If MY People

Some days, the spiritual forecast where I live looks pretty stormy. Our culture seems to be headed to down a moral sewer. But when things often look the darkest, there is a light coming through.

Lots of folks seem to think that "light" is electing the right person or persons. If we do, then everything in this country will get fixed. Not gonna happen. Sorry.

God has another idea. He is waiting for those of us who know Him to get lives, priorities, and perspectives right. People that don't know God act like it. They make choices that go against the wisdom of the One who created everything and holds it all together. But God isn't calling the people who don't follow him to get things right. He calls us.

2 Chronicles 7:14
“If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray, and turn from their wicked way, then from heaven will I hear, forgive them of their sin, and heal their land.”

God says "if MY people..." not "those people." He calls us to humble ourselves. That means admitting that we need Him because we think, choose, and act wrongly on our best day. We're needy! And by the way, it is way better to humble yourself than to wait for God to do it. He can, but we really don't want Him to do that. If we humble ourselves before Him, evidenced by our prayers, and our repentance, that is enough. When enough believers do that, then from heaven will He hear, and heal [our] land. If our nation is not "healed" the blame will not go on the heads of politicians, musicians or movie makers. It will be ours: the God followers.

Call it renewal, revival, making things right, whatever. It means getting rid of any and every thing that messes up our relationship with God, and start focusing on what matters to Him.

I need that in my life.
You probably do too.

Take some time out and spend some time with Him. Get the healing started.

Stainless Steel Store

I have corresponded a number of times this week with a friend in India. So tonight, as I was thinking about a picture to post, India was on my mind. Last year I was with a Medical-Dental team preparing to head out to a "remote area" (that is what the Indians call it, and they are not kidding!). My friend had us stop at what we call "The Stainless Steel Store." I have never seen so much stainless steel in one place in my life. The entire first floor of this store was filled with stainless steel. If you use it in a kitchen, they had it in stainless steel! There were pots and pans of course, and buckets, plates, cups, bowls, platters, trays and utensils.

I wish I'd had the money (stuff was very reasonable) and the luggage weight allowance to buy a pile of it. Maybe next time!

No heavy thoughts in this post. Just fun! Click on the pic to get a bigger view.

An Intermediate Day

This has been one of those days where I feel like I got a lot of things done, but not much accomplished — probably because most of what I did today was intermediate steps to things. I had a great walk this morning, and listened to a podcast or two while walking. But I still have to walk tomorrow. Office work—sitting in front of a computer screen (or screens) and doing a few things in process. Still, when I back up, I realize that what I did may have huge implications for a group of people in India. Other tasks were brought to bear that may lead to great help of a group of people in Eastern Europe. Also fiddled with a few technical doohickeys. After leading a meeting for a few adults, I sat in on choir and orchestra practice, helping with sound and making notes for how the music will run for the guys who'll be running the sound and video stuff come Sunday. Very little today with a "mission accomplished" feel to it, but very important intermediate steps.

I did hear from a few God Travelers today, and that was good. These young guys and gals bless me!

Character or Talent

I was walking and listening to my iPod yesterday to a several year old interview with Erwin McManus, pastor of Mosaic in Pasadena, CA. He said some good stuff, but this comment arrested my thinking... “We need to run as fast as our character is deepening, and not as fast as our talents are expanding.”

It is so easy with our technology, educational opportunities, etc., to expand our talents and abilities, as well as gain new skills. However, it is our character that we need to focus on. Am I guarding my heart? (Proverbs 4:23) Am I seeking Him with all my heart? (Matthew 6:33). If I run ahead of my character, my footing becomes dangerous and unreliable. I am setting myself up for a fall.

Lord, keep me from being confident in myself, my abilities, my talents, my strengths. Help me to continue to grow up in you, and for my character to grow deep roots in your character.

God Travelers

This summer, as every summer, I have seen the departure of several of our young college students to go serve the "One who loves them the most" overseas. Some go for a couple of weeks, some for the bulk of the summer. It is hard to watch them leave, especially those that I have had opportunity to know well. Moms and dads watch them leave with many emotions – excited because their child is serving Father, but grieving because this one they love so much is heading off to places where they (mom and dad) do not know and cannot be. Aunts, Uncles, Cousins and friends feel a degree of the same emotions for many of the same reasons.

Others, even fellow Father and Son followers wonder “why on earth they’d want to do that!” It is simple, really. It starts out of a heart of obedience to the Son’s commands in Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:15-16, Luke 24:46-48, John 20:21-22 and Acts 1:8. It grows as they hear others speak of what Father is doing in far away places, and what He is teaching them as they go. Father opens doors of relationship and opportunity to get these young men and women on the field—and they go.

Many of them return with incredible stories of what they saw Father, Son and Spirit do while there were wherever they were. It is a bit like the report of the Seventy followers that Jesus sent out in Luke 10:17. Many of their hearers back home are amazed. They have never seen God do what these God travelers have seen. The travelers, whether they ever go across the border again, will never be the same. They will have a perspective on God, and a perspective on the world that too few of us have. Some will go again, long-term.

Still, it is a bit tough to watch them leave. Yet this is what we have brought them up to do, what we have taught them that the Book says: to obey Father no matter what—no matter where.
Are these God travelers perfect practitioners of the faith? No. Haven’t met anyone who is. They are like you and me, struggling in some areas, victoriously living in others, but they are stepping out (way out, in some cases) of their comfort zones to do what is obviously a clear call in scripture.

The ones that I know who are gone this summer, some in places too sensitive to mention, are in my prayers. So are their parents. (I am fifty-eight and my mom still worries when I head overseas. It is in a parent’s job description.) If you know of some, be sure they are on your prayer list, too.

These God travelers, though young, challenge me to never forget that Jesus said, “Go.”

June 15-20 - Another week closer to the end

This has been a rather crazy week, but not a bad one. Monday was spent seeing our two teenagers off to camp, staff meetings, stuff, a bit of exercise and a last meeting with some really great high school guys (who were not able to go to camp). Even though I no longer am a youth pastor, I still enjoy spending time with a small group of them who are doing their best to learn and to be consistent Christ followers. When there is a "bad" day at the office, spending time with young people who love Jesus reminds me why I do church. [Note: following Jesus is easier than doing church. They are not mutually exclusive, but neither are they the same.] Tuesday and Wednesday were good days. Managed to exercise (walk - I just gotta do it) each day. Wednesday afternoon got to renew some friendships with some old friends. Fun! Spent some time at my mom's on Thursday and Friday, helping her get some things done. Back in Augusta to meet the teens as they arrived home from camp.

I really am trying to do more exercise. My flabby body needs it, and so does my heart, lungs, and stress level. It is also a great time to listen to podcasts from some of my favorite speakers - Andy Stanley is at the top of the list, but I have been listening to Perry Noble some as well. Perry is rather earthy sometimes - must be that he was a youth pastor early on - but he has something to say. I also have a few old messages by Jack Taylor and Dave Busby that God used to change my life that I listen to occasionally. Anyway, the latest motivation for exercise (other than the mirror!) is a note from a Christian worker we'll be visiting in September. He noted that the apartment he and his wife live in is 64 steps up. Gotta love Eastern Europe!

Tonight I have been catching up on Carrie's and Eli's blogs, and about to see what Griggs (DIG) has been up to this week.

I'll try to post something "spiritual" in a day or so... but isn't helping your mom "spiritual"? I think so.

The next post may have something to do with Revival - mine, and the one you probably need.

SBC - Regenerate Church Membership Resolution

I have to admit to you at the very start that I missed the debate and the adoption of this resolution on regenerate church membership (Resolution #6). I just cannot sit for sixteen hours in one day. Now that it was adopted, it is already being misunderstood and/or, misquoted. (Gee, what a surprise!)

The resolution as adopted can be read at Baptist Press

It does not give place to a "works" gospel. It does challenge both recalcitrant members and "dip and drop" style membership. I think we do need to repent about this numbers thing. For years, when asked how many members my church had, I have responded with a question, "You want the 'official' or the 'real' numbers?" My follow up to that is how many we have "on paper," followed by how many are "members" of the Sunday School, and then the average number of how many of them actually show up on a given Sunday. That's reality. It may hit us in our "church pride." But that is the real deal.

I have often wondered how you can be a member of an SBC church and not a member of a Sunday School (or small group, if you are in a "simple" kind of church). That is where you connect with other believers (unless your teacher just preaches for an hour), challenge each other, grow, and, reach out. Small groups or Sunday School groups are part and parcel of who we are.

Neither have I understood how you can say, "I'm a believer," and yet live completely contrary to Hebrews 10:24-25, which, among other things, says that we should "not forsake the assembling of ourselves together." I do think the writer of Hebrews had in mind that we be together more often than Christmas, Easter, and perhaps Mother's Day.

I have never understood this "non-resident member" thing. I just don't believe people worship in a place they do not live. Salt in a shaker hundreds of miles away isn't very usable. Neither is a light. I suppose with streaming internet from some churches, it could be a bit more true today than years back.

And, by the way, there is likely no other question that tells you any less about a church than "How many members y'all got?" What if they fight like cats and dogs? What if none of them are new believers? What if none (or only a few) are becoming more like Jesus?

Wenesday Night - It is history

We had some great music. They were using the same book our choir uses. Thou O, Lord; Through the Fire; songs like that. We adopted some resolutions (which should be reported at Baptist Press). Charles Billingsley was the guest worship leader. That boy does alright.

The best things tonight:
1. Challenge from the Executive Director of the Minnesota/Wisconsin Convention, Leo Endel. Challenged us to remember that it is with both Truth and Grace that we will reach people. He quoted from UnChristian, reminding us of how outsiders see believers. Basically, outsiders are repelled by us. Look at Jesus, and outsiders flocked to Him. [The religious folks? Not so much.] Truth without grace is not gospel, and neither is grace without truth. It is a balance of both.

2. International Mission Board Challenge – More great video from Dr. Rankin’s trip into the jungles of Peru and the Mountains of Ecuador with his 12-year-old grandson. Testimonies came from two young adults who had served two years on an Extreme Team in South America. It seems the IMB is really seeking to encourage young college-age people to invest a semester up to two years to advance the kingdom.

Of course, statistics were given, that do indicate growing impact over the last ten years, and we felt encouraged until those numbers were compared with the incredible lostness that encircles our globe. Who Will Go Tell?

Who?

With that, the benediction was pronounced, and the convention is now history.

We leave our hotel at 5:30 AM to start the trip home.

But let the question linger: “Who will go tell?”

Wednesday Morning and Afternoon

Missions
Al Gilbert, pastor at Calvary Baptist Church, Winston Salem, NC, preached the Convention Sermon this morning. Near the end of his message, he told this story…
Ms. Bertha Smith (wonderful missionary to China and prayer warrior years ago) came by their apartment (I think while they were in Seminary). Al was away, so she visited with Al’s wife. She laid hands on each of the three children and prayed that God would send them to the mission field. Then she prayed for his wife and the baby she was carrying. A couple of years later, Al’s wife told him that she began to pray the day that Ms. Bertha stopped by…
“Lord, send us anywhere any time, and if not us, send our children.”
[My thought: Could we say that? Would we say that?]

That day Ms. Bertha also said that we need to pray that God would send all our kids to the mission field, with half going overseas and the other half staying home and making the money to support their work.

Today, three of their four children are serving. There’s one staying home to, as Ms. Bertha said, to support them.


Southwestern Luncheon
We attended the alumni luncheon for Southwestern Seminary today. Great food. Some good news, along with the recognition of three distinguished alumni were highlights.. Tom Elliff who will speak for our church on the 22, was one of the folks. He is one of the finest, most consistent men I have known, and I met him when I was doing weekend youth ministry in Atoka, OK while a student during the week in Fort Worth. He came a did a prayer conference for our little church. He is still the same gracious and humble man he was then, and he is such a man of faith and encouragement! Garry Moore, worship pastor at second Baptist Houston was another distinguished alumni.

But the highlight was the awarding of the Distinguished Alumni award to Rev. Eugene Florence. He began as a night student at age 39 in 1943. He had to come at night, because he was a black man. (Now if you do the math, you can figure out that Rev. Florence is 104! He still preaches some, and he may still drive! (That gives me pause.) I wish I could reprint the whole article about him, but it would be long. If I find something, I'll post it.

Fireproof!
April and I got to see a pre-release screening today of Fireproof. It was great. It hits the theaters on September 26. It’s speaks of Covenant Marriage, as it tells the story of one couple’s journey. It will make you laugh (some scenes are hilarious), cry, and there are a couple of heart thumping scenes as well. I say, plan now to see it, and plan who you’ll take to see it. www.fireproofthemovie.com

Connecting and Catching Up

Among the 7000+ of us are here, April and I have run into some I expected and some I was surprised (pleasantly!) to run into.

I am not sure how to list them, because I am sure I have them out of chronological order in my head, so I’ll just make the list as best I can…

We met up with Bucky and Stacy Kennedy in the Atlanta Airport between flights. Great to see them. Bucky is doing great, even though he has recently given up an aggravating gall bladder.

We spent a good deal of time with Chris and Tiffany Griggs on Monday evening. It was fun to catch up and fun to laugh with each other again. We met up at the Lottie Moon banquet. While the four of us were visiting, we got to meet up with Guy Hipp. Guy is administrative pastor at Chris’ home church, and years ago, Guy was Chris’ youth pastor. Guy and I knew each other from Reach Out ministries, and we, along with some other churches, did several Christmas retreats together. Chris was a camper on some of those trips.

We ran into Kevin and Mary Anne Steele. Kevin pastors National Hills BC in Augusta, and got back very early Saturday morning from a mission trip to Siberia. He preached Sunday morning, and then was leaving Augusta at nearly the same time April and I were. (They were going through Charlotte, us through Atlanta.)

We have run into John Bryan, Mark Harris, and Rusty Newman – all former pastors. Great to have a chance to catch up a bit. All are doing well.

We saw Bill Marlette briefly during one of the sessions. He says VBS is going well at home. Good job, all of you at home!

As we were heading out to go have supper with Joyce and Roy Scarborough, we ran into Chuck and Dawn Ward. I met Chuck when I was a youth ministry intern in his home church. He was away at college most of the time I was there, and his younger brother was in the youth group. Chuck headed for student ministry, and we roomed together our first year in seminary. Well, actually, we garage-apartment-ed in a place that was, shall we say, small but adequate. We spent some good time after tonight’s session catching up.

We greeted a few others in the hallways, but I won’t name drop any more than I already have. It is fun to catch up with some of these folks.

Mo' later.

First Century Roots

So much of what I am hearing (and, so far, this meeting is way more spiritually encouraging and helpful) is to remember the basics of evangelism and missions. I think this would go very deep in how we do church if we were honest. What would happen if we all got really honest, divested ourselves of our “favorite” ministries, programs, activities, or gathering, and took a God-directed evaluative look at whether or not these things were reaching non-believers and/or producing life change in believers? I think it would be very uncomfortable, but it would be very good for us in the long run. I don’t know what things might get dropped from our church schedule, but I am sure that we would see radical change in the way we do a lot of what we do. When we think of roots, we need to go back to the first century. What made a difference then? Read the Book.

You'll want to scroll down to see lots of individual posts from today.

Business and Election

The Executive Committee made a strong statement today, encouraging churches to do the right thing and protect our innocent from sexual predators. This means notifying authorities, looking honestly at a terrible situation, and to never, in any way, “look the other way” should such happen in a church, whether pastoral staff, leader or volunteer leader. They also are providing churches with multiple resources to be watchful as they protect their people. Good.

Johnny Hunt was elected President today on the first ballot.
I was disappointed for Frank's sake. Lets lift both up to the Lord today.

Billy Kim

The Executive Committee recognized Dr. Billy Kim for his work as a world evangelist. I remember sitting in front of the TV in 1973, transfixed as he interpreted for Dr. Billy Graham, as, more than one million people gathered in a plaza in Seoul to hear the gospel. God used Dr. Kim to match the gestures and inflections of Dr. Graham. Now, he pastors a huge church in Korea, and leads the Far East Broadcasting network, operating nine stations, tow of which are high power AM stations broadcasting the Gospel to North Korea, China and Japan. We thank God for such a man.

$1.26 of every $1.00

As part of the morning session, we were shown a short video. It pointed out that for every dollar we Americans earn, we spend $1.26. Jesus said, “You cannot serve two masters. You will hate one and love the other… You cannot serve God and money.” [This is not a new trend.]Then, Bill Gaither (The Gaither Vocal Band sang several songs for us this AM. Not bad!) told about how he and his wife Gloria still live in the house they started in as school teachers, before they started writing music. He said that “through the joy of giving, you find the joy of living.” Money is a starting place. Your time is another.

Young Guys

I am seeing a few here. I don’t know what the percentage is. It is not as high as I think it ought to be, but it does give me a bit of hope. When we see some on the platform—that will be a good day.

Last night I got to hear J. D. Greer, (by my definition, “a young guy”) who pastors Summit Church in Durham. He gave a brief challenge at the Lottie Moon Dinner. He challenged us in that all of us, preachers, staff, and members, were given the great commission. It is not a commission to a few, but to all, and all of us are to be involved some way.

GO TELL

April and I had the privilege of attending the Lottie Moon appreciation/kick-off banquet this evening. The theme for this year is Go Tell, and the focus in on South America. Saw some video out-takes from a trip that Dr. Rankin, along with his 12-year-old grandson made into the high country of Peru and Ecuador with the extreme team. They stayed at a village, and they ate monkey and some kind of root every day for several days.

The Challenge is still huge. Young people like those on the Extreme Team are among those who will fulfill the Great Commission. Others will be those from churches who go, even if there are no other workers in the field.

After the dinner, spent some time with several friends - some of who I have not seen in years.

Tomorrow, the Convention gets started.

Monday Morning at the SBC

Good walk – good breakfast – smooth registration process – good messages in the Pastor’s Conference. This morning’s theme was “Brokenness.”

The last two messages this morning were awesome. George Harris, FBC Kerrville, TX related his story of recovery and depression after a terrible motorcycle accident. On one of many sleepless nights, God made Psalm 116 alive to him. That night, he moved from brokenness to the deepest intimacy of his life with God.

The final morning message was from Ed Litton. He quoted Alan Redpath (I'll try to get this right): “To accomplish an impossible task, God takes and impossible man, and crushes him.”

“Only the incredible within us is credible about us.” – Ed Litton said as he spoke of what non-believers see in Christ followers.

Brokenness is a pre-requisite for God to have total freedom to use our lives.

The hall was reasonably full. The pic below was made during the lunch break.



The afternoon sessions were good. A couple of highlights...
Greetings from Tony Dungee, Head Coach of the Indianapolis Colts. He was introduced by his Pastor, who said “Coach Dungee is the real deal. When we have VBS this summer, he’ll be there, directing the recreation!” I think that is really cool. Someone who could be “too busy” chooses not to be, and lets God use him in the lives of kids.

The last message was by James MacDonald, who spoke on repentance.

“Pride is God-repellent.”

Good preaching.

In Indy!

Today was a cool day. My church recognized my thirty years service there. I got to pray for one of our students going to spend the summer in Romania. Then April and I slipped out, headed for the Augusta Airport. Amazingly, our flight left on time, connection was made in Atlanta without a problem, and the Taxi ride from the Indy airport to our hotel was easy. We are safely in our room here in Indy.

Soon, we shall go exploring to find my way around this place, and how to get to the convention place. Not sure if we'll make it to any of the Pastor's Conference tonight. We're going to be looking for a place to eat. Tomorrow, the meetings shall begin.

Proof! I was at the 1971 SBC

I went back and found some Polaroid pics and scanned them in. I thought they might give you a laugh or two. It was the 114th meeting in 1971. That makes this one...

Below: The handsome guy in the middle is me. Notice how "professional" the displays looked.

See how radical we looked!

Preparing for the SBC

I have been a Southern Baptist since I was a child. I'm not haughty about it. I don't think God likes me any better than any other believer because I am a Baptist of the Southern variety. However, I am grateful. This is where I cut my theological teeth. In fact, because I attended a Southern Baptist Seminary (Southwestern), the convention all but paid for my post graduate work. While I was in seminary and needing to eat, I had a job that began my learning about electronic media. It was on that job that I learned "many people think microphone and other cables stretch, and that is why you need to know how to re-solder the plugs." People still think they stretch, and I still solder the occasional plug.

The last, and only other time I attended the SBC meeting was in 1971. Yep. I was a college student, active in lots of National Student Ministry stuff and an active leader at the Baptist Center at UGA. (Go Dawgs!) I ended up being invited to be a part of a student group going to the SBC to let the "adults" know that we were not all a bunch of radical, drug using crazies. There were some of us who really wanted to follow Jesus. "Quit worrying about the hair. We're enjoying it while we have it." (See pic a right. Very little is left.) It was a great time. St. Louis, 1971. It was a business meeting, though. I think the meeting mixes a bit more inspiration with perspiration now. I'll let you know.

A Favorite Picture #1

I made this picture last fall, as I was preparing to shoot some action pictures for Curtis Baptist School's Varsity football game. It was invocation time, and the players lined up facing the flag, ready for the National Anthem. A storm was clearing, and all together the scene said "First Things First."

I Have Arrived

I have been thinking about starting one of these for quite awhile. Not because I have anything to say that is all that profound, but I do have some things I like to share from time to time with anyone who would like to read it. Hopefully, some of it will be thought provoking, and some of it will just be fun!

Enjoy!
Tom