“I’m kind of glad that cultural Christianity is dying. If you know anything about history…the church is never strongest when it’s in the majority. Has never been, never, ever been. It is always when it is in the salt and light mode.”
Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Ca., joined Samuel Rodriguez, David Platt and Russell Moore in a panel discussion about “Hobby Lobby and the Future of Religious Liberty.”
President Fred Luter gaveled into session the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention this morning.
As of 8:05 a.m., there are 4,310 registered messengers at the meeting. Attendance is typically sparse in the first session, but four Illinois Baptists are seated in the first three rows: Cliff and Lisa Woodman from Emmanuel Baptist in Carlinville, and Jack and Wilma Booth from Calvary Baptist in Elgin.
Luter’s successor will be elected this morning from a field of three candidates: Ronnie Floyd, Cross Church in northwest Arkansas; Dennis Kim, Global Mission Church of Greater Washington; and Jared Moore, New Salem Baptist Church in Hustonville, Ky.
As for the current president, Luter opened the session with his trademark humor: “Even though I have enjoyed the crab cakes here, I’d rather the beignets and coffee in N’Awlins.”
Check back here and at Facebook.com/IllinoisBaptist and Twitter.com/IllinoisBaptist for updates throughout the day.
Francis Chan told the crowd he has sat in church services before and thought, “‘There’s more! There’s something in me that’s just dying to get out. I read what happened in the Word and I know that there’s more, and I’ve got to pursue it.”
Baltimore | In an impassioned message at the SBC Pastors’ Conference Monday night, Francis Chan begged attenders to consider how much they long for God and care about people who are dying without hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Chan, the author of “Crazy Love” and “Forgotten God,” spoke for several minutes before confessing he sensed something “just not flowing” during his message at the Pastors’ Conference. “And honestly, the last time I felt this was the last time I spoke at the Southern Baptist Convention.”
His words were obviously impromptu, and Chan stumbled over them a little as he stressed he didn’t want to offend or be judgmental. But, he continued, there are patterns and rituals and things that were learned and passed down, “and sometimes, I can see like an emptiness in the eyes.” Even as the actions are there, he added.
Pastors’ Conference President Bruce Frank urged attenders not to leave before they got on their knees and prayed about what Chan said.
“I see a lot of ritual, a lot of…faithfulness over the years, but I’m concerned that there’s not this desperate cry for God.”
“I just had to say something, and I don’t know it that resonates with some of you,” Chan said as applause in the room grew louder.
“I remember sometimes I’d sit in a church service and everything inside of me just wants to scream, ‘There’s more! There’s something in me that’s just dying to get out. I read what happened in the Word and I know that there’s more, and I’ve got to pursue it.”
Chan spoke to those at the Pastors’ Conference who have felt the same disconnect:
“I believe that that burning in you is from the Holy Spirit, and that’s it not OK to just be fine with the unreached people groups out there and people going to hell.
“It’s not OK to just sing another song and finish out the service and tie it up right, and to have another year of services. But that we would just say: ‘No, God, I gotta have you. I gotta have you. I gotta experience what I read about in this book.’”
Twelve charter buses of women toured Annie Armstrong’s Baltimore today, stopping at churches she attended or influenced, visiting her grave site, and praying over her city. The tour was part of the WMU Missions Celebration and Annual Meeting.
Some of the women even met Annie in person, or at least someone very much like her. At Woodbrook Baptist Church, formerly Eutaw Place Baptist, “Miss Annie” sat at an antique secretary once owned by Armstrong herself. She answered questions about her life, her work, and her possible meeting with fellow famed missionary Lottie Moon. (We’re not completely sure, but they might have met at a missionary commissioning service for Lottie’s sister, Edmonia.)
Others on the tour sat in chairs Miss Annie might also have sat in at Jesus Our Redeemer Church in Federal Hill, which was established as Lee Street Baptist in 1855. Each bus visited Federal Hill Park, where women prayer walked and looked over a formerly poor part of Baltimore that’s now home to the city’s rich and famous.
Becky Arnett, Janet Craynon and Evelyn Tully sit where Annie Armstrong could have sat, at Jesus the Redeemer Church in Baltimore.
IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams appeared on a panel discussing Cooperative Program giving, just ahead of the start of the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Baltimore.
“I think one of the greatest needs we’re facing is education for a new generation. Mission education channels that were there 20 or 30 years ago are not as prevalent as they once were, and so the places where young people and young pastors learned about the Cooperative Program, how it works, and how effective it is, are different today,” Adams said.
“One of the challenges is every state convention is different… We’re trying to step up and educate people in our state about how Cooperative Program works specifically in Illinois, as well as some broad strokes about how it works everywhere.”
SEBTS president Danny Akin added, “You’ve got to beat that drum again, and again, and again, and again, and again– because generations come and go more rapidly than they used to, things change more rapidly than they used to. You can’t assume that if we did this really well–getting the message out ten years ago or five years ago–that’s it’s sufficient for today. Oh, no, it’s not.”
(Pictured from left to right – Jon Akin, pastor, Fairview Church, Lebanon, Tenn.; Paul Chitwood, Executive Director, Kentucky Baptist Convention; Nate Adams; Jimmy Scroggins, lead pastor, FBC West Palm Beach, Fla.; Ronnie Floyd, senior pastor, Cross Church, northwest Arkansas; and Danny Akin, president, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary).
Baltimore | “Some of us have a heart to be so real with people that we just think if we’re cool enough, we’re going to get [the numbers]. We’re never going to be cool enough to win our towns, our rural settings, to win our cities, to win the nation, to win the world, to win the nations. We’re never going to be cool enough; the only thing that’s going to bring that is a binding movement of the spirit of God that comes only when we are going up to be with God.”
– Ronnie Floyd, SBC presidential nominee and senior pastor of Cross Church in northwest Arkansas, speaks during the 2014 Southern Baptist Pastors’ Conference June 8-9 at the Baltimore Convention Center. (BP photo)
Baltimore | Matt Redman, a worship leader from Brighton, England, asked the crowd at the SBC Pastors’ Conference what shared interests they might have. “Do you like Downtown Abbey?” he asked to laughter and some cheers.
Redman led the audience in some of his newer worship songs, and then transitioned into one of his best-known anthems, “The Heart of Worship.”
The city has welcomed Southern Baptists with beautiful harbor views, mild temps, and baseball – the Orioles are hosting two “Baptist nights” at Camden Yards.
We’ve also learned a few things about the city, like:
– Baltimore is the birthplace of Babe Ruth. The slugger never played here, but he’s memorialized at the ballpark.
– Crab cakes come fried or broiled. (You can probably guess which is better.)
– Old Bay seasoning can be used to flavor coffee.
Check out these photos (that last one is an official Old Bay mocha), and come back throughout the day for more from Baltimore. The SBC Pastors’ Conference continues today with messages from Eric Mason, Rick Warren, Francis Chan, and more. Go to sbcannualmeeting.net to listen live.
HEARTLAND | This morning, read Psalm 68. Then think on these 25 attributes of God seen in the psalm, outlined by David Platt in a sermon at the Southern Baptist Pastors’ Conference in Baltimore.
God is awesome.
God is active.
He subdues all who rebel against Him.
He satisfies all who trust in Him.
He is the One True God.
He is the covenant-keeping Lord.
God is father of the fatherless.
He is protector of the widow.
God loves the lonely.
He rescues the captive.
He provides for the needy.
God is sovereign over all nature.
He is sovereign over nations.
God is powerful above us.
God is present with us.
He commands a heavenly army.
He conquers an earthly victory.
God daily bears our burdens.
He ultimately saves our souls.
He is my God and King.
He is our God and King.
He draws peoples to Himself.
He deserves praise throughout the earth.
He is the divine warrior.
God speaks a dependable word.
For us, there are two implications, Platt said. Give glory to this God. And give your life to His mission.
Baltimore | Dozens of missionaries were commissioned this afternoon in Baltimore in a rare joint service held by the Southern Baptist International and North American Mission Boards.
The commissioning, part of the annual meeting of Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU), was the first combined service in at least 25 years, said National WMU Executive Director Wanda Lee. Leaders from state WMU chapters, including Illinois’ Jill McNicol, carried in flags and torches as a packed ballroom sang “We’ve a Story to Tell to the Nations.” Then, missionaries walked to the microphones and told why they’re going to Alaska, Canada, and to the ends of the earth.
Our lives were well-established, said one couple, but we’re “surrendering in faith becoming uncomfortable for His glory.”
“Why not retire? Just take it easy,” another couple recounted the advice they’d heard. The 69- and 71-year-old, who’ve served in several places around the world, are going again. “So, don’t let your age keep you from doing what God wants you to do.”
And don’t let your past hold you back either. A former inmate out of prison for almost 30 years told the audience how he’s making a difference for families of incarcerated people through “restorative re-entry ministry.”
After the missionaries shared, mission board presidents Tom Elliff and Kevin Ezell gave charges to them and to the churches committed to support them. Elliff shared the advice Paul gave in Colossians 4:17: “Pay attention to the ministry you have received in the Lord, so that you can accomplish it.”
Ezell told those gathered for the commissioning: “This is not the end but the beginning of your support.
“We must continue to give and pray and to support these who are going where very few people will go.”
Illinois WMU President Jill McNicol was part of the processional during a missionary commissioning service in Baltimore.
Native Praise, a choir representing 15 Native American tribes, led in worship between missionary testimonies.
North American Mission Board President Kevin Ezell prayed to conclude the service, “Father, thank you for allowing us to be part of what you’re doing.”
iB2 News 