Will the Candidate with a Vision for the Future Please Speak Up?

barrysnotes — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 04:08:01 +0000

Tomorrow I will vote in the Florida primary. Again this year we are being told that voters in our state will play a pivotal role in the choosing which candidates win their party’s nomination, and eventually which candidate wins the election in November. For the past few days, candidates have been making brief stops and stump speeches in my city of Pensacola, and unfortunately, the more I hear, the more frustrated and discouraged I become.

I am not bothered by their vision, but by the lack thereof. And as the rhetoric continues to grow more and more accusative and vindictive, the message becomes less and less trustworthy and appealing.

However, despite my distaste for the negative tactics in campaigning, I will go to the polls and cast my ballot. I consider voting to be a civic responsibility. And as a Christian, I also think that voting conscientiously is something Jesus would do. But this year, I am voting out of obligation, not out of enthusiasm.

I confess that tonight I am really having a difficult time deciding which candidate is the least objectionable and the least slanderous. I think it would be refreshing to hear candidates present their vision and their values rather than hear them launch repetitive attacks against their fellow candidates. A forward-thinking, proactive, values-based campaign might even rejuvenate participation in the political process, and restore confidence in national leadership. While there are those who say, “That’s not the way the game is played,” maybe it’s time for the game to change.

The future of our nation is at stake. We are voting for a president, not a mud-slinging champion. It’s high time to put aside the political venom and cast the proactive vision. Since the candidate I vote for in November could be a different candidate than the one I vote for tomorrow’s primary, I find myself asking, “Will the candidate with a vision for the future please speak up?” I don’t think we’ve heard from you. But we are listening…and waiting.

(Barry Howard serves as Senior Minister of theFirstBaptistChurchinPensacola,Florida.)

Rekindling Hope

barrysnotes — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 15:57:00 +0000

by Barry Howard

Advent is a time to reclaim the hope we have in Christ. Our hope in Christ reminds us that through the ever-changing circumstances and seemingly insurmountable challenges of life, “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26).

As our nation emerges ever-so-gradually from a recession, economic uncertainty has become a global concern, with many European countries either re-organizing or teetering on the brink of financial collapse.

As we prepare for a crucial election year, the rhetoric of the campaigns already sounds more indicative of superficial political posturing than substantive problem-solving.

A general cultural malaise that is saturated with complaint and almost devoid of optimism seems to be contagiously infectious, not just around the nation, but around the world. And to make matters worse, that sense of hopeless discontent has infiltrated the church. If the community that has been called to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13), the very bastion of hope, forfeits hope for hopelessness, we may find ourselves rushing toward an apocalyptic future.

Real hope is neither blind nor naïve. Real hope motivates us to rise above despair and deal with challenging circumstances proactively, constructively, and collaboratively.

A few years ago I read of a rather profound exchange between two clergy who were working together during a season filled with monumental changes. In 1960, John Claypool began his tenure as pastor at the Crescent Hill Baptist Church in Louisville. Shortly after his arrival, Claypool became friends with a Jewish rabbi who was forty years his senior. Their friendship grew deeper as they worked together in the civil rights movement. After a tense and unproductive meeting one day, Claypool looked at his Jewish friend and said, “I think it is hopeless. This problem is so deep, so many-faceted, there is simply no way out of it.”

The rabbi asked Claypool to stay a few minutes after the meeting and said, “Humanely speaking, despair is presumptuous. It is saying something about the future we have no right to say because we have not been there yet and do not know enough. Think of the times you have been surprised in the past as you looked at a certain situation and deemed it hopeless. Then, lo and behold, forces that you did not even realize existed broke in and changed everything. We do not know enough to embrace the absolutism of despair. If God can create the things that are from the things that are not and even make dead things come back to life, who are we to set limits on what that kind of potency may yet do?”

Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. Isaiah 40:28-31

Like the stoking of warm embers to re-awaken the flame, hope can be rekindled by stoking the fire in our bones that propels us “to act justly and love mercy and walk humbly with our God” (Micah 6:8) in all of the seasons of life.

Advent is a season to rekindle our hope and to renew our strength, a hope inspired by God’s perspective and strength that motivates us toward God’s plan, realized on earth as it is in heaven.

(Barry Howard serves as senior minister at the First Baptist Church of Pensacola, Florida.)

Advent: A Progressive Journey toward Christmas

barrysnotes — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 21:02:00 +0000

by Barry Howard

When observed faithfully and progressively, Advent can prepare us for a Christmas celebration filled with mystical wonder and deep meaning, a spiritual communion that far exceeds the buzz of shallow commercialism.

In the rural church of my upbringing, we didn’t observe Advent. We jumped directly from Thanksgiving to Christmas. In our close-knit congregation, the non-negotiable liturgical dates on our church calendar other than Christmas and Easter were Church Conference after worship service on the first Sunday, Gospel Singing on the fourth Sunday night, Revival during the second full week in August, and Homecoming the last Sunday in July. Advent, Epiphany, Lent, Passover, and Pentecost were nowhere to be found.

During my early years as a minister, I was introduced to the colors and candles of Advent and my journey toward Christmas changed drastically. Today, I am convinced more than ever that as mission-driven Christians who live in a market-driven culture, we need the reflective disciplines of Advent to keep us alert to stealth forces like materialism, busyness, and greed, illusive grinches who would love to steal away the real message and gifts of the season and replace them with superficial slogans and glamorous counterfeits.

For the Christian, the season of Advent calls us to a progressive journey toward Christmas. When our days are seasoned with prayer and saturated in expectation, we think about Christmas differently than the rest of the world. Advent has a way of rescuing us from the busyness and the relentless anxiety to meet materialistic expectations.

This year in our church we will count down the days until Christmas by listening to the prophets, singing the carols, re-reading the gospels, and lighting the candles that refuel our peace, hope, love, and joy. Then we will be better prepared to sense the anxiety of Mary and Joseph, to feel the labor pains of God, to celebrate the birth of the world’s most renowned newborn, and to hear both the singing of angels and sobs of Rachel weeping. This gradual journey of Advent culminates when the Christ candle is lighted and the Christmas Star shines over the manger in Bethlehem.

If we dare to journey through this season one day at a time, to reconsider the promises of the prophets, and to revisit the nativity narrative of the gospels, we may discover that we are more than ready to follow Christ from the cradle to the cross and beyond.

(Barry Howard serves as the senior minister at the First Baptist Church of Pensacola, Florida.)

A Pastor’s Prayer for Parishioners

barrysnotes — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 16:30:00 +0000

By Barry Howard

Good and gracious God,

I come to you praying for those who are members, formally or informally, in the congregation I serve.

I pray for the young and the elderly, the sick and healthy, the employed and the unemployed, the happily married and the unhappily married, the active and the semi-active, the veteran saint and the new believer, and the spiritually passionate and the spiritually frustrated.

I am aware at this moment of the diverse and divergent life experiences confronting each individual on this day. I pray for those who are at the top of the mountain, experiencing success in their business, stability in their home, growth in their faith, good health, and/or unspeakable joy in their heart.

I also pray for those who are currently in the valley of despair, experiencing frustration in their business, anxiety in their home life, lukewarmness in their faith, mounting concerns with their health, and/or perplexing grief in their soul.

I pray for every member of this spiritual family to know the deeper purpose of congregational life, to worship and to serve with faithfulness, to listen and to speak with intentionality, to be honest and to be humble, to be reverent and to be respectful, and to weep and rejoice, privately and together, as needed.

Help us as your family to balance those ongoing tasks of reaching out to those outside our family while ministering to each other within the family, so that neither task is lacking.

Help us as your people to work energetically for the common good of your community-yet-under-construction, so that our personal ambitions and our preferential agendas do not derail or defeat your initiatives that are often invisible to the self-absorbed eye.

Help us as your church to experience an emerging momentum toward faithfulness, the elation of cheerful giving, the gratification of serving, a growing willingness to make sacrifices, and the inner peace that comes only through your divine presence within.

Help us as your children to continually and wisely realign our lives, not conforming to the mirage of pop culture, but always being transformed by the durable and timeless work of Jesus Christ.

Keep us in tune with your Spirit who convicts and comforts, guards and guides, and equips and encourages, and who is working actively to generate good in all circumstances, especially those things that we perceive as devoid of good.

Since life in this world is imperfect and every individual life including our own falls short because of the brokenness of sin, teach us to be more gracious and less judgmental, more inclusive and less exclusive, more compassionate and less condemning, because we have already seen this kind of grace demonstrated in the story of Jesus.

In this crucial day in time when many have forsaken spiritual community for religious conglomerate, replaced worship with trendy entertainment, and prioritized self-interests above service, remind us that we are people of the towel, both to wash each other’s feet, to dry each other’s tears, and to wipe clean the slate of sins on earth even as you have purged our sins from our private record in heaven.

Encourage and equip us to be your hands and your feet, your light and your love, and your disciples and your servants in a world that needs authentic witnesses of your love and your mercy.

May we receive each day as a gift, and like Jesus, to value relationships above the quest for riches and the preservation of traditions, and to prioritize covenant loyalty above comfort, convenience, and temporary gratification.

As you free us to live life to the fullest, make us to be incarnate representatives of your presence and illustrative constituents of your grace, for we pray in the name of the one who came to give us life and life more abundantly.

Amen

A Pastor’s Prayer for Pastors

barrysnotes — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 13:34:00 +0000

by Barry Howard

(This prayer was offered at the Mercer Preaching Consultation on St. Simon’s Island on September 26, 2011.)

Gracious God,

I come to you as a pastor praying for pastors. I pray all men and women from every walk of faith who are called into this peculiar work of encouraging and equipping others for their journey.

First I pray for pastors to be encouraged. For all its rewards, this work can be discouraging. I pray for those pastors who are right now living through the dark night of the soul, some experiencing darkness because of the challenges of their congregation, others experiencing darkness because of emotional depression, and still others experiencing darkness because of physical or spiritual fatigue. I especially pray for those pastors who are discerning whether to go to a new place of service, and for those pastors who have confirmed the call to stay where they are to seize the opportunities and tackle the challenges. I pray for the energy of pastors to be revitalized so that pastors can dream dreams and have visions, do their work with the right spirit.

I pray for pastors to be faithful. I pray for pastors to live in faithful covenant to their families, both their parish family and their personal family, and to always know the difference between the two. I pray for pastors to be faithful to our calling, always discerning and following your kingdom initiatives, and to be continually engaged in dialogue with you.

I pray for pastors to be anointed with a fresh dose of courage. These are stressful times and it is no time for your shepherds to be sheepish. You did not give us a spirit of timidity but a spirit of courage, so help us as pastors to speak and act courageously with moral and ethical conviction for causes that are just and right. Help us to act with courageous conviction in living and preaching the good news to all people regardless of ethnicity, creed, or economic status. And help us to have the courageous insight to navigate our congregations toward the ways of Christ, and away from any popular fads, trends and perceived shortcuts to growth that both trivialize the gospel and minimize the Christian experience.

I pray for pastors to have endurance. I pray for pastors to work intentionally and intelligently, to carefully manage the demands of an unpredictable schedule, to faithfully practice Sabbath-keeping, and to respond with tough love to those occasional high maintenance saints who can become like thorns in the flesh and pains in all of the wrong places.

I pray for pastors to be effective preachers. I pray for us to be both prophets and poets, who tell the truth and love the people. I pray for pastors to speak with authority from on high and yet have street level savvy, so that we can simultaneously be heavenly minded and do some earthly good. In a world filled with bad news, I pray for pastors to be articulate and welcomed voices of good news, bringing your right word at the right time.

Lord, it is an exciting, but gut-wrenching time to be a pastor. And although faith no longer enjoys privilege and preference in the public square, we are confident that the message of faith is astoundingly relevant at the major intersections of life and that the message may be heard more profoundly in the congestion of the daily grind than from the assigned seats of privilege.

In a world where people are not content with easy answers; where truth is sometimes black, sometimes white and sometimes gray; where superficial spirituality is insufficient; and where seekers are searching for authenticity; help us as pastors to rise to the occasion to speak the truth in love, and to be more about the business of the kingdom than the kingdom of business. Help us as pastors to find security in our belonging to you and not in the whims of the culture in which we live or the opinions of the beloved people we service.

For every pastor, and especially me, O Lord,

I pray for clarity of call and clarity of conscience.

I pray for physical health and spiritual vitality.

I pray for emotional stability and spiritual sensitivity.

Restore unto us both the joy of our salvation and the joy of ministry,

That the fire in our bones will be transformed into the energy and enthusiasm with which we serve.

In the name of the one who calls us, who encourages us, and the one who will see us through until the end. Amen

Who Will You Invite to Church This Sunday?

barrysnotes — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 16:43:00 +0000

By Barry Howard

A young professional said, “I got out of the habit of going to church while I was in college. I usually slept in on Sunday mornings. I’ll get started back when I get my life together.”

A single woman said, “Since my divorce, I’ve been too embarrassed to return. I feel like a failure and I really don’t want to answer questions about my ex-husband.”

A businessman said, “My wife and I used to teach youth Sunday School. I was an active deacon and she served on a couple of committees. But we decided to take a sabbatical from church for a while, you know, so we don’t get burned out. We will be back someday.” Their sabbatical was moving into its fifth year.

An engaged couple said, “We want to start after we get married. But since we’ve moved in together already, we feel sort of strange coming to church right now. We don’t want people to judge us.”

And the list goes on. Through the years I have learned that people disengage from church for a variety of reasons, sometimes intentionally and at other times, unintentionally. Whatever the reason, it is not our responsibility as church members to judge them, but to lovingly welcome them and reconnect with them.

This Sunday September 18 is National Back to Church Sunday, a multi-denominational effort to re-enlist those who have become inactive or disengaged from the life of the church. Although 83 percent of American adults identify themselves as Christians, only about 20 percent attend church on any given Sunday.

This Sunday is a great time to invite friends and neighbors who have become disconnected from their church family to come to church with you. A 2008 study by LifeWay Research and the North American Mission Board of 15,000 adults found that 67 percent of Americans say a personal invitation from a family member would be effective in getting them to visit a church. Sixty-three percent say an invitation from a friend or neighbor would likely get them to respond.

While there are many seekers who float from church to church to hear popular preachers and trendy Christian music, there are thousands of non-churchgoers who long to connect or reconnect with a caring spiritual community, a church that accepts them as they are and challenges them toward a journey of growth and discovery. Isn’t that how Jesus related to his early followers?

A personal invitation from you can open the door for someone who is disconnected to become an engaged participant. Who can you invite to come to church with you this Sunday?

(Watch video at http://www.fbcp.org/Uploaded/11-Summer-Video.swf )

(Barry Howard serves as senior minister at the First Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida.)

A Day That Haunts, A Faith That Hopes

barrysnotes — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 15:40:00 +0000

A Pastoral Prayer for September 11, 2011

On this tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001

We gather to remember an atrocious day, a day that we wish we could forget.

O God we confess our ongoing need of your transformative and emerging grace

For we are all too mindful that this date still haunts us

With memories that strike fear

And with emotions that convey pain.

As we attempt to apply your words to life,

And to live by faith as we embrace your promise of a better future

We confess that our anger and grief from that fretful day are not nearly resolved.

And that retaliatory impulses of vengeance and hate incubate deep within.

And yet we acknowledge that our hurt does not compare to the pain

of those who were touched more directly

through the unexpected and unfair loss

of family members, friends, and co-workers.

We shudder at the memory of horrific images of death and destruction,

We worry over the ongoing armed conflict that seems to be unending,

We grieve over the deaths of the sons and daughters of our nation,

As well as the subsequent casualties among our allies and our adversaries.

And we long for a civilized and lasting resolution

So that our sons and daughters may return home safely and soon

And that those who have longed for liberation from tyranny

Might govern and be governed with dignity and integrity.

Rather than being consumed by our grief,

And controlled by our fears

And constrained by our anxieties,

Let us set our minds to addressing the injustices that precipitate hostility,

Let us direct our souls to living out our moral conviction,

Let us turn our hearts to loving the poor,

and the disadvantaged,

and the disenfranchised.

And let us determine to fight terror,

Not with our own terroristic threats,

But with a responsible and courageous exercise of freedom,

And with a proactive and authentic faith.

And though it runs counter to our deepest instincts,

You continue to teach us to love our enemies,

so that we do not become like them.

Today, especially today, we pray for the leaders of our nation and our world

For the leaders of our state and our community

To act and react with wisdom and discernment,

And to maintain a disposition that will defuse conflict

And advance the cause of peace.

And we pray for the leaders of our churches and synagogues

And for people of diverse faiths

To act and react with transformative grace and eternal hope,

And to maintain a disposition that will dispel propaganda

And advance the cause of truth and compassion.

We offer our prayer in the strong name of the One who came to bring peace on earth and goodwill to all humankind. Amen

A Unique Vocation: The Calling to Be a Pastor

barrysnotes — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 02:43:00 +0000

I have been reading several good books this summer but one has inspired me to re-think and re-affirm my calling. The Pastor: A Memoir by Eugene Peterson is an inspiring autobiographical account of what it means to be called to pastoral ministry and to live out that vocation in a unique community.

While Peterson is known to many primarily for his popular Bible translation called The Message, for me his greatest contribution has been his writings about pastoral work. Years ago I read three of Peterson’s books about pastoral ministry: Five Smooth Stones of Pastoral Work, The Contemplative Pastor, and Under the Unpredictable Plant. In a church world that looks to the pastor to be the CEO, a chaplain-on-demand, or an ecclesial entrepreneur, Peterson reminds ministers and churches that a pastor is more like a spiritual director, a “soul friend” who walks alongside others pointing out what God is doing in their life.

In a fast paced world, where a competitive consumerist culture has invaded the church, pastors are often expected to be an idealistic combination of captivating motivational speaker, savvy executive/administrator, and extraordinary counselor. But the call to be a pastor is unique. There is no other vocation like it.

The call to be a pastor is unique because the nature of the church is unique. Veteran pastor Hardy Clemons reminds us that the church is to be “more family than corporation.” Clemons reminds pastors and churches of their peculiar mission:

Our goal is to minister: it is not to show a profit, amass a larger financial corpus or grow bigger for our own security. The ultimate goals are to accept God’s grace, share the good news, invite and equip disciples, and foster liberty and justice for all.
While serving as a pastor involves skills and responsibilities that are similar to other career paths, being a pastor is a vocation like no other. Although ministers and laity alike will be tempted to compare the role of the pastor to executive roles in the marketplace, the call to be a pastor is distinctive. Peterson stresses that a call to pastoral ministry is a call to spiritual discernment and caring within a particular local congregation and community. It is not a “one size fits all” occupation that functions uniformly in cookie cutter churches.

In Peterson’s Memoir, he summarizes his understanding of the biblical role of a pastor:

The pastor is “not someone who ‘gets things done’ but rather the person placed in the community to pay attention and call attention to ‘what is going on right now’ between men and women, with one another and with God—this kingdom of God that is primarily local, relentlessly personal, and prayerful ‘without ceasing.’
Each one of us is responsible to God for fulfilling our calling in life. Thirty-five years ago I confirmed my calling to be a pastor, and I am still learning and growing and understanding more of what it means to provide spiritual direction to a congregation.

While the call to be a pastor is neither a superior calling nor an elite calling, it is an important calling. For me, being a pastor is more than what I do. It is who I am called to be. It is more than a job. Being a pastor is the life I am called to live, a life that connects with all kinds of people in all kinds of circumstances at the most crucial junctures between birth and death. And that is a calling unlike any other.

A Prayer for Independence Day 2011

barrysnotes — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 11:01:00 +0000

God of all grace and mercy, as we celebrate our nation’s Independence Day, we are beaming with gratitude.

We are thankful for the privilege of living in “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” We are grateful for unequaled liberties that allow us to freely make choices about our work, our worship, our ideology, and lifestyle. We are indebted to past and present veterans who risked life and limb in the pursuit and protection of these liberties.

From the “mountains to the prairies” we are inspired by some of the most spectacular and diverse landscapes on our planet. From “sea to shining sea” we are privileged to draw from a treasure trove of the world’s natural resources. We have access to comfortable housing, the best in healthcare, a more than adequate wardrobe, and an abundance of favorite foods. We are blessed far beyond our deserving.

During this season of celebration we are grateful, yet concerned….concerned about our nation, concerned about our world, and concerned about the future.

From our many different perspectives and ideologies we are concerned about things like the threats of terrorism, the brutalities of war, the abuse of political power, the divisiveness of harsh and misleading political rhetoric, a lack of civil discourse, a growing sense of moral anarchy, and the possibility of an approaching storm or natural disaster. These concerns lead to heightened anxiety about the stability of our economy, the tenure of our employment, and the cost of our insurance.

And we confess that these anxieties often divert us from our mission to “minister to the least of these,” and to “love mercy, act justly, and walk humbly” with you.

These concerns and anxieties also remind us of our need to confess our sins, personally and corporately. We confess that we have too often taken our freedom for granted and we have too frequently been slack in living up to the responsibilities of our citizenship. We confess that at times we are too quick to judge and quicker to criticize. We confess that we are slow to intercede and slower to trust in your sovereignty.

We confess that our self-interests have too often taken priority over the best interest you have in mind for our nation and for our world. We confess that we have been irresponsible in our stewardship of “our space and our stuff,” often consuming and storing compulsively without conscious regard for sharing. We confess that we have too often trusted in our own initiatives and ingenuity more than we have trusted in you.

You tell us in time-tested scripture that, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” (II Chronicles 7:14)

As we approach this Independence Day, we ask you to forgive our sin and to heal our land.

On this day, we pray for the leaders of our nation, our state, and our community that they will lead with wisdom and courage.

We pray for the men and women who serve in our military that they will fulfill their humanitarian mission and return home safely and soon.

We pray for our enemies that their swords will also be “turned into plowshares,” even as we long for that day when the “lion will lie down alongside the lamb.”

We pray for the churches, cathedrals, and temples of our community and our world that they will be lighthouses of grace and peace, ever pressing toward the mark of our high calling.

Because you are the freedom-loving God, lead us to exercise our freedom responsibly and to pursue “liberty and justice for all” people around the globe.

We pray in the strong name of the One who came to set us free. Amen.

Celebrate Religious Liberty: Exercise the Freedom to Worship

barrysnotes — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 15:01:00 +0000

Fourth of July weekend is approaching. Where will you be this Sunday morning?

While many of us have appropriate plans in place this weekend to celebrate our nation’s independence with picnics, barbeques, ice cream, and fireworks, one of the most fitting ways to celebrate is to exercise our freedom to worship.

Our Baptists ancestors were among the many who contended for religious liberty for all faiths. The first amendment to the Constitution of the United States confirms that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

As citizens of these United States, we enjoy greater freedoms than any nation on earth, but with great freedom comes great responsibility.

In light of our religious liberty, let us pray fervently for those who live in regions of the world that are subject to harsh religious persecution. As we freely choose where and when to worship, let us remember our brothers and sisters who will gather anxiously but faithfully in underground churches, taking risks unfamiliar to most of us, in order to worship God and gather with their fellow believers.

From my perspective, joining regularly with other believers to worship nurtures spiritual growth, fosters moral character, and encourages humanitarian service. Hebrews 10:25 reminds us, “Some people have gotten out of the habit of meeting for worship, but we must not do that. We should keep on encouraging each other, especially since you know that the day of the Lord’s coming is getting closer.” (CEV)

For believers to neglect the opportunity to gather for worship and Bible study is to trivialize the tremendous price paid for our freedom to assemble without fear of reprisal or repercussion. Perhaps the worst expression of historical amnesia is the tendency to take freedom for granted.

I think we best celebrate and preserve our freedom by exercising our freedom. This weekend is a time to celebrate our many freedoms. Whether you are at home or traveling, I hope you are making plans for a fun day of celebration with family and friends. I hope you will take time to give thanks for our great heritage and to pray for our nation’s leaders and country’s future. Most importantly, I hope you will celebrate by exercising your freedom to worship.