Have you read Romans 12 lately? I did, today during my quiet time I read those 21 verses. It was encouraging to my spirit. It offered correction to the thoughts and intent of my heart. In one sense it was like a kick in the teeth. Let me walk you through just a little bit of this chapter.
First of all you start with, logically, at the beginning with the first two verses. Have you thought of them lately? The reader, me first!, is reminded that my body, all of it, physically, emotionally, and spiritually are to be presented to God as an offering of sacrifice to Him. This is not a common idea in our world, but if you consider the original audience, they would immediately picture the sacrifices made in the Temple, animal after animal having it's throat cut so that the blood would flow, leading to death, so that the one offering the sacrifice could be made right, temporarily, with God. Or the reader might think of the pagan idol worship they participated in, before coming to salvation and forgiveness through Jesus Christ, and the sacrifices they had made to false gods. Paul tells us to present our bodies as living sacrifices, and it's reasonable for God to expect us to do just that, living as a sacrifice to the Lord Jesus daily.
And then you get into that whole idea of not being conformed to the world, but allowing our whole selves to be transformed: mind, body, soul, and spirit. Who needs that stuff?! Right? That's none of your business how I choose to live my life, or at least that's what I've been told. And yet the Apostle Paul tells us that if we choose to present our bodies this way, and if we choose to submit our worldly desires and passions for the passion of the cross of Jesus, that we will offer proof to those who don't believe that what God says is true really is true. Our lives can be a proof that God's will is good, and acceptable, and perfect.
Then the crazy man, Paul, says that based on what he has just given, as inspired by God the Holy Spirit Himself, we should find our place in the body of Christ, what is that all about anyway?, and gloriously serve our Savior and God. We must find our place and serve, as Paul writes in verse 4, because we don't all have the same abilities (function), gifts, experiences, and passions. Think about it for a minute, God made you and the God saved you, just like you are, because you can be plugged into His body on earth and help it to function like He made a body to function. If you have been gifted to serve, serve. If you have been gifted to teach, teach, if you have been gifted to encourage, encourage, if you have been gifted to give, give, lead, lead, mercy, then be merciful; you get the idea. God didn't make us all the same, so don't try to be like me, but be all of you that God has gloriously made, saved, redeemed, and transformed. It's God in you that makes you the most amazing person you will ever be or become.
Verse 9 speaks for itself. "Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good."
I could go on, but why spoil it. Read it for yourself and see. There's more there than meets the eye!
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
You have to watch this!
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Take the time to watch this video from TBN with Jonathan Cahn and others about the signs of the times and what seems to be coming together as we approach the fall. I believe something big is going to happen in September-October. I would love to hear your thoughts after you watch.
Take the time to watch this video from TBN with Jonathan Cahn and others about the signs of the times and what seems to be coming together as we approach the fall. I believe something big is going to happen in September-October. I would love to hear your thoughts after you watch.
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
From Dr. Mark and Beth Harris, Sanctity of Human Life
Dear Friends,
Conservatives across North Carolina worked seemingly nonstop in 2014 to stop, or at least slow down, the destructive direction that this President and liberals such as Sen. Harry Reid had taken us. I remember personally standing outside Kay Hagan's office along with a strong group here in Charlotte, urging her to support the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act legislation that would end abortions past twenty weeks. Then, after prayers, sacrifice of time, energy, and resources, we celebrated that finally this critical legislation for the life of an unborn child would have its day in Congress. Please take the time to read this piece my wife, Beth, has written in response to the disappointment many of us have felt...
Representative Renee Elmers’ success in killing the Pain-Capable Abortion Child Protection Act intersected with my chance to see American Sniper late last week. These disparate events left me sickened at how the cart of money and political expediency starts pulling the horse in Washington, leaving real people to suffer. Contrast candidate Elmers’ 2010 statement on the unborn from Congresswoman Elmers’ remarks last week:
From Elmers’ 2010 campaign website: “I have gained the wisdom of knowing that every life is a precious gift from God and it is not for us to judge its worth, deny its beginning or determine its end.”
From Elmers’ remarks to the press on the collapse of the Pain-Capable Abortion Child Protection Act: “It’s unfortunate the way it played out…I think we’re all just going through some growing pains.”
Why the change from words like “wisdom” “precious gift” and “not for us to judge” to “unfortunate growing pains?” Because those who don’t understand the grace of God or the strength of women falsely assume that women would not rise to the challenge of Motherhood even under the most difficult circumstances. Furthermore, they don’t understand that most women I know would be thrilled to depart from the ranks of China and North Korea, two of the handful of nations that still allow abortions after twenty weeks.
As events in Washington unfolded, I thought of a family who happen to live in Elmers’ district. I vividly remember meeting Darrin, Tracy, and their two sons because the oldest, a special needs teenager named Cory, touched me so. In Darrin’s office, Cory kept pointing to the Bible on Darrin’s desk and emphatically repeating “Daddy’s Bible…” Simply, profoundly, Cory indicated that Daddy and his Bible anchored that room and also their lives. Tracy told me that Cory loves to sing, attends school, and has an uncanny knack for identifying people who needed a hug at church. Only later did I learn the rest of Cory’s story, which with Tracy’s permission I’m sharing with you today.
In high school Tracy entered a relationship that over time became abusive and included both consensual and non-consensual sex. She recalled that the first time her boyfriend forced himself on her she screamed, but either was not heard or ignored by the parent who was in his home that day. Like many women, she soon accepted this “new normal” and could not break away from the relationship.
When she was 19, Tracy became pregnant after a non-consensual encounter with her boyfriend at the state university they attended. She confirmed the pregnancy at a local Crisis Pregnancy Center, and as she met with her counselor that day Tracy at last confided in someone about the abuse. Her counselor gave Tracy her home phone number and kept in touch as the situation played out.
Like many young men in the same circumstance, Tracy’s boyfriend urged her to get an abortion. She just couldn’t do it. When she finally summoned the courage to go home for the weekend and tell her parents she was pregnant, they began planning a quick wedding. Upon learning what she had done, her boyfriend sent word that he would “deal” with her.
At last she revealed the abuse to her parents. Tracy’s relationship ended amid denials of paternity and her mother’s guilt over not recognizing signs that Tracy had been physically abused.
Tracy withdrew from school as she began to develop high blood pressure. She was put on bed rest due to preeclampsia and toxemia. As her health worsened, Tracy was hospitalized and given steroid injections to boost the baby’s lung development. Finally, with failing kidneys and fluid filling her lungs, Tracy was put into a medically induced coma in the hopes of buying time for the baby. Ultimately her baby boy was taken via C-Section at 26 weeks.
Despite the fact that Cory could only come out of his special incubator and into her arms for fifteen minutes per week, Tracy planted herself in the NIC-U. She wanted to feed and change Cory, reaching into the isolette to touch him often. As Tracy puts it, “I became a mom, and nothing else mattered.” His premature birth left Cory with a host of health issues including seizures, asthma, scarring of his lungs and the need for a feeding tube.
But with God’s grace, there’s more to the story. When Cory was 15 months old, Tracy’s mother encouraged her to teach Vacation Bible School at church as a first step to reengaging her gifts and abilities. In a divine appointment, only Tracy showed up for an organizational meeting. Darrin, the church’s new youth minister and host of the meeting, had a chance to talk with Tracy and found that they connected. 28 years old, Darrin had surrendered his desire for a mate to the Lord in prayer just one night earlier. Tracy and Darrin married that fall with Tracy’s counselor from the Crisis Pregnancy Center in attendance.
On March 8, Cory will turn 19. Asked about regrets, Tracy hesitated. Asking any mother to imagine a scenario in which one of her children does not exist is unthinkable. At last she said that if she had a wish, it would be for Cory not to suffer with so many health problems. She added “But he’s happy. Cory doesn’t see that he’s different. He has been a blessing to so many people. “
Tracy represents the kind of gray-area nightmare scenario politicians fear. She claimed the sexual encounter resulting in pregnancy was rape, although it was not reported as such and occurred in the context of a relationship. She was unwed, still in school and ultimately her health was jeopardized by her pregnancy. Yet, like so many women, Tracy found that the circumstances of her child’s conception did not in the least affect her ability to love her child or recognize the blessing her child can bring the world.
Elmers remarked last week that she had concerns about “ending the conversation” if the GOP was perceived as “harsh” or “judgmental.” But the crux of the matter is that the abortion question requires a judgment. That judgment is this: Can one living being determine the fate of another innocent being? In one worldview, the answer is yes. In another, the answer is no. But how can any thinking person object to joining the majority of the civilized world in banning the killing of well-developed infants who feel the pain of their deaths? Darrin tried to get a straight answer to that question from Elmers’ office last week, only to get what he described as “a staffer obviously reading from a screen.” There is no answer; only the hopes that pro-life voters will forget by 2016 that within the first month of the new session of a Republican-dominated Congress our own elected Republicans derailed a bill they voted for in 2013. As for me, I plan to redouble my GOP involvement and help promote genuine conservative candidates rather than give in to disillusionment. Why? Because I understand that every policy decision affects real people…people who are better and stronger than politically driven people like Elmers can ever imagine.
- Beth Harris
Representative Renee Elmers’ success in killing the Pain-Capable Abortion Child Protection Act intersected with my chance to see American Sniper late last week. These disparate events left me sickened at how the cart of money and political expediency starts pulling the horse in Washington, leaving real people to suffer. Contrast candidate Elmers’ 2010 statement on the unborn from Congresswoman Elmers’ remarks last week:
From Elmers’ 2010 campaign website: “I have gained the wisdom of knowing that every life is a precious gift from God and it is not for us to judge its worth, deny its beginning or determine its end.”
From Elmers’ remarks to the press on the collapse of the Pain-Capable Abortion Child Protection Act: “It’s unfortunate the way it played out…I think we’re all just going through some growing pains.”
Why the change from words like “wisdom” “precious gift” and “not for us to judge” to “unfortunate growing pains?” Because those who don’t understand the grace of God or the strength of women falsely assume that women would not rise to the challenge of Motherhood even under the most difficult circumstances. Furthermore, they don’t understand that most women I know would be thrilled to depart from the ranks of China and North Korea, two of the handful of nations that still allow abortions after twenty weeks.
As events in Washington unfolded, I thought of a family who happen to live in Elmers’ district. I vividly remember meeting Darrin, Tracy, and their two sons because the oldest, a special needs teenager named Cory, touched me so. In Darrin’s office, Cory kept pointing to the Bible on Darrin’s desk and emphatically repeating “Daddy’s Bible…” Simply, profoundly, Cory indicated that Daddy and his Bible anchored that room and also their lives. Tracy told me that Cory loves to sing, attends school, and has an uncanny knack for identifying people who needed a hug at church. Only later did I learn the rest of Cory’s story, which with Tracy’s permission I’m sharing with you today.
In high school Tracy entered a relationship that over time became abusive and included both consensual and non-consensual sex. She recalled that the first time her boyfriend forced himself on her she screamed, but either was not heard or ignored by the parent who was in his home that day. Like many women, she soon accepted this “new normal” and could not break away from the relationship.
When she was 19, Tracy became pregnant after a non-consensual encounter with her boyfriend at the state university they attended. She confirmed the pregnancy at a local Crisis Pregnancy Center, and as she met with her counselor that day Tracy at last confided in someone about the abuse. Her counselor gave Tracy her home phone number and kept in touch as the situation played out.
Like many young men in the same circumstance, Tracy’s boyfriend urged her to get an abortion. She just couldn’t do it. When she finally summoned the courage to go home for the weekend and tell her parents she was pregnant, they began planning a quick wedding. Upon learning what she had done, her boyfriend sent word that he would “deal” with her.
At last she revealed the abuse to her parents. Tracy’s relationship ended amid denials of paternity and her mother’s guilt over not recognizing signs that Tracy had been physically abused.
Tracy withdrew from school as she began to develop high blood pressure. She was put on bed rest due to preeclampsia and toxemia. As her health worsened, Tracy was hospitalized and given steroid injections to boost the baby’s lung development. Finally, with failing kidneys and fluid filling her lungs, Tracy was put into a medically induced coma in the hopes of buying time for the baby. Ultimately her baby boy was taken via C-Section at 26 weeks.
Despite the fact that Cory could only come out of his special incubator and into her arms for fifteen minutes per week, Tracy planted herself in the NIC-U. She wanted to feed and change Cory, reaching into the isolette to touch him often. As Tracy puts it, “I became a mom, and nothing else mattered.” His premature birth left Cory with a host of health issues including seizures, asthma, scarring of his lungs and the need for a feeding tube.
But with God’s grace, there’s more to the story. When Cory was 15 months old, Tracy’s mother encouraged her to teach Vacation Bible School at church as a first step to reengaging her gifts and abilities. In a divine appointment, only Tracy showed up for an organizational meeting. Darrin, the church’s new youth minister and host of the meeting, had a chance to talk with Tracy and found that they connected. 28 years old, Darrin had surrendered his desire for a mate to the Lord in prayer just one night earlier. Tracy and Darrin married that fall with Tracy’s counselor from the Crisis Pregnancy Center in attendance.
On March 8, Cory will turn 19. Asked about regrets, Tracy hesitated. Asking any mother to imagine a scenario in which one of her children does not exist is unthinkable. At last she said that if she had a wish, it would be for Cory not to suffer with so many health problems. She added “But he’s happy. Cory doesn’t see that he’s different. He has been a blessing to so many people. “
Tracy represents the kind of gray-area nightmare scenario politicians fear. She claimed the sexual encounter resulting in pregnancy was rape, although it was not reported as such and occurred in the context of a relationship. She was unwed, still in school and ultimately her health was jeopardized by her pregnancy. Yet, like so many women, Tracy found that the circumstances of her child’s conception did not in the least affect her ability to love her child or recognize the blessing her child can bring the world.
Elmers remarked last week that she had concerns about “ending the conversation” if the GOP was perceived as “harsh” or “judgmental.” But the crux of the matter is that the abortion question requires a judgment. That judgment is this: Can one living being determine the fate of another innocent being? In one worldview, the answer is yes. In another, the answer is no. But how can any thinking person object to joining the majority of the civilized world in banning the killing of well-developed infants who feel the pain of their deaths? Darrin tried to get a straight answer to that question from Elmers’ office last week, only to get what he described as “a staffer obviously reading from a screen.” There is no answer; only the hopes that pro-life voters will forget by 2016 that within the first month of the new session of a Republican-dominated Congress our own elected Republicans derailed a bill they voted for in 2013. As for me, I plan to redouble my GOP involvement and help promote genuine conservative candidates rather than give in to disillusionment. Why? Because I understand that every policy decision affects real people…people who are better and stronger than politically driven people like Elmers can ever imagine.
- Beth Harris
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
My Friend Pastor Greg Kell wrote this and I wanted to share.
5 Things Your Pastor Wishes He Could Tell You
I don’t know why I wanted to write this today. But I did. I spent almost 7 years of my early adult life working for an oil company, first offshore in the Gulf of Mexico and then at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska in the early years of the oil boom there. But for the past 27 years, pastoring a church is what I have committed my life to.
I have probably had thousands of conversations with people (and so have you), but if you’re like me, there are some things you just never get around to saying out loud. It’s not that you don’t want to . . . it’s just that you don’t.
Yet saying them could help you and maybe even help scores of great people who are working so hard at your church. They might even make things . . . better.
Here are 5 things I think most pastors wish they could tell their congregations:
1. I’m trying to step off the pedestal people keep putting me on.
I’m not better than anyone else. Really,. I have never believed I’m better than anyone else. And I promise you if we got to hang out more, it wouldn't take long for you to see I don’t belong on a pedestal either.
I’m not in ministry because I've got this all figured out, or because it was an ambition of mine. honestly feel I was called into it. Believe it or not, I tried to resist the call. But people kept affirming what I couldn't stop sensing - that God was calling me to serve in the local church. So I obeyed.
It gives me a lot of comfort that the heroes in the scripture were flawed people. Peter barely got it right. Paul had his critics. Noah was a flawed leader. So was Moses. But reading their stories gives me hope for my story. And - you know what - it gives me hope for your story and for the church.
God doesn't use perfect people. His grace flows best through broken people. God belongs on the pedestal. So why don’t we keep him there and keep ourselves below it?
2. I also have doubts
I realize you might think my faith is rock solid. And in the end it actually is quite strong. But I have days when I’m not sure my prayers make it past the ceiling. I have days when I read the scriptures and it seems like just another book. And I have days where I wonder where God is in the middle of this. Just like you.
But I’ll tell you why I can’t let my faith go or shake it - because God’s faithfulness keeps overshadowing my doubts. God has been consistently patient, kind, gracious and giving toward me. And he has been toward you too. And the days where the prayers seem empty and the scriptures seem cold are inevitably followed by the days in which God’s presence is almost palpable and the scriptures read me.
So don’t let your doubts do you in. Persist through them. I have and I do, and all I keep finding is the faithfulness of Christ. You will too.
3. I don’t always know what to do
I don’t have all the answers. I don’t always know what to do. I know you know that. But there’s something in all of us that wants our leaders to know what’s next.
I've become committed to telling you when I don’t know, and I hope you can accept that. You also need to know I’m doing my best to surround myself with incredibly wise people. Together, we are far smarter and wiser than any of us is alone.
The Israelites wandered in the wilderness for a generation. No one understood why Jesus was so determined to go to the cross. And the birth of the early church in the first century probably made many peoples’ heads spin. But God was in all of it.
I’m sure as we pursue Christ the best we can, we’ll figure out where he is in the middle of all this.
4. I so appreciate it when you cut my family some slack.
It’s fine for you to put me under a microscope. I get that. I got called into this and I’m accountable. But this church is a place where my family is living and doing real life. It’s a place where my 2 daughters and 4 grandchildren are asking their own questions, and where my wife comes to worship and to serve on her good days and bad days.
When you treat them as people who are on their own faith journey and hold them up to no greater standards than you do any other family, you give my family an incredible gift.
We are pursuing Christ together, and when you give us grace, you actually make that journey richer. (Thank you Cornerstone for doing this so, so well.)
5. I’m more grateful for you than you realize.
I realize how demanding life is and how busy you are. I know you worked late on that project this past week . . . and still came to the event at the church. I realize you haven’t had 8 hours sleep in about three years and your kids are driving you crazy . . . and you took time to seek God today.
I realize your family argued on the car ride to church and still walked through the door anyway (Sunday mornings aren't always angels singing and church bells ringing at our home either). I realize the school trip cost more than you thought, and you’d really like to get to Disney this year, but you’re giving anyway. I know that you serve in a number of organizations in the community, but you still throw your weight behind this mission at the church we’re in together.
Thank you. Really. The church is the most blessed organization in the world. We have an eternal mission that will make far more sense when we stand before Christ than it does most days now. I think only then will we see how important what we’re doing now really is.
We rely on the good will and the hard work of dozens, even hundreds of people to be the church. And I want you to know how incredible grateful I am for you. I am.
Pastor Greg
Greg, thank you for sharing your heart, and the heart of most other guys I know who serve the Lord as shepherds of the sheep.
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Renovate Church Conference and Church Revitalization
Several months ago I was asked to serve on a newly forming team in the Stanly Baptist Association, the Church Revitalization Team. Dr. Hal Bilbo was putting a team of pastors together who are working in some way in seeing the churches they serve experience revitalization. Along with myself there are four other pastors from SBA who agreed to serve on this team. In agreeing to serve we all committed to go to Orlando, FL November 2-6 and attend the Renovate Church Conference at Aloma Baptist Church, and so we did.
We had a great time getting to know one another during the drive down, eating meals together, worshiping together during the main sessions, and driving home. These are some great and godly men: Tommy Ross, Mark Little, Scott Williams, and Ron Loflin. They have a great heart to see God do a new thing in some "old" places in Stanly county. We want to be used of God to make it happen right here where we work, play, and raise our kids.
Let me share with you some of the titles of the breakout sessions (some listed I attended and some others attended): Becoming an Effective Change Agent in Revitalization-Dr. Will McRaney, How to Utilize Church Renewal Journey Weekends-Bob Foy, The Importance of Prayer in Church Revitalization-Vince Manna, Powerful Conversations that can Revitalize Your Church-Dr. Bob Bumgarner, Zombie Church Revitalization: How to Raise the "Dead Church" without Dying Yourself-Rob Myers, Church Revitalization: Every Believer a Witness-Dennis Nunn. There was a multitude of other choices, and listening to the guys on the SBA team they were all powerful. The five I chose to attend were ones I felt would help and challenge me personally and/or be helpful in leading Highland.
The main session speakers included: Dr. Ed Stetzer, Dr. Micah Fries, Dr. Lenny Luchetti, Dr. Bob Whitesel, Dr. K.P. Yohannan, Dr. Kevin Ezell, Dr. Larry Wynn, and Dr. Dennis Mitchell. Each of these men shared powerful messages of encouragement, vision, caution, and passion about revitalizing the local church in America and how desperately it's needed.
A powerful quote from Dr. Will McRaney was "A church will either choose to die to itself and live or it will just die."
"Ministry is the perfect avenue for the crucifixion of the ego." "God designed ministry for the spiritual formation of the minister." "We are called to lead out of bondage, through barrenness, and into blessing." Dr. Lenny Luchetti
"However beautiful the strategy it is occasionally helpful to look at the results." Winston Churchill quoted by Dr. Ed Stetzer
"When you know who you ARE in Christ you also know who you AREN'T." "Acceptance is a two way street. If I must accept you as you are you must also accept me as I am." "Faith has to override our thinking. You must stop thinking some of things you are thinking." "What you think about can deceive you." "God doesn't do a miracle and then make a mess." "You either have character or you will become one." "Never lose your integrity over someone who doesn't have it." Dr. Paul Smith
The conference and experience happened very quickly. But I have so much to think and pray through. There will be many conversations with our team about this time together, and I can't wait. I can't wait to see what God does in Stanly county as He begins to revitalize us as never before.
We had a great time getting to know one another during the drive down, eating meals together, worshiping together during the main sessions, and driving home. These are some great and godly men: Tommy Ross, Mark Little, Scott Williams, and Ron Loflin. They have a great heart to see God do a new thing in some "old" places in Stanly county. We want to be used of God to make it happen right here where we work, play, and raise our kids.
Let me share with you some of the titles of the breakout sessions (some listed I attended and some others attended): Becoming an Effective Change Agent in Revitalization-Dr. Will McRaney, How to Utilize Church Renewal Journey Weekends-Bob Foy, The Importance of Prayer in Church Revitalization-Vince Manna, Powerful Conversations that can Revitalize Your Church-Dr. Bob Bumgarner, Zombie Church Revitalization: How to Raise the "Dead Church" without Dying Yourself-Rob Myers, Church Revitalization: Every Believer a Witness-Dennis Nunn. There was a multitude of other choices, and listening to the guys on the SBA team they were all powerful. The five I chose to attend were ones I felt would help and challenge me personally and/or be helpful in leading Highland.
The main session speakers included: Dr. Ed Stetzer, Dr. Micah Fries, Dr. Lenny Luchetti, Dr. Bob Whitesel, Dr. K.P. Yohannan, Dr. Kevin Ezell, Dr. Larry Wynn, and Dr. Dennis Mitchell. Each of these men shared powerful messages of encouragement, vision, caution, and passion about revitalizing the local church in America and how desperately it's needed.
A powerful quote from Dr. Will McRaney was "A church will either choose to die to itself and live or it will just die."
"Ministry is the perfect avenue for the crucifixion of the ego." "God designed ministry for the spiritual formation of the minister." "We are called to lead out of bondage, through barrenness, and into blessing." Dr. Lenny Luchetti
"However beautiful the strategy it is occasionally helpful to look at the results." Winston Churchill quoted by Dr. Ed Stetzer
"When you know who you ARE in Christ you also know who you AREN'T." "Acceptance is a two way street. If I must accept you as you are you must also accept me as I am." "Faith has to override our thinking. You must stop thinking some of things you are thinking." "What you think about can deceive you." "God doesn't do a miracle and then make a mess." "You either have character or you will become one." "Never lose your integrity over someone who doesn't have it." Dr. Paul Smith
The conference and experience happened very quickly. But I have so much to think and pray through. There will be many conversations with our team about this time together, and I can't wait. I can't wait to see what God does in Stanly county as He begins to revitalize us as never before.
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
10-31-14 Weekly Update
God is so good to me. I’ve had the privilege of preaching the revival services at First Baptist Church Cuthbert, GA this past week, and we saw God do some wonderfully amazing things. The church is doing some great things, strategically, to reach out into their community, and the Lord Jesus is blessing.
Although not the same, I see great similarities between Highland and FBCC. The first thing I see is a common love for the Lord Jesus. Not that loving Jesus is common, but that our churches love Jesus. That common bond of love makes us family, children of God, brothers and sisters in Christ. So, I felt at home among family as I preached each of the four services. I see a common desire to reach out and serve the community in the name of Jesus. We do those things through corporate worship, youth and children’s ministries, UPWARD, and other things like that. But we also uniquely serve our communities. It is inspiring to see and hear of the many ways we can be the hands and feet of Jesus. I encourage you to think of the reality that every step you take is a step Jesus should be taking through you. Live the Christ life passionately, graciously, mercifully, and constantly.
Sunday November 2 is being called #IStandSunday. It is time where Christians in Houston, Tx and around the country are uniting to defend our faith, our voice, and our religious liberty. There will be a simulcast starting at 7 PM EST. I encourage you to participate if you are able to do so. We must unite as Christians NOW or suffer the consequences of our continued silence, watching our beloved nation slide further down the slippery slope of sin and destruction. Please stand, and having done all, stand (Eph. 6). You can show your support for the pastors and Christians in Houston by using the hashtag #IStandSunday on your social media outlets.
I also want to remind and encourage you to vote. Election day is Tuesday. Let your voice be heard loudly and clearly in/from the voters booth. Vote your conscience. Vote your faith. Vote as an ambassador of Jesus.
I hope we will see you this Sunday at Highland as we gather together to worship King Jesus.
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Cooperative Program of the SBC
Imagine with me what would happen if each of the 46,125 local churches that comprise the Southern Baptist Convention would give financial support to one cause wrapped around one purpose: presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ globally and making disciples of all the nations. I really want you to think with me for a moment about this. I want you to further imagine what happens when we give financially each month through our world missionary enterprise called the Cooperative Program.
When our 46,000+ churches cooperate to take the gospel to the world, let me tell you a few things we do together. We are:
- Mobilizing 4,810 missionaries internationally that are fully supported by these churches financially; in fact, through the ministries of these missionaries last year, thousands of churches were planted, 114,471 new believers in Christ were baptized, and we are continuing with the strong commitment to finish the task of engaging the final 3,052 people groups who are both unengaged and unreached.
- Planting gospel churches in 32 of the major cities in North America as well as in many underserved regions of North America; in fact, our churches together are committed to plant an average of 1,500 churches annually, believing God that over the next ten years we will see 15,000 new gospel churches planted in North America.
- Mobilizing thousands of volunteers to minister when national disasters come in America; in fact, we comprise the 3rd largest national disaster relief organization in the United States. Additionally, we respond around the world when various crises and disasters occur.
- Equipping 16,000 seminary students through our six seminaries who will serve as local church pastors and staff members, missionaries around the world, and leaders in some realm of Christianity.
- Engaging the culture with the gospel of Jesus Christ and speaking to issues in the public square for the protection of religious liberty and human flourishing; in fact, we even have qualified leadership in Washington D.C. speaking for our churches about these issues.
- Ministering through our own states and even close to our own churches through the 42 state conventions of churches and 1,100 regional associations of churches.
- Partnering to make a major difference regionally, across each state, nationally, and internationally; believing that God has called us together to reach the world for Christ.
When our churches give through our Cooperative Program, these are just some of the things we do together.
Churches determine what they give through the Cooperative Program
Each of our churches should pray, seek the Lord, and determine voluntarily on our own how much we should give toward our grand gospel work together. No one forces us or tells us what to give; each church decides on our own. We should reassess what we are doing annually. We should always lead our church to be generous in regards to advancing the gospel globally.
What happens to the money we give through the Cooperative Program?
Each church gives to the Cooperative Program through their respective state conventions. Some of the monies stay in the state for ministries and partnerships they are committed to doing together, and they send the remaining monies to the Southern Baptist Convention’s work nationally and internationally. Each state convention determines the amount of monies they keep inside their state and the monies they give to the Southern Baptist Convention. Then, at the national level, a formula is used that distributes the monies for the work of Southern Baptists both nationally and internationally. Everything that I shared with you that these churches accomplish together is funded through our world missionary enterprise called the Cooperative Program.
You see, what began in 1925, God is still using today. These 46,000+ churches are working together by giving monies through the Cooperative Program, all given for the purpose of presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ globally and making disciples of all the nations.
Let me tell you our Cross Church story
Let me share a personal story. Through the course of my ministry life and leadership, I have been very committed to leading my church to reach the world for Christ. However, within the last several years as the Southern Baptist Convention and state conventions really began to increase their commitment toward reaching the world for Christ, my church has increased our financial support through the Cooperative Program. Over the past several years, we have increased our commitment substantially each year. Why?
You see, I determined that it was and is incumbent on me, as a stewardship of the gospel, to lead my church to do all we can to rally together with 46,000+ other churches to finish the task of presenting the gospel globally and making disciples of all the nations. After several years, I became absolutely convinced that we can do more together than we could ever do on our own.So our church’s giving through the Cooperative Program has increased greatly and will continue to do so. In fact, when our church adopts our 2014-2015 Ministry Budget in the next few days, we are making a strong commitment to increasing our gifts significantly again this next year.
Lead your church to give more
Listen friend, from the most rural church to the most influential metropolitan church, from the smallest membership church to the largest membership church, Jesus calls us to do everything we can with all we have to reach the world for Christ. The lostness of our own nation and the entire world continues to increase. People are dying without a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Personally and as a local church pastor, we must do all we can with all God has entrusted to us to penetrate the lostness of the world.
This is why we must connect together and partner cooperatively. We can reach more people, send more missionaries, plant more churches, demonstrate more compassion to more people through hunger and relief ministries, and equip more ministers and missionaries when we give more together through the Cooperative Program.
There are churches, conventions, networks and denominations all over the world that stand in amazement at how the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention fund our Great Commission work nationally and globally. They are amazed at what we accomplish together in partnership for the gospel.
Challenge your church
Let me challenge you to lead your church toward a greater commitment to reaching the world for Christ by giving through the Cooperative Program. Additionally, extend another challenge to personally increase their financial support to your church so that your church can do more toward fulfilling the Great Commission by giving more dollars through the Cooperative Program.
Vision for all generations
I have been thinking about the vision God is now creating through the Southern Baptist Convention. I believe this vision is strong and becoming more clear all the time, that it appeals to all generations — from the youngest to the oldest. In other words, it is a cross-generational vision that is emerging through what we are doing. What is it?
We are:
- Theologically conservative, committed to biblical fidelity.
- Reaching the unreached peoples internationally.
- Strategically planting Gospel churches nationally.
- Extending compassion through hunger and disaster relief ministries dynamically.
- Engaging the culture, always lifting high the cause of religious liberty globally.
- Cooperatively working to reach the nations regionally, nationally, and internationally.
Pastor, church leaders, and laypeople: if you present these things to any age leader or church, telling them about what God is doing, I believe they will see this vision as being compelling, concise, and clear.
Never forget, this vision is only possible to continue to live and enlarge as the churches of our Southern Baptist Convention give monies generously through the Cooperative Program, all for one main purpose and vision: Reaching the World for Christ. Thank you for what your church is doing right now to God’s glory.
Stay tuned, because next week I will be writing more about this subject.
Yours for the Great Commission,
Ronnie W. Floyd
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