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!

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.

EASTER AND THE GOSPEL

Pastor, what are you preaching as you approach Easter? What is the Gospel?

Ed Stetzer blogs each Monday on Missiology. You may read this past Monday’s post here. Ed points out that “With the rise of fundamentalism in the 1920s, the Social Gospel’s counteraction began with painting salvation, not just as transformation in individuals, but increasingly as the annihilation of distorted and prejudiced structures. This trend was evident until a new era of confidence was birthed in the 1960s, ushered in particularly via J.C. Hoekendijk.”

The Liberation Theology movement was fueled by such thought. I recall a D.Min. seminar at SWBTS in the early ’80′s in which the professor, a former missionary to a nation in S. America, extolled the virtues of Liberation Theology. I thought it interesting that because of the way in which the grading period fell, grades were issues prior to our one assignment being completed. We compared grades. Those who had agreed with this professor were given A’s and those who disagreed (myself among these) were given B’s. Later I witnessed the destruction of Liberation Theology in the nation of El Salvador.

Does the Gospel definition include changing the structures of society? Many of them need to be changed. They are oppressive at best.

Are justice issues included in the biblical definition of the Gospel? Is the Gospel more than what we call the plan of salvation (i.e, tracts, etc.)?

It is a question to those of us who preach. What is the Gospel? What are you preaching and how will you preach it on that one day of the year when more people attend public worship services than any other day of the year?

“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!

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!!