By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer
PINEVILLE – Do not abandon the church but become part of the solution for positive change, Richard Blackaby, president of Blackaby Ministries International, urged students at a special Louisiana College chapel service March 26.
“This is a critical day for the church,” Blackaby said. “But the answer lies in rooms just like this with young people filled with talent, filled with ability, filled with leadership skills, who might say whatever else God has me to do with my career, some of the most important things that I may do with my life is stepping alongside a church and helping it to become everything God intends for it. I pray that will be so.”
Blackaby, the son of Experiencing God author Henry Blackaby, said he has heard too many people proclaim plateauing churches must die. But, as he cited in Colossians 1:15-18, Christ is the head of the church and God’s plan to reach humanity is through the church.
“Satan hates the church because it’s God’s answer for people’s sin,” he said. “It’s God’s solution to help people get to heaven. And Satan hates the church and he will do everything in his power to destroy the church.”
Blackaby said Satan tries to accomplish this by filling the church with hypocrites, causing leaders to fall into immorality and creating division.
“He will do everything he can to turn the young people away from the church because he knows if the young people leave the church there is no future for the church,” Blackaby said. “And Satan is going after you, and he will do everything he can to get you out of church so you are not involved, so that you give your best skills and talents to the world instead of the church.”
Blackaby encouraged the students to find a church where they can invest their lives.
“The future of the church rests in your hands,” he said. “Don’t wait for the old folks to fix the problems. Do you realize that in all the revivals that have happened around the world, I’m not aware of a revival that started with an old guy. I don’t know of a senior citizen who has been used as a catalyst to bring revival to anywhere. You know where most of the revivals have come from in the church — young people? That’s where new life comes from.
“My prayer is God will use young people just like you to revive the church. If a church isn’t all that it ought to be, don’t walk away from it. Say, ‘God how do you want to use me to make this church what you’ve always known it could be.’ Look at a church and see what it could be, not necessarily what it is,” added Blackaby.
Blackaby was on campus to lead LC’s second “God in the Workplace” conference, which took place March 25. The seminar equipped business leaders, pastors, students and others with tools to live out one’s faith at work.
Additional keynoters included Blake Chatelain, president and co-founder of Red River Bank, and a deacon at Calvary Baptist Church in Alexandria; and Emma Bush, a business consultant for strategic planning, organizational development and performance optimization from Dallas, Texas, who formerly worked for Chuck Colson’s Prison Ministries International.
“The God in the Workplace Conference has been a tremendous blessing to the entire Louisiana College family,” Philip Caples, vice president for the Integration of Faith and Learning at LC, told the Baptist Message. “Each speaker offered insights for leadership that challenged us and confirmed the importance of our faith being lived out in the marketplace. Dr. Blackaby did a tremendous job also encouraging our staff and coaches in a special faith integration training session.”
