Iron Man 2009 Missions

Greetings from Lake Placid, NY! As I write this, over 2000 Iron Man athletes have already begun their day-long race consisting of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride, and 26.2 mile run. Jackie and I have been working with North Country Ministries this week to serve, pray for, and witness to the athletes through the many venues their mission team has planned. It's been a great week so far with lots going on, including a lot of service evangelism opportunities. I don't have time to cover everything right now, but I wanted to share a few thoughts and encouragements that have struck me this week as we have served here...
This week has been an example to me of the importance of being intentional in our evangelism. North Country Ministries (NCM) operates in this Iron Man venue as a small group of volunteers among thousands of other volunteers. This isn't what some might think of as a typical mission trip where you have planned outings, the sole purpose of which is to go witness to people. Instead, NCM has found their specific place in this annual event and they are very much appreciated by believers and non-believers alike for the services they offer (often times something as basic volunteering at athlete registration or giving out free snowcones at the family venues). It is through this intentional servant-hood attitude that they have created opportunites to share the gospel, encouraging and teaching all of their volunteers to make connections and share Christ whenever possible. It's simple and it's exciting to see it at work. The most encouraging thing, however, is that this type of evangelism is available to all of us; we just have to look and pray for opportunities to serve others and ask God to help us make connections and share the gospel with them.
Well, time flies. I must go for now as I'm leading worship at Lake Placid Baptist Church this morning so that their music minister can go participate on the race course. Before I go however, let me encourage you...be aware of the opportunities that you have individually and that we have as a church body to practice servant-hood evangelism. The Christian life is all about worshiping God and making disciples of Christ. Let's be intentional in both of these areas.

Anthony

GCR (part 1) - The Lordship of Christ

We talked this evening about the Lordship of Christ in our lives, our church, and our denomination.

I want to ask a series of questions for you to reflect on...

1. If you took the commands of Christ literally (to love, forgive, be peacemakers, stop lusting, stop revenge, treasure him, be compassionate, etc.) would your life look different than it does right now?
2. What is stopping you from allowing Christ to literally be Lord of your life in all areas? What are you afraid of if he becomes Lord over all your life?
   
3. How can you begin right now to give lordship of your life over to Christ?

An exercise...

• Read the "Sermon on the Mount" in Matthew chapters 5-7. Be intentional on doing what Christ says.

Leave any thoughts you have about the Lordship of Christ.

May you be blessed as he is Lord...

Mark

The Thursday Experience

As I write this, it's our last day in Canada. I can say with all honesty, we are sad to leave. The people of Kingston have been great, and while they are far from Christ, they are kind and welcoming. I have another guest blogger with me today, Jordan. You may ask where the girls are at, and well, they never seem to make it to breakfast since they bought a box of Lucky Charms for their rooms.

Here to tell you about yesterday and whats been going on, is Jordan Atnip:

Hello all. First of all, I want to thank you all for your prayers. I know that you all are praying and it's helping us get through. This entire trip has already been a blessing. I am in the social group. From our church, Mr. Jim, Mrs. Lynda, and Andrew are with me. The past couple days we have been working at the Salvation Army Thrift Store. We've all had different jobs to do there, some giving more opportunities to witness than others. We're all getting to do God's work, and He is blessing our souls for it. We had a large free time yesterday, so we went to a Tex Mex restaurant. We celebrated Bradley's birthday with our whole church group, plus our church group devotional leader, Dennis. Dennis has been more than a blessing and treats us like he's known us his whole life. He's barely older than me and he has already done incredible things for God. Keep us all in prayer. I look forward to seeing my home church soon.

Love,

Jordan

Canadian Tex Mex? That's right! I'm still amused by it all. They were all highly excited to find out we were from Tennessee. We had an extended free time yesterday, and hang out in Downtown Kingston. Luckily there was a Street Performer Festival downtown. The streets were blocked off, and we saw juggling fire, guys on Pogo sticks, etc. It was rather cool. We all wore our camp shirts, which allowed us to have quite a few conversations with people. We explained we were missionaries from the states, and it was just another chance to tell people about Christ. We had another great time of worship in church group, and took up an offering for Missions. The neat thing is, part of the offering we took is going to Canada, right here, to where we are working, in Kingston. The other part is going to work with the Roma, who I had I chance to work with last year in Romania.

Pray for us today. I challenged our group to look for every moment that God presents to them today. Moments to share their faith, moments to encourage, moment to hear the still small voice of God. This is our last day, and my prayer is we give every ounce of energy and passion to let all these great people know about the name that is above every name, and that is our Lord Jesus.

I know God is going to bless us and is going to work through us. We are praying for you church, and we know you are praying for us.

-Brett

A Mega Type Day

It's Thursday morning and we are moving slightly slower then normal. God is still moving and changing hearts here. I thought for a treat for the folks back home, I would allow someone else to take a turn at blogging. There were no volunteers... but then Bradley spoke up and here we are at breakfast ready to tell you about our day. So without further ado, I give you Bradley:

Hello everyone, i'll tell you a little about our week in Canada so far. Brett, Jessica, and me are in the pcy group. We are working on the Kingston FBC, painting and fixing anything along the way. Our group leader is a guy named Dennis, who has become part of our church family here. It's just amazing the way God has worked through all of us this week so far. I just want to thank evryone that made our trip possible and we will see you soon.

Thank you Bradley! Dennis has become part of our family, he comes to our Church group devotion time, eats supper with us, and will be hanging out with us tonight during our extended free time. We will be celebrating Bradley's birthday (even though it is technically tomorrow). We will be going to downtown Kingston, getting some good food, and enjoying the local sights. Which the lake is simply beautiful.

Mega relay was yesterday, and war paint was applied to all. Jim had so much that it was running down his by the end of Mega. Shay and Vic's group brought home the Fuge Cup. We were quite proud, and extremely jealous.

We are loving our time here. I think I'm speaking for everyone when I say the time we spend together has been such a great bonding exprience. Our times of worship, pray, and playing games has been some of my favorite times.

You might doubt it, but some of the conversations we are having make me so very proud. We talk about spiritual things, we talk about what God is doing in us. We talk about how what God showed us in our quiet times. We talk about the people we want to pray for here and back home. Not during our church group times, but just hanging out at the dinner table, or as we walk to worship, or while driving to Wal-Mart (yes there are Wal-Marts in Canada). The depth of these students devotion and love of God is such a blessing to me.

We prayed for all of you last night, hope that each of you are running after God, and looking for those moments to serve Him throughout your day.

-Brett (with Bradley)

Introduction to Great Commission Resurgence

Click here for the Great Commission Resurgence website.

In our introduction tonight we looked at why a Great Commission Resurgence is needed among Southern Baptists. In the mid 2oth century we were reaching people quite quickly, but the first decade of the 21st century has seen Southern Baptists plateau with the 2008 data showing us enter a year of decline.

Here's the graphics we looked at.

This is the word cloud of answers to the question, "What do you think when you hear Southern Baptist?"

















This is the history of Southern Baptist growth since 1950. You will notice the fact that we are now on the plateau of our growth curve as Southern Baptists, so something must be done to prevent our denomination from decline and eventual death.
















So the question of the hour is, "What must be done for there to be a resurgence of the great commission among Southern Baptists?" The church grows through conversions. The great commission is about seeing people converted and become disciples of Jesus.

The proposed manner of the resurgence is contained in the Great Commission Resurgence document. Go read the full thing. We'll be talking about it for the next 10 Wednesday nights.

Leave any thoughts you have in the comments section.

A Good Night

It's morning again, and...we are not morning people. Yet we are up and getting ready for Bible Study at 8am. At 9:15am we have our morning celebration, where we get hyped up and ready to go out and serve.

Here is the varying tracks and groups our crew is part of:

Social Track: Lynda, Jim, Andrew, Jordan
Yesterday this group went to a local food bank. With their track group they managed to box up 18,000 pounds of food for the hungry and in need!

Children Track: Kendra and Lauren
This group is going to the same location all week, the first night they planned out a VBS and are now taking children through the program. Our heart breaks as most of these children have no clue who Jesus is.

Games and Rec Track: Shay and Vic
Somehow Shay has managed to get placed in a track where she can help kids with golf!?! This group is putting on a 'sports camp' for area children. They are using a major draw (sports) to let others know about our Lord.

PCY: Jess, Bradley, and Brett
We three have had the joy of working in downtown Kingston at First Baptist Kingston. The church is beautiful and cathedral like. Yet the church has shrunk to 70 members. We are prayer walking, and repainting just about everything: windows, floors, steps, and doors. Pray for the pastor Kevin, as he attempts to reach the people of Kingston.


We had an amazing night during church group devotion as we lifted each other up in prayer. As I'm typing this it seems to be time for bible study, we love you all, and are so grateful for each of you.

-Brett

Heart for the North

Hello church friends and family,

we will be updating the church blog with all kinds of information and news about all that is going on while we are in Canada. Here is what has happened so far:

After our slow start, we made good time, and spent the night in Carlisle, PA. The following day we made it to St. Lawrence College by 2:30ish PM. The campus is nice, and within five minutes walk is Lake Ontario. The view simply breathtaking.

While the camp is small, the staff is wonderful and encouraging. It was initially not to have a band leading worship, or a band as we know it. Our worship is led by Larri (who is female by the way) on keyboards and Christina on violin! Sounds strange but the Lord uses it to bless us as we seek to bless him and praise His name.

The youth (and adults) are all having a great time. Our track groups are full of wonderful people, and we all went to site today. I'll be posting more information about the various youth and their escapades.

But I'll leave you with this thought. We are here, far to the north, to see God move in a land that has seemingly forgot Him. In all of Canada the number of evangelical churches has been shrinking. There are around 279 evangelical churches here (Tennessee alone has over 3,300). The youth and college have no clue who God is. The fastest growing religion here is Wicca. Our hearts break for these people. We pray that God will use us in amazing ways to reach these wonderful people, that Christ would be visible in our actions, attitudes, and words. Join with us in praying for Canada, and for the missionaries that God is calling here, for their task is great. But we serve an even greater God, and with God all things are possible.

I'll be attempting to update the blog each morning about the previous day and all the wonderful things God has done.

-Brett

Book Review - The Next Generation Leader

***click the link on the right sidebar for the 2009 reading list***

The Next Generation Leader
by Andy Stanley

Book Summary

This is a short little book for the men and women who are rising up to be the next generation of leaders. Stanley covers 5 elements to being a good leader: competence, courage, clarity, coaching, character.

Book Review

Stanley writes well on the topic of leadership because he is one of the extraordinary ministry leaders of our day. This book is too small to be a very comprehensive treatment of leadership, but it is a good introduction to the topic. The book itself could actually be easily condensed down to a short booklet because it is filled with so many stories, much of which can easily be skipped over. Overall, a good quick read on leadership.

Next 3 books up
1. 10 Great Ideas from Church History
2. Made to Stick
3. Pierced for Our Transgressions

Reminder - AWANA Awards Ceremony

Just a reminder...

The AWANA awards ceremony is this Wednesday at 6:00pm in the Sanctuary. We want all adults to join with us reguardless of whether or not you worked in AWANA ministry. Please make a special note of the time. We are starting at 6:00pm.

Blessings...

Mark

Book Review - The Heart of Evangelism

***click link on right side-bar to view 2009 reading list***

The Heart of Evangelism
by Jerram Barrs

Book Summary

Barrs has written a simple and straightforward book about evangelism and the principles involved in sharing the gospel with others. There are four sections to this book: Mission to the World, The Kindness and Perseverance of God, Barriers in the Way of Communicating the Gospel, Making the Gospel Known

Book Review

I like this book very much. It is Scripture-saturated from cover to cover. If you have been a Christian for long you probably already know the content of the gospel. This book will help you greatly, particularly the final section which deals with principles in sharing the gospel.

Many evangelism books will give you techniques of sharing the gospel. Many evangelism books give you a canned presentation of the gospel that you can just unload on anybody. Barrs does none of this. He is very big on the importance of the individual and the necessity of tailoring the gospel presentation to the person or group you are speaking to. Barrs gives us principles by which we are to work when sharing the gospel. Excellent.

Book Review - Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches

***click the link on the right side-bar to see the 2009 reading list***

Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches
By John Hammett

Book Summary

Hammett has written a thorough book outlining Baptist ecclesiology (doctrine of the church). Hammett himself is a member of the Southern Baptist denomination and teaches at Southeastern Baptist Seminary. The book is divided into 5 parts covering the basics of the nature of the church and then diving into Baptist specifics of who the church is, how the church is governed, and what the church does. Hammett concludes part 5 by writing about where we are headed.

Hammett spends significant time dealing with the weaknesses that have crept into 20th and 21st century Baptist churches. He writes at length about regenerate church membership and how Baptist churches can return to what has been a historic Baptist practice, but was abandoned in the 20th century.

Book Review

This is an excellent book. I would recommend that this book be read by anybody who is interested in seeing how a healthy Baptist church should function. Hammett makes no bones about the departures that the Baptist church at large has made from historic Baptist principles.

This is a hard read, but a good read. It pulls in at 354 pages, so buckle down.

Of particular interest should be parts 2 and 3. Part 2 answers the question, “Who is the church?” by addressing the issue of regenerate church membership and church discipline. These are practices that Baptists have abandoned and which have caused our churches to greatly weaken over time. Case in point with our own church…we have 650 members and about 180 average attendance. In centuries past, Baptists would have never allowed this to happen, but in our day it seems to be normal practice. Part 3 answers the question, “How is the church governed?” by stating that Baptists should be congregationally governed (ch. 6) with plural elder leadership (ch. 7) and served by a deacon body (ch. 8). Hammett provides excellent Scriptural and historical evidence for this model. Again, on this issue, modern Baptists find themselves to have departed from this pattern.

In conclusion, I would highly recommend this book if you have the desire to see how the Baptist church should properly function according to Scripture and history.

Great Commission Resurgence

I have just signed the declaration called the Great Commission Resurgence.

What is the Great Commission Resurgence you ask??? Good question.

In the 1980's Southern Baptists experienced what is now called the the "Conservative Resurgence" where the "battle for the Bible" was won. During that time Southern Baptists firmly reclaimed the belief in an inerrant Bible. Fast forward to our day now, some 25 years later, and we find that the Conservative Resurgence thus far has been a failure in terms of producing the fruit it should have produced. Yes, our seminaries are solid again, as those who did not affirm inerrancy were asked to leave, but the Conservative Resurgence has failed to produce a Great Commission resurgence. That is, the Conservative Resurgence has failed to propel our churches forward in their effectiveness of reaching the world for Christ.

Much has been said of the decline of the Southern Baptist Convention. I will not write again what others have already said in a manner better than I can say it. So I will point you to 2 articles that fully explain the extent of Southern Baptist decline.

• Please read this article by Ed Stetzer, director of LifeWay Research, written in April 2009.
  
• Also, please read this article also written by Ed Stetzer in April 2008.
  

The basic summary of these articles is this:

• The SBC rate of growth has been slowing for decades. (see chart on the 2nd article) At the end of any growth curve is a plateau. After a plateau comes a decline. Currently, the SBC has just passed its plateau. As a denomenation we have now entered into our period of decline. If we want to avoid our own death as a denomination then we must do something about it!!!
  

We are desperate for a Great Commission Resurgence to send us into a new growth curve.

Below are the 10 statements of the Great Commission Resurgence. Each statement is explained in fuller measure at the website. Go here to read it in entirety, see who has already signed it, and sign if you wish. I have debated whether I will expound on these individually here on the church blog or if I will commit to speaking about them on Wednesday nights later this year. If you have a preference please leave me a comment.

I. A Commitment to Christ’s Lordship. We call upon all Southern Baptists to submit to the absolute Lordship of Jesus Christ in all things at the personal, local church, and denominational levels. (Col. 1:18; 3:16-17, 23-24)

II. A Commitment to Gospel-Centeredness. We call upon all Southern Baptists to make the gospel of Jesus Christ central in our lives, our churches, and our denominational ministries. (Rom. 1:16; 1 Cor. 15:1-4; 2 Cor. 5:17-21)

III. A Commitment to the Great Commandments. We call upon all Southern Baptists to recommit to the priority of the Great Commandments in every aspect of our lives and every priority we embrace as a network of local Baptist churches. (Matt. 22:37-40)

IV. A Commitment to Biblical Inerrancy and Sufficiency. We call upon all Southern Baptists to unite around a firm conviction in the full truthfulness and complete sufficiency of Christian Scripture in all matters of faith and practice. (Matt 5:17-18; John 10:35; 17:17; 2 Tim 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21)

V. A Commitment to a Healthy Confessional Center. We call upon all Southern Baptists to look to the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 as a sufficient guide for building a theological consensus for partnership in the gospel, refusing to be sidetracked by theological agendas that distract us from our Lord’s Commission. (1 Tim. 6:3-4)

VI. A Commitment to Biblically Healthy Churches. We call upon all Southern Baptists to focus on building local churches that are thoroughly orthodox, distinctively Baptist, and passionately committed to the Great Commission. (Matt. 16:13-20, 18:15-20; Acts 2:41-47; Rom. 6:3-5; 1 Cor. 5)

VII. A Commitment to Sound Biblical Preaching. We call upon all Southern Baptists to affirm and expect a pastoral ministry that is characterized by faithful biblical preaching that teaches both the content of the Scriptures and the theology embedded in the Scriptures. (2 Tim. 4:1-5)

VIII. A Commitment to a Methodological Diversity that is Biblically Informed. We call upon all Southern Baptists to consider themselves and their churches to be missionaries in non-Christian cultures, each of which requires unique strategies and emphases if the gospel is to penetrate and saturate every community in North America. (Phil. 2:1-5; 4:2-9)

IX. A Commitment to a More Effective Convention Structure. We call upon all Southern Baptists to rethink our Convention structure and priorities so that we can maximize our energy and resources for the health of our local churches and the fulfilling of the Great Commission. (1 Cor. 10:31)

X. A Commitment to Distinctively Christian Families. We call upon all Southern Baptists to build gospel-saturated homes that see children as a gift from God and as our first and primary mission field. (Deut. 6:1-9; Psalm 127, 128; Eph. 6:4)

Coracora Team - 4/23 Report

Hey church...great news from Peru. Check out below the final report from the April team. Thanks for praying.

We made it back to Lima this morning, arriving at the guest house at 9am. What a great trip. We had several discipleship sessions with Yulber and a couple with Edgar. We led 3 to Christ, two were co-workers of Yulber and another was the crippled father of one of his students. We also had a meeting with Yulber, Pastor Jose (from Nasca), and Bro. Porfolio Morales from the baptist church. Edgar was out of town and couldn't attend. We all agree the work in Coracora needs resurrecting and everyone at the table is on board. Bro. Jose has been working on getting a Peruvian missionary from Lima to go to Coracora and commit to 2 years. Churches in Nasca and Ica have offered to underwrite the support needed. So far he has not been able to get this together, but He has a renewed commitment to try. There is still an interest to get into the baptist church building, but all agreed that an alternative location must be found. Bro. Porfolio has a cousin who owns 2 locations near the center of town and he believes we can use one of them. It sounds like the Lord is leading us to revive this work. We all agreed that there two urgent needs. First, to find a place to meet for those we have been working with as well as many scattered believers throughout Coracora. Second, we need someone to step up to lead. Edgar, who I know none of you have met, is the the one I, Greg, and the enhancement team have the most cautious optimism to be out in front. Yulber and Edgar have already begun to talk. We all agreed that we believe a larger, strong church can be built in Coracora which will reach a larger number in Coracora, and be a "sending church" for that region. Ladies and gentlemen, I believe great things are about to break out in Coracora. Pray hard! The enhancement team will be in Coracora for 2 more weeks. They will be trying to keep Yulber, Edgar, and bro. Porfolio in contact with each other and get them to begin meetings, as well as monitoring the meeting location issue.

Book Review - The Pursuit of Holiness

***see the 2009 reading list link on the right sidebar***

The previous book reviews have been a little long, sorry about that. I’m going to try and keep them shorter.

The next 3 books I will be reading and reviewing are: The Heart of Evangelism, The Next Generation Leader, and Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches

The Pursuit of Holiness
by Jerry Bridges

Book Summary

The Pursuit of Holiness is a short book on the topic of personal holiness. It is practically written with a focus on how to live it out in daily life. Jerry Bridges communicates the absolute necessity of holiness for the believer and the disciplines that will lead the believer into a holy life.

Book Review

YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!

The Pursuit of Holiness is a short book (approx. 200 pages) with a really powerful punch. If you want to live a holy life then you need to allow Jerry Bridges to help you. Every page of this book is packed with the meat of the Word of God.

Go get it now. Click here.

Coracora Team - 4/19 Report

We have met with Edgar and had one very good Bible Lesson review. He seems to be very mature in his faith. He was leaving today via bus to Lima to buy goods for his store. However all bus lines except Lopez are grounded or otherwise not running so he missed his bus today. We are taking that as God giving us another opportunity tomorrow with him and we already have an appointment tomorrow at 11am Peru time!! We also have two more meetings tomorrow with Yulber. The Spanish lessons are working very well and being well received as a tool for their groups.

We have attempted to contact the couple from the Baptist Church, but they are in Nasca returning tomorrow. Hopefully we will get with them then. We made one attempt to see the older pastor of the Baptist Church who we heard is in CoraCora now. No luck yet.

Things are going well with the discipleship.

No meetings planned with the Mayor as we understand he is in hiding after the bridge collapse.

We plan to see the children and Sylvia tomorrow and check to see how things are going there.

More to come from Peru!

Greg Hodge

Coracora Team - 4/18 Report

I will be copying Pastor Bobby's report from the Google Group that he is part of. The team will be in Coracora today thru this coming Wednesday. Please be in prayer for them. Here's their first report...

We made it to Coracora at 6:30 am. No problems, just long. We met with Yulber for discipleship class at 10. We then met at 1:00 with a man named Edgar who also shows great potential. The Enhancement team introduced us to him. Does anyone remember meeinting him? We ate supper with the team and Yulber. We have another class with Yulber this afternoon at 5pm. We meet with Edgar and his brothers tomorrow at 10am. Romi has invited us to lead a study for her and some of her friends each afternoon at 3pm while we are here. We haven´t found the older couple from the baptist church, but hope to. We are casting a vision with these groups to stay and meet seperately in order to have expotential growth. ´Í will stay in touch.

Book Review - Arminian Theology

***click on the link to the right for the 2009 reading list***

Arminian Theology
By Roger Olson

Book Summary

Olson’s purpose is to defend classical Arminianism through refuting 10 common myths about Arminian theology. He feels that there is widespread misunderstanding of the basic teachings of Arminianism. He is correct (there is also widespread misunderstanding about the teachings of Calvinism). This book is organized in a way that each chapter is able to stand alone as an individual topic. So you could read chapters 2, 5, and 9 without having to read the rest of the chapters if only the topics of those three chapters interested you. Arminian Theology is not an exegetical defense of Arminianism based on the Scriptures. Instead, Olson has taken the route of attempting to clarify what Arminian theology is based on the writings of its’ adherents over the past 500 years.

Book Review

Olson is an Arminian (many Calvinists will write books about Arminianism), so it is good to read a book about Arminianism written by an Arminian. I think that Olson has written a good book, although his experience and perspective of Arminianism seems to be quite different than my experience and perspective. Let me explain.

Olson writes of many people who are looked down upon for holding to Arminian theology and how Arminian theology in general has a bad rap among evangelicals (pp. 20-21, 29-30). So he seems to write out of a defensive position of feeling attacked. This is fine as long as we understand the perspective he is coming from.

I grew up Southern Baptist. My observation of Southern Baptist life is exactly the opposite. Southern Baptist churches are known for firing pastors who hold to Calvinism (I’ve never heard of an SBC pastor being fired for being Arminian). Southern Baptist state newspapers are known for writing anti-Calvinist editorals (as our own TBC B&R has done). Popular Southern Baptist pastors and churches hold anti-Calvinist conferences. My observation is that the SBC views Calvinism as a threat and actively fights against it.

Although I have some basic disagreements with Arminianism, I enjoyed this book b/c it allowed me to learn a lot and to see an Arminian theology explained. Although it was not his purpose, I would have liked to have seen some exegesis by Olson to explain some of the basic beliefs of Arminianism. In pages 15-39 (part of the introduction) Olson lays out what Arminians believe. I have marked these pages up left and right with the same questions, “What Scriptures proves this?” “Show me?” “Where does it say this?”

Recommendation: good book if you are comfortable in theological dialogue/debate, but not for beginners b/c there is no exegetical work to defend positions

Pray for the People of Coracora

I just learned that a suspension walking bridge in Coracora fell at a time when there were 40-50 school children and teachers walking on it Monday after school let out. Please pray for the people of Coracora. This Thursday Pastor Bobby (from Poplar Grove BC in Cookeville) and Greg Hodge (member of PGBC) are leaving for Peru. They will arrive in Coracora on Saturday morning. Please pray for them to have the right words to speak to those who have lost family members. Also, the Enhancement Team (college students serving a year in the Andes mountains with the IMB) is currently in Coracora for the month of April, so they are already ministering to people. Please pray that God will use this tragedy to draw people into a saving relationship with himself. Pray for Yulber to jump in a be ready to speak up as well.

Below is a picture of the bridge, which our team crossed several times, and the article from Reuters.





















Peru bridge collapse kills 8, injures 40 children
Mon Apr 13, 2009 7:32pm EDT

LIMA (Reuters) - A suspension bridge packed with school children snapped in Peru on Monday, killing at least 8 and injuring dozens of others who plunged into a deep ravine, the mayor of the Andean mountain town of Coracora said.

"We've suffered a grave accident, a suspension bridge that goes to a high school has fallen, it has broken in two, and we have a large number of students injured and dead," Mayor Walter Antayhua told RPP radio.

Most of the injured were aged 10 and 13, but reports said several teachers were with the children when the bridge collapsed.

The bridge was 130 feet long and stretched above a canyon that is up to 320 feet deep, the mayor said. The town is about 370 miles southeast of Lima, the capital.

"We need a helicopter because there are children who are dying," Alfonso Paredes, a town resident, said from the poorly equipped hospital from where doctors were hoping to evacuate patients to trauma centers.

At least 40 other victims were taken to the hospital, 13 of them with serious injuries.

"The injuries are grave," said Fernando Valencia, a doctor at the hospital.

(Reporting by Marco Aquino and Terry Wade; Editing by Sandra Maler)

Book Review - Chosen But Free

***click the link on the right sidebar to see the 2009 reading list***

Hey folks...I've read several books but have not gotten the reviews posted. I'll be posting several reviews over the next week. I messed up my listing of the books in the order I was going to read them, so I'll be posting a new order of the next 5 books. Sorry about that if you're trying to read along.

Chosen But Free
By Norman Geisler
2nd edition

Book Summary

Chosen But Free (CBF) enters into the world of the centuries long debate between Calvinism and Arminianism. To be brief, these are two systems of theology with differing views on the process and outworking of salvation in our lives. They can be summarized in this fashion. Calvinism affirms the following 5 things and Arminianism denies them…

• Total depravity – humanity completely dead in our sins
• Unconditional election – God elects unto salvation based on his will
• Limited atonement – Christ died only for the elect
• Irresistible grace – God will save those he intends to save
• Perseverance of the saints – the elect persevere to the end, thus proving their salvation

The subtitle of CBF is “A Balanced View of Divine Election.” Thus the purpose of the book is to try and forge a middle ground between Calvinism and Arminianism. Geisler claims to hold to a position he calls “Moderate Calvinism” (more about terminology below).

Book Review

CBF is a poorly written book for such a notable author. I will list what I consider to be two of the more significant problems for the book.

1. Terminology. Geisler introduces so many terms that it is practically impossible to know what he’s talking about sometimes. Geisler uses all of the following terminology without explaining what he means: Calvinist, Extreme Calvinist, Strong Calvinist, Less-strong Calvinist, Staunch Calvinist, Moderate Calvinist. Nobody knows what each of these terms means so it makes reading the book incredibly difficult.

The only one of the above terms that Geisler defines is “extreme Calvinism.” On page 47 he defines extreme Calvinism as, “God’s predetermination…independent of His foreknowledge of human free acts.” This is not extreme Calvinism. This is the position of historic Calvinism which flowed out of the Reformation and from Calvin himself. Calvinists believe in unconditional election. That is, election is not based on anything that God foresees in us. It is based only on his will.

He does the same thing again on pages 56-57 where he calls 5-point Calvinism, “Extreme Calvinism.” He is simply redefining terms.

So, my understanding of what Geisler is doing in the book is that he is trying to label Calvinism as “extreme Calvinism” in an effort to make it easier to dispatch of. Think about it, labeling something as “extreme” makes is sound like only crazy people would believe this.

2. Ripping Scripture Out of Context. This was by far the biggest disappointment of the book. Geisler is a well-known scholar, but his exegetical work in CBF is terrible. Biblical scholars with Ph.D.’s know better than to try and prove theological points by taking verses out of context. This makes me think that Geisler’s overarching commitment in this book is not faithfulness to Scripture but rather the maintaining of a theological point-of-view that he has.

The book is chalked full of Scriptures that are ripped out of context, so I will point out only one example to suffice. In pages 32-36 Geisler uses 66 verses in a section titled “What Saith the Scriptures?” in an attempt to show that we have libertarian free will. There is not one lick of exegesis of any of those 66 verses.

On p. 34 Geisler is trying to show that we have libertarian free will before God (what he calls “vertical free will”). Under these auspices he quotes 4 words out of 1 Peter 5:2 as part of his proof. Now in the ESV 1 Peter 5:2 has 27 words. What happened to the other 23? Here is Geisler’s sentence, “Peter describes what is meant by free choice when he says it is ‘not under compulsion’ but ‘voluntary.’”

Any idea what Peter is talking about there??? He’s telling pastors how to relate to their congregations. He’s not talking about whether or not we have free will before God in choosing or rejecting salvation. Here’s 1 Peter 5:2 in its whole, “shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly”. Now here’s the question…if Geisler had put the entire verse in his book would it have supported his point??? NO!!! So, therefore, he rips a few words out of context to make it say what he wants it to say. Completely unacceptable.

This type of handling of the Scriptures makes me want to be so careful every time I preach and teach. I want to handle the Word of God correctly. Pray for me church that I can do well in this.

Recommendation: Save your money, don't buy.

What is forgiveness???

VENIA

Back in Lima

Hey folks. It's Thursday morning. We made it back to Lima a couple of hours ago. Wednesday in Coracora was terrific. Yulber had all sorts of questions that we worked through. The guy has an awesome appetite for the Word of God. He asked if we could bring him some commentaries and other books to help him understand better.

I got asked to baptize a baby that had died...the Catholic priest was out of town or something. I told the lady that I couldn't do it but offered to pray with the family. We also ran into a couple who had just come to Coracora and were wondering about a baptist church being there. The lady saw me in the street and said she had a hunch I was a baptist pastor. (Do you think that being one of 3 white people in the town might have given it away???)

I'm going to the Starbucks to write up a report about the trip for the IMB office. I also have to finish my sermon for Sunday morning.

See everybody on Sunday...

Mark

Tuesday in Coracora

Thanks for all of your prayers everybody.

Yesterday afternoon we had a very interesting meeting with the city officials. Really long story, but the short is that they have a big problem here in Coracora with men abusing women, and the city officials want us to help with this social problem in anyway we can. So this morning they took us to the women´s shelter to meet with the workers who are there. We found that they have about 370 known cases that they´re working with currently, and that´s only of the women who will come forward and speak with them. We told them that we would have to talk among our churches to see how we could help in future trips. Needless to say, I think this could be a huge inroads into the lives of many people.

Last night we spent time working with Yulber again. I tried to cram everything I learned in a semester of Bible Study Methods from seminary into one night. He caught on fairly well. Tonight we are going to have a group meeting with all the believers and Yulber will preach, so this will be good to see.

Tomorrow is our last day. We leave Coracora at 3pm. So, Yulber asked if he could come at 6am for Bible study and then again at lunch...what an awesome desire for God´s Word!!!

Pray for us as we finish our time in Coracora and then take the bus back to Lima. The ride is 3pm Wed to 10am Thurs.

In Jesus...

Mark

Monday in Coracora

Hey everybody. All is going well. We met with Yulber last night and poured over the Scriptures together with him for about 2 1/2 hours. Will being doing so again tonight.

I got to inside the Catholic church last night during mass...hard to watch.

We´ve spent a good amount of time today talking about strategy with the enhancement team of student missionaries that came into town last night. One of them will be staying with us and going back to Lima on Wednesday with us. We also went back to the orphanage today to give them the dresses for the girls that we brought with us. They loved them.

We´re going in about an hour to meet with the city officials.

Blessings...

Mark

Sunday in Coracora

Hey church...

Our Bible study went well last night. We´re meeting with Yulber later tonight to begin doing some training. That was one of the first questions he asked yesterday, ¨Will you spend time with me everyday studying the Bible?¨ At lunch today he asked me if I would teach him how to preach. He´s also asked a lot of good theological questions. All this to say that he is definitely beyond the basics in his faith.

We spent time today with the kids at the orphanage and this afternoon we met a traveling team of journeymen and semester missionaries. This group is working with REAP South by traveling from village to village here in the mountains and working with the groups that churches have established in different villages.

One special prayer request...tomorrow (monday) afternoon our team will be speaking with the city mayor, the city manager, and one other city official. Yulber set the meeting up before we even got here so we could share the gospel with them. Ask God to give us the right words and gracious demeanors with them. I´m sure they´re probably hoping we can do something for them also, so we´ll see.

Blessings...

Pastor Mark

We´re in Coracora

We arrrived about 7am this morning. When we got off the bus, Yulber was standing there waiting on us to get off. This afternoon we´re going to try and round up all the people we´ve met with before and then get them together with Yulber at 7pm tonight for Bible study and conversation.

Thanks for praying for us church.

Final day in Naco

Greetings from Naco mission team,

Today was bittersweet. Starting our day off right with the light bulb ministry in San Jose before taking off to Mexico. Today we had alot to look forward to.When we arrived in Cuauhtamoc A lovely lady by the name of Doris in the village prepared a meal for all the us at her home. It was delicious. We were so honored to have a seat at her table. I have to say the fellowship with these wonderful people was awesome. We had the last day of V.B.S. The kids had a terrific time. We were so blessed by how many of them love and respect the chruch. After much play we had to say goodbye. So many hugs and tears were shared. It was really hard to walk away. God is so big and does so many wonderful things in our lives and if we are not watching they can easily pass us by.The evening ended with a trip up the mountain to see the sunset(Out Of This World),and dinner at this great italian restaurant. We have had a fabulous journey this week and are looking forward to seeing our loved ones and chruch family.

hasta luego

Mission Team

Greetings from Naco

Hello Church Family,

What a day! I have had an awesome day here in Naco and Mexico. We have been busy weeding ,and painting today. We ventured off this afternoon for our bible study. B.J. and I were thrilled that eight children ask to know more about christ during our invitation. It has been amazing how we have picked up their language and they have picked up ours. I have made many special friends here as well the others. The kids have enjoyed getting all the attention. They continue to meet the van and wait anxiously for jess and ash to get off the bus. Tomorrow is our last day for V.B.S. it saddens me to think of not seeing them for a long time. Thank God for leading us to places and people that most would never venture to. Also went by the ophanage
and hung out with the children. We were surprised to find out that these kids will probably never be adopted. Their last adopation took place 11 years ago. the reasoning for this is they have no legal papers. The director told us that three girls were found at a dumpster and left to phen for themselves at ages 10-2(unbelievable). Thank God for missions that support these children. I am so blessed to be traveling with great companions all of them have such a passion for God and what he is able to do. We love and miss you !!

melissa

Buenes Noches iglesia familia!

Today was absolutely AWESOME!!! We started out by prayer walking around the community of Naco. We prayed that God would move in the hearts of the lost, that He would knock down social and racial barriers, and that God would soften their hearts to be open to hearing the Word. We had a fabulous lunch of hot tamales and "Glory Salsa" (compliments of Tim).

Then, off to Cuahatamoc where we got to spend some sweet time with some beautiful chicos. We brought bubbles for the children, and it was so great to see how happy they were with something so simple. This is such a great opportunity to reach people for Christ and show God's love. We were once told, "If not now, when? And, if not me, who?" We can't sit back and just expect God's work to get done. Everyday is a chance to reach the lost.

After VBS in Mexico, we headed back to Naco for a bible study. BJ led a study with the adults while Jennifer led a youth bible study about listening to God and trusting His will. Overall it was a thrilling day!!! We look forward to what tomorrow will bring.

Stay Beautiful Smitville,
Ash and Jess

Naco Mission team

Good Evening Church Family,

We have had a most productive day here in Naco as well as in Mexico. I feel truly blessed to be a part of what God is doing out here. There are no words to describe the feeling you have when you know you have been obedient to God's calling. He is sooooo good. Today we started VBS in mexico. Entering the village today I could not help but feel humbled by the lives the people live. I am amazed at the strength and courage these people have and the faith that they have in "cristo" just for their daily needs. The language barrier was challenging at times but through it all the message and Gods love was felt by all. The children were a joy to be around and we learned a few new dance moves . We cannot wait to see what tomorrow brings. Thank you for your prayers and your love.

Be Thankful for the Lord our God has blessed all and everything!!!!!!!!!

Melissa

Hola Church Family!

Jess and Ash signing in to fill you in! :) We started our day out right by getting into the Word! Next, at 9:00 am March 8, 2009 A.D., we began prayer with the members of Naco Baptist Church. Then, the church service began! It's amazing what God is doing in Naco! Attendance has more than tripled compared to two years ago! The message was great, and we were blessed to rejoice with four people who were baptized as a profession of their faith. One man named Carlos (CHARLIE) was dear to our hearts.

Soon after, our growling tummies set off for Bisbee. After lunch and some sightseeing, we headed to Wally World to gather supplies for the upcoming Vacation Bible School! Then, we made goodie bags and made a visit to the orphanage in Mexico. The children were very excited about their sweet treats, and we took a moment to watch some High School Musical 3 in Espanol with them! We look forward to seeing them again later this week.

As the sun melted over the horizon, we scurried back across the border to gather for our late night bible study. BJ led a devo from John, and we were all greatly encouraged by each other.

Please continue to pray for us and the people of Naco and Chuatamoc (college kids can't spell).

Signing out,
J & A

P.S. Mark is still the butt of jokes.

mission team-Naco,Az./Cuahtemoc,Sonora, Mexico

Just to let our church family know that we have safely arrived in Naco, Az.
B.J. Thomason had his first plane ride-he earned his wings.He was actually surprised-the flight was smoother than the bus ride to Nashville with Mark driving! lol Tim met us and stopped us by Tombstone to catch a photo op with Doc Holliday himself!! We know you cowboys/cowgirls at heart are jealous. We'll share pictures. We ate supper in Naco, Mexico & it was great food & fellowship with Tim & his family. Devotion before bed was encouraging to our team & Tim. God is sovereign & where he leads we will follow. Please continue to pray for Tim & his family after he lost his father this past week. They have sacrificed much to follow God's call-but they know that God will meet their every need. Until tomorrow.

Safe in His hands, Naco Mission Team

Back to Blogging and a New Sermon Series

Sorry about the blogging break. I posted a new book review below on "Christless Christianity." I am currently reading "The Pursuit of Holiness", book #5. Here's the list of the next 5 books on my list...

6. The Heart of Evangelism
7. Biblical Foundations for Baptist Churches
8. Elders in Congregational Life
9. The Next Generation Leader
10. Chosen but Free

Click the "2009 Reading List" link on the right sidebar, which has links to all of these books to Amazon.com for you to order if you want.

On another note...

We start a new sermon series this Sunday called "Isn't She Lovely?" It's a sermon series on the bride of Christ - the church. See you Sunday.

Blessings...

Pastor Mark

Book Review - Christless Christianity

Click the link on the right sidebar for the 2009 reading list.

Christless Christianity by Michael Horton

Book Summary

Michael Horton offers up a crushing diagnosis of contemporary American Christianity where Christ is abandoned in favor of some other form of man-centered pseudo Christianity. The solution he points us to is the same solution that the church has been abandoning for the entirety of its existence…the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

Horton calls the main problem “moralistic, therapeutic deism.” We’re not that bad. God’s not that great. Christianity is about this life. The problem the contemporary American church faces has an ancient name: Peliganism. Peliganism is a heretical system of theology that exalts the ability and nature of man to do and be good and ultimately make the right choice to save himself, although salvation is not that great because sin is not really that big of a problem. Horton exposes this system of theology in the current trends of the prosperity gospel that the popular Joel Osteen and Joyce Meyer preach and the emergent church movement led by the likes of Brian McLaren.

Horton issues a call for the American church to return to a Christ-centered Christianity. He issues this call as a “call to resistance” because it will ultimately go against our very human nature to be Christ-centered. If we are Christ-centered, gospel-loving, God-exalting then we cannot go with the current of human-centered ministry.

Book Evaluation

This was a timely book for me, as a pastor trying to evaluate all that is going on in the current landscape of American evangelicalism. I think Horton’s critique is very accurate and that our human nature is to always leave Christ-centered ministry in favor of some form of ministry that exalts us and tries to make us feel good about ourselves and our plight in this world.

I recommend you read this book with the following understanding…

This book is not an easy read simply due to the target level of readership. The assumed knowledge of advanced Christian vocabulary and the assumed knowledge of Christian history (early history, reformation history, and 2nd great awakening history) make for a more difficult book if you do not have the assumed background knowledge.

Mark’s Related Commentary

I strive to have a Christ-centered ministry but I know that I / we can do better in many areas at First Baptist. It is my thought that Christ-centered ministry is often absent in churches and the people of the church do not even know it b/c they are fed a steady diet of “do this” “do that” “live this way” without grounding all of the exhortations in the gospel. It seems and feels like Christianity, but it is really a moral improvement program with a Christian wrapper. We don’t need to do more ministry…we need to be ministered to by the Son of God, the one who, to our own objection, gets on his knees with a towel wrapped around his waist and serves us. Church, let’s have Christ as our center in all that we are and do!!!

Book Review - If You Take My Hand, My Son

Book Summary

This book sets forth a model for Christian parents to follow in raising their sons to be men of God. This book is focused particularly on boys, although large parts of it could be applied to girls as well. The book covers various character traits that we want to see developed in our sons at a pace of one per chapter (e.g. the title of chapter 5 is “Leading a Boy to Be a Man of Grace”, chapter 10 is “Leading a Boy to Be a Man of Discipline”, etc.). In each chapter the author shows the biblical necessity for the character trait and then gives practical advice about developing this type of character in a young boy so that he will own it when he becomes a man.

Book Review

Overall, I would recommend this book because I think that it correctly focuses on character formation. This is important. So much is written about behavior and how to get children to act right and grow into good citizens. Character formation takes care of behavior.

There were a few drawbacks to this book. I’ll just mention one. I think what was written in 220 pages could easily have been scaled down to a more manageable 130-150 pages. There’s just a lot of extra stuff in the book that didn’t need to be there. This is not a big problem.

Let me leave you with a few quotes that were memorable for me.

“Wisdom does not suddenly overtake our sons.” – p. 45

“We need to remind our sons, every day of their lives, how much we love them. We must convey that they are wonderfully and fearfully made. They are created in His perfect design, in God’s very image. They are significant just on the basis alone.” – p. 64

“Church is the hub of our social life and we made it clear to our children that church was important to us. Please hear me loud and clear parents: If you make church a priority, your children will see that priority and come to understand its importance. If you yourselves whine about it or try to make excuses for not attending, so will your children later on in their lives.” – p. 116

Sanctity of Human Life Sunday

This Sunday we will consider what the Scripture says about the plague of abortion. 10am. Don't miss it.

Our text will be Proverbs 31:8-9.

Book Review - The Tipping Point

***click link on right for the 2009 reading list

Book Summary

This book is a study of how epidemics are started. The title “The Tipping Point” comes from the idea of what causes something to “tip” from being a localized phenomenon to a large-scale movement. The focus of the book was to discover how epidemics (disease, social, ideological, behavioral, etc.) are spread in hopes of gaining insight into the ability to purposefully start your own epidemic for your product, idea, etc.

The discovery was that word-of-mouth epidemics are highly dependent upon just a few critical types of people: connectors, mavens, salesmen. Word-of-mouth epidemics are not initially about how many people you can tell, but about who you can tell. A connector is a person who has relationships with large numbers of people (“that person knows everybody”). A maven is a person who collects large amounts of information and wants to pass it on to others because he or she likes to be helpful (think about the person who loves to tell you about good shopping deals). A salesman is a person who has the ability to persuade others to certain action. These three groups of people are key in starting word-of-mouth epidemics. You want to get your message into their hands.

Book Review

I had seen this book recommended by several pastors and thought it might be a good read. I like to mix some business books in with my other reading because all truth is God’s truth. Many business books have excellent application for ministry leadership.

I was not, however, particularly impressed with this book’s usefulness for general ministry purposes. I loved the stories and data and examples and research…all very interesting. The idea of the book is that we need to find the few who will start a word-of-mouth epidemic. For the Christian church we are not looking for the few who can spread the word, but we want everybody to be spreading the word.

That said, it could be useful for ministry if we were desiring to have a large event or start some huge ministry and wanted to spread the news by word-of-mouth. It was a good read but not so useful for day-in and day-out ministry.

Book Review - The Shack

***click link on right for 2009 reading list

Here's my first book review of the year. It's will also be the shortest review of the year.

I won't be posting a review. I will be discussing The Shack on Sunday night, Jan. 11th.

We start at 6:30pm. See you there.