Christmas and Disciple-Making

As we celebrate the holiday season, we are saturated with reminders of the Christmas season.  We see Santas in the mall, music on the radio, and movies on the television.  The themes of love, goodwill, peace, and joy fill our homes, offices, and churches.  However, in the midst of all of this we must remember that Jesus is the reason for the season.  I know that that has become a very common catch phrase in our modern world, but the truth of that statement cannot be ignored.  Without the coming of the Christ, there would be no Christmas season to celebrate.

As a consequence of this fact, we must take advantage of the season.  For believers, Christmas offers us the opportunity to engage in disciple-making with our families and our friends.  Christmas provides us with a vehicle to share with the lost and educate the saved on the heart of the Christmas season.  As we engage in our holiday activities, let us commit ourselves to sharing the true reason for the season.

How can we do that?  Well first of all we must be willing to ask our children, grandchildren, friends, co-workers, and neighbors, "Do you know why we celebrate Christmas?"  Be prepared for some wild answers and keep your composure.  That question allows others to share their thoughts, and no matter how crazy those may be just smile.  Then we must be willing to ask them, "Would you like to know what the Bible has to say about why we celebrate Christmas?"  In answer to this question, we are then given the opportunity to share four key reasons that we celebrate Christmas, the memorial celebration of the coming of the Christ.

Reason #1 Man’s Sin: Romans 3:23 caps off Paul’s theological argument regarding the universal nature of sin in the lives of all of humanity.  Every one, whether they are Jew or Gentile, Black or White, Rich or Poor, has violated the law of God and is enslaved to sin.  Sin is a terminal disease that has infected all of humanity, as a result none are exempt from its presence or its power.  This sin makes us God's enemies.

Reason #2 God’s Love:  Romans 5:8 is the motivation for God’s action in sending his Son, the Lord Jesus.  We were unable to do anything about our sinful condition.  We were helpless in our sins, yet because of the love of God for all of humanity the Lord Jesus entered into the human race to provide a means for us to be reconciled to God.  This reconciliation is not predicated on our love for God, but rather on the fact that God loved us first and took action with regard to our sin for us.

Reason #3 God’s Justice:  Romans 6:23 expresses the universal consequence of sin in the life of humanity.  The universal law of God has been written within heart of all of humanity and the universal rebellion of humanity against that law has earned us a just punishment from a good and perfect judge.  What we have earned is death and eternal separation from the grace and goodness of God.  However, through the love of God expressed in the death of Jesus Christ the justice of God has been satisfied.  God could not simply look the other way with regard to our sins because his justice could not allow that so the justice of God was fulfilled by the love of God in sending Jesus Christ to us.

Reason #4 God’s Mercy: Colossians 1:13-14 shares that though Jesus Christ we can be rescued from our sinful state and placed within a reconciled relationship with God.  We can leave our post as God’s enemy and become God’s friend.  We can evacuate our residence within the domain of darkness and find citizenship within the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Through the coming of the Lord Jesus we can find both redemption from our slavery to sin and forgiveness for the penalty of our sin.

The joyous season of Christmas is not simply a time to celebrate family and friends.  This is not simply a time to share gifts and laughter.  This is a memorial of God’s activity in human history through the person and work of the Lord Jesus.  As disciples of Christ, we are called to remember that and to share that with others. Take some time this season, and do your part to help make disciples of others by sharing with them the true reason for the season.

The Call for Missions Education

Over the last several weeks many state conventions have taken place across the SBC.  As I have read testimonials from many of my friends, a number of questions have been raised regarding those conventions.  Some have wondered how to encourage younger pastors to participate, others want to know how to enhance brand loyalty to the convention, and others struggle with helping promote the mission of the Gospel across their state conventions.  These are all good and valid questions that need to be answered. 
In Wyoming, we were visited by our regular representative from the Executive Board of the SBC and in his words came the most frightening message we could have heard.  Sadly, less than 50% of churches that are affliated with the Southern Baptist Convention give at least 2% to missions in a year.  Even more shocking is that 25% of churches that claim to be Southern Baptist gave nothing to missions.  These statistics offered up symptoms of a dreaded disease.  We have lost our missions focus as a convention.
We may still provide the largest fully funded missions organization in the history of the world, but the missions emphasis that built it has gone.  We have become an inwardly focused convention that has forgotten our call to missions and we have become ignorant of the methods that are available to us for the purpose of fulfilling that call.  So the question that must be answered going forward is not "How do we make younger pastors feel that their voice is important?"  The question is how do we return to our missional roots as a convention?
This cannot be done from the top down.  The SBC is not a denomination.  We are a convention of independant Baptist churches who have chosen to associate together freely for the purpose of missions and education.  As a result, we cannot be made to be missional by our leaders.  Rather we must address this at the local level.  We must address these concerns as local churches seeking to fulfill our global charge.
The best means of turning this tide is a return to Missions Education in our churches.  Over the last 10 years there has been a removal of Royal Ambassadors, Girls in Action, Acteens, and Challengers education programs from our Southern Baptist Churches.  Sadly, this has led to a generation of young pastors and church leaders that have no clear understanding of the Cooperative Program or of missions outside of their local church.  However, with the dismissal of these education programs, we have also lost advocates for missions in the pew as parents who were touched and influenced by these ministries in the lives of their children are no longer being touched by missions education either. 
The results cannot be ignored.  The continued decline of missions education has now created a decline in missions support and activity.  The failure to educate our children has now resulted in an adult membership that is largely uninformed.  The unwillingness to teach missions to our children has now produced pastors who have no understanding of cooperative missions involvement. 
If we are to turn this tide, then we as local church pastors must be willing to change.  We must return to missions education within our churches.  We must commit to teach our children and our adults the value of missions.  We must remember that as we educate our children about missions, we educate our future about missions.  We must remember that as we educate our children about missions, we educate future missionaries about the need for missions.  We must remember that as we educate our children about missions, we instill the values on which the Southern Baptist Convention was founded upon and provide the missional foundation for the future of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Pastors please return to missions education within your church.  Recruit those with a heart for missions to begin sharing and teaching missions to the children of your church.  The numbers don't lie.  The future work of Southern Baptist missions depend on it.
God Bless

Pastor Appreciation

October is Pastor Appreciation Month.  Starting with October 1st members of my church began showing up bearing cards and gifts each day in an effort to show their appreciation to me as their pastor.  In my ministry I have always tried to hide this time of year because I have had the honor of pastoring two churches that have always shown me appreciation throughout the year.  As I write this today, I want to emphasize the appreication that any member can express towards their pastor at any time, rather than just during this particular month.

One of the ways that my churches have shown me appreciation is their constant prayers for my family, my ministry, and myself.  The prayers of the people are truly the source of life and health of the pastor and the ministry.  Through faithful prayer pastors are given spiritual strength for the spiritual work that is ahead and direction for the work that God has prepared.  The faithful prayers of the people are one of the most genuine expressions of appreciation any member can offer to their pastor.

A second way that my churches have shown me appreciation is their friendship.  Many pastors have struggled with developing relationships with their members, but the willingness of pastor and people to build lives together is a true show of appreciation.  Friendship is one of the greatest gifts that can be shared and provides a wealth of comfort, strength, support, and help as the pastor navigates the waters of life.  While I have made many mistakes in my ministry allowing myself to accept the gift of friendship from my members who are willing has not been one of them.

One final way that my churches have shown me appreciation is their willingness work together in ministry with me.  I am proud that I have always had members who were willing to share the burden of ministry.  Whether it was in committee meetings, outreach events, or community activity, I am thankful that the members of my churches have been faithful to join in the work of ministry with me and with each other.

In each of these things my churches have demonstrated their true appreciation.  These gifts, which cost no money and require no special occasion, are the greatest displays of appreciation I have ever received.  If you are a church member, then please do not hesistate to share theses gifts often with your pastor.  If you are a pastor, then please do not neglect the joy and benefit of these glorious gifts.

I am thankful for the churches I have been honored to serve and I pray that God will continue to bless me with many more years with in their presence, work, and appreciation.

When Was The Last Time We Had To Trust God?

Once again I have been wrestling with the concept and need for revival among our churches.  Over the last year I have been blessed to see God working within our local church, county, and state.  I have also seen an increase in the attacks of Satan, the flesh, and circumstance upon ministers and members alike.  I have also witnessed a rugged self reliance in the face of these temptations and struggles that is both to be applauded and cautioned.  In many ways the self reliance and self sufficiency of our churches may well be the hinderance to the revival that is tarrying.
When I visited Wyoming in September 2011 to candidate for the church I pastor I left feeling that God was preparing to do something great in Wyoming.  As I have experienced the ministry within this state, I am more convinced of this work of God than ever.  In this face of this conviction many struggles and circumstances have changed.
The mission strategy for the North American Mission Board has changed and as a consequence state-wide, associational, and local mission strategy has had to be altered as well.  We are preparing presently to examine the recommendation of the Future Studies Group of the Wyoming Southern Baptist Convention in our Associational Annual Meetings as we speak.  As I have participated in several discussions the one great truth that has become more clear to me than any other is without God nothing but with God anything.
The financial reality of the national shift in missions for the state of Wyoming cannot be ignored.  In order to change the way we do things to more faithfully accomplish the Great Commission within this state a tremendous step of faith will be required.  The finances that are necessary are not present. The requirement for these funds will not diminish.  Thus, if we as a convention believe that this is the method that God has chosen for us to implement in order to fulfill his calling we will have to trust in him and him alone to bring forth that which he has called.
This may well be the catalyst for revival.  For years now many of our churches have been able to sustain their ministry and even implement new ministries without the call of faith.  We have run our churches very well without having to trust or rely upon God.  Now none of us would make the claim that this is the model we have employed, but we must ask ourselves when was the last time we truly HAD to trust God.  We may well have played lip service to our need for Christ, but our reality has operated within our own means for our own ends.
When St. Dominic visited the Vatican seeking authorization for his order he was given a tour of the  riches of the Papal throne.  Pope Innocent III told St. Dominic "St. Peter can no longer say silver and God have I none."  In response St. Dominic stated "Neither can he say rise up and walk."  The circumstances we face today provide us an opportunity to return to our roots of faithful trust in God. Today must trust The Lord to provide that which we cannot supply.  We must trust The Lord to accomplish that which we are incapable of even imagining.  We must believe that God is and that he is still a rewarder of those who will diligently seek him and that without faith it is impossible to please God.
I believe that the great revival is coming.  I can see the sparks of revival fires beginning to rise in our lives,  homes, and churches.  However, I am equally convinced that the revival will never erupt apart from placing our trust in God.    While we are facing the tangible opportunity of faith here in Wyoming, I would invite everyone to take a moment and examine yourself as well.  Ask yourself "When was the last time we had to trust God?" then ask yourself, "What must I do to trust him today?"