Spokane First Baptist Church

09/06/2026

09/03/2026

Notes From The Pastor – 09/03/26

Isolation is the state of being separated or set apart from others or being completely alone. Sometimes we like isolation when temporarily getting away from the cares of our lives in a small cabin in the woods or on a lake or beach. But isolation is completely different when that is our lives with seemingly no way of escape. Humans seem to wrap isolation around them when living in or going through hardships. We don’t want others to know or look upon us as wounded and bruised or needy. We put on our good face as we leave the house for everyone else to see when inside we are screaming. At some point a believer’s enemy will come and whisper, “Does God really hear you or care for you or even know where you are?” Then hopelessness is not far from our hearts if we don’t know or accept what God has revealed in His Word.

Scripture is full of cases where isolation is suggested but they don’t seem to speak to my abusive relationship or severe medical condition or any of the thousands of other things that can come into our lives today that bring a sense of isolation. But there is an answer to the questions – “Does God really hear you or care for you or even know where you are”. It is found in an isolated verse we seldom pay attention to, about an isolated slave girl caught in a situation outside of her doing. Her name is Hagar, the slave of Abraham’s wife Sarah.

You will find her story in Genesis 16. The story begins with Abraham and Sarah being ancient and childless, but God had given them a promise of a son. Sarah even laughed at the possibility. They did not wait on God’s timing by trying to help Him out. Sarah forced her slave girl to become the second wife of Abraham and ultimately have a child with him. Please note, it doesn’t appear Hagar had any input into this decision. She wasn’t asked to participate. She was ordered and being a slave with death as punishment for being disobedient, she submitted.

As with many of our plans there were unforeseen circumstances. Hagar became the wife of Abraham and in time became pregnant with Abraham as the father. This child would inherit Abraham’s vast fortune upon his death being the first born. Since Sarah was not his biological mother there was no guarantee he would take care of Sarah if Abraham died first. Sarah began believing Hagar was despising her (Gen. 16:5) so Sarah began abusing Hagar, treating her harshly (Gen 16:6). The ancient biblical Hebrew word harshly is defined as an active oppression and suffering rather than minor friction or hurt feelings. The result was Hagar running away in the wilderness to escape her abuse (Gen. 16:6).

Now get the picture. Here is an Egyptian slave girl, pregnant, without any family or friends, trying to find her way in the vast wilderness. This is a good description of isolation and hopelessness. Just think of all the questions that are impossible for her to answer. She stops near a spring, probably trying to gather her thoughts and determine what her next move is. In her isolation and need God comes to her. There is no indication she prayed to Him or believed in Him, but God knew and came to her. Genesis 16:7-8 NIV, 7 The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. 8 And he said, “Hagar, slave of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going?” God gave her a promise but now she needed to return to the home of Abraham and be submissive to Sarah. Maybe Hagar was despising Sarah and needed an attitude adjustment. Hagar believed God and simply obeyed.

Now here is the remarkable thing about this event. Hagar gave God a name. I have read this is the only time in scripture where mankind gave God a name. Genesis 16:13 NIV, 13 She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” She called God El Roi, meaning, "You are the God who sees me", because God noticed her pain in her lowest moment.

God didn’t leave that lowly slave girl alone in the wilderness, alone in her isolation. He knew exactly where she was and what she was experiencing. God saw her with complete and total clarity. I know isolation is real. I too have heard the voice of my enemy speaking lies. But I too have experienced the God of isolation and discovered He was the same God Hagar experienced. He is there in your isolation as well just waiting for you to look up and let Him minister to you in a way that is meaningful to your specific type of isolation. Lamentations 3:25-26 NIV, 25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; 26 it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.

Randy Harwood, Pastor, Spokane First Baptist Church

08/28/2026

Notes From The Pastor – 08/27/26

As most of you know I had major eye surgery that I am still recovering from. That surgery left me with a nitrogen bubble holding everything in place in my right eye. I must look through that bubble until it is absorbed which means I’m not seeing clearly or correctly. Closing one eye or looking over the bubble corrects my vision only slightly. I seem to be about an inch or two off trying to grab something, keying something in on the phone, going around door frames which if you’re wondering, still do not move when you run into them, and various other difficulties.

This got me thinking about Jesus’ words to the Pharisees in Matthew 7:3 ESV, “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?”

The Pharisees had set themselves up as the ultimate example of how to live right and obedient before God. They had all the answers on how to live a moral life and to fully worship God. They believed that the unwritten traditional interpretations and legal rulings passed down from Moses carried equal weight to the written scriptures. If you did not live your life exactly like they saw it, interpreted Scripture exactly like them and adhered to all their minute traditions - you were considered unclean and to be avoided.

Jesus was quoting a well-known Jewish idiom much like when we say it is “raining cats and dogs”. When Jesus used the word “log” He was not referring to a simple tree log you would find in the woods, but a piece of timber used in construction. This log was used to build something upon it. Something was being built on the log in the Pharisee’s mind when they began leaving mercy and grace out of their lives and judging others as clean or unclean before God. Jesus scolded them in Matthew 23:23 NIV, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness.”

Log was also the same Jewish word used for a spider building a spider web. You know spider webs are sticky, and the purpose is to capture something that accidentally flies into it. As a boy I would catch grasshoppers and throw them into a spider’s web to watch how the spider responds. I wonder what that says about me? Anyway, the spider would run to it and begin wrapping or entangling the grasshopper in its web to be consumed later. Now that is a great example of what spiritual pride desires to do in our lives.

Using the construction and spider web themes, I wonder what we are building or catching in our lives because of the way we view others. The Pharisees were catching pride and judgmentalism in their spiritual spider web. We see this when Jesus spoke about a Pharisee and a Publican going to the Temple to pray in Luke 18:9-14. The Publican was a Roman tax collector. Yea, Jews working for the Roman government to collect taxes from other Jews. It is easy to see how this could be a problem. Now I may have not liked what the person did to make a living, but was he unclean before God simply because of the way he provided for his family? I will admit, normally at that time Publicans were cheats and swindlers by charging more taxes than the government demanded and pocketing the excess, but does this mean he is forever exiled from the presence of God?

We see this in Jesus’ illustration in Luke 18:9-14 ESV. Two men went to the temple to pray. One a Pharisee and the other a Tax Collector. The Pharisee’s prayers show his heart in verse 11-12, “11 God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.” The Tax Collector’s prayer was this in verse 13, “But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’” Now here Jesus’ question would have been, “which man would have been justified before God?” Verse 14 answers that question, “I tell you, this man (tax collector) went down to his house justified, rather than the other.”

It is so easy to build spiritual pride in our lives in America where there is so much good available to us. We gather around us like minded believers with like minded worship and like minded experiences then are surprised when we are tempted to pull back at those who don’t quite meet our understanding or desires of what a Christian should be. We forget Jesus came to seek and save the lost, not sit and soak with the saints. If your first question is, “What’s up with them” rather than “What mercy or grace do they need” maybe we better check which one Jesus would sit with. Or maybe like me today you have a bubble of pride in your eye and just not seeing clearly.

Randy Harwood, Pastor, Spokane First Baptist Church

08/07/2026

Notes From The Pastor – 08/06/26

Where do you look for God’s presence? Most would say they look for Him in the strong and mighty and spectacular events of life. When Jesus healed hundreds of people at one time, calmed a raging sea, silenced the demon possessed, we can easily declare, “God was present”. When lion’s mouths are shut and mighty city walls fall just from a shout, we can easily see the hand of God making this happen. I have also experienced events where it was easy to say, “God was here”. It was not always when things went the way I desired and prayed for, but in picking up the pieces of my life. I have also learned that those mighty events seem to fade in my memory over time. Not that I completely forget about them, although that can happen, but their impact on my faith and life become less and less the further I get from the event.

Elijah was possibly the greatest prophet of God. Just look at what he experienced. He called for a drought that lasted over three years, lived in the wilderness fed by ravens, saw a meal’s amount of grain and oil last for months while living in a Gentile widow’s home, and saw God defeat 500 Baal prophets on Mt. Carmel, called off the drought and who knows what other miracles he experienced. We would say he was a great man of faith and we would be correct. But he was also a human who got disappointed, discouraged, became weary, and saw himself as a failure because despite all his efforts, Israel did not return to God. Feeling his life was in danger and not seeing what he expected, Elijah ran. He didn’t run away from God. He ran until he reached, “Horeb, the mountain of God”. This mountain is the sacred biblical mountain where Moses saw the burning bush and received the Ten Commandments and is widely identified as Mount Sinai.

Elijah didn’t come to God’s mountain with any demands. It is not recorded that he complained to God or accused God. It seems Elijah just waited for God. God’s first response to Elijah is recorded in 1stKings 19:9 AMP, 9 And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” I don’t think God is asking why Elijah is physically where he is, but rather “Why are you here”. Elijah answers in 1stKings 19:10 NLT, 10 Elijah replied, “I have zealously served the Lord God Almighty. But the people of Israel have broken their covenant with you, torn down your altars, and killed every one of your prophets. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me, too.”

God then instructs Elijah to leave the cave and stand before Him as He passes by. Elijah once again waits patiently on God. 1stKings 19:11-13 NLT, 11 the Lord passed by, and a mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was the sound of a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave.

Many of us have faced the horrible rage of someone like a mighty wind tossing trees over leaving a sense of fear and needing to hide. Or had times when our lives felt like shifting sand in an earthquake just looking for a place of safety. Or have been on the receiving end of someone’s fiery judgement leaving us scarred. But Elijah knew this was not his God nor how God would respond to His wounded children, so he waited.

When Elijah heard the “sound of a gentle whisper”, he covered his face, came out of the cave and stood before God. God did not respond to Elijah with rage or judgement or wrath but with a gentle touch. The actual ancient Hebrew word means, “a voice of thin or gentle silence”. This example is important for Christian’s today sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. It shows that displays of power and proclaiming God’s anger don’t necessarily change hearts. Instead, the still small voice of God speaking to the human heart is actually more powerful than outward displays of power or displays of God’s judgment. God asked Elijah the same question, “What are you doing here?” This was not because God did not know, but rather Elijah needed to be honest with himself when seeking and standing before God.

Several times in my life I have heard this question from God and I’m guessing, you have too. At the beginning I heard it through the voice of the violent wind or mighty earthquake or the judgement of wrath, but that is not the voice God was using. I was overlaying voices from my past. When I began to hear it through Scripture and finding the love of God, like Elijah, I was able to receive it, learn from it, and move on because it rested upon the love and trust in Jesus. He doesn’t scream at us. He simply speaks in the “thin gentle voice of silence” which we can hear when we quiet ourselves down and actively listen for Him.

Randy Harwood, Pastor, Spokane First Baptist Church

07/31/2026

Notes From The Pastor – 07/30/26

We are in the middle of a political season where all sorts of character smearing is going on with both candidates claiming they are a better fit than the other. This year I have found myself asking the question, “What is the story behind a smearing photo or phrase spoken?” A picture showing a candidate sleeping in their chair while in the chamber sure looks damning but, “Did they just get done with an 18-hour exhausting session or what was going on in their family that may have prevented sleep the nights before?” Or maybe the phrase, “I will raise taxes” spoken as an absolute but what was the context of that statement? What question were they answering? Maybe the question should be, “What did they mean to say?”

I found myself asking the same type of questions about Jacob this week. A famine has hit Canaan hard. Jacob and his family are starving. There is abundant grain in Egypt. Joseph, his son, is alive and second in command in Egypt. Joseph is inviting all Jacob’s family to Egypt so he can take care of them during the famine. Sure sounds like a win, win, win but Jacob is hesitant up until the time he learns Joseph is alive. You will find this part of Jacob’s story in Genesis 42-45. We are tempted to judge and criticize him until we look at his history.

Jacob’s grandfather Abraham faced trouble in Egypt (Gen. 12), and God explicitly told Jacob’s father Isaac not to go down to Egypt during a famine (Gen. 26:2). Jacob initially refused to let his youngest son, Benjaman, travel to Egypt with his brothers out of deep fear that tragedy would strike him, just as he believed it had struck Joseph (Gen. 42.38). I’m not sure he trusted those boys to keep him safe. Canaan was the land God swore to give to Abraham and his descendants, making leaving it a spiritually heavy and uncertain step. Scripture does not say God gave Jacob any personal direction on this decision.

So, why did Jacob decide to root his whole family up, leave the land God has promised him and his descendants, and relocate everyone and everything to Egypt? Well Randy, it is because Joseph is alive. That is truly part of it, but if that was all then Jacob could have traveled to Joseph himself without putting his whole family in jeopardy.

Genesis 45:25-28 ESV, 25 So they (Joseph’s brothers) went up out of Egypt and came to the land of Canaan to their father Jacob. 26 And they told him, “Joseph is still alive, and he is ruler over all the land of Egypt.” And his heart became numb (here we go again), for he did not believe them (manipulation again). 27 But when they told him all the words of Joseph, which he had said to them, and when he saw the wagons that Joseph had sent to carry him, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. 28 And Israel said, “It is enough; Joseph my son is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.

Why the change of mind for Jacob? I think the answer is found in a couple of dreams God had given Joseph as a young man. Genesis 37:5-9 ESV, 5 Now Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers they hated him even more. 6 He said to them, “Hear this dream that I have dreamed: 7 Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and stood upright. And behold, your sheaves gathered around it and bowed down to my sheaf.” 8 His brothers said to him, “Are you indeed to reign over us? Or are you indeed to rule over us?” So they hated him even more for his dreams and for his words.

Yea, I can see how this dream would not have settled well with Joseph’s brothers especially hearing of Joseph’s second dream that was similar. But Jacob remembered those dreams. He now knows Joseph is alive reigning and ruling in Egypt, just as the dream foretold. He sees God’s hand of protection and provision in these events. He doesn’t trust his sons, but he does trust the hand of God. Jacob would have agreed with Joseph, “These were really hard years, but I now see God meant it for good”. Genesis 50:20 ESV, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

As a born-again child of God I do not believe we are promised a life without hardships (Ps. 34:19). But we are promised God is working in our hardships to provide blessings we cannot yet see with our physical eyes (John 20:29). We can look around at our hardships and be anxious and hopeless or we can look forward to God’s blessing with anticipation and joy. Maybe your prayer should include, “Thank you God for the blessings you are bringing my way”.

Randy Harwood, Pastor, Spokane First Baptist Church

07/24/2026

Notes From The Pastor – 07/23/26


The way my ADHD mind works, there are some mornings I can dwell on something so totally outside my ability I must laugh at myself. This morning the idea of mountain climbing took over. Let me just say, I have never been a mountain climber and do not have a body type that lends itself to mountain climbing nor have I ever had an interest in mountain climbing but alas, here I am.

So what am I supposed to do when this thought is taking over my mind? I Googled it of course. I entered, “How to climb mountains as a beginner” in the search bar and waited for the results. I expected to have it respond with, “You can’t be serious or have you looked at yourself lately or something like that, but here is what it told me, “Because mountaineering involves complex environments and technical gear, one of the safest and fastest ways to begin is by hiring a guide”. In our “I can do it myself” world what I really needed was a guide. Someone who knew how and could keep me safe from myself and lead me to the proper training with success.

At once the Holy Spirit or maybe the coffee grabbed me and said, “If this is so important to mountain climbing it must also be important when climbing our mountain of faith”. When we come to Jesus as our personal Savior not only is our sin debt totally wiped out beginning to end but there appears in our life a mountain of faith. That mountain leads us up out of our pit of sinfulness in the way we have been living and provides for us a glorious vision of living differently that will bring peace, joy, love and the rest of the Fruit of the Spirit into our daily lives. It looks tremendously difficult and confusing to ascend but we understand somehow that it is necessary. We will probably try and climb it on our own without any idea of how and find ourselves sliding down, scraping our knees of faith and wondering if it is even possible. We might even hear the word, “failure” from our enemy. What we need is a Spiritual Climbing Guide. Good news, God has provided one.

John 16:13 ESV, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”

Jesus has been the Disciples guide on their mountain of faith leading them for 3 ½ years teaching them how to think and live as a citizen in His Kingdom. He is about to die for the sins of mankind, resurrect from the dead, walk out of the tomb, and then ascend back into Heaven. He understands their need to continue training in the ways of righteousness and learning to walk by faith and not by sight (2ndCor. 5:7). He understands how confusing life can be, so He promised not to leave them as orphans (John 14:18) by providing the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit comes to live within our lives at salvation. His purpose is to seal us as God’s child and become our guide in living out our spiritual life to the glory of God.

Jesus tells us the promised Holy Spirit will, “guide you into all the truth”. The Biblical word for “guide” means to teach, to lead on a path, and to govern. Our first need in our spiritual climb is knowledge. Who is God? What is His character? Where are His instructions on how? And you will find all this in our Spiritual Climbing Guide called The Bible. The Holy Spirit will begin training our thought process. We will begin to see what a successful life of faith brings and begin learning how to climb our mountain of faith. Psalm 119:105 ESV, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

Not only does the Holy Spirit provide knowledge on how to live but He also leads us forward toward our specific life path as defined by God. Jeremiah 29:11 NLT, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” A how-to book can never cover every possible condition that can occur. We get the basics covered but then need someone to further guide us in how to use the information provided. In steps the Holy Spirit. By bringing truth from Scripture into our every thought, He provides wisdom on how to use or apply the knowledge given.

But there is another key aspect to guiding. We need someone to slap our hands at times saying, “Don’t do that. It will hurt you.” It’s called governing. Governing – to rule or strongly influence the actions and behavior. As a Born-Again child of the King we forget at times we represent Him and there are times our King must govern and adjust our walk to better bring Him glory, while at the same time bringing peace, love, and joy into our lives.

Keep climbing your Spiritual Mountain of Faith. Keep being open to the governing of the Holy Spirit. Never underestimate the love and devotion of your Heavenly Father and never stop climbing.

Randy Harwood, Pastor, Spokane First Baptist Church