2016 Southern Baptist Convention Day 2

 The Southern Baptist Convention finished up today in St. Louis. Honestly, the final session is going while I write out this post. There are some great things that took place today. Most of these things will be overshadowed by one event. 
There was a close race as to who would lead the Southern Baptist denomination going forward. This race was coming down to J.D. Greear and Steve Gaines. Today, when the messengers of the SBC gathered together for a record third vote, something amazing happened. J.D. Greear stood and announced that he was stepping down so that there would not be a divided denomination going forward. You can read more about this from Greear here.

I know that many younger adults were here at the Southern Baptist Convention looking to see what the future is and if there is a place for them in it. I honestly believe that J.D. Greear with his actions and the way he handled it just bought the SBC a few more years with Millenials. 

I know that many other things have taken place on this day. The reports from NAMB and IMB were simply amazing and so encouraging about what lies ahead in mission work. 

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2015 Dominican Republic Trip Day 2

Today was the first real day of work on this trip to the Dominican Republic.  We began our teaching and discussion times as we covered a couple of topics.  The first pastor introduced the idea of how we are to study the Bible by offering some really good tools for study.  The people seemed to get most of it.  The second pastor began sharing about the Sermon on the Mount.  There is no way that we could cover Matthew 5-7 on this trip, so this pastor is taking a key passage from each chapter and doing a study through it.  Both of these men did a fantastic job (as did the translators).

I had the privilege of teaching on what the Gospel truly is and what role does baptism play.  Any time you want to talk about the Gospel, you can just bank on some things coming up.  There will be things that try to take the focus off and confusion to set in.  I am grateful that the Holy Spirit filtered a lot of the junk out so that we could clearly see what was important: the Gospel.  We had a really good discussion about whether baptism was necessary and when it should happen.

I believe that the highlight of the day (besides being able to FaceTime with my wife and boys) was the worship experience that we had at the beginning of the conference time.  Two guys who are helping out with HMM led in worship (see picture below).  They did a fantastic job.  God has given these young men talents beyond measure and a heart for worship.

One moment felt like the curtain was pulled back and we were actually worshipping at the feet of the King.  We were singing the song "I Surrender All".  In the room, we had Dominican Republic folks who speak Spanish... we had Haitians who speak a Creole type language... we had 4 Americans who spoke English... For a moment, you had all three groups singing the same song in their native tongue at the same time.  On the surface, you would think chaos... what took place was a thing of beauty.

Oh, what a day that will be when people from every tribe and nation come to the feet of Jesus and sing His praise together...

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Heading to the DR

I've been looking forward to tomorrow for a while now. I was asked by our associational director of missions some time back if I would pray about a mission trip. I'm all about some mission work. This trip would be very different from any mission trip with that I had been on before. This trip would be one where some select pastors from our area would fly to the Dominican Republic to train local pastors. 

I admit that I didn't have to pray long. When I asked God and He said, "Go..." I was ready to go. I love to teach. I love those who God has called to serve and lead His people. To be able to take the wonderful gift I was given not long ago (seminary education) and share it with those who are just as called as I am and may not be able to receive it... I'm all in. 

So now tomorrow morning, I will join three other pastors from our area in flying to the DR to share the wonderful gift of training with some Dominican pastors. I ask that you pray for our team and our families back home. 

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Storytelling

Who doesn't like a good story?  I don't know of many people who do not like to hear one tell a good gripping story.  I have had the privilege of sitting at the feet of some good storytelling people.  Some were relatives that just brighten up the times together with a good story.  Some were friends who would tell about past adventures.

A good story is priceless.

For some people, storytelling is indeed priceless.  For some people in our world, storytelling might be the only way that they get to encounter the life-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Last night, my wife did a great job of sharing with our church family about mission work done in the Ivory Coast through some of our IMB missionaries.  One of the major ways that the Gospel is shared in the Ivory Coast is through storytelling the Bible.  This is done primarily because the literacy rate is sadly very low.  A great video that tells a little about the work in the Ivory Coast can be seen here.

This got me to thinking...

If we had to share the truths of the Bible with another person in the form of storying, could we?

In our country, it is not uncommon for there to be a copy of the Bible in the home, workplace, hotel rooms, library, or other places we find ourselves frequently.  You can even find the Bible at Walmart!  Even though we have an abundance of Bibles at our fingertips, I am concerned that we don't know what the story of the Bible really is.

I would encourage you to take that number one best-seller that may be on a shelf close by and take time to learn the story of the Bible.  Don't just read and listen to the many stories, but take time to see the overall story that goes throughout Scripture.  Then let's take the time to share that story with others around us.

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New Leadership at IMB

I heard the news today that the International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention has elected a new President to oversee its work.  The IMB has selected David Platt to the position.  Platt has been the Pastor of the Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama and authored many books on the Christian faith.  You can read an article about Platt being chosen as the new leader by clicking here.

I for one am very glad to hear this news.  I have been tracking this young man for a little while.  It has been interesting to see how God has been using this young man for His glory.  He has a passion for the lost and to see that people from every walk and nation come to know about Jesus.  He has been passionate and vocal about the Church around the world.  I could not think of a better person for this time to be at the leadership position of the IMB.  There are so many people that are wanting to get the Gospel to the ends of the earth, and Platt is one that can be a good, solid voice for them.  He has proven himself to be very qualified for the position of leading as he helped a megachurch in Alabama gain a new identity after some rocky times.

I cannot wait to see how God uses David Platt and his family in this position.  I encourage all Christians - Southern Baptists and others as well - to join me in praying for this man as he helps the SBC to be focused on the Great Commission.

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Is Doing Nothing Wrong?

I came across this video of a segment of teaching from Mark Driscoll, Pastor at Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington.  He does a great job of explaining why doing nothing is just as much a sin as doing the wrong thing intentionally.  Enjoy!  Also, feel free to leave comments below.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s35yhSagPss?rel=0&hd=1&w=640&h=394]

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Great Missional Message from the Southern Baptist Convention

This past week was the Southern Baptist Convention.  This was the annual meeting of Southern Baptists to worship together and deal with issues within the denomination.  David Platt, senior pastor of The Church at Brook Hills here in Birmingham, Alabama, presented a great message.  I was not able to be in Phoenix for the Convention, but I was able to watch online (gotta love today's technology).  Below is the video from the message.

http://mediasuite.316networks.com/player.php?v=vys2701i

You can see all the videos of what went on at this year's Southern Baptist Convention by going to www.sbc.net and clicking on the top banner which will take you to the different videos.  You can also see the videos from the Aspire Pastor's Conference at the link http://www.sbcpc.net/media/.

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Baby Shower In A Box

Last night, a couple of students and adult youth ministry volunteers joined me for a mission project that we had been planning for a couple of weeks.  I had met with our adult leadership team and said that for the holidays that I wanted to see our student ministry more "others-focused" and asked for help with ideas for mission/service projects.  I have found that the holidays can easily become a time where we focus on "me".  My wife mentioned a great project that we could do and call it "Baby Shower In A Box".

Here's how it works... we would collect diapers, baby wipes, baby clothes, and other items needed for new parents and donate them to the local Sav-a-Life ministry in our area.  If you have a ministry like this in your area, you need to partner up with them.  They have a great ministry to young mothers and unborn babies going on.  Our local office does a deal where the mothers go through a four-week class on how to take care of yourself (the mom) and the baby all the while sharing the Gospel of Jesus with them.  At the end of the four weeks, the mothers are given a shower with gifts.  This is where we came in helping to provide some of these items.  We held the collection for 3 weeks and received an entire carload of items.



Last night, we took these items to the Sav-a-Life office and worked for an hour helping out in their "store" where they have baby clothes, toys, and more.  It was fun and the office was overwhelmed that a group wanted to come in and help like this.  The lady that we were working with said, "Wow!  Y'all have done a month's worth of work in one hour!"  Amazing what can be done when we team together and work towards a common goal.  It was a true blessing to serve those who are truly serving a part of our community that might not normally come into our church buildings.

I would encourage you this holiday season, look for ways that you can serve others.  Remember the words of Jesus before He went to the cross...

The kings of the Gentiles dominate them, and those who have authority over them are called 'Benefactors.'  But it must not be like that among you.  On the contrary, whoever is greatest among you must become like the youngest, and whoever leads, like the one serving.
Luke 22:25-26  HCSB

 

 

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PowerPlant Thoughts

June 7-12, 2010 marked a new adventure for me and our student ministry.  We participated in PowerPlant, a mission trip experience put on by NAMB to help church plants and teach students about church planting.  It was the first time that I had been part of this ministry.  I had heard about this ministry before but not had any friends who had actually tried it out.  After much prayer, I felt led to take our group on this adventure.

Here are some thoughts that I had from this mission trip...

• Church planting is important. I had not heard a whole lot about church planting as a ministry of local churches.  The only churches that I knew of growing up that newly started were those that consisted of a group of people who were tired of the way things were going at one church and decided to start something new (that suited their own tastes).  What I seen in Indianapolis (and been seeing a lot more of in other areas) was amazing.  There is truly an understanding that no one church can be "all things to all people."  We got to see churches working together as teams to reach entire cities instead of them competing with one another over the same 100 sheep.


• Church planting is not the only way to reach the world. I know that the emphasis of this week was the importance of church planting, but I was reminded that if the current established churches would step up and be what God desires them to be (Great Commission and Great Commandment focused people), then the need for new fellowships wouldn't be as needed.  (Note: new fellowships are still needed, but in some areas they wouldn't be if the current ones stepped up.)


• Students will shine when given the chance. Okay, I had known this already, but hadn't had much of an opportunity with this group of students to see it happen.  I was blown away at how these students took the reigns and stepped out into unknown territory.  It was encouraging to see this generation of students step up to the plate and knock it out of the park.

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