GREETINGS in the blessed name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Kay and I continue to pray for you. As we ask God to comfort and protect you, we also ask God to comfort and protect all who are precious to you. May each of you know God’s gifts of joy, gladness, assurance and peace through all of the coming days.

I want to congratulate Mill Creek’s Brotherhood for the wonderful Baptist Men’s Day that we observed last month. The men did an excellent job in leading us in our worship on 22 January. Along with our guest speaker, Billy Hogge, our Brotherhood blessed each of us on that day. And, along with them, our Children’s Department (children and adults) certainly blessed us by serving such a wonderful lunch after the day’s worship service. All in all, 22 January was a great day for Mill Creek Baptist Church.

Let me change directions with this newsletter article. As you read this, we are now in the month of February. February is a wonderful month of the year. Part of that wonderfulness rests in the fact that we celebrate Valentine’s Day on the 14th. This year, Mill Creek’s Family Life Committee will host a Valentine Banquet for our church. On Saturday, 11 February, make your plans to join us for a fine meal at 6:00 PM and then a program of entertainment beginning at 7:00 PM. You know that you will be blessed by coming. I do hope to see you on that evening.
Some people will tell us that the church has no business promoting Valentine’s Day in any way. They will point out that they believe that the ancient Christian Church usurped the pagan holiday of Lupercalia. Lupercalia was a pagan Roman holiday that was associated with cleansing the pagan temples and the practice and importance of hedonism. But, don’t you think that Valentine’s Day is something different from all of that?
Do you remember passing out Valentine cards when you were in grade school? Do you remember how wonderful it made you feel to receive a Valentine card from a friend, or even from someone on whom you had a secret crush? Likewise, do you remember how you felt when you did not receive those Valentine cards? So, on one hand, Valentine’s Day provides us with the opportunity to be especially kind to others. And, such a thing is always in great demand in the world in which we live.
But, there is one other thing that makes Valentine’s Day a special time of the year. The day received its name from the Ancient Church celebrating the martyrdom of an early saint of the Church. There are at least six (6) different Christians of the early Church who are associated with this day. However, it seems that the most likely candidate of the six was a Roman priest who was martyred during the reign of Claudius II, otherwise known as Claudius Gothicus.
Valentinus, this early Christian who lived and served God in Rome, was known to have married young Christian couples which was a practice that Claudius had outlawed. In addition to that, Valentinus and another Christian by the name of Marius helped Christians who would shortly suffer martyrdom under the rule of Claudius. In the year A.D. 270, Claudius ordered the arrest of Valentinus. By all accounts, Claudius liked Valentinus. But, when Valentinus witnessed to Claudius that the Emperor should abandon his pagan religious beliefs and accept Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord, Claudius ordered that Valentinus be killed. Upon Claudius II’s order, Valentinus was nearly beaten to death with clubs. The beating was stopped short of killing Valentinus, so that the Christian priest could be killed by beheading.
Once again, we are brought face to face with the idea that Valentine’s Day is associated with the act of being kind to those who are in need of kindness. After-all, that is exactly what Valentinus of Rome was doing as he married young Christian couples who were forbidden to marry and Christians who were facing martyrdom.
This Valentine’s Day, let us take the day’s opportunity to be kind, not only to those we love, but also to someone who is in need of kindness. All we have to do is look around and we will see them. Our world is full of people who need kindness.
May the Lord, our God be with you throughout all of the coming days. May you, and all who are precious to you, be greatly and warmly blessed throughout your days. Amen.

God’s Blessings,
Phillip