This past Sunday, April 19th, I mentioned the idea that becoming a Christian does not require us to forget who we are or where we came from. That point was prompted by Peter’s encouragement to Christians to remember they were “ransomed from the futile conduct inherited from your ancestors” (1 Peter 1:18) and I wanted to expand on it here.

I think the reason Peter says this to Christians is because he understands that if we fall back on old habits, old routines, or old ideas, and expect them to save us the same way God saves us, we are setting ourselves up for disappointment. The things we’ve inherited from “our ancestors” cannot save us—only God can. But I want to make sure to emphasize that I don’t think God wants us to disown our histories — the people, the places that made us who we are. Rather, they need to be put in their proper place and understood through a Christian lens.

For example, I’ve told y’all this before, but I have been deeply formed by my hometown, Goldsboro, NC. A wonder-fully strange little city in Eastern North Carolina, I am who I am in part because of this odd place. It is a city filled with eccentricities and contradictions. I sat in classes with friends whose families would travel to New York City every year to see Broadway shows or go to the US Open. Right next to those kids were others who were given special absences when the Wayne County Agricultural Fair started because they needed to go and prep their tractor for the tractor race that night!

Goldsboro is a city that has always encouraged a sense of service and community. It’s easy to get plugged into volunteer opportunities in Goldsboro, helping build houses with Habitat for Humanity, serving at booths during the Relay for Life, or basically anything the Goldsboro YMCA gets up to. You know, positive things to bring people together. At the same time, when I was growing up, one of our most beloved traditions was a celebration of civic unrest. For years, Goldsboro celebrated something called, “The Derailebration.” Over a hundred years ago, a railroad company ran tracks through Center Street in downtown Goldsboro. Frustrated by the noise and inconvenience of the trains, the citizens of Goldsboro went out one night and took up all the tracks! For over a century we celebrated this act of collective vandalism. Those celebrations ended years ago when Amtrak—you know, the train company—started courting Goldsboro to put a station there! (Admittedly, it’s a connector bus stop four blocks over from Center Street, but my point stands!) My hometown is ridiculous; I’m so proud to be from there.

My point in all this is simple: I don’t believe God would want me to disavow Goldsboro. For better or for worse (I think better), I have been shaped by that strange little city. And I’d like to think God loves the weirdness that comes from a place like Goldsboro because God loves how wonderfully unique each person is. I’m sure each of you has a strange story from where you grew up. Or you have memories of wacky events in your life that make you chuckle. You’ve been shaped and molded by those things — and I don’t think God wants you to for-get them. Rather, I think God always wants us to understand that these wonderful, unique, weird stories are all part of God’s story. Let us place our faith in God’s story and bring our whole selves to it.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben

At the end of this month, we will be starting up one of my favorite traditions here at Hope Valley Baptist Church—Operation Inasmuch. For the last several years, we have dedicated a week at the end of April and into early May to missions. This year is no different. Operation Inasmuch will run from April 26th to May 3rd. The goal of this week is to find opportunities to do the work Christ has called us to in our communities, to serve others, and to let them know that they are loved by God and by this church.

I’m particularly excited about Operation Inasmuch this year since we were not able to have our Holy Wednesday Hand-Washing service again this year. (Truly, I am going to do everything I can to make sure I don’t get sick until after Easter next year!) On that night, we usually talk about the ways that Jesus calls us to be servants to others in the way that he came to be a servant. We model that servant attitude by washing and drying each other’s hands. It’s a service that asks us to take time out of our day, see our brothers and sisters, and do what we can to show them they are loved.

Operation Inasmuch works because of that same spirit. It works because we know that Christ has called us not only to serve him, but to serve our wider community. Each person is a beloved child of God and so it is always worthwhile to show them that. It is worthwhile to let them see the church in action, so they can say, “I have seen God’s people and they have seen me.”

In light of that, you’ll notice that there is a list of planned activities in another part of this Illuminator. I would encourage you to look over those activities and see if there’s one you’d like to participate in. If you’re not sure you can participate in any of them, see if there’s one you’d like to donate to. If you’re not sure you can do that either, that’s totally fine; pray for the church as we go out and do these things. Pray that we would lift up the hearts of those we help. Pray that they would hear a good word about a God who loves them.

I’m looking forward to the end of this month!

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben

Easter is quickly approaching! In fact, by the time the next Illuminator comes out, Easter Sunday will have already come and gone! So, I wanted to write to you all this week and give you a breakdown of the services we have coming up during Holy Week.

First, this Sunday, March 29th, will be Palm Sunday. During worship we will celebrate the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into the holy city of Jerusalem. The children will process in during our first hymn and wave palms in recognition of that first Palm Sunday, when Jesus rode in on a donkey. Be sure to join us for worship at 11:00AM!

Then, on Wednesday, April 1st, we will have our yearly Hand-Washing Service in the sanctuary. That service will start at 6:30PM. For that particular service, we will meditate on the way that Jesus served his disciples by washing their feet, modeling for us the kind of service he calls all of us to. We will wash each other’s hand as a tangible part of our worship, reminding ourselves that we are called to serve others.

Our Good Friday Service will be on Friday, April 3rd at 7:00PM in the church sanctuary. In my opinion, this is one of the most meaningful services all year. Throughout the service, we well read about and meditate on the death of Jesus on the cross and what that means for us as Christians. The service ends in darkness and silence, reminding us that in the immediate wake of the cross, the light of the world seemed to have gone out.

Finally, on Easter Sunday, April 5th, we will celebrate the resurrection of Jesus in our church sanctuary! Worship will begin at 11:00AM and we will spend the hour singing songs of joy and praise as we remember the truth that Christ is risen, sin’s power is broken, and death has lost its sting. Make plans to be here that day and celebrate the resurrection with our church family.

In addition to all those services, don’t forget that we are having our annual Easter Egg Hunt and Craft Fair on Saturday, April 4th from 10:00AM to 12:00PM. All children are invited to come make crafts, hunt for eggs, and hear the Easter story!

I’ll look forward to seeing you all throughout Holy Week!

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben

Planning for this month has been a challenge for me. It hasn’t been because of any particular kind of stress or worry or anything. Instead, I’ve been combining March 29th and April 5th in my head. The transition from March to April during Holy Week is throwing me off. And so I have to keep reminding myself that, outside of Palm Sunday, none of the Holy Week activities start till April—which is closer than I think, but also not that much closer. It’s this weird sense of almost rushing to Easter.

It does not help my sense of rush and hurry that we’ve had such beautiful spring days of late. The sunshine. The mild temperatures. The flowers blooming. It makes me yearn for spring and summer. I’m done with the cold and the wet and the grey of winter. I’m ready to move on to the good stuff!

Now according to the church calendar, by the time this article comes out we will be over halfway through Lent. We will finally be closer to Easter than Ash Wednesday. Lent is forty days (not counting Sundays), meaning Friday, March 13th will be the 21st day of the season. And there is a natural inclination to want to rush to the end. For three weeks we’ve reflected on sin and confession and repentance. Let’s get on to the resurrection and grace and hope! But there’s an issue with that impulse.

I had a theology professor who used to remind us that Christians often get too focused on one part of the Easter story. On the one hand, Christians can get too focused on the crucifixion, leaning into the idea of the pain and suffering of Jesus, on the sin and brokenness of humanity. They linger there too long and the resurrection becomes almost an after-thought. On the other hand, Christians can get too focused on the resurrection, rushing past the cross because it makes us uncomfortable and leaning into the fact that sin and death have no power over Jesus.

What my professor advocated for was simple: acknowledge the importance of each step along the way. Jesus’ life and ministry are important—it is good to spend time reading about them and dwelling there a while. But we must recognize that those miracles and those teachings led Jesus to the cross—it is good to spend time reading about that terrible event and dwelling there a while. But we must remember that the story does not end with the cross, that it leads to the first Easter Sunday—it is good to spend time reading those stories and dwelling there a while. We should not rush any of them.

So as we move through these final twenty days of Lent, let us not rush ahead to Easter Sunday. Let us spend some time contemplating our sins. Then, let us spend some time remembering the cross. Then, let us spend some time celebrating the resurrection! We should not try to combine March 29th and April 5th. We should not rush the end of winter because we’re ready for spring. Let us take these seasons as God intended, recognizing the value in each of them.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben

I must confess something to you. I’ve never been able to stick with a Lenten devotional. Truthfully, I’m not good at sticking with any kind of devotional. Advent? Nope. Lent? Nope. Contemporary theologian? Not happening. Classic of the genre? I’m sure it would be great—if I could stick with it!

The thing is, I like the idea of a devotional. For those that may wonder what a “devotional” is, it’s most commonly a book that has short readings for a set number of days. The idea is that you read one part per day over the course of however long the book is. They’re usually themed to help you contemplate something in particular. And, again, I’d love to be the kind of person that can do a devotional, but I’m forgetful enough that I’ll forget to read it one day, then decide I’ll just read two entries the next day, which defeats the whole purpose of the devotional format (one reading per day). Inevitably, I forget multiple days in a row and suddenly I’ve got a week’s worth of readings I need to catch up on and so instead I just say, “I’ll try again next year.”

That being said, there are two devotional books that I have kept over the years. I still have not read them cover-to-cover, but they are both collections of spiritual writings by be-loved authors. Sometimes, I do think to pick them up and read a passage. Often, their writing inspires me. The first is an Advent devotional entitled, Watch for the Light. The second is a Lenten devotional entitled, Bread and Wine. I wanted to share a poem with you all in Bread and Wine that comes from Oscar Wilde, a renowned playwright, called, “The Ballad of Reading Gaol” (pronounced “Redding Jail”):

…And thus we rust Life’s iron chain
Degraded and alone:
And some men curse, and some men weep,
And some men make no moan:
But God’s eternal Laws are kind
And break the heart of stone.

And every human heart that breaks,
In prison-cell or yard,
Is as that broken box that gave
Its treasure to the Lord,
And filled the unclean leper’s house
With the scent of costliest nard.

Ah! happy those whose hearts can break
And peace of pardon win!
How else may man make straight his plan
And cleanse his soul from Sin?
How else but through a broken heart
May Lord Christ enter in?

During Lent, if we will recognize our own sin, if we will allow our hearts to be broken by the good news of the gospel, we will find that sin has now power over us, that death does not have the final say, that life is worth the living just because Christ lives.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben

Within broader theological circles, there is an argument to be made over which holiday is more important to the Christian faith — Christmas or Easter. At Christmas, of course, we celebrate the birth of the baby Jesus and the miracle of the Incarnation. At Easter, of course, we celebrate the resurrection of the adult Jesus and the salvation Christ brings for all of us. And this debate can go round and round, with both sides making compelling arguments and neither one quite nullifying the other.

On the other hand, it feels like there’s very little debate over which season leading up to those holidays is more important — Advent or Lent. Advent ends up getting so much of the focus because, let’s be honest, it’s more fun to anticipate the birth of the baby Jesus as opposed to dreading the inevitability of the cross. Advent has Sundays dedicated to various themes — hope, peace, joy, and love. Lent’s Sundays are not themed; rather, they are just part of the journey toward Good Friday. And since our wider culture has adopted Christmas as a holiday for all, Advent feels much more mainstream.

That means Lent often gets disregarded, but it is a distinctly Christian season. The season of Lent runs from the night of Ash Wednesday through the Saturday before Easter (Holy Saturday). When you don’t count the Sundays involved, Lent lasts for forty days, mirroring the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness being tempted by Satan. These forty days, for us, serve as a time of contemplation and reflection. They call us to reflect on our own sinful nature, our own propensity to give in to temptations, and our inability to “earn” the grace God offers to us. Because of those things, Lent has gained a reputation as being a sad, depressing season. And if all Lent focused on was our own sin, then I could see how that makes sense. But it doesn’t only focus on our sins.

Within the Eastern Orthodox church, Lent is known as “the bright Sadness” because even though it is a time of reflection, confession, and repentance, it is also a season that recognizes that sin’s power has already been broken. It is a season that recognizes that death does not have the last say. It is a season that sees the sacrifices of Jesus throughout his ministry and reminds us that those sacrifices were made for you and me. It is a season that prepares us for the miracle of Easter, when Christ rises up from the grave and proves, definitively, that grace is available for all. Easter is the day that gets all the celebration, but Lent is the season that prepares us for that celebration.

So, in the coming weeks, be sure to take time to reflect on all that God has done for you. Take an honest stock of the sins you’re regularly tempted to commit. But then recognize that you worship a God who loves you, even though you are a sinner. Recognize that you worship a God who walks alongside you and tells you that you are not defined by those sins. Recognize that you worship a God who came and dwelt among us, the Incarnate Word, who faced the same temptations we face, and who broke the power those temptations have over you and me. This season starts on Wednesday, February 18th at 6:30 in our sanctuary. Come and be reminded of God’s infinite goodness.

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben

Today’s article may seem a little strange at first but bear with me. As I write this article, both WRAL and WTVD are calling for snow this weekend. They’re not officially estimating totals, but have said anywhere from 1-3” of snow is quite likely for the Triangle. The little widget on my computer is telling me 6-12”, but it was also convinced we’d get 11” of snow this past weekend, so I don’t trust it at all.

Regardless, I’ve been hearing stories all this week about people helping each other during this past weekend’s winter storm. I’ve heard stories about neighbors shoveling out driveways for other neighbors to make sure they could get out. I’ve heard stories about lawn maintenance guys going the extra mile to make sure their clients’ sidewalks and outdoor stairs were cleared. I’ve gotten to hear these simple stories of people doing right by each other in the midst of a difficult weekend.

It reminds me of the way we Christians are called to do simple things to help others. The call that Jesus places on all of us is to see other people as our neighbors and to under-stand that helping them is always the right thing to do. Sometimes that looks like shoveling driveways and clearing sidewalks. Sometimes it looks like calling someone to check on them and remind them they’re not alone. Sometimes it looks like telling them and others that our neighbors are children of God, fearfully and wonderfully made in the im-age of their Creator, and respecting the basic dignity that comes with that.

So, as we prepare for round two of winter weather here in Durham (I’ve been reminded of the old wives’ tale that says if snow doesn’t melt, it’s waiting for more!), go on and be thinking about ways you can reach out to your neighbors. Be thinking of things you can do to help them and stay faithful to the call of Jesus. And in scrolling through social media this past weekend, I was reminded there are some ways you can help your neighbors that you might not have thought of before.

First, there are several non-profits around Durham who, during periods of extreme cold, open their doors to folks living on the street. Durham Rescue Mission and Urban Ministries of Durham are both designated as “warming centers”. If you are in a place to donate to them, I’m sure they’d appreciate it as they’ll be taking on some extra costs this weekend.
Second, if you’re thinking of going out for a meal before the snow hits, I saw someone suggest that you go to a local restaurant. McDonald’s can survive if some of their stores are closed for a couple days. Mom-and-pop shops will struggle if they have to close or their foot traffic is down due to the snow. After the snow hits, if you want to, you can order something online (a meal, a coffee, etc.) and include a note on the order that says, “I’m not going to get this order. Give it to someone who needs it”—that way you help the business and someone in need.

And, of course, call and check in on folks who you know might be a little more vulnerable to this kind of event. Even if they’re doing just fine, they’ll appreciate the call! In doing these things, we can reach out to our neighbors and remind them that we love them and God loves them too. Stay safe and stay warm!

Grace and peace,
Pastor Ben

I want to write about New Year’s Resolutions this week. I recognize that we’re over two weeks into January by now, but that may actually help me make my point. See, every new year, people all over the world make New Year’s Resolutions—something they want to do in the new year. Some will take up a new hobby. Some will decide this is the year they go to the gym. Some will try to stop doing something harmful. People take stock of where they are and project where they’d like to be in this new year.

But, as most of us know, New Year’s Resolutions get abandoned pretty quickly by most folks—to the point that there is a specific day of the year known as Quitter’s Day. According to Google, around 80% of all New Year’s Resolutions will be abandoned by the second Friday of each new year. So, January 10th is, unofficially, Quitter’s Day. And there are plenty of jokes and memes on the internet about Quitter’s Day. But most of those jokes come back to one main idea—that the person was silly to think they could keep their resolution.
I want to push back against that idea. First of all, I don’t think it’s silly for a person to take stock of their life and seriously think about things they could do that would make them happy, make them healthy, etc. There’s no need for the sarcastic, self-defeating attitude of, “Why would I think I could do better?”

Second of all, as a committed Christian, I have to push back against this “all-or-nothing” attitude. It seems crazy to me for a person to set a goal for themselves, stumble a little bit, and then decide, “Well, what did I expect? Of course I stumbled; I can’t do anything right!” We in the church know—or we ought to know—that everyone falls short. We all have good days and bad days. We all struggle to do the things we want to do and we sometimes end up doing things we don’t want to. But where the internet memes see no path forward, we Christians believe—or we ought to believe—that we can always get back up and keep trying. What else is the Christian life but seeking to act faithfully, falling short, and asking for forgiveness, only to be met by a God who says, “Of course I forgive you. Let’s set you back on the right path and keep walking”?

So, by the time this article comes out, Quitter’s Day will have come and gone. But I would encourage all of you, whether you made a resolution or not, to challenge yourself to do something new this year or to give up something harmful this year or to recommit to something you love this year. And on those days when you fall short of your goal, be gentle with yourself, and remember that life is a series of ups and downs, trials and errors. Through it all, we worship a God who loves us and encourages us. God does not quit on us; let us not quit on ourselves.

Happy New Year!
Pastor Ben

Here we are at the end of 2025 and it has been a busy year here at the church! Each year presents its own challenges and opportunities, so I wanted to go over some of the highlights of 2025 here at Hope Valley.

This year, our church reached out to our community in so many different ways, seeking to fulfill the commandment given to us by Christ to love our neighbors as ourselves. We held our annual Souper Bowl of Caring this year, raising money for both Urban Ministries of Durham and Hurricane Helene Relief. We also held our annual ACC Tournament Food Drive benefitting the Food Bank of Central and Eastern NC (FBCENC) and collecting 669 pounds of food! We collected school supplies and clothes for the children over at Parkwood Elementary School. Most recently, we quickly began a food drive in response to the cutting of SNAP benefits during the government shutdown — that collection is ongoing, by the way!

But, we did not just collect things here at the church! During Operation Inasmuch, our church reached out in a variety of ways: putting together “Thinking of You” bags for church members and care packages for people struggling here in Durham, doing yard work around the church, and sending our kids to Carolina Reserve to sing for the residents there. We’ve also had a regular group of volunteers going to the FBCENC every month to help there. And, of course, we partnered with Scarlette Jasper once again to send Christmas boxes to our brothers and sisters in rural Appalachia who are struggling right now.

The year was not just about missions, however. We also had big, community-focused events here at the church. We hosted our Easter Egg Hunt and let local kids know about the resurrection. We had another summer of Super Saturday Adventures, where children learned about a God who loves them very deeply. Our Fall Festival was a hit once again this year, with local children and families having the chance to come and be joyful together

And we’ve had all kinds of special events within our church family, including baptisms and deacon ordinations. We remembered and celebrated the lives of people we’ve lost on All Saints Sunday. We hosted Andy Hale from CBFNC. We finally went to the North Carolina Museum of Art — just three years after I said we’d go! And, of course, we’re coming off another season of Advent with beautiful services like the Hanging of the Greens, the “Peace on Earth” musical service, and the Christmas Eve service.

It has been a wonderful year here at Hope Valley Baptist Church! I’m looking forward to all God has in store for us in 2026!

Happy New Year,
Pastor Ben

There are a lot of different ways to tell that it’s Christmastime right now. The decorations in people’s yards. The endless ads telling me how many shopping days are left till Christmas. The fact that Mix 101.5 is nothing but Christmas music right now. But for me, one of the main ways I am constantly reminded it’s nearly Christmas is my Instagram feed.
For those that may not know, Instagram is a social media app that runs based on an algorithm. Basically, I “follow” different accounts on the app to see their posts. Instagram’s algorithm then monitors which accounts I follow and which posts I click on to suggest new accounts for me to follow and new posts to click on. I follow several different cooking accounts on Instagram and all those accounts are putting out holiday/Christmas recipes right now. Their stuff looks good, so I click on their posts and watch the whole vid-eo they’ve posted. That then tells the algorithm that I like that content, meaning I obviously want to see more of it.

Long story short, my Instagram feed is buried in thirty to sixty second videos of Christmas recipes right now, particularly Christmas cookie recipes. One account is showing off the five different recipes they made to make their “Christmas cookie box.” Another account is showing how they recreated their great grandfather’s bakery out of gingerbread. Yet another account shows how they made “log cookies” that are made of two different doughs swirled together, then sliced, and individually cut to look like log slices, before being baked and packaged to look like a bundle of firewood.

Now, baking has always seemed like magic to me. I can bake, but only if there is a recipe and only if I follow it exactly. But in watching all these different accounts, all these different posts, all these different cookies, I noticed something. For the most part, the basic ingredients stay the same—flour, butter, sugar. And a lot of the basic techniques are the same—dry ingredients to one side, wet ingredients to the other, cooling doughs once mixed. It isn’t until midway through the recipe that you begin to see how each cookie is uniquely its own or how each baker adds their unique personality to it. They start with the basics, build a strong foundation, and allow their creativity to flourish.

In that way, these Christmas cookies re-mind me of the faith of individual Christians. We all agree on the same basic tenets—Jesus Christ is the son of God; our sins are forgiven when we place our faith in him, etc. And a lot of broader ways we express our faith are the same—serving our community through volun-teer work; talking with others about our own faith, etc. But as we grow more and more into our faith, we learn how to express ourselves in ways that are more consistent with the gifts God has given to us. Some folks are called to be musicians. Some folks are called to not only volunteer with organizations but lead them and create opportunities for others. Some folks are called to teach others about the faith. It’s not magic, but it is amazing what God can do with us when we affirm those basic beliefs, build a strong foundation, and focus our creativity on honoring God.

Merry Christmas,
Pastor Ben