By Clark Palmer TIOGA, La. (LBM) – For Louisiana Baptist churches, Sept. 30 is “Numbers Day” – that’s the end of the fiscal year and a calendar reminder for our congregations to submit their individual reports to the Annual Church Profile. And these numbers matter. When I became moderator of my local association, I considered setting some goals for increasing attendance and baptisms. My first step was to look at “the data” to create a baseline, and I discovered the numbers were “off.” What I mean is there were no discernible trends. One year we were up, the next down. Even the numbers from a decade ago seemed suspect because of this undulation. As I dug deeper, what I realized is that several churches were not reporting their numbers every year. And it only took a couple to throw off the numbers for the entire association. I’ve since discovered that 15-20 percent of our churches statewide don’t fill out and return the ACP. Importantly, this is a problem for making decisions about cooperative ministries such as where to plant a church and what congregations might need revitalization assistance. Then I began to wonder if this could also account for at least some of the reported overall declines for the SBC in … [Read more...]
It is time!
By Craig Beeman WINNSBORO, La. – I was thinking about writing a sermon on "Time" and may, still, get that done. In the meantime, I have been looking into some questions that are often asked about time and why we are here. Importantly, time was made for man. God lives outside of time. He is, has been and forever will be. According to Scientific American Magazine, “Aristotle, taking the no-beginning side, invoked the principle that out of nothing, nothing comes. Theologians took another point of view. Augustine contended that God exists outside of space and time, able to bring these constructs into existence as surely as he could forge other aspects of our world. When asked, ‘What was God doing before he created the world?’ Augustine answered, "Time itself being part of God's creation, there was simply no before!” I’ll never forget asking my grandmother, “When was God born?” She answered, “He has always been.” That is a hard perspective to get on God and time. We are used to humans, plants and animals having a beginning and end. God has neither. He has set us in a period of time in a timeline of time. Each of us has a certain number of years of life on this earth known only to Him. Why does God give us time? My … [Read more...]
The heart-cry of the embattled pastor
By Joe McKeever RIDGELAND, Miss. – “You shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these things, for this is not my doing” (Numbers 16:28). “Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and I have done all these things at Your word” (I Kings 18:36). What Moses and Elijah prayed, I pray. It is entirely in order for the Lord’s messenger to pray that the people to whom he was sent will recognize that God is God and fully in charge, and that he himself is the Lord’s servant, on mission from Him. During what was possibly the worst time of my life when a little group of self-righteous members clamored for my resignation and criticized every thing I did, that was my prayer. I was going through the fire, being tried as I rarely had. The prayer felt like the dying gasp of the weakest child in God’s family. “Lord, let these people know there is a God in this place. And that I’m your servant, just doing your will.” Did God hear the prayer? Did He answer? I’m confident He did. He heard and answered in His own way, and to the extent that pleased Him. And–don’t miss this–in His own time. (Not always in my time!) That is not to say any … [Read more...]
Make it about the lost
By Lane Corley ALEXANDRIA, La. – Luke 15 is foundational for church planters who want to reach the lost: Am I approachable by lost people? "tax collectors and sinners were approaching to listen to him" (v. 1) Am I spending time with the lost? "This man welcomes sinners and eats with them" (v. 2) Do I place greater value on one lost person over a crowd who are right with God? (v. 7, 10) Is my search for the lost careful, deliberate, diligent, risky? (v. 4, 8) Do I have compassion or contempt for those far from God? (v. 20, 28) Reaching the lost may mean: You'll be misunderstood by religious people. You should focus on fewer people, rather than large crowds. You are engaging in careful, deliberate, diligent, time consuming work. You'll lay aside contempt for sin, to throw your arms around sinners. You'll start celebrations in heaven. Let's make it about the lost. Lane Corley is a Louisiana Baptist church planting strategist and pastor of the Bridge Church in Madisonville. … [Read more...]
Let’s celebrate America and God’s blessings
By Waymond Warren WEST MONROE, La. – Nations are acknowledged as valuable in Jesus’ Great Commission—“all the nations” He said. And Heaven is described in the Revelation as the place where the “glory and honor of nations” is brought. So, it would be wrong for us to not bless our nation—the nation God gave us—so that our nation can bless God. Our nation finds its rightful place and truest identity within the Kingdom of God. I am glad I grew up at Bel Air Elementary—standing, pledging every day to our Flag, “one nation under God, indivisible.” Take “under God” out and division is the only thing you can have left. I am glad we daily sang, hand on heart, “My Country Tis of Thee.” The last stanza says: Our fathers' God to Thee, Author of liberty, To Thee we sing. Long may our land be bright, With freedom's holy light, Protect us by Thy might, Great God our King! And I’m glad we said our prayer. And the boy, kind and my friend, whose family disagreed with these things, stood in the hall. What good is that you ask? Well, it made that line very clear— “Let freedom ring!” The majority had the freedom to teach…the minority had the freedom to differentiate. That’s very different from what we are now experiencing, where the … [Read more...]
How Do I Start a Multiplying Church?
By Lane Corley SHARE THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST. The Gospel is a proven and tested VIRAL Idea. And Jesus promised to empower the spread of the Gospel through the Holy Spirit. Acts 1:8 FIGHT FOR SIMPLICITY AND REPRODUCIBILITY. Jesus’ started a movement which has exponentially multiplied, partly, because it was as simple as water, bread, and wine.Simple Church = Saying No to Almost Everything.Ask: Is my ministry 2 Timothy 2:2 Simple? CREATE MARGIN. We have so little multiplication because churches have so little margin. We have JUST ENOUGH, instead of MORE THAN ENOUGH.Margin is typically created through BIG CROWDS or RADICAL SIMPLICITY.More than enough can also be toxic. Like a sponge. Like buried talents. Jesus meant for us to use what we have. LOOK FOR LOW HANGING FRUIT. Persons of Peace. New Believers network of relationships. Apostolic Leaders. People Groups and Population Segments. Existing Social Movements. People Scattering and moving about the country. New Churches. New Ministries. MAKE ROOM FOR UNBRANDED MINISTRY. Is the invite to our brand of church louder than the invite to the head of the church? Build partnerships with like-minded ministries who are sharing the Gospel of Jesus … [Read more...]
Open handed
By Rebecca Holloway PINEVILLE, La. – For years, I have read and heard the statement, “We need to hold life/our family/our possessions with an open hand.” The idea is that we are not in control of our lives or anything else on this planet. God is in complete control of all things and has the power and right to change things on a moment’s notice. As believers, we are to keep our hands open in surrender, knowing that He knows what is best for us at any given time. Frankly, I have always hated that statement. Probably because I have control issues. But this whole principle has come back to bite me here lately. In recent days, I have realized how tightly I was holding on to all of these things – especially when it comes to my stuff. First, we moved into our dream house in August of last year. The night we moved in, I fell on my face in worship before God and praised Him for giving us our house. We had seen His hand in every single moment of the purchase of the new house and the sale of our old house. We knew this was His will for our family. We have tried to be very “open handed” with our home and have already used it several times for ministry. But in the space of the 10 months we’ve been in this house, I have heard of two … [Read more...]
Let’s obey the Great Commission challenge
By Lane Corley MADISONVILLE, La. (LBM) - In Matthew 28:20, Jesus finishes the Great Commission with this challenge –“teaching them everything I have commanded you.” Did you catch it? Do you see what’s missing? Left out of this quote is that we are to teach them “to obey” or “to observe” everything. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” If you did catch it, does your church and your ministry obey this command? Are we teaching them “to obey everything” or are we teaching them everything we know in 30-45 minutes blocks and hope they learn or eventually know enough to become disciples who make disciples? Didn’t work for the Pharisees of Jesus’ day. Doesn’t seem to be working today. Knowledge doesn’t always lead to maturity or multiplicative disciple making. How do you teach to obey? Jesus modeled this for us by teaching, plus answering questions and responding to concerns, plus modeling, plus sending, plus debriefing. There cannot be teaching to obey without – Q and A for understanding opportunities to practice what’s been taught ongoing coaching and … [Read more...]
They were listening to them
By Bill Britt HAUGHTON, La. – Of all people, the Apostle Paul could have legitimately complained about the circumstances that he endured throughout his life. When we look back to the beginning of Paul’s journey as a believer, we see that he received a message from the Lord that illuminated the path he was about to embark on. Luke wrote the account of Paul's conversion in the book of Acts. Paul had been known as Saul until the time of his encounter with Jesus. We know that Saul had been persecuting the church, and he truly believed that he was doing God a favor. You can read about the amazing life change that brought Saul to become Paul in Acts 9. It is only the Gospel of Jesus Christ that can change the heart of any man or woman. Saul was given a message from God through a man named Ananias. This is that message. Saul would become a great man of God and would preach the Gospel to the Gentiles as well as to the children of Israel. He would preach to both royalty and the common man. However, he would suffer many things for the sake of Jesus (The Lord has never watered down the cost of following him.) Paul heard the command of the Lord and knew it would not be easy. In light of this revelation from the Lord, … [Read more...]
It’s too pristine
By Chuck Kelley Rarely does Hollywood contact a Southern Baptist seminary, but rarely is not never. One day location scouts for a major motion picture to be filmed in New Orleans called NOBTS and asked to tour the campus. They were looking for a place that with a bit of movie magic could be made to look like the United States Coast Guard Academy. As they looked around, the location scouts absolutely loved what they saw. The star of the movie, who was a major Hollywood player, also had to sign off on the location before they could make a formal request to film some scenes within our gates. After looking things over, he overruled the scouts and rejected the recommendation to use NOBTS, saying it was “too pristine,” meaning too unspoiled and fresh. When news of the Hollywood conversation reached the president’s Office, I found it amusing, Upon reflection, I realized how instructive it was for the future facing Baptists. Having lived and worked on the campus for more than four decades, I was accustomed to hearing people speak of how beautiful the campus was and how different it felt when entering our campus from the city of New Orleans. The classic academic quadrangle was designed by A. Hays Town, a legendary Louisiana architect, … [Read more...]
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