Pleasant Home Baptist Church

By Pastor Mark Oaks

I have been priviledged to serve as pastor of Pleasant Home Baptist Church for nearly five years now. It is a country church located in a bucolic setting. It is a quiet and beautiful area. Let me tell you more about it.

Pleasant Home Baptist Church is located in the Eastern part of Santa Rosa county, approximately eight miles north of Harold, and ten miles south of Munson, within the Blackwater River State Forest. It is thought of, by many, as being isolated (which is easily understood). Blackwater River is approximately six miles to the east and three miles to the south, with nearby Juniper Creek to the west and Sweetwater Creek about eight miles to the north.

Apart from being a remote area, climactic conditions were often unfavorable. Heavy rains, flooded and swollen streams often prevailed, disrupting worship service and Bible study--an existing condition since the life of the church, and extremely so during the pastorate of Rev. L.G. Stewart. However, by this time this condition was directly affecting the travel of school teachers, Civil Service personnel, construction employees, and various laborers commuting to their work. The need of a high-water bridge to accommodate this community was beginning to meet the eye of our elected officials. Rev. L.G. Stewart, LeRoy Johnson, R.G. "Bob" Pitts and L.B. Cooper initiated the movement to remedy this condition. R.G. "Bob" Pitts and L.B. Cooper presented to the Board of County Commissioners a petition honoring the signatures of 401 registered voters favoring this bridge. However, this petition was tabled due to lack of funds. After a reasonable length of time, Senator Clayton Maypoles (also a member of State Appropriation Committee) came to our aide and worked through the Blackwater River State Forest, and secured a high-water bridge on Juniper Creek.

The outstanding beauty of the area can be attributed to its serene quietness. Away from the "hustle and bustle" of the crowded thoroughfares, it nestles among pine, dogwood, and other growth of the forest. This area of the forest is not so dense as to expect wild boar, bear or panthers. However, wild turkey and deer roam freely and the late afternoons are accented by the shrilling songs of native birds.

Here are our beliefs. The Bible is the infallible, inerrant Word of God and is trustworthy and true and is a testimony to Christ.

There is one and only one living and true God Who is all-powerful and all knowing. The eternal triune God reveals Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

Jesus is the Son of God, the second person of the trinity; He was born of a woman and is both human and divine-the God-Man. He was sinless but died a sinner's death on the cross as a substitute for us. Our belief in Him brings God's forgiveness of our sins and brings us eternal life.

No man is worthy of salvation and therefore cannot achieve it on his own. Men and women need a Savior to provide salvation. All men and women are sinners and have no chance of Salvation except by believing in Jesus Christ as their Savior.

The Church is the Body of Christ and includes all of the redeemed of all the ages, believers from every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation.

Christian baptism is the immersion of a believer in water in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. It is an act of obedience symbolizing the believer's faith in a crucified, buried, and risen Savior, and also symbolizing the believer's death to sin, the burial of the old life, and the resurrection to walk in newness of life in Christ Jesus.

We worship on Sunday, the first day of the week, the Lord's Day, the day of the resurrection of Christ.

We believe in the priesthood of believers, which reveals the special position and privileges believers have before God. He has chosen them as his servants who are loved by Him and special to Him. As priests of God believers serve Him in praise, worship and sacrifice. As priests, all believers have direct access to God through prayer. God reveals His Word directly to them. These acts honor God for His grace to believers and are a testimony and witness to others, allowing them to experience God's grace for themselves.

You are invited to join us at any time. For more information, see our webpage.