12 Witnesses

Robin Foster graciously presented a 20 page research paper on “cautious cessationalism.” While affirming God’s right to do as He chooses and that the Bible doesn’t decisively say that the gifts have ceased, Robin exegeted Scriptures to call what many are calling the gift of tongues into question.

Alan Cross started with 5 minutes of Scriptures referencing the gifts being used throughout the New Testament, saying there was much more.

Alan made a point I had never heard before. He said no one had ever been saved as a result of hearing tongues. In Acts 2, 3,000 were saved after Peter preached the Gospel.

Dr. Boyd Luter spoke about the precarious road on which we are currently traveling with the narrowing of our parameters. His title was “Can Continualists and Cessationists co-exist in the same church and in the Southern Baptist Convention?

Sorry, but I was not able to be at the meeting tonight. I had to go home.

I heard that Sam Storms preached an amazing message about fulfilling God’s call to reach into the lives of broken and hurting people.

Last night was a lot of fun. Gary Smith, pastor of Fielder Road BC in Arlington, TX, spoke on the person and work of the Holy Spirit. It turns out that Gary and Fielder Road have invested in several African American churches as they were planted or turning around from decline. This is a church and pastor that have crossed many lines in search of Kingdom growth.

Wade Burleson lit the place up with an impassioned sermon calling for unity. Along the same lines of thought often promoted throughout this conference.

Denny Davis, pastor of St. John’s Baptist Church in the metroplex, brought it home with the amazing support of his choir. He spoke on the necessity of the Holy Spirit in the growth of the church.

This morning, Robin Fowler spoke on the need for the Spirit in preaching.

Bart Barber’s presentation was fascinating. Based on historical documentation, Bart did find much common ground, even rousing some response from a crowd that the majority of which clearly disagreed with his primary conclusion. Good job and a well peesented, Bart. I was glad to meet you face to face.

Sam Storms finished with a 30 min. presentation of 24 points. I hope to get permission to publish both Bart & Sam’s outlines.

Sam was outstanding in the pulling together vast Scriptures off the to of his head.

The panel discussion was interesting. For the most part, there were not any surprises and Bart fielded most questions, which, I suppose was to be expected.

More later and I will post my speech in full after a day or so.

Pastor Ralph Emerson of Rising Star Baptist Church in Ft. Worth spoke on the role of the Holy Spirit in revitalizing a church in decline. As I am pastoring a church coming out of decline, his word was much needed. Pastor Emerson shared about his personal relationship with God and when he began to speak in a “Private Prayer Language.” He mentioned that he sensed God was telling him that He was taking him to another level. I was moderately uncomfortable with that language and wondered why. As I thought, I realized that my reaction was not to Pastor Emerson, but the triumphalism of Pentecostal theology that argues that the speaking of tongues is evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit and the attitude that pervades some charismatic circles that they are “better” than others who hadn’t participated in the “Baptism of the Holy Spirit,” another doctrine with which I disagree. AFter thinking this through, I realized that Pastor Emerson was not endorsing either doctrine.

I was next. I spoke about my experience with God when I wrote my Broken post and led that into a brief study of John 17:20-23. Jesus prayer was for us specifically, he prayed for our unity, our unity is a witness to the lost world that Jesus was sent by God - and the attendant Gospel. In short, we must be one so that we can win the lost.

After me, a substitute to the program, [correction] Dr. Charles Martin [/correction]. He preached on the role of the Holy Spirit in preaching. He took us back to the first time the word “proclaim” or “preach” is used in the Old Testament. It’s Exodus 33:19, God says to Moses that He would put him in the cleft of the rock and pas by while “proclaiming His Name” to Moses. Wow. The first proclaiming is done by God about God. Pastor Bart said that if the Holy Spirit is not powerful in our preaching, we must get to the cleft of the Rock and allow God to proclaim Himself to us. If He has not proclaimed Himself to us, we have nothing about which to speak.

Tonight is Gary Smith of Fielder Road, big music and more. It is going to be a very racially diverse crowd, and Dwight is thrilled with that. So am I. I love the bridges being built across racial lines here.

Dwight McKissic was more scholarly than I had ever heard him. I heard so much good stuff that I had never heard before.

Ben Cole brought the thunder. He had the place rocking.

The theme for each was unity in the body as reflected on in Pentecost.

Marty Duren and I seem to have switched identities for the week. Maybe not identities. Modus operandi. If you haven’t checked out his posts on the Q Conference you should head over to the Outpost and settle in for a long read.

Marty has provided the kind of detail in live blogging that, frankly, he’s been promising for two years. It’s about time.

On the other hand, I, who have spent quite a bit of time seeking to live blog the details of virtually every meeting, am going to give you occasional behind the scenes insights and general goings on that are usually Marty’s staple. The ease of my mind, realizing that I don’t have to document everything is quite profound. Makes me think Marty is the King o’ Bloggers (in the SBC, anyway) for a reason.

Just a couple of reasons for this. First, I am exhausted from several long weeks of emotionally draining ministry, including ministry to my own family in the wake of my uncle’s death, and I just need the break.

Also, I am a speaker. Yep. My secret is finally out. Dwight asked me to speak months ago, but I begged off, stating that I was no kind of Pneumatologist and that better minds than mine are available. Ultimately, Dwight convinced me to speak on something that is my passion: Cooperation. Today, just after lunch, I am speaking and then moderating a discussion during the Roundtable part of the Conference.

Now for the insights.

Most of the attendees of the first Roundtable, who said that they were interested in a future Roundtable, are not the ones who signed up for this conference. They may yet show up, but this is an entirely new crowd.

Numbers have now gone beyond 650 for this conference. 200, give or take, are women and youth, coming for special conferences targeted toward them.

We had a live discussion in the lobby of the hotel last night. It was spontaneous. We discussed the SBC in detail, its future and ours. All viewpoints were represented, so it was no backroom collusion. Rather, it was more like a blog discussion in real time. Frankly, it was pretty cool.

Robin Foster and I agree on more things than I realized. Also, he is a gracious person who takes autonomy and cooperation seriously. I appreciate his spirit. Bart Barber wasn’t there last night, but I get to meet him in person today, it would seem.

Dwight McKissic is the most gracious host one could ever imagine. Each speaker has a person from the church assigned to them to help them accomplish anything and everything that they need. He and his church have gone so far out of the way to provide for the needs of each guest, but he personally has made it a point to welcome, minister and love on each person.

Posting again … sometime.

Here are some more stats from Lifeway Research, this time on Church switchers. There are two types of folks who leave church, those who switch and those who quit. Last time, we were talking about kids who graduate church, but this time we are talking about those who just leave YOUR church.

Of the Switchers, there are also two groups. The first are those who are moving away from your church to live in a different place. The second group, and the focus of these numbers, are leaving because they no longer like the church. Here are the top ten reasons folks in this situation leave your church:

1. The church was not helping me to develop spiritually. (28%)
2. I did not feel engaged or involved in meaningful church work (20%)
3. Church members were judgmental of others (18%)
4. Pastor was not a good preacher (16%)
5. Too many changes (16%)
6. Members seemed hypocritical (15%)
7. Church didn’t seem to be a place where God was at work (14%)
8. Church was run by a clique that discouraged involvement (14%)
9. Pastor was judgmental of others (14%)
10. Pastor seemed hypocritical (13%)

I break these down into 3 separate categories.

Pastoral shortcomings (1*, 2*, 4, 9 & 10) - I had someone not long ago say, “It all rises and falls on leadership.” While this gentleman was a devout Christian, he was a businessman. He was also a man who had left my church before I arrived, and it was our first meeting. We were specifically talking about our church, so I think this is a good word for all pastors. Who you are, what you do and the way you do it - the work ethic, skill and attitude you bring to your job - really matters in the health of your church.

Congregational shortcomings (1*, 2*, 3, 6, 7 & 8 ) - I have adopted a new slogan for our church that has come to reflect our attitude, but also is intended to communicate the appropriate attitude to the congregation: “Welcome home.” This is a place where people need to feel welcome, no matter what their problems are. It is to be a place where we seek God’s movement and invest in the lives of others.

Change (5) - Transitioning churches, and churches who are trying to accomplish their Biblical mission are always transitioning, are places where change is the norm. I remember my Church Growth Evangelism class at SWBTS. Calvin Miller was the new professor there and he spent the semester giving us practical insights into growing a church from the church he had actually grown in Omaha. One of the things he said of the church he planted and grew was that he intentionally made change the norm. People can’t get tied to things that aren’t around long enough to become habits. Sometimes, he said, they would scrap good and functional programs and replace them with things that were less functional just to maintain the norm of always changing. Why? Because change is against our nature, for the most part. We prefer the routine and churches can turn inward and selfish when the routine becomes the primary comfort level.

On the other side of change, though, too much is too much. I have gone into a situation where I walked in, pushed all the buttons and pulled all the levers as soon as I walked through the door. That created havoc and a lot of stress and tension. The guy after me was seen as a stabilizing force and it was good for him, but it hurt me pretty badly - and a fair number of church members were hurt there as well. Here, 9 months into my pastorate, I am taking things slowly. At this point, some in the church are asking me to move a little faster. I know I am at the right speed when some are asking for more and some are happy where they are.

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* - numbers applied to both the pastor and the congregation.

hopeforthehokies.com

Check out Passion’s free album download, Hope for the Hokies. Songs from Passion/Six Steps Records artists, Matt Redmon, Charlie Hall, David Crowder Band and Chris Tomlin. Also a cut off of Passion Hymns.

[HT: Cory Miller]

This is the introduction to my sermon (Godly families, Eph. 6:1-4) from yesterday’s service and is going to start a short series on folks who leave church, either by leaving church altogether, or by leaving the church where they were and searching for something different.

From Lifeway Research via Joe Ball, Youth Ministry guru for the Kentucky Baptist Convention, and a personal friend:

Of the teens who are active members of churches during High School, but walk away after they graduate…

80% are from families who are NOMINAL Christians. They attend church, but that is about it. They are not living lives of personal depth.

50% are from unchurched homes. This means the teen attends Youth Group and church, but the rest of the family does not.

20% are from churched families whose members are pursuing individual and personal relationships with God.

From this we can glean at least three things.

1) No matter what you do, some children will pursue God and some will not. There are no guarantees in parenting.

2) You are more likely to have a strong Christian child (assuming they are already attending church) if you are not a Christian than if you are a nominal Christian. When we take our personal relationship with God lightly, we send the message to our children that personal faith is of little value - and they believe us. We end up inoculating them - giving them a weak form of the Gospel so that they become resistant to the real thing.

3) The best thing you can do for the spiritual well being of your children is to work hard at being a strong Christian yourself.

Reggie McNeal tells us that Christianity is the fastest growing faith in the world, but not in America. In America, the church is in decline. Our own ACP numbers, as poor a tool as they are for statistical evaluation* bear this out, with our churches declining in membership and in baptisms, despite the erstwhile cheerleading of past SBC President, Bobby Welch over the last two years.

Could it be that the most simple solution for what ails us is for each of us to take our personal devotion more seriously, that those around us, particularly our children, will find real value in what we say is of supreme value: God?

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* - ACP inquiries change questions year to year and place to place, they count people as members who aren’t in the church and whom most churches couldn’t find if they had to, etc.)

LifeWay, NAMB And IMB Forge Collaborative Research Effort

Sorry to be so late on this. I was out of pocket yesterday until about 1 am, so when I got home, this was broken everywhere and I just went to bed.

This is a great move for several reasons.

1. It shares Ed Stetzer across the SBC spectrum of our three primary entities: Lifeway and the Mission Boards. I love What Geoff Hammond (new Pres of NAMB) says about the move: “NAMB will not be losing these assets, simply sharing them with IMB and LifeWay.” Great attitude. And look what they’ll be sharing. Have you ever known anyone Ed’s age to have this deep a resume?”He holds a doctor of philosophy degree from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a doctor of ministry degree from Beeson Divinity School, as well as two master’s degrees and a bachelor’s degree.”Stetzer served for three years as a professor at Southern Seminary and has taught at 15 other seminaries. He has written numerous books for LifeWay’s B&H Publishing Group including Breaking the Missional Code, Planting Missional Churches, and Comeback Churches: How 300 Churches Turned Around and How Yours Can Too (scheduled for release May 1).”
2. I love that our entities are cooperating well together. This is great news. Particularly incredible is this from Hammond, “I am excited about the relationship NAMB and LifeWay will have in collaborative research. We will avoid duplication of effort and continue to have the keen missions-mind and superb research skills of Ed Stetzer.” (emphasis mine) If we are to become the missional juggernaut that we can be, then this will be a key piece of that puzzle.
3. Now we have Jerry Rankin directing the vision of the IMB, Thom Rainer directing vision at Lifeway, Geoff Hammond directing vision at NAMB and now Ed Stetzer providing a coordinating resource for all three, it appears that we have four excellent visionaries leading the charge for our missions and evangelistic efforts. Add to that the fact that they are intentionally working together, and I am very hopeful for the future.

For the last several months, almost a year now, actually, I have been kicking around the idea of a Cafe Press online store for the blog. I first got the idea from Frank Turk (aka: Centuri0n), who says he makes very little, but does good and fun things with his store.

So, I have a bunch of designs, that are more harsh in nature, but given my recent broken heart over the vitriol that I myself had been spewing, I have not published those designs at this time. I may rework them, I may use them “as is” some day, or I may never use them. However it goes, I am not ready for them yet.

So, my store is cafepress.com/12witnesses. In it you will find the “I am a Missionary” T-Shirt I designed and showed way back when. There is one for boys and one for girls. You can choose one of several dark colors for the shirt.

Also, there is an oversized coffee mug with the 12 Witnesses logo wrapped around it.

The fast seller with two cups sold prior to the actual debut of the store is a coffee cup, regular sized, with a logo for Merle’s High Test and a quote from Villa Rica. The two cups? Purchased by Villa Rica, himself.

Full disclosure: The way Cafe Press works is that I provide the design, they put it on stuff. I get to set the price above their base price, which is low - about $1 for me off of each item sold. When you order it, they make it and ship it to you. They put my money in an account and hope I’ll spend it either in my own store or in one of the others around. I might just do that.

Have fun.