SERVING A GOD OF SOVEREIGN PURPOSE

God is good!

I am not a “Calvinist”, but I may be leaning…:). Not really. But I do believe in the Sovereignty of God and in the purpose of God for all things. And I am rebuked for being among those to whom Jesus referred as “O ye of little faith!”.

When I discovered my journal missing after our family vacation, I grieved. I have ideas, prayers, private thoughts, etc. I called where we stayed and the company from whom we leased the van. No journal. I prayed. One day last week I learned to not trust “impressions”. I had a strong impression the journal was in my mail box. I rushed to the post office and there wasn’t even lint in it, much less a journal.

Thursday morning I got a text message from Greg Wells. Greg is a good friend from 121 Community Church. We meet every other week. Greg helped sponsor our SBTC Pastor’s Golf Retreat. His text simply said, “Did you lose a journal?” I was stunned and discovered he had my journal. We met for lunch. While waiting for him I told the story to the waitress whom I will call “Kelly”. Pray for “Kelly”.

Here is the story. Enterprise had no 15 passenger vans when I first tried to find one. But a few days before leaving, I got a call: “Mr. Elmore, we have located a van for you.” Apparently they got it from Capps (we paid $200 less than what Capps was going to charge me). Little did I know that the youth from 121 Community Church were going to New Orleans and were renting vans from Capps. When Capps cleaned the vans from the 121 trip, they found a journal in the console. They called the youth pastor and he picked it up. He saw my name, knows me, and knows Greg and I meet. He put it in Greg’s in-box.

I told this story to the “Kelly”. When Greg and I were finishing lunch, she brought the bill and brought up the story and said, “God works in mysterious ways.” The story on “Kelly”. She was not raised in a Christian home. She said she did not go to church until she was old enough to choose for herself. She began going to a church in the southern part of the metroplex but dropped out because some would “party on Saturday night and act holier-than-thou on Sunday”. In the conversation we discovered that she believes she is a Christian and she and her fiance are looking for a church. They want to begin their marriage right. Greg gave her his card.

I said to “Kelly”, “I don’t want to make more of this than it is and I really don’t know all that is going on. But if someday in heaven I discover the whole purpose for this was to encourage you to live for Jesus, I would jump up and down with joy.”

God is sovereign! Pray for “Kelly”. I thank those who knew and prayed I would find my journal. It is beside me.

REMEMBER TO PRAY FOR THE “YOUNG” PASTORS

I’m not old, but I remember. I am aging, so perhaps in some minds that is “old”.  I subscribe to the “sixty is the new fifty; fifty is the new forty” mantra. So come on, knees, get with it!

One of the great things about some age is that any one of us can say, “This is not my first rodeo.” We remember some things that should prompt us to pray for the many younger pastors and others fulfilling their calling in Christian leadership.

Because of the nature of this post, I will not call names. And really, names are not the point.

I am grateful to God for the younger faces I see in the streams and photos from the recently concluded Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting. I have not been privileged to attend an annual meeting for many years, so I follow on-line and through twitter.

God is so good to us. There are young men rising from their generation that God is empowering to build great Great Commission churches. Many are in demand as speakers at almost any conference.  Some are edgy in their delivery. Others have shaped their message to be a bit more smooth. Almost all are radically in love with Jesus.

Thus the issue. Are you praying for them? In Hebrews 11 fashion, time would fail me to tell of the many who were heroes to myself and others while we were in college and seminary that have fallen. For some, their pride was so severe that it appears God gave them over to themselves and they became casualties. Others had moral issues surface. And some, through no fault of their own were taken by disease and accident at an age we would call “premature”.

I believe it is well within the bounds of Scripture to say that the enemy is seeking to destroy the lives and ministries of any who serve God. One does not have to be on a large stage with a watching SBC world. Satan’s minions are everywhere and Paul reminds us Satan himself is disguised as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14). Jesus said the thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10).

As I watched the streaming of the SBC and read The Southern Baptist Texan and Baptist Press, I was reminded of many who were my generations heroes when we were younger. They are the aging statesmen. Some have retired, others are retiring. I also saw the younger pastors typically profiled at the preaching events.

I was also reminded of several who could have been among the aging and retiring statesmen. Some have been taken in death. Others made shipwreck of their faith and ministry through sin.

1 Peter 5:8-9 exhorts, “Be sober! Be on the alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are being experienced by your brothers in the world.” (HCSB)

Let us thank God for these wonderful men and women whom He is raising to lead another generation to radically serve Jesus. And let us continually hold them up in prayer.

Baptists are by and large “list pray-ers”. So let me encourage you to make a list of some names you know. They may not be national names. Some may be. But make a list of younger men and women who are called to Christian leadership and pray for them on a regular basis. Ask God to bring into their lives those whom they will respect as accountability partners. Ask God to grant them protection from disease and sin and/or any other thing the enemy would bring into their lives to distract and discredit them. Pray for their humility. God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. And pray their Sabbath time – their times of solitude with the Lord – will be valued and frequented by them.

They may never know of your prayers. But God will. And the Kingdom of God will be strengthened. Remember Ezekiel 22:30? God was seeking for one to “stand in the gap” in intercession. Let us not fail to be one of those, to the glory of God!

PRAYER AND REVIVAL

God is sovereign over all his creation. The early church’s prayer was motivated through worship of our Sovereign God.  Yes, there was concern for people and issues, but the great motivation was that this Sovereign God had revealed himself in Jesus the Christ and their response was worship (Acts 4:23ff). Both in Romans 1:5 and 3 John 1:7, the motivation of both Paul and John is for the sake of the Name!

21st Century followers of Jesus are no less motivated.  In the Old Testament, the prophet spoke the word of God to the people. In the New Testament, the Spirit of Christ (who was in the prophets – 1 Peter 1:10-12) is in all of the people of God. When our lives are centered in Jesus, the Spirit will guide each of us to value that which he values.

Many aspects of our theological understanding of Soteriology may be debated. But one thing is for certain. Jesus Christ came to save sinners. And we are to pray for their salvation.

“Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be make for allmen, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (NKJV)

The NLT translates the same passage: “I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. ² Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. ³ This is good and pleases God our Savior, ⁴ who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth.”

God’s patience in this present era gives opportunity for more to experience His grace.

“ But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3: 8-9, NKJV)

It is through prayer the Father births his kingdom concerns into the heart of the disciple. Reading the Bible can give one cognitive knowledge of God’s purpose. One should never minimize the importance of the written word of God. But it is through intimacy with the Father in prayer that the passion and vision to participate in God’s purpose(s) for the nations is birthed! Thus, one who worships Jesus cannot know the purpose of God apart from the written word of God, nor can they experience the passion of God apart from the intimacy of prayer. Prayer and scripture go together!

Humans are naturally bent toward “self” (Matthew 10:39). Both God and the person are vitally interested in the human soul. The wording in the New Testament clearly teaches that one’s ‘lostness” is ultimately attributable to the will or fault of the one who suffers loss (Luke 9:25). In order to experience the blessings of God, one’s desire for God must exceed one’s desire for self!

“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:18, NKJV)

We join God’s majestic purpose for the people of the world when we pray. Prayer extends the work of the Holy Spirit who changes the attitude of those who hear the truth about Jesus and who He is.

Keep a spiritual diary of your prayers for friends and family who have not yet become followers of Jesus. List their name(s) and the date you began to pray. As you read Scripture and pray for them, record thoughts that come to mind and ways the Spirit leads you to pray. When your friend or family members becomes a follower of Jesus, record the date and begin to pray for their spiritual growth.

As we look toward the National Day of Prayer, perhaps God will enable us to pray prayers that touch the heart of God!

THE SIX TRIALS OF JESUS

No news to you, but Sunday is Palm Sunday, which begins what the Christian Church calls either “Passion Week” or “Holy Week”. This week moves from the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem to the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Ron Barker is with the Evangelism section of the South Carolina Baptist Convention. Ron sends out an email (R-Gram) to those who choose to subscribe. If you wish to subscribe you may email Ron and request he send the newsletter to you. It is weekly and free. The email to subscribe is prayassist@scbaptist.org. In that R-Gram he gives the chronology of events in the six trials of Jesus. I share this with you in the spirit of passing on what a friend has shared with me to help with your personal study and preaching.

Event                                                                                                                                 Approximate Time

1. Prayer and agony at Gethsemane (Synoptic gospels)                                                   1:00 a.m.
2. Betrayal by Judas and arrest of Jesus (Mk. 14:43-46; John 18:12)                         1:30 a.m.
3. Irregular, unauthorized inquiry at Anna’s residence (Jn. 18:13-23)                      2:00 a.m.
4. Unofficial trial at Caiaphas’s residence (Matt. 26:57-68; John 18:24)                    3:00 a.m.
5. Formal, official trial before Sanhedrin in their chamber to confirm capital sentence (Mark 15:1; Luke 22:66-71)                                                                                                                                                                     6:00 a.m. (“when it was day”)
6. First interrogation by Pilate at official residence (Mt. 27:1-2; 11-14; Lk. 23:1-7; John 18:28-38)                                                                                                                                                                                                      6:30 a.m. (“when morning had come…and it was early”)
7. Audience/mockery before Herod (Luke 28:8-12)                                                           7:00 a.m.
8. Final judgment of Pilate (All Gospels)                                                                                   7:30 a.m.
9. Scourging in Praetorium (All Gospels)                                                                                 8:00 a.m.
10. Nailing of hand and feet to the cross (All Gospels)                                                          9:00 a.m. (“it was the third hour”)
11. Darkness (Matthew, Mark, Luke)                                                                                            12:00 noon (“when the sixth hour had come, darkness fell”)
12. Death of Jesus (all Gospels)                                                                                                       3:00 p.m. (“and at the ninth hour”)

In less than twenty-four hours, Jesus goes from arrest to execution!

We are praying God will bless each of you with the anointing of the Holy Spirit as you prepare both the messages and the messenger for this important time in your ministry.

WHAT DO YOU DO MID-WEEK?

It’s Wednesday. Hump Day. Plan for the week-end. What does your congregation do?

Most have structured various missions, choir, Bible study programs on Wed. nite. Some have a meal for the convenience of those coming from work. Of course that assumes most work late or in the metropolitan areas, fight traffic.

John Franklin has written a book “Dynamic Prayer Meetings” that is one of LifeWay’s resources. You can see that and all their resources on prayer here.  John advocates returning to the old Wednesday night where prayer was the focus. He also offers other suggestions.

Some congregations retain the prayer meeting for those who have no other activities. Attendees are usually (1) very committed to the ministry of prayer, believing the church ought to have such a time, (2) stuck at church with other family members in other activities and need a place to land, or (3) it is traditional to go to Wednesday nite prayer meeting.

So what does your church do? If you do not pray on Wednesday nights as a corporate body, when do you pray as such?

I would not imply that corporate prayer replaces personal prayer. Both are necessary for the spiritual health of the Body.

Have you discovered a structure that facilitates the corporate prayer of your congregation? Would you share it with us?

Is God answering the corporate prayers of your congregation?

THE SBC IN 2010…A VIEW FROM THE CHEAP SEATS

This post is not intended at all to complain or to offend anyone but the Devil. And I pray I offend him every single day with every single action. Unfortunately, I do not. But I seek to do so.

This post’s intent is to challenge all who seek to be used to advance the purpose and intent of our Sovereign God. It is an observation with that challenge especially for younger pastors in chronological age and those who recognize they are aging, but refuse to get old.

There is a difference. Some of you young guys are already old and seeking how you may “climb the ladder of  success.” You are already on the road to irrelevance in the Kingdom of God.  And some of us who are aging are not as “old” as our appearance.

My observation throughout the years has been that of being close to some “insiders” and yet not close enough to influence decisions. In other words, I have been in the house but not at the table. At times I feel somewhat frustrated but then I review the ministry God has given and I am overwhelmed by the grace and mercy extended me.  I am very grateful some things I wanted early in my ministry were kept from me. And I look forward to the future although I do not know what that will be. Our all-seeing, all-knowing, all-present God is always faithful to us, even when we are failing in our faithfulness to Him.

Thus, my view is from the cheap seats. Here are some of my observations.

A Great Commission Resurgence is much-needed. But my question is why a denomination that believes Scripture is both inerrant and sufficient needs a Great Commission Resurgence? Please do not interpret that as critical of the concept or the committee. Hear the question: Why do we need? And if we do need this and it is biblical, why are we waiting for a committee report to obey God? How many times must Scripture speak before we obey?

There are churches that no longer visit prospects. I was actually told by one staff member that he typically waited until someone visited twice because the second visit indicated there might be serious interest about the church. I have had others, seminary trained, who simply do not visit. Some talk of “attractional” methods. Tell me what is attractive about a church that has lost its passion for Christ and those for whom he died?

Where does a local GCR begin? It begins with leadership in precept, principle, and example.

We have emphasized church growth, then church health, now we have a Great Commission Resurgence committee. God bless them. Those who initiated and suggested this were people of integrity and passion. The same is true for the committee. They seem to desire to be catalysts to move the SBC as a body toward incremental and necessary change.

But you, pastor, do not have to wait until Orlando to change. What is the Spirit saying to the churches? I submit the same things he has said all along recorded in Revelation 2-3 and other passages applicable to the subject.

Has “revival” become a cop-out for such things as passion, caring, obedience and hard work? We do not really know much about revival other than what we have read. We may have had what some call “mercy drops”, but a national or denominational revival/awakening has not been seen by anyone alive today. Biblically, those are mostly Old Testament passages. It is not the cry of the New Testament. The closest in the New is a call to a busy church to remember their first love, turn around, and return to that first love. And I believe that is a first love of loving Christ as well as loving others (Rev. 2:1-7). It seems consistent with the Great Commandment of Matthew 22:34-40.

There is an article here in the Southern Baptist Texan. It is well written and acknowledges that revival/spiritual awakening seems to be predicated upon prayer and the Sovereignty of God. There are those that reduce God’s Sovereignty to man’s formula. We would not do so in precept, but we often do in principle with our methods. Roy Fish, one of God’s greatest gifts to Southern Baptists and the world, is quoted in the article. One of the most crucial concepts is this: “Yet Fish added that awakening—a term he uses synonymously with revival—is not merely the result of believers meeting certain conditions in a formula. In fact, two churches could seek God identically but  only one congregation experience revival, he said.”

So my observation is this. We as leaders should lead our people to passionately pursue communion with God through prayer privately and corporately. I do not believe it offensive to lost people who are intelligent enough to know they have entered a place of worship called a church. They may even have expectation that we would pray.

Justice is big stuff these days. It is ”big stuff” and later blog posts will address the subject.

What is justice? This particular post will not go into theological definitions and nuances of the term. However, one has said that justice is righting past wrongs. This particular definition was given within the bounds of biblical truth. One could also say that in a great sense justice is cooperating with the mission of Christ to push back the darkness (see Isa. 61 and Luke 4). If that is true, then not only good works, but also prayer and evangelism become part of any biblical concept of justice.

I may give a cup of cold water and/or food in Jesus’ name, and I should. But if I do not give biblical hope, that person may perish on a full stomach and spend eternity apart from God’s grace but eternally present with His wrath. Good works should not at all be manipulative for the purpose of getting ”decisions”. But somewhere in the conversation, eternal hope through the Gospel of Christ must be clear.

Doing all the Great Commission indeed involves evangelism, discipleship (inclusive of prayer and justice), and bringing people into the local Body of Christ. Again the question: Why do we need a GCR committee?

If indeed there is need, and there appears to be, then is not our immediate and personal response that of heeding John’s call to the Ephesian church in Rev. 2:1-7?

Like I said – it is my view from the cheap seats. How many more churches could be started, mission trips taken, and people helped with the monies we spend trying to motivate professing Christians to simply obey the elementary commands of Christ? Think about it.

“BLESSED ARE THE HUNGRY, FOR THEY SHALL BE DISCUSSED…”

or something like that. I think it is time to write another Bible. Oh, I don’t mean the one we have isn’t good enough or isn’t inerrant. It surely is. But let’s face it. Somewhere in the past and likely for several reasons the conservative church in North America has built a fence around its practice that seems far from what the text actually says and teaches. Look at the Beatitudes (in a humorous fashion) as an example. Does this show practice more than the inerrant text?

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the back pew.

2. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall do so in isolation.

3. Blessed are the meek, for they shall be considered as having poor self esteem.

4. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be considered fanatics.

5. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be taken advantage of.

6. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall not serve on our committees.

7. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called naïve.

8. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for they shall be given the left foot of fellowship.

9. Blessed are you when they shall revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil about you (often truthfully), for religion’s sake.

As you know, this is NOT what Jesus said in Matthew 5:3-11. But I thought it might provoke some thought.

My observation is that we tend to write our own Bibles by the way we live our lives. Some write them by omitting certain Biblical teachings. Others write them by adding to certain Biblical teachings. And my soul, we just cannot have mystery and obscurity – we must know everything the Divine was thinking. How else can we lead the people of God?

Every generation produces its own religious fads. unfortunately, some follow them. One extreme is to become cultic. Another is to drop out from religious fatigue.

Obviously the above errant and uninspired “Beatitudes” are my attempt to illustrate the point. I have  heard talk of the failure of delivery systems designed to feed the hungry (literal, physical hunger) as being ineffective. I applaud feeding both the physically hungry and the spiritually hungry. Do we need different delivery systems?

May I suggest the local church? Is it not effective? If not, why not?

The Evangelical church in America that is a product of the Church Growth movement is pretty anemic. Why? Think of sermons like “Five Reasons Why It Is Dumb to Play in the Freeway”. Think of those Bibles for sale that are not actual translations, but are paraphrases. Many do not recognize these are one person’s commentary on the text. Think of people in the pew that really want “iChurch”. Think of prayer-less congregations and congregations so desperate for ‘converts’ that anything and everything is accepted. Think of hundreds of “Christians” unable to give a reason for the hope that is within them. But in all sincerity they come. They haven’t failed; leadership has failed them. The failure of leadership is a failure of prayer and making the Gospel plain. “If the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle?” (1 Cor. 14:8, NKJV)

Perhaps it is time to dig deep in the passages of the New Testament that speak of repentance. I know the Old is also inerrant, but we are in the New Covenant and that is what the New Testament is about – life in a new covenant. And that life in the Spirit is different than the revivals of the Old Covenant.

Some pastors are called to situations they did not create. So let me ask you, “How long has been, pastor, since you have preached a message on repentance and done so with a broken heart?” Pray until God breaks your heart for those whom God has assigned you (think Calling), then dig deep and preach from the overflow!

You see, the inerrant Beatitude actually says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” (Matthew 5:6, NKJV).  May you be filled to overflow as you serve in Jesus’ Name!

SHORT TERM WINS, LONG TERM LOSS

There is an expression, “win the battle, lose the war”, used to describe those who lose sight of the big picture and get short-term wins but the reality becomes a long-term loss. My question is, are we there?

My trek over the past years has brought me very close to the inside of several arenas. I have participated in and even spoken or facilitated group discussion at national and global conferences of Evangelicals (including Baptists) on evangelism and prayer. I know most of the early leaders in the Conservative Resurgence of the Southern Baptist Convention and have seen some of the Moderate Baptist movement.

Some of these Evangelicals seem to want everyone to come together for the purpose of fulfilling the Great Commission. But there are certain leaders that always have the “next big thing” and seem to pop in at just the right time to offer them. I left these kinds of gatherings because I felt used in the negative sense. These were para-church organizations needing money, data base, and volunteers to extend their ministries. Discretion keeps me from calling organizational names.

The Moderate Baptists of whom I am speaking have gone so far in a religious version of political correctness and tolerance that participation in worship events with various religions is practiced. One only has to roll back the calendar a few months to an interfaith (not inter-denominational, but inter-faith) meeting in a city in Texas that was held in a local Baptist church facility.

So what of us? How do we who have taken our stand for inerrancy as a descriptive of Scripture fare in all this? Are we known more for legalism and backward thinking or lovingly sharing the Gospel of Christ? I and most others who are conservative in theology would look at the Conservative Resurgence as necessary in the life of the Southern Baptist Convention. I will not re-visit all the reasons nor will I affirm everything and every word spoken through-out those years. Movements often produce what the military calls “collateral damage”. Some of us have been there, done that, but didn’t get the t-shirt.

I want to affirm that I am deeply committed to a conservative theological path and to the inerrancy of Scripture. I am a complementarian, and was before I knew that was the word to describe my beliefs. But what has happened in our neck of the woods over the past years?

The Barna Group gave results of a year-end survey here based upon thousands of interviews during the year. They summarized their findings around four themes. You can read their commentary and explanation, but the major points of that survey were the four themes copied below.

Theme 1: Increasingly, Americans are more interested in faith and spirituality than in Christianity.

Theme 2: Faith in the American context is now individual and customized. Americans are comfortable with an altered spiritual experience as long as they can participate in the shaping of that faith experience.

Theme 3: Biblical literacy is neither a current reality nor a goal in the U.S.

Theme 4: Effective and periodic measurement of spirituality – conducted personally or through a church – is not common at this time and it is not likely to become common in the near future.

It is a cop-out for us to say these do not reflect some of the values of the people in our pews. I would agree these likely do not show the belief of the average Baptist church member who involved in the life of the church. However, what of the community in which you serve? And do we really know that “average” church member? Are we a shrinking minority in a sea of population seeking hope and moving toward some form of Universalism?

A pastor friend of mine (SBTC) told me a story of when he first arrived as the new pastor. One of the fine upstanding deacons in the church was taking him on a tour of the city. They were on one side of the town square when the deacon pointed out a man on the other side. He said to the pastor, “That is ______. He’s one of the finest Christian men in this town. Funny thing though. He’s never made a profession of faith.” Is there a dis-connect there somewhere?

I sat in on a Senior Adult Sunday School opening exercise a few years ago and heard the Dept. Director say “I believe that God looks at all of us and sees what we do. If we just do the best we can, I believe God will accept that.”

Perhaps we need to refresh our passion and church ministries to show an intentional focus on sharing the Gospel. Romans 1:16-17 reminds us “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” (NKJV)

One resource offered you is the annual SBTC Evangelism Conference February 15-17 at the Arlington, TX Convention Center. You may access information and schedule here. I urge you to attend and bring several influential leaders from your church.

Pray daily for the Great Commission Resurgence task force of the Southern Baptist Convention and for NAMB’s  GPS emphasis. I hope you will take part in it. And, wherever you find yourself in the landscape of North American Christians, return to your first love (Rev. 2:1-7) and use all of your influence in home, church, community, and workplace to speak and live the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

It is not too late to encourage your congregation to join you in reading the Bible through in 2010. There are some very good web sites that give various plans. You can access the best ones I know here, here, and here. I am using the Chronological reading from Back to the Bible as listed on the ESV site. I looked at some other sites and could not find Bible reading plans.

May God grant you your best year in 2010.

AFTERGLOW

I hope many of you were able to attend the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s annual meeting in Lubbock. It was a relational and spiritual blessing in our (my wife and myself) lives .

Allow me to use this post to tell give you some personal observations.  The next post will deal with some spiritual warfare issues related to this previous post.

I have attended conventions for years – state conventions, national conventions, and evangelism conferences. Some things never change. Most of those have been as an employee of a convention and as such I was assigned certain duties that did not allow much time for being in the convention meeting hall itself. Thus, from my assigned booth I have observed many, in the words of the King James, “going to and fro”.

THE HALL FELLOWSHIP

I have learned that one does not have to have an ‘assignment’ to miss what is happening in the convention meeting! For some, it is like the morning walks at the local mall – they go round and round! It reminds me of Billy Preston’s “Will It Go Round in Circles.” Billy Preston was an entertainer raised in part in Houston, TX and at age 12 was leading a choir of 100 in his father’s church. He later chose a secular route to exhibit his many musical talents. You may listen to it on You Tube here, and get an added bonus of Eric Clapton’s guitar. And, understand this is a bit ‘tongue-in-cheek’. The value of a convention for many is to fellowship with old friends. We Baptists love to fellowship and it is an important part of what happens.

The Eating Meetings

“I see you found the food” was one comment. Yep. We Baptists not only like to fellowship, we like to eat. And some are willing to provide a meal for a nominal cost in order to share their ministry with those attending. Great fellowship around the table and an affinity ministry or one’s Alma Mater. Alma Mater is Latin for “nourishing mother”, so it is appropriate.

The Convention Meeting

Lots of paper went to recycle. Ballots were likely unused. The unity of the meeting was such that even when issues were discussed people were not unkind. The Spirit of the Lord was obvious in the meeting.

So What Set This One Apart?

God met with us in Lubbock. It is that simple. Lubbock is not a strong area for the SBTC in terms of number of churches. There are fewer churches there than in other places. Yet one could not have hoped for a more friendly and cooperative environment. The Lubbock Baptist Association led by their fine Director of Missions, Larry Jones, and the SBTC congregations were excellent hosts.

On the last night of the annual meeting, there were two evangelistic events. The last number of recorded decisions I have is 726. I personally helped three people – a man, a woman, and her ten-year old son. They were coming “to have a new beginning”. I went over the gospel to make as certain as is humanly possible they understood and were committing their lives to Christ. They themselves checked the “profession of faith” box on their decision card. When I looked at the cards they filled out to see if we had follow-up information, I saw that all three had different last names. A blended family with a new beginning in Christ.

The next morning in the Executive Board meeting Jack Harris gave a report on Crossover. When completed, the chairman of the board asked one of the pastors to lead in a prayer of gratitude to God. Some in the room were in tears. The pastor prayed, said “A-men”, then gently broke into “Praise God from Whom All Blessings Flow”. Everyone was moved with gratitude to God. It wasn’t what “we” had done, nor what the “SBTC” had done. It was a God thing and everybody knew it. Yes, we worked and prayed. But God is glorified.

You may read more of the convention reports in the on-line version of the TEXAN here.

The difference? I’ve been to many meetings. In this one, there was an obvious awareness that God had met with us and answered the prayers and efforts of so many. Indeed, To God Be The Glory, Great Things He Hath Done!!