DownshoreDrift

Why the #GCR Will Not Work the Way Its Leaders Hope

Last night, the GCRTF (Great Commission Resurgence Task Force) of the Southern Baptist Convention released their mid-term progress report on the work that they have been doing to help bring renewal to the SBC. They are going to release the whole report full of recommendations in early May in preparation for the SBC's Annual Meeting in June where it will be voted on. The GCR came about after a groundswell of people calling for massive change in the SBC over the past several years. Here is a link to the full report.

One of the best things that GCRTF leader, Ronnie Floyd said last night was this,

While tonight you will hear our vision that does ask Southern Baptists to considering changing some things, we realize our number one need is to return to God in deep repentance and experience a fresh wave of His Spirit upon our lives, ministries, and work of our denomination. We need a fresh and compelling vision that will only come when we are right with Him.

He is absolutely correct. The SBC is in decline. We have lost our vision and we are focused on many of the wrong things. But, it is not just a loss of vision at the top in our denominational agencies. Our fundamental problem is coming up from our churches. I think that Dr. Floyd and the GCRTF realizes this, and on this point, they are on target. We desperately need widespread renewal and it must begin at the local church level.

He goes on to say,

. . . We believe that every local church needs to begin to operate as a missional strategy center. After the church gathers for worship, the church must scatter and send the people to advance the Gospel. When ministers see themselves as missional strategists and churches begin to operate as missional strategy centers, releasing and sending our people to advance the gospel regionally, nationally, and globally, we will begin to penetrate the lostness in our world.

This is also correct in that the local church must carry out the Great Commission. The local church is to be on the front lines of what God is doing in the world. I have heard SBC leaders say over and over again that the denominational structures of the SBC exist to help the local church carry out its mission. Absolutely right. But, do we really see the local church in this way? That is the rhetoric. But, what is reality?  Theologically, we do see things this way. In reality, we do not.

Much of what was said last night was excellent. It was really good rhetoric. But, when it came time to bring out concrete proposals, the rhetoric did not match up with the recommendations. Here were the 6 proposals according to the Baptist Press article:

1. Calling Southern Baptists "to rally towards a clear and compelling missional vision and begin to conduct ourselves with core values that will create a new and healthy culture within the Southern Baptist Convention." The "missional vision" is "as a convention of churches, ... to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every person in the world and to make disciples of all the nations." The eight core values are Christ-likeness, Truth, Unity, Relationships, Trust, Future, Local Church and Kingdom.  ME:  This is really good. I like these ideas. They are in the Bible and are the character of Christ and I am glad that they are being highlighted by the GCRTF.  But, how will they be carried out? How will they be implemented? When the other plans were rolled out, they were not connected with these values. I like words. I use them all the time. But, it is easy for words to just be words.
2. Recommending the North American Mission Board "prioritize efforts to plant churches in North America and to reach our nation’s cities and clarify its role to lead and accomplish efforts to reach North America with the Gospel." The North American Mission Board needs to be "reinvented and released" by implementing a direct strategy for planting churches in North America "with a priority to reach metropolitan areas and under-served people groups," Floyd said. The plan also calls for NAMB to assist churches in evangelism, discipleship and developing current pastoral leadership. It calls for NAMB to decentralize operations into seven regions and recommends releasing the entity from "cooperative agreements" with state conventions over the course of four years to free up money for national strategy.  ME:  So, NAMB is given the huge mission of planting churches all over North America, especially in the cities apart from state convention agreements. The result of this will be a much larger NAMB working everywhere with churches all over the U.S.  NAMB will come in and work in areas that were once reserved for state conventions, but for everything else, state conventions will be responsible. This creates yet another duplication of resources and work, unless the state conventions just go away altogether. I imagine that they will want more CP money for this, but how will this work, exactly? If you said that NAMB should work in pioneer regions where there are few churches and small state conventions, I can see it. But, everywhere? With no state agreements? It will be easier at first, but it will duplicate resources and strategy long-term.  Plus, NAMB is the only SBC entity that was really targeted for complete reorganization here while most everything else stays in tact. It is also the one that has been through repeated failure and lacks political muscle right now.
3. Requesting Southern Baptists "entrust to the International Mission Board the ministry to reach the unreached and under-served people groups without regard to any geographic limitations." "Globalization has flattened the world," Floyd said. "While years ago a people group was located within a specific geographical location, this is no longer reality. Reality today is that these people groups are located all over the world, including the United States.... Most of the 586 people groups that do not speak English in the United States have [IMB] strategy coordinators working overseas with the same groups. With geographical limitations removed, a new synergy can be created in international missions." Floyd added: "We believe that with this bold and needed change, we are positioning our convention of churches for a major evangelistic harvest, a discipleship revolution and an unprecedented, exponential explosion in church planting."  ME:  How will this be funded? The IMB will receive about $2 million more dollars a year when the percentage of CP giving that leaves the states and makes it to the national SBC goes from 50% to 51%. But, the IMB is struggling mightily with budget problems right now. So, you give them all of the foreign people groups in North America and add $2 million to the budget to do it? Plus, how much confusion will erupt at this point when you have a city that has local Baptist churches, a local association, a state convention, NAMB trying to plant churches, and the IMB working with ethnic groups? All in one area! And, none of them are working together necessarily and money from offering plates is going to all 5 groups. We keep saying that the local church is the front line of world mission, but we keep sending other groups to the frontlines. The reason that the IMB makes sense is because local churches cannot effectively go overseas. But, it makes little sense for the IMB to work in the U.S. apart from a consulting role when it comes to reaching ethnic and foreign language groups, in my opinion.
4. Moving the primary responsibility for Cooperative Program promotion and stewardship education ministry assignments from the Executive Committee to the state conventions. ME: I don't see where this makes much difference other than taking some money from the EC and reapportioning it elsewhere. Of course, it now makes the primary fundraisers for the SBC the State Conventions, where an average of over 60% of CP money stays, instead of making it to the foreign mission field. Does this sound like a good idea?
5. Reaffirming the Cooperative Program "as our central means of supporting Great Commission ministries" and establishing a broader category of "Great Commission Giving" to celebrate all the financial support – CP giving and designated giving -- local congregations provide for Southern Baptist missions. "We are not recommending any changes to the Cooperative Program but are reaffirming it as our central means of supporting the Great Commission ministries of the Southern Baptist Convention," Floyd said, saying the task force calls upon every church "to work diligently at giving more through the Cooperative Program." ME: So, we're not changing the CP, but we are changing the way that money gets counted as CP giving. Ok. There are a couple of reasons for this: 1. So that megachurches like Dr. Floyd's can give to different things in the SBC and still have it count as CP gifts. 2. So that churches can bypass their state conventions and give directly to what they want to support and call it CP giving. The reason that all of the money that you give to SBC causes needs to be counted as CP giving is so that those churches get credit and so the pastors of said churches can gain appointments to certain committees and seats of power within the SBC. If that is not the case, then who cares if the money your church gives to whatever it wants is counted as CP or not?  
6. Raising the percentage of Cooperative Program funds received by the International Mission Board in the 2011-2012 budget year to 51 percent and funding the increase in part with monies previously allocated to the SBC Executive Committee for Cooperative Program promotion and stewardship education. The proposal would reduce the SBC Operating Budget allocation of 3.40 percent by 1 percentage point, or roughly $2 million, and add it to the IMB's budget, currently at nearly $320 million. Calling the proposal "both symbolic and substantial," Floyd said, "This means that for the first time in our history, more than one-half of all monies that come from our churches through the SBC Cooperative Program will go to the reaching of the nations.... We believe this is a great move forward and we need to do all we can to reach the nations." ME:  Ummm, really? Over one-half of all monies that come from our churches through the SBC Cooperative Program will go to the reaching of the nations? That makes it look like that over half of the money that my church gives to the CP goes to the IMB. But, what he means is that AFTER the states take their 60% of CP money, or so, THEN, 51% that goes to the national entity makes it to the IMB. Just wanted to clarify. That comes to about an extra $2 million per year making it to the IMB. Oh, and by the way, they were just given the responsibility of taking the lead on reaching the unreached people groups from other countries that live in North America . . . where we have over 40,000 local churches . . . and thousands of local associations . . . and over 30 state conventions . . . and NAMB . . . and where over 90% of all funds given by Christians stay. Wow.

Okay. So, I am not trying to be critical here. These are all good men, I am sure. But, after reading over these proposals and knowing what kind of trouble the SBC is in and knowing how much desire that exists among so many people in the SBC for change, this looks like, well, it looks like not much of anything. I mean, this is basically some adminstrative and bureaucratic manuevering to put some money and responsibility in different places. It seems far less ambitious than the SBC restructuring in the late 90's that did not solve anything. How are these recommendations going to address the massive problems that we have and be a catalyst for the change that we need? I have been supportive of the GCR, but I am confused as to what is really going to change in the life of people and local churches. Of course, they say that real change has to start on an individual level. With this, I agree. But, if that is the case, then how is that being fostered and encouraged?

All in all, I've come to the conclusion that the SBC is no longer capable on any level of leveraging movement among our churches. I don't think that either state or national leadership of the SBC is able to swing any type of top-down renewal or resurgence. People just are not paying attention. Even a day after this report has been given, there is very little reaction to it. How is this going to get out to the people who are not paying attention? And, even if it does, what difference will these recommendations make? My great fear is that people got their hopes up and thought that some big changes were on their way, and now, when this is what we are looking at, most will realize that nothing much is ever going to change in the SBC.

We'll see. But, that is how this all strikes me. Instead, the change that will come to the SBC will happen with individual churches, Baptists, and leaders begin to take ownership over the mission themselves. That is what the GCR leaders want. But, when that happens, it won't work the way that they want it to. It will look way different than anyone can possibly imagine and it will mean the end of the SBC as we know it as it loses its centralized nature and becomes more of an organic network of churches with the initiative happening at the local church level instead of in the offices of those who control CP money.

And, that might be exactly what needs to happen.  

 

Are Multi-Site, Video-Venue Churches a Good Idea?

I have thinking about this quite a bit over the past few months and have decided to weigh in with some thoughts. I'd appreciate any other opinions on this as well. The new trend in church growth is for successful churches with popular pastors to start new congregations in other places by broadcasting their preaching via video to the new site. These sites usually have a campus pastor and small groups. Sometimes, they have live worship and sometimes it is simulcast in as well. Multi-site churches are springing up all over and I have to admit that I don't get the appeal.

I understand the desire for good preaching and to be connected to a successful, well-resourced church model. Americans love to be around and hear from "winners" and successful people. But, getting up on Sunday morning week after week to watch a guy in another city preach on a video screen? You cannot possibly know him and he cannot possibly know you. His message is not contextualized to your context, your community, or the gathering at the satellite site. Sure, you have a campus pastor, but why can't he preach? If he did preach the message and person of Jesus Christ, would people not come because he wasn't the celebrity preacher? If that is true, then why are they coming? I am not against a hub church doing this for conferences or on occasion to disseminate information or vision, but every week?

If we are appealing to America's desire for celebrity now in the local church, that is a problem. Why can't we raise up leaders who can preach and lead? What does it do to the faith of people who are a part of a video-venue multi-site church? Would it reinforce passivity and spectator Christianity? How are the dynamics of biblical community affected by this approach? I agree that it might seem appealing in the 3-5 year span, but how can this be sustainable in the long run?

My wife says that she doesn't see much difference between the video venue church and the megachurch. Good point. If people like megachurches they will probably like video venue churches. But, what does that say about our view of church? At least in the megachurch the man preaching is around. He is a real person, not a TV character. But, if the average person can't know the pastor of the megachurch either, then that is also a problem.

Anyway, I obviously have a lot of questions about this and my opinion of the multisite video venue church is not good.

What do you think? What are the implications of this? Why would people want this? What affect will this have in 10-20 years? Interested to see what others think.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

:Update: I wrote this post this morning and after engaging in discussion with readers in the comment stream, I am learning a lot. I pecked the post out on my phone and just intended to present my initial impressions on the growing surge of multi-site, video-venue churches and some questions that I had about it. Going back and reading it now, those questions presented in machine-gun-fire-staccato makes it look like my opinion against this is much harsher than it actually is. I tend to start from a strong position on something, which is what inspires me to learn more about it while trying to keep an open mind. I'm weird that way. Thanks to all those so far who are attempting to answer my questions and help me see a broader view on why this is working well for many people. No doubt, the way that we have done church in the past has problems and I definitely do not want to shut down creativity. I just wonder where this will lead long-term.  

A Beautiful Life Pointing Godward: Evelyn Lee Cross, 1917-2009

My Mamaw died last night. There won't be any plaques or awards given her. There will be no crowds mourning at sports arenas for her memorial service. It will not make the 24 hour news cycle. But, a better person I have never known and I praise God that I got to witness a life that stocked up mounds of rewards in heaven. If there is a way that a person is supposed to live, she lived it, and all who knew her were affected by her.

She was born in 1917 and lived on a farm in Lee Town, Mississippi, a farming community outside of Picayune, MS in south Pearl River County. She was one of 7 brothers and sisters. In 1934 she married my grandfather, James Carl Cross whom she met at a Civil Conservation Corps dance (one of FDR's New Deal measures).  They moved up to his family farm in Ellisville, Mississippi. In 1939, they moved to New Orleans where he got work as a shipbuilder in the shipyards.  He worked as a pipefitter and shipbuilder during WWII and my aunt and father were born during that time as well. My Mamaw worked as well in different jobs from a coffee packing plant to domestic help. She lived out her Christian faith in deed and not just in word and was known to take people in who needed homes and always spread the love and knowledge of Christ wherever she went.  Her husband didn't go to church, but she did and she always made sure that my father and aunt were in church every time possible. They didn't have a car so they would take the bus to get to Sunday School on Sunday morning and Training Union on Sunday night. Then, on Monday, it was up early and work all day.

I was born in 1974. By then, my Mamaw was 57 years old and she and my Papaw lived in the back end of a duplex with us on Venus Street in the Gentilly Terrace area of New Orleans, up by Lake Ponchatrain off Franklin Avenue.  I was at her house as much as I was at my own, it seemed. She was a great cook who combined the best of Mississippi country cooking with Louisiana Creole dishes. The smells from her kitchen were amazing. She was always laughing, smiling, and giving us encouragement. I loved being with her.  When I was 5, my family moved up the road to Picayune, Mississippi and a year later my Mamaw and Papaw followed us up there. I was glad. They didn't have anything in the way of retirement, so at the age of 70 and 63, they got jobs working as managers for The Pines Apartments, which was a retirement home. There were over a hundred people living at The Pines and my Mamaw ministered Jesus to all of them just like she did everyone else.

What struck me most about my Mamaw's life is how much she loved God. She always had an open Bible marked up and underlined sitting next to her chair. She read it daily and its words permeated her life. She quoted Scripture to us and applied it in all of life's situations. It just rolled off her tongue. She was fun and real and enjoyed life and you enjoyed being around her. She never condemned you when you were being ridiculous but would just smile and say, "Honey, if there is one thing that I have learned, it is to always look to the Lord." She just constantly encouraged me to look to Jesus.  When I was a teenager, I was full of ambition and couldn't wait to get out of my small town. I wanted to see the world. She would look at me and smile and quote Scripture that would pour across my unsettled soul. Philippians 4:4-13 was constantly being quoted by her in different ways and pieces. It has become my favorite passage of Scripture because I saw her live it out each and every day.

Philippians 4:11-13 says (in the King James that my Mamaw read)

 ¹¹Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.

 ¹²I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

 ¹³I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

That was her testimony. She was content in whatever circumstance she found herself in because she was in the Lord and He was enough for her. He lived through her and molded her character to His. Even though she had lots of difficult experiences, I can honestly say that I never heard her complain about anything ever. I never heard her say anything bad about anyone or run them down. Neither did my father or my aunt. She would just give praise to God.  But, she was not naive. She was as solid as a rock but her stability was rooted in joy, hope, and peace found in Christ. She would always tell me, "Honey, stay in there with the Lord and you will never go wrong." She was right. So often, I didn't understand what she was saying, but now I do.

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In August, 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast and my family was in the middle of it. My Mamaw was in a nursing home in Slidell, Louisiana, which was hit especially hard. I didn't know what had happened to her or to my family and it took me several days to get to them. Her nursing home was in the middle of a disaster area mere miles from Katrina's ground zero. Helicopters, National Guard Humvees, and troops were everywhere. People were rushing around in a panic trying to evacuate the nursing home because they could no longer care for the residents and fortunately, I made it there a mere two hours before they were to leave to parts unknown. I wrote about what happened when I found her a few years ago here and this story shows well what kind of woman she was:

I walked down the hall and saw her in the cafeteria, sitting in a wheel chair looking out the window. She saw me and her face lit up, she smiled, and said, "Hey you sweet thing, how are you doing?" She beamed and tears came to my eyes. It was so good to see her. She has dementia, but she always remembers me. I told her that we were going to take a little trip because of the storm. She got confused and did not remember the storm. She didn't understand why she was leaving, but she maintained her usual high spirits. I told her to trust me and everything would be alright. It was hard not to think back on all the years that she took care of me, taught me about Jesus, made me chocolate and coconut cakes, and was just the best grandmother a little boy could have. It was a privilege to be taking care of her now. She was going to be alright. God truly is good.

We packed everything and helped her into my truck. I realized that I was taking her away and sending her to Arkansas, where I might never see her again. I was really starting to deal with sadness, as I thought about the horror of this storm and all that was lost. As we drove north toward Picayune on I-59, she kept saying, "Would you look at that!" and "What happened?" Trees were snapped and sheared everywhere. It was truly a mess. Then, she said something that stopped me in my tracks. All week long, I had been taken aback by the horror of what had taken place. I only thought about what had happened in the negative. "How horrible, how terrible," I had said. I had entertained and tried to answer questions like, "Why did God allow this to happen," and "How could a God of love let people suffer so?" I knew the theological answers, but I was only seeing the negative. Then, my 88 year old Mamaw with dementia taught me the greatest theolgical lesson of my life, driving in that truck, north to Picayune. Instead of complaining or saying how terrible it was, she said,

"Will you look at what God did? Look at His power! He just snapped these trees in half with His mighty hand! We serve an awesome God, son. He can do anything. We have to praise Him! The rocks and trees will cry out if we don't praise Him! Look at what God did! Isn't He powerful? I just don't understand how people don't praise the Lord. Look at His power!"

I was stunned. I sat in my seat and looked at this lady who had served the Lord all her life. She never stopped praising God and believing that He was at work in everything. She knew that even the wind and waves obeyed Him. I knew I was in the presence of a precious saint of the Lord. All my life, I never heard her complain - not once about anything. She was not to break her record now. She was giving God praise! I was reminded of Philippians 4:4, "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again rejoice. Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near."  God was speaking through her to me. She had prayed for me all my life and I always felt such a connection with her. But, now, God was speaking through her to me, straight from heaven. At that moment I knew that God was in control. Truly, in control. 

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I was able to see her one last time a few weeks ago at her nursing home in Little Rock, Arkansas, the day after Thanksgiving. She did not look like herself. She was bent over and drawn and her teeth were gone. She was ready to go home and be with the Lord. But still, her eyes twinkled and her smile was comforting. She gave her life to God and He never left her nor forsook her. He always took care of her. She quoted Scripture, even though she didn't know who I was anymore. "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you."  "Be content in whatever state of mind you are therein." She held my hand and my mind went back to days in her kitchen, smelling the wonderful food that she made and watching her work with complete joy. I can hear her voice and her laugh and remember what it was like to lay my head on her shoulder. I remember how at Christmas time, she would always buy my sister and me a present and give it to us right after Thanksgiving because she couldn't wait to see us play with it and enjoy it. Then, she'd have to go buy another present to give us for Christmas. She couldn't wait to see us happy.  I remember her flower garden that I'd help her plant and her fig preserves and coconut cakes and her hands lifted high praising God and the people that she loved and served. I remember her praying for me.

That day in the nursing home there was another lady there who was a resident. She kept interrupting our family as we tried to talk with Mamaw. We ignored her and eventually she stopped and sat silently in her wheelchair. She stuttered when she spoke and didn't make much sense. After spending about an hour with Mamaw, it was time for her to be wheeled back to her room. On the way, she stopped right next to that lady that we were all ignoring and she reached out and took her hand.  One hand on top of the lady's hand, one hand underneath - the way I had seen her do hundreds of times with people when she would meet with them and encourage them and pray for them. She stopped for that lady and looked at her with love in her eyes and said that she loved her. The lady said that she loved her too. I watched in awe.  Mamaw didn't really know where she was and she didn't know who her family was but she never forgot how to love others and to find the one who was forgotten and remember them. What she had sown into her life continued to come out day after day. She just drew people to herself and that was Jesus in her doing that.  In that moment, I saw the love of God like I had so many times before.

The world doesn't know who died last night but I do and from her I know what is valuable and important and eternal. She pointed me to Jesus and to Jesus she has gone. And I stand here on this side of eternity remembering her and hoping and rejoicing in the One to whom her life has fled.

 

Post-Secularism and the Role of Christianity in the Fall of Communism and the Remaking of Europe (and America)

Communism fell in Eastern Europe 20 years ago and the church in America is largely unaware of the role that Christians played in its demise. I wrote about the role of Christianity in the fall of the Berlin Wall on Tuesday and today I ran across another article on this subject. Adrian Pabst in his article for The Guardian (UK) entitled Christianity Ended the Cold War Peacefully writes,

The Velvet Revolutions of 1989 are commonly associated with the uprising of secular liberal dissents against atheist Communist regimes. But the extraordinary events that brought down the Iron Curtain are perhaps best described in terms of the victory of religious resistance which foreshadowed the emergence of a post-secular Europe. As such, the resurgence of religion has more to do with 9/11/89 than 9/11/01.

Without Christianity the cold war would not have ended peacefully. Across the East, churches and religious organisations brought together workers, students and intellectuals. Under totalitarian rule, church services and religious festivals often provided the last bastion of freedom and resistance.

In Poland, the opposition frequently gathered during Catholic liturgies and celebrations. They were inspired by Pope John Paul II's rallying cry to all Christians in the Soviet bloc at Gniezo on 3 June 1979 – exactly 10 years and one day before Solidarnosc won semi-democratic elections that ended Communist rule in Warsaw.

Similarly, the famous Monday demonstrations (Montagsdemonstrationen) in the former GDR took place after prayers for peace at the Nikolai Church in Leipzig. Both dissidents and ordinary citizens enjoyed the crucial support of both Protestant and Catholic churches which, according to Markus Meckel, the GDR's foreign minister in 1990, were "the only free space for free communication and thinking".

Even in the Soviet Union, the Orthodox church – benefitting from Gorbachev's glasnost and perestroika – constituted a core pole of resistance against the official state ideology of "scientific atheism". In 1988, the millennial anniversary of Russia's Christianisation saw an upsurge in popular celebrations of Christian traditions and the re-opening of ancient churches and monasteries. In turn, Patriarch Alexy II and the church were decisive in defeating the attempted putsch in August 1991 by KGB hardliners against Gorbachev.

Crucially, 1989 saw the triumph of civil society over totalitarian states. And behind civil society stood the churches and religious organisations which defended and promoted workers' associations, professional guilds, intermediary associations, educational establishments and communal welfare. As such, 1989 marked an unprecedented opportunity to overcome the bipolar order of the communist east and the capitalist west, building a genuine "third way" beyond centralised bureaucratic statism and unbridled free market capitalism.

Add to this the peaceful Christmas resistance led by Christians in Romania in 1989 in defense of the pastor Laszlo Tokes in Timisoara and you can make a strong case for the essential role that Christianity played in bringing freedom to millions of oppressed people throughout Eastern Europe and the former Soviet bloc. Prayer, dependence upon God, a heartfelt desire for peace, freedom, and justice, and a righteous stand for the freedom of the gospel were the sparks that ignited the populace to revolt against the oppressive Communist regimes in Eastern Europe. The fact that these movements were ignited by men like Christian Fuhrer and Laszlo Tokes is not an historical accident, but rather indicative of the hand of God in their personal lives and in the shaping of nations. We give too little credance to the power of prayer and peaceful, non-violent resistance to the powers and principalities that have set themselves up against the knowledge of God. 

Pabst goes on to say,

However, the post-1989 secular consensus is already unravelling. The ongoing economic crisis once again highlights that the primacy of individual freedom over communal justice is undesirable and unsustainable. Similarly, value-pluralism alone can neither secure the integration of religious minorities nor solve ethical questions like assisted suicide because it negates universal principles such as cultural cohesion around religion or the sanctity of life.

We are entering a time of post-secularism because the secular ideals of individualism and unending prosperity and advancement continue to unravel on every front with the economic collapse of 2008-09 being the latest example. The stories of the Fall of 1989 and the role of Christians in remaking Europe should be told again and again. While the influence of cultural Christianity in America wanes, similar movements of change can begin by handfuls of Christians living out their faith in the midst of opposition from a culture that is steeped in opposing values.

Pabst concludes by saying,

Twenty years after the collapse of atheist communism, 2009 has seen the failure of secular capitalism. There is now a unique opportunity to enact a new socio-economic settlement centred on human relationships, families and communities rather than the binary, secular logic of the individual and the collective. Together with other faiths, Christianity in Europe will be a formidable intellectual, cultural and social force in arguing for alternatives to the post-1989 secular consensus.

Is Christianity capable of the same "intellectual, cultural, and social force" in defining the future of a multicultural America? Most definitely. But, we will only take part in this when we stop trying to reclaim an America that has passed, if it ever actually existed in the first place, and start working to create an America that is not yet, but could one day be.

Marty Duren, Todd & Paul Littleton, Art Rogers, David Phillips and . . .

Me.  What do all of us have in common? Apart from being friends, we have blogged on ministry and missional living over the past few years as pastors and leaders. We also found common ground in some of our views on the SBC and found ourselves blogging together on the now defunct SBCOutpost. Perhaps you remember it. It created something of a stir.

Well, we are giving it another go at Missioscapes.com and plan to begin by giving our views on the Great Commission Resurgence (GCR) that is being proposed in the SBC. We are going to be bringing in other writers as well from a wide array of backgrounds. From there, we will engage in an ongoing missional conversation that will sometimes touch on ministry in an SBC context and will sometimes go beyond that. It promises to be quite provocative and it starts today.  Check it out and pass it along. 

NYC Schools to Celebrate Muslim Holidays

Claiming that Christian and Jewish holidays are celebrated, the New York City Council voted last week to add two Muslim holidays to the city's public school calendar, citing the annual observance of Christian and Jewish holidays.  Mayor Bloomberg objects, saying that you can't take off school for everything. Apart from the fact that I would have welcomed the extra days off when I was a kid, this move is truly unbelievable.  Has anyone noticed the rush to secularization of what used to be considered "Christian" holidays in America. Under the guise of separation of church and state, vestiges of Christianity are being removed as quickly as possible. But, under the guise of tolerance and pluralism, some are establishing the recognition of Muslim holidays. Admittedly, this is not a nationwide thing and I don't want to be alarmist, but I wonder if we will one day see an America that is protected from Christian influence while similarily being wide open to recognizing and making allowances for other non-Christian religions? It seems that we are headed down that path.

Frederic Baue wrote a book on this a few years ago called The Spiritual Society: What Lurks Beyond Postmodernism. It is excellent. He says that we are not moving toward a secular society, but rather, a neo-pagan spiritual society that will be very hostile to Christianity. We works off of the observations of sociologist Pitrim Sorokin regarding cultural shifts. He says that we are moving toward a more spiritual age that will affirm pluralism of belief but will reject Biblical Christianity as a valid belief system during this time. It was written in 2001 and everything that has happened since then only confirms his thesis.

Phil Busbee, Pastor of First Baptist, San Francisco, Passed Away June 27th

This is very sad news.  Pastor Phil Busbee of First Baptist Church, San Francisco, passed away June 27th. Visitation will be on July 6 and the funeral service will be July 7. All of the funeral arrangements are listed at First Baptist's website.

When I was a seminary student at Golden Gate in the late 90's, Erika and I spent months looking for a church where the Bible was taught and believed and where we could engage in ministry with a loving body of believers. We looked for several months and had trouble finding the place that we felt God wanted us to be. We went to a store front church for a few months led by Andrew Jones (Tall Skinny Kiwi), and ministered to street kids in the Haight-Ashbury on Sunday afternoons. But, that wasn't where we ultimately connected. A friend of mine invited me to First Baptist Church, San Francisco where Jim Higgs was the pastor. Erika and I visited and immediately sensed God's presence and a leading to join with this wonderful church. Two weeks later, Pastor Higgs retired after 17 years or so pastoring the church. We stayed.

Eighteen months later after a long search, FBCSF hired Phil Busbee to be the pastor. He was from Southern California and had served under Thom Wolf at The Church on Brady (now Mosaic). Pastor Phil had a great heart, a focus on Jesus Christ, a love for the city and the nations, a love for people, and rock solid Biblical convictions. He took stands against homosexuality in San Francisco, yet he loved gay people sacrificially. He was a man after God's own heart. He was also an extremely generous and compassionate man. Our daughter, Ashtyn, was dedicated to the Lord by his prayers when she was just a few months old. He blessed us as we left San Francisco and moved to Alabama to minister. I returned to San Francisco on mission trips for during two summers (2000 & 2001) after moving to my current church and he let us stay in the church basement and use the church as a home base. When we visited, he invited me to pray during a service, which was a surprise to me. I was also fortunate to visit with him at a conference that he was speaking at in Seattle in 2005 and we had rich fellowship together. 

This past March, I took Ashtyn back to San Francisco on a Daddy-Daughter trip, my first return to San Francisco in 8 years. Of course, we visited First Baptist for their Sunday worship service and I was fortunate to see him one last time.  He preached from a stool that he was rolled up to in a wheel chair. Because of diabetes and other health issues, Pastor Phil was very sick and frail at this point. Yet, he spoke of God's love and care for him, even though he did not understand the reasons for everything that was happening to Him. He trusted God and he was passionate for Christ, even as he faced his own decay. I sensed God's presence in that church and during the worship I was greatly moved. Pastor Phil was a leader, a pastor, and a prophet to so many people. Hundreds of seminary students came through First Baptist during the 10 years he pastored there and I know that they are better for it. 

When he first came to FBCSF, Pastor Phil preached a series on worship. I'll never forget that. He started his ministry there by teaching us about passionate worship of Christ. He ended his ministry there worshiping Christ and I praise God that that is what he is doing now with the Lord. I can still see him sitting in that wheel chair in March, with his hands lifted praising His King. He will be greatly missed and even though I only sat under his ministry for about a year, I was greatly impacted by his heart for God, his passion for prayer and worship, his missional lifestyle, and his deep love for people. 

I am praying for his family and for First Baptist Church, San Francisco. 

~ Alan Cross, Golden Gate Alum and member of First Baptist Church, San Francisco 1997-1999.

I also found this video of Pastor Phil teaching last year at a minister's meeting about bringing transformation to San Francisco through prayer and marketplace ministry.

Gateway's 3-on-3 Basketball Tournament Is a Huge Success!

About 9 months ago, we had a big breakthrough in our church when we began to reach teenagers in our community for the first time.  Our youth group went on a mission trip to Houston and came back wanting to reach out to their neighbors. We started a Kid's Club on Sunday afternoons thinking that we would begin to minister to little kids, but instead, teenagers showed up. Hordes of teenage boys. They wanted to hang out and they wanted to play basketball. Previously, we had put up a couple of basketball goals in our church parking lot. The interesting thing is, in the whole eastern half of Montgomery, there are no public courts to play basketball. So, kids started showing up from all over the city. They started coming every day. On an average night, we'd have 40-50 guys hanging out and playing basketball. We had guys coming to church and several got saved. Their lives began to turn around as they encountered the love of Christ and a body of believers who loved them and accepted them. It has been amazing to watch.

A few weeks ago, a LIFE Group in our church had the idea of scheduling a 3-on-3 basketball tournament to give the guys something to do and to develop a platform to minister to them. It was a huge success. We had around 40 people participate and several responded positively to the gospel being presented. A bunch of people from the church volunteered to put the event together and we plan to do it again in the future. Actually, we are starting a summer basketball league on Monday nights in the church parking lot from all of this. The cool thing is that we are building relationships with these guys and they are becoming our family. God is working. (pic taken by my friend, Chris McCorkle)

Our local newspaper, the Montgomery Advertiser wrote an article about the event that appeared in the paper today.   A short video is included. It was very positive and really showed the heart of our church in reaching out to our community. Something amazing is happening at our church where we are reaching a tipping point. No longer are we trying to cast a vision for reaching out and loving others outside of our church family. It is just happening. God is moving in our hearts and it leading us to open our arms to all that we come in contact with. This basketball tournament was a great example of how a simple thing like a few basketball goals can change a church and a neighborhood.

We finished up the tournament today.  I am really excited about what God is doing and can't wait to see what He has in store for us for the future!

Bulldozers Are Tearing Up Our Church's Property

Today was the day. I drove up to the church and they were working. The bulldozers or backhoes or whatever they are called (sorry, I'm an idiot) were uprooting trees and knocking them down.  Our church is building a new multi-purpose building and today is the day that I finally saw construction equipment on site.  Wow.

We broke ground on Sunday. It was great. We told everyone to bring a shovel instead of just having the leadership do it. Little kids brought tiny shovels, adults brought big ones. It had been raining a lot so the ground was wet and folks were tromping around in the mud. That afternoon, we had an Easter Egg Hunt for our kids and the community and had a bunch of people come out for that, play, eat, and hear the gospel and experience the love of Christ.

I love our church.

We are really beginning to reach people who are unchurched. We are seeing more and more people from our community come and we are seeing racial barriers begin to come down as more and more African Americans come.

We are also seeing God move in people's hearts as they get free from things that have kept them from truly following after God. God's Spirit is moving and people are following Christ.

This very simple building that we are working on will be a tool to continue to reach our community and make disciples of Christ. I am excited about what God is doing in our midst, about the people being saved and the lives being transformed.  I am excited about the role that we are playing in our city as we continue to pray for God's Kingdom to come. I am excited about what God is doing through our church to reach the nations for Him as we continue to impact Northern India. We keep having people go to China as well. God seems to be stirring our hearts that way too.

I love to see God working. I love it when people follow Him and glorify Him. I love what I am seeing right now and I just thought I'd give God praise. Bulldozers are tearing stuff up outside my window, but they are making room for Kingdom things.  Yes, it is a good day.

Has the SBC Reached a Tipping Point? Toward a Southern Missiology, Part 3

Parts one and two are HERE and HERE.

Has the SBC now reached a tipping point for change and reform from which there is no return?

Alvin Reid, professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary seems to think so.  He thinks that we have reached a point of no return when it comes to being aware of the struggles of the SBC and developing a consensus that change is needed. Although my observations are much more limited than his, I am sensing the same thing. Everyone that I talk to in SBC life is finally recognizing that we are facing a catastrophe when it comes to our churches and our future. The population is becoming less and less Christian. Our churches are aging and shrinking. Evangelism is decreasing. Baptisms are declining. The consensus that kept Southern Baptists together has been shredded and churches are trying to figure out what the Convention is really for. 

Reid points out a couple of key issues of concern. One is the Cooperative Program. It is not that churches do not want to cooperate, it is that we are all becoming aware of how much money is wasted on non-gospel issues. When I researched a couple of years ago how our CP money was spent, I was shocked. It is all called missions, but much of it has no resemblance to missions whatsoever. Concurrent with the CP travesty is the redundancy in our ministries. How do we justify spending money on local churches, associations, state conventions, and national structures that are all turning out the same things over and over again - in the South, no less?  I have no doubt that through some simple restructuring and alignment of ministry focus, we could save tens of millions of dollars a year. It is very difficult for me to heed fundraising appeals when the people asking for money do nothing to make sure that it is spent wisely. I find it ironic that a Convention that is conservative politically and is generally for small government allows itself to be organized for mission by a bloated bureaucracy. 

The other issue that Dr. Reid brings up is the future. He says that while those he talks to love the SBC and its gospel heritage, they are way more skeptical about the future. Where are we going? What are we going to be about? How do we engage a culture that is running from Christianity as fast as it can? How do we revitalize our churches? I think that one reason that we are concerned about the future is because we became captive to a larger culture that is also fading into the past and we feel ourselves being carried with it. Southern Baptists after WWII became thoroughly modern. We adapted to assembly line technology and we thought that through systematic programs and management techniques we could build churches that would turn out a consistent product, er, disciple. We expected this culture of efficiency and technology to continue forever. Then, when the full-blown, narcissitic individualism of the 70's, 80's, and 90's hit us, we realized that we must adapt, so we began to cater to a consumer, me-centered culture based on felt needs. We built megachurches and more programs to appeal to a culture that saw the individual and his self-actualization as the focus.  As people moved to the cities, churches grew primarily from transfer growth from smaller, more rural churches and became large suburban enterprises.   The factors guaranteeing our decline had already set in, but because we had large churches emerging, we didn't notice.  In reality, our culture has changed yet again and we are unaware. Time Magazine has a very insightful article this week (The End of Excess) detailing the change from the "bigger is better" mentality to more frugality, conservation, and community. I highly recommend it and I think that the implications of this kind of talk are huge for the future of the church in America and also in the South.  In chasing our culture and growing bigger churches, we could not see the decline that was coming because we didn't see that culture was changing and people's desires were changing with it. The churches that we were building in the 80's and 90's would become distasteful to postmoderns and we would never see it coming.  

Now, however, the decline is evident for all to see. In 2006, I joined a group of blogging pastors who were calling for reform of the SBC. We could see all of these things happening. The movement gained steam and people began to take notice. The policies on baptism and private prayer language with the IMB catalyzed the movement, but the issues were much deeper than that. Our churches were missionally ineffective and we knew it and we wanted to see change. Then, I watched as the reform movement was hijacked by those who had a vendetta against Dr. Paige Patterson of SWBTS, believing that he was responsible for what ailed the SBC. I was never interested in that and did not participate in the attacks against him. He was not the main problem, no matter how much power he seemed to wield. The problem existed in our own hearts and in the pews of our churches. We were rotting from the ground up and any problems at the top only reflected what had been going on for a long time in our churches. We had stopped following Christ in a missional sense and we were pursuing our own comfort and prosperity just like the larger culture. Replacing Dr. Patterson without addressing the real issues of discipleship only guaranteed a continuance of our problems.  Over time, I grew so weary of the political machinations that obscured the real issues of missional ineffectiveness that I withdrew from meaningful discussions about the SBC.

But, articles like the one by Dr. Reid give me hope. I think that we are going to see a much greater decline over the next decade as the dross is removed and lifeless branches are pruned. But, I do believe that a great number of those that are left will turn their eyes to Jesus. If we would focus on Christ, root ourselves in the Word of God, and follow the Spirit, we would not allow ourselves to be captivated by the larger culture. We would heed the prophetic call to return to God and hold out life to a dying world. This can happen and it is happening. We need more Alvin Reid's to speak the truth and point the way. There is hope for the SBC but it will not be found in our strength or our institutions or our plans. It will only be found in abandoning all and following hard after Jesus.    

Random Thinking

Last night, I couldn't get to sleep. My mind was racing. Finally, I drifted off, but not before I ran through a dozen different subjects. I've been told by friends that I have adult ADD. Maybe so. It would explain a lot. Normally, I write essays for this blog because it is really rewarding for me to lock in on one topic and explore it and I use it as a teaching platform for my church. Today, I'll take you on a random tour of what I'm thinking about in classic, stream-of-consciousness form. Each of these thoughts could be a blogpost all their own and they have been building up in my head. So, I think I'll clean out my brain a little so that I can think more clearly and start over.

I'm going back to India at the end of next month. Around midnight last night, I called Thom Wolf in India and talked with him for awhile. It was almost noon there. He was my professor and intellectual mentor in school back when I lived in San Francisco and he lives in New Delhi. We will go north to the Himalayas and do our normal thing with the ministries there, and then possibly travel with him for a couple of days to the south of India to meet some people doing very interesting things.

I am working through Paul's letter to the Philippians right now in my Bible study and my preaching. I am also writing essays to go along with each topic. Philippians is a great letter to address the "God as a means to an end" syndrome that plagues contemporary Christianity. I am thinking of releasing the essays after I am through with this. It has been really interesting. Today, I am working on one called "Chains" about how Paul volunteered to put himself in less than ideal situations so that the gospel would be spread to others through his life and suffering. Check out Philippians 1:7-14. Am I willing to do the same? 

"According to some estimates, Christians in developed Western countries now represent only 37 percent of believers worldwide. As I travel and also read chruch history, I have observed a pattern, a strange historical phenomenon of God 'moving' geographically from place to place: from the Middle East to Europe to North America to the developing world. My theory is this: God goes where He's wanted." ~ Philip Yancey, Finding God in Unexpected Places. 

I ran across a fascinating article today on urban development in post-Katrina New Orleans on Newgeography.com by Andres Duany.  Duany, of Cuban descent, says that "New Orleans is not among the most haphazard, poorest or misgoverned American cities, but rather the most organized, wealthiest, cleanest, and competently governed of the Caribbean cities."  He says that New Orleans is not really an American city at all. Rather, it is a Caribbean city.  Jimmy Buffett, after Katrina hit, said that the northern Gulf of Mexico is actually the northern part of the Caribbean, not the Southern part of the U.S.  I agree. Being from there, it is different that the rest of the country, and I love it. Totally different way of thinking, worldview, and lifestyle. Maybe this is why Baptists have had so much trouble reaching the Gulf Coast?  Hmmm. 

My two favorite songs on my ipod right now are "Rocket Man" by Angie Aparo and "A Change is Gonna Come" by Ben Sollee. They are both cover songs, but the music and vocals are really intriguing. If you haven't heard either of these guys, check them out.  Here's a live version of "Rocket Man." I think about this when I am travelling too much.

And, Ben Sollee on the cello.  Yes, the cello.  This is amazing.

This week marks the 3 year anniversary of us finding a lump on Caelan's chest that was a cancerous tumor. It has been a hard three years, but I praise God everyday for His faithfulness. Last night, Erika told me that the little 3 year old girl that my family has been praying for since we saw her at Caelan's last scans died last week. Her name was Cassie. My heart was broken over that. Maybe that is why I keep singing "A Change is Gonna Come." Ben Sollee, covering Sam Cooke, says he doesn't know what's beyond the sky. I do, and more and more each day I pray that God's Kingdom come.

"As heretical as it sounds today, it is probably worth telling Americans that you don't need Jesus to have better families, finances, health, or even morality. Coming to the cross means repentance - not adding Jesus as a supporting character for an otherwise decent script but throwing away the script in order to be written into God's drama. It is death and resurrection, not coaching and makovers." Michael Horton, Christless Christianity.

Baseball season is about to start. I really don't like baseball. Too slow for my taste. During the dead of summer, it is almost like there are no sports going on. I'm just waiting for football. Although, our church has formed THREE softball teams with about 50 players and they'll be playing mostly on Monday nights, so I am glad for the fact that a lot of people from our church will be hanging out together and building relationships. Being blind in my right eye caused me to never play baseball because I have no depth perception, so maybe that is why I don't like it. I do plan to play summer league basketball, though. 

The groundbreaking for our church's new building is April 5, right before we have a huge neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt. We've been reaching a lot of teenagers in our community lately, and God really moved in their lives at a youth retreat that we had this past weekend. Several came to Christ and many more opened their hearts to Jesus. We have also started tutoring, GED classes, and are helping with job placement.  God is doing some amazing things. The building is just a tool to help us with this, and it should be finished by October. I'll be very happy.

I keep watching Jon & Kate plus Eight. I don't know why. Erika keeps asking why I stop there when we are watching TV and I have the remote and I told her that I really can't believe how mean Kate is to Jon and I can't fathom how they manage eight kids like that. Wow. It's like a car wreck. I have four kids of my own. Do I really need to watch someone else's stress? Strangely, I'm drawn to it. That, and Clean House, which is about people who live in an unfathomable mess.  I guess that it is cathartic to see other people's stress and mess instead of my own.  Normally, these shows come on right after we put the kids to bed. Hmmm.

I turned in my taxes yesterday and I'm trying to get some insurance stuff taken care of. It's a pain and seems to be taking forever. Car tags have to be paid on Monday and I'm doing a TV interview tomorrow for a local religious broadcasting station about our work in India. I lump all of that together because it all feels about the same to me - stuff I have to do that I don't like doing. I'm not just trying to be humble about the TV thing either. I HATE stuff like that. Communication should be two-way and interactive with feedback, not captured on a television for people to pick over and misinterpret as they wish. Maybe I'm just insecure. 

Books I'm reading right now (they happen to all be "Christian" books, which is not good - I need to vary things up a bit and learn from some other disciplines):

• Finding God in Unexpected Places by Philip Yancey - picked it up in the airport last week. Yancey writes essays about where he sees God working in the world. Excellent.
• Christless Christianity by Michael Horton - states that the American church has given itself over to an alternative gospel that he calls, therapuetic moralistic deism.
• No Place for Truth - Or Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology by David Wells. This came out about 15 years ago, but it was recommended to me by a friend of mine. It is pretty dense, but a good read. Makes some of the same claims as Horton, but from a historical perspective.
• People of the Dream: Multiracial Congregations in the United States by Michael O. Emerson. Just picked this one up.

My church is always heavy on my mind and my heart. I graduated from seminary over 9 years ago. I've been the lead pastor of our church for 3 1/2 years. I'm realizing more and more each day that I am not smart enough, talented enough, entertaining enough, or gifted enough to do what needs to be done, no matter how many books I read. God has to work through me. I need Him. I carry the weight of people's struggles pretty intensely. I greatly desire for people to walk with the Lord and to glorify Him and I want our church to hunger after Christ with their whole lives and to reach people who do not know Jesus. But, I am really having to pray about this and release it to the Lord. I can't make anyone do anything. I am completely powerless to make anything happen. God has to do it.  I have always known that intellectually. I am learning that emotionally and spiritually and it isn't easy, believe it or not.

Ashtyn has started soccer.

I have great kids and an amazing wife who listens to me go on and on about everything that I am thinking about. She is really patient and she always gives me great feedback. I do not deserve her, and I'm not just saying that because it is what I am expected to say. She's really something. She texted me two days ago and said that we should go on the mission trip with the youth group this summer. I told her that I agreed. Not many mother's of four kids would do that. 

My city, Montgomery, just elected a new mayor in a special election a couple of weeks ago. In his election night interview, he said that he hoped that he would "rule" well.  Rule #1 in American politics: Never tell the people that you plan to "rule" them. It doesn't sit well in a democracy. Then, he said that he was pushing the inauguration back a week because he was taking his family to the beach. Rule #2:  When we are in a severe recession, don't tell the people that just elected you that you would begin to rule, er, serve them, but first, you have to go to the beach.  Go to the beach in a few months AFTER you have worked for them for a little while. Wow.

Look, a BUTTERFLY!!!! Sorry, had to get that out. Does anyone ever feel that way? Random as can be.

I've lost 10 pounds in the past two weeks and I don't know how. I guess that I haven't been eating as much. Duh. Stress? Busyness? I don't know, but I'll take it. I could stand to lose a lot more.

____________________________________________________

Well, that's about it. Not really, but I figure that no one is still reading at this point, so I might as well stop. Believe it or not, engaging in an exercise in complete randomness actually made me feel better. So, I leave you with a picture of my kids that I really love. 

God is good, by the way.  And, He's always working in every thing. Big, little, important, mundane. God is always at work.

 

Where Did All The Christians Go? America Loses 10% of Its Christian Population Since 1990

America is de-Christianizing at a rapid rate. According to the American Religious Identification Survey released today, the percentage of those identifying with Christianity in America dropped from 86% in 1990 to 76% today.  15% say they have no religion, up from 8.2% in 1990. Keep in mind that these are people who, if you asked them what religion they identified with would say, "Christian" or "Muslim." These are not necessarily practicing Christians.

It is even worse in the South. According to an interactive graph put out by the USA Today, Southern states are losing their non-Catholic, "Other Christian" populations (Baptist, Methodist, etc.) at an alarming rate.   Since 1990, these Southern states have lost the following percentage of non-Catholic Christians to their population:

• Texas - 20%
• South Carolina - 15%
• Georgia - 14%
• North Carolina - 13%
• Florida - 13%
• Kentucky - 11%
• Virginia - 11%
• Tennessee - 11%
• Alabama - 9%
• Mississippi - 8%
• Arkansas - 6%
• Oklahoma - 6%

The only Southern state that has seen its non-Catholic, Christian population grow is Louisiana, by 8%. 

Baptists of all kinds dropped from 19.3% of the population in 1990 to 15.8% in 2008. That is a drop of 3.5%.  This fits with recent drops in overall membership within the SBC.

What Does All This Mean?

Missional Holidays, Part 2

Eugene Peterson says that it is the role of the pastor to keep the community attentive to God. In speaking of community here, I think that he means the church. He is right and I take that role very seriously, however imperfectly I carry it out. But, I also think that it is the role of the church to make the larger community attentive to God.  God is always working (John 5:17) and He works through us, His body. So, every Christmas season, we have begun looking for ways to be attentive to God ourselves and to call our community to be attentive to God as well.

This year, we have seen some amazing things happen. We had our annual Thanksgiving Dinner where the place was packed and we had 19 nations represented.  Two weeks later, we had our annual Christmas Extravaganza, where we joined with Family Life Bible Fellowship, a predominately African American church for a night of worship, singing, dance, instrumentalists, food, and fellowship. It was amazing to see people from different churches and cultures come together as one in Christ. Christmas is about the Incarnation and we got to experience Christ in our midst through this gathering. I really feel that when we do these things, we are prophetically saying that we live differently from the world. The world divides according to all kinds of things. In Christ, we come together. Where there is strife and struggle in the world and peace is usually false, in Christ, all dividing walls are taken down and we are one. This is our lost witness and it must be reclaimed. I am not talking about oneness based on nothing, but oneness based on Christ and the unity that He has already provided for us.  If Christmas is about Jesus being made flesh to bring us salvation and redemption, then the best thing that we can do is to herald the reconciliation that we have in Christ. We are reconciled both to God and to one another. Praise God!

A few years ago, we also started doing "A Time to Serve." I actually read about a church in Colorado that did this and ripped the whole thing off from them, so I am not claiming originality. Each year, we develop 8 or so service oriented projects and get people to lead them. Then, others in the church sign up for them and carry them out. We will wrap presents for people for free at the local Wal-Mart, have children sing at retirement homes and homes for disabled children, adopt needy families and buy presents for them, pass out Christmas cards in the neighborhood around our church, etc. Each year, the projects vary, but the point is that we encourage people to serve someone else and to share the real meaning of Christmas. It has gone well again this year and I praise God for all those who are taking part.

Last night, we danced, ate, laughed, and laughed some more. And, we ate. Our LIFE Group had our Christmas Party at our house. We had almost 40 people come over (adults and children) and we had a great time. Christians don't seem to have a lot of parties, or if we do, we tend to be pretty stiff about it. But, not this group. I love our group because they are made up of real people that know how to share life together, laugh, cry, give, and minister to one another. We have seen God do miracles in one another's lives and we have been able to intervene and intercede for one another. There is little pretense. Basically, this small group of people acts as the church within a larger church and it is a blessing to be a part of it.

I really do want to brag about my church. Gateway Baptist is the finest church I have ever been a part of. It is not perfect and it is not made up of perfect people. But, they know that they aren't perfect and they depend on God's grace. They also really want to follow God and make Him known to others. I have a lot of friends that are pastors and I hear stories about the struggles with their churches. Honestly, I can say that Gateway does not struggle with the vast majority of things that other churches do. We give God the glory, but I think that the reason is that we have kept following hard after God a top priority in our fellowship. People who have other agendas or who don't want to do that either repent and live for God themselves (that is always what we work toward and there is much love and grace for people to do just that), or they don't stick around very long. I was telling some folks last night that it is a blessing to know that there is a church that is supportive in what we are trying to do so that we can all face a broken, needy world together, instead of us all having to focus on unnecessary problems within the church. Jesus living through His people is a beautiful thing.

I just wanted to praise God and thank Him that in this time of Christmas celebration, He causes us to be attentive to Him and enables us to represent Him to others. That's about all that I want for Christmas and I have already received it. God is good. 

The Church as Missionary: A Global Networking Dialogue

The Church as Missionary: A Global Networking Dialogue
January 12, 13, 2009-St. Louis, MO

The world is changing. Actually, it has already changed several times over in the past decade or two. Technology and globalization are creating quantum change instead of the linear progression of generations past. But, when it comes to the local church and mission, things plod along as they have for decades. Many churches still primarily engage in mission through sending their dollars off to a denominational agency or parachurch ministry while their own people remain passive in the task that God has given them. With the world nearing 7 billion people, the rise of the indigenous Church of the global South, and America emerging as one of the greatest mission fields in the world, we believe that the local church has a more vital role to play now than ever before in proclaiming and living out the gospel, both globally and locally. It seems, though, that few churches really step into the purpose of God in this area. What if local churches networked together to pray and find out where God was working, share opportunities and best practices, and encourage one another along in their God-given task? What if the Church became the missionary, instead of farming out our calling to others? What if we partnered together to directly engage in global missions and domestic church planting?

Some of us believe that this is possible. We believe that God is igniting the local church to step to the forefront of His work in the world. Each local church has gifts, talents, vision, and people who are already engaged in the world around them. Each Christian and church has a God-given purpose to fulfill. What if a network formed that encouraged each participating church in the task of impacting the world globally and locally by maximizing what is already happening the lives of the people in our churches? If churches in the network partnered together to share vision, people, and resources to impact lostness, couldn’t we do far more together as the engaged people of God to transform the world, than we could separately? We’d love to join with some other folks who are thinking about the same things.

On January 12-13 in St. Louis, MO, a group of pastors, leaders, and thinkers, will come together to engage in guided discussion regarding the possibility of networking to specifically engage in global and local mission by putting the local church on the forefront of the task God has given us: discipling nations. Some of us are Southern Baptists. We have our own missions agencies and cooperative giving program. This is not meant to take away from that, but we recognize that just sending money to denominational agencies and passively waiting for them to initiate work will do little to fulfill the Great Commission. Local churches must be engaged in the task in a more direct way. We’re thinking that we would be more effective at that if we partnered with others.

We are specifically inviting you to join a few dozen leaders to engage with this concept and see if God is wanting to link some folks together to help one another become more effective. This is not about starting an organization or collecting money-the last thing we need is more bureaucracy. If this goes well, the local church will be at the forefront and the network will exist in the shadows. We don’t have a name for what we are wanting to do. We might just call it, “that missional thing.” But, we believe that God is up to something and if we can help one another engage the world more effectively, then we will have accomplished our task.

This is not a standard conference or seminar where a lineup of speakers download terabytes of information to process later. Discussion initiators will be brief and on point leading to dialogues directly related to network building. Real value will be added to your ministry objectives and church mission as a result of your participation.

If this resonates with your heart, plan to be in St. Louis so that together we can help one another move our churches to the front line of Kingdom work in this world!

For more information, please leave your email address in the comment section (use this format: name[at]provider[dot]com to avoid spambots). You will be contacted in short order.

Grace and Peace,

Marty Duren, Lead Pastor
New Bethany Baptist Church
Buford, GA

Alan Cross, Pastor
Gateway Baptist Church
Montgomery, AL

Missional Holidays: The Nations Came To Our Church For Thanksgiving Last Night!

Every year, we have a huge Thanksgiving Dinner, the Sunday night before Thanksgiving. We bring tons of food and pack out the sanctuary, which also serves as our fellowship space. Each year, we are almost filled to capacity with our members and their friends. We eat, sing, and people share from the floor what they are thankful to God for. It is really a beautiful time as the Body of Christ is on display and we see the beauty of Christ at work.

This year, our Thanksgiving Dinner promised to be a little different. Over the past couple of years, we have been praying about how we could reach across ethnic and cultural lines and we are starting to see that happen. We are seeing African Americans and Hispanics come to our church. Our youth group has doubled in size, primarily with African American boys who are coming to Christ and being discipled. God is at work and it is amazing to see.

Also, we live in Montgomery, AL where Maxwell AFB is colocated. So, we have a lot of military personnel in our church. Every member of the Air Force will come through Maxwell at some point in their career because Air University is here. All of the schools for the Air Force are located here. This also means that international officers and their families from the nations of the world come to Maxwell each year for Air Command and Staff College. Over the past couple of years, people from our church have been adopting these families and have been spending time with them.  When a lady in our church told us that she had invited about thirty of them to our Thanksgiving Dinner, I was happy, but I was also thinking, "Where are we going to fit everyone!"  Our youth minister had already invited the families of the 20 or so new youth that were coming to our church.  We are already usually packed for this event. I am always talking about outreach and missional living, and here was a prime example of how our church had been doing and they wanted to bring everyone together. But, we just don't have much room!  My excitement over the evening was mixed with the implications of a looming disaster as people would not have seats and would bump into each other all night.

I met with my administrative assistant and we just decided that we'd make it work and we weren't going to worry about it. Somehow, it would work out, we hoped. So, we set up every table and chair that we possibly could, started serving early, and trusted God for the rest. And . . . it all worked out!  Somehow, we fit everyone in, and people didn't mind sitting in corners and along the walls and down the hall. It was our largest Thanksgiving Dinner ever!  People shared with one another, gave praise to God for His work in their lives, and enjoyed being together. At one point, I asked people to shout out what nation they were from. There were people there from America (obviously), Mexico, Peru, Brazil, The Philippines, The Ukraine, Germany, India, Egypt, Jordan, Bangledesh, Pakistan, China, Turkmenistan, and other countries that I cannot remember. There were people from 19 countries in all.  We also had a great number of African Americans that are coming to our church now and are getting involved in our body.  That is notable because we are a Southern Baptist church that was lily white just two years ago, and I understand how difficult it is for these barriers to be broken down. 

Jesus was represented and the gospel was spoken by people as they shared. It was beautiful. At one point, an international officer from the Middle East stood up and said how happy he was to be here. He thanked us for inviting him and his family. He also said something very interesting: He said that he was amazed and honored to be in a place where Christians, Muslims, Hindus, and many more could come together and gather in peace. He couldn't believe it.  For many of these people, this was the first time that they had been in an environment like this. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Through Him, we, as Christians, can respect and love others, even though we know that there are differences. We believe and represent that Jesus is the only way to the Father. But, unless we build relationships with people and love them, they will not hear that message. Jesus also enables us to love people different than us because we recognize that each person is made in the image of God. 

In two weeks, we will have our Christmas Extravaganza. We will join together with Family Life Bible Fellowship, an African American church in our city and have a mass choir, singing, praise dance, poetry readings, and other artistic expressions of worship on display. We will celebrate our unity in Christ.  We will eat lots of good food together and we will laugh, pray, and celebrate. The international officers and their families will be invited again and the place will be packed out.  I can't wait!  

Christmas is the celebration of the Incarnation of Christ, where Jesus took on flesh and made His dwelling among us (John 1:14). He is doing it again in churches and communities all across the world.  We'll make room for Him, no matter what it takes, or at least we should. I praise God for people in our church with great imaginations and faith to believe God for great things!

Could the Multi-Ethnic Church Be the Key To Revival?

Last week I pointed to the shifting demographics and the growing diversity of America. I asked about the impact that this shift would have on the church. This morning, I was reading Tim Keller's The Reason For God. Keller is the pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City and he is having quite an impact by reaching urban professionals. Keller, writing about belief and skeptism in his ministry, says,

As soon as I arrived in New York I realized that the faith and doubt situation was not what the experts thought it was. Older white people who ran the cultural business of the city definitely were quite secular. But among the increasingly multiethnic younger professionals and the working-class immigrants there was a lush, category-defying variety of strong religious beliefs. And Christianity, in particular, was growing rapidly among them.

This is fascinating and I don't know why I have not thought about it before now. Christianity is growing all over the world. In Asia, Africa, and Latin America, Christianity is growing by leaps and bounds. The only place that Christianity is not growing is in North America and Western Europe - basically, every place that has been affected by the modernism that was birthed by Enlightenment thought.  Could it be that God is using the immigrants of the world to come to America to revamp the spiritual landscape? When immigrants from the Third World encounter America with all of its churches and all of our religion, what will the result be?

I have come to believe that the best witness that we can give to a world torn by ethnic strife, pluralism, and competing ideologies, is a church that is one in the midst of its cultural and ethic diversity. This reality is a gospel and missional imperative. It is no longer something that is just an option for the few courageous souls who might attempt it. 

The Power of a Yielded Life: Catherine Rohr and the Prison Entrepeneurship Program

Why would a 27 year old woman who was a Wall Street investor making six figures leave it all to work with prisoners in the Texas penal system?  Simply because she is a follower of Jesus and she saw prisoners through His eyes. She surrendered her life and talents to God and He is doing amazing things through her. Last week at the Willow Creek Leadership Summit, I heard Catherine Rohr's story. It is extraordinary. God is using her to radically change lives by seeing the potential that people have and by working with them to help them become what God created them to be. Through the Prison Entrepeneurship Program (PEP), inmates are exchanging the business skills that they have learned through illegitimate crime for training in developing legitimate businesses. And, business leaders from all over America are helping!  Here is an example of how one Christian with a vision from the Lord can work to change the world (click on the pictures to watch the video).

(After clicking on the picture to view the video, enlarge this video by clicking the little box in the bottom right corner when it begins playing)
Woman leaves Wall Street to teach convicts

1 Corinthians 5:14-19 says, "For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation."

I thought about that passage when I saw this next video.

Racial Diversity a Gospel Imperative: Thoughts From the Willow Creek Leadership Summit

Why don't Southern Baptists have conferences like this???  A group of about 10 of us are attending the Willow Creek Leadership Summit at a satellite location here in Montgomery. It has been really good so far, with excellent sessions led by Bill Hybels, Gary Haugen of the International Justice Mission (who said, "Leadership that matters to God involves issues that matter to God"), Wendy Kopp of Teach for America, John Burke of Gateway Community Church, and Bill George. All of the speakers were excellent and very challenging. They gave great foundations for leadership in the church and the world and told amazing stories of risk and adventure in creating new realities. The theme this year seems to be focusing on the issue of justice and social issues.

Probably the most poignant speaker of the day for me was Efrem Smith of  The Sanctuary Covenant Church in Minneapolis.  He spoke on the need for a racially diverse, multicultural church witness in America. Here are the notes that I took from his talk:

• The church should be a solution to the racial divide in our country, not a part of the problem.
• Culture should be engaged for Kingdom purposes, not necessarily fully embraced
• We live in a multi-cultural, technological, innovative, multi-racial, multi-ethnic, connected, global world.
• The more diverse that we as a nation get, the more divided we become. We are in need of leaders who will engage this world to bring about peace and prosperity to show that there is a God who brings hope, healing, justice, and transformation.
• 30 years ago, 1 in 100 children born in America were born of a mixed race. Today, it is 1 in 19. The next generation will not be under the rigid racial distinctions of the past.
• We must lead and be prophetic in a multicultural world.
• A leader in this world must be invaded by God to lead multiculturally and multiethnically.
• 1 John 4:7 - Love one another - In order to lead in a multicultural world, we must be a beloved leader. You become this way when you allow yourself to be taken by God and His purposes.
• We must be connected to God so that people can see God through us.
• It is not about qualification to lead multiculturally, it is about being picked up by God and being carried along by His purposes.
• When we have been filled by God, we will address issues of race, class, and ethnicity around the world. Does the church have an answer? Yes!
• If the church really wants to transform where the pain is, we will invest in and plant churches in the inner city and find dwelling places where the hurting people are.
• We must be able to confess where we've gotten in wrong.
• The reason why we've had racial and ethic storms in this world is because man's desire for comfort has come in conflict with God's desire for reconciliation and healing.
• What if we confronted the reasons for why churches are ethnically and racially divided and addressed those reasons? Our primary identity is not racial. We should not have white churches and black churches in cities that are racially and ethnically diverse. The church should represent the community and consist of all people. This is what the Gospel commands. Along these lines Smith says,

"The Church must wrestle with what it means to equip the saints to advance the Kingdom of God in an ever-increasing multi-ethnic and multicultural world. In order for this to happen, pastors and ministry leaders must begin by seeing reconciliation as theology and Christian formation. Reconciliation must be seen as spiritual discipline on the same level as prayer, fasting, and stewardship. One of the major issues with which we still struggle in the body of Christ is racial segregation. There still exists a belief among many church leaders that a homogenous church model is the best for church development and growth. Within an ever-increasing multi-ethnic and multicultural society, when sociologists want to prove that there is yet a racial divide, many look no further than the church to make this point."

Efrem Smith went on to say that the only proper response to a multi-cultural society is a multi-cultural church. I agree. Raffi Shahinian left a comment on my post from the other day on this issue pointing me to a post that he had written on the subject. Raffi said that the church has always had a problem with racial and cultural divisions. That is why Paul talked about it so much. But, the point was that they were not allowed to stay in those divisions. Paul prophetically called them out of their inward focus to a broader reality of the diverse Body of Christ. Raffi says that a great deal of Paul's writings dealt directly with this issue of prejudice between differing groups based on race, culture, background, and ethnicity. Romans should be read in this context because we are all equally sinners and justified by faith - whether Jew or Gentile. This is why Romans 1-8 sets up the rest of the letter in calling Jews and Gentiles (who are both reconciled to God the same way) to love one another and accept on another. Galatians deals with this, as does Ephesians, Colossians, 1 Corinthians, etc. It goes on and on. I have never thought about it that way, but he is right.  The Gospel is made up of both vertical reconciliation (between us and God) as well as horizontal reconciliation (between man and man).  For the Church not to display this in a racially divided land is to not display a holistic Gospel witness.

Here are thoughts from Efrem after he spoke at the Summit:

Compassion and mercy ministries lead to engaging in justice advocacy.  That is worth thinking about.

God continues to speak to me on this issue. I am working on a book on this subject with the Montgomery story as a background. I have come to believe that reconciliation is a gospel issue - it is not a preference issue. Our churches must deal with this to be able to effectively proclaim the gospel to the mission field of America. If we do not, any claim to be serious about reaching our country is just words.

UPDATE:  This is a great post on the detrimental nature of silence on the racial issue in our churches. Pretending like it is not a problem, or like if it ever was a problem it was dealt with in the past, is not a helpful take on the current issue within the church.   

How Long Until the Church Effectively Deals With Its Prejudice?

CNN is producing a great series on being "Black in America." Yesterday, they dealt with the issue of race in the church by confronting Why Many Americans Prefer Their Sundays Segregated (HT: Jim West). This is a fascinating article. Here are some excerpts:

• Only 5 percent of our nation's churches are considered racially integrated (at least 20% of a minority race attends)
• Many who want segregated churches are looking for a place of refuge where they don't have to experience racism on Sundays
• Fear of interracial dating may keep churches segregated
• Integrated churches could help heal racial divides in America

I have said a lot about this in the past and I plan to say a good deal more about it in the future. At any rate, I think that it is significant that a secular world looks at the church and takes notice that we are just as segregated as they are, if not more so. Clearly, the Bible teaches that racial distinctions are to fade away in Christ, yet they remain in His Church. How do you think this affects our witness and what can we do about it?

Obviously, repentance and heart change is necessary. Maybe we will start to consider that when we realize that our preferences, beyond just being incompatible with the Gospel, are also destroying our witness in America, the land of multiculturalism.

How Beautiful Is the Body of Christ

I pastor an amazing church. I have a lot of pastor friends that are miserable in their churches because of one problem or another. I am not one of those pastors - there is literally nowhere else that I would rather be. I was moved to tears yesterday - there was such an amazing sense of God's presence. It started in worship as our teachers for our new Sunday School classes shared about the classes that God was leading them to teach. Each person shared from their heart. One of our teachers was gone because he was preaching in another church, so I read his description. Parenting, living from an overflow of Christ, an exposition of Psalm 23 - those were some of the topics. Our young adults teacher is a young Brazilian man, who after sharing about his class shared about the sports camp that he and another man led on Saturday. With little notice, they taught the kids in the neighborhood soccer and football. A kid from the neighborhood came to Christ.

The worship was amazing. I looked around the church and saw hands and hearts lifted to the Lord. People sang passionately. Our praise team is full of young people that use their talents for the Lord. Our church never lacks for singers and musicians. As I looked across the sanctuary my heart warmed to see people in love with their Lord instead of just going through the motions.

Our youth had just returned from a mission trip in Houston, Texas where they ministered to homeless people for a week. Our youth minister got choked up as he talked about the selfless attitudes of the youth, their heart for service, and their love for people. Three youth and a parent shared about how God had met them and what a life changing experience it was. They are all saying that they want to continue doing compassion ministry here and we are talking about revamping our youth group to center it around ministering to those in need. They are leading our church in this.

We took Communion yesterday. I spoke briefly about how in Christ, we are to regard no one from a worldly point of view - we are not to look on outward appearances. All that are in Christ are new creations. At our church, we all come forward to take Communion. I said that is significant because it reminds us that we all approach the Lord's Table the same way. In humility and repentance, we all arise and partake of the elements that remind us that Christ's blood was shed and His body was broken to take away our sins and to give us new life. As our church arose to come to the Lord's Table, I looked at the lines of people - people that I GET to serve as pastor. I knew their hurts, their pain, their triumphs, and their victories. I was shaken as I viewed the Body of Christ. Our church is beginning to become more multicultural and in the lines for Communion were whites, blacks, hispanics, and Asians - all approaching the Lord's Table together. It was beautiful.

At the end of the service, we introduced three girls - two teenagers and a younger girl who had come to know the Lord. The younger girl came to Christ this week in a Back Yard Bible Club that some of our folks were doing in a neighborhood. She was the daughter of the one of the guys that led the sports camp on Saturday where the kid from the neighborhood came to Christ. His teenage daughter also became a Christian as well as her friend that had been staying with them this summer. After the service, our deacons told a man in our church whose wife is in a wheel chair that people, on their own, gave money to help them get a van that they needed to be able to get around. I heard about it after it was done. God is at work in a powerful way and I praise Him.

Last night, our LIFE Group came over to the house. Including children, we had over 30 people come over. We grilled out, talked, laughed, and had a great time. It was a huge party. About once every three months we have a big meal together and just hang out. Our group is made up of young families that are learning how to raise their kids and walk with the Lord. What is cool is that we are doing this together.

This was supposed to be a pretty ordinary weekend. To a lot of people, I guess it was. But, when the Body of Christ came together, God showed up and changed everything. I praise God that I get to serve a church that looks expectantly to the Lord to work in our lives. How beautiful is the Body of Christ!