Musicians from Uptown Baptist Church in Chicago led in worship during the opening session of the IBSA Pastors’ Conference, which continues tonight in Springfield. Follow the conference and the IBSA Annual Meeting, beginning tomorrow at 1:30 p.m., at Facebook.com/IllinoisBaptist.
HEARTLAND | Eric Reed
After his election as president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Arkansas pastor Ronnie Floyd has called Southern Baptists to prayer, but not just any prayer—extraordinary prayer. The phrase is not original to Floyd, as he stated from the start. It’s almost 300 years old.
Credit Jonathan Edwards, the Puritan preacher with poor eyesight who often read from a manuscript his most famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.”
Floyd adopted the term “extraordinary prayer” from a book by Edwards called “An Humble Attempt to Promote Explicit Agreement and Visible Union of God’s People, in Extraordinary
Prayer, for the Revival of Religion and the Advancement of Christ’s Kingdom on Earth, Pursuant to Scripture Promises and Prophecies Concerning the Last Time.” (Titling was not their strong suit in the 18th century.)
But what did he mean by extraordinary prayer?
Mission Illinois: A Concert of Prayer is the theme of the 2014 Annual Meeting of the Illinois Baptist State Association. For more information, go to IBSA.org/ibsa2014.
From Zechariah, Edwards drew a picture of prayer that would result first in revival of the church, then awakening and regeneration of lost people. “God’s people will be given a spirit of prayer,” Edwards wrote, “inspiring them to come together and pray in an extraordinary manner, that He would help his Church, show mercy to mankind in general, pour out his Spirit, revive His work, and advance His kingdom in the world as He promised.
“Moreover, such prayer would gradually spread and increase more and more, ushering in a revival of religion.”
Edwards offered an example he had witnessed personally. In 1744, a group of ministers in Scotland called on believers to engage in prayer. “They desired a true revival in all parts of Christendom, and to see nations delivered from their great and many calamities, and to bless them with the unspeakable benefits of the Kingdom of our glorious Redeemer, and to fill the whole earth with His glory.”
The group pledged to pray every Saturday evening, Sunday morning, and all day on the first Tuesday of each quarter—for two years.
During that time, many churches were renewed. In one town alone, 30 groups of young people formed and committed themselves to prayer for revival. Buoyed by the results, the ministers sent 500 letters to pastors in New England urging their own two-year commitment.
Edwards noted: “Those ministers in Boston said of this proposal: ‘The motion seems to come from above, and to be wonderfully spreading in Scotland, England, Wales, Ireland and North America.’”
And they extended the two-year pledge to seven years of prayer.
Edwards, who with George Whitefield and others, was at the heart of the First Great Awakening, cited prayer as vital to the movement of God’s spirit in the colonies.
MINISTERS’ WIVES’ CONFERENCE | Christina Batchelor of Bethel Baptist in Princeton, Ill., celebrates a win for her table during the annual gathering of ministry spouses coinciding with the IBSA Pastors’ Conference. The ladies answered questions to determine which table had the most perfect pastors’ wives: Who wore a dress to church last Sunday? How many of you have ever directed your church’s Vacation Bible School? Who has sung a solo in the past year?
Busting stereotypes and being real proved to be the theme of the morning, as speaker Lynda Locke encouraged women to embrace who God has made them to be, and to celebrate how His grace has made an imprint on their lives. Locke, a pastor’s wife from Jacksonville, Ill., also talked about responding to hard times.
“Instead of acting like the world in fear in the middle of a crisis, I can respond with peace in Christ, knowing that every day in my life is part of His perfect plan for me.”
Day 1 of the conference has come to a close after seven sermons, two leadership panels, and a focused prayer time led by Illinois church planters. Check out these photos from the day, and come back tomorrow for more leadership-focused messages, and coverage of the IBSA Annual Meeting beginning at 1:30 p.m.
Chuck Kelley, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, said of leading through disaster, “Trouble for the people of God is always a thruway and not a dead end.”
“You don’t just do church up here, you do Christianity up here.” Bobby Boyles, a church planting strategist from Oklahoma, thanked Baptists in Illinois for their support and faithfulness.
The worship team from Journey Church in Bourbonnais led Pastors’ Conference attenders in old and new hymns.
LifeWay Research’s Micah Fries preached on leading in the current cultural context. “For far too long we have been trying to position ourselves as counter to society, but have have not been counter to society by the way we live, but by the strange music we listen to and the odd T-shirts we wear.”
“We began to realize we had missed a key component of spiritual formation, we could not realize in an hour or two at the church what God intended to done at home – discipleship.” Tennessee pastor Jay Strother focused his message on leading a family.
Eric Mason, Micah Fries, Tim Cotler and Chuck Kelley discussed what Mason called the biggest issue pressing in on our culture – fatherlessness.
Jerry Cain, president emeritus of Judson University, shared how people made clear God’s call on his life, and encouraged his listeners to do the same for other young leaders. “There are people in your church that have been called to leadership and they don’t know it yet. It’s your job to hear that call.”
Philadelphia pastor Eric Mason preached on biblical leadership. “Jesus says in John 1:51, ‘You will see angels ascending and descending…’ It’s a picture of Jacob’s ladder. Jesus was saying he is that ladder. ‘If you stick with me, you will see broken things connected that were never connected. Don’t ever think my power cannot connect the unconnectable.'”
JourneyWorship’s rendition of “Build Your Kingdom Here” featured a stumpf fiddle.
IBSA PASTORS’ CONFERENCE | The annual gathering for Illinois pastors and leaders kicked off this afternoon in Springfield, and beloved hymns have ruled the day so far, with a twist. JourneyWorship, the team from Journey Church in Bourbonnais, led the crowd in “Down at the Cross,” “I’ll Fly Away” and “Victory in Jesus,” complete with thumping percussion and electric guitars.
Chuck Kelley, president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, brought the conference’s first message on “Leading through Disaster.” His voice breaking several times, Kelley shared how he led the seminary in the days and months following Hurricane Katrina. “In a disaster, you always tell the truth. You don’t act like it’s no big deal. You don’t act like it’s going to be easy,” he said.
“You get in touch with who God is, you get in touch with your mission, and you get to work. And with your heart breaking, and with every day a battle, you simply get after it.”
Follow the Pastors’ Conference and IBSA Annual Meeting here and at Facebook.com/IllinoisBaptist.
THE BRIEFING | Meredith Flynn
Joining Filipino Baptists at work, IMB representative Mark Moses handed out food and water to Typhoon Haiyan victims on Panay island Monday, Nov. 11. “We prayed and grieved with the people,” Moses said. “We made assessments of priority needs.” IMB photo by Mark Moses; from IMB.org
As officials assess the damage from Typhoon Haiyan, Southern Baptist workers in the Philippines are distributing food and evaluating how best to meet immediate and long-term needs. Officials estimate 10,000 people could have died in the storm. International Mission Board representative Dottie Smith said, “Pray for strength for those who are still stranded, low on food and water and are feeling helpless.” Read more at IMB.org.
LifeWay apologizes for stereotypes in ‘Rickshaw Rally’
The Southern Baptist Convention’s publishing arm, LifeWay Christian Resources, apologized last week for the use of racial stereotypes in “Rickshaw Rally,” its 10-year-old Vacation Bible School curriculum.
“I agree with those who have helped us understand the offensive nature of that material,” LifeWay President Thom Rainer said in the video apology presented at the Mosaix conference in California. “And I agree evangelical church and ministry leaders — particularly those of us who are white — need to commit to assuring, as best we can, these offenses stop.”
Rainer became LifeWay’s president in 2006. Read more at BPNews.net.
Coming soon to a theater near you
The producers behind History Channel’s “The Bible” miniseries are repackaging the parts of the story that focus on Jesus for a new feature film. “Son of God” will be released February 28, 2014 by 20th Century Fox. “This is a big story. It deserves a big presentation,” Roma Downey told The Christian Post. The star of “Touched by an Angel” produced “The BIble” with her husband, Mark Burnett, and also starred as Mary, the mother of Jesus. “The stand-alone opportunity of two hours and 15 minutes to follow the birth, the life, the mission, the miracles, the death, the resurrection, the ascension, the Great Commission, the entire Jesus narrative.” Read more at ChristianPost.com.
IBSA Annual Meeting starts Nov. 13
Follow along here and at Facebook.com/IllinoisBaptist or Twitter.com/IllinoisBaptist. The IBSA Pastors’ Conference starts today, with panel discussions and messages by Bobby Boyles, Jerry Cain, Micah Fries, Chuck Kelley, Eric Mason and Jason Strother. For more information, go to IBSA.org/meeting2013.
Writer lists five phrases that are too ‘churchy’ for Millenials
Blogger and author Addie Zierman once left the church, and now she’s back. She shares on The Washington Post’s On Faith blog five church cliches that are “maddening and alienating” to Millenials like her. Read the list here and then tell us how you agree or disagree.
HEARTLAND | Lisa Sergent
We need every aspect of our IBSA Annual Meeting, Nov. 13-14, to be bathed in prayer. Please look over the prayer prompts below, and ask the Holy Spirit to remind you to return often to this list during the meeting.
Pray all the time. 1 Thessalonians 5:17
Lisa Sergent is communications director for the Illinois Baptist State Association.
DECATUR, Ill. | The photos below depict just a few highlights of the IBSA Pastors’ Conference and Annual Meeting at Tabernacle Baptist Church. Read the November 26 issue of the Illinois Baptist for more in-depth coverage, and go to Vimeo.com/IBSA to watch videos of Pastors’ Conference and Annual Meeting messages.
Chris Vieth and the choir from Tabernacle Baptist Church lead in worship during the IBSA Pastors’ Conference.
Kenny Qualls, Ronnie Floyd, Wes Feltner and Phil Hunter preached impassioned messages on the theme “Renew” during the Pastors’ Conference.
At IBSA’s Young Leaders Forum, attenders snacked on hot wings while Charles Campbell (right) led a panel discussion featuring experienced leaders (from left) Tim Lewis, Don Sharp and Kenny Qualls.
Women at the Ministers’ Wives’ Conference listen to Penny Weaver, director of New Life Pregnancy Center in Decatur, Ill., as she describes how the center meets the very real needs of new moms.
IBSA’s Rex Alexander talks with Carol Stewart at the Illinois Disaster Relief exhibit.
Shoppers peruse the resources available at the LifeWay bookstore, run by representatives from the LifeWay store in Carterville, Ill.
Childcare volunteer Nancy Russell shares a pretend snack with one-year-old Lucy Kreuter. Illinois Disaster Relief workers provided free childcare during the Pastors’ Conference and Annual Meeting sessions.
Chris Cutsinger, pastor of Center Baptist Church near Marion, Ill., is this year’s IBSA Bivocational Pastor of the Year. He was presented with the award IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams and Bob Carruthers (left), director of missions for Sandy Creek Baptist Association.
Jonathan Peters, president of the Illinois Baptist State Association, preaches his president’s message on “taking the Gospel to the streets.” Peters urged listeners to consider Illinois’ largest metropolitan areas as their mission fields.
Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee President Frank Page told Illinois Baptists they had embraced more than any other state, percentage-wise, the Cooperative Program 1% Challenge.
Nate Adams invites Illinois Baptists to choose to partner, choose two cities (Chicago and St. Louis), and choose two people to pray for during Wednesday evening’s Mission Illinois celebration and commitment service.
Don Sharp (left) of Faith Tabernacle Church in Chicago and Tim Lewis of Bethel Baptist, Troy, entreated meeting attenders to engage in ministry in their cities, Chicago and metro St. Louis.
Meeting attenders hold their hands out in the directions of Chicago and St. Louis, praying over each region that God would continue to send leaders and draw people to Himself.
Tim Sadler (right) interviews Mindy Burwell and her husband Mark during the Mission Illinois celebration. Mindy received Christ after her pastor’s wife, Vickie Hayes, began praying for her through the Choose2 evangelism emphasis.
Illinois Baptists commit to ‘Choose2’ and pray for two lost friends or family members.
The choir from Broadview Missionary Baptist Church leads in worship before their pastor, Marvin Parker, preaches the annual sermon.
Marvin Parker closes the 2012 IBSA Annual Meeting with a plea for Illinois Baptists to reach out to their families, friends, and neighbors with the Gospel.
DECATUR, Ill. | Where would Paul be if he were around today, asked IBSA President Jonathan Peters in his message during the IBSA Annual Meeting. He’d be at Starbucks, or in a college campus cafeteria. “He’d be anywhere where somebody is talking about something that he believes could point them to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ,” Peters said.
And Paul would definitely in the cities. “He wouldn’t discount the towns,” Peters added, “but he would spend most of his time in the cities. And he wouldn’t apologize for it.”
He posed another question to the crowd: Where do the majority of lost people in Illinois live? The answer is obvious, and crowd members called it out to Peters: Chicago. “We need to reach our cities for Christ. We need to be selfless in our churches and not view ourselves as those who demand services from denominations, or to place unrealistic expectations on people to get the job done for us.
“Every believer in Illinois is responsible to reach the people of Illinois. And the people of Illinois, for the most part, still live in large urban centers.”
iB2 News 