Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Engaging Dodge City

I am really excited about what God is doing in my life and the life of the church. I believe it is so important to begin engaging society through many different avenues. At the end of October, I’ll be traveling to Johannesburg, South Africa. I will be taking part in many prayer walks, a couple preaching opportunities and many door-to-door evangelistic opportunities. I am really excited about this trip. I will be going with Keith Bryant, Director of Mission for Central Kansas, and Jason Winget, Pastor of Calvary Baptist Church of Ellinwood. I would sure covet your prayers as I prepare for the trip spiritually, physically, and financially.
It is an exciting time in the life of our church as well. We are having a very good balance between outward ministries and inward discipleship. At the beginning of October, we are starting in earnest a small group ministry called, “L.I.F.E. Connections.” These groups are designed so people can make important connections in their lives and grow spiritually. Each group will be divided equally between three parts: Fellowship, Prayer, and Bible Study. It is our hope that everyone will be a part of an open small group ministry.
Our Revival is approaching quickly. November 4-7 marks the dates of this exciting event. I am very excited about Andy Addis being our primary speaker. Andy is a dynamic preacher and one of the very best communicators of the gospel I have heard. He has a very special gift in connecting with his audience and making the gospel clear and readily available for response. I am encouraging as many people in our body to make this revival a matter of earnest prayer. We have begun to pray for the spiritual renewal and many. We are praying specifically for the salvation of many during this event. I believe God is going to do a work through Andy we can only imagine.
Heroes Unmasked is coming back for a second year. This is a fall festival event that takes the place of the normal festivities of Halloween. This is a great way for us to engage society. We are able to offer a safe alternative to Halloween and also make a strong evangelical push. As a pastor, Heroes Unmasked is a wonderful alternative to the worldly celebration of Halloween. What they intended for harm, we can use for the advancement of the Gospel.
Angel Food Ministry is still my favorite compassion ministry. For $28, a person or family can buy a box of food with a retail value of $60-80. It is the best way to get food into the homes of Dodge City and beyond. I am very encouraged with First Baptist Church of Holcomb coming on board with us. I firmly believe that Angel Food Ministry can become a great ministry and will open many doors to the advancement of the Gospel. A person can find out more about this ministry, and find the current menu, ordering deadlines, and distribution dates at our church’s web site: www.fsbcdodgecity.com.
AWANA is fast approaching. This is another excellent opportunity to, not only engage society, but to grow our own children in the grace and knowledge of Jesus. September 12 is the first official date of AWANA. This is a wonderful opportunity for children to be a part of Bible memorization, games, and worship. We also serve a meal each Wednesday night starting at 5:45 pm.
As you can see, there are many things going on. It is my prayer that First Southern Baptist Church would take the Lord’s mandate very seriously. Most Christians say they are living in the last days. It is one thing to say that and another thing to live it out. If we are living in the last days, time is running out. We must get serious about wining Dodge City to Christ. The task is enormous; but what is impossible for man is possible for God.

What Do Unbelievers think of SBC?

Every once and a while, I’ll spend a little time perusing the North American Mission Board web site (www.namb.net). There are times, I come across very interesting and helpful information. Recently, I stumbled on one such web page. From the Center for Missional Research, came an article entitled, “How do the Unchurched View Southern Baptists?” (http://www.namb.net/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=9qKILUOzEpH&b=2027651&ct=3198399) There were three very interesting findings.
First, 40 percent of those who’d attended a service were not familiar enough with Southern Baptists to form an impression. Over half of the people who had not attended a service where unfamiliar with the SBC. The findings show that “almost half of those surveyed just have no familiarity with who we are.”
Secondly, they looked at the “Impact of Knowing a Church is Southern Baptist on decision to visit or join.” These findings were especially troublesome. Among the unchurched people who expressed an opinion, almost three times as many said it would have a negative impact.
Finally, I thought the results of the age and willingness of people to “visit or join” a SBC church was interesting. Younger adults were substantially less willing to visit and join a church if they knew it was an SBC church.
What are we missing? There is no doubt that the over whelming majority of people have no idea who Southern Baptist are. I think there is no doubt loyalties to denominations are a bygone product. Most people could care less what denomination they attend. We, too, must realize joining a Southern Baptist Church does not have an impact upon our salvation. In fact, a person’s affiliation with any denomination means nothing. Salvation is based upon a person’s affiliation with our Savior, Jesus Christ and Christ alone. We can not rest on the simple fact that we are Southern Baptist and beliee people will be knocking down our door. So what can we learn from research like this?
First, we must continually engage our community. Gone are the days where people would simply come to your church. In states like Oklahoma and Texas, Southern Baptist work is woven into the fabric of local communities. However in more pioneer work like Kansas and Nebraska, Southern Baptist work is relatively new and unknown. Furthermore, the days of people simply coming to our church are long gone. We must be out into the community. Jim Toole reminded me that too many of our churches are becoming too much like seminaries (Let’s Worship Fall 2007). All we do is take in and never give out. We must get to know them and address their needs. They must see a church that genuinely cares for them and shows compassion for their families. We can not expect them to simply waltz into our church because we are Southern Baptists. We must be looking for ways to connect to them in their environment and then lead them to a place of faith. Toole goes on to say, “When your people give back to God from an overflow of what He gives them, it makes room for more of God in their hearts. If they hold in the glory of God, they become complacent, complaining, and uncaring. However, if they give God the glory due His name, they become caring, compassionate, and contagious” (Let’s Worship pg 62). We must continually be creating avenues for people to come and link arms with us. We can do this through one-day fairs, Angel Food Ministry, revivals, vbs, and maybe the most effective, small groups.
Secondly, we must exhibit Christ-like character. Matthew 9:36 tells us that Jesus had compassion on the crowd because they were harassed and helpless. Do you have the same compassion for people? Do you care that many do not have the most basic necessities in life? Do you care that many are lost without Jesus? Not only do we need to continually engage society, we must be willing to exhibit the attitude of Christ. We must develop a heart that truly seeks the well-being and welfare of others. This is one of the reasons I believe compassion ministries of our church are so very important. Ministries like Angel Food are open avenues to meet the physical and spiritual needs of others.
Finally, we must care enough to explain the Gospel to others. Let me outline a few very simple steps to help us all become more focused upon sharing the gospel with others:
1. Pray God will give you an attitude of multiplication. In most churches, if a survey were taken and the question were asked if they wanted to see growth up to ¼ of the people would say no. This should not be.
2. Be attentive to God’s Spirit. Everyday, ask God to bring people to you that you can share your story with.
3. Answer God’s prompting. If you are asking God to bring people to you, be ready to respond to His prompting.
4. Talk with them – don’t be pushy or use religious jargon – once again, follow God’s leading.
5. When the door is open, share your testimony in 100 words or less. Are you able to share who you were before Christ, how you can to know Christ, and who you are today with Christ as your Lord and Savior? Can you do this in 100 words or less? You may not have much time.

Let me share a very quick story of how God uses opportunities to let us share the hope of Jesus. I was going to a garage sell this past Friday. I’m always looking for cheap books. As I was looking in a box of books, I noticed that many of the books were Bibles and a few other Christian books. Talk about an easy opening for the Gospel! I simply asked the person, “I see you have a lot of Christian Bibles, do you have a faith in Jesus?” Her answer was simple, “Oh, those are my mother’s books. I’m not religious – I’m spiritual but not religious.” I asked her, “What do you mean spiritual?” Over the coming minutes, I was able to talk about the importance of Jesus Christ in our lives. Come to find out, this lady was a mother of a little girl who had already been coming to our church. As we closed, I was able to invite her to our church. I have taken her name and have begun to pray for her every time God brings her name to me. I have no doubt God will honor the effort at a garage sell and will bring this lady into the Kingdom. I had to have my eyes open to the opportunity. I had to be bold enough to ask a question and finally I had to be sensitive enough to talk with her. Every Christian can do what I did. It does not take a preacher, just a person who really cares enough.
We must be willing to engage society, exhibit a transformed life, and be willing to explain the Gospel when God opens the door. In other words, we must invest in lives of people. In order to offer change, we must invite them to church. We must begin to pray to have a positive influence upon people so we may have a major Kingdom impact upon lives. Are you a caring, compassionate, and contagious Christian? If not, why not? Pray that God will take your heart and create in you a compassionate and caring heart so you can be a contagious on fire Christian.