Riverside Anniversary

I celebrated a sigificant ministry anniversary 20 years ago but there another one 10 years ago. Ten years ago Saturday I was called to serve as pastor of Riverside Baptist in Ft Worth. I served there until we left for South Carolina in June 2006. Hope all my friends at RBC are doing well!

Budgets, Churches, and Faith

While attending the business session of the South Carolina Baptist Convention yesterday I was a little bit discouraged as we voted on the 2010 budget, which has been cut from last year. All the "right" reasons were given--the economy, less Cooperative Program giving, churches are hurting, etc., etc., etc. And I wondered, where is faith?

Churches have two ways to put a budget together and a preacher yesterday put it well--either a fact based budget or a faith based budget (preachers love alliteration!). Most of the time here is what we do: we place the previous year's budget alongside this year's requests, determine what the giving patterns will likely be, and then put a budget together.

That may be fine for a business that runs on business rules, but I've always been uncomfortable with a church doing that. Why? It is because a church runs in a different sphere than a business. A church's "boss" is the Lord Jesus Christ. There is nothing He can't do or can't provide for His church.

So how should a church put a budget together? It should do so on its knees. A church should seek the Lord Christ, petition Him for an unveiling of His will, then obey His will no matter how much it "costs" in budget bottom line. When a church does this the Lord will make sure that a church does not have the resources which the people can see how it will all get done. Instead He will call upon His people to walk with Him by faith, believing He can do through them what they cannot do. In other words, He will ensure that He gets the glory and not the church. When those resources come, then the people of God grow in their walk with Him, learn even more how to walk by faith, and will take even bigger faith steps in the future.

Does this mean that the church should not be responsibile stewards of resources? Absolutely not! However, a church's budget like everything else should be a statement of faith--"We believe God to do what we cannot do!" When the people of God employ a "faith" budget, then God moves in power. However, when we put together a "fact" budget God allows us to do what we can see and nothing supernatural happens. It is just business as usual.

I Will Rise

Stephanie and I sang "I Will Rise" yesterdy at Fairview. This was our first duet there, although we sang several times at Riverside. Lesa took the pic as we got ready Sunday morning. Steph always makes me look and sound better than I do!!

20th Anniversary

This weekend is a special anniversary in my ministry. On November 1, 1989--20 years ago Sunday--my family and I moved to Graceville, Florida to serve Poplar Springs Baptist Church and attend what is now known as the Baptist College of Florida. At the time there were just three of us but Lesa was pregnant with Steph. When we got there 20 years ago there was no porch that you see in the picture and there were trees in the front parking lot.

Greek T-Shirt

Any student of Greek will be relate to this t-shirt. I wish I had one!! This is just plain funny!

The Painful Side of Leadership

Jeff Iorg, President of Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, has written an insightful and extremely practical book. The Painful Side of Leadership: Moving Forward When It Hurts (B&H Publishing) is a must read. Leadership by defintion is often painful and there is always tension. Iorg helps the minister/leader navigate that tension with tremendous insight through personal experience.

There are 15 easy to read and digest chapters in the book. For me his two chapters on criticism were the best. "Leaders have critics--as surely as dogs have fleas and usually about as helpful" (113)! True indeed. Iorg uses 2 Samuel 16, an account of David receiving severe criticism by Shimei, to help the reader understand criticism and how to deal with it. Criticism often comes when we least need it, often when we least deserve it, and usually from those last qualified to give it. But it is the resonse to criticism that is important for the leader. Using David's response to Shimei, Iorg urges the minister/leader to handle criticism in several ways: resond, don't react, to critics; stay focused on mission in spite of criticism; find God's good in every criticism; and allow God and others to handle your critics [131-149]. Often God works through critics to change you--an important truth that all leaders need to remember.

Another chapter I particuarly appreciated was 'Moving to a New Position.' While all ministers accept a new responsibility believing they will be there forever, the fact is transitions occur and often when they are least expected. The chapter has a narrow focus, "on leaving well as part of a healthy resignation or retirement" [248]. There are several practical suggstions. The most important, I believe, is to define your future relationship with the church you're leaving. Two principles should be well learned: (1) when you leave, really leave; and (2) if you return for any reason (even for a casual visit), clear it with the new pastor first. Too many pastors hang onto their former churches, making it very difficult on their successors. When God moves you to a new place or you retire from active ministry, you must respect the leadership God places in a church after you. A new leader is the leader--not you.

There are many other chapters well worth the time. Iorg deals with issues from how to lead a church through significant change to how to terminate someone from your team. Another important chapter is the one dealing with the lonliness of leadership. "Lonliness is an occupational hazard of Christian leadership" (71). Because of the all the public things a mnister/leader does, that seems like an oxymoron, but it isn't. This chapter will benefit every minister/leader I know.

A minister/leader with just a few years experience will learn much from Iorg's personal illustrations. He gives the reader both the good and the bad to illustrate his principles--something I greatly appreciated. And for one who has been in the ministry for well over two-decades now, I laughed often as I could change the names and the places but tell the same stories. We've all been there.

This book is a must read for young ministers/leaders. I would highly recommend the book in any leadership course. More seasoned pastors/leades will also greatly benefit by Iorg's practical advise. There are always things we can learn about leadership.

This book is obviously highly recommended.

The Resurrection of Jesus

I am ending an almost year-long series of messages from Matthew Wednesday night at Fairview. Of course, the last message is about the resurrection of Jesus. In his commentary, David Turner laments that Christians often focus on the resurrection of Christ only at Easter. But it is in fact the essence of our faith. He writes:

Without the resurrection, Jesus's ministry ends in defeat. But everything changes if 'he is not here, for he was raised, just as he said' (28:6). The resurrection not only culminates the passion narrative but also is at the center of redemption itself. Without it one can only pity Jesus as a martyr whose lofty ideals were sadly misunderstood. With it one must stand in awe of the Messiah, the Son of God, who gave his life as ransom for many and who will one day return in glory to judge humanity (683).

Amen!

Back to Work

Back from a week at the beach. October is a great time to vacation. I didn't read as much on this go around, but I did get through a great book on leadership that I'll review some time this week.

Good Sermon

Gordon Fort, the VP of overseas operations at the International Mission Board, was in our church Sunday. He preached a message that all believers need to hear. Here's the link if you're interested.

http://www.fairviewgreer.net/pool/sound/10-11-2009.mp3

Habakkuk 3:17-18

I was reading in the little book of Habakkuk this morning. The book is a dialogue between the prophet and God about God's plan to send Babylon to judge Israel. 3:17-18 caught my attention.

¹⁷ Though the fig tree does not bud and there is no fruit on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, ¹⁸ yet I will triumph in the Lord; I will rejoice in the God of my salvation! Habakkuk 3:17-18 (HCSB)

Economic conditions must never dictate our response to God. We must always praise Him. I'm thankful too that no conditions, good, bad, or otherwise, determines our relationship with Him.

The prophets final words:

Yahweh my Lord is my strength; He makes my feet like those of a deer and enables me to walk on mountain heights! . Habakkuk 3:19 (HCSB)

Amen!

Sam the Sham

I was listening to Elvis Radio Friday on Sirius and the George Klein Show--GK was interviewing Sam the Sham, who did "Wooly Bully," maybe the greatest party song of all time. Anyway, it took me to the summer of 1978 when I was part of a group that opened a show for Sam the Sham and Tony Joe White (wrote Polk Salad Annie). That was a good time!!

Faith and Church Size

Here is a fascinating study by Barna on faith and church size. It might be a little surprising to some. Off the top of my head I might have believed the opposite of the results.

Here's one interesting quote from the Barna report:

Despite the substantial attention focused on Protestant mega-churches, such congregations draw about 9% of adults who frequent a Protestant church. In contrast, 41% of adults attending a Protestant church associate with a congregation of 100 or fewer adults. An additional 23% can be found at churches of 101 to 200 adults, 18% associate with bodies of 201 to 499 adults, and 9% can be found in churches of 500 to 999 adults.

I keep saying we pay way too much attention to the mega church. Most people attend churches much smaller. One primary criticism I've had of the SBC for years is that leadership comes way too often from the large to mega-church when the vast majority of our churches are much smaller.

Fairview Tailgate

Everyone enjoyed the 1st annual Fairview Tailgate last night. Probably folks drove by and asked, 'What is that crazy church doing?' Well, we were having a good time. It's not good to be serious all the time. I'm already looking foward to next year.

Kostenberger on Church Government

Here's a paper I found on Dave Black's blog that will be of interest to some of my readers. Andreas Kostenberger of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary has written a paper on eccesiological issues of interest. I've read part of this and found it interesting. I'll comment on some of the issues a bit later when I've had time to digest it completely.

Choir

Here's the combined choirs of 13 Greer Baptist Association Churches getting ready for last night's 50th anniversary celebration at Fairview. They sounded great, and it was a wonderful night with over 1,000 in attendance.

GBA 50th

Fairview hosted Greer Baptist Association's 50th anniversary last night. I think we probably had over 1,000 in the worship center. I have some pics of the choir but for some reason they won't upload this morning. I'll try that again later, but I did want to particularly mention Richard Blackaby's message. He talked about how the church will be effective in the future.

• We must be on God's agenda and not on our's
• We cannot fear change
• We must invest in young people
• We must equip the saints

I've been hammering on these four points for a while in our church so his message was timely for us. A church that makes a difference cannot be concerned about the latest trends, fads, and books on the market. We can't look at programs or personalities. We must look only to God who has an individual will for each church.

If a church won't change it will die--period. He told the sad story of a church that refused the change to reach the neighborhood around it. They voted to watch themselves die. Sad, but that is exactly what many churches are doing. They's rather die than change.

If we don't invest in young people we will die as well. We're losing young adults at a staggering rate to the world. Dr. Blackaby was especially passionate on this point and it certainly resonated with me. The most important thing in my life is for my two college age kids to be serving God as adults and raising their families as they have been raised.

We must equip the saints, especially to understand what it means to be born again. One statement from last night--We will not get to heaven by raising our hands, praying a simple prayer, or signing a card. We will get to heaven just because we are a member of a Baptist church or any other church. We will get to heaven because we are born again. And born again people act like they are born again. I blogged recently about folks on the church roll who have the false impression they are saved when it is likely they aren't. Christian people don't continually live like the devil--Christian people live like their Lord!

It was a wonderful night of worship. I was honored we were able to host it.

Heaven

This is a good one from "Preaching Now" newsletter that I couldn't resist.

I was shocked, confused, bewildered
As I entered Heaven's door,
Not by the beauty of it all,
Nor the lights or its decor.

But it was the folks in Heaven
Who made me sputter and gasp—
The thieves, the liars, the sinners,
The alcoholics and the trash.

There stood the kid from seventh grade
Who swiped my lunch money twice.
Next to him was my old neighbor
Who never said anything nice.
Herb, who I always thought
Was rotting away in hell,
Was sitting pretty on cloud nine,
Looking incredibly well.

I nudged Jesus,
"What's the deal?
I would love to hear Your take.
How'd all these sinners get up here?
God must've made a mistake.

"And why's everyone so quiet,
So somber--give me a clue.""
Hush, child," He said, "They're all in shock.
At the thought of seeing you." (from Mikey's Funnies)

Amen or Oh Me?

Church Discipline the Old Fashioned Way!

A Fairview member recently attended one of their old churches and brought back the bulletin. On the back of it is an interesting history note. I'll leave the church and city nameless.

In 1921 the Baptist Ministers' Association issued a resolution urging Baptist young people 'to show disapproval to dancing...by precept and example.' The measure was approved after an incident involving a member of (church name) who danced at a chaperoned event for high school graduates given by Governor and Mrs. Westmorland Davis at the governor's mansion. The woman was dismissed from the choir and told she could not teach Sunday School.

We used to "church" folks for all kinds of reasons. Now we don't do it at all. I wonder if there should be a happy medium?

Just musing...

Wedgwood

Today is the 10th annivesary of the shootings at Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth. I remember the day well. I was in the hallway waiting on my children at Travis Avenue Baptist Church when we began to hear about a shooting at Wedgwood. Seven people were killed and several were wounded. If you ever want to see how a congregation is to react to tragedy, look at Wedgwood. The church held a special time of observance of the anniversary this past Sunday.

Which Israel?

I was reading Jeremiah 31-32 this morning, which are chapters in which the prophet tells Israel of a future they would have after their time of chastisement for their sins. In 31:31-34, the New Covenant is proclaimed--a covenant not written on tablets of stone but on the heart. Then come verses 35-36:

³⁵ This is what the Lord says: The One who gives the sun for light by day, the fixed order of moon and stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea and makes its waves roar— the Lord of Hosts is His name: ³⁶ If this fixed order departs from My presence— [this is] the Lord’s declaration— then also Israel’s descendants will cease to be a nation before Me forever. Jeremiah 31:35-36 (HCSB)

This passage begs the question, Which Israel? Is the prophecy about the geographical/political nation Israel. Many believe that it is. But what does the New Testament say about Israel? Note Paul's statement: May peace be on all those who follow this standard, and mercy also be on the Israel of God! Galatians 6:16 (HCSB). It is obvious in Galatians that Paul has Christians on his mind. The Church has become the Israel of God.

An important hermeneutical principle when dealing with the Old Testament is that one must sift each passage through the New Testament. Does the New Testament change or at least tweak an idea found in the Old Testament? When one takes the promise of Jeremiah 31 and sifts it through the New Testament grid, it seems that there is a change. Israel is made up of Jews and Gentiles who have professed Christ as Savior.

Israel then will be a nation forever. But she will be nation of priests before God [1 Peter 2:9]. She is the Church of Jesus Christ!