Rodney Hammer new DOM for BR-KC

Rodney Hammer, former regional leader with the International Mission Board of the SBC, has accepted a position as the new Executive Director (DOM) for the Blue River-Kansas City Baptist Association. The former DOM, Nodell Dennis, retired at the end of 2007 to return to his native state of Texas.

Hammer's resignation from the IMB was precipitated by two controversial policies of the IMB's Board of Trustees in recent years. It was opposition to those same policies which eventually led to Wade Burleson's resignation from that body. Hammer detailed his reasons for resigning in an open letter to Southern Baptists that was published in the North Carolina Biblical Recorder. I'm very sympathetic with his position and fully understand the struggles of leaving the IMB over doctrinal and philosophical differences.

Information about Hammer's selection to serve as the DOM of the Blue River-Kansas City Baptist Association (which our church is a part of) appears in the most recent associational newsletter. I trust and pray that Rodney will have a fruitful ministry in directing the efforts of the BR-KC Association.

A Great Sunday Night Experience

For the past several years, our church has hosted a summer concert series during the month of August. We've had a wide diversity of musical styles--including among others bluegrass, Southern Gospel, jazz, a harpist, contemporary Christian music, handbells, and much more. Last night we had the privilege of hosting an awesome drama group called "One Time Blind." Their skits and dramatic interpretations were powerful and challenging. They really articulated some of the issues Christians struggle with in terms of yielding our all to God, being jealous of others' gifts, etc., and they did so with excellence through the medium of drama. They only sang a couple of numbers, but their voices were beautiful and their close harmonies were extremely well done. They are based out of Detroit and I was impressed with how God is using their gifts and lives to speak words of truth to the church. If you're interested in more information about them, you can visit their website.

Albert Reyes on Immigration

I received an email this morning from Albert Reyes, President of Buckner Children and Family Services in Dallas. Albert was president for many years of the Baptist University of the Americas in San Antonio, where he led the institution to take some significant strides in equipping primarily Hispanic students for cross-cultural ministry. I've been able to keep in touch with Albert somewhat through our serving together on the board of WorldconneX.

Albert's email alerted me to a new journal issue on the topic of immigration that was recently published by the Center for Christian Ethics at Baylor University. Albert has an article included in the journal that describes a bit of his own spiritual and ethnic heritage as well as addressing the issue of the Christian's responsibility toward the stranger in our midst.

I wanted to share a couple of quotes to perhaps whet your appetite to read the entire article.

"Jesus spoke to the experience of the stranger in his parable of the Judgment
of the Nations in Matthew 25:31-46. When the Son of Man judges the nations,
separating “people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from
the goats,” the criteria for whether a person’s identity in Christ can be authenticated is whether or not that person has demonstrated the agenda of Jesus with regard to the poor, the stranger, the sick, and the prisoner. These criteria are strikingly similar to the five-point agenda in Jesus’ inaugural speech in Luke 4:16-30. Jesus said he came to proclaim good news to the poor, freedom for prisoners, recovery of sight for the blind, and release for the oppressed, and to announce the year of the Lord’s favor. I like to call this the Jesus Agenda, Jesus’ plan for his thousand-day ministry."

"What does it mean for redemptive history that the Lord of history has allowed us to have over fourteen million undocumented immigrants, primarily from Latin American countries, inside our borders? Think with me from a Kingdom perspective for a moment. Let me remind you of a picture and a vision that we will all see. When John the Revelator glimpsed eternity he saw “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne…. They cried out in a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb’” (Revelation 7:9-10). Will it matter on that day if people had legal documents authorizing them to be in our country? I guess it depends on who you ask. If you ask the Master who separates goats from sheep, I think he will say what mattered, in light of eternity, is whether or not we gave food to the hungry, water to the thirsty, clothes to the naked, ministry to the prisoner, and caring to the sick. He will say, if you did it to the least of these, you did it unto me."

Children's Music Camp

We had about 25 children from first to sixth graders who participated in a music camp at church this past week. They were allowed to choose among some electives that included guitar, drama, movement, rhythm, set design, as well as spending time learning about worship. Tonight they led us in worship in the evening service, sharing some of the things that they had learned in the individual classes and then presenting a brief musical entitled ‘We Can Praise” that they learned in just 5 days this week. They did an outstanding job and we had a good Sunday night crowd to hear them. We finished up with an ice cream extravaganza downstairs in the fellowship hall for a very blessed and enjoyable evening.

I’m impressed by how quickly children can pick up and learn new music. They had about 2.5 hrs. each morning to do everything—take the elective classes, have a devotional time, and learn the music for the musical. Music is such a great tool for helping memorize different texts and I wonder if we wouldn’t do better at things like scripture memorization if we set more passages to melodies and musical arrangements. A lot of the early praise choruses I learned back in the dark ages (college years) were virtually taken word for word from the Scriptures. The fact that I can still remember many of those today probably reinforces the idea that music is a great aid in memorization.

Bible Preaching Week

One of the activities that the Missouri Baptist Convention formerly sponsored was known as Bible Preaching Week. It has been several years since they ceased to do so and this past year the Baptist General Convention of Missouri decided to offer this ministry to pastors and their families. Once again this year, the BGCM is sponsoring Bible Preaching Week at the beautiful Windermere Baptist Conference Center on Lake of the Ozarks. We’re grateful that the Baptist General Convention of Texas is helping again this year by providing scholarship assistance to pastors whose congregations average less than 150 in worship. Charles Wade, retired executive director of the BGCT will be the featured preacher for the week and David May, NT professor at Central Baptist Theological Seminary will be the Bible teacher and will lead in a study of the parables of Jesus. The theme for the week is “Worship: An Encounter with God” and is based on Isaiah 6:1-8.

There will be a number of breakout sessions offered each day as well, and I have the privilege of leading one on preparing for cross-cultural missions. I hope that more BGCM churches will accept the challenge of becoming involved in our partnership with Guatemala. The week’s activities are scheduled for August 11-15. Additional information is available at the BGCM’s website.

Lessons from the Volkswagen Beetle

My folks purchased a VW Beetle while I was still high school back in the late 60s and early 70s. They were making daily round trip commute of 80 miles to and from work at the time and needed something that gave good gas mileage. Sounds a bit like what folks are talking about today. It was painted orange (a good color for a UT grad like myself) and the factory name for the color was Clementine Orange, hence the name Clementine stuck for the little car. Along about my sophomore year at UT, I inherited Clementine and drove it for a couple of more years. It was a delight to park as it was small and fit in to some pretty tight spots. I don't remember exactly why Clementine left the family, but she eventually did.

Five years ago today on July 30, 2003, the last “classic” Volkswagen Beetle rolled off the assembly line at the production plant in Puebla, Mexico. It was shipped to a museum in Wolfsburg, Germany where the Volkswagen headquarters is located. The car that inspired Disney’s Herbie the Love Bug series was actually originally the result of an initiative by Adolf Hitler to make an affordable, efficient “people’s car.” The Beetle was popular in the 60s and early 70s in the U.S. until it was banned in 1977 for failing to meet safety and emissions standards. Until 2003, it continued to be produced in Mexico where one can still see to this day thousands of green Beetles being used as city taxis.

The Beetle finally found itself unable to compete with other inexpensive compact cars. Its failure to adapt to change marked its demise. One of the challenges we all face is adapting to change. You may have heard the refrain, “The only constant is change.” Change is unsettling and uncomfortable, but it’s a given in this world. I think that as we age, we tend to long more and with greater nostalgia for the good old days. We probably remember those days as better than they actually were, but in our memory they represent better times, less marked by rapid upheaval.

Reacting positively to change is difficult, but if we’ll make the effort to do so, it will help us to stay young at heart—-no matter what our biological age might be. The new redesigned Beetle that Volkswagen introduced in 1998 has done fairly well in sales, a testament to the virtue of adapting to change. One thing that will help us to cope with change is to remember that the Lord who promises to never leave us nor forsake us is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

(I shared the gist of this post in our monthly senior adult newsletter).

The Tabitha Ministry

I’d like to introduce you to a special person and a wonderful ministry she has in Guatemala City. Carol Bercian is the partnership liaison for the Guatemala Baptist Convention and handles the logistics for volunteer teams coming into the country to work on various projects. As you are aware if you’ve read my previous posts, the Baptist General Convention of Missouri has an ongoing partnership with the Guatemala Baptist Convention and thus we have worked closely with Carol on each of our trips. Alabama Baptists also have a partnership with Guatemala, and being much larger than our convention, they keep Carol busy with trip arrangements for many mission groups that they send.

Carol has also directed the children’s work of the Guatemala Convention and has a wonderful heart for ministry. One of the projects she has assisted with is a daycare center that is located near the city dump in Guatemala City. Around 70 children are receiving an education and two meals a day through this important ministry.

In the process of working with the children there, Carol became aware of the desperate plight of many of these children’s mothers. Most earn a living by scrounging through the refuse at the dump, looking for items they can resell or even scavenging for food among what is discarded there. Many come from a background of drugs, glue sniffing, and prostitution. Carol began a ministry among these women and many have come to Christ as Savior and have received discipleship training from Carol. Though their life situation is still very difficult and tenuous, a real transformation is occurring among many of them. Carol has acquired sewing machines and the ladies are making colorful bags with some of the bright fabrics that Guatemala is noted for producing. This has provided them with a source of income and given them an escape from their former life of prostitution.

I’ve been able to visit the daycare center on a couple of trips to Guatemala City, including going there with a team from our church back in February. As a result of seeing Carol’s ministry there, our children’s minister proposed that this year’s VBS offering go to assist the Tabitha Ministry that Carol has among these women. I’m delighted to share that the boys and girls raised a little more than $700 with their penny offerings to help with this ministry on the edges of the city dump in Guatemala City. As the Lord prompts you to do so, please say a prayer for Carol and her vital work with these ladies and their children.

Reading Yancey

One of the things I enjoyed this past week on my trip to Guatemala in addition to the fellowship and teaching time with the pastors and lay leaders there was the opportunity to catch up on some reading. Airport layovers are good for that. One of my favorite authors is Phillip Yancey and I took the time to re-read Where is God When it Hurts?, as well as reading one of his bestsellers—-The Jesus I Never Knew. If you’re not familiar with Yancey’s writings, I highly encourage you to grab one of his books. I think you’ll have a hard time putting it down. His writing is at times brutally honest about our struggles as Christians, and that’s something I respect about him. I wanted to share a couple of quotes from the latter book, hopefully to spark your interest in reading it.

“Killing Jesus, says Walter Wink, was like trying to destroy a dandelion seed-head by blowing on it.”

Commenting on Jesus’ parable of the sheep and goats in Matthew 25 and God’s apparent absence from the world at times, Yancey writes, “God has not absconded at all. Rather, he has taken on a disguise, a most unlikely disguise of the stranger, the poor, the hungry, the prisoner, the sick, the ragged ones of the earth. 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did it for me.' If we cannot detect God’s presence in the world, it may be that we have been looking in the wrong places.”

Home from Guatemala

I arrived home from Guatemala at about 11:00 p.m. on Friday night. I probably could have caught an earlier flight out of Houston on Continental Airlines as we arrived there in time to do so, but I didn't want to take my chances when I was scheduling the flights with a tight connecting flight time. I've had several late flights in the past from Guatemala City and didn't want to push my luck too far.

The pastors' and lay leaders' training conferences went very well. Rather than the Guatemala Convention handling the invitations and enrollment this time, they left those tasks up to the leaders of the newly established pastors' association in that region. One of the results of that was the presence of some new folks this time who hadn't participated in the three previous training sessions. At the same time, the majority were still those who have attended all 4 sessions. The Guatemala Baptist Convention tends to be pretty conservative theologically so I wasn't 100% certain how they would react to a woman pastor as the main conference speaker, but any doubts or concerns I might have had were quickly erased. Jeanie did an outstanding job of leading the conferences and planned in a good deal of small group interaction and dialogue time that allowed the group to arrive at their own conclusions and embrace the contents that she shared as their own. The comments afterwards were unanimously positive in terms of evaluating her participation.

I had been asked to preach at the First Baptist Church of Quetzaltenango for the worship service on Tuesday night that marked the formal inauguration of the new pastors' association for that region. It was a packed house, with folks even sitting in chairs outside on the patio area outside the main auditorium and listening through open windows. I would guess there were close to 300 present. I preached a message from Phil. 2:1-11, focusing on Paul's call to unity and humility with the supreme example of humility being that of Jesus Himself.

Another highlight of the trip for me was the chance to do some reading while traveling as well as in the evening times. I had purposed to re-read Yancey's "Where is God When it Hurts" before passing it along to a church member who has been struggling with some very frustrating medical issues lately. After finishing that, I also had time to read another Yancey book, "The Jesus I Never Knew." It was an outstanding book, one of my favorites by him, and gave me a lot of food for thought as he challenged some commonly-held assumptions about Jesus and forced me to re-think some of those issues. I would highly recommend the book if you have not yet read it.

Thanks to those who prayed for our trip. The Lord richly blessed our time there.

Upcoming trip to Guatemala

Well, it's been 5 months since my last trip to Guatemala with our church and 6 months since the last leadership training conferences with the BGCM. That must mean it's time to head south again. I'll be doing just that this coming Monday. In this latest round of workshops for pastors and leaders, I'll be joined by Jeanie McGowan, associate pastor of the FBC of Jefferson City. Jeanie joined the staff of the BGCM at the start of this year and is heading up our leadership development team. Her duties at FBC Jefferson City include singles ministry and equipping ministry. As our previous conferences focused on evangelism and church planting, in a logical progression, this time we're going to address the issue of assimilating new members into the life of the congregation. Jeanie will be leading in the conferences and I'll be her translator.

Another blessing of this trip will be the opportunity to preach at the inauguration of a new pastors' association for those living and serving in the western region of Guatemala. Our partnership liaison informed me that the formation of this association is the direct result of the BGCM's ongoing relationship with the pastors in this area and our leadership training conferences. They've experienced much greater unity and are networking with one another in ways they have not previously done. That is really an exciting development and I rejoice in what the Lord is doing in their midst.

This will be a quick trip this time, departing on Monday and returning on Friday. We'll conduct the workshops on Tuesday and Wednesday, do some sightseeing on Thursday, and fly home on Friday. I'd certainly appreciate the prayers of any who happen to stumble across my blog and read this post. Thanks.

Temple's Definition of Worship

This week I happened upon a definition of worship by Archbishop William Temple. Temple served as the Archbishop of Canterbury during World War II. He defines worship as follows: “Worship is the submission of all of our nature to God. It is the quickening of the conscience by His holiness; the nourishment of mind with His truth; the purifying of imagination by His beauty; the opening of the heart to His love; the surrender of will to His purpose—all this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable.”

I hope you’ll take a moment to re-read that definition and ponder the significance of the individual phrases. Worship involves the complete submission of our nature to God. It’s recognizing His supremacy and our unworthiness. In worship we allow His holiness to direct our moral compasses and instruct our conscience about matters of right and wrong. The spiritual food we need for nourishment we find as we reverently allow God to speak His truth into our hearts and minds in worship. The contemplation of the beauty of God’s creation certainly stirs up our imaginations as we seek words capable of expressing His grandeur and majesty. As we open our hearts to His love in worship, we find John’s words to be true—“We love Him because He first loved us.” In worship we come to recognize that God’s will for our lives is always better than any alternative that we could devise and we surrender our wills to His.

Finally, the quote identifies adoration as the most selfless emotion our nature is capable of producing. When we adore God in spirit and in truth as Jesus urged (Jn. 4:23-24), we empty ourselves of self and are filled with His Holy Spirit, enabling us to render to God the worship of which He alone is worthy.

Book Review

I've been absent from the blogging world for a while. My wife had a student who qualified for the National Forensics Tournament in Las Vegas this past week so my youngest son and I accompanied them for a week of vacation. I didn't even access a computer for the entire week, other than to purchase passes to some of the sights in the area. We enjoyed the time away very much.

While on vacation, I read a book by Kyle Lake, the 33-year old pastor of University Baptist Church in Waco, TX, who died tragically in 2005 when he was electrocuted in the church’s baptistry. The book is entitled, Understanding God's Will: How To Hack The Equation Without Formulas. Lake makes the case that we’ve reduced the quest for knowing God’s will to a series of formulas rather than focusing on living life in a fresh, daily encounter with Jesus. He also states that far too often we have equated the will of God with favorable circumstances, safety, and our own well-being. Jesus’ call to His disciples was an invitation to a lifestyle of radical obedience to Him—not a promise that everything in life would always go well for us. The trials and troubles we experience in life shouldn’t be interpreted as signs that we’ve somehow missed out on God’s “perfect will,” a phrase that Lake suggests can be misleading. Our calling is not to know all the answers to what lies ahead in our future, but to walk daily with the One who call us His friends and invites us to know Him more fully. Kyle Lake concluded each of his sermons with this charge to his congregation, “Love God, embrace beauty, and live life to the fullest.” Those are wise words to live by as we seek to walk daily with the One who said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.”

A Great Example of Sportsmanship

I had read this article a few months back and copied it into a Word document, adding it to a file of illustrations and inspirational stories that I might use someday in a sermon or Bible study. As I stumbled across it again today, I thought that it was just too good not to share. I hope you'll follow the link and read the story of a great example of sportsmanship from the world of women's athletics.

Needed: An Enlarged Heart

While I trust that no one reading this actually bet and lost money on Big Brown’s failed quest to win horse racing’s famous Triple Crown this past Saturday at Belmont, it’s interesting to note that 30 years have passed since a horse has won all three major races—the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont Stakes. The longest previous stretch without a Triple Crown winner was 25 years, which ended with Secretariat’s record run in 1973. Secretariat won all three races in record time that year, winning the Belmont by an astonishing 31 lengths. The “horse of the century” was retired later that year and was euthanized in 1989 after falling ill. An autopsy revealed that Secretariat’s heart was two and a half times the size of an average horse’s heart—-perhaps accounting for his amazing endurance.

In thinking about Secretariat’s unusual heart, I was impressed with the fact that we really need some big-hearted Christians in our world today. When on a national level Baptists are best known for what they are opposed to rather than what they stand for, it’s time to remember that Jesus summarized the entire law in two statements—-loving God with all our being and our neighbor as ourselves. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if when someone delivers our funeral eulogy at some future date that the comment could be made that we were characterized by an enlarged heart with a great capacity for loving God and others?

Sunday's Sermon Outline

Our senior pastor was gone to Washington, D.C. this past weekend to celebrate an anniversary with his wife so I had the privilege of preaching in both morning services and again on Sunday evening. For Sunday morning I selected as a text the prayer of Jesus in John 17 and focused on the topic of our highest calling being that of glorifying God. Using Jesus’ prayer as a guideline, I sought to answer the question of how we go about bringing glory to God, even as He did in His earthly ministry. This is the outline I came up with and the main points I shared.

Knowing God through Jesus Christ – v. 3
Accomplishing the Work He Gives Us – v. 4
Keeping His Word – v. 6
Going into the World – v. 18
Being One in Christ – vv. 20-23

An Inspirational Life

I read this morning on the CNN website about the death of 61-year old Dianne Odell, a woman who had lived practically her entire life in an iron lung after contracting polio as a 3-year old child. An emergency power generator, set to start automatically in the event of a power outage, failed to start and could not be manually activated when the home lost electrical power. Efforts to use a hand pump attached to the iron lung also failed to save Dianne’s life.

Though confined to the seven-foot metal tube for almost 60 years, Dianne didn’t allow her conditions to destroy her spirit. She obtained a high school diploma, took college courses, and wrote a children’s book. On her 60th birthday in February 2007, family and friends held a party for her at a downtown Jackson, TN hotel with more than 200 guests attending. She had a 9-foot birthday cake and received cards and letters from people across the U.S.

In 1994, she was quoted as saying, “I’ve had a very good life, filled with love and family and faith. You can make life good, or you can make it bad.” It’s hard to imagine more difficult and challenging circumstances in which to live, yet Dianne Odell maintained a positive spirit and attitude to the end. I think the key to how she was able to do so is found in the three things she identifies as filling her life—love, family, and faith. Refusing to let life’s adversities conquer her spirit, Dianne Odell made the most of the life she had been given. I’m challenged by her example and pray that her story will inspire all of us to live focused on what matters most—-love, family, and faith.

Life Lessons from Baseball

On May 26, 1959, pitcher Harvey Haddix of the Pittsburgh Pirates made baseball history by becoming the first pitcher to throw more than 9 perfect innings in a game. The Pirates were playing the Milwaukee Braves, who featured the powerful Hank Aaron in their line-up. Haddix’s control was phenomenal, as he retired the first 27 batters he faced in the regulation 9 innings and then went on to retire 6 more in innings 10 and 11. In the 12th inning, the leadoff hitter reached on an error and the perfect game was over, but the no-hitter was still possible. The second batter sacrificed the runner to second and then Haddix issued an intentional walk to Aaron. The next hitter, Joe Adcock, hit a pitch out of the park and Haddix lost not only the no-hitter but the game as well. In their excitement over Adcock’s hit, the Braves’ baserunners became confused and Adcock actually passed Aaron on the base path between 2nd and 3rd base. After several minutes of consultation, the home plate umpire changed Adcock’s three-run homer to a two-run double, still sufficient to give the Braves the victory and ruin Haddix’s masterful pitching performance.

The opposing pitcher, Lew Burdette, had also pitched 12 scoreless innings, giving up 12 hits and 2 walks, but the Pirates had failed to take advantage of 14 men on base and lost the game. There are a couple of pretty obvious lessons to be learned from Haddix’s experience. He had pitched an incredible game, but failed to finish it well and he lost. The Bible speaks about running the race that is set before us with endurance so that we might finish the course well. The more apparent problem Haddix suffered was a lack of run support by his own teammates. They squandered many scoring opportunities that should have resulted in a win for their teammate who pitched a perfect game for 11 innings. There is a clear lesson for us here as well about the importance of mutual encouragement and the help that we can offer our brothers and sisters in Christ. All Christians, be they mature disciples or recent converts, need the strength that comes from fellow believers as we prayerfully support and encourage one another in our walk with Christ. Be on the lookout this week for the chance to help a fellow Christian with words that edify and encourage.

Post-denominationalism - Part 3

I had fully intended to do a follow-up post on post-denominationalism a bit sooner than this, but life and ministry caught up with me these past few days. Our youngest son has had several end-of-the-year school activities he's been involved in that have required my attendance and energies. In addition, I made a hasty trip down to Dallas and back on Tuesday for a meeting of the WorldconneX board of trustees. Yesterday was a funeral for the father of one of our church members and tomorrow I'm headed to Columbia for a meeting of the BGCM First Priority Team.

I wanted to address the issue of post-denominationalism a bit further in this post by mentioning a new paradigm or approach to state convention life that has characterized the Baptist General Convention of Missouri. If you've read my profile on this blog, you've discovered that I work on a part-time basis for the BGCM as their Missions Mobilization Team Leader. The truth of the matter is that the BGCM has only one full-time employee who serves as our office administrator and handles our finances. The rest of us are all bi-vocational and this is by design.

Even if we were a larger state convention with greater financial resources like some of the older established bodies, our commitment would be to continue to grow by adding staff who are practitioners rather than traditional full-time denominational staff. To borrow an old phrase, there's a method to our madness in this regard. Our motto and theme song as a convention is that we exist to serve churches. We express it most simply in the phrase, "Our first priority is serving churches." That mindset influences all that we do in terms of decisions and strategic planning. I firmly believe that the majority of denominational bodies--whether national or state conventions--are in decline today at least to some degree because they have forgotten their "razón de ser" in Spanish--their reason for existing.

It's easy for an organization to become self-serving and self-centered over time. It happens at every level of religious life--from the local church through the association and state convention all the way to the national convention. The tendency to fall into this trap is greater as a group grows in size because more and more resources are needed (or so it is thought) to maintain the structure and machinery of the group. Bureaucracies generate tasks and create positions to accomplish these jobs that frequently have little to do with the original purpose of the group.

The BGCM is attempting to stay on task with the primary responsibility and goal of serving churches. We are doing so through maximizing our resources by utilizing team leaders in the areas of our 4 Great Commission Initiatives--Church Health, Leadership Development, Church Planting, and Missions Mobilization--who have experience and a certain level of expertise in these areas. Brian Kaylor, of "For God's Sake Shut Up" blogger fame, does a very capable job of handling our communications. Our executive secretary, Jim Hill, does an outstanding job of leading us in strategic planning to ensure that this focus isn't lost or blurred.

I'm convinced that for denominational bodies to survive in a post-denominational world, they have to radically re-think and restructure themselves to offer something tangible to the churches which they presumably exist to serve. If the message that these bodies communicate to their constituents, consciously or unconsciously, is that the churches exist to sustain the denominational structures and bureaucracies, their fate will be sealed and their demise will be hastened. A compelling vision is the only thing that will cause churches to "buy in" and continue to support denominational bodies. The challenge is to clearly define and communicate that vision in such a way that folks get on board and adopt it as their own.

Living in a Post-denominational Era - Part 2

I wanted to follow up on the previous post with some further thoughts about the implications of a post-denominational mindset for the future of denominations, state conventions, and even individual churches. The recent Lifeway statistical reports about a decline in total membership of the SBC have been amply discussed and critiqued on other blogs, so I won’t pursue that topic here.

The first serious mention that I had heard of the term post-denominationalism was back in the early 90s from the lips of a seminary colleague at the International Baptist Theological Seminary in Buenos Aires. This individual was a well-educated Argentine national who did Ph.D. work at Southwestern Seminary and was a distinguished church historian. I had some philosophical and ideological differences with him—mostly related to certain aspects of a charismatic renewal movement that was sweeping through Baptist churches in Argentina at that time—and those differences prompted me I suppose to dismiss this reading of history and the signs he was detecting of the decline in denominational allegiance and viability. In hindsight, his perceptions of the post-denominational trend were better than mine I believe.

I had studied under some of the great Baptist historians at Southwestern (Baker, McBeth, and Estep) and was teaching Baptist history (among other subjects) at the seminary in Buenos Aires. I simply couldn’t conceive of the denomination that I had been raised in my entire life and which served as a vehicle for me to fulfill a missionary calling as somehow being destined for either complete disappearance or at the least, significant loss of relevance and impact. That just didn’t compute in my internal processing unit. The more I observe current trends and read books like Kimball’s They Like Jesus but not the Church and Kinnaman’s Unchristian, the more convinced I’m becoming of the accuracy of the assessment of my former colleague and these contemporary writers.

There is a serious disconnect taking place today in terms of “brand-name loyalty” that once existed among Baptists (and other denominations as well). While the older generations still maintain and defend (in some cases fiercely so) their ties to the denomination of their childhood and youth, young adults in their 20s and 30s and those who are younger still in their teens do not feel that same sense of indebtedness and commitment to a denomination just because it is labeled Baptist (or Methodist, Presbyerian, Episcopalian, Disciples, Assembly of God, etc.). This is clearly seen if one attends the annual meetings of the national and/or state conventions of these denominational bodies. Unless there is a controversial vote to be taken on a potentially divisive issue (and perhaps even if such is taking place), the large majority of the messengers or delegates to these gatherings will be senior adults—or at least those in their 50s and up. I’ve witnessed this not only at meetings of conservative groups but at gatherings of moderates as well. This phenomenon isn’t restricted to one theological persuasion or another, but is pervasively true of groups across the spectrum of religious beliefs.

What impact will this trend have upon national, state, and local bodies, especially in Baptist life? Stay tuned for further reflections ….

Living in a Post-denominational World

Marty Duren is writing an interesting series on his blog about post-denominationalism. Marty was the original founder of the SBC Outpost blog, one of the first voices to be raised in blogdom that questioned the health of the SBC hierarchy and its direction. He graciously bowed out of denominational discussions for a good while, preferring instead to write about missional themes. His writings are always insightful and I’d recommend that you pay a visit to his blog.

Having said that, I’d like to weigh in a bit as well about the demise of denominationalism—especially as it relates to the Southern Baptist Convention. I think it is an unquestionable fact that denominational loyalty is fading—especially among the younger set. There clearly is a more willing disposition to seek new avenues of cooperation through networking with other like-minded Christians (be they Southern Baptist or not) than there is to sustain a bureaucracy that in many respects has lost touch with current culture. Appeals to time-honored traditions simply don’t persuade “20-somethings” and even those a bit older than that of the propriety of continuing to blindly and uncritically support denominational institutions and entities.

There probably is more of a willingness to make an exception when it comes to the work of the IMB, as that part of our heritage as Southern Baptists can still motivate churches and individuals to give sacrificially so that the missionary task isn’t abandoned. Nevertheless, the “glue” that has united our convention historically is losing its adhesive pull as ongoing revelations are disclosed about the backroom, closed-door, political maneuverings of the IMB’s Board of Trustees. The disclosure by Wade Burleson of Rodney Hammer’s recent resignation as Regional Leader for Central and Eastern Europe, prompted by the new restrictive policies (guidelines) of the IMB’s BoT, is just the latest in a series of black eyes that this group has suffered. Perhaps a better image than a black eye would be a self-inflicted wound.

In the interest of full disclosure, I cannot claim absolute objectivity in this matter. As readers of my blog or my comments on other blogs may well recall, my family and I chose to resign from the IMB in 2002 rather than sign the BF&M 2000. It’s safe to say that I feel a certain degree of resentment and distrust toward the same fundamentalist/legalist types who now control the IMB’s BoT who at that time coerced Dr. Rankin into rescinding his earlier promise that missionaries already under appointment would not be required to sign the document but would be “grandfathered in” as it were, recognizing that we had written our own responses to the 1963 version of the BF&M that the BoT at the time of our appointment had considered doctrinally sound.

My heart goes out to former colleagues who still labor with the IMB and I respect, pray for, and support their ministries. I wonder how long they can continue to serve in good faith and conscience with an organization that is growing increasingly restrictive and whose Board of Trustees seems far more concerned about sustaining and extending Southern Baptist identity than the Kingdom of God. It seems that many of them can no longer distinguish between the two.

This post has already far exceeded the length of my usual posts, so I will wrap it up at this point. I do intend to follow up in subsequent posts with some specific thoughts about the post-denominational mindset and how I see that impacting future efforts in missions and the challenges it poses for existing denominations, state conventions, associations, and local churches.

Thoughts on Aging

I shared the following thoughts in our monthly newsletter for our Senior Adults.

Little Johnny asked his grandmother how old she was. “Thirty-nine and holding,” was her response. Johnny thought about her answer for a bit and then asked anew, “And how old would you be if you let go?” Jack Benny, the stand-up comedian, was famous for always giving his age as 39. Benny had this to say about growing old, “Age is strictly a case of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.” There is some profound wisdom in Benny’s words. We’ve all heard the expression, “You’re only as old as you feel.” Some would jokingly respond to that statement by saying, “I feel a lot older than I am.” There are folks whose physical appearance suggests that they are much younger than their biological age, while others show the wear and tear of the years they’ve lived a bit more. The latter group’s refrain might be, “It’s not the age; it’s the mileage.”

I’m inspired and challenged by biblical characters that accomplished great things and were up to major challenges, even when they were long past the age of qualifying for a Social Security check. I admire Caleb’s grit when, at the age of 85, he tells Joshua, “I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me (to spy out the land 40 years earlier). Now then, give me this hill country about which the Lord spoke on that day” (Josh. 14:11-12). Caleb wanted to claim his inheritance in the Promised Land, even though the inhabitants lived in heavily fortified cities in the hills. What mountaintops are you attempting to scale today with the Lord’s strength? Whatever your age might be, the promise of God’s Word is true: “Those who wait upon the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run and not get tired; they will walk and not become weary” (Isa. 40:31).

Finally Finished Mark

Well, I've finally managed to conclude our Wednesday evening prayer meeting/Bible study time's focus on the gospel of Mark. I was checking back in my records and I started this series on Oct. 25, 2006. By my calculations, we've been studying Mark for a year and a half. It's been a very rewarding study personally for me, and I trust it has been so for those who attend faithfully on Wednesday nights as well. I've done a number of different series since I started leading the Wednesday night prayer meeting/Bible study time when I joined the staff here almost 5 years ago. My preference has always been to engage in the study of an individual book of the Bible, doing a verse-by-verse exposition of the text, but on rare occasions I've done a brief topical series, such as one I did on the benedictions that are found in the Scriptures.

I'm not sure where I'm going to head next on Wednesday evenings, but have been praying about it. I'm considering doing some shorter series or topical studies this summer before launching into another book study in the fall. I noticed on Micah Fries blog that he's starting a sermon series on the letters to the 7 churches in Revelation and I had also been thinking along those same lines for a series on Wednesday evenings. That might be a good possibility for a series this summer.

Thinking About One's Legacy

For what will we be remembered when we’re gone? What will be our legacy? From time to time I enjoy reading through the obituaries in the Kansas City Star. The things that family members choose to include about their departed loved one can be quite interesting. Reading these death notices reveals that many folks were consumed in their work, as the writing focuses on their accomplishments in the business world. For others, pastimes and hobbies seemed to dominate their time and interests. On the same day this past week, two different obituaries highlighted the deceased’s passion for golf. One spoke of the places where the individual had traveled to play golf, while the other gave the date and location of a hole-in-one that the man had achieved. Frequently there is mention of a special relationship with a family pet. While those things may all be interesting and worthwhile in their time and place, wouldn’t we all prefer to be remembered more for how we lived our lives in relationship to God and others? As we enter eternity and face our Maker, I don’t think God is going to ask us what our golf handicap was, or how successful we were in our business endeavors. I think He will be more concerned about how we measure up on the scale of having lived in accordance with Jesus’ identification of the two greatest commandments—to love God with our entire being, and to love our neighbors as ourselves.

Applying a crisis event to church life

Jim White, editor of the Religious Herald of Virginia Baptists, recounts an interesting story of an in-flight crisis aboard a plane on which he was recently traveling and makes some great applications of the experience to church life. I encourage you to read it.

SMART Baptists

I received the latest edition of Baptist World today, a news magazine that is published by the Baptist World Alliance. I liked the article written by BWA president David Coffey who says the BWA needs Smart Baptists. He credits Teddy Oprenov, General Secretary of Bulgarian Baptists with the idea.

S - Standing together in worship, fellowship and unity
M - Moving strategically in mission and evangelism
A - Acting justly for human rights and religious freedom
R - Responding to human need and engaging in sustainable community development
T - Thinking theologically.

Coffey elaborates on each one of these principles with illustrations from around the globe where Baptists face unique challenges in each of these areas. I like the acrostic and concur that we could surely use some SMART Baptists.

A Challenging Quote

I heard Bill O'Brien share this quote last weekend at the BGCM's annual meeting and Google'd it to see if it was attributed to anyone. Evidently it is anonymous. I share it because it spoke to me. Here's the quote:

"Hope is the ability to hear the music of the future; but faith is having the courage to dance to it today!"

Bonhoeffer's Death Marked

Today marks the anniversary of the death of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a Lutheran pastor who participated in the German resistance during WWII. Bonhoeffer was a leader in the Confessing Church movement which sought to combat the anti-Semitism of the Nazis. His ties to some high-ranking military officials who were plotting Hitler’s assassination were discovered and Bonhoeffer was imprisoned in April 1943. He was executed on April 9, 1945, just three weeks before Berlin fell and a month before the Nazis surrendered to the Allies. Among Bonhoeffer’s most famous writings is The Cost of Discipleship, which begins with these words, “Cheap grace is the mortal enemy of our church. Our struggle today is for costly grace.” Bonhoeffer goes on to say, “When Christ calls us to follow Him, He bids us to come and die.” His words and his life’s example remind us that the cost of following Jesus can at times be extremely high—even to the point of martyrdom. In our culture we know little of the suffering and persecution that others experience daily for being a Christ-follower. My prayer is that we would prioritize our walk with Christ far above all other things in this life, no matter what that might cost us.

Two Conventions Contrasted

Today marks the beginning of the 6th annual meeting of the Baptist General Convention of Missouri, meeting at the historic Fee Fee Baptist Church in St. Louis. I drove across the state last night to be here, delaying my departure from Lee's Summit a bit after learning that the Guatemala Baptist Convention president had run into a snag with his passport and wouldn't be arriving yesterday as originally planned. Dios mediante (the Lord willing), he will be getting here at 4:05 p.m. this afternoon, just in time for our missions banquet celebration that starts at 5:00. He will miss a bit of the afternoon's proceedings, but if all goes well he will be here for the banquet and in time to bring greetings to the convention on behalf of the Guatemala Convention this evening.

As usual for the BGCM, no unusual or disturbing business is slated to occur. There will be no hotly contested elections for president or the other convention offices, as these positions in the BGCM aren't invested with any significant power and no one in the convention is seeking to wield that kind of influence anyway. Our meetings are joyful celebrations about what God is doing in and through the life of our convention as we seek to be about our First Priority--Serving Churches. We'll celebrate our partnership with Guatemala and reflect on how God has blessed many through those efforts. We'll hear some great preaching as we focus on this year's theme, "Faith in Action: Making the Most of Every Opportunity."

What we won't observe I'm quite positive is self-destructive denominational infighting and struggles for control as continues to take place in the MBC. The latest edition of the MBC's own official newspaper, The Pathway, recounts a rather tense debate that took place recently on March 27th as the nominating committee fought over a proposed restructuring of that committee in an attempt to influence the direction of the convention through nominations for the new slate of officers to be proposed during their annual meeting this fall.

On top of that, Associated Baptist Press news is reporting today that a Missouri layman is proposing in effect the re-creation of Missouri's own version of the SBC Peace Committee that met years ago to seek reconciliation between moderates and conservatives. The catch this time is that it's conservatives who are fighting against other conservatives. It has long been affirmed that fundamentalism must have an enemy to fight or the movement loses strength, and it would appear that this scenario is being played out in the life of the MBC.

I'm grateful to the Lord to be a part of a convention where our focus isn't on denominational politics and who's in control, but on the work of the Kingdom. If you're a Missouri Baptist who is tired of lawsuits against Baptist agencies or fed up with the internal squabblings of those whose methodology involves power politics, I would invite you to visit us in St. Louis today and tomorrow at the Fee Fee Baptist Church. If you can't attend personally, you can tune in via the Internet as the event will be live-streamed. Go to the BGCM website and click on the tab for the annual meeting. There you'll find a link for the live-streaming video option.

Thanks for your prayers for our gathering as we seek to serve churches.

The Latest Round of Legal Wranglings in Missouri

Alice in Wonderland's signature phrase, "curiouser and curiouser," would be an apt description of the latest development in the ongoing Baptist legal battles here in Missouri. Springfield developer William R. Jester has sued the Missouri Baptist Convention for $10 million for lost business and additional punitive damages. An article by Vicki Brown in the Word & Way reports Jester's position as follows:

Jester’s counterclaim charges the convention with making unsubstantiated and negative claims publicly, primarily through the MBC’s news journal The Pathway. Comments “relative to Defendants’ business capabilities, financial capabilities and the status of ownership…are derogatory and were made without any effort to confirm the accuracy…,” the petition notes.

Jester claims the MBC or its representatives warned prospective lenders against financing development of the property. He alleges the convention acted “with evil and malicious intent” and “outrageously when they intentionally interfered with the Defendants’ valid contracts and business expectations.” The MBC also acted “with reckless indifference” to Jester’s rights.

The developer claims the interference has cost him more than $10 million in possible sales or development of the disputed property.

In his counterclaim, Jester is seeking at least $10 million to compensate for those lost profits. He also asks the court to grant punitive damages “in an amount that punishes them.”

“The financial damage they have done to my clients is beyond substantial, and we are looking to the plaintiff individuals and organizations to right that wrong,” Shostak said.

This legal action was taken by Jester this past week and I've been monitoring the MBC's Pathway site to see what if any response the MBC will have to this suit. They are still carrying the earlier story about Judge Callahan's decision to grant summary judgment in favor of Windermere and to dismiss the MBC's suit against Windermere. There is also an interview with MBC attorney Michael Whitehead who expresses confidence that the MBC will win the case in appeals. It remains to be seen if the MBC will go forward with the previously announced decision to appeal Judge Callahan's decision in light of Mr. Jester's actions and the potential of having to pay $10 million if his suit prevails against the Convention. Perhaps some cooler heads among Missouri Baptist pastors can prevail upon the Convention to finally abandon the lawsuits against the 5 agencies which have already cost millions in attorneys fees and allow these Baptist institutions to carry on their vital ministries without further interference. A possible obstacle to that happening could be Whitehead's interest in seeing the suits continue since his firm represents the MBC as legal counsel. Given the fact that Whitehead also serves as parliamentarian for the convention, he could potentially rule as out of order any motion from the floor of the convention to drop the suits. One cannot help but speculate about the potential conflict of interest this represents.

BGCM's annual meeting

This weekend the Baptist General Convention of Missouri will be celebrating its 6th annual meeting at the Fee Fee Baptist Church in St. Louis. This historic church celebrated its 200th anniversary this past year, making it the oldest Baptist church west of the Mississippi River. Among our featured speakers this year will be Bill O'Brien, former executive vice president of the FMB and husband of Dellana O'Brien, former WMU executive director.

It will be my privilege to be the speaker at our annual missions banquet which will take place on Friday evening. We'll also be hearing from Jose Samol, the president of the Guatemala Baptist Convention, at the banquet. Each of us will be seeking to motivate the BGCM churches to an even greater level of involvement in our ongoing partnership with Guatemala. I'll have the opportunity of sharing about some of my recent trips to western Guatemala for leadership training as well as our church's trip in February where we partnered with 3 different churches in the town of Cantel. Jose will be returning to Lee's Summit with me on Saturday evening after the convention wraps up and he will attend our services on Sunday morning and preach in the evening service. It will be my privilege to translate for him as he does so.

The pastor of our church, Dr. Scott Harrison, will also be bringing the convention sermon. If you live in Missouri, especially if you're from the St. Louis area, I encourage you to attend the BGCM's annual meeting this Friday and Saturday. Additional information is available on the BGCM's website. If you cannot be present personally, the event will be available via live-streaming video and will be archived for later viewing as well. Information about the live-streaming option is also available on the BGCM website.

A Friendly Gathering

Tomorrow after I officiate what will be my fourth funeral in the last 4 weeks, I'll be joining with my colleagues of the BGCM to host a meeting of some key leaders from the BGCT, BGAV, and Washington, D.C. conventions here in Kansas City. We met for the first time last year in Dallas at the BGCT offices with the leaders of the other "moderate" state conventions to do some networking with our counterparts in the other conventions who are engaged in similar ministries. It was a good time of fellowship and information sharing as well as mutual encouragement as we talked about things that are proving effective and the challenges to our work. We'll follow a similar format this year as well, beginning our meeting on Wednesday evening with introductions and a meal and some preliminary reflections before continuing on Thursday with some smaller group meetings. We'll wrap up with a lunch on Friday before bidding farewell to our friends and colaborers. While the other folks are visiting with us, we hope to expose them to a bit of Kansas City culture, and that translates into some good steaks and barbecue along the way. My mouth is watering already.

Recent Guatemala Trip Photos

I haven't had a chance to post anything for awhile so I thought I'd upload some pictures of some of the children that we worked with on the trip to Guatemala last month--some in the public schools and some in the VBS sessions in the local churches. The children in Guatemala are absolutely adorable.

Funeral Ministry

Last weekend was a good one as the BGCM held their quarterly board meeting at Windermere Baptist Encampment. We heard a good report from Dan Bench, CEO of Windermere about the recent court ruling by Judge Callahan and some of the positive things that are taking place at this beautiful Baptist encampment. This is the one board meeting of the year when we have a two-day meeting in a retreat setting to do some team building and visioning exercises in addition to the normal ministry team meetings and business sessions.

I returned on Saturday evening and met with the family of a long-time church member who had passed away last Thursday in preparation for officiating at her service on Monday. I learned lots of interesting and humorous things about her that I hadn't learned in my frequent visits with her over the past several years so the funeral service included a good bit of humor and joyful celebration. I attended the service yesterday of another church member who has been battling cancer for many years and passed away on Saturday. Our minister of education had been neighbors with them years ago and conducted the service.

I met with another family this morning in preparation for another funeral I'll be conducting tomorrow afternoon. This will make the third funeral I've conducted and a total of five that I've been present at in the last two weeks. I spoke with one of the funeral home directors on Monday and he has been amazed by the number of folks dying recently. He told me that one day last week there were 104 obituaries in the Kansas City paper. I was checking on the lady whose service I'm doing tomorrow in the obit. section of the paper today and decided to count the number out of curiosity. There were 85 listed today.

Funeral ministry to me is something that is very significant. With senior adult ministry being one of the things I focus on, I'm asked to do a lot of funerals. I find it to be rewarding but also emotionally challenging, especially when they come as closely together as they have lately. I'm trusting warmer weather will mean less illness and healthier people.

Judge Rules for Windermere, Against MBC

Judge Callahan issued a ruling earlier this week on March 4, finding that Windermere had acted within its rights when it changed its charter to name its own trustees. The Missouri Baptist Convention has already issued a statement that it will appeal the ruling. Coverage of the ruling by Judge Callahan appears both in the Word and Way and in the MBC's Pathway. Both articles report the same basic facts in the ruling, although MBC expresses confidence that the ruling will be overturned in appeals court. Brian Kaylor points out on his blog that whereas the appeals court did previously reverse Judge Brown's decision about the MBC not having standing to even bring the suit, two of the three judges of that appeals court had significant ties with the MBC and probably should have recused themselves from hearing the case. Those judges no longer serve on the appeals court.

I will be at Windermere this weekend for a meeting of the BGCM board of directors in preparation for the BGCM's annual meeting next month at the Fee Fee Baptist Church in St. Louis. Dan Bench, CEO of Windermere, is scheduled to bring a report to the group and will undoubtedly reflect on this most recent ruling.

My sense is that many Missouri Baptists are tired of the ongoing lawsuits against the five agencies and would prefer to see their Cooperative Program offerings go towards missions and ministry rather than to the pockets of the lawyers who represent the MBC in this case. While I believe that to be true, I also seriously doubt that there will be a forum for them to express those sentiments, as the Legal Task Force of the MBC continues to paint an optimistic picture that the lawsuits will eventually be won by the convention and thus the exorbitant legal expenses are justifiable. Lost in all the rhetoric about the "renegade" institutions being stolen from Missouri Baptists is the fact that the five agencies in question still willingly serve all Missouri Baptists who choose to avail themselves of their ministries. The defunding of these agencies by the MBC and the efforts to harm their ministries represents a very sad chapter in Missouri Baptist history.

A Different Kind of Rain

I wanted to write a follow-up post about our most recent trip to Guatemala. This was the first time that a group had gone from our church on a church-to-church partnership as a part of the larger convention-to-convention partnership between the BGCM and Guatemalan Baptist Conventions. As I shared in the previous post, the Lord's blessings upon us were abundant and very evident each step of the way. From the miraculous provision of translators to the wonderful response of the children and the churches to the VBS activities, the time in the public schools, and the evening training conferences, all in all the week was a mountaintop experience--both literally and spiritually.

The two churches that we conducted the VBS sessions in were on mountaintops on the opposite sides of a valley where the main highway runs through the town. Unlike previous trips to the area when the skies had been mostly clear each day, we had overcast skies most days. In fact, we were in the midst of the clouds on several occasions as they rolled in over the mountains and surrounded us. Despite that, there was no rainfall until after our work in Cantel had finished and we were returning toward Guatemala City. That day it did rain considerably, a rather unusual occurence as this isn't their rainy season.

The title of this post though suggests a different kind of rain and that's what I wanted to share about in this follow-up post. I received an email on Monday or Tuesday of this week from Carol, our partnership liaison in Guatemala, who was an invaluable aid to us in the children's activities this past week. Her heart is in children's ministry and she directs that aspect of the convention's work there in addition to facilitating partnership activities. She had received a phone call from the pastor of the Joshua 1:9 Baptist church in Cantel, the first church where we worshipped on Sunday evening and where we held the first 2 days of VBS. He told her that it was "raining children" in their church. They had experienced a tremendous influx of new children as a result of the week's activities and had already had to name some new Sunday school teachers to respond to the need. I'm overjoyed to hear such an exciting report from this church.

I also failed to mention in the previous post that the pastor of the other church where we held VBS on the third day and conducted the evening training conferences has taken to heart many of the concepts shared in our previous pastoral training workshops--especially in the area of strategic planning. He had worked up a detailed plan for follow-up of the activity in the public school where we went on Tuesday (with 562 kids enrolled) and presented it to the school's director while we were there that day. It was well received by the director and a lady who functions as a coordinator for community relationships. The church hopes to offer after-school activities for children that would include tutoring and marketable skills as well as conferences for parents. It is exciting to see these churches respond to the challenge of impacting their community in positive ways with the gospel--living missionally.

This Sunday evening our team will have the entire worship service to share a report about our experiences in Guatemala this past week. I'm thrilled to be able to share with the church body what God is doing there.

Quick update from Guatemala

This is the first time I´ve had more than a couple of minutes to sit at a computer that had internet access since we arrived here last Saturday, and we´re being picked up in 30 mins. for a trip to Antigua for a little tourism on our last day here in Guatemala so this will be brief.

Just a word or two about the numbers of kids we worked with and the response we had in the various activities. We had a great worship service on Sunday evening out in Cantel in one of the 3 churches that we worked with this week. I found out on Saturday that I was preaching, so had the evening to put together a message. We taught Bible stories in 3 different public schools on Mon., Tues. and Weds. The enrollments for the schools were as follows: 305, 562, and 250. Our team of 5 had its hands full getting around to all of the classes between 9 and 12 or so in the mornings, but we had some assistance from some of the local church members in passing out cookies, crowd control, etc. The Lord also miraculously supplied some translators to help us when those who were scheduled to do so had conflicts. We had stopped in at a photocopy shop that we just randomly stopped at on Monday morning on the way to the first school and there found two twin brothers who had lived in New Jersey and were bilingual. They were Christians and agreed to help us for the 3 days of working in the schools and the afternoon VBS times. Our third translator was a girl probably in her early 20s who is a medical student and studies in Cuba. She was home for a break and was lined up by one of the local pastors to help.

I translated most days for Janis Mansker, our children´s minister, and we took the older children´s classes--5th and 6th graders. Janis would share some of her personal testimony, followed by a Bible story, and then gave the children an opportunity to receive Christ. We had a good response in each classroom, with only a few indicating they had no interest or had further questions. The majority either indicated on a response card we had them do that they had either prayed to receive Christ that day or that they were already previously Christians.

We conducted the afternoon VBS from 3 til 5 each of those same days in 2 of the 3 churches--2 in the church where we had services on Sunday night, and then 1 in the church where we had evening leadership training conferences for children´s workers. We had about 150 each of the first 2 days in VBS and then about 130 the third day in the other church.

About 70 people or so attended the 3 nights of training classes for children´s workers and Janis and 2 of our children´s SS teachers led out in the conferences and all did an outstanding job. There was good interaction and questions from the participants.

Well, my time is about done so I´m going to have to wrap this up for now. I´ve got some other things I´d like to share about meeting to encourage some pastors in some other areas near Cantel where we were, as well as some of the impressions of the week and the time spent with the beautiful children here, but those will have to wait until later. Thanks to all who have been praying for our trip. The Lord has really blessed our time and kept us safe and healthy as well.

I´ll post a follow-up to this one when I get back to Missouri.

Hinkle is non-Political?

In the most recent edition of The Pathway, the state paper published by the Missouri Baptist Convention, editor Don Hinkle makes the rather astounding claim that neither he nor the Pathway should be counted among those as involved in denominational politics. His exact words are these: “I expect to be criticized and I understand that people will not always agree with my position – that is the nature of being a state newspaper editor. All I ask is that as we debate difficult issues, we do so void of personal attacks. I understand that many are involved now in convention politics (I, nor this newspaper, should be counted among them), but it seems too many are falling to the temptation of using politics of personal destruction. How does such behavior bring honor and glory to God?”

I’ll freely confess to being one who has been critical of Hinkle in the past, and no doubt I’ll find occasion to criticize him in the future. I do concur wholeheartedly with his call that debate about denominational issues be free from personal attacks. I sincerely hope and trust that in the future that editor Hinkle will abide by his own words.

As to the rather preposterous claim that neither he nor the Pathway are involved in convention politics, one need merely peruse practically any back issue of the paper to find abundant evidence to the contrary. In his first column of the year, Hinkle extols Al Mohler as the right man at the right time for the presidency of the SBC. He even claims to have spoken with Mohler last June, urging him to pray and seek God’s will about the timing of allowing his named to be placed in nomination. Hinkle’s column goes on to urge Missouri Baptists to attend the convention in Indianapolis and vote for Mohler. (Baptist Press reported today that Mohler has withdrawn his name from consideration due to health issues that include surgery in the near future for a pre-cancerous tumor in his colon).

In addition to the blatantly political nature of the above-mentioned editorial, the Pathway’s coverage of the ongoing legal battles between the five “renegade” institutions (to use Hinkle’s terminology) and the MBC has been nothing short of a classic demonstration of denominational politics at its worst. The attempt to vilify those associated with these institutions and their ministries is purely yellow journalism and politicking. Added to that are the constant attacks on CBF and the BGCM with ungrounded and unsubstantiated accusations of these groups being theologically liberal.

No, I’m afraid that Hinkle’s expectations to be criticized will certainly not be in vain. When one actively engages in denominational politics and then denies such activity, criticism is both justifiable and inevitable.

Further Reflections on Guatemala

I had mentioned the idea of following up my previous post about the most recent trip to Guatemala with some additional reflections. I apologize that I’m just now getting around to doing so. I wanted to explain a bit about why the Baptist General Convention of Missouri has focused on leadership training in the western part of the country for our partnership efforts. When we first entered into the partnership with the Guatemalan Baptist Convention, we asked them to assess their own needs as a convention and suggest some areas in which we might be of assistance to them. I may be a little bit “old school” in this regard, but it’s my conviction (based upon some fairly extensive reading in the field of missiology as well as first-hand experience in Latin America for some 16 years) that cross-cultural missionaries can make one of their most meaningful and long-lasting contributions to the task of reaching a nation or people group for Christ and equipping believers in that setting to reproduce themselves when those efforts are done in cooperation with national believers.

I’m fully aware that this begs the question somewhat of what to do with there are no (or perhaps just a handful) of national Christians living in the culture. But when such believers do exist and have developed their own leadership structures—be that a convention-like entity or a similar body—to ignore these recognized leaders and fail to take their counsel under advisement in planning and executing mission strategy seems to be both counterproductive and a demonstration of an attitude of superiority or paternalism. Our focus on leadership training in western Guatemala is the direct result of the Guatemala Baptist Convention leadership having identified with us this area as being one of strategic importance in their work. We were informed when we were exploring with them about partnership possibilities that this part of the country had received very little in outside assistance, unlike some other areas that had experienced ongoing partnerships with some Baptist state conventions from the U.S.

While we haven’t had the degree of involvement I would desire from pastors and churches affiliated with our convention in the partnership, we’ve been able to meet our commitment to offer a training course each six months, beginning in January 2007. We’ve already tentatively set the dates for the next session for July 14-18 of this year. The response to our efforts has been overwhelmingly positive. The number of pastors and leaders participating has increased with each training conference, maxing out this past time at the number of 70 that we had established as an upper limit to keep the event financially feasible for our convention. The affirmation we’ve received both from the convention leaders and the conference participants has certainly served to confirm that what we’re doing is meeting needs.

We’re just a week away from the first of what I hope will be several church-to-church trips in this partnership. Our team met yesterday afternoon and were joined by one of the ladies from St. Louis who will be accompanying us this time. It turns out that I knew her daughter from the time she served as a journeyman in Argentina. As the Disney song goes, “It’s a small world after all.” We still have a few loose ends to wrap up, but it seems that the trip is coming together. The church is having a special commissioning time and prayer for us at the beginning of the service this Sunday. Well, I need to wrap this up and move on to some other things. Thanks for reading and for praying for our upcoming trip.

Wade Burleson's resignation

If you don't follow SBC politics too closely and aren't a frequenter of Baptist blogs, you might not be familiar with the two-year long struggle that an Enid, OK Baptist pastor and member of the IMB's board of trustees has fought against some rather notoriously misguided actions and policies of that body. I've read Wade's blog now for the past two years and have found him to be a gracious man, even in the face of scurrilous attacks on him by his detractors.

As a former IMB missionary, I've witnessed firsthand some of the negative impact of convention politics at work. I would encourage you to read his post today that provides a capsule summary of his struggles with the IMB Board of Trustees and the eventual impasse that led to his resignation this week. I posted a rather lengthy comment (about #7 in the comment section) expressing my appreciation to Wade for his efforts on behalf of missionaries and his fight to defend the right of principled dissent.

(The link above isn't working right now, as evidently the post in question has been taken down). Those interested in reading Wade's blog can go to his home page and find his explanation of his decision to resign.

De Regreso (Back home)

The trip to Guatemala went extremely well this past week. We had a total of 70 pastors and leaders who attended the training sessions and their response and participation was very encouraging. They were very pleased with the COSECHA materials that Guy Muse and his team are using in Guayaquil. I spent 3 sessions--about 4.5 hours total giving them an introduction to and an overview of the materials. My colleague, Owen Taylor, took about three hours and shared some basic church planting principles with them, including many personal stories and illustrations from his 3.5 year old church plant in St. Louis.

In addition, we had some good times of worship and then fellowship together, both after the sessions and around the tables during our mealtimes. I was able to sit down with the three pastors from the city of Cantel where our church is sending a team next month and finalize some of the plans for our trip. As it's only about 10 minutes from the hotel where we've been hosting these previous pastoral training conferences, our church team will be staying in the same hotel. Our partnership liaison has gotten some very good rates for us from the hotel management and the accomodations and food are very adequate.

We'll be speaking in three different public schools in the mornings, doing a combined VBS for the three churches in the afternoons, and then conducting a leadership conference for children's workers during the evenings. It promises to be a full schedule. I'm accompanying the group as guide and translator this time, but am leaving the teaching responsibilities up to our children's minister and her team.

(Back to this past week's activities...) On Friday and Saturday, a fellow from Georgetown, TX led the convention leadership through a strategy planning procedure that enabled them to redefine a little more clearly their vision and mission statements and to focus on three priority areas that they want to give attention to in the next three years. This visioning conference was facilitated by WorldconneX. I think it was a very profitable time. I especially enjoyed getting to know Sergio Ramos a little better. He's a fourth generation Hispanic pastor who works with WorldconneX and comes from a family with something like 24 pastors altogether in the extended clan. He's currently working on a doctorate at Dallas Baptist and we have some mutual friends from Argentina and elsewhere.

There was also a large group of North Americans in the country participating in a series of evangelistic meetings and home visits through International Commission (formerly International Crusades). They had their victory service at the seminary on Saturday evening so I got to hear some of the music (including a Christian mariachi band) and to meet some of the folks. Several were on my flight home on Sunday. There was also a group from Louisville, KY that had been down working with two different projects--a Habitat for Humanity building in the Quetzaltenango area where we've been doing our training, as well as a Living Water group that was installing a water purification system. It seemed like 2/3 of the flight home was composed of Christian volunteers.

I'll probably share a few more observations in the coming days, but wanted to get this initial post up to inform those who were aware of my trip and especially to thank those who prayed for our efforts. I'm convinced that the Lord heard and answered those prayers. Thanks for being prayer partners in the effort.

Gracious Speech

The following is an article I contributed to our church's bi-weekly newsletter.

On January 21, 1990, at the Australian Open in Melbourne, American tennis player John McEnroe became the first player since 1963 to be disqualified from a Grand Slam tournament for misconduct. McEnroe had earned a well-deserved nickname as the “bad boy” of tennis for his explosive temper. He was constantly challenging calls by linesmen and umpires and did so with a dramatic flair. In the 1990 Australian Open, he crossed the line one too many times with two smashed rackets and a profanity-laced verbal tirade against the umpire that the TV audience heard. His reward for his bad behavior was disqualification for unsportsmanlike conduct.

We jokingly discussed in staff meeting this past week some of our favorite pet peeves. All of us experience things that annoy us in the course of daily living. Sometimes those annoyances are irrational, while at other times they may well be justified. Whatever their source, we aren’t free to vent our frustrations on others in the style of John McEnroe. In Colossians 4:6, the apostle Paul offers us some great advice about our verbal response to others whose conduct vexes us: “Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how to respond to each person.” Gracious speech is far more becoming to our Christian witness than a childish temper tantrum. Let’s commit ourselves to communicate grace by our words and actions.

Guatemala Beckons

On Monday I’ll be heading southward once again, destination Guatemala. I’ve lost track of how many trips this makes in the last 3 years or so, but it’s in the neighborhood of 5 or 6. This will be the third in a series of 6 or 7 projected leadership training events for pastors and leaders in the western region of the country. On this occasion, Owen Taylor, a pastor and church planter from St. Louis and the head of the church planting team for the BGCM, will be my traveling companion and fellow conference leader. We’ll arrive on Monday night in Guatemala City, travel to Quetzaltenango on Tuesday morning, arriving in time for lunch at the hotel where the conference will take place, and then begin a series of 5 training sessions that will conclude early on Wednesday afternoon. Owen will be talking about church planting principles while I’ll be giving an overview of the COSECHA manual that Guy Muse and his team utilize in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Cosecha (for non-Spanish speakers) means “harvest” and is an acrostic that focuses on various aspects of discipleship and outreach. For the previous 2 training events, the specific topics were more clearly detailed by the leadership of the Guatemala Baptist Convention in terms of the focus of the conference. This time it’s been more general—just the basic guideline of outreach and evangelism.

We’ll wrap up the conference and head back to Guatemala City on Wednesday afternoon. Thursday will be for some sightseeing in Antigua since this is Owen’s first trip to Guatemala. He leaves to fly back home on Friday since his church meets on Saturday evenings (no they’re not 7th Day Adventists). On Friday and Saturday, I’ll be participating in a strategy planning conference for the Guatemala Baptist Convention that is facilitated by WorldconneX. After that, it’s catching a flight home on Sunday.

The one other thing I hope to accomplish on this trip is to firm up some details for a missions trip that our church will be doing next month to the same area. We’ll be assisting 4 churches in the town of Cantel in western Guatemala with some leadership training conferences for their children’s workers, conducting a joint VBS for the children of these churches, and hopefully engaging in some community outreach activities as well. We have a team of 4 from our church and a couple of ladies from St. Louis who will be joining us for that trip. My son, a doctor, and his wife, a nurse, will be participating in a medical missions trip to the same region in March.

Self-disclosure

I was tagged by Texas in Africa to participate in the following exercise in self-disclosure.

1. Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself.
3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.

Seven Facts About Me
1. I'm a graduate of the Univ. of Texas where I went originally planning on attending law school after undergraduate studies. I was there in the days of Heisman Trophy winner Earl Campbell. I actually hit his predecessor, Roosevelt Leaks, with a snowball. I don't know what possessed me to do that but I lived to tell about it.
2. I met my wife on a summer beach project with Campus Crusade for Christ in Panama City Beach, Florida.
3. I once saw a UFO while deer hunting in South Texas. My brother, hunting about a half mile away, witnessed the same phenomenon. I read today about some UFO sightings near Stephenville, TX and it brought back memories.
4. Though not a Baylor graduate, I wrote my doctoral dissertation on Baylor's namesake--Judge R.E.B. Baylor.
5. My wife and I have four sons, ranging in age from 30 to 15.
6. Though we resigned from the IMB five years ago, I continue to make frequent trips to Latin America, participating in missions trips and leadership training events.
7. I am a groundhog, having been born on Feb. 2nd. In an interesting combination of pairs, I was born on 2-2 at 10:10 and weighed 7 lbs., 7 oz.

I'm not sure how many of these I will tag are currently reading my blog, but I'll tag 7 individuals to abide by the rules.
Brian, Paul, Kevin, Jason, Bowden, Guy, and Micah.

Wisdom and Aging

I thought I'd share some thoughts I passed along in the most recent monthly newsletter for our senior adults here at church.

As I was reading some jokes and one-liners the other day on a website that featured senior adult humor, I ran across two statements regarding wisdom that caused me to pause and think a bit. They both express the same truth about wisdom and aging. Here they are:
“It is easier to get older than it is to get wiser.”
“Age doesn't always bring wisdom. Sometimes age comes alone.”

There is certainly a measure of truth in each of these affirmations. A part of wisdom is being able to learn and profit from our own mistakes. None of us is wise enough to always speak, act, or make decisions correctly 100% of the time. When we do mess up, we need to have the humility to recognize the fact and make amends if our words or actions have negatively affected those around us. Wisdom consists in large part of learning through trial and error what works and what doesn’t work—whether the activity in question is a hobby or pastime or something more serious such as seeking to relate well to family, friends, and fellow church members.

The source of wisdom of course is God Himself. It stands to reason then that if we would grow in wisdom as we grow older (something that the two quotes above suggest isn’t automatically assured), we would do well to invest our time in continuing to grow in our knowledge of God and His will for our lives. I’m convinced that this is a life-long process that doesn’t end just because we become senior adults. Every day can be a new adventure of walking in fellowship with Him and learning to experience His guidance in a deeper way.

Several years ago Henry Blackaby’s popular discipleship study, Experiencing God, taught us that one of the key ways that we grow in our relationship with God is by identifying where we see Him at work around us in our world and then joining Him in that process. My prayer for you in 2008 is that your spiritual antennae will be attuned to God’s activity around you and that you’ll find creative ways to join with Him in ministering to the needs of others.

Book Tag

I was tagged by Paul Littleton and asked to share about some books that have impacted me along the way. Without further ado, here's my list:

1. One book that changed your life.
The Extension Movement in Theological Education: A Call to the Renewal of the Ministry, by Ross Kinsler. I took a course on Theological Education by Extension with Dr. Justice Anderson toward the end of my M.Div. work at SWBTS. It profoundly affected my outlook on leadership training, to the point that when we looked at requests for missionaries from different fields of service, I prioritized a TEE request even above a position at a residential seminary, despite having also felt led to pursue a PhD in order to teach. After our first term of service doing TEE and pastoring as well as planting a new church, I did agree to serve at the International Bapt. Theological Seminary in Buenos Aires, but only after inquiring about TEE and being given the chance to revive a program that had functioned well many years earlier under Dr. Anderson.

2. One book you have read more than once.
The Anabaptist Story by William Estep. I was privileged to study under Estep at SWBTS, serving for awhile as his grader and taking a trip to Europe with him to study the sites of the Reformation and the Radical Reformation.

3. One book you would want on a desert island.
Most have opted for a practical survival manual. I think I’d like a dictionary to expand my word power.

4. Two books that made you laugh.
I haven’t read anything very funny of late I have to confess. My son received Stephen Colbert’s I am America (and so can You) recently and I’d like to read that soon.

5. One book that made you cry.
I don’t remember if I actually shed tears reading it or not, but it did impact me very much emotionally – Lord of the Flies.

6. One book you wish you'd written.
Leon McBeth’s, The Baptist Heritage. Dr. McBeth was my supervising professor for my doctoral dissertation and I always appreciated his writing style and command of historical information.

7. One book you wish had never been written.
I could think of several-—The Book of Mormon comes to mind, but closer to our time, I suppose Pressler’s A Hill on Which to Die would be a strong candidate.

8. Two books you are currently reading.
Unchristian by Kinnaman; Dan Kimball’s They Like Jesus but not the Church.

9. One book you've been meaning to read.
Brian McLaren’s Everything Must Change.

10. I’ll pass on tagging anyone else, but if you’re reading this and want to participate, feel free to do so.

Christmas holidays and living missionally

I took a rather lengthy break from blogging over the past few weeks as the Christmas holidays kept me pretty occupied. We were blessed to have all four of our sons home for Christmas plus the families of the oldest two. That meant some special time with the two grandkids as well as with the two daughters-in-law. We enjoyed their visit a lot and had fun with various table games and some rousing video games as well. The day after Christmas we took off for Texas for a visit with my mom. Other than a few snow flurries on the way down through Kansas, we had great weather and a wonderful time visiting with her as well. We drove back to Lee’s Summit, arriving about 9:30 p.m. on Saturday night and I was privileged to preach in both morning services on Sunday in our pastor’s absence. We had a pretty good crowd for the Sunday between Christmas and New Year’s Day. I shared a message from Neh. 8:1-12 entitled “Focusing on What Matters Most” and highlighted four priorities from the text: (1) Spend time with God’s people, (2) Treasure God’s Word, (3) Experience brokenness for sin, (4) Joyfully celebrate God’s presence.

I concluded the message with one of my favorite stories from Tony Campolo. It’s found in the opening chapter of his book, "The Kingdom of God is a Party," in case you’d like to read it. The gist of it in case you don’t have access to the book or prefer my Reader’s Digest version of it is that Campolo found himself wide awake and hungry one morning at 3:30 a.m. while on a speaking trip to Honolulu. He found a greasy spoon diner open and ordered coffee and a donut which Harry grabbed off the shelf (without tongs or wax paper of course) and plopped on his plate. As he was eating, a group of 8 or 9 streetwalkers noisily entered the diner. Their language was crude as well as the subject matter of their conversation and Campolo was planning his exit when he heard one of them who was seated next to him tell her companion that the next day was her birthday. Her friend seated on the other side of her from Campolo responded, “What do you expect me to do, throw you a party or something?” The woman by Campolo replied, “No, I wouldn’t expect you to do that. In fact, I’ve never had a birthday party in my entire life.”

After the women left, Campolo asked Harry if they came in often. He replied that they were regulars every night. Campolo asked if the lady seated next to him also came each night. Harry identified her as Agnes and said she was there each evening. Campolo proposed to Harry that he come back the next night if it was okay and decorate the diner for a birthday celebration for Agnes. Harry agreed and insisted that he would bake a birthday cake for the occasion.

The next night Campolo arrived about 2:30 to decorate the diner with balloons and streamers and a big banner that said “Happy Birthday Agnes.” By the time Agnes and her friends arrived, the diner was packed with other women who shared her profession. News had gotten out via the grapevine about the party. On cue, Campolo led the group in singing Happy Birthday to Agnes and Harry brought out the cake with the candles already lit. Agnes had gotten a bit teary-eyed at the singing of Happy Birthday, but at the sight of the cake she lost it totally and began to weep uncontrollably. Harry kept insisting that she blow out the candles or he’d do so himself, which he finally did. Harry handed Agnes a knife and said, “Go ahead and cut the cake, Agnes. We’re hungry. We want some cake.”

Agnes paused, staring at the cake and finally spoke to Harry. She asked him if they might wait a bit before the cut the cake. He replied, “Sure, it’s your cake. You can even take it home if you’d like.”

Agnes replied, “Can I really? I live just down the street. I’ll be right back, I promise.” Then carrying the cake as if it were the Holy Grail, she walked out of the diner and everyone sat in stunned silence.

At that point Campolo said, “What do you say we pray?” Looking back on the event Campolo said it was a highly unusual setting—a Baptist preacher surrounded by streetwalkers in a diner at 3:30 a.m. in a prayer meeting. He prayed for Agnes’ salvation and the blessings of God upon her life.

When he had concluded his prayer, Harry leaned over the counter a bit confrontationally and said gruffly, “Hey, you never told me you were a preacher! What kind of church do you belong to?”

In a moment of inspiration, Campolo replied, “The kind of church that throws birthday parties for streetwalkers at 3:30 a.m.”

After a brief pause, Harry responded, “No you don’t. There’s no church like that. If there was, I’d join it. I’d join a church like that!”

I’d say that’s a pretty powerful illustration of being missional. May the year 2008 find us all engaged in living missionally.