Welcome!

 

I am so glad to be pastor here at Pleasant View Baptist Church. I have never felt more specifically called to any ministry than I do here and now.  Allow me to introduce myself and share with you my vision for this congregation.

 

It has been quite a journey following God to this point.  I grew up here in Burke County and graduated from East Burke High School in 1984.  I attended Western Piedmont and eventually graduated from NC State.  For several years, I was a high school science teacher.  I served with the North American Mission Board in New York City (I met my wife, Sarah, there) and in New Orleans.  Sarah and I married in 1999.  From 2000-2004, I attended Southeastern Baptist Seminary in Wake Forest.  God really touched my heart there with the importance of a biblical world view and education.  Our daughter Elie was born in 2003.

 

From there, we, like the old Israelites, followed God out to the desert.  I became the pastor of a small Baptist mission church in southern California.  We were there six years.  I graduated with a PhD in Biblical Studies in 2014.  We moved back to Burke County in 2016.  I became pastor of Pleasant View Baptist Church in January of 2017.

 

I am so excited about what God is doing here at Pleasant View.  As this congregation moves forward, we rely on three pillars.  First we believe in a living God.  He has a will for how we live and grow; we seek His will for this congregation and depend upon His strength.  Ultimately, we trust wholly in the Cross for our relationship with Jesus Christ as the only possible path to salvation. Second, we realize that we know what we know about God and salvation only through His Word, the Bible.  We want to be known by our devotion to studying the Bible.  The third pillar we stand on is prayer.  Since God is living and has revealed Himself in the Scriptures, we can and must talk with Him.  We must open our lives to His leading.  Like the Israelites at the Red Sea, we must wait and let God move first, then follow with great energy.  I believe that if we, as a congregation, stand firm on these three pillars, God will move mightily in this community through us.

 

I invite you to join us as we continue on our journey.  Together, in His strength, we build His Kingdom, here and now.

 

Sincerely,

 

Pastor Rex Shaver