The Baptist Digest

Trust And Leadership Through Service

2009-07-03T06:17:06+00:00

One of the first lessons that I ever learned about leadership was one that most of you have heard. “You know you are a leader when you look back and see that people are following you.” I have had the experience of being out in front, looking back and seeing that no one was with me. I have also had the experience of looking back and seeing a church right behind. What made the difference?

I believe that there were a number of factors that made the difference. I want to examine one in this column. That factor is “trust”. I run into young pastors who believe that they can lead based upon position. They seem to be saying, “People should be following me just because I am the pastor.”

Now, scripture indicates that the people of God should follow the man of God that serves as the pastor. People, even though they may know the scriptures at this point, will not usually follow a leader that they do not know until they come to the place where they can trust him.

It is not surprising that churches resist the scripture’s injunction. You don’t have to look far to find stories of pastors who were unworthy of trust. There have been pastors who have failed morally or professionally. Many churches have been “burned” by pastors who were not trustworthy.

I am not trying to say that a new pastor cannot exercise leadership from the outset as a pastor. I am trying to say that a pastor will not have confident followers who will go to places of great risk until they know that they can trust him.

Trust and leadership are won through service. People want to know that a pastor will be there for them. They want to know that he has their best interest as his goal. They want to know that he will lead them with spiritual consistency. They want to know that he will be there through thick and thin. They want to know that he really feels called to pastor them and is not just using them as a step to a bigger church. They want to know that he serves God and not himself.

When I first came to my pastorate in Mulvane, a number of people were asking the question, “Are you just here for a short time and then on the road again?” Others wanted to know, “Will you really love us and care about us?” Still others asked, “Will you be a spiritual leader for our congregation?” I had to answer those questions before I could really lead in the way that I wanted.

At Mulvane, I had to serve. I had to be there for the people. I had to show that I was and wanted to be their pastor. When they understood that, I could and did lead.

In the miniseries, “Band of Brothers,” Lieutenant Winters went through a process of gaining the trust of his platoon. The crux came when they first went into combat together on D-Day. He demonstrated that they could trust him to lead and bring the platoon through the rigors of combat. From that point on, he had their unquestioned trust.

As those of us who are called to be pastors lead our people through the spiritual warfare of this world we will truly lead when our people know that they can trust us.

Why Am I At Times Like This?

2009-07-03T06:16:21+00:00

I think much more about myself when I should be more mindful of others? I cause pain to those I love. I chicken out when it comes to standing up to those who hurt others. I act stupidly but I blame others. I make a mess in my life by having unhealthy appetites. Why is speaking badly of others so at home on the tip of my tongue? Why is my soul so broken?

Dare I ask it? Why is yours? Neither you nor I are the first to struggle with answers to our experience of pride.

When asked what is wrong with the world, G.K. Chesterton responded with this shortest essay ever written: “I am.” The reason he was so sure of his response is because of a realistic view of his own sin, which is first and foremost a power inhabiting our physical bodies. Long ago, one of the early Christians told us that sin “tends to make that which is cease to be.”

Jeff Cook sees sin as a parasite in need of a host, which we willingly supply. As a power sin cannot exist on its own. Just like the demons in Jesus’ parable, they take up residence in the house of a willing host.

Early in the life of the church all kinds of saints tried to understand the reality of sin and its manifestations. So they created lists of the most essential elements of sin. One author called these elements “wrong thoughts”. Others prefer to see them as challenges to our faith. Another named them deadly sins. History finally settled on naming seven of them: Pride, envy, sloth, greed, lust, wrath, and gluttony. From these spring all other sins we commit. Rape, violent acts, gossip, adultery, and murder come from anger or wrath or envy or lust. Cheating and hording come from greed. You get the idea.

Why do some call these seven sins the deadly sins? Well, cogitate with me for a moment. For example, a person who is totally possessed by pride, or his heart is strongly grasped by it, will be affected at the deepest levels of his being by his arrogance. Pride’s tentacles extend to all aspects of his life. The way he perceives everything (his whole worldview) is tainted and affected by his high view of himself and low view of others.

Do you own shares in the common stock of pride? Are you a member of the club? Is pride in your life? We all naturally love ourselves; self-love is mandated by our Lord “love your neighbor as yourself.” But when I exaggerate this love of myself or pervert it into contempt for others, I am full of pride. Pride or arrogance is a debilitating, death-thirsty, self-inflicted disease, gone on a rampage in us.

If pride is leprosy, I pronounce myself unclean. Who can deliver me from this deadening sin? Thanks be to God. He owns the business of grave digging and has a monopoly on bringing the dead back to life from the dark tomb of pride.

The proud think they contribute more than they do. They believe they are more important than they really are. Because their own self blinds them, they are unable to recognize the contributions of others. They believe that if they think highly of others somehow they are thinking less of themselves.

One who knows wrote: “Pride is the cause of the most damaging fall for the soul. It induces the Christian to deny that God is his helper and to consider that he himself is the cause of his own virtues” (Evagrius of Ponticus, 345-399 AD). Another, who struggled with pride for a long time wrote: “pride made the soul desert God, to who it should cling as the source of life, and to imagine itself instead as the source of its own life” (Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 AD).

Jeff Cooke adds: “The more I make my life, my well-being, my enlightenment, and my success primary, the farther I step from reality. Thus the hell-bound do not travel downward; they travel inward, cocooning themselves behind a mass of vanity, personal rights, religiosity, and defensiveness” (The Deadly Sins and the Beatitudes, p. 34).

The elder son in the prodigal son story is the epitomy of this kind of pride. It destroyed his ability to connect with his father, his brother, and even his own soul. Pride is the one sin that makes everyone ill and especially the one who has it.

When you find pride in yourself, or in others, you will also find much private thinking, much time spent alone because of disdain of others, and much lone ranger activity; a tenacious unwillingness to submission to authority of any kind.

Christianity in North America suffers today because millions of individual Christians have decided to go it alone without the church. Believing they are right, they do their own thing without any accountability, any submission to authority, deeming themselves captains of their own souls, masters of their own ships, with the determination to seek their own destinies apart from tradition. Pride moved into their neighborhood, and emerged as a virtue. Jesus and me and a few others and to h… with the rest of you… If an implosion of Christianity were to take place in the West, history will judge pride as the fuse that lit the downward spiral.

The antidote of pride is humility, the subject of the next article. Until next month, think through with Jesus about the damage to your soul that pride is wreaking (read Luke 15:11-32; Luke 16. There are great lessons about pride here). Walk a little with the master immersed in His words in these great texts. Look full into His wonderful face. The things of pride may grow strangely familiar.

Preparing For Tomorrow

2009-07-03T06:15:07+00:00

At this writing, the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention takes place this week to discuss and consider future challenges and opportunities facing us in the coming year. In a sense, this meeting is an effort to prepare us for what lies ahead.

I recently became aware of a national survey addressing personal preparedness in America. The purpose of the survey was to evaluate the nation’s progress on personal preparedness and to measure the public’s knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors relative to preparing for a range of hazards.

Key Findings:

Although 78% of respondents believe that preparation, planning, and emergency supplies will help them handle a natural disaster, at least 4 in 10 felt preparations would not make any difference, and at least 27% stated they were not planning to do anything about preparing.

Almost 40% of respondents reported that a primary reason for not preparing is that they believe emergency responders will help them. The sad truth is that a single natural disaster will almost surely overwhelm every community’s ability to respond within the first few hours of the event. As a nation and as communities we are known for underestimating potential threats.

To me, perhaps the most disturbing result reported was that 37% of those surveyed thought a natural disaster would never affect their community. With the wide variety of natural disasters reported throughout our country in a single year, I find myself wondering where they live. I must admit that I am one that tends to pay attention to reported disastrous events and am convinced that no one is immune to disaster, natural or man caused.

Another equally disturbing reported result was that less than 1 in 5 believed there was any threat of an act of terrorism to their communities. This head-in-the-sand point of view must surely come from a belief that our government has somehow corralled all potential terrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan. A quick look at the history of Oklahoma City will reveal the folly of that belief.

The point to this article is that we, as individuals and churches, are not prepared to take the lead in our communities when disaster strikes. There are too few of us who even consider that a disastrous event could be in our future. Worse yet, we as individuals and churches are ill prepared to help our neighbors in need during a disaster. People are never more open to the good news that God loves them than during times of personal disaster.
Perhaps our single greatest opportunity to help a person find Jesus as savior is as we serve their needs following a calamity.

For us to survive a disaster we must be prepared. Fathers must plan for the survival of their families. Pastors must plan for the survival of their flock, and we all must plan to take the lead in helping our neighbors overcome disaster.

Your local association leadership and the KNCSB disaster relief team desire to assist you as you prepare. The work you do in preparation today allows you to lead in tomorrow’s time of need.

Will you step up and assist your pastor and local association missionary as they prepare to lead not only their churches but also their communities in times of disaster?

I am counting on you. God bless you as you serve and lead as the heart and hands of Jesus today.

For more information or to join us as we prepare to lead our communities from disaster to salvation call or email me. (lthomas@kncsb.org - (316) 204-7889)

GPS Across Kansas-Nebraska In 2010

2009-07-03T06:14:34+00:00

By the time you read this, your GPS (God’s Plan for Sharing) State Strategy Team will have met and made some decisions relative to implementing the evangelism emphasis for 2010 which will be FIND IT HERE. The team must have a well-defined strategy in place by August 15 to qualify for almost $30,000.00 which the North American Mission Board has allotted to each state convention for purchasing media. The media purchase is a key component in assisting our churches in their Easter 2010 outreach endeavors.

The emphasis for 2010 will find participating churches intentionally engaged in an evangelistic outreach during the six weeks preceding Easter Sunday. Then, there will be the follow up, engaging new believers in an ongoing discipleship process.

The activities of that six-week period are as follows:

Promotion and Preparation
Prayer Walking our Communities (Cultivating the Soil)
“Find It Here” Door-to-Door Gospel Distribution (Planting the Seed)
Easter Sunday Evangelistic Service (Harvest Time)
Follow-up

The materials, including a Pastor/Church Preparation Guide, will be made available, free of charge, to our churches. Among those materials will be plastic door hanger bags, and professionally prepared materials that complement the media messages. Each church will be encouraged to prepare their own invitations to attend the Easter Worship Celebrations, or will have the option of personalizing some materials prepared by NAMB.

This campaign will be taking place simultaneously across our nation. That means that the FIND IT HERE media blitz will be seen and heard in cities across the United States during the six weeks leading up to Easter Sunday. I cannot help but believe that such a saturation of our country with this message, coupled with the work of individual churches, will plant the Gospel Seed across our land, and we will trust God for the harvest.

It is important that we remember that FIND IT HERE is the first of several emphases for Southern Baptists that will take place between 2010 and 2020. Time and again, Southern Baptists have made it clear that the very reason for our existence as a denomination is evangelism and missions. For years, we have witnessed a decline in the number of baptisms reported by our churches, and so many of our churches are declining in attendance. As mentioned in my May article, this national evangelism initiative is the result of the desire of leaders across our nation to engage in a comprehensive evangelism thrust that will give everyone in our country the opportunity to hear and respond to the Gospel of Jesus Christ by the year 2020.

As our team, in partnership with the North American Mission Board, moves ahead in its planning and promotion, I will share more information as it becomes available. I would simply ask pastors to pray about leading their churches to accept the challenge of GPS in 2010.

SBC Messengers Re-Elect Hunt As President

2009-07-03T06:13:31+00:00

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)—Johnny Hunt, pastor of the Atlanta-area First Baptist Church in Woodstock, was elected without opposition to a second term as president of the Southern Baptist Convention June 23 at the denomination’s annual meeting in Louisville, Ky.

In nominating Hunt, Ken Whitten, pastor of Idlewild Baptist Church in Lutz, Fla., said as he listened to Hunt’s Pastors’ Conference sermon June 22 and presidential address June 23, it “became real obvious” to him that “Dr. Johnny Hunt is God’s sovereign choice to lead Southern Baptists for such a time as this.”

“This past year, we have watched Dr. Hunt and we have seen a man with a mission on his mind and a burden on his heart,” Whitten said. “He has been like Moses: He knows the ways of God. He has been like David: A man who has a heart for God. He has been like Daniel: With courage from God. He has crisscrossed our nation to meet with young pastors and future leaders.”

Whitten described his “favorite thing about Johnny Hunt” as “simply this: Like Barnabas ... Johnny Hunt is an encourager,” Whitten said. “He has mentored pastors and for the past 23 years he has been the senior pastor of one of the greatest churches in America.

“First Baptist Church of Woodstock has shared their pastor with us at their loss and our gain because they believe in his conviction, they believe in his passion, they believe in his vision and they believe that it really is possible to reach a lost world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

John Mark Toby, pastor of Beacon Hill Baptist Church in Somerset, Ky., was elected first vice president over Ken Render, pastor of Lakeside Community Church in St. Clair, Mich. Toby, who serves as president of the Kentucky Baptist Convention, received 64.14 percent (1,039) of the vote compared with Render’s 35 percent (567).

Stephen Rummage, pastor of Bell Shoals Baptist Church in Brandon, Fla., was elected second vice president without opposition.

Southern Baptists Need Renewed Evangelism Emphasis

2009-07-03T06:12:37+00:00

LOUISVILLE, Ky., 6/23/09 – Southern Baptist membership will fall nearly 50 percent by 2050 unless the aging and predominantly white denomination reverses a 50-year trend and does more to strengthen evangelism, reach immigrants, and develop a broader ethnic base, according to data just released by LifeWay Research.

Ed Stetzer, director of LifeWay Research, told editors of the Association of State Baptist Papers on Monday that while SBC membership has risen most years – by as much as 4 percent in 1951 – the rate of increase has been declining by 0.06 percent per year, and the membership change trend line has now passed into negative territory.

“If the 50-year trend continues, projected membership of SBC churches would be 8.7 million in 2050, down from 16.2 million last year,” said Stetzer. “Using U.S. Census projected population figures, SBC membership could fall from a peak of 6 percent of the American population in the late 1980s to 2 percent in 2050.”

Stetzer quoted Cliff Tharp, formerly with LifeWay and an SBC statistician for 35 years, who said, “We have been slowing in our growth and have now passed into decline. We are right at the top of the arc and beginning to go down. But changes we make now can change that trend significantly. These stats are not new but it has never caught anyone’s attention until now.”

Stetzer said there are many factors that can contribute to such decline. One factor is that the mean age of the denomination’s members is increasingly older than the general population, especially in the South, and Southern Baptists are reaching and baptizing fewer young adults. Second, Southern Baptists have failed to keep pace with the rising number of non-white and non-black citizens in the United States.

“The difference in the mean age of Southern Baptists versus the U.S. population shows SBC members older, especially since 1993,” said Stetzer. “Prior to 2000, the difference in ages was not statistically significant, but we started to see a statistically significant divide in the age distribution of SBC members versus the general U.S. population after the turn of the century.”

Meanwhile, the percentage of the non-white and non-black population is very different in the U.S. versus the SBC, said Stetzer, drawing from widely respected General Social Service data. Last year, for example “other” races made up 10 percent of the U.S. population but only 2 percent of SBC membership responding to the GSS.

At the same time, the portion of the U.S. population that is foreign-born is outpacing the segment of foreign-born Southern Baptists. In 2008, 14 percent of the U.S. population was foreign born while only 3 percent of SBC members hailed from other countries.

The gap is particularly evident in the South, where immigrants make up a growing portion of the population, especially since 2000. “The South is becoming increasingly multi-ethnic but the SBC is not keeping pace,” said Stetzer. “Although Southern Baptists have done great work among immigrant and ethnic groups, they are still underrepresented in our denomination. Great opportunity exists for us to share the gospel and minister to people. Ironically, the world is coming to us more quickly than we are going to the world.”

Stetzer also addressed the recent decline in baptisms in Southern Baptist churches, pointing out that while baptisms have fallen every year but one since 1999, the trend line since 1950 shows no discernable pattern. “Baptisms often have risen several years in a row, only to fall for several years following,” he said. “The annual percentage change of total baptisms in the SBC since 1950 is essentially flat. That means total baptisms between now and 2050 are projected to remain roughly unchanged as well. We hope that the last few years of decline are not a trend but just a blip, but there is no way to tell.”

Family Festival Highlights Hispanic Outreach

2009-07-03T06:11:43+00:00

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (BP)—After months of preparation and a week of intensive evangelistic effort, Hispanic Baptists came together June 20 at the Iroquois Amphitheater and Park in Louisville to celebrate “Festival Familiar para toda la Familia” (Family Festival for the Whole Family).

Johnny Hunt, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, took part in the outreach, which tallied about 1,125 registered guests and involved scores of volunteers from nine local Hispanic congregations.

“Hispanics are the largest minority in the nation,” Hunt noted, “and I am grateful for the way Hispanic Baptists are making a difference.”

Reporting 115 professions of faith at the festival and another 198 decisions at Crossover-related events during the previous week, Joshua Del Risco, Hispanic and multi-ethnic people group coordinator for the North American Mission Board, said local churches would follow up with those who had made decisions.

Yurian Santiesteban, the festival’s local coordinator and pastor of Iglesia Bautista Senda de Luz, credited the many who worked together to make it a success.

“The most effective way to reach people for Jesus is to do what Crossover does,” Santiesteban said, smiling ear to ear in spite of his sweat and fatigue. Because of the festival and Crossover, he added, Hispanic churches are already better known in the city.

The nine congregations involved in the festival were Iglesia Bautista Victoria (pastor, Ernesto Font), Iglesia Bautista Senda de Luz (pastor, Yurian Santiesteban), Iglesia Bautista New Cut Road (pastor, Daniel Pupo), Iglesia Bautista Parkland (pastor, Eduardo Cutiño), Iglesia Bautista Cooper Chapel (pastor, Cesar Cano), Iglesia Bautista Getsemani (pastor, Sharaf Gamiochipi), Iglesia Bautista Shelbyville (pastor, Francisco Llerena), Iglesia Bautista Jeffersontown (pastor, Dario Gonzalez) and Iglesia Bautista Fe y Esperanza (pastor, Teofilo Pino).

Jose and Mercedes Rodriguez and their two boys, who have visited one of the churches, Iglesia Bautista Senda de Luz, enjoyed the festival. Jose is a native of Mexico and Mercedes is from Cuba. “There was good organization and everyone had a great time.” Jose said.

Carmelo Arias, a member of Iglesia Bautista Northside in Hialeah, Fla., and a veteran volunteer at many Crossover events, said the ethnic-oriented activities make important inroads into reaching specific communities. She said she personally prayed with 10 people who received Christ.

“It is wonderful to see the great response to the Gospel of the people here at the festival and at the other events,” Arias said. “This is a great way to reach the community for Christ.”

Musicians and worship leaders at the festival included Grupo Caballero (from Denver), Grupo CARMESI (South City, Calif.), local band from Iglesia Senda de Luz (Louisville, Ky.), soloist Mario Solorio (Madera, Calif.) and Marisol (Little Rock, Ark.)

Carlos de la Barra, ethnic associate for the Kentucky Baptist Convention and member of Iglesia Bautista Getsemani in Louisville, said, “The greatness of this event is not just in the outreach but in the manner in which it brought together the nine local churches and their pastors to work in unity and reach out to the community.”

De la Barra said Crossover literally has brought a twofold increase to one congregation, which had 40 members “and now they have 20 new prospects and 20 new believers waiting to be baptized. This is very good for the work in Kentucky.”

The Long Run Baptist Association, Kentucky Baptist Convention and North American Mission Board partnered with the nine local Hispanic congregations in sponsoring the festival.

Sunday School Conference Held In Omaha, NE

2009-07-03T06:10:05+00:00

Sunday School’s purpose is to “lead people to Christ and build on-mission Christians.”

Sunday School directors from Kansas-Nebraska and several other Midwestern states learned how to build more effective ministries. They gathered June 5-6 at Eastern Nebraska Baptist Association in Omaha for the National Sunday School Directors Seminar.

LifeWay Christian Resources, KNCSB and the Iowa convention sponsored the event.

The seminar took an in-depth look at the basics, starting with Sunday School’s purpose:

“Sunday School is the foundational strategy in a local church for leading people to faith in Lord Jesus Christ and for building on-mission Christians through open Bible-study groups that engage people in evangelism, discipleship, fellowship, ministry and worship.”

The definition is long, but all of the components are important, said Wayne Poling, Sunday School specialist for LifeWay.

Concerning open groups, Poling said Sunday School classes need to create a welcoming atmosphere so newcomers can fit in and feel comfortable.

“Each Sunday stands on its own.”

An open group is evangelistic and has an intentional mix of lost and saved people. The end goal is multiplication, Poling said.

The conference also examined “Flake’s Formula”—the principles of Arthur Flake, a Sunday School leader in the early 1900s. He was Sunday School director at First Baptist Church, Winona, Miss. In 1909, Flake became a field worker for the Baptist Sunday School Board (now LifeWay Christian Resources). Then he moved to Nashville in 1920 and joined the board’s staff.

Flake’s Formula can be summarized as “KEEP” and “GO”:

Know your possibilities.
Enlarge the organization.
Enlist and train workers.
Provide the space.
GO after the people.

The Sunday School directors were challenged to make creating new units (new classes or departments) a priority.

“When we create new units, we create new places of ministry,” said Marie Clark, KNCSB team leader for Bible teaching.

She told of First Baptist Church, Burden, Kan., where she led Sunday School training. The church had only one children’s class that was comprised of grades 1-6. But by creating two new classes—one for younger children and the other for older children—each of the new classes has more children attending than the old one.

For more information, go to LifeWay.com/new units

Concerning Flake’s challenge to “go,” Bob Clark challenged the Sunday School directors to obey Acts 1:8. Clark is minister of education at Nall Avenue Baptist Church, Prairie Village, Kan.

“Our job’s not finished until we go.”

Sunday School A Bridge To The Unchurched

2009-07-03T06:09:51+00:00

Sunday School should be a bridge that connects lost people to Christ.

A breakout seminar during the National Sunday School Director Seminar focused on “Connecting Your Sunday School with the Unchurched.” The event was held June 5-6 at Eastern Nebraska Baptist Association in Omaha.

Dean Abernathy urged the Sunday School directors to look at ways they can help their churches reach out through Sunday School. He is a Sunday School specialist at LifeWay Christian Resources.

Abernathy based his remarks on the book, “The Unchurched Next Door,” by Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay.

A Profile of the Unchurched:
1. The unchurched are not anti-church.
2. Most unchurched persons believe in heaven and hell.
3. Moments during or immediately after a crisis provide key opportunities to share Christ.
“These crisis times are when a person is more receptive to hearing the truth,” Abernathy said. Churches need to minister during crises in order to earn the right to share the gospel.
4. They are nervous but willing to discuss matters of faith.
5. Most have a fairly high view of the Bible.
6. Most would rather talk to a layperson than a minister about religious matters.
7. Easter is still a key time to invite the unchurched to attend church.
8. Many wonder why Christian neighbors/co-workers do not invite them to church.
9. Most of the unchurched have a spiritual view of life.

10 Surprises about the Unchurched:
1. Most prefer to attend on Sunday morning if they attend.
2. Females are likely to be the most antagonistic or the most receptive to the gospel.
3. Most of the unchurched feel guilty about not attending church.
4. 82 percent are at least somewhat likely to attend church if invited.
5. Very few have had someone share with them how to become a Christian—Christians are not particularly influential in their lives.
6. Most have a positive view of pastors, ministers and the church.
7. Some types of “cold calls” are effective; many are not.
8. The unchurched would like to develop a real and sincere relationship with a Christian.
9. Their attitudes may not be correlated to where they live, their ethnic or racial background or their gender.
10. Many are far more concerned about the spiritual well being of their children than of themselves.

VBS Themes For 2010 Announced

2009-07-03T06:08:41+00:00

Saddle Ridge Ranch

Saddle Ridge Ranch is the 2010 Vacation Bible School destination where participants will be roundin’ up questions and drivin’ home answers. Set among snowcapped peaks and wide open spaces, the Bible study focus will be on questions real kids ask: “Who am I? Does God care about me? What is God’s plan for me? How can I be like Jesus? What do I do now?”

The VBS 2010 Scripture is James 1:5 – “Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without criticizing, and it will be given to him” (HCSB).

The video for LifeWay’s VBS 2010 follows the adventures of four young cowboys and cowgirls and their wrangler friend, Jed, as they discover that the best adventure is more than riding horses or looking for rattlers – it’s about discovering Jesus who wants to be the Lord of their lives.

Club VBS

Churches who use Club VBS for 2010 will go on a wild cross-country adventure from the nation’s capital to Southern California on Route 254.

They’ll find their destination isn’t determined by miles traveled, but is found in a relationship with Jesus.

Route 254 is an updated version of the popular Ramblin’ Road Trip VBS theme.

More information is coming soon to LifeWay.com/vbs.

Kansas-Nebraska Baptist Nursing Fellowship Update

2009-07-03T06:07:15+00:00

Kansas-Nebraska Baptist Nursing Fellowship (KNBNF) members have been busy this spring, and there are many more ministry opportunities available later this summer.

On April 17-18, more than 20 members and guests attended the first continuing education spring seminar, “Unto the Least of These: Preparing to Serve.” Attendees were challenged and educated regarding health ministry at home and overseas. Mercy and Truth Medical Missions staff presented the conference and provided the meeting location. Those in attendance were impressed with the facility and staff, and toured the Birthing Center for low-income patients in Kansas City, Kan.

Maxine Thorne, BNF member, went to Peru with Strategic Mission Partnership in May. She worked with a medical team led by Dr. Keith Brown from Reno, Nevada. They saw 750 patients in the clinics, did 19 surgeries in a local hospital, and shared the gospel wherever they went.

Two nurses are still needed to help with Super Summer during the following camps: July 13-17; July 20-24; and one additional person August 3-7. (Contact Beth Payne at bpayne@kncsb.org or (800)984.9092 if you are interested.)

Nurses are also needed at the KNCSB Men’s Softball Tourney in Topeka at Rueger Park from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 15. You may volunteer for all day or part of the day. (Contact John Lucas at lucas-john_kncsb@cox.net.)

Each year we struggle to get enough nurses to cover these needs, so PLEASE consider giving of your time to help out this year. You will be blessed! You do not need to be a BNF member to volunteer.

For more information on other ministry opportunities or KNBNF, contact Gloria Burk at gjburk@everestkc.net or call at 913-488-7343.

Featured Video

2009-07-03T06:06:56+00:00

Experiencing God: knowing and doing the will of God - youth edition revised (DVD)
By Henry Blackaby

This 9-session study (approximately 15 viewing minutes for each session) guides students through a crucial understanding of knowing God and joining Him where He’s at work. It is designed for teens to carefully study, understand, and apply biblical principles to their lives. It is about helping them experience God—day-by-day, moment-by-moment. The X-perience follows the lives of five teenagers who find themselves on a mission trip gone wrong, a car wreck, an auto theft ring, a pack of wolves, wrestling with their relationships with each other, and their relationships with God. Teens will see a plot unfold and discover how the principles in this study relate to their lives. A student book will be needed for each participant.

God’s Will and Your Life
Looking to God
God Pursues a Love Relationship
Love and God’s Invitation
God Speaks (parts 1 & 2)
The Crisis of Belief
Adjusting Your Life to God
Experiencing God Through Obedience

Volunteers Needed

2009-07-03T06:04:59+00:00

Volunteers are needed for a mission trip October 15-26 to a coastal area in Brazil.

Scott Mayse is recruiting the team that will share Christ in the Santos area of that country. Mayse was pastor of BYKOTA Southern Baptist Church, Pleasanton, Kan., for 18 years. He is now an enlistment coordinator for International Commission, which stages volunteer trips all over the world. International Commission cooperates with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board.

Santos is located nearly 50 miles from the metropolitan area of Sao Paulo. It is the biggest seaport in Latin America and also is a major tourist area. Many Brazilians have second homes there, where they spend holidays and vacations. The mission team will be working with the Baptist Association of the Coast of Sao Paulo State.

Mayse led a team to Nicaragua a few weeks ago. Long-time Kansas pastor Carl Garrett was a part of the team. Garrett celebrated his 70th birthday on that trip and saw 42 people accept Christ on his birthday.

As a veteran of 14 mission trips to Central and South America, Mayse has seen God move in powerful ways. To learn more about the Brazil trip or other mission opportunities, call Scott at 913.731.0539 or send e-mail to ScottM@IC-World.org.

Plans Gear Up For WWW

2009-07-03T06:04:03+00:00

There she is! That’s Kelly Minter! Sharyn, Calah and I were so excited to meet her in person, knowing she is to be the keynote speaker for Wonderful Weekend for Women Sept. 11-12. Kelly proved to be very real, approachable, and such a Godly woman.
Kelly authors her Living Room Series from which her recent Bible study, “No Other Gods,” comes. I personally love the format of this study where you receive food for your soul, but also get wonderful recipes like chicken scallopini and warm chocolate cake with ice cream; suggested candle scents like lavender, pineapple, and sugar cookies, and playlists for each weekly gathering.

During WWW Kelly will be sharing from her new book on Ruth, which will not be released until fall. Come on girls! It’s going to be a fab weekend — worship with Always Only, five life session opportunities, fun, fellowship, and girl-time!

Promo and registration materials are in your church now. Check out our Web site at http://www.kncsb.org/ministry/women for information on life sessions, leaders and the schedule

Heart To Heart

2009-07-03T06:03:31+00:00

When I opened the email that said, “Tara, your Web source is missing on page 9,” my heart sunk. How could it be missing?

Sure enough, when I opened the page it no longer existed. I felt sick to my stomach. I sent that source off with my thesis paper for my seminary application. What will they think of me?

My husband and I tried hard to search computer engines to find the quote, but to no avail. It was gone.

Suddenly, I found myself sitting with a test before me. Do I let it go and hope they do not find it, or do I let them know and run the risk that they not accept me for misquoting a source. I prayed and sought counsel. I knew I had to risk being denied acceptance in order to clarify what happened.

With apprehension I sent off the email explaining to my professor what happened. And then I waited! I don’t like tests and I definitely don’t like waiting!

I recently read that the purpose of a test is not to tell the teacher what the student knows, but to show the student what she knows. The reality that God knew my heart proved enough for me. This test became an open window into my soul.

I will confess for a moment I wanted to let it ride and just see what happened. I discovered that my test on honesty revealed an area in my heart that still needed some work.

Just as the test revealed my ugly-for-a-moment side, it also showed me the eternal beauty within. I did not follow through with the temptation to wait it out. I spoke up. Suddenly, my test revealed what God already knew. I would seek faithful obedience even if it hurt.

What kind of tests are you enduring? I can only imagine they are unbearable at times. I know mine are unbearable at times. Remember, the Father will provide a way of escape (1 Corinthians 10:13.) The question we have to ask ourselves is: Do I want to escape? That in and of itself is a revelation of what resides within us. Amazing, huh?

Simply,
Tara

Glow…‘Light in Africa’

2009-07-03T06:02:20+00:00

Have you ever looked out your car window and there sat a gigantic lion? I didn’t know whether to take a picture and enjoy the thought that I was this close to a lion or to tell the driver to stomp on the gas pedal. As I was trying to decide what to do, I looked over at my friend, Dianna Bartel, and she is hanging out the back of the car with her camera in hand.

What else would you do if you had a chance to go to Africa? Every day we have missionaries serving all around the world. These missionaries experience things that we can’t even begin to imagine.

If you would like to hear some of the things missionaries are doing in Africa we would like to invite you to Glow, an overnight retreat for mothers and their daughters in grades 1- 6. Glow stands for “God’s Light Over the World.” This year we will be focusing on “Light in Africa” as we worship with Susan Cunningham, Topeka, Kan., listen to a missionary serving in Africa, play games, do a ministry project, and so much more.

Make plans to come Oct. 2-3 to Webster Conference Center, Salina, Kan. For additional information, contact Heidi at hnelson@kncsb.org or (800) 984-9092. Packets and registration information will be in your church soon.

Built For Significance

2009-07-03T06:01:39+00:00

The fourth annual KNCSB Men’s Retreat, Built For Significance, will be held at Webster Conference Center on October 16-17, 2009. This year a new retreat for men is being premiered in our state convention. The new retreat, Built For Significance, is a recent development by the North American Mission Board. The event will start on Friday at 6:00 p.m with dinner and conclude on Saturday at 5:00 p.m. with a worship and praise service.

The developer of the retreat, Jim Burton, Mission Education Team Leader at the NAMB, describes the retreat as a way to help men align with God’s mission in their life and family. It is an experience designed to help men answer the question, “Why am I here?” Jim Burton believes that every Christian man should feel his life counts for something. Do we men have a process to help us know that “We are built for significance?” Well, I believe we are, but what does that mean? The “Built for Significance Men’s Mission Retreat” is a three session study on subjects concerning God’s call to men for missions.

In addition to the retreat’s three sessions, there will be three worship and praise services, twenty-four different classroom breakout sessions and a group prayer session. Each attendee will receive a workbook that will help him to discover why he is significant. John Lucas, KNCSB Baptist Men’s Ministry Director, expects well over two-hundred men to attend this year. Evaluations and feedback from previous years has clearly indicated that men earnestly appreciate this event.
Jim Burton and a team from NAMB will lead the retreat itself and another twenty-four presenters with knowledge and skill in various areas of ministry will lead the breakout sessions. Those men attending will discover what all men should know, “They are built for significance by God.” This year’s event builds on last year’s retreat when men learned how God, through Christ, molds them into what they were meant to become in The Kingdom of God.

Some of the breakout sessions will cover these topics: Chaplaincy Ministry; Disaster Ministry; Being A Christian Man In Today’s World; Back To the Heart of Worship; Men In Prayer; Marriage and Communication In Marriage; Starting Men’s Ministry In the Church; Evangelism Training; How Men Deal With Conflict; Men Dealing With Emotions; Men Dealing With Grief and Loss, New and Exciting Ways To Do Ministry and Meeting the Needs of Hurting People.

A mailing to all KNCSB churches will occur in July with registration information and breakout session selections. Anyone wishing to have information on Baptist Men’s ministry can contact: John Lucas, Men’s Ministry Director, KNCSB, 5410 SW Seventh Street, Topeka, KS 66606; Office: 800-984-9092, Ext. 817 (785.228.6800); Email: lucas-john_kncsb@cox.net.

All To Jesus

2009-06-03T19:05:10+00:00

All to Jesus I surrender, all to him I freely give. Surrender or submission is a lofty ideal. Surrendering to Jesus is a joy with a price tag. It is fit for kings and paupers alike as New Testament amply shows.

Submission is one Christian discipline without a loophole. Every one in the church must do it (1 Peter 5:5; Ephesians 5:21). As those who walk with Jesus, we are to walk humbly, as open books, with see-through lives, and in readiness to confess our faults and make amends. “The Way of Jesus knows no submission outside the context of mutual submission, of all to all” (cf. Phil 2:3). This is the Christian way. If your heart is tender toward Jesus, you are learning this way. It is the way of mercy and grace. It is the way of Mary, the mother of our Lord, who said “May it be according to your will.” I don’t have to wonder where Jesus first learned submission.

Not many of us make it a habit to submit to our leaders or to fellow-followers of Jesus. Not habitually anyway. Not willingly. We would rather find fault with our leaders, criticize them or even demonize them, all to escape the mandate to submit. There is no exception clause in the following commands: Obey, or be responsive, to those who have rule over you or who lead you or have oversight of the flock… Mimic the way they follow Jesus (Hebrews 13:17; 1 Peter 5:2-3). One strong mark of leadership is the pledge to be an example of a life well lived before God and his people. Our skills and performance may take us a ways in leading people. Our character, the healthy and godly shape our hearts, souls, minds, and bodies are in will take us the rest of the way.

The other side of submission is control, a notion that some leaders wrongly believe is their God-given right. Authority is falsely interpreted as the right to control. The authority a leader has to lead is granted to him by God and is matched by the willingness of the souls he leads. Followers will always react negatively to being controlled. A heavy-handed leader may crush or drive away the flock. Let him who lead, instead, lead gently in the power of truth and mercy, which inhabit his soul. Let him put away drivenness and in its place acquire submission.

My question to you, dear reader, is this, “are you submissive?” A spiritual leader submits by being first a follower who makes it a habit to serve others. A Christian leader who does not follow by serving others is in trouble. Our Creator Lord became a servant and by taking on servanthood he raised its importance to the highest level possible. When a leader shuns notoriety, you are in the presence of a God-given humility.

Another question I raise for you to consider: Are you humble enough to let another give some direction and guidance to your growth and transformation into the image of the Son (Romans 8:29)? In Hebrews 10:25 the writer encourages mutual prodding toward perseverance in love and good works. Leaders serve others and give of themselves. Unless they are also receiving from others the balance of give and take is off.

How then do we learn submission? Is there a training regimen that helps us nail it down as a life habit?

1. Constantly envision that Christ-like submission is one of your life’s goals. Hide in your heart that song the early church sung as found in Philippians 2:1-11. Let the mind of Christ be in you. After you have memorized this passage, make it a daily meditation of your heart. Remind yourself constantly that you are a submissive servant before you are an influential leader.

2. Make the vision become a reality by making a strong public commitment. The truth is that if we don’t make it an intentional thing to do, submission will remain elusive. Tell people close to you that you are working on becoming a submissive person and that you are willing to be held accountable for it.

3. Use several means available to you to bolster your intentions. In other words, the means of submission must be part of your daily life. Prayer for submission to God and others daily is in order. Asking one or two colleagues to input freely into your life where they notice that you are being unsubmissive. Take your turn serving others around you on a regular basis. Examine your heart periodically to see where a spirit of independence is making its home in you.

Walking with the Master is training to be like the Master. He himself predicted that a pupil is not above his teacher but when the pupil is fully formed he will be like his teacher (Luke 6:40). Christ did the ultimate surrender. Study his life and ask His Holy Spirit to teach you.

Christianity Revived In American Life

2009-06-03T19:00:19+00:00

For the last several months, I have received numerous emails, had phone calls, or had personal conversations in which friends expressed their concern about the future of religious freedom in the United States. There have been a number of conspiracy theories that have circulated since President Obama was sworn into office. The latest was concern that his administration was working to get all religious broadcasters off of television.

As many of you may know, Baptists have been at the forefront of the battle for religious freedom since the seventeenth century. We were instrumental in seeing that religious freedom was incorporated into the Constitution. We have consistently fought for the right of even cult type movements to have freedom of religious expression, knowing that oppressing them could eventually be turned against us as well.

Are we in danger of seeing our religious liberty being curtailed? It is very possible that we could see attempts made in that direction. Those of us who are conservative in our faith are the objects of disdain by the elitists in our culture. It is almost certain that the Obama administration will be less favorable toward conservative religious sentiments than more recent administrations. How far a liberal agenda will succeed during his presidency remains to be seen.

I want you to consider, however, that we should not panic or be frightened even if our worst imaginings should become a reality. The Kingdom of God will go on even if the United States turns away from religious freedom. In fact, being culturally sidelined or even persecuted might lead to an even greater work of God in our midst.

Let’s face it. We have become spoiled with our religious freedom. We have assumed that politicians and the leaders of our culture could somehow be made to yield to our interests. We have substituted political action for spiritual striving. We have trusted in our ability to move politicians more than we have trusted a God who can move mountains.

In teaching church history for a number of years, I have reminded my students that one of the worst things that happened for the spiritual dynamism of the church was the legalization of Christianity by Constantine. Do a little reading and you will see that a partnership between church and state always works to the disadvantage of the Kingdom of God.

What will happen if we move into disfavor in our culture? Perhaps, we will have to really get serious about living out our faith. Maybe we can escape the situation we are in now where lost people have difficulty seeing the difference between Christians and everyone else around us. Maybe we will be driven to living out our faith radically so that we can make a real difference in our culture.

I wonder if that is what it will really take for Christianity to be revived in American life.

Leading Healthy Churches

2009-06-03T06:14:08+00:00

Last month it was my privilege to participate in the North American Mission Board’s annual gathering of “Northern Plains” directors of mission known as the APPLE conference. For the life of me, I don’t know what APPLE stands for, however the conference is a time of fellowship, sharing and peer learning. About 50 directors of mission from states all across the nation attended the Denver Colorado event.

There were informative workshops, knowledge imparting seminars, facilitated discussions, and a director of missions “prep” course for those interested in becoming associational missionaries. The workshops ranged from “how-tos” all the way to “how shoulds”. The seminars covered ministry areas of interest such as conflict resolution, risk-management, and intentional strategy development. There were only a couple of facilitated discussions, and it was my pleasure to facilitate a dialogue on leading a healthy church.

To prepare for this challenge, I conducted a Google search of the words “church health” to get a feel for how the subject might be defined today. To my surprise, that search resulted in 110,000,000 references. Obviously, there is much interest as well as numerous opinions on this subject. There were websites devoted entirely to the subject along with doctoral papers arguing varying points of view.

Most of these efforts focused on identifying the right mix of generally agreed to functions that would result in congregational membership numerical growth. Some, like Rick Warren, author of the popular book The Purpose Driven Church, took the position that a church’s health is better gauged by counting the number of believers going out from the pews taking God’s message of love and reconciliation through Jesus into their workplaces and communities than in counting the number of people in the pews on Sunday.

Simply put, the result of my limited research indicated that this world needs healthy churches and most western church leaders find themselves running on a treadmill answering to the tyranny of the urgent while focusing no further into the future than next Sunday’s sermon.

Not surprisingly, the healthy church “take-a-ways”, those things we didn’t want to forget, were simple and straightforward.

Healthy churches do mission “things”, not simply activities. Success in western culture today is gauged by the amount of activity present in a person’s life. Web sites such as Twitter and Facebook are examples of activities that promote quantity over quality in relationships. Sadly, this seems to be the case for churches also. Regardless of where this “gauge” comes from, activity for activity’s sake robs us as individuals and the church of the quality of life we desperately need. Externally focused mission activities introduce people to Jesus to meet their individual spiritual needs and provide for their physical and emotional needs also.

Healthy churches develop people not programs. A feeling of resistance sometimes referred to as “push-back” toward traditional Southern Baptist program ministry surfaced. The general consensus was that ministry activity must be based on guidance and priority established by Jesus and scripture, namely the development of disciples (Matthew 28:18-20 and Acts 1:8) and the work of the local church today. The ideas expressed in Tom Rainer’s book Simple Church were very popular.

Healthy leaders are essential to healthy churches. Intentional leader development is essential to church health. Helping church leaders refocus from church-activity based leadership to community-engaged leadership is accomplished through relational coaching. The ability to coach church leaders is perhaps the most essential skill an associational missionary must possess.

I thank God for those who participated in this dialogue. Their faith in God and devotion to Jesus and His church inspired me. It is my prayer that this report has stirred your heart, as the experience stirred mine. I am thankful to be counted as worthy to share it with you. God bless you as you serve and lead and remember to enjoy the blessings He created for you this day.

As always, if you would like to learn more about helping believers become disciplers of disciples through “mission” activities that make a difference one soul at a time please call me at (316) 204-7889.

GPS - And We’re Not Talking About Technological Devices

2009-06-03T06:13:46+00:00

In February of this year, I sent a brochure and a letter to every pastor/church in our convention introducing the evangelism initiative of Southern Baptists that will carry us through the year, 2020. It is known as GPS – God’s Plan for Sharing. In this and in subsequent articles I want to share the “nuts and bolts” of an emphasis that has the potential to unite Southern Baptists in an evangelistic thrust that will see many people born into the Kingdom of God.

I want to take this opportunity to repeat some of the things that I wrote in the above-mentioned letter. I provided answers to three questions that I felt would be posed by pastors and their congregations. They were as follows:

HOW DID ALL OF THIS COME ABOUT?

In 2006, State Evangelism Directors, Seminary Professors of Evangelism, the Evangelism Team of the North American Mission Board, and many others, challenged each other to seek the Lord’s direction for a comprehensive strategy to engage the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention in an extended period of intensive intentional evangelism in their respective communities.

IS THIS ANOTHER DENOMINATIONAL PROGRAM WE ARE BEING ASKED TO ADOPT?

No. It is a joint commitment between partners. The North American Mission Board (NAMB) and the State Conventions are committing their energy and resources to assist churches in Praying, Engaging, Sowing and Harvesting.

WHAT IS THE TIMELINE FOR GPS?

2009 – Year of Commitment and Preparation
2010 – 2020 – Every Believer Sharing…Every Person Hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
2010 – God’s Plan for Sharing (GPS) will be Across America, more specifically for us, Across Kansas-Nebraska.

Every two years of the decade (2010—2010) NAMB and the State Conventions will produce resources for a new GPS emphasis to be easily and inexpensively shared with the churches.

I have assembled a GPS Team for KNCSB. The team had its first meeting on May 14, to begin work on the God-sized task of strategizing and implementing the emphasis for 2010. The team members are Tim Boyd, Nate Butler, Randy Caddell, Jay Dess, Joanna Cowel, Bob Mills, and Jon Sapp. The team’s first task is to inform and enlist the participation of our churches, and to develop a strategy for media purchases for the 2010 Across Kansas-Nebraska Campaign. Please pray for this team.

In a nutshell, the 2010 emphasis involves a media saturation that complements materials that churches will be encouraged to deliver to homes in their communities inviting folks to Easter Sunday services. Pastors will be encouraged to share an evangelistic message on Easter Sunday with expectations of an ingathering of lost people to place their faith in Christ as Lord and Savior.

More particulars of GPS will be shared in future articles. In my February letter I wrote that some of the saddest words ever spoken are, “I wish we had.” On the other hand, some of the most positive words uttered are, “I’m glad we did.” The first set of words refer to lost opportunity…the second, to realized fortune. I hope that our churches will grasp the opportunity provided by GPS to be able to say, “We’re glad we did.”

The Super Summer That Never Ended

2009-06-03T06:12:02+00:00

In the student ministry world, people have been trying for years to bottle up the excitement and closeness to Christ that is evident at their summer camps and bring it home. Year after year we go to camps and on the last evening (you know the one where everyone cries) we talk as a group about how to “keep the fire burning” when we get home. We ask, “How can we share this same feeling with our friends and peers back in our hometown?” Camp ends, you drive home and the students are excited about their relationship with God… until the following week. They get back into the world and the world gets back into them and the fire they felt at camp is nothing more than a smoldering ember barely emitting any smoke. The above has been the story of my camp life from when I was a camper and now as a leader, until Super Summer 2008.

Our church had historically closed down for the summer except for Sunday services. About six weeks after our final meeting before the summer, 31 students arrived with their bags and bedding and loaded up on the bus to head to Webster Conference Center for Super Summer 2008.

This was not my typical group. We had a lot of new students, friends and friends of friends. Among them, was an openly agnostic student. It was time for worship on the opening night. I was ready for some loud and crazy band to get up on stage, introduce themselves, and tell us why they were there and why they were good at their instruments; but that didn’t happen! With no introduction, the worship leader begins to sing… “Turn your ear to heaven and hear the noise inside…O Praise Him.” Then the camp pastor gets up, opens up The Word, and shares from the heart of God. The place was moved by the power of the Holy Spirit. Night after night this happened. I could only think about what it must have been like in Acts 4:31 where the place they were meeting was SHAKEN!

Never before in my life have I been involved in such a movement of the Holy Spirit as I was at Super Summer 2008. It was amazing! When we left, I received the decision cards for our church and 14 of the 31 students that we brought made some sort of a decision for Christ. Most were rededications and there were a couple of vocational ministry decisions; but there were also a couple of salvation decisions, one being the agnostic student who we had brought! On the way home I just kept thinking to myself about how cool it would be if we could keep this momentum going and bring this fire back to our group at home.

At the request of the students, we immediately started meeting again during the summer and I started noticing something amazing. These camp decisions were actually real to these students. They started getting serious about their relationship with the Lord. They started inviting friends to church. They started evangelizing!

Since we got home from Super Summer 2008, West Haven Student Ministries has seen our average attendance more than double. We are not shutting down for the summer; but most importantly, we have seen 50 students come to know the Lord as their personal Savior! Praise be to God!

As I write this, my desk is cluttered with registration forms for Super Summer 2009. With eager anticipation, I cannot wait to see what God is going to do this year!

Super Summer 2009

2009-06-03T06:11:26+00:00

Campers attending Super Summer 2009 will be challenged to become “positive rebels.”

The 2009 camp theme is “Rebellion,” based on Romans 12:2 (CEV).

“What we’re promoting is a positive rebellion –- go home and do the things of Christ,” says Terry McIlvain, KNCSB director of youth ministries.

Super Summer opens on June 23 at Webster Conference Center, Salina, Kan., and runs through Aug. 7. The first week will be devoted to Hispanic Super Summer, back for its sixth year.

When campers arrive at WCC, they will find the new multipurpose building ready to be used, although it will not be totally completed. For example, the gym floor is not scheduled to be installed until fall.

The 2009 Super Summer offering will again go toward paying for the gym floor. In 2008, campers gave $23,000 to the camp offering. Since then, KNCSB youth have given approximately $5,000 for the gym floor.

The new multipurpose building will provide larger and more comfortable meeting places for church groups, McIlvain added.

As far as recreation facilities, campers will find new elements on both the low- and high challenge courses.

Super Summer campers also will have the opportunity to learn about KNCSB disaster-relief ministries. When they arrive at camp on Monday of each week, the main KNCSB feeding unit will be on display. Disaster-relief volunteers will feed campers a light meal from the feeding unit.

Photos from each week of Super Summer will be posted at http://justforyouth.com/ Click on “scrapbook” in the menu bar in the upper right-hand corner of the page.

Lenexa Baptist Church Dedicates New Sanctuary

2009-06-03T06:10:24+00:00

Members of Lenexa Baptist Church, Lenexa, Kan., celebrated the dedication of their new worship center on Sunday, April 26.

“I’m so grateful and overwhelmed at what God has done,” Pastor Steve Dighton said. Dighton is the church’s founding pastor and has served there for 19 years. He is the KNCSB immediate past president.

“Our church is not a building. We are the building,” Dighton reminded the crowd filling the 1,200-seat sanctuary. He used I Corinthians 3:9-17 as the text for his dedication message.

The dedication service paid tribute to the contractors, the church building committee and the church staff.

LifeWay Church Architects, Nashville, Tenn., designed the building after developing the master plan on the property in the 1990s. Pearce Construction Company of Kansas City, Mo., was the general contractor.

The church relocated in 2001 from a former office building at 8865 Bourgade to its present location on 87th Street Parkway about a mile east of Interstate 435.

Lenexa Baptist’s story was featured in a special advertising supplement in the Kansas City Star on Sunday, April 26.

“Since Lenexa Baptist moved to its present location, the average worship attendance has increased from about 500 to 2,200,” an article in the supplement said.

(The church moved into the new worship center on March 1. Worship attendance on Easter was nearly 3,500 people.)

“In 2005, Thom Rainer (now president of LifeWay Christian Resources) named Lenexa Baptist one of just 13 `breakout churches’ in America in his book `Breakout Churches’,” the article continued.

“Two years later the church was recognized by LifeWay Research as one of 19 Standout Churches in the Southern Baptist Convention. The award was the result of a 10-year study on effective evangelistic churches.”

In 2011, Lenexa Baptist Church will play host to the KNCSB annual meeting. The 2009 annual meeting will be held Oct. 12-13 at Country Acres Baptist Church, Wichita, Kan. In 2010, the meeting will be held in Kearney, Neb., with the site to be announced.

Visit Lenexa Baptist’s Web site at http://www.lenexabaptist.com/

Bible Drill Held At Webster

2009-06-03T06:09:30+00:00

The State Children and Youth Bible Drill was held Saturday, April 18 in the new chapel at Webster Conference Center. Over 90 people attended the event including the participants, parents, leaders and friends.

The Children’s Bible Drill had 18 participants representing five churches and four associations. We had one child with a perfect score, nine winners and eight participants.
The three Youth Bible Drillers represented two churches and associations. The first place winner received a scholarship of $200.00; second place $100.00; third place $75.00. The scholarships are intended to provide financial assistance for the young people to attend any youth function sponsored by their church, the association, the state convention, or the Southern Baptist Convention. The winners of this year’s competition are listed below.

This was the second year Delores Hanneman, Drill and Tournament Coordinator, led the drill as the coordinator for KNCSB. Nine adults from Kansas-Nebraska volunteered their time and expertise to serve as judges, timekeeper, and as the tally committee.
The 2010 event is scheduled for April 17th. The 2010 Bible Drill and Speakers’ Tournament information will be mailed to the churches in August 2009.

Youth Bible Drill
1st – Joseph Reinert, First Southern Baptist Church, El Dorado
2nd –Hanna Sims, Emmanuel Chinese, Lenexa
3rd – Jonelle Reinert, First Southern Baptist Church, El Dorado
Children’s Bible Drill
1 Perfect Winner (PW), 9 Winners (W), 8 Participants (P)
Cedar Pointe, Wichita
Nate Dugger (W), Ashlyn Levins (W), Ginger Pearmain (P)
Emmanuel Chinese, Lenexa
Rikki Li (W), Jeffrey Song (P), Steele Stewart (W), Trish Xue (P)
FSBC, Coffeyville
Leanne Bale (W), Levi Best (P), Nick Noland (PW), Bethany Schofield (P), Megan Tomey (W)
FSBC, El Dorado
Shawn Luehrs (P), Jordan Reinert (W)
Pleasantview, Derby
Brett Bell (W), Diana Lawson (W), Kaylie Opskar (P), Walton Pan (P)

KNCSB Students Prepare For Return Trip To Tokyo

2009-06-03T06:08:07+00:00

A team of Kansas-Nebraska students and adults will return to Tokyo, Japan, to build relationships with the goal of sharing the gospel.

June 2009 marks the second KNCSB mission team serving in Tokyo, the world’s largest city with a population of 33 million.

Evangelical believers comprise only one half of one percent of the population, said Terry McIlvain, KNCSB director of youth ministries.

This year’s KNCSB team will be comprised of approximately 40 students and five adults.

The project is a partnership with I Go Global ministries in cooperation with local International Mission Board workers. (Visit the I Go Global Web site at http://igoglobal.org/)

Team members will attend orientation June 7-8 at Webster Conference Center, Salina, Kan. They will fly to Japan on June 9.

While in Japan, the team will have full days of outreach activities, all designed to meet people and build relationships.

“We’re there to learn their culture, make friends, build relationships,” McIlvain said.

The Japanese are a “very relational people,” he continued. “They are not a fast-responding culture” to the gospel.

When a Japanese person makes a commitment to Christ, it will be “super serious. To choose to follow Christ is to pay a cost in family relationships.”

A typical day in Tokyo for the KNCSB team will consist of:

Beginning the day with group worship.
Going in groups to Tokyo neighborhoods along the subway. They will prayer walk, put tracts in mailboxes and invite people to lunch.
The entire team will meet for lunch and fellowship.
After lunch, they will go to subway stations and hold free 5-minute English lessons.
They will then go to parks where they will try to build relationships with people.
After arriving back at their lodging facility for the night, they will e-mail people they have met.

McIlvain asks Kansas-Nebraska Southern Baptists to begin praying now for the 2009 Japan team. Please pray for:

Health, stamina and travel safety
“Meaningful connections to be made and that they will be open to hearing the gospel presentation.”
For the students to “capture the missional mindset and apply it when they get home.”

Kaleidoscope 2009 Focuses On Canadian Partnership

2009-06-03T06:07:43+00:00

“What is a partnership?”

“Teamwork,” was one of the replies.

Kaleidescope of Missions 2009 focused on “Canada: Our Partners in the North.” The annual missions day camp for children was held Saturday, May 2, in four locations across Nebraska and Kansas.

Mari Jaquith of the KNCSB staff led the missions session at the event held at Parkway Baptist Church, Kansas City, Kan.

“Our 400 churches in Kansas-Nebraska are joining with the Canadian Baptist churches,” she said.

Canada is the second largest country in the world. There are approximately 250 Southern Baptist churches scattered across the vast nation.

Along with doing crafts related to Canada, children attending Kaleidescope wrote postcards to encourage the Southern Baptist pastors and their families.

KNCSB’s partnership with Canada is now focusing on the province of Saskatchewan. A recent team, led by Jaquith, led a women’s retreat off the eastern edge of Canada on Prince Edward Island.

Canadians have joined KNCSB in partnership efforts in the United States.

After Hurricane Katrina struck in late August 2005, KNCSB worked with Arkansas, its partner convention, in rebuilding in New Orleans. In February 2007, a group of 35 Canadians joined that effort.

A year later in February 2008, the Canadians worked with KNCSB in Greensburg, Kan., in rebuilding in the aftermath of the horrific tornado.

Prayer was an important part of Kaleidescope. The children were urged to pray for requests sent by Ellen Cone, a staff member of the Canadian National Baptist Convention. She asked the children to pray for her as encourages Canadian churches to be active in missions.

Cone also sought prayer for the Canadian convention as it seeks to start 1,000 new churches by the year 2020.

Visit the Canadian convention’s Web site at http://www.cnbc.ca/

Eble Consults With Churches On Physical/Spiritual Health

2009-06-03T06:06:47+00:00

There are some things so basic and foundational to good physical health, you not only have to start with them, you must return to them over and over again. Posture is one of those things.

As I sit here and type this I am mindful of the fact that I need to have my work surface adjusted to elbow level, with my elbows in close to my body and my arms hanging freely from my shoulders. This keeps me from shrugging my shoulders up toward my ears and creating tension that will lead to very sore neck muscles.

My feet should rest firmly on the ground or a footrest, and my back rest is adjusted to fit the lumbar region of my spine. I then must sit tall, right up off my sitting bones so that my hips, shoulders and ears are in nice alignment.

Keep yourself aligned

Try the standing version. Stand with your feet hip width apart, knees soft, draw your belly button toward your back, then lift your ribcage up, elongating your waist. Next, stretch your arms out to the side, palms up, thumbs back. Press your shoulders down away from your ears, and pull your shoulder blades together. Then lower your arms to your sides without letting your shoulders round forward.

Stretch the top of your head upward; get as tall as you can, stay in this position for some minutes. Keep practicing these positions until they become a natural, comfortable place to be.

Don’t slump!

When you slump over, your chest muscles shorten and your back muscles stretch. You must counteract this by stretching your pecs and strengthen your back. If you don’t work at this, over time you will walk more and more in a slumped over, head forward position that will be very hard to correct. Besides that, when you sit or stand in a slump, you cannot breathe from your diaphragm. And you need that deep breath.

We benefit tremendously when we take the time to mindfully align our physical bodies in daily work. We can breathe deep, we don’t injure our back, our neck feels no strain, and at the end of the day, we are tired, but not hindered in our work.

This applies to our spiritual health as well. There are foundational things that we must come back to over and over again.

Perfect Posturing

As I sit here I am mindful that God is God and I am not. My heart and hands are His and no matter what task I am at, it should be for His praise and glory. My feet firmly planted on the foundation that Christ has laid.

Keep Yourself Aligned

We must daily discipline ourselves to meet with the Master, study His Word, stand up for Truth and walk in a manner worthy of one who is called out.

Don’t Slump

When our lifestyle doesn’t match up with what we confess to believe we walk in the flesh and cause others to stumble. We must counteract this by strengthening our spiritual muscles, practicing love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. We would walk in the spirit and give no room for the flesh.

We benefit tremendously when we take the time to mindfully align our lives with the living God who created us and knows us far better than we know ourselves. When we begin each day with Him, we can breathe easy, we don’t injure others, our joy is not strained and at the end of the day, we are tired but not hindered in our walk.

Hebrews 12:11—No discipline seems enjoyable at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it yields the fruit of peace and righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Contact Heidi at KNCSB, (800) 984-9092, if you would like to have Debbie speak at a church event on the topic of physical/spiritual health.

Women, Now Is The Time!

2009-06-03T06:05:37+00:00

In this time of our lives where things seem out of control — economic hard times, war, and many needs in our communities — we can count on a few things for sure: God is good; God is in control; and God loves women!

What would be better than to come together with many women and share in praising our Father who created us?

The Wonderful Weekend for Women is just the time to do that. On Sept. 11-12 at Webster Conference Center, we will be praising His name in worship with the Always Only women’s praise team from Wichita, Kan.

We will also be blessed this year with our keynote speaker Kelly Minter. She is an author, songwriter, speaker and musician. Kelly is the author of the book “No Other Gods” from her Living Room Series. Check her out at http://kellyminter.com/

My sister in Christ and friend, Kelly Gandy, will be our NAMB missionary for the weekend. She lives in Colorado Springs, Colo., with her husband and four children. She and her husband Bill are the Baptist Student Union directors for the Air Force Academy.

Have you ever gone to the Wonderful Weekend for Women? If not, you need to know of the awesome small group life sessions that are offered throughout the weekend — sessions that will help you learn and grow in Christ. Be praying for these leaders, our keynote speaker, the praise team and the Women 4 Him team who have already begun praying for you.

Now is the time to invite your church sisters, female family members and friends. You will be blessed and can bless others.

Promotional materials will be arriving in your church soon. For more information, contact Heidi at KNCSB (800) 984-9092.

Bowies Send Update From South America

2009-06-03T06:04:19+00:00

It seems like just yesterday that Ken and I were settling into Ica, Peru, where we went for a six-month temporary assignment. Now we’re packing our suitcases to fly back to Ovalle, Chile. It has been a blessing to be in Peru this year. Some of our highlights were:

Reunions with friends at the annual meeting of the Peruvian Baptist Convention in February
Opportunity for Ken to teach at the Libertad associational missions retreat in February
Reunions with former missionaries and students at the 50th anniversary of the Baptist Seminary in Trujillo in April
Hosting Lori, Marci, David and Nathanael—their first chance to return to Peru and visit us since the girls started college
Attending worship with Baptists from all over the Americas at the meeting of the Latin America Baptist Union in Lima in April — and seeing friends from all over Peru
Teaching classes at Grace of God Baptist Church in Ica

We have had chances to enjoy sights and sounds of Peru. We were startled to see things like my flip-flop being carried off on the foot of a 12-inch-in-diameter turtle who was sauntering around the pool and two legs sticking out of a trunk of a car speeding down the highway. We attended birthday parties for children complete with piñatas and also a surprise “quinceañera” (a girl’s 15th birthday when she leaves childhood behind.)

It has been a privilege to teach chronological Bible storying, basic evangelism and discipleship classes, God’s plan for marriage and families, and “Experiencing God” to the youth and adults at the church in Ica. We feel like we can count as friends many of the members and it has been a special blessing to serve with Pastor Daniel and Betty Terrones.

Please pray for:

Titles to two properties for the Ica Baptist church’s mission in Huamanguilla.
God to open hearts to Himself with concerts by a jazz band from Tyler, Texas, which will be performing in schools, colleges, and public places in Ica June 21-27.
New mission opportunities outside of Ica in La Tinguilla and Pariña.
Preparations in the Ovalle, Chile, area for performances by Awe Star, a youth drama evangelism team which arrives June 26.
For God’s will for the First Baptist Church of Ovalle in calling a new pastor.