Bravely Onward!

I am always inspired by the generosity of our church membership! It amazes me that so many people would give so much because they want to see the kingdom of Christ advanced. We want to see our gifts contribute to the spread of the gospel and the fulfillment of the Great Commission. We want to see people trust Jesus as Savior and Lord as we have! To all of our members who give faithfully, thank you for giving to the Lord.  For many of us, we are glad to give, but if we're honest, we have little idea what happens to these gifts after we give them. In this post, I want to demystify the process by which our gifts turn into resources for ministry. Today, I just want to talk only about giving which is applied to the annual budget (a.k.a., undesignated giving). As I've mentioned in other posts, our church is an autonomous and self-governing church. In part, this means church members decide how to apply their gifts toward the ministry of their church. The way that the membership does t...

 What does it mean to be a Southern Baptist church? This is a very interesting question. A short, albeit loaded, answer is that  Southern Baptists are a network of autonomous baptistic churches which voluntarily partner for the purpose of advancing the Great Commission.  Wow! That's a mouthful. Let's see if we can break this down? Autonomous-  means that each Southern Baptist church is truly independent and self-governed. Local Baptist churches do not receive directives from a centralized denominational government. Instead, the members of each church determine the course for their own church through a democratic process of voting. We do things this way because we believe that Christ is the head of each church and that the church members have the ability to know His will through prayer and the study of His Word. We believe that His specific will for each specific church is discoverable through the voting of its members (see Acts 15:22).  Baptistic-  This ter...

At the Southern Baptist Convention last month, the Executive Committee (EC) presented to the messengers Vision 2025 for adoption. This vision statement articulated five critical steps which Southern Baptist congregations must focus on over the next four years if we want to reverse the present decline in baptisms and membership in our churches. The fourth step listed read, to "turn around our ongoing decline in reaching, baptizing, and discipling 12 to 17-year-olds in the prime of their teenage years."  The reason why the EC listed this item is that our churches have seen a decades-long slide in youth baptisms. In recent years, we are not seeing as many students saved and discipled. Specifically, baptisms in this age group have decreased 38% since 2000. If someone were looking for a major reason why Southern Baptist total membership has dropped from over 16 million to just over 14 million in just 10 years, the best reason to suggest is that we are not winning our children to ...

  I came across an interesting tool a few weeks ago. It is called the Putnum Circle and it attempts to show the progression of a Christian’s spiritual growth in Christ.  It shows how people go from being spiritually dead before they believe in Jesus (Romans 6:23), to becoming spiritually alive when they trust in Christ (John 3:3). As new believers, we have life, but spiritually, we are like babies. This means we do not know much about God and His Word. We need spiritual milk (1 Peter 2:2). Babies in the faith need a mature Christian to teach us to know and obey Christ’s teachings (Matthew 28:19-20). With exposure to the Word and other Christians, we become more like children. One of the risks at this point is that our new-found knowledge of the Lord may lead us to be conceited if we aren’t careful (1 Tim. 3:6). As spiritual children, we struggle with the flesh and being self-centered in our faith. Peter is a great example of this (Matthew 16:22-23). Today, we act like spiritu...

 Dear Church Family, I've noticed that there are some believers in Christ who experience surges of spiritual growth and seem to enjoy a rich relationship with the Lord. These believers have an abundance of God-stories and regularly witness God at work around them in dramatic ways. On the other hand, I've also seen Christians who have made a profession of faith, yet years, or even decades, later they've experienced little, if any, growth. They have left many spiritual blessings on the table. What accounts for this difference?  I think the difference can be summed up with three words. The ones who grow much in the Lord are...  1.  Faithful - This means they do what Jesus commands them to do and they stay by His side through thick and thin. I am reminded of the disciples who stayed by Jesus' side even after he gave a difficult teaching which caused the crowds to leave Him (John 6:60-71). We are faithful to Christ when we hold fast to our faith in Him and obey His teachi...

 Reflections on Mom-  A great mom is a mighty force in a person's life. I often think about my own mother, the things she did, and the words she said. Her past words and actions affect me even today. They still shape my decisions. Interestingly enough, I think her past actions and words direct me more than my interactions with her in the present. For instance, when I'm tempted just to send a thank you note to someone via a text message, I remember how my mother taught me that thank you notes made with pen and paper, sent through the mail, carry with them air of warmth and personal touch which is unmatched. Because of her, I try to mail thank you notes as often as I can.  Not many people in our lives carry such strong and steady influence as our mothers. Samuel Philips, a minister in the 19th century described a mother's mighty and long-lasting guidance on her child:  "The nursery is the department of home in which the mother fulfils her peculiar mission. This is her ...

  Today marks the beginning of Passion Week. This is the remembrance of the seven days leading up to Easter Sunday. This week focuses on the suffering of Jesus our Lord and reaches its pinnacle with the cross. It ends with a quiet and solemn reminder that Jesus was dead and in the tomb.  On the surface, Passion Week looks like a disaster. It starts off hopeful with the crowds praising Jesus and apparently recognizing Him as the Messiah, but things turn and by the end of the week Jesus is arrested, deserted, unjustly convicted, crucified, dead, and buried. By the time you reach Saturday night, Jesus' ministry appears to be a dismal failure.  Then Resurrection Sunday happens and redefines the Passion Week. Jesus is raised from the dead and new light is cast on the proceeding seven days. Instead of a disaster, Passion Week is a victory. His death is now understood to be purposeful and effective. It becomes clear that on the cross, Jesus paid for the sins of the world (1 John...

  This week, I watched Keith Getty interview George Lowden of Lowden Guitars. Getty asked Lowden to tell the story of how he became a full-time guitar maker. He explained that in his early 20s, he sold clothing in several small shops in Ireland. One day, when Lowden was praying in church, he felt convicted that he was not doing what God had made him to do for the kingdom. Soon, he sensed a clear calling to make quality hand-made guitars. Immediately, he sold his clothing businesses and went into guitar making.  However, there was one small problem, Lowden didn't know how to make quality hand-made guitars! But this didn't stop him from following the Lord. Having no available mentor (and being decades before the advent of YouTube), Lowden learned how to make guitars through trial-and-error. When he got stuck with some technical problem, he learned to pause and pray through it. He said there were so many times that the God granted him the wisdom to work past the problem. When I t...

 Recently, I read a story about Marion Morrison. His friends called him Duke. You probably know him by his stage name, John Wayne. For a generation of boys, John Wayne was the model of manhood. They watched his movies and learned from his courageous actions and matter-of-fact words. Wayne wasn't perfect, but he embodied the qualities of someone trying to do what's right. One commentator described him as..." the prototypical American hero, symbolizing such traits as self-reliance, grace under pressure, resolve, and patriotism." Needless to say, John Wayne left an impression.  This reason I bring up John Wayne is that there is a need today for men to set an example for boys and girls. Boys need to see what biblical manhood looks like in action. They need to see faithful men who serve the Lord in humility, emit integrity, protect the vulnerable, and demonstrate fatherly love. Little girls need to see godly men who are worthy to follow, repent when they err, and trust the...