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Archives For November 30, 1999

Illinois Baptist State Association

What Jonathan Edwards meant by ‘extraordinary prayer’

Meredith Flynn —  October 27, 2014

And why it matters to Baptists now

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?

The 2014 IBSA Annual Meeting theme is Mission Illinois: A Concert of Prayer. For more information, go to IBSA.org/ibsa2014.

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.

Extraordinary prayer sidebar

 

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An especially good Sunday

nateadamsibsa —  July 28, 2014

HEARTLAND | Nate Adams

It feels like I have had more than a few challenging days of ministry recently. But today is an especially good Sunday, and I’d like to tell you about it.

I leave home very early, to drive almost 200 miles to an IBSA church where I know the pastor, but have never attended on a Sunday morning. It’s their 70th anniversary, and I have a nice plaque from IBSA to present to them. In all those regards, it’s not really an unusual Sunday.

Nate_Adams_July28What’s a little more unusual is that my wife, Beth, is traveling with me. Our youngest son Ethan is leading the worship team at our home church in Springfield, and Beth would like to be there too. But by evening we will be at the church where our middle son Noah is youth pastor, and so she has decided to come along. So it’s already an especially good Sunday.

We drive past one, two, three IBSA churches, and eventually past the one where I recall speaking three years ago when my oldest son Caleb also shared his testimony. He had just returned to the Lord after years as a prodigal. And as I realize that today my wife is with me, and that all three of our sons are worshiping and serving in an IBSA church, I realize that this is an especially good Sunday.

At the church celebrating its 70th anniversary we are greeted warmly, with appreciation for both IBSA and for our long drive that morning. I watch as an effective pastor loves his people, and they love him back. I meet a 93-year-old former church planter and pastor, who tells me he helped plant one of the first SBC churches in northern Indiana. He’s surprised I don’t recognize his former supervisor’s name, until I remind him I wasn’t born yet.

Later when I’m presenting the plaque, I tell both the 93-year-old church planter and the 70-year-old church that my wife and I are on our way, after church, to IBSA’s first “ChicaGO” student camp at Judson University. It’s a pilot church planting camp that we hope will continue to produce church planters, church plants, and eventually 70-year-old churches. And as I describe this picture of church planting across the generations – I realize that this is an especially good Sunday.

We arrive at Judson University late in the afternoon, and help greet students and chaperones from 11 different IBSA churches. Then a bus-load of IBSA All State Youth Choir students unload, and I remember they are there for a couple of days too, to join the ChicaGO mission week, and share a couple of concerts in the area.

That night the choir sings at Calvary Baptist Church in Elgin. In addition to being my mom’s and son’s church, this is also the church where Wilma and Jack Booth are members. During the concert, IBSA Worship Director Steve Hamrick reminds us that Wilma was one of the leaders that started the IBSA All State Choir 36 years ago. And as I reflect on the blessing of tomorrow’s worship leaders being equipped for churches across the generations – I realize that this is an especially good Sunday.

I will have to wait until my next column to tell you about the “week in the life of church planters” that follows this special Sunday. But let me punctuate this account by telling you that as the All State Youth Choir led us in singing “Jesus Messiah,” I found my eyes welling up with tears. God was reminding me that, though there will be challenging days, He is steadfastly building churches and growing leaders across the state and across the generations here in Illinois. And whenever I can see that as clearly as I do today, well, it’s an especially good Sunday.

Nate Adams is executive director of the Illinois Baptist State Association.

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More photos from Streator

Meredith Flynn —  July 25, 2014

SUMMER | Check out these great photos from Tim Starner of IBSA’s co-ed missions camp in northern Illinois.

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Slideshow: Missions Camp at Streator and Lake Sallateeska

Meredith Flynn —  July 23, 2014

SUMMER 2014 | It’s camp season! IBSA’s co-ed missions camp for kids is happening this week in northern Illinois at Streator Baptist Camp. The southern version, which shared the “Gotta tell it!” theme, was in June at Lake Sallateeska. Click through this slideshow for photos from both sites, and check in at Facebook.com/IllinoisBaptist this week for more from Streator. Photos by J.C. and Carla Vaca Diez, Mark Emerson, Carmen Halsey and Meredith Flynn

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The Briefing: HIV specialist sees God in case, despite setbacks

Meredith Flynn —  July 15, 2014
Hannah_Gay

“…I learned many, many years ago that God is far too big for me to understand Him, but at the same time that His love for mankind is just as far beyond my comprehension,” Dr. Hannah Gay told Baptist Press. “So I trust Him even when I don’t understand.”

THE BRIEFING | Meredith Flynn

The news that a child believed to be functionally cured of HIV once again has the virus growing inside her “felt like a punch to the gut,” the specialist who treated the child told CNN.

But Hannah Gay also said God is evident in the details of the case.

“For confidentiality reasons I cannot share any of those details publicly but there are many and they have helped to not just reaffirm my faith in God,” Gay told Baptist Press, “but to actually strengthen it.”

The associate professor of pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Mississippi Medical Center was credited in March 2013 with achieving a “functional” cure of the child born with HIV, meaning the virus couldn’t be detected by standard clinical tests. But tests this month revealed the more than two-year remission is over.

Gay, who has credited God with the functional cure, said she’s learned to trust Him even when she doesn’t understand current circumstances. Read the full story at BPNews.net.

Moore: Compassion needed at border
The church’s response to the border crisis “cannot be quick and easy,” wrote Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. “But, for the people of God, our consciences must be informed by a Kingdom more ancient and more permanent than the United States.” Read his column at RussellMoore.com.

LifeWay poll: 56% of Americans want more movies with Christian values
In a year where faith-based movies have seen success at the box office, LifeWay Research found a majority of Americans say they want more such films, although adults under 30 were the age group least likely to agree. In other movie news, 20th Century Fox has released the trailer for October’s “Exodus: Gods and Kings.”

Pew defines ‘closely held’ corporations
Wondering what the Supreme Court meant by “closely held” businesses in their recent decision on Hobby Lobby? Pew Research released this explanation of the label.

Illinois students serving in Chicago, Oklahoma
The All-State Youth Choir is on tour this week, and heading to Oklahoma after a concert at Six Flags in St. Louis today. Follow them at www.Facebook.com/IllinoisBaptist.

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Teens take on church planting in Chicago

Meredith Flynn —  July 14, 2014
prayer_1

Students and their leaders at ChicaGO Week pray for specific neighborhoods that are in need of a new church.


HEARTLAND | How do you introduce junior high and high school students to the intricacies of church planting in one of the country’s largest cities?

Take them there, and let them try it out.

More than 50 teens will spend this week working alongside five church planters in Chicagoland as part of the first-ever ChicaGO Week, a project sponsored by the Illinois Baptist State Association. The week kicked off July 13 at Judson University in Elgin, where youth groups from Harrisburg, Chicago, and several places in between will gather for worship after days at their project sites.

prayer_2During the opening worship service, the students heard from someone with lots of experience juggling the responsibilities of church planting.

And lots of experience with actual juggling too.

Ken Schultz is a professional entertainer with the stage name “The Flying Fool.” He’s also co-pastor of Crosswinds Church in Plainfield, a church he started several years ago with nuclear engineer John Stillman.

“God uses my juggling and John as a nuclear engineer to help grow a church,” Schultz told the students. Crosswinds has an average weekly attendance of 120 people, and 60% of those came to Christ through the church’s ministry.

“John makes killer spreadsheets,” Schultz said of his co-pastor. “I do this,” he said, before wowing the crowd by juggling three long knives.

juggling

Pastor Ken Schultz used his juggling and unicycle-riding skills in a message on boldness.

“What are you good at?” Schultz asked the students. “Can God use that to build his church?

“He can. You just need to give it to him.”

This week, they’ll do just that at Backyard Bible Clubs, through prayer walking and community clean-up projects, and by offering their time to church planters working hard to get to know their neighbors. It’s a lot to juggle, but God empowers His people to do His work.

“Let this generation be bold, let them be bold as lions for your glory and your good,” Schultz prayed at the end of his message. “If You can use a silly guy who juggles, You can use anybody.”

 

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Kid missionaries ‘make a splash’ in nine Illinois cities

Meredith Flynn —  March 17, 2014
Young volunteers from Calvary Baptist Church in Pittsfield do yard work outside a crisis nursery facility in Springfield. Nearly 1,100 volunteers participated in Children's Ministry Day on March 15.

Young volunteers from Calvary Baptist Church in Pittsfield do yard work outside a crisis nursery facility in Springfield. Nearly 1,100 volunteers participated in Children’s Ministry Day on March 15.

Springfield | One by one, kids told their Children’s Ministry Day stories in brief, honest sentences.

“We raked up gum balls, and not the kind you chew,” said Gavin.

“It made me feel really happy, because I love cooking and I love helping people,” said Elana, who helped cook a meal for families at Springfield’s Ronald McDonald House.

Ella, a volunteer from Pittsfield, answered a question about whether her yard work crew had stayed positive during the day: “We mostly did it with a good attitude.”

For the fourth consecutive year, kids and their leaders served across the state through Children’s Ministry Day, a one-day missions experience that culminates with a celebration service at each project site. In Springfield, Gavin, Elana, Ella and others shared about the projects they did this year, which marked the fourth annual Children’s Ministry Day in Illinois.

Created by national Woman’s Missionary Union, the day of service for kids has taken on a life of its own in Illinois. Nearly 1,100 children, leaders and volunteers representing 75 churches served at nine locations around the state on March 15.

This year’s theme, “Make a Splash,” came from Matthew 10:42, where Jesus says, “And whoever gives just a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is a disciple – I assure you: He will never lose his reward!”

Children’s Ministry Day is now IBSA’s most successful mission involvement activity, said Mark Emerson, who leads the organization’s missions team. The event has grown in number of locations and participants each year since 2011, when he organized the first set of projects in Springfield. Local associations began hosting the projects last year, and the service day expanded to nine cities in 2014, including first-time locations Bridgeport, Chicago, Decatur, Granite City and Peoria.

“I think more churches identify that this is a high impact project with an easy engagement possibility,” Emerson said. “The logistics of the day are already complete, so all the church has to do is to figure out how to get the kids enlisted, and get the kids to the event.”

Pastor David Brown has led kids from his church, Dow Southern Baptist, to Children’s Ministry Day each of the last four years. Standing outside an urban ministry center in Springfield, he recalled each of their projects: making baby blankets, baking cookies for police officers, visiting with nursing home residents, and this year, raking leaves and sorting donated supplies.

“This is one of the best events that we can do, because we’re starting at a foundational age,” Brown said. His fourth grade daughter, Cameryn, accompanied him to Springfield this year and has participated in every Children’s Ministry Day.

“And if they fall in love with serving when they’re kids,” Brown said, “they’re going to keep serving when they’re teens, and hopefully when they’re adults and grandparents. It’s foundational; it’s what the church is all about.”

Helping people is a bonus, Brown said, but days like this are really about growing the church. The teenagers at Dow Southern are planning to go on their first World Changers mission trip this summer to Cincinnati.

“We’ve done a couple of just individual mission trips, but they’ve never been the big organized ones,” Brown said. “It’s coming out of the group that said, ‘Well, we did Children’s Ministry Day, what are we going to do now?’”

The day is certainly about expanding the kingdom through service, but it’s also an opportunity to teach kids spiritual truth. Rob Gallion kicked off the Springfield location with a devotional about Jesus washing the disciples feet. In simple terms, he explained that that’s what the kids would be doing during the day.

The day can also serve as a jumping off point for churches that want to implement more missions involvement and awareness, Emerson said. “We will follow up with the churches that attend, and seek to connect them to mission education possibilities in their church.”

Any church interested in starting a new missions organization can receive six months of curriculum free from WMU through IBSA. Contact MarkEmerson@IBSA.org for more information.

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Be it (still) resolved

Meredith Flynn —  January 1, 2014

Scott_Kelly_blogCOMMENTARY | Scott Kelly

At this time of year, it’s likely that someone may ask us this question: “Do you have any New Year’s resolutions?” And when asked, we usually answer: “Lose weight,” or “Read the Bible more,” or something like that. Our culture’s common thinking on resolutions tends to be individualized thinking about our own personal goals. That’s normal, right?

Not if you’re an Illinois Baptist. Our family of churches makes resolutions together. We make these resolutions not as individuals, but as a gathering of Christians from hundreds of Illinois Baptist churches. And we make these large-group resolutions at a strange time, in early-to-middle November, not on January 1. These resolutions are part of our Annual Meeting every year.

My dear Illinois Baptist family, now that the New Year has come, I must gently ask: Do we even remember our resolutions from our annual meeting this past November? The messengers from our churches enthusiastically approved resolutions about marriage, religious freedom, human trafficking, and state-sponsored gambling. As we gather in our churches for our first prayer meetings of 2014, let’s remember our resolutions and keep praying about these things that we were so resolved about on those days in November.

I left our annual meeting very encouraged by what God is doing through our Great Commission work in Illinois. As I boarded the last Amtrak train out of Springfield a few hours after our last meeting session had ended, I was still affected by the last-minute resolution that one of our brothers proposed regarding repentance and evangelism.

The wording of the resolution was both convicting and inspiring – and repentant. We resolved we should “repent of our unfaithfulness to God and beg for His mercy, grace and forgiveness because at times we have all failed to faithfully and regularly share the Gospel.”

Furthermore, we said, “All members of Illinois Baptist State Association churches are encouraged to regularly pray for God to give His people the ability to speak HIS message with boldness and clarity by the power of the Holy Spirit, and regularly pray for all to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.”

Illinois Baptists, let’s keep repenting and sharing the Gospel in 2014, so that we may truly grow as churches together advancing the Gospel.

And may God receive all the glory!

Scott Kelly is pastor at Evanston Baptist Church and director of the Baptist Collegiate Ministry at Northwestern University.

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Tornado Recovery: Adams visits Disaster Relief volunteers

Meredith Flynn —  November 21, 2013

IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams visited Disaster Relief volunteers working today in storm-damaged areas of the state.

“Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers, including those here in Illinois, work very hard year-round to be prepared when disaster strikes,” Adams said. “It is their love for Jesus that compels them to stand ready like that, and it’s that same love that they deliver with every act and word of kindness as they serve victims and relief workers.”

Crews are meeting needs in Washington as they can, but access is limited to the areas that sustained the worst damage. Pekin and other communities in the Peoria area also have received Disaster Relief help since tornadoes and severe storms tore through the area Nov. 17. At Woodland Baptist in Peoria, volunteers are cooking several hundred meals a day for storm victims and responders.

The Disaster Relief team from Sullivan Southern Baptist Church, with Nate Adams (center).

The Disaster Relief team from Sullivan Southern Baptist Church, with Nate Adams (center).

Kitchen volunteers starting preparing meals Monday evening, working out of Woodland Baptist in Peoria. The church has graciously rearranged schedules and plans to accommodate the storm response teams.

Kitchen volunteers starting preparing meals Monday evening, working out of Woodland Baptist in Peoria. The church has graciously rearranged schedules and plans to accommodate the storm response teams, said IBSA’s Mark Emerson.

Adams visits with Linda Blough, a Disaster Relief volunteer from Dayton Avenue Baptist in Peoria.

Adams visits with Linda Blough, a Disaster Relief volunteer from Dayton Avenue Baptist in Peoria.

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Messengers affirm five resolutions

Meredith Flynn —  November 14, 2013

IBSA ANNUAL MEETING | Messengers in Springfield approved five resolutions this morning without discussion, four of which are online at IBSA.org/meeting2013. The resolutions covered human exploitation, the preservation of marriage, appreciation for WMU’s 125 years, and gaming expansion in Illinois.

Wes Hahn, chairman of the Resolutions and Christian Life Committee, and committee member Bruce Kugler also recommended a fifth resolution on personal evangelism.

Committee chair Wes Hahn is pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church in Bridgeport

Committee chair Wes Hahn is pastor of Shiloh Baptist Church in Bridgeport

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