keep dancing with her, no matter how hard it got.

Friends, we live in a time where we’re told that life is meant to be easy, and certainly many inventions and modern conveniences are the result of people seeking to find an easier way to accomplish something. But sometimes, to achieve something that is truly beautiful, we need to endure hardships and persevere when life doesn’t look like the joyful wedding celebration. The greatest depths of love come from places of sacrifice, which was epitomized by Jesus when he declared that the greatest display of love is that a man would lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).

Therefore, don’t think that difficulties are a sign that you are heading in the wrong direction, or that something wasn’t meant to be. Those challenges may be the very thing that God is going to use to unlock a depth of love that you never thought you could experience.

Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron

05/21/2026

Pastor’s Perspective in a small community May 21, 2026

This upcoming weekend is one of the most looked-forward-to weekends on the annual calendar. Marking the unofficial start of summer, the three-day weekend created by the federal holiday of Memorial Day means that school is either over or nearly over and vacations are fast approaching. It is a time to head to the beach, fire up the grill, and enjoy time with friends and family.

But that wasn’t the initial purpose for establishing a holy day of remembrance.

According to the United States Code, Section 36, dealing with Patriotic and National Observances, Ceremonies, and Observations, Congress found that “it is essential to remember and renew the legacy of Memorial Day, which was established in 1868 to pay tribute to individuals who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to the United States and their families.” Evidently, somewhere between the original establishment of Memorial Day and 2000, the solemn purpose of that specific holiday had been lost in the rush to enjoy summer, which caused Congress to revise and amend the language regarding Memorial Day. Under the “National Moment of Remembrance Act,” Congress thereby designated the first minute beginning at 3:00 p.m. local time on Memorial Day to be recognized as the National Moment of Remembrance. During that time, according to the US Code, and by Presidential Proclamation, the American people are called to join together in prayer for permanent peace.

There are so many voices in the nation right now staking out wildly different positions. One of those voices declares that the First Amendment is a right to freedom from religion, not of religion, and that Christianity has no place in the governance of this nation. Such voices seem quite unaware of the role of faith and religion in shaping our nation, from the framing of our Declaration of Independence written 250 years ago to an act that was established in 2000 and subsequently amended less than 20 years ago. Unfortunately, when the foundation of a national identity is rooted in a Creator who endows us with rights and should be prayed to for peace, and large portions of the population reject the very notion that such a God exists or is worthy of being prayed to, it makes sense that our identity as a nation would be muddled.

According to the Old Testament, when the Jewish people walked into the Promised Land of Canaan, one group was to stand on the side of Mount Gerizim to bless the people for keeping the commands of the Lord, while another group was to stand on the side of Mount Ebal to pronounce curses on those who did things contrary to the will of God. The expectation was clear – be a nation that glorifies God and it will go well but be a nation that defies God and divine justice will prevail. God watched patiently for several centuries, but the Israelites strayed far from their founding roots and disregarded the commands of God. Ultimately, divine justice took the form of the invasions and subsequent exile at the hands of the Assyrians and Babylonians, and then the utter desolation of Jerusalem at the hands of the Romans in 70 AD.

There have been many moments in the history of our nation when our leaders have called us to pray – moments when it was clear that God’s divine blessing could easily be replaced by His divine curse with a result that might resemble the fate of ancient Israel. Prayer is a critical part of our national heritage, and it is the federally designated manner by which we are called to remember the sacrifices made by so many of America’s sons and daughters in the quest for peace. Indeed, prayer is in the very lifeblood of this nation, which means that we must remember it and exercise it if we are to hold onto the identity that was forged 250 years ago by men who understood that God, and not a king, is the true Sovereign. So, for that reason, even as you are enjoying your Memorial Day holiday this Monday doing whatever it is that you do, please remember to take at least one minute out of your day, at 3:00, and offer a prayer to the Prince of Peace, that there might be peace on Earth and good will towards men. And I assure you that no offense will be taken if your prayers extend far beyond 60 seconds.

Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron

05/14/2026

Pastor’s Perspective in a small community May 14, 2026

In an incredibly rare moment, I had the opportunity to sit around a table on Mother’s Day with my two daughters, my wife, my mother, and my mother-in-law. Two grandmothers, combining for more than a century of mothering experience, being celebrated but also providing wisdom that only comes from specific experiences. It was in that setting that I asked my mother what the most difficult moment or thing was about being a mother. Without the slightest hesitation, she offered up something profound: “Learning to keep my mouth shut when you kids made decisions that I disagreed with.”

Everyone has opinions, and we are frequently too quick to share them with people who didn’t ask for them. Certainly, the urge to do that with our children and the people we love most is even more compelling, making it nearly impossible to hold our tongues. And clearly there are times when we shouldn’t stay silent - but those times are significantly less frequent than we otherwise presume. What my mother was acknowledging was that the process of becoming a healthy, functioning adult required allowing people to make decisions after their own process of gathering information and then dealing with the positive and negative consequences of those decisions. For us kids to gain autonomy, she had to let go of her authority. When a parent keeps scripting those decisions and those moments, filled with ideas of what is best for their children, the opportunities for growth are stifled and the parent stays in control long after it is healthy.

A dear friend in ministry, Bruce Main of UrbanPromise, recently published a book titled “God Writes a Better Story.” The story that I would have written for my life would have looked very different from the life that I am now living – the life that I am loving. And part of the journey that got me to this place in life was making certain decisions that I know my mother would have been working overtime to keep her mouth shut about. It wasn’t that she would have tried to talk me out of becoming a pastor, but rather that the path that ultimately led me to become a pastor started with some very different decisions, with very different anticipated outcomes. Neither she nor I ever would have expected that I would be serving as a pastor when I first opted to move a thousand miles away from my hometown more than three decades ago to pursue a rather speculative venture (that never panned out). As Bruce points out in the many anecdotes within his book, the story that God writes is much better than the story that we would have written ourselves.

As a father, I so greatly appreciated the wisdom that my mother offered. My wife and I have raised our daughters to the point where they are now both college graduates. We have poured into them through our words and our examples, hopefully instilling in them a strong sense of morals and values, as well as an appreciation for critical thinking. I will encourage them when I should, and strive to keep my mouth shut when appropriate, because it is their life to live. But through whatever decisions they may make, and whatever situations they may find themselves in, I am simply going to trust that God has already authored a story of their lives that is so much greater than anything that I could have possibly scripted. Because God really does write a better story.

Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron

05/07/2026

Pastor’s Perspective in a small community May 7, 2026

When I was on a mission trip to India several years ago, I spent time in the western portion of the country, an arid place not far from the desert. For each family to survive, one of the family members was given the responsibility of making the trip each morning to the nearest spring, where they would collect as much water as they could carry and then bring it back to the family shack. The chore would take most of the morning, consuming time that would otherwise be spent attending school. For that reason, the task of fetching water was assigned to the females, since that culture didn’t expect women to have a formal education.

As I watched this play out, a rather interesting thought popped into my head – what if God has placed the cure for cancer in the mind of a young Indian girl, and until we as a society figure out how to free her from such a menial task and educate her, we will have to continue with our suffering?

In the beautiful words of Psalm 139, the psalmist declares that God formed his inmost being, knitting him together in his mothers womb, with the result being that the writer realizes that he is fearfully and wonderfully made. It is a powerful statement of the inherent dignity in each human being, and the sense that each is endowed by our Creator with more than just a few inalienable rights. We have been endowed with purpose which, combined with our specific life experiences and situations, makes each one of us unique. We all have something to offer. The question that we face is whether we can carve out the time in our daily schedules to develop that purpose that sits within us, waiting to be revealed.

Here in the US, we have moved beyond the point where we need to decide between educating our children or dying of thirst. However, that doesn’t mean that we don’t face a seemingly endless stream of obligations and opportunities that vie for nearly every moment of our day. We can get so busy with work, volunteer opportunities, family obligations, and the multitude of distractions that steal minutes and hours from us that, before we know it, a new week has started and it feels like we’ve gone nowhere. And yet, so many people are frustrated because they know that they were made for more – that God put a deeper purpose within them – and they haven’t figured out how to bring it to life.

For us, the key is learning how to say “No”. Developing your purpose, whether it is writing the song that resides in your heart, or starting a non-profit that addresses your passion, or simply becoming a better parent, requires saying “No” to some of the good (and perhaps not-so-good) things that have previously filled your schedule, so that you can say “Yes” to the thing that makes you different from everyone else on Earth. It might even mean saying “No” to a little bit of sleep, but if the end result is something that reveals what God knit into you while you were still in your mother’s womb, then it will be worth it.

You may well benefit from the gift that God has hidden inside of you, but the broader truth is that you have been blessed so that you can then be a blessing to others. So, see if there’s some unpolished gem sitting inside your soul, yearning to be set free. If so, say “No” to whatever you can so that you can say “Yes” to fulfilling your unique purpose. It may not be the cure to cancer, but what if it is?

Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron

04/30/2026

Pastor’s Perspective in a small community April 30, 2026

Many of you reading this will remember the tag line of a particular financial management firm that was heard decades ago: “When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen.” It conveyed a reality about communication that we would do well to remind ourselves today, in a world where it seems that everyone has a megaphone at their fingertips that can amplify their voices.

First, it distinguishes the difference between someone projecting a message and someone receiving that message. Just because you have something to say doesn’t mean that someone is going to hear it. Of course, there can be many reasons why a message spoken is not also a message heard. It could have gotten lost in a cacophony of competing messages, or there may not have been anyone to receive it, or it was spoken in the wrong forum. For whatever reason, the fact remains that sometimes there is no one listening to a message.

Second, it suggests that when certain people have something to say, there will be those who want to hear it and will make the effort to receive the message. E.F. Hutton was known for his sage counsel when it came to financial matters. People trusted him, and he didn’t make a point of making points on a daily basis. Therefore, when he was willing to make his opinion on something known, people valued the opportunity to hear what was on his mind.

Third, it also suggests that there are people who will speak even though other people will not listen to them. It is easy to conflate the concept of freedom of speech with the right to be heard, but they are two very different concepts. People tend to say something precisely because they want people to listen to them, but the power of the E.F. Hutton commercial was in pointing out that there are many people speaking about financial matters that should not be listened to, because their track record doesn’t warrant taking them seriously.

We all have significant control over whether we are the sort of person that others want to listen to. We can dedicate ourselves to saying only those things that are true, so that we establish a reputation of being accurate. We can phrase our messages in ways that are easily received (as opposed to being offensive), so that we are known to be thoughtful and kind. And we can resist the urge to weigh in on everything – especially those things where others have considerably more insight, so that people don’t’ think that we are only talking to hear the sound of our own voice. Take care with these things, and people will likely listen to you. Disregard them, and you increase the likelihood that people will disregard what you have to say.

In my years of pastoring, I have done lots of listening, and I’ve found that nearly everyone has something that is worth other people hearing. However, sometimes I’ve had to filter through lots of things that weren’t worth listening to or would have otherwise caused me to tune out a person, before I get to that one precious nugget. Certainly, we could all be more patient as listeners, but we should remember our responsibility as speakers. If you want people to listen to you when you have something to say, try cultivating habits of truthfulness, kindness, and discretion. You too can be the sort of person who, when you talk, people listen.

Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron

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04/23/2026

Pastor’s Perspective in a small community April 23, 2026

For more than 20 years, I have lived on an island without a bridge, and I would not change that for the world. No one made us move here, and no one is forcing us to stay. Frankly, we just consider ourselves to be blessed to be here. Nearly everything about this community fits us, and it is hard to imagine replicating this experience or quality of life anywhere else. Yet there’s a reason why this island isn’t for everyone, and that reason is the boat ride.

Whether you love the boat ride or you aren’t excited about it, the bottom line is that the mainland and all that it has to offer is at the other end of the ride. Since most of us live here on the island because we don’t want to be on the mainland, we try to minimize how often we take a trip “overseas”. Yet there are some trips that are hard to avoid, like various medical visits or grocery shopping. And in any potential case, the primary consideration is whether or not the purpose of the trip warrants the commitment of time required to get to the boat, ride across the sound, get to your car, and then reach your destination.

We don’t tend to do casual lunches with friends on the mainland, and the idea of meeting up for coffee seems ridiculous – that is, unless you can fit it around a trip to the store. Otherwise, you might be looking at allocating five hours to something that would only require one hour if you didn’t have to think about a boat ride. But that doesn’t mean that we won’t make those trips. What it means is that we have counted the cost, including the commitment of time, and determined that it is worth it.

Time is the most precious commodity, and most of us have not yet fully appreciated that – particularly since none of us knows how much time we have left. New Testament author James points that out when he writes that you don’t know what tomorrow brings. Most of us still have plenty of things that we have to allocate time towards, which should simply place an even greater value on our free time. The bottom line is that we likely have far less time than we want, so we should value it accordingly. But that doesn't mean that we shouldn’t spend it or invest it.

The next 24 hours will pass no matter how you fill them, but there are some things that are simply too important to not give your time to. I don’t know what those things are in your life, but if you don’t know what they are either, then I suggest that you spend some of the time that you have now figuring it out. There may well be things worth doing that will take a chunk of your time, and the later you figure that out, the harder it will be to find that block of time. The time will pass whether you are doing something that is important to you or not, so you might as well set your schedule to fit the things that really matter – even if it means taking five hours to have a one-hour lunch. Because some things are just worth it.

Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron

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04/16/2026

Pastor’s Perspective in a small community April 16, 2026

One of the major roles of a pastor is to communicate, which I do through my Sunday sermons and weekly writings, and over the years I have conveyed well over 1,000 such messages for public consumption. And throughout all of those various communications, one of the most common pieces of feedback that I receive from folks is this notion that I was communicating directly with them. Somewhere in the message were details or themes that seemed to be directly linked to something that they were experiencing, leading them to wonder if I had perhaps known about them, and had tailored my message just for them.

It’s easy to understand why someone might think that I’ve been reading their emails or listening to their conversations before coming up with a message. With the increase in “smart” technology, there has been a significant shift towards personalization in the American consumer experience. The online world is taking this to new heights, where your browsing history, your watching history, and even the amount of time that you spend on individual posts is fed into the infamous algorithms to discern who you really are. All of a sudden, advertisements pop up for things that you had been talking about, and entertainment choices are recommended for you, creating this notion that the virtual world really does revolve around you. And while that might seem to be helpful when you want to buy something, it might seem offensive if you think that the pastor has targeted you specifically for a public message, particularly if the theme was about unflattering behavior.

My work in the real world is based upon thoughts and themes that are derived from my scholarly pursuits as a Christian combined with my life experiences as a resident and member of a small island community. My goal is to convey these ideas in a way that hopefully enriches people on the receiving end of these messages. For that reason, these messages aren’t about you, but they are written for you.

This is ultimately the same truth about the Bible. No matter what parallels you may see between your personal experiences and the experiences recounted on the pages of Scripture, the Bible was not written about you. It was, however, written for you, because the ultimate author of Scripture knew that there was nothing new under the sun, and that our trials and tribulations that seem deeply personal and unique to us have been experienced by countless others over the history of mankind. Therefore, when something in the Bible strikes a little too close for comfort, know that God didn’t write it about you. But He certainly was hoping that you would receive the message.

So if a message hits close to home, don’t be surprised. While technology may have changed, the basic human condition hasn’t. We’ve just found new ways to experience the same sorts of issues. And yes, your smartphone and your smart tv are most likely listening to your every word – but I promise you that I am not (unless we’re having a conversation, at which point I’m all ears).

Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron

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04/09/2026

Pastor’s Perspective in a small community April 9, 2026

I live in what is approximately the geographic center of our island, with the beach roughly one mile in one direction and the river roughly one mile in the opposite direction. The same towering pine trees that surround my home line the road in front of my house, and the spaces that aren’t filled with pines are taken up by the various oaks. Collectively, these trees create a buffer around me, so that when the wind is blowing, I am blissfully ignorant of the full strength. Sure, I see the treetops swaying a bit more than usual, but ultimately what I enjoy is the fact that the mosquitoes and gnats are mostly unnoticeable.

For those who live on the edge of the island, however, where there is nothing to slow down the force of the wind, the experience on a windy day can be very, very different. Wind hits a person with full force, robbing warmth and slowing you down. Waves are whipped to a frenzy, eroding the shoreline and creating dangerous conditions where boats are tied to docks. Weaker trees, without so many more sentries to absorb the gusts, topple or shed limbs. Instead of ignorance, there is heightened awareness that things could quickly and easily take a turn for the worse. And for those who really depend on the smooth operations of a ferry system, there’s the potential for significant disruption when decisions emphasize safety over personal convenience.

Such was the case on Wednesday, when gale force winds spent some time blowing what we hope was the remaining pollen out of the trees. The same island, experiencing the same weather conditions, and yet the personal impact varied tremendously. Some were greatly inconvenienced, some may have experienced damage, and some enjoyed a crisp spring day, but the gale warning covered them all. Our island is not that big, which is why it should now be obvious to all that our own personal experiences are just that – unique to our own personal circumstances.

It is so easy for us to have an experience and then assume that others had the same experience. If you slept through a storm, you assume that everyone else had the same experience. If you tried something and it failed, you assume that others had similarly failed at it. If something traumatized you, you assume that others were similarly traumatized. And yet, that doesn’t seem to be how life typically works. Even in the midst of events that would truly qualify as shared trauma, the impact varies from person to person.

Hopefully, we can see clearly enough to understand the blessing of this reality, because it means that when we are in the midst of the worst day of our lives, someone else may be having a great day, and their joy and strength may provide us with precisely the boost that we need to get through our misery. What that requires, however, is that we avoid transposing upon others the expectation that they have experienced exactly the same thing that we have. Instead, we need to be willing to actually listen to what is going on in someone else’s life, and recognize that storms impact us all differently.

I pray that you weren’t adversely impacted by the winds that hit us on Wednesday, but if you were, just reach out to me and let me know how I and others can help out.

Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron

04/02/2026

Pastor’s Perspective in a small community April 2, 2026

In 1977, George Lucas reimagined the process of moviemaking by introducing a series of absolutely stunning visual effects that transported viewers into a galaxy far, far away. Star Wars was an instant hit, forever changing how we watch movies, yet the story itself had been around for ages. Lucas himself had mentioned that his movie was basically a classic western set in space, utilizing a story-telling device that builds on the notion that it is always darkest before dawn.

It works along these lines. An evil force is imposing its will upon a group of kindhearted people, when there arises a figure among the oppressed who seems like they could challenge the evil forces and bring relief to the people. Various small challenges ensue to build up the notion that victory might indeed be possible for the underdog, but then the bad guys really start throwing their weight around. Towards the conclusion of the story, it appears that all may well be lost, that the figure upon whom all hope had been placed will fail under the crushing weight of the bad guys. But then, when things look bleakest for the good guys, something happens to change the course of history. The hero rises from certain death, and the tide is turned. In one climactic moment, victory is snatched from the jaws of defeat, and the evil forces are vanquished.

Lucas was indeed using a classic story outline, but its origins go back millennia, not decades. Some 2,000 years ago, Jesus of Nazareth appeared in the Roman-occupied nation of Israel, performing miracles and teaching with profound wisdom. His followers believed that he was the long-promised Messiah, sent by God to save His people. Yet towards the climax of his gospel story, Jesus is seized by the ruling powers and, on a Friday morning, is nailed to a cross where he would die an excruciating death. Upon his death later that day, his body would be placed in a tomb where it would stay Friday and Saturday night. To his followers, all hope was lost as they cowered in fear in locked rooms, expecting that they would also be arrested and crucified at any moment in a sweeping action that would crush their rebellion.

Yet on a Sunday morning following Passover in Jerusalem, days after his crucifixion, the stone that had sealed the tomb entrance rolled away, revealing an empty tomb, and the risen Jesus presented himself to his followers. It wasn’t the evil Roman empire that Jesus had conquered, but rather it was the ultimate oppressor who could no longer hold sway over God’s people. Sin and death itself had been conquered, bringing unimaginable freedom to those who would fully bask in this victory.

We’re coming to the conclusion of Holy Week, as the Christian church commemorates these historical and life-altering events. You are all invited to come and insert yourselves into this story. We’ll hold Good Friday services at the church on Daufuskie tomorrow at 2:30, to remind ourselves of how dark it actually was. Then on Sunday, we’ll hold our Resurrection Sunday service (aka Easter) at 10:00 am at the church, with an Easter egg hunt for the kids following the service. And if you aren’t going to be here on the island, you shouldn’t have any trouble finding a church near you to take part in the same celebration, commemorating the moment when the dawn rose over the darkness, securing an eternal victory.

Peace and blessings – Pastor Aaron

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