ST. LOUIS — Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) Executive Director John Yeats used his 30-minute address Oct. 29 at the MBC’s 178th annual meeting at the Millennium Hotel to compare the need of the moment to rebooting a computer.
Yeats actually talked about a series of reboots like regaining the priority of cooperative ministry, MBC ministries, the 2013 budget, the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, the doctrine of Christ as Lord, Christian citizenship, the mind, and the kingdom. Integrating it all into one coherent whole is what Yeats, who was elected last October and installed at last year’s convention in Osage Beach, is all about.
Two of the more vivid points in his presentation came when he executed the reboot on Christian citizenship before transitioning into the Holy Spirit reboot.
“We love to rationalize our nation’s atrocities with smooth platitudes instead of dealing with heart-wrenching issues on our knees before Almighty God,” Yeats said. “There are plenty of voices from multiple sectors in our culture that understand that something is seriously wrong in the land. The truth is that our nation has been intentionally deceived and is racing toward destruction. If we do not change paths now, the nation, the culture that we love and know, is going to be lost forever.
“We have a responsibility as believers to vote our values. But when this election is finished, do we not understand that there is something much more important than salvaging a nation? Why do I say that? Because we are on a mission with God and His work transcends the empires of human history.”
He then cast his vote for the precious Holy Ghost.
“The same Holy Spirit that caused Jesus to rise from the grave is the same Holy Spirit that lives within every follower of the Lord Jesus,” Yeats said. “Do you believe that? But saints, it is immoral and it is inexcusable for us to live powerless lives. Are we not commanded in Scripture, ‘Be not drunk with wine which is debauchery but be filled with the Spirit?’
“The same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus is the source of power we have to conquer our fears and to contain our personal licentiousness. He is the one who empowers us to place our foot on the neck of the enemy. He empowers us to place our foot on the neck of that immoral thought that feeds our flesh and then pronounce Jesus as Lord of all. No principality shall control our lives. We will bow to no one other than the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
“That same Spirit that raised Jesus from the grave is not given to us so that we can fill up our little individualized cup. He is not interested in filling up our little cup of personal happiness. We are on mission with God. According to Jesus in John 7:38, the Spirit within us is like a river and it flows from the throne room of heaven through our lives and out from our lives to a lost and dying world that is thirsting for hope and thirsting for love.”
Yeats noted that MBC staff positions are down from a high level of 140 to the current 55.
“We are learning to do more with less, and that is OK because we are as passionate as you are to push more funds to the front lines of global outreach,” he said. “However, I do think to maintain our level of excellence we are at the lowest level of personnel without seriously impeding our services to our churches.”
It is safe to conclude that a good reboot will get the computer running again.
“We hope you find out about some new resources and we hope you take home a deeper understanding of our cooperative Great Commission work,” Yeats said.