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Archives For March 31, 2013

Cindy Winters’ book reflects on God’s goodness in grief

Meredith Flynn —  April 9, 2013

Tuesday_BriefingTHE BRIEFING | Meredith Flynn

Cindy Winters didn’t set out to write a book. But as she journaled about her grief and pain after her husband’s death four years ago, she realized how healing the writing process could be. And she wanted to share that with others on a similar journey.

Pastor Fred Winters was killed at First Baptist Church, Maryville, Ill., on March 8, 2009, when a gunman entered the Sunday morning worship service and shot him where he stood in the pulpit. Media outlets immediately descended on Maryville, and the story made national headlines. Just days afterward, Cindy Winters extended forgiveness to the shooter on CBS’ Early Show.

“We have been praying for him,” she said. “…We really firmly believe that he can find hope and forgiveness and peace through this, by coming to know Jesus.”

Hope, forgiveness and peace are some of the themes running through Winters’ new book “Reflections from the Pit,” available now on www.amazon.com. Her writing process started simply, when she sat down with pen and paper to express some of the emotions that were overwhelming her.

“I would leave that writing experience with a sense of renewed strength,” Winters said. “Oftentimes, peace would sweep in over me, and then hope. And just a sense of, ‘Ok, you know what, I’m going to be able to make it through the rest of the day.’” Read more at BPNews.net.

Other news:

Rick and Kay Warren grieve son’s suicide
(From Baptist Press) Saddleback Church pastor Rick Warren and his wife Kay lost their son Matthew, 27, on Friday, April 5, to suicide. Rick Warren released an emotional statement to Saddleback’s staff, which has since been broadly published:

“Over the past 33 years we’ve been together through every kind of crisis. Kay and I’ve been privileged to hold your hands as you faced a crisis or loss, stand with you at gravesides, and prayed for you when ill. Today, we need your prayer for us.”

Among those expressing compassion for the Warrens was Frank Page, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee and a former SBC president.

Page and his wife Dayle lost a 32-year-old daughter, Melissa, to suicide in 2009.

Page stated via Twitter the day after Matthew Warren’s suicide: “My heart is broken as I’ve heard the news about Rick Warren’s son. Please pray. Unfortunately, I understand that which they experience now.” Read more at BPNews.net.

Haircuts and clean feet in New Orlenas
A team of 24 women traveled to New Orleans last week to minister in partnership with the Baptist Friendship House and missionary Kay Bennett. They served the city’s homeless population with a free health fair, where they offered haircuts, feet-washing stations, and listening ears. The day after they returned to Illinois, volunteer Kim Evrard said she woke up with a heavy heart. “This morning, I wake up and realize I barely slept because I can’t stop thinking about the people I met, and tears won’t stop this morning,” Evrard wrote in an email.

“I am so blessed. My heart is so heavy for the people I met.” Read more in the April 15 issue of the Illinois Baptist, online at ibonline.IBSA.org.

Nearly 9 in 10 Americans own Bible
As History Channel wrapped up its well-watched miniseries on the Bible, Barna and American Bible Society released their “State of the Bible” report, which found the book is still a staple in most households. Of the 1,005 American adults surveyed, 88% own a Bible and 80% said the Bible is sacred; 61% said they wish they read it more. Read more at Barna.org.

SBC’s non-Calvinists host ‘John 3:16’
The recent John 3:16 Conference in suburban Atlanta gathered more than 350 people and several prominent Southern Baptist leaders for a discussion of Calvinism in the SBC. The conference speakers, brought together by Jerry Vines Ministries, focused on the differences with those who identify with Reformed theology, but also emphasized cooperation and unity, reported Baptist Press. Steve Gaines, pastor of Bellevue Baptist in Memphis, Tenn., said Calvinists are not his enemy. “I can work with them,” he said. “There is no need for a takeover. We need to live together.” Read more at BPNews.net.

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Paying attention in a remote control world

Meredith Flynn —  April 8, 2013

remote controlHEARTLAND | Meredith Flynn

At most workplaces, the Bible would be an unusual topic for water cooler conversation. But that was exactly the idea behind History Channel’s recent miniseries “The Bible,” at least according to producing spouses Mark Burnett and Roma Downey.

“The best-case scenario for us is that there’s an opportunity here for people to be discussing the Bible at the water cooler the day after this has aired,” Downey told LifeWay.com before the premiere. “You know that seems so exciting that it just will stimulate conversation.”

The miniseries debuted last month to more than 13 million viewers, and seemed to keep most of that audience throughout its five-week run. But if it did provide water cooler conversation in offices around the country, it likely wasn’t the only topic that had people buzzing. The country is still embroiled in a same-sex marriage debate, heightened by the Supreme Court’s proceedings in March and with potentially landmark action on the docket for this summer.

Gun control is also at the forefront of our national consciousness, along with North Korea, the economy, political stalemate, college basketball and a royal baby (some are obviously more sobering than others). But all these concerns competed for our attention in the days leading to Easter, along with the urging – from Hollywood, of all places – to once again be amazed and energized by the Bible’s glorious narrative.  And by Jesus!

And yet, it’s likely that at most water coolers, talk of gun control or North Korea or a horrifying basketball injury weren’t connected to Jesus or the Bible, even if they shared headline space in some newspapers.

Consider one critic’s assessment of “The Bible” prior to its final episode. USA Today’s Robert Bianco wasn’t a fan of the series, and attributed its viewership only to a lack of religious programming on Easter Sunday. There’s an audience that wants faith-driven content, Bianco wrote, even though, “We’re a secular nation and no one is arguing for turning the entire weekend over to the celebration of one religion’s holiday.”

Because a whole weekend, even one that includes Good Friday and Easter Sunday, would be too much for one topic, one emphasis, one somber meditation.

It’s not just our “secular nation” that falls victim to a jumping bean-like attention span. Christians do, too. How often do we let an opportunity pass to inject biblical truth into a conversation about a current issue? How easy is to compartmentalize our conversations into “politics” and “religion” and “pop culture,” without talking about how our faith affects them all?

May God remind us to connect the dots. Let’s not be swept up in our channel-changing culture.

In Heartland
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New language for an old assurance

Meredith Flynn —  April 4, 2013

pull quote_BUCHANANCOMMENTARY | Joe Buchanan

Robbie was a young man who grew up in the first church I pastored. His name has been changed but his story is true. Robbie came forward to “give his life to Jesus” and be baptized for the first time during a fall revival service when he was 10 years old. At first, he began to show spiritual fruit and experience the joy of his salvation. But within six months, Robbie started to wonder whether he was really saved.

The next spring, Robbie again came forward to “ask Jesus into His heart.” Once again he showed some initial change, but eventually began to doubt his salvation. When he came to me ask me what to do, I did what I had been taught to do since I was a kid: I shared the Gospel with him and asked if he wanted to pray the sinner’s prayer to be saved. Robbie said yes, and the next week we baptized him.

This cycle continued for the 10 years that I was his pastor. Does this sound familiar?

The sad reality is that Robbie was not the only person going through this cycle in our church. In fact, it’s being repeated in churches all across the Southern Baptist Convention, and has become so familiar that we almost think it’s normal and just part of being a believer. But in his new book, “Stop Asking Jesus into Your Heart,” J.D. Greear writes the problem may actually be the unbiblical language we use in describing how people should respond to the Gospel.

Specifically, Greear notes some ways we couch our response to the Gospel (using phrases like “ask Jesus into your heart,” or “accept Jesus as Lord and Savior,” or “give your heart to Jesus”) are not biblical. He writes, “These phrases may not be wrong in themselves, but the Bible never tells us, specifically, to seek salvation in those ways.  The biblical summation of a saving response towards Christ is ‘repentance’ and ‘belief’ in the Gospel.”

Greear continues, “Repentance and faith are heart postures you take toward the finished work of Christ. You might express the beginning of that posture in a prayer. But don’t make the mistake of equating that prayer with the posture. The sinner’s prayer is not a magic incantation or a recipe you follow to get a salvation cake. The real stuff – that stuff that matters – is the posture of repentance and faith behind the words you speak. The prayer is good only insofar as it verbalizes the posture.”

Make no mistake, Greear is not telling us to stop doing evangelism. In fact, he is inviting us to return to a biblical approach of sharing the Gospel. He reminds us that how we invite people to respond to the Good News of Jesus must be firmly grounded in the Scripture, not in tradition or pragmatism. In doing so, Greear upholds the noblest aspirations of those who hold to the authority and inerrancy of the Bible.

After reading and thinking about this book, it has occurred to me that my presentation of the Gospel is largely at fault for Robbie’s struggles. My intentions were good, but I had inherited an unbiblical and unhelpful method of explaining the response to the Gospel. This is a difficult pill to swallow, but it can go along way toward returning our churches to a healthy method and mindset of evangelism.

If I were to counsel with Robbie today, I would want to make sure that his assurance of salvation is securely grounded in the Scripture. The best way I know to do this would be to take him to some of the Scriptures that demonstrate specific changes that occur as a result of salvation. Does he love the other members of Christ’s family (1 John 2:9 and 3:14-16)? Has he experienced the desire to stop sinful behavior and obey God (1 John 2:29 and 3:6)?

And I would urge him to ask other members of the church if they have witnessed these changes in his life. This combination – Scripture and the people of God – is the best way of helping Robbie and others like him to come to the full assurance of his salvation, or to see the need to repent and believe.

Dr. Joe Buchanan is pastor of First Baptist Church, Metropolis, and author of the upcoming book “Cultivating a Gospel-Shaped Attitude”.

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Tuesday News Briefing: ‘Secret Church’ gathers 60,000 on Good Friday

Meredith Flynn —  April 2, 2013

THE BRIEFING | Meredith Flynn

An estimated 60,000 people gathered around video screens and computer monitors on Good Friday for Secret Church, an annual event hosted by Alabama pastor David Platt. Speaking from The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Platt delivered nearly six hours of teaching on heaven, hell and the end of the world.

“We need to pause,” and consider the big questions related to what comes next, Platt said, because we are “continually blinded by the temporal, subtly numbed by the trivial, and we desperately need to contemplate the eternal.”

Platt covered biblical truths about heaven and hell before turning his attention to controversial questions in the book of Revelation. Speaking in rapid-fire sentences, he worked through a 190-page, fill-in-the-blanks notebook while viewers around the world scrambled to keep up, some with the help of a live Twitter feed that provided the answers.

Questions related to heaven, hell and Jesus’ return have always intrigued Christians, and often have been a source of disagreement. A 2010 survey by the Pew Research Center found nearly half of U.S. Christians believe Jesus will definitely (27%) or probably (20%) return to earth in the next 40 years, while 38% disagreed.

In the first few minutes of the Secret Church simulcast, Platt urged his listeners to “leave room for disagreement over secondary (and tertiary) doctrines while celebrating agreement on primary doctrines.” And to live with urgency. He quoted 18th century preacher Jonathan Edwards:

“Resolved, to endeavor to my utmost to act as I can think I should do, if I had already seen the happiness of heaven, and hell torments.”

Read more about Secret Church here.

-David Platt quotes from Secret Church study guide

Other news:

Kerry advocates for Iranian pastor’s freedom
(From Baptist Press) U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry late Friday (March 22) called for the release of pastor Saeed Abedini, a U.S. citizen of Iranian descent who is suffering in a notoriously brutal Tehran prison because of his Christian faith. The American Center for Law and Justice, which represents Abedini’s wife and two young children living in the United States, called Kerry’s statement “a tremendous step forward in our government’s involvement in securing Pastor Saeed’s freedom.” Read more at BPNews.net.
Piper preaches final message at Bethlehem Baptist
Pastor John Piper ended his pastoral ministry at Minneapolis’ Bethlehem Baptist Church over Easter weekend by preaching during the church’s holiday worship services. Christian leaders went online to honor Piper, blogger Justin Taylor. “When all is said and done, John Piper will be remembered for many things. But apart from his own relationship to God and his relationship to family, his most important vocation will remain serving as a faithful, worshipful, prayerful shepherd to a local body of believers,” Taylor wrote at thegospelcoalition.org.
Russell Moore elected next ERLC President
(From Baptist Press) Russell Moore, currently dean of the school of theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, has been elected the next president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. Moore, 41, a native of Biloxi, Miss., will be the eighth president of the entity charged by Southern Baptists with addressing moral and religious freedom issues. “I pray for God’s grace to lead the ERLC to be a catalyst to connect the agenda of the kingdom of Christ to the cultures of local congregations for the sake of the mission of the Gospel in the world,” Moore said. Read more at BPNews.net.
In sculpture, Jesus takes on ‘dirt’ of mankind – literally
A Wheaton College art professor has meticulously covered a sculpture of Jesus with dirt and dust collected from all over campus, in an effort to artistically express how Christ took on the sin of mankind through his death and resurrection. David Hooker’s Corpus will be displayed in the college’s biblical and theological studies department, Christianity Today reports. The magazine talked to Hooker about the inspiration and method behind his work.
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50-day Prayer Plan: From Easter to Pentecost

Meredith Flynn —  April 1, 2013

pull quote_KINGHEARTLAND | Claude King (From Baptist Press)

In 1995 a Texas pastor called and asked me to pray for his church and give some counsel. From the evidence of love and unity in the congregation, the pastor believed the church had experienced a revival – not a series of services but a return to right relationships with God and one another. The church had two concerns: first, they wanted to become more of a people of prayer; and second, they wanted tPraying Up To Pentecost_Final o be part of a spiritual harvest.

This Texas congregation began 50 days of prayer starting Easter Sunday and continuing through Pentecost Sunday. Families were given a 50-day calendar with a Scripture for each day. They were asked to gather as a family to read and discuss a Scripture each day, decide what they needed to do to apply the truths to their lives, and pray. With a focus on reaching lost people, they began making a list of people in their circles of relationships who were not Christians. Families (some praying together for the first time) faithfully lifted these names to the Lord in prayer.

The church also held a six-week study of prayer in all their Sunday School classes from sixth grade through senior adults. They used a workbook now titled “Growing Disciples: Pray in Faith.” Participants were learning to pray during the week, and then they conducted prayer meetings in their classes to practice what they were learning. One lesson each week helped them learn how to pray together more effectively. During the worship services, they collected prayer request cards. A team of intercessors prayed during the services for the spiritual needs of the people present.

Following the model for “Pentecostal Prayer Meetings” described by Andrew Murray of South Africa (in “The Prayer Life”), the church conducted 10 days of corporate prayer meetings on the days leading up to Pentecost. One night they commissioned a mission team that left for Russia. Another night they invited the other Baptists in their small county to join them for prayer. They invited other denominations to join them one night in praying for their town. Other corporate prayer experiences included cottage prayer meetings, prayerwalking around town, prayer-driving in the county, and other kinds of corporate prayer.

For a free reproducible guide for “Praying Up To Pentecost” click here.

I had the privilege of joining this church for their celebration of Pentecost, including wonderful testimonies and a Baptist feast (dinner on the grounds). They even received a special “first fruits” offering to provide ministry to needy people outside of the church membership. I was amazed at the quality of corporate prayer I observed.

People were expecting a huge response at invitation time, but only one young boy made a public profession of faith. Their enthusiasm for a spiritual harvest seemed to burst. Only one other “first fruit” of spiritual harvest happened that afternoon as a woman from the community came to seek counsel from the pastor. She had seen the service on the local cable channel. She wanted to know God the way people described their experiences in their testimonies that morning. I returned home a bit discouraged.

But three months later, I received a follow-up report from the pastor that reignited my heart. Their mission team to Russia had led more than 400 people to the Lord. Additionally, although the church had been involved in prison ministry for many years, that summer they saw nearly 300 prisoners accept Christ. And in their small community, 25 of the lost people for whom they had prayed between Easter and Pentecost professed their faith in Jesus Christ! Many members said, “Pastor, we can’t go back to the old way of doing things.”

Jesus instructed his disciples, “Open your eyes and look at the fields, for they are ready for harvest” (John 4:35). The early church experienced a great spiritual harvest on the Day of Pentecost described in Acts 2. But, like the church in Texas, the Jerusalem harvest was preceded by a period of intense personal and corporate prayer.

Claude King is discipleship and church health specialist at LifeWay Christian Resources. He is coauthor of “Experiencing God, Fresh Encounter, The Mind of Christ, Pray in Faith,” and other resources.

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