This article was originally posted at my site.  You can connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

A Better Title for this picture would be “Believe in Miracles Jesus.”

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, ² for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. ³ This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴ who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. ⁵ For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. ⁷ For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

1 Timothy 2:1-7

There’s no denying that Jesus Christ did many wonderful miracles and works during His earthly ministry. Christians often argue that we need to emulate Christ’s ministry. I agree. Thus, we must understand that Christ’s healing miracles and other miraculous works were secondarily for the people and primarily for communicating truth about Himself.  Christ did not always feed the hungry, heal the sick, raise the dead, etc.  There are several clear examples in Scripture where Christ picked one out of a multitude to heal, leaving the others in physical misery (John 5:2-12). His primary motivation therefore must be something other than liberating society, providing for the poor, etc. Christ is conquering these results of the Fall, but they will not be conquered fully until the end. Thus, Christ’s miraculous works primarily communicated the truth that the results of the Fall had no hold on Him.  Although He was born under the curse, and crushed under the curse, the curse could not hold Him; this is the emphasis of His physical resurrection.  As a result, incarnationally, if I am viewing Christ as a model for missions, then I must point to the fact that in Him sinners have conquered the results of the Fall spiritually, and they will conquer physically as well when He returns.

Therefore, whether I follow Christ or Paul, the emphasis is the same: 1) Sinners receive the abundant life spiritually in Christ the moment they first believe, 2) Sinners receive the abundant life in Christ physically the moment they first believe as well, but this is not fully realized until they receive a new body. Whether I follow Christ’s or Paul’s example, the spiritual redemption of man is still the primary emphasis. I do believe the church is to continue the ministry of Christ on earth for we are called “the body of Christ,” but this ministry is primarily spiritual and secondarily physical.  Because of these truths, my primary goal in missions is the salvation of souls with the secondary goal being to meet the temporary physical needs of sinners.

For a more detailed argument of my above points, see David Hesselgrave’s book Paradigms in Conflict.

What are your thoughts?

This article was originally posted at my site.  You can connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

Sergio Garcia and Tiger Woods are golfers who don’t like each other very much. It’s not hard to see why. Tiger is hyper-competitive and arrogant. I cheer for him, but have often been a little bothered by or even ashamed of his behavior. Sergio Garcia is, by most accounts, a whiner. He gets easily distracted and complains about what goes on around him. The tension that has been growing between the two of them over the years has exploded in recent days. They went head to head in the Players Championship a couple of weeks back. The crowd following Tiger made noise that distracted Sergio and he hit a bad shot. He complained after the round about Tiger’s perceived misdeeds. Tiger responded and the back and forth escalated.

It became a pretty ugly incident.

It got worse when Sergio was speaking at the European Tour Awards dinner and responded to a question. He was asked if he would invite Tiger over for dinner during an upcoming tournament. He responded:

“We’ll have him ’round every night. We will serve fried chicken.”

Golf fans, of course, are reminded of Fuzzy Zoeller’s comments after Tiger won his first Masters Tournament, suggesting the winner’s dinner would consist of fried  chicken and collard greens. Need I even mention that the reference to fried chicken is a racist stereotype. Whether he meant it that way or not, Sergio looked to put down Tiger with a racially-based caricature.

Those remarks set off a firestorm. Sergio at first came out with one of those non-apology apologies that have become so common today.

“I apologize for any offense that may have been caused by my comment on stage during the European Tour Players’ Awards dinner. I answered a question that was clearly made towards me as a joke with a silly remark, but in no way was the comment meant in a racist manner.”

He apologized, but he did not really repent. He was sorry that some got offended by his comment, but not for the comment itself. He passed off his remark as a “joke” or a “silly remark.” It was not, he claimed coming from a heart of racism or meant in a “racist manner.”

To Sergio’s credit, by the next day he came out with a more genuine apology in which he rejected his remarks clearly and admitted they were wrong.

My Point

The time is long past when we can say racially insensitive things, or use racial stereotypes, then claim that we did not intend for them to be racist or hurtful. A racial stereotype is by definition racist, whatever one might have meant. What I might consider to be a harmless joke is not seen the same way by the person about whom the joke is made. It is my job to guard my words. The offended person can show grace and forgiveness – that is what God expects of his people. But it is my job not to give that offense or to repent when I do. If I give offense, I need to repent and apologize whether it was intended or not.

Discussing race and racial issues is a minefield. There are times we give offense and we are truly clueless that we are doing so. If such is the case, we need to be gently instructed and have the humility and concern to adjust our behavior and deal with any repercussions.

It is hard for us as white Americans to understand this whole issue. I had a man in my church who opened my eyes to a lot of things before he passed on a couple of years ago. He told me stories that shocked me – not things that happened in Mississippi or Alabama, but in Sioux City, Iowa. This man of character, love and dignity had been treated often as if he was something less than a human being. Dwight McKissic sees the political, Christian and Baptist world from some distinctly different perspectives than I do. We may do something and think it is no big deal, but it comes across as a pretty big deal on the other side.

As we pursue racial reconciliation and even more importantly, partnership in ministry beyond racial lines, we need to guard our words carefully. We need to put racial stereotypes and characterizations on the shelf. They are hurtful and do not help the process of rebuilding what the sins of racism, discrimination and segregation have destroyed in the Family of God.

We don’t need to create some kind of politically correct environment in the SBC, but we do need to view our words and actions through the eyes of those who might be offended by them. We must create a culture in which racially charged statements, even jokes, are not acceptable. Even if there is not a minority around, we must reject caricature and stereotype.

For the sake of the Kingdom, we need to leave the club of racially insensitive joking in the bag and never pull it out.

Bart Barber has posted two installments of his excellent series, “For the Propagation of the Gospel,” about the work of the Southern Baptist Convention. Part 1. Part 2. He graciously asked if I might like to participate, and I offer this as a third installment in the series. 

They say that confession is good for the soul, so here is mine. There was a time when I was flirting with leaving Southern Baptists and finding another denominational home. My years at Dallas Seminary had made me aware that though I was a lifelong Southern Baptist there was a great big evangelical world out there for me to consider. A friend of mine, a youth evangelist, extolled the virtues of the Evangelical Free denomination. The independent Bible churches had some appeal as well. I’d known a few Conservative Baptists. There were options.

It was the mid 1980s and the SBC was pretty messed up. It was the era of the shooting war in the Conservative Resurgence and things were tense. I’m sick to death of the Calvinism squabbles of today, but they pale in comparison to the intensity of the early 80s conflicts. Those were not good times. And I just wasn’t sure that I wanted to serve the rest of my life among Southern Baptists. Actually, my dad, a Southern Baptist pastor and missionary, counseled me to get out while I was young.

But as I pondered this, there was one thought that overwhelmed all the others.

As a Southern Baptist, I am part of perhaps the most extensive world missions program in the history of the church.

In spite of all the negatives, this positive shined brightest to me. Even when I was not thrilled with the leadership of the SBC, I was happy to support the Foreign Mission Board, now the International Mission Board. Through the years, with the ups and the downs, the frustrations and the conflicts, I have never wavered in my belief that being a Southern Baptist is worth it because of our international missions program. There have been few earthly organizations that have been as effective “for the propagation of the gospel” than the missionary arm of the SBC.

According to the IMB website, there are currently 4867 IMB missions personnel, 4206 of those being career missionaries. That is down considerably from the days before the recession and the recent financial issues, but it is still a stunning fact. The old phrase, “we can do more together than we can do separately” is not a cliche. It is a fact.

By pooling our resources as a convention, we are able to support nearly 5000 missionaries around the world. 

Can you match that on your own?

My church gives somewhere around $45,000 through the Cooperative Program on an annual basis (12% of a 425k budget, with a tendency to fall slightly short of budget). It is possible that if we did it ourselves, we could support one full time missionary on our own, or give significant support to a dozen or so missionaries. Those megachurches with megabudgets can obviously do much more than we can. But no church can do on its own anything that rivals what the SBC can do cooperatively.

As Southern Baptists, we can have a part in the ministries of missionaries in Europe, Asia, Africa, North, Central, and South America, Australia, and in the Middle East. We are in Catholic areas, Muslim areas, Buddhist areas, Hindu areas, even serving in atheist regimes and secularist countries. Wherever there are lost people or unreached people groups, we are making an effort to penetrate the darkness with the light. When the tsunami struck the Indian Ocean, IMB missionaries were there to help and to minister in the name of Christ. We have effective (if limited) hunger ministries and disaster ministries in nations around the world. When terrorists killed my friend Bill Hyde in Davao City, Philippines in 2003, missionaries were undeterred. Even his own wife went back to serve in the country after his death. When Haiti was devastated, Southern Baptists were there to shine the light. Through our career missionaries’ hospitality, we have the ability to send mission teams around the world, giving a guy like me a chance to participate in worldwide missions personally. In places where missionary work is viewed with hostility, we have people serving silently, anonymously, but effectively.

If we only supported these missionaries, it would be worth investing in the SBC just to be a part of this work around the world. And of course, through our Cooperative Program, we support 5000+ NAMB personnel, and they are doing some good work – a fact even NAMB critics would likely have to admit. We have six seminaries that are educating 13,000 students. We have an ERLC and great leadership with Dr. Frank Page. But discounting all of that, if all we had was the IMB, our CP gifts would be eternally significant. I consider it a privilege to be able to be a small part of a great work.

Let me be a little more specific about what I appreciate about our IMB.

1) The IMB has been strategically responsive in recent years.

There have been some changes in missiological philosophy since my childhood as a missionary’s kid in Taiwan. Mission work today is different than it was in the 70s. Our missionaries have adjusted well, though the process has been, at times, difficult on them.

I have heard Baptists who ought to know better talk about how many Southern Baptist churches there are in other countries. In general, the answer is none. The SBC has sent missionaries to help establish churches and conventions in countries around the world. But they were not Southern Baptist churches. They were Honduran Baptist churches, Chinese Baptist churches, Ukrainian Baptist churches. Those conventions may partner with the SBC in some ways, but they are autonomous conventions.

While SBC missionaries were instrumental in establishing these conventions, they intentionally turned over authority and control to local pastors and Christian leaders. The missionaries did not try to maintain any kind of bishopric over the local work. IMB missionaries do not control conventions in other nations.

Instead, the IMB has been focusing its mission more and more on unreached people groups. As the national conventions and churches matured, they could handle ministry in those more established areas. Our missionaries went to work to try to find and reach those who have not heard the gospel.

The IMB has worked diligently to react to changes in global missions opportunities. When the doors in formerly closed countries opened a crack, we sent people through. The IMB is not hidebound to the missions philosophies and strategies of my father’s times. The world has changed and our missionaries have adapted with those changes.

2) The IMB is theologically grounded.

No Southern Baptist need worry about whether our missionaries believe the Bible or proclaim the biblical gospel. In this day of theological compromise and spiritual decline, it is comforting and encouraging to know that our missionaries are theologically grounded and solid. Of course, most of them are not theologians, and would likely be disinterested in some of the theological squabbles in which we engage. But they are BF&M supporters who proclaim Christ around the world. Rest assured of that.

3) The IMB supports its missionaries.

No one is going to get rich from serving as an IMB missionary, but neither are they going to starve.  Because of the genius of the Cooperative Program, our missionaries do not have to go from church to church raising funding. If they pass the rigorous application process and get commissioned as IMB missionaries, they will have housing, food, transportation and some level of financial security.

I wish we could double our missionaries’ salaries, but I am glad that we as Baptists do not have to be ashamed of how we pay our missionaries.

4) IMB missions personnel are impressive!

I’ve spent time in Tanzania, working with a missionary (David Whitson) who had planted churches and made disciples throughout the Bukoba region there. I worked with missionaries like Tom Canady, Steve Ballio, and Martina Menzies in Honduras and was amazed at their effectiveness, faithfulness and insight there. In 2010 and 2012 I went to Taiwan and worked with Dan Robinson at Morrison Academy. We were friends in high school at Morrison. After all the trouble we got into there, it is hard for me to imagine that they made him principle there, but they did. His heart for the Lord, for ministry and for the kingdom was evident in all he did.

We have a missions banquet every year here and feature an IMB missionary. We had a missionary from the Banda Aceh area the year after the tsunami’s devastation. We’ve had missionaries from Asia, Africa, Eastern Europe and South America. All over the world. Some were boisterous, others were quiet. One guy had real difficulty speaking publicly, he was so shy. But every one of them was an effective servant of God doing amazing work in challenging conditions.

There’s probably a stinker or two among the 4867 missionaries we support, but the ones I’ve met leave me with the impression that when we are supporting their work, we are doing something good.

5) IMB missionaries serve Christ in dangerous places.

When Bill Hyde was killed in the Philippines by a terrorist’s bomb, I was privileged to participate in his funeral with Dr. Jerry Rankin. We talked by phone in advance of that funeral and he told me something that I’ve never forgotten. When I was an MK in Taiwan, it was way safer than living in the USA. Taiwan is still one of the safer places that our missionaries serve. But I asked Dr. Rankin just how much danger our mission force was in around the world.

He told me that most of our missionaries are in some physical danger ever day, mostly as a result of Islamic extremism. The greater surprise is not that a few have been martyred like Bill was, but that it has happened to so few. We send out 5000 people, plus missions volunteers, to places where Christianity is despised and the gospel is illegal. And still they go.

I knew this about Bill Hyde. He knew the possibilities and the dangers. He was not in the Philippines as a tourist or on vacation. Had he known it would cost him his life, he likely would have gone anyway. He was about the Kingdom of God, not about his own life.

Around the world today there are many people serving in dangerous areas, making Christ and the way of salvation known to people living in darkness. They have not chosen the safe road or the easy road. I live in Sioux City. It’s pretty safe here. Anything can happen anywhere, but it usually doesn’t happen in this sleepy Iowa city. But I am a part of the lives of men and women who serve Christ at great personal risk and sacrifice, all over the world.

This is one reason – perhaps the main one – why I consider it to be a great privilege to be Southern Baptist!

Conclusion

The IMB is not a perfect institution. It is not perfectly administrated. Its missionaries are uniformly imperfect. In fact, in the early days of Baptist blogging, the IMB was the swirling vortex of controversy at the time. Some of those issues still need resolution in my opinion. But the SBC was formed “for the propagation of the gospel” and if one looks at the work of the FMB and subsequently the IMB through the decades, the conclusion has to be that we have been well served. The gospel has certainly gone forward through the work of missionaries laboring for Christ and supported by Southern Baptists.

Is There A Nathan In The Land?

Are We Going To Allow One Man To Redefine The Family For Black America?

A Response To President Obama’s Speech At Morehouse College

By

William Dwight McKissic, Sr.

May 21, 2013

President Obama spoke with heartfelt identification regarding the plight, promise and responsibilities of young educated Black men; at the all-male Morehouse College 2013 graduation ceremony. He challenged them to:

• Utilize their training and talents to serve underserved communities and people.
• Not just be concerned about the good they can buy, but the good they can do.
• Follow the examples and be inspired by the legacies of other great Morehouse men who worked for the betterment of all of society – not just African Americans.

He hailed Martin Luther King, Jr. as an example of a Morehouse Man who was mentored, equipped, and challenged to serve humanity with excellence while a student at Morehouse.

The overall speech was a masterpiece. It was motivational and memorable. Highlighting historical figures was a most effective and heart tugging aspect of his speech.

Barack Obama’s life story embodies and exemplifies the very words he used to challenge and encourage the graduates. That’s what made the speech so compelling and effective.

There were two startling statements in an otherwise masterful speech, perhaps his best ever – that were probably unprecedented in a college graduation speech. His written speech, which was presented to the media in advance, differed from the oral presentation at a critical point.

(1) In encouraging the male graduates to be responsible family men, he challenged them in his prepared text to,

“Be the best husband to your wife, or boyfriend to your partner, or father to your children that you can be.”

In the actual oral presentation he told them,

“Be the best husband to your wife, or your boyfriend, or your partner.”

The way the audience responded to this statement makes it clear that they were surprised by this comment, and interpreted it for what he meant: an affirmation of same-sex relationships.

Affirming homosexuality in a public setting to a predominately Black audience is virtually unprecedented. If the President had been White, I believe there would have been a huge backlash behind his gay friendly remarks. Many of the parents would have objected.

Encouraging young Black males to “be the best husband…to your boyfriend, or your partner” is a very serious matter. Here we have the first African-American President of the United States, encouraging young Black men to be homosexuals. Who would have ever imagined this would happen?

President Obama was given the opportunity by the media to clarify the difference between his prepared statement and actual words that came out of his mouth and he refused to do so.

President Obama’s statements supporting homosexuality at Morehouse was a moral injustice and an assault on the biblical model of the family as taught by Jesus (Matthew 19:4-6). Furthermore, it was an assault on Christian values and convictions held by the vast majority of Black Christians.

Just as President Clinton’s widely publicized engagement in oral sex with a nineteen year old intern unleashed an epidemic of similar behavior on the youth of our nation; President Obama’s repeated promotion and affirmation of homosexuality will likely have an exponential influential impact on homosexuality in the Nation at large, and even more so on the Black Community. What a travesty!!!

I’m grateful that Morehouse’s best known alumnus, Dr. Martin Luther King, left a written document opposed to the notion of same-sex relationships. Hopefully, as they were admonished to do, on this subject matter the graduates should take their advice from Dr. King, not President Obama.

(2) Later in this speech, President Obama stated,

“Gay and lesbian Americans feel it when a stranger passes judgment on their parenting skills or the love they share.”

I’m also grateful that Oprah Winfrey is on record disputing that two people of the same-sex can successfully raise a male child. In addressing the subject and the negative impact of fatherlessness on the land, Oprah said,

“Your mother can’t be your father” – Oprah Winfrey: OWN Network –   May 5, 2013

The converse would also be true,

“Your father can’t be your mother” – Wm. Dwight McKissic, Sr.

Yet our President encouraged these unbiblical views of family life.

President Obama was encouraging Morehouse men to partner together and parent children. This should have set off an earthquake or avalanche in the Black Christian community. According to Oprah, this cannot be effectively done.

Mr. President, plainly and simply put; YOU ARE WRONG. WE LOVE YOU. The polls indicate the vast majority of America even likes you. Black America absolutely loves, admires, appreciates and deeply respects you, even as you trample on one of our core values.

Mr. President, in your heart of hearts you know you would not have been elected in 2008, if you had told America this is where you were headed.

Please honor the official positions of the nine major Black denominations, whose memberships largely supported you. All nine strongly support the biblical view of the family and hold that homosexuality is a sin. Please Mr. President! Stop this campaign. Do you really want your legacy to be, “America’s First Gay President” as you were labeled by Newsweek Magazine?

Nathan was the Prophet in Scripture who went to another political leader, King David, and rebuked him for his sexual sins. May our beloved President receive a visit from a Nathan, so that our sons and daughters might be delivered from his promotion of what the Black church historically has viewed as sinful and shameful. Are we going to sit idly by and allow this one man to redefine homosexuality for the entire Black race?

The Bible commands us to honor you (I Peter 2:17). But Mr. President, please, for the sake of our families, our children, the future of this great nation, and in memory of the very father that you often speak of not having in your life, please reconsider your public position and statements.

Mr. President, STOP THE ADVOCACY. STOP THIS PUBLIC CAMPAIGN TO REDEFINE FAMILIES AND TO TAKE FATHERS AWAY FROM THEIR SONS TO PURSUE RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHER MEN. PLEASE STOP IT.

Lord, please raise up a Nathan who can touch the heart of our President, so that our families and nation will not be destroyed as you destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. Touch our President’s heart. Turn his heart toward You. Please Lord, move on the President to honor the Christ and the Bible that he says he believes in. We thank You for withholding your judgment and holding us with your mercy. Please God, send us a Nathan who can touch the heart and mind of our President with truth and love, in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

I have accidentally published 3 posts today. I’m not sure what happened or why. One of them happened when I wasn’t even on the site. If there is a post title that doesn’t appear when you click the link, its my fault – accidental publishing, then removing it!

Hope to do better tomorrow!

I’m a new pastor. I’ve got about $100 and not much of any library. I want hard copies—non of that e-reader stuff. When I was ordained last week a former professor bought me 5 books from your preaching list. Now I need to focus on building a few resources to help me with pastoral ministry. What do you suggest?

Here is my answer:

1. Dangerous Calling by Paul Tripp for $12
2. The Reformed Pastor by Richard Baxter $8
3. 9 Marks of a Healthy Church by Mark Dever $11
4. The Conviction to Lead by Albert Mohler $15
5. Brothers We Are Not Professionals by John Piper $10
6. Instruments in the Redeemers Hands by Paul Tripp  $12
7. Download this letter from John Newton $FREE

That’s about 70 bucks. Take the next $30 and take your wife out on a date.

Also there are a couple of books that you can get online for free that are great classics. I know you like hard copies so maybe you can save up a little money and print these off somewhere. Lectures to My Students by Spurgeon is an invaluable resource as is Charles Bridges’ The Christian Ministry.

I would also advise you to find an older pastor that is willing to mentor you. He’ll be really helpful also when you have questions about how to do a baptism, how to train a Sunday school teacher, etc. And he will talk you off the ledge when you want to give up after a few Monday’s on the job.

Lastly, find another pastor from history and make it your life ambition to follow him as he follows Christ. I’ve begun a lifelong friendship with John Newton—I just wish he knew it. You can get his 6 Volume works online for about $100.

How would you answer this question?

I hope this comes up. Here is the video about DR.

This article was originally posted at my site.  You can connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

Dr. David Hesselgrave begins his book Paradigms in Conflict: 10 Key Questions in Christian Missions Today by examining God’s sovereignty versus man’s free will. He details varying views from deterministic Calvinism to Open Theism and arguably everything in between. I found it very interesting as Hesselgrave detailed Ralph Winter’s praise of Gregory Boyd’s argument that “all disease is the work of the Devil and not the will of God (33).” I agree in a sense and disagree in another sense. The obvious reason why humans are susceptible to illness and disease is because we are not in the Garden of Eden anymore. Sin is thus the cause of sickness, for we are all under the curse. However, one cannot say disease is not part of God’s will without diminishing His sovereignty. God could heal everyone right now at this moment, but at the end of the day, the only truth we are left with is that God is in control of all things. He knows what He is doing and why He indirectly allows evil to exist.

In missions, I agree that Christians should seek to eradicate all disease and seek to help all men, women, and children temporarily conquer the results of the Fall. This temporal conquering, however, is not the ultimate purpose of missions. Just as Andreas Kostenberger argues in the “Foreword” in agreement with Hesselgrave concerning the purpose of missions, the Great Commission is ultimately a spiritual commission. Thus, although I will seek the physical well-being of sinners, the ultimate purpose of missions is to give them the saving gospel of Christ. I want them to experience the abundant life on earth, not because Christ died to give them a celebrity-like lifestyle, but because Christ died to reconcile them to His Father. Through this transcending eternal life, although they may be ugly, poor, unhealthy, persecuted, etc. on Earth, they are beautiful, rich, healthy, and safe in Christ; and living with Him forever, fully realizing the abundant life in heaven, is just around the corner.

What are your thoughts?

This article was originally posted at my site.  You can connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

This is the next installment of my previous post, For the Propagation of the Gospel. I had initially planned to give more than one item in this post, but my reasons for changing my plans will be obvious to you, I hope.

Items 1 and 2 appeared in the prior post. I give you:

3. The Southern Baptist Convention Helps People in Disasters As No One Else Does. Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers are in Oklahoma. They have been working in Granbury, TX, and in West, TX. When a disaster shows up, the yellow caps will not be far behind. How well do you know SBC Disaster Relief?

   1. SBC Disaster Relief is a volunteer organization. So many people involved in the broader world of disaster relief are paid to be there. It is truly remarkable that SBC DR volunteers do what they do. Disasters are not scheduled in advance. Right now people all over our region are dropping everything, traveling long distances, and giving their time all day for several days, and all of this with a few hours’ notice and for nothing in return. That says something about what Jesus Christ has done in the hearts of Southern Baptists.

   2. SBC Disaster Relief is primarily a ministry of our state conventions. As someone who has advocated for leaner, smarter, more efficient state conventions in the past, it is important for me to note that I believe in the work and the mission of our state conventions in Southern Baptist life. Disaster Relief is a shining example of why state conventions are important. It is at the state convention level that units exist, are mobilized, are largely funded, and are staffed. Volunteers are trained by state DR organizations and are called out by them. Of those few people who are paid to administer our DR efforts, most of their salaries are paid out of the in-state portion of your Cooperative Program gifts.

   3. SBC Disaster Relief is the third-largest disaster relief volunteer organization in the US (or maybe the second), behind the American Red Cross and (perhaps) The Salvation Army in terms of the number of workers. I think this is amazing, especially since Disaster Relief is the main emphasis of ARC and TSA, but is something that many people don’t even associate with Southern Baptists.

   4. Whatever small amount of overhead there is for SBC Disaster Relief is covered entirely by the Cooperative Program and other sources: 100% of your gifts to SBC Disaster Relief actually goes to help victims of disasters. That’s not true about money that you might give through many of the other organizations that you see on television. It is logically impossible for you to find any place to give that will get more of your money to actual disaster relief in Oklahoma than if you give through this link.

   5. The Southern Baptist Convention carefully trains and equips our Disaster Relief volunteers so that they are really able to make a difference. Training is important, because disaster situations already have enough chaos without people’s importing into the area their own additional chaos in their responses to disasters. Every SBC volunteer has been through yellow-cap training. Most have been through specialized training beyond that level. My wife volunteers with SBC Disaster Relief. If the amount of hours I spend babysitting the kids is any good measure of it, our volunteers are well-trained! And that’s a good thing, because effective work in a disaster situation is far more likely to open doors for the gospel than is ineffective (or counterproductive) work.

   6. SBC Disaster Relief is more than mobile kitchens. Southern Baptists have a full panoply of disaster relief services to offer in times of crisis. Not every state will have every kind of unit (because, again, DR is primarily the ministry of the various state conventions, but here’s a list of just a few of the kinds of units that SBC DR can activate:

      1. Mass Feeding
      2. Chainsaw
      3. Cleanout
      4. Temporary Roofing
      5. Child Care
      6. Chaplaincy
      7. Communications
      8. Shower/Laundry
      9. Water Purification
      10. Asset Protection
      11. Box Ministry

      I’m sure that there are more than these, and I don’t even know what all of these are. Southern Baptists have a diverse and effective response ready when disaster strikes!

   7. SBC Disaster Relief exists for the propagation of the gospel. Southern Baptist DR volunteers train to share the gospel. They are encouraged to share the gospel. They are able to promote and to extend the ministries of local churches in disaster-affected areas. They build goodwill for Southern Baptists in areas that have been historically difficult for us in gospel work (ask about SBC DR volunteers in New York City, for example). DR has great potential for the propagation of the gospel.

So, as you think today about what you’ll do for the victims in Moore, OK, don’t forget about what you’ve already done, just by being a contributing part of a Southern Baptist church. And if God should lead you to do more, I can’t think of a better place for you to give and serve than through the Disaster Relief organizations of the Southern Baptist Convention.

For we know the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now… ~ Romans 8:22

Oklahoma is sort of a “stomping grounds” for me.  Though I was born, raised, and presently live in Missouri, I graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2003 with a degree in Meteorology.  People see me going around all over the place with an OU hat and they immediately think, “Football.”  Yes, that’s part of it, but before I became a student there I didn’t grow up with an affinity for a crimson-clad football team.  For me it was all about the weather.

I have had a passion for the weather since I was a child, and ultimately by leading me to OU because of weather and to a wonderful discipleship-focused church and Baptist Student Union, God also led me to become a pastor.

Oklahoma forever has a place in my heart.

Yesterday I was down in Oklahoma doing one of the things I love—chasing storms.  It is not a hobby that should be embraced by just anyone wanting to get good footage for Youtube or the Weather Channel.  Storm chasing is more about safety than it is about a picture or a thrill.

I was north of Tulsa watching a large tornado glide through open country.  That is when it’s enjoyable.

While on the chase, I heard the news that the city of Moore had been devastated by its third major and second destructive tornado in 14 years.  That is when it is heartbreaking.

Whenever we hear news of some major event—a natural disaster especially (massive tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, etc.), we are faced with a question: why does a good, loving, and all-powerful God allow these things to happen?  The short and honest answer for each individual event is: we don’t know.  The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. ~ Deuteronomy 29:29

When it comes to why these things happen in nature, generally, as a whole—the answer Paul gives in Romans 8 is that we live in a broken and fallen world crying out in pain and longing for the freedom of redemption.

When events like this happen, it is a time where we need to be few with our words, slow to speak, and quick to listen.  We need to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15).  We need to love others and serve them in the name of the Only One who can ultimately heal all wounds (Matthew 25:31-40).  And we need to pray.

It is easy for us to tune it out, to turn on the TV when we’re far removed and say, “That’s horrible, those poor people.”  And then get on with our lives.  But even if you live miles away, spend time praying for the people impacted (and not just there, but in other places damaged by storms this spring), for the first responders and the medical centers, and for the area churches as they seek to serve in a compassionate and gospel-centered way.  And also give.  Give blood, if you can; give through the  Red Cross and other good charitable organizations, and give so our own Southern Baptist Disaster Relief program can mobilize and serve.