Missouri Baptists are being challenged to distribute God’s Word this year as they engage the lost in servant evangelism projects. Light Up Missouri is GPS+One Million Bibles. The purpose of this two-year phase is to transform communities with God’s Word through servant evangelism. This is being done in days, seasons and moments of service. Last year about 35 churches, associations and ministries were recruited to engage in distributing nearly 47,000 “Find it Here” New Testaments (NT). … [Read more...]
There is plenty you can do with 48 Bibles
Missouri Baptists are catching the vision for distributing one million Bibles in 2014. There are 48 Bibles in a case. The Find it Here New Testaments (NT) cost less than $40 a case. We are all challenged to distribute one million Bibles in print, audio, or Bible storying. Here are some ideas gleaned from reports that have been coming in from around our state. Get started by April 12 and celebrate this Easter. • Christmas carol through your community and give away a dozen cookies in a … [Read more...]
Missouri churches must grow their own leaders
Imagine a church with 11,000 members, 100 ministers, and only two of them have been to Bible college. Real Life Ministries in Post Falls, Idaho, disciples their members so intentionally, that they have all the ministers that they need. Gene Jacobs is one such church member turned minister. He is a former Navy guy who built cell phone towers. After accepting Christ, he became a member of a small group, then a small group leader, then a community pastor, executive church staff, and is now … [Read more...]
Workers in the Harvest (WITH) making disciples
Missionaries working in Turkey once took me to the place where they believe Paul received his “Macedonian Call,” which Luke recorded in Acts 16. The hill looked out over straits that separated us in Asia from a gray sliver of land over in Europe. Most of us with a European heritage appreciate the westward advance of the gospel. We live in a state that commemorates with a 630’ tall Arch America’s westward advance. And believers in Missouri appreciate that pioneers took the gospel with … [Read more...]
Of hooks, clubs and guiding ‘lambs’ to biblical truth
This past summer, I was invited to be the “storyteller” at an evangelistic block party in a rural Missouri town. I had four sessions. In the first one, I cut out a golden calf from gold foil wrapping paper and was good to go. Well, I asked what an idol was and explained that God didn’t like idols. And then I told the Golden Calf story from Exod. 32. Now, there were 20 in the place listening to me, 15 of which were under the age of seven or eight years old. I gave it all I had, but stuck to … [Read more...]
Full throttle, unprecedented opportunities
Mary Leigh, my wife, is a cancer survivor. She had the childhood form of leukemia as an adult. The Lord has healed her and she is a living testimony of the power of prayer. At every test, her markers exceeded those of so many others who eventually died. After six months of her three-year chemotherapy, we made a trip to the Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City. The traffic was bad; downright chaotic. I followed behind a yellow cab who really knew his stuff. I stayed right with … [Read more...]
Forming small groups: “Deeper than a nametag”
After giving someone a nametag, a cup of joe and a donut, what more could they want from your small group? But, then they turn to face a sea of unknown faces. Introductions are made: Glad to see you Mike Mary Earl Tammy John Sienna Sean Amy… There is no relationship, no recognizable network here. Individuals have come together and are trying desperately to make friends: Are you … Married? Looking? With kids? Employed? Having fun, how? Married? Working? Living where? Interested in anything, … [Read more...]
Towards a more powerful testimony
In my ministry, I often hear well-intentioned men and women give their testimony. Is there a better way? How is it possible to improve upon one’s personal experience with Jesus? We live in a time when people are complimented for even sharing their faith! But what happens when we spend too much time on the “before Christ” part and the moment of salvation is unfortunately muted, stunted, and offers no handles that a lost person can grab? Helping others have a clear path to Christ is the … [Read more...]
Opening the front door, closing the back door
In a consultation with a church as they were developing their evangelism strategy, it dawned on me that if their church had been in a community that had not grown numerically, they easily could have closed their doors. At least two counties in Missouri have grown incredibly in the past ten years. If they lost two families out the back door, there are many others walking in the front door. However, there are churches in Missouri that would be in trouble if two families walked out the back … [Read more...]
Thinking Bibles and sowing down the gospel
When Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief (DR) had a training simulation last May, I was blessed to have a chainsaw crew composed of volunteers mainly from Lebanon visit my home. They practiced by removing two dead trees. As they were getting ready to leave, they prayed for me and then presented me with a “gift” version of a New Testament with all their signatures. It really amazed me to think that each DR crew carried Bibles, that they cared enough to share with those that they had just … [Read more...]
Leading children to Christ, tell them Bible stories early
Growing up, my best friend was Jimmy and we did everything together for several years. It was only natural one summer to invite him to Vacation Bible School at my church. His parents let him go and he soon wanted to give his heart to Christ, so my mother talked to his mother. That’s when I learned about the “age of accountability” and even though I had accepted Christ and been baptized at age seven, apparently Jimmy’s mother – following the tradition of their church – insisted that he be … [Read more...]
But can you make disciples?
It was an honor to meet recently with a young pastor from southwestern Missouri. He wanted to know how he could get his church to become active witnesses for Christ. He had a pen and paper and was ready to write down a training program or book he could use. However, my advice was to model the behavior he expected of them. MAWL is an acronym for Model, Assist, Watch, and Leave that was developed by then-International Mission Board missionary Curtis Sergeant, who is now with E3 Partners … [Read more...]