Our hometown is our mission field

ib2newseditor —  October 27, 2016

By John Yi

Editor’s note: This post is one in a series on cross-cultural ministry, taken from a round table discussion between four Illinois pastors and leaders. Click here to read more from their conversation, published in the September 29 issue of the Illinois Baptist newspaper. 

john-yiJohn Yi is IBSA’s second-generation church planting catalyst in Chicago, founder of a community ministry in Maywood, and a leader at Bethel SBC, a church plant in Mt. Prospect. Visit John at the virtual vision tour sponsored by the IBSA Church Planting Team during the IBSA Annual Meeting Nov. 2-3 at Broadview Missionary Baptist Church in Chicagoland.

On living where you serve
I think my wife and I always knew that once we got to the place where we would set down our roots ministry, we would have to live in the community where we were going to do our work.

We were not going to be commuting. That was something we had both experienced in our young adult years—traveling to go to church. In fact, until we lived in Maywood and started our ministry there, I don’t think I had ever lived and gone to church in the same town.

…the sacrifice might mean having to pull up your roots and go to a place that feels very uncomfortable and unnatural to you.

We lost some other comforts in the move too. A lot of our friends are away from us too.  We were distant from the people with whom we felt comfortable.

On becoming a community church
We still live in Maywood. And in the years since our move there, we’ve learned the sacrifices were worth it. I think in order to be cross-cultural, there has to be a weighing of what is not necessary for the sake of ministry. We have done that at our church, Bethel SBC, too. Part of us wanting to become a community church means we really have to become less Korean.

In Korean churches it is almost a universal practice to have a lunch fellowship after the worship service and it is almost always Korean food. When I first proposed not doing Korean food anymore, there was an uproar. I’m like, “Why can’t we just do sandwiches or order pizza once in a while, or do spaghetti and meatballs?”  That’s how it was at the beginning, but now I can’t even remember the last time we had a Korean meal at church.  Our members have really taken to this idea that we really have to make it more accessible. We want to get rid of all the barriers, and I think that is one of the sacrifices we have to sometimes make.

And sometimes, the sacrifice might mean having to pull up your roots and go to a place that feels very uncomfortable and unnatural to you.  We know missionaries do that all the time when they go to a foreign country, but when you weigh the value of the gospel and the Kingdom of God, I think sometimes those things that seemed so important to us start to lose their luster.

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Which church are you?

ib2newseditor —  October 26, 2016


By Adron Robinson

Editor’s note: This post is one in a series on cross-cultural ministry, taken from a round table discussion between four Illinois pastors and leaders. Click here to read more from their conversation, published in the September 29 issue of the Illinois Baptist newspaper. 

adron-robinsonAdron Robinson is pastor of Hillcrest Baptist Church in Country Club Hills and vice president of IBSA. He will deliver the annual sermon on Thursday, Nov. 3, during the Illinois Baptist State Association’s Annual Meeting at Broadview Missionary Baptist Church in Chicagoland. The theme of the meeting is “Cross-Culture.”

On finding an identity
Every church is going to be “that” church. People are going to say that’s the church that does this, or that church does that. As leaders, we need to get out front in defining what our church is going to be known for. John 13:35 just comes to mind: “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Your church needs to be known for showing your community God’s love in some way.

Your church needs to be known for showing your community God’s love in some way.

I grew up next door to a church. The church’s driveway was right in between it and the house where I was raised. Growing up, I thought the driveway was ours because we never saw church people until Sunday. On Sunday, they would come in and park on the street and fill up the driveway. They would be in the building all day and you would hear the music, but the rest of the week, the building was empty.

The church was just “that” church next door. When they came around on Sunday, they were “those” church people.  The complaint among the neighbors was that they took up all our parking. Other than that, they had no interaction whatsoever with the block, not to mention the rest of the community.

On engaging your community
Churches can do a great service to their community just by being good neighbors, and engaging people around them. Go be a coach, or just be a parent watching your kids play on a local sports team. Let people see the love of Christ in you. You don’t have to always be carrying a big Bible around, but just get to know people and start the relationships and let your love for the Lord be seen amid those interactions. You do much more for the gospel that way.

I think we try to reinvent the wheel too much. The community is already gathering together; go to those areas and take the gospel with you.

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Briefing: Video gaming’s big in Illinois, Liberty students rebel

ib2newseditor —  October 25, 2016

The BriefingVideo gambling’s big in Illinois
Add up all the video gambling machines scattered in small venues across Illinois — there are more than 24,000 machines, the equivalent of 20 casinos — and you’re talking real money. The amount of money left over after paying video gambling winners for the first time exceeded $1 billion in fiscal 2016. That’s a 27% increase, making video gambling the hot hand in Illinois’ gaming industry.

Liberty students rebel
Now, Liberty students are opposing their leader’s presidential endorsement, writing in a Washington Post opinion piece, “In January, Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. endorsed Donald Trump for president of the United States. As Liberty students, we watched as the leader of our school loudly and proudly advocated for a man many of us felt compelled to oppose. Trump’s flagrant dishonesty, consistent misogyny and boastful unrepentance made many of us feel the need to publicly express disagreement with President Falwell’s endorsement.

Refugees resettled at record rate
Last month, World Relief nearly doubled the number of refugees it resettles in the United States in a typical month. In the past 12 months, the evangelical agency handled a caseload of 9,759 refugees—its largest total since 1999. The milestone comes at the same time as major setbacks to the effort to ban Syrian refugee resettlement in Indiana and Texas.

State must fund Planned Parenthood
A federal judge Thursday blocked a Mississippi law that prohibited Medicaid payments to any healthcare provider that offers abortions. Two Planned Parenthood affiliates filed suit against the law, which blocked all Medicaid funding, including payments for non-abortion services such as birth control, to any facility affiliated with an abortion provider.

U.N. to appoint LGBT advocate
The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender agenda is gaining traction at the United Nations, as it organization prepares to vote on appointing an “independent expert” to “assess the implementation of existing international human rights instruments with regard to ways to overcome violence and discrimination against persons on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity, and to identify and address the root causes of violence and discrimination.”

Sources: Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, Christianity Today, World Magazine, Baptist Press

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The Faith Frontier

ib2newseditor —  October 24, 2016

Illinois has come a long way, but we still have a way to go

Illinois IL State United States of America 3d Animated State Map

When Illinois became a state in 1818, fewer than 100 people lived in Chicago, and less than that at Calhoun. The hubs of activity were places such as Kaskaskia, on the banks of the Mississippi River. The town swelled to 7,000 when it became the first state capital for one year. Then bustling Vandalia was the capital for 20 years, until Abraham Lincoln and a few others had the capital moved to Calhoun in 1839. Calhoun had been renamed after Springfield, Massachusetts, a center of trade, creativity, and innovation. They had high hopes for their new Springfield—and for all of Illinois.

Catholic priests came to the area early, following French trappers and traders into St. Louis and later Chicago, building a few churches and converting a few Native Americans. The trappers were largely unconverted. Baptists and some Methodists were on scene by 1781, starting the first Protestant congregation in Illinois and building a Baptist meeting house at New Design, across from St. Louis on the river.

Illinois was a frontier state 200 years ago. Today, in many ways, it still is.

Almost 13 million people live in Illinois. But in terms of faith, the state is wild and untamed. At least 8 million residents do not know Jesus Christ. As the population grows, the percentage who identify with any religion at all continues to decline.

The state’s population hubs are our largest mission fields, especially metro Chicago and metro East St. Louis. Our cities are teeming centers of commerce and education, with growing populations of immigrant peoples.

The last census showed Hispanic and Asian populations are the fastest growing ethnic groups in the state. In fact, the Hispanic population grew in all but one of Illinois’ 102 counties.

In Illinois, nine people groups are unreached with the gospel because of language and cultural barriers, but literally millions of English-speaking and culturally mainstream people have never heard the message of salvation in a way they have understood and believed.

On our college campuses, for example, almost 900,000 students represent a mission field with enormous potential, and historically the lowest percentage of believers among young adults ever.

The cultural withdrawal from the Christian faith is felt all across Illinois—in cities and university settings, in small towns and crossroads communities. The northwest quadrant of Illinois is one of the least-Christian areas in the nation. And scattered across the state, there are nine counties that have no Southern Baptist congregation, 12 counties have only one, and many more have minimal evangelical presence.

In 40% of Illinois counties, less than 1% of the population identifies as Southern Baptist.

By faithful, regular, systematic giving to missions through the Cooperative Program, Baptists together serve as missions pioneers, in our frontier territory in Illinois and around the world, wherever the gospel is needed.

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‘Gospel needed everywhere’

ib2newseditor —  October 20, 2016

Seminary president to present cross-cultural message

jeff-iorgJeff Iorg, president of Gateway Seminary of the Southern Baptist Convention, will be in Chicagoland to help IBSA Annual Meeting attenders interpret the gathering’s “Cross-Cultural” theme.

Now in his thirteenth year as seminary president, Iorg said his time in the San Francisco Bay Area, where the seminary was headquartered until it relocated south this year, taught him how widespread is the need for the gospel—even as cultural barriers abound.

“I learned the gospel is needed everywhere, no matter the cultural choices which may be offensive or challenging to our faith,” Iorg said. “It’s easy to get sidetracked on lesser issues, but the gospel is still our primary message.”

Through theme interpretations during the meeting and the annual Wednesday evening worship service, Iorg will speak on why and how Christians are called to cross cultural boundaries for the sake of the gospel.

Prior to his time at Gateway (known until this year as Golden Gate Theological Seminary prior to its relocation to the greater Los Angeles area), Iorg has also served as a pastor, church planter, and executive director of the Northwest Baptist Convention, headquartered in Washington state. For 10 years, he was chaplain for the San Francisco Giants. (Fun fact: Iorg is the proud recipient of three World Series rings.)

He is the author of six books, including “The New Marriage Culture” and “The Case for Antioch,” which focuses on how the early church model applies to modern churches seeking to transform their communities.

At the Annual Meeting, Iorg will explore how cultural shifts affect the means by which Christians take the gospel to people who don’t know Christ.

“Baptists and other evangelicals should aspire to share the gospel with every person, in every culture, by every means possible,” Iorg told the Illinois Baptist. “The inclusiveness and expansiveness of the Great Commission are both non-negotiable.

“We need to recapture both the vision and the passion for getting the gospel to every person in the world.”

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Briefing: WikiLeaks email shows anti-Christian bias; CoverGirl’s Cover Boy

ib2newseditor —  October 18, 2016

Religious leaders slam Clinton campaign over e-mails
Catholic and evangelical groups slammed Hillary Clinton’s campaign in a statement over comments revealed in the WikiLeaks emails hack between two high-level campaign officials. Dozens of religious leaders who signed the statement expressed their “outrage at the demeaning and troubling rhetoric used by those within Secretary Clinton’s campaign.”

Pro-lifers grieve Planned Parenthood’s 100th anniversary
The Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) observed its centennial with an event at the City Hall of New York and the launch of #100Years Strong, a year-long celebration marked by more than 150 community events around the world. PPFA’s affiliates perform more than 320,000 abortions a year at the same time the organization and its affiliates receive about $550 million annually in government grants and reimbursements

Court rules against pregnancy centers
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled California law AB 775, which compels Christian, pro-life pregnancy centers to advocate for abortion, doesn’t impede their First Amendment right to exercise their religious beliefs.

Churches sue over state’s ‘anti-bias’ law
Four Massachusetts churches and their pastors filed a pre-emptive lawsuit in October in an attempt to halt application of a newly amended state law requiring pastors to temper their speech and churches to allow transgender persons to use the bathroom of their choice.

CoverGirl introduces its first Cover Boy
CoverGirl announced James Charles Dickinson as its latest ambassador —the first young man to receive such an honor. It’s the first major drugstore makeup brand to choose a male for its brand ambassador.

Sources: CNN, Baptist Press, The Federalist, Baptist Press, Yahoo

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Chicago-bound: Plan now for the Annual Meeting

ib2newseditor —  October 17, 2016

With the IBSA Annual Meeting just weeks away, pastors and church members who plan to serve as messengers at the Nov. 2-3 meeting are encouraged to make preparations now. See the checklist below for a step-by-step plan of how to get ready for Chicago.

The meeting at Broadview Missionary Baptist Church is preceded by the annual IBSA Pastors’ Conference, which begins Tuesday, Nov. 1 at 1 p.m. and will feature preachers H.B. Charles, Fred Luter, Scott Nichols, and Jonathan Peters. The Pastors’ Conference also will include breakout sessions on cross-culture ministry and evangelism.

“Cross-Culture” is the theme of the Annual Meeting, which begins at 1:15 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 2. Jeff Iorg, president of Gateway Seminary of the Southern Baptist Convention, will help interpret the meeting’s theme throughout the sessions, and will join IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams and other guests for Mission Illinois: “Cross-
Culture” on Wednesday evening.

The meeting also will feature preaching by Kevin Carrothers, IBSA president and pastor of Rochester First Baptist Church, and Adron Robinson, IBSA vice president and pastor of Hillcrest Baptist Church in Country Club Hills.

Meeting attenders will have an opportunity to see Chicago missions and ministry sites on vision tours planned for Nov. 1 and Nov. 3. Space is limited; go to IBSA
annualmeeting.org to sign up and choose your route (Northside, Southside, Westside, Suburban, or a Chicago sampling).

IBSA also will offer dine-in meal opportunities during the Pastors’ Conference and Annual Meeting. See details below and order meal tickets at IBSAannualmeeting.org/meal-tickets.

Check the website, IBSAannualmeeting.org, for all other meeting details, including information about travel, parking, and hotel accommodations. And take note of the other meetings also scheduled Nov. 1-3:

Young Leaders Network
When: Tuesday, Nov. 1, 9:30 p.m.
Where: Broadview Baptist Church
Menu: Wings ‘n things

Pastors’ Wives Luncheon
When: Wednesday, Nov. 2, 9 a.m. to noon
(Coffee fellowship begins at 8:30 a.m.)
Where: Broadview Fellowship Hall
Cost: $15; send check made out to IBSA Pastors Wives to Stevi Smith, 1302 W. Robinson St., Harrisburg, IL 62946
RSVP: Pre-registration is not required, but strongly recommended by Monday, Oct. 24. E-mail Lindsay McDonald at lmcdonald_31@hotmail.com.

Church Planters Breakfast
When: Thursday, Nov. 3, 7 a.m.
Where: Broadview Fellowship Hall
Cost: This is a free breakfast for planters and spouses, but pre-registration is appreciated.
RSVP: RachelCarter@IBSA.org, (217) 391-3101

Directors of Missions/Moderators Breakfast
When: Thursday, Nov. 3, 7 a.m.
Where: Broadview Fellowship Hall
RSVP: If you have received an invitation, please RSVP to LindaDarden@IBSA.org or (217) 391-3137.

annual-mtg-checklist

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Southern Baptists on both sides of the ‘locker room’

ib2newseditor —  October 12, 2016

Prominent Southern Baptists and other evangelicals have been making the rounds in the popular media expressing their opinions regarding the Oct. 7 release of a taped conversation from 2005 of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump making lewd comments about women that he later described a “locker room” talk.

portrait Donald John Trump candidate low poly U.S.

Many in the media are calling it an “evangelical civil war” and the debate just keeps getting hotter.

R. Albert Mohler Jr., President of Southern Seminary, told CNN Tonight host Don Lemon during an Oct. 12 appearance, “When it comes to Donald Trump, evangelicals are going to have to ask the huge question, ‘Is it worth destroying our moral credibility to support someone who is beneath the baseline level of human decency for anyone who should deserve our vote?’” Mohler said. “I think that’s a far bigger question than the 2016 election. This election is a disaster for the American people; it’s an excruciating moment for American evangelicals.

“Can we put up with someone and can we offer them our vote and support when we know that person not only sounds like what he presumes and presents as a playboy, but as a sexual predator?” Mohler said. “This is so far over the line that I think we have to recognize we wouldn’t want this person as our next door neighbor, much less as the inhabitant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. And long term I’m afraid people are going to remember evangelicals in this election for supporting the unsupportable and defending the absolutely indefensible.”

Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission President Russell Moore penned an Oct. 9 editorial for the Washington Post stating, “These evangelical leaders have said that, for the sake of the ‘lesser of two evils,’ one should stand with someone who not only characterizes sexual decadence and misogyny, brokers in cruelty and nativism, and displays a crazed public and private temperament — but who glories in these things. Some of the very people who warned us about moral relativism and situational ethics now ask us to become moral relativists for the sake of an election. …The cynicism and nihilism is horrifying to behold. It is not new, but it is clearer to see than ever.”

Neither Mohler or Moore have supported Trump’s candidacy in this election cycle.

Southern Baptist megachurch Pastor James Macdonald of Harvest Bible Chapel in Chicago is a member of Donald Trump’s Evangelical Executive Advisory Board. He sent an e-mail Oct. 9 to the board’s other members condemning Trump’s remarks calling him “misogynistic trash that reveals a man to be lecherous and worthless” and threatened to quit the board.

Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, TX, and a Trump advisor, appeared on the Oct. 11 episode of the O’Reilly Factor. Jeffress was asked to respond to Macdonald’s comments and overall situation.

“I think Pastor MacDonald is wrong, especially to label Donald Trump or anyone else as ‘worthless,’” said Jeffress. “I can hardly imagine Jesus saying that. But the real issue is that this is a binary choice between one candidate who is pro-life, pro-religious liberty, pro-conservative justices, and another candidate who holds the exact opposite views. For a conservative Christian to stay at home and allow Hillary Clinton to become president is unthinkable and inexcusable! I’ve been around Donald Trump and he is nothing but a gentleman and a loving person.”

Tony Perkins, Family Research Council president and Trump supporter, appeared Oct. 9 on Your World with Neil Cavuto. Perkins said Trump’s remarks were “very concerning” and “immoral.”

However, like Jeffress, he noted his support of the candidate on conservative issues. “We don’t share the same type of values. We don’t see the world the same way, although we do have some shared concerns.” Perkins said he believes Trump would be a better protector of religious liberty than any of the other candidates running for U.S. president.

But what about the man himself? It is interesting to note, very little is being said by evangelicals on either side about Trump’s video-taped apology released Oct. 8, the day after his lewd remarks were made public by the Washington Post.

In his apology Trump said, “I’ve said and done things I regret, and the words released today on this more-than-a-decade-old video are one of them. Anyone who knows me knows these words don’t reflect who I am. I said it, I was wrong, and I apologize.”

– LMS

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Briefing: Storm damage hampers relief efforts in Haiti, Carolinas; Trump’s pastor problem

ib2newseditor —  October 11, 2016

The BriefingStorm damage hampers relief efforts in Haiti, Carolinas
In the United States, the death toll from Hurricane Matthew reached 23. As floodwaters receded and Haitians could begin to count the bodies, the death toll in the Caribbean country soared to 1,000. Officials began to bury the dead in mass graves in Jeremie, one of the hardest-hit cities.

Trump’s pastor problem
A large number of Protestant pastors are undecided ahead of the election, and few of them have endorsed a candidate from the pulpit. Their indecision poses an issue for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. In the past two elections, more of these pastors suggested they were firmly in the Republican camp.

InterVarsity stands for biblical marriage
InterVarsity Christian Fellowship USA, one of the largest evangelical organizations on college campuses nationwide has told its 1,300 staff members they will be fired if they personally support gay marriage or otherwise disagree with its newly detailed positions on sexuality starting on Nov. 11.

Justice Ginsburg calls Kaepernick protests ‘dumb and disrespectful’
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, never shy to weigh in on the controversies of the day, said she thinks “it’s really dumb” for San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and others to refuse to stand for the national anthem.

Illinois marijuana sales top $20 million
Medical marijuana sales reached more than $3.8 million last month at licensed dispensaries throughout Illinois. September’s sales figures bring the total retail sales in Illinois to $23.5 million since purchasing began in November last year, topping the $20 million mark for the first time.

Sources: World Magazine, Washington Post, Time, CNN, NowDecatur

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Should I stay or should I go?

ib2newseditor —  October 10, 2016

A popular hotel chain is running a television commercial that cleverly depicts several groups of people trying to decide whether or not to attend a wedding. One is a group of bridesmaids, who clearly aren’t thrilled about the turquoise dresses the bride has chosen. Another group is former boyfriends of the bride, wondering why on earth they all got invited. And one sad lady simply doesn’t want to see Uncle Joe dance in public again. I think it might be Uncle Joe’s wife.

The musical background for the commercial is a rock song from the 1980’s. Over and over that song chants the simple question, “Should I stay, or should I go?”

Because Chicago is our state’s largest and most diverse mission field, we all need to get more familiar with, and comfortable in, this world class city.

As the November 2-3 IBSA Annual Meeting approaches, I imagine there are Illinois Baptists asking themselves that same question. For the first time in several years, the meeting is being hosted near Chicago, at Broadview Missionary Baptist Church. The drive will be quite a distance for those in other parts of the state, just as last year’s location in Marion was a long drive for northern churches.

And of course some will not want to brave the congestion and the traffic. In fact, I don’t know any Chicagoland natives who look forward to that part.

The message of the hotel chain’s commercial is that their comfortable, affordable hotels give even reluctant travelers reasons to go, rather than stay home. So let me suggest some reasons to go to the IBSA Annual Meeting this year.

We need to see and care about and partner with its churches.

First, the challenging theme of this year’s gathering is “Cross Culture.” The program will intentionally showcase the diversity of Illinois Baptists and also point to multiple cultures in our state that desperately need the gospel. There’s no better place in Illinois to receive the challenge to “cross culture” than in Chicago.

Second, because Chicago is our state’s largest and most diverse mission field, we all need to get more familiar with, and comfortable in, this world class city. We need more practice going there. We need to better understand its neighborhoods, its problems, its needs, and its people. We need to see and care about and partner with its churches.

Third, a lot of advance preparation has already gone in to making your stay in Chicagoland as easy as possible. Broadview is a wonderful, generous church, with lots of parking and lots of practice hosting large events. Catered meals have been arranged on site at the church to make the dinner hour easier and more convenient. Nearby hotels have provided very reasonable rates that include breakfast. And Broadview’s near west suburban location makes it a wonderful home base for seeing more of the city, either on your own or as part of two pre-planned vision tours.

Should you stay or should you go?

I could go on and on, but let me cite just one more reason, one that really applies to every Annual Meeting, regardless of location. It’s just very, very good for our Baptist family in Illinois to be together. Throughout the year, we as pastors and leaders and devoted church members work hard in our various local contexts to fulfill the Great Commandment and the Great Commission of Jesus. As the year draws to a close, it is good for us to assemble, and network, and be inspired, and remember that we are not alone in this mission.

Should you stay or should you go? If at all possible, you should go. It may surprise you what the Lord has done across our state over the past year. And it may surprise you how he and the fellowship of your brothers and sisters in Christ will inspire you for the year to come. I look forward to seeing you there.

For more information about the IBSA Annual Meeting and Pastors’ Conference, visit www.IBSAAnnualMeeting.org.

Nate Adams is executive director of the Illinois Baptist State Association. Respond at IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org.

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