It’s taken me a week for this past Sunday to sink in.  Our new pastor Keith Richardson spoke and we confirmed our pastor search committee’s recommendation.  Keith is a very faithful and authentic man of God, and I will look forward in transitioning leadership to him of our congregation.  He said some very encouraging words about me, but I was not prepared for what happened next.  The congregation gave me a standing ovation.  If you have ever received a standing ovation unexpectedly, you know how overwhelming and humbling that it is. I was speechless to say the least.

As I reflected on that this past week, a few things came to mind.  First, I am not worthy of any praise compared to what the Lord has done for us.  Many times we believe that leaders of churches are making the difference.  Leadership is important, but it is what that leadership points you to that is monumental.  Christ must be the one that receives the credit and the glory.  I want to be a leader of a movement of churches that are focused on the mission and relentless in their pursuit.  A movement that is so huge that no one even thinks about giving me credit, but are found sitting in awe (along with me) at what God is doing.  Think about what happened at Pentecost.  Peter stands up and preaches and 3000 come to know Christ and are baptized.  No one afterwards was saying, “Great sermon, preacher.  Appreciate your message pastor.  Worth every cent of the offering today.”  NO!  They were speechless at what the Lord did. The Lord is the one that deserves a Standing Ovation.  How often this past month have you cheered for him with as much emotion as you exhibit at a football game.

Second, I desire a standing ovation from Jesus.  That is not a prideful statement, but a recognition that I want to please an audience of one.  In fact that was one of Keith’s points in his message this past Sunday.  I want to be like Stephen.  (Well maybe not the stoning part)  Stephen is about to die and he says these words, “Behold, I see the Son of Man standing at the right hand of the Father.”  WHAT?  STANDING?  He is depicted as sitting almost everywhere else in scripture.  But here it is said that he was standing to receive Stephen.  What an honor?  Talk about overwhelming.

Finally, my grandmother kept me down to earth.  She was sitting a few people over from me.  When everyone stood up, I looked over and she was looking at me…still sitting.  For a split second I thought about standing myself and helping her to her feet and sitting back down.  I know she just couldn’t get up that quickly, but we laughed about it nonetheless.  I told her, “Thanks for keeping me humble.”  Sometimes you need people in your life that no you aren’t that big of a deal and that God is bigger.  I appreciate people like that.  Seek them out for yourself because sometimes you can begin to believe that God owes you something because of your great service to Him.  He doesn’t owe you anything else, he already poured out His entire life for you.  It’s about time you gave Him a standing ovation.

OK.  I have been in the ministry for about 14 years now.  I have had the honor of leading a lot of people to the Lord.  Nearly everyone of them when we started talking said that they were a Christian…

Therefore, stop asking this question, “Are you a Christian?”  95% of America would say that they are a Christian.   Almsot like it is synonomous with being an American.  Many can’t even tell you what one is and they claim to be one!

Start asking a question like this, “Tell me about your faith journey or tell me about your spiritual life.”  The answer to that question will reveal if they are a born again follower of Jesus.

Try it and don’t forget to ask those people in the church either!  They might not know what a Christian is either.

I dropped Connor off at our CDC, The Creation Station, on his birthday.  Teachers had smiles on their faces, Connor was welcomed at the door, and there was life and energy.  The level of excellence in preschool and after-school care has been raised in our community because of the Creation station.  I was talking with someone in our community that has helped to fund educational research in early intervention and they have marked our CDC as the model for the community.  I do not say this with pride or to pat ourselves on the back, but to say that you do make a difference and are responsible for raising the level of excellence in our community. 

The church should not simply be reactionary to the problems of the community.  The church shouldn’t just be the one coming behind a collapsing community and pick up the pieces. The church needs to be blazing the trail for the world to follow.  If our community is going to progress, we as the church must raise our level of excellence.

So where do we start?  First, we must not be satisfied with where we are.  One of the reasons communities die is because they want to coast and not be progressive.  If you coast, you slow to a stop. 

Second, leaders must rise up and take ownership of their community especially young leaders.   Why young leaders?  Because they haven’t figured out yet that it can’t be done.  We cannot sit back as the church and let others lead.  When someone is needed to lead something, our first reaction cannot be “I don’t have time.”  The church needs to run for city and county council, run for school board, serve on committees, and coach recreation ball. 

Third, our failure rate has to increase.  What?!  If we are not failing very much, it may mean that we are trying new things.  I think back to when we helped our city do something they had never done before:  a family day on July 4^th complete with family games, fireworks, and musical program.  Nearly 1000 people attended.  It started with an idea. 

Finally, we must begin to make more “What if” statements.  What if we tried this?  What if we did this?  What if we organized this?

Have we forgotten how to dream?  Have we settled for where we are?  Are you willing to do something about it?

If our community is going to progress towards excellence, it must first start with God’s people seeking Him.  I hope to see you at our community wide prayer gathering on Monday, March 22 at 6 pm at the circle.

Serving our city into a better tomorrow.

I had the pleasure of having lunch with a church planter in Barnwell, Robert Altman.  He planted Bethany Baptist Church about 3 years ago that is running about 120 in attendance now.  It was such a joy to listen to his passion.  I asked him “Why plant a church in Barnwell?”  His response, “I believe there are some people that are being overlooked by our churches.”

His church is experiencing revival as lives are being changed.  This past year they baptized 85!  Wow!  He retold a story that one of his church members told him.  A lady from his church was talking with someone they worked with.  When the individual found out that they went to the new church on Hwy 70 she warned the girl that it was a cult.  The church member was confused and said, “Why do you say that?”  She then said, “I know of someone who started going out there, and when they came to work they were changed!  Everything about them changed including their dress, the way they talked, and the way they treated others.  Something bad wrong is going on out there!”

That’s what I want them to say about our church.  When people go there they come back changed.  Jesus calls us to be transformed.  Scripture teaches that we are a new creation when we come to Christ.  The old has passed away and the new has come.

“Having lunch with an old friend, Perry Noble.”  I’ve been surprised at how much conversation that twitter brought last week.

Perry was the life of the party in college and attended FCA with us every week at Clemson although he went to Anderson.  He was the youth and college minister at North Anderson Baptist Church where we went our freshman year.  There are two things that stick out in my mind about Perry from those years.  I remember how he always lifted up his teenagers in public and claimed that they were the best teenagers in South Carolina.  I also remember how he would go out to the hang out areas of Anderson and share the gospel with people with boldness and courage.  He had a burning passion to see people come to Christ and have their lives changed.

He felt a strong desire to plant a church in 1996 and started Newspring in 1999 at Anderson University.  Since then it has grown to over 10,000 in weekly attendance and has planted 3 multisite churches.  Many of my students after going off to college worshipped at Newspring and were impacted by his ministry.

In the church leadership world, Perry has been talked about and ridiculed by 100’s of people.  Ironically, most of them are church leaders. 

The bottom line is that Perry has a heart for Jesus and a love for other people.  He has a burning desire to see people come to know Jesus and he is open to doing what God wants him to do in ministry at Newspring. 

The lunch was great.  He was the same guy I remembered from college. 

And… he found out our waitress didn’t go to church anywhere.  They talked a bit about how he was a waiter at one time.  We asked her what day is the worst to work.  She said, “Sunday lunch.”  That’s the one time of week that tips are the lowest.  That is discouraging church!  God wants you to be a blessing to the world! 

He invited her to come to Newspring.  I’d be very surprised if he never saw her again.

The bill was $26.  Perry paid the bill and I left her a $26 tip.

I was able to spend this past weekend with my college roommates.  My college experience was a little different than others.  I went to college to let loose and party, but God put me on a collision course with guys that were solid in their faith.  One of those guys was Jeff Wheeler.  He was my “pot luck” roommate who I met on the first day of college.  That night, he was reading his Bible in his top bunk.  Now my grandfather was a preacher, and I went to church every Sunday, and even I knew that you only read your Bible on Sunday.  He made a lasting impression on me and led me to campus ministries and churches.  One of the campus ministries was FCA where we worshipped every Thursday night together.  By the way, they were clapping during worship in the first service I went to and I thought they were crazy.  How times change… During one of the worship services, I surrendered my life to Christ and Jeff became part of my spiritual story.

Then there is Dr. Luke Bonnett, owner of Chapin Pediatrics.  He was a wild one his freshmen year and then he began to hang out with Jeff and I.  He watched our lives and desired something more.  There was a pull from other friends to continue the party scene, but he would spend hours across campus in our room.  We became close friends, and he eventually surrendered his life to Christ.  Jeff and I became part of his spiritual story.  We prayed him through college and then through each MCAT test he took.  He was denied an interview at med school on more than one occasion.  When he finally got one, he knocked it out the park and was in the top 10% in his class at MUSC.   

Tommy Haff and Alan Swartzentruber rounded out the group.  Tommy became very close to Jeff and Luke in a fraternity that was different than the rest.  Alan and I cheered together and served on leadership at FCA.  Both these guys are good as gold.  Alan actually caught a fish at the Lake.

In college, we held one another in check.  We weren’t afraid to challenge one another.  We weren’t afraid to call sin…sin.  We loved one another enough not to let the other fall into a sinful lifestyle.  We try to gather once a year now.  When we gather together; we play together (Luke lost 18 balls in a round of golf), encourage one another, challenge one another, hold one another accountable, and pray together. 

So here is my question to you…

Whose spiritual story are you a part of?

Who is challenging you in your faith, encouraging you to stand firm, and rebuking you when you stray?

If your answer is “no one”, quit dragging your feet.  Find someone in your Sunday School class or small group and ask them if they will be a prayer partner with you.  If you aren’t in Sunday School or a small group, join a group.  The leadership of the church can point you in the right direction, but you will have to walk. 

For those of you who haven’t been to worship in a while at Barnwell FBC, allow me to extend a personal invitation to come back and join us as we partner with God to change this community and our world.  On Sunday, November 22 we will have a Thanksgiving Homecoming.  It begins with Sunday School at 9:45 am and one joint service at 11 am where all the services will come together.  Following the service we will eat lunch together at Barnwell Elementary School.  BBQ will be served and we are asking you to bring 2 of the following 3:  dessert, salad, or vegetable.  I look forward to seeing you.

Be the Church

It is our desire at First Baptist Church to see broken people restored.  In fact, we are a collection of broken people who have been put back together by Christ.  It was so encouraging this past Sunday to hear from Pete and Darla Buwalda on the new ministry they started to help those in dire financial circumstances find restoration and hope in the future. 

We desire to give individuals complete healing as was described in Acts 3.  Not just a surface level gift of money, but a complete healing that seeks to help people at the root of their problems.  At the very core is a life apart from Christ.  We seek to help people spiritually and sometimes that involves physical healing.  Always remember that there are some out there who cannot hear the message you preach because their stomach is growling so loudly.  Feed them so that they may see the message of the gospel in action and that they may actually listen.

If you desire to join a church that is on mission, the First Baptist Church welcomes you.  It is our desire that you understand what you are getting yourself into when you decide to follow Christ and join our church!  We have decided to begin a monthly new members gathering called Connections.  All future members will go through this informative class in order to have a clear understanding of the gospel and find out about the heartbeat of our church. 

Who is this gathering for?

1.  Members who have responded to the invitation in church and have been presented as a “Candidate for Membership”.

2.  Individuals who have confessed Christ as Lord with one of our missionaries from FBC (that’s you!) and desire to be baptized.

3.  Guests at First Baptist Church who desire to know more about the church and its mission. 

Our next gathering is Sunday, October 25 from noon to about 2 pm in the Activities Center.  Lunch will be provided for your family and you will hear from my heart.  You will also be introduced to our staff at FBC.   There are no strings attached, but you will have an opportunity to express your interest in joining FBC and following Jesus.  Those who desire to join will be presented to the congregation the following Sunday for membership.

If you desire to be at our next Connections Class, please make reservations with K at the church office.  I look forward to seeing you.

Yesterday was a great day as the gospel was preached at our church.  One of the ideas that I discussed was this idea that in order to be saved, you have to know that you are drowning.  If you don’t know you are drowning in your sin, why would you even need a savior.  Jesus however saved us from our sin when it was drowning us.  And when he does, it transforms our lives.  You cannot come face to face with Christ and not be changed.  So what is your story?  Has Jesus changed your life, or are you still playing church.  Peter was changed from A to Z. 

Before the Resurrection, Peter was Apathetic, but after the resurrection he was Awe Inspiring

Before the Resurrection, Peter was Blind, but after the resurrection he was Bold

Before the Resurrection, Peter was a Coward, but after the resurrection he was Courageous.

Before the Resurrection, Peter was Defeated, but after the resurrection he was Delivered

Before the Resurrection, Peter was Embarrassed, but after the resurrection he was Extraordinary.

Before the Resurrection, Peter was Finished, but after the resurrection he was Fearless

Before the Resurrection, Peter was Garbage, but after the resurrection he was golden

Before the Resurrection, Peter was Hardened, but after the resurrection he was Holy

Before the Resurrection, Peter was Illegitimate, but after the resurrection he was In the family

Before the Resurrection, Peter was Judged, but after the resurrection he was justified.

Before the Resurrection, Peter was Kicked around, but after the resurrection he was Kingdom Bound.

Before the Resurrection, Peter was Lost, but after the resurrection he was Loved

Before the Resurrection, Peter was Misunderstood, but after the resurrection he was a Masterpiece

Before the Resurrection, Peter was Nothing, but after the resurrection he was Noble

Before the Resurrection, Peter was Oppressed, but after the resurrection he was Obsessed

Before the Resurrection, Peter was Poor, but after the resurrection he was Priceless

Before the Resurrection, Peter was a Quitter, but after the resurrection he couldn’t keep Quiet

Before the Resurrection, Peter was Ridiculous, but after the resurrection he was a Revolutionary

Before the Resurrection, Peter was Shattered, but after the resurrection he was Sold out

Before the Resurrection, Peter was Trapped, but after the resurrection he was Tenacious

Before the Resurrection, Peter was Uncertain, but after the resurrection he was Unbelievable

Before the Resurrection, Peter was a Victim, but after the resurrection he was Valiant

Before the Resurrection, Peter was a Wimp, but after the resurrection he was Warriors

Before the Resurrection, Peter was eXpelled, but after the resurrection he was eXhilarated

Before the Resurrection, Peter was a Yahoo, but after the resurrection he was Yelling out the name of Christ.

Before the Resurrection, Peter was a Zeroe, but after the resurrection he was in the Zone, a Zealot for the cause of Christ.

Changed people Change the World

There is a man who walks around town in Barnwell.  If you live here, I know you know who I am talking about but you may not know his name.  I didn’t for about 2 months until finally I was compelled to talk with him.  My previous assumptions of him were proved to be false as he did not accept anything I wanted to give him, and I watched him give every dollar he had to children in the apartments who were running up to him.

He is an African American man in his late 60’s or so with a dread lock beard and wiry hair.  He is very fit as he walks what seems to be about 5 miles a day.  He is not homeless and worked for many years as a field hand for a farmer.  When I asked him why he was giving all of his money away, he simply said, “Because the Lord tells me too.”  I picked him up one day when it was pouring down raining.  As he stepped into the car I asked him where he was going.  He told me and I began to take him there while water dripped off his beard.  He was soaked.  I offered to take him to lunch and he opted to take the money as he was not hungry.

I saw him again the other day.  I approached him and asked him if he remembered my name.  He said, “I do not remember your name, but I remember your heart.”  Wow.  What a compliment.

I then reminded him my name and he said, “Do you remember mine?”  I said, “It’s Willis.”  He smiled.

Check out Hebrews 13:2.  It will challenge you.  Do you think that this scripture is true?  Isaiah 53:2 talks about Jesus.  Check it out.  It may give you a different picture of Jesus than what you envision.   You know:  brown flowing hair, nicely trimmed beard, and blue eyes.

Next time you see him walking around town, say hey to my friend Willis.  Take him out to lunch.  He may teach you something.

I am standing in the back of the worship center at the close of week one watching students worshipping our Lord with hands raised high.  There is an excitement at what God has done in their life this week.  Our desire was that they might leave this week owning their faith.  That they would havde statements that begin with I believe… that they could defend and be firm about.

My prayer is that as they go back to their communities that they will be missionaries on the largest mission field in North America.  If people do not come to know Christ by the age of 18 there is only a 20% chance that they will.  College students are leaving the fellowship of believers in the droves.  30% of those active in church ministry will remain.  That is not including those who are not even a part of the church.  Statistically, parents are not raising their children in the Lord and are not impressing the truths of the faith on their children.

So WHO is going to take the message of the gospel to them!  Jesus used 10-11 teenagers (his disciples) to change the world (there is evidence to believe that John was as young as 13).  I believe that he can do it again.  Don’t let your life be a Christian Walk…Run, Set the Pace, Be the Church to the Community and allow God to transform the World through you beginning where you are.