The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-03/07/2017 DISCLAIMER: Baptist Press should be credited for any reprinted stories that originate with BP. Suggested credit line: Reprinted from Baptist Press (www.baptistpress.com), news service of the Southern Baptist Convention. Please note that Baptist Press periodically carries stories from other sources by permission. Individuals interested in reprinting non-BP stories should contact the entity where the story originated to seek reprint permission. -------------------------------------------------------------------- FIRST-PERSON: 'Are you mad yet?' by John Weaver Date: March 07, 2017 - Tuesday DITTMER, Mo. -- In all the years of visiting people in hospitals and nursing homes as a pastor, I've never had a total stranger repeatedly bop me in the face with a balloon and ask me: "Are you mad yet? Why aren't you mad? Are you mad now? Why aren't you mad?" I had been in the hallway of a nursing home talking, laughing and exchanging truths about God with a 100-year-old Christ follower (and grandmother of a friend), when the "balloon lady" (with severe dementia) rolled over in her wheelchair and began bopping me in the face with a little red balloon and asking me, "Are you mad yet?" When I would say, "No ma'am" (as I held my arm out so she wouldn't hit Mrs. Ruth), the lady would persist and ask again, "Why aren't you mad?" It took a couple of minutes for some of the workers to notice what was happening. As they wheeled the lady with the balloon to another part of the room, they apologized to me several times, while lovingly and patiently explaining to the resident that "the nice young man might not want to be bopped in the face with a balloon." I thought it was awesome Mrs. Ruth, this sweet 100-year-old Christian woman, didn't skip a beat while all of this was going on. She just kept on talking about how good God is and what a joy it has been to serve Him. This episode made me think about how easy and quite common it is for Christ followers to get distracted by the "balloon boppers" of the world. Many times we can get so bothered by crazy events happening around us in our wayward culture that we forget our primary purpose as believers: to glorify the Lord by making more disciples (Matthew 28:19-20; John 15:8). A 100-year-old lady reminded me (without even knowing it) that I need to keep my focus on Jesus Christ, faithfully shine His light and keep making disciples no matter what distractions the world may "bop" me with. Thank you, Mrs. Ruth, for this important reminder. As the Scripture states, "You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen" (2 Peter 3:17-18). -------------------------------------------------------------------- Ky. religious expression bill clears final hurdle by Tom Latek/Kentucky Today Date: March 07, 2017 - Tuesday FRANKFORT, Ky. (BP) -- Students would be able to express religious and political viewpoints in public schools and on college campuses without interference from administrators under a bill that cleared its final legislature hurdle Monday (March 6) and was headed to Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin to be signed into law. State Sen. Albert Robinson, R-London, said he decided to sponsor Senate Bill 17 after a Johnson County elementary schools removed biblical references from a presentation of "Charlie Brown's Christmas Carol" in 2015. The bill, which basically affirms rights that are already in place, was adopted on an 81-8 vote. Robinson said he's felt the legislation was necessary to make clear to educators that biblical references are in no way forbidden from campuses. Rep. Tim Moore, R-Elizabethtown, said the constitutional guarantee to freedom of religion has been imposed upon by educators who either were confused about what is allowed or who willingly defied those constitutional rights. "Making sure that an understanding of the liberties, which we hold sacred, is confirmed from time to time is also appropriate," Moore said. Some critics argued that the legislation could be found unconstitutional and cost the state a hefty legal bill. Supporters said it would be a weapon in the war against Christianity. Rep. Joni Jenkins, D-Louisville, said lawmakers should not be trying to push religion onto campuses. "I believe religion should be expressed in church or in the privacy of my home, not in public schools," she said. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Robert Parham, moderate Baptist ethics leader, dies by Art Toalston Date: March 07, 2017 - Tuesday NASHVILLE (BP) -- Robert Parham, a staff member of the SBC's former Christian Life Commission who began an ethics organization for Baptist moderates, died March 5 in Nashville. He was 63. Parham was described as "a critic of the conservative resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention" in a Religion News Service obituary March 6. RNS reported that Parham had been diagnosed with amyloidosis, a rare disease that affects the body's organs. But he had remained active as executive director of the Baptist Center for Ethics, which he founded in 1991 in Nashville, RNS noted. Parham was one of five children born to a missionary couple in Nigeria, Bob and Jo Ann Parham, who served with the then-Foreign Mission Board (now International Mission Board). According to EthicsDaily.com, a news and opinion website operated by the Baptist Center for Ethics, Parham authored several books; was interviewed by such media as ABC, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and NPR; wrote columns that appeared in daily newspapers; and was co-producer/director of several documentaries on such topics as race relations, immigration, poverty and Baptist-Muslim relations. The Baptist Center for Ethics also has produced various online Bible study curricula. Parham held a Ph.D. in Christian ethics from Baylor University, also serving as a pastor in Cego, Texas, in 1983-84; an M.Div. from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; and an undergraduate degree in international relations from Georgetown University. Upon finishing his Ph.D., Parham joined the staff of the Christian Life Commission (now the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission) in 1985 as director of hunger concerns, later serving as associate director from June 1988 until his 1991 resignation to lead the Baptist Center for Ethics. Parham served under three CLC leaders, Foy Valentine, who led the entity from 1960 until his retirement in May 1986; Larry Baker, who served just over a year after his election in January 1987; and Richard Land, who moved the CLC to conservative stances when he became president in October 1988. Land led the ERLC for 25 years until his retirement from the SBC entity in 2012. Parham often made headlines when he criticized the Southern Baptist Convention, typically stirring rest-of-the-story responses from various Baptist leaders. Parham lamented, for example, that Land did not hire staff members with Ph.D. degrees in ethics, in a chapter he wrote for the 1993 book "The Struggle for the Soul of the SBC" compiled by Walter B. Shurden. Land, however, "hired men with Ph.D.'s in Bible," according to the 2000 book "The Baptist Reformation: The Conservative Resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention" by Jerry Sutton, along with "attorneys with law degrees and others who were in the process of acquiring Ph.D.'s, yes, in ethics." Parham is survived by his wife Betsy and their two children, Elisa and Chris. His funeral service is scheduled for noon Monday, March 13, at First Baptist Church in Nashville. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Gaines at rally: Evangelism should be priority by Nathan Handley Date: March 07, 2017 - Tuesday JACKSON, Tenn. (BP) -- Evangelism should be the priority of every Christian, Southern Baptist Convention President Steve Gaines said at the March 5 West Tennessee Evangelism Rally. "Heaven and hell are looming in the balance, and that's a lot more important than anything else," Gaines, pastor at Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, told those gathered at Union University in Jackson, Tenn. Gaines was the featured preacher at the rally, sponsored by Union and the Tennessee Baptist Convention. He spoke to pastors and church members from churches across the West Tennessee area. Gaines' sermon came from Acts 1, where Jesus gave His final command to His disciples to be His witnesses. He said Jesus shifted everything and charged His followers with the priority of evangelism. "God's kingdom became spiritual, not physical," Gaines said. "It was no longer focusing on the nation of Israel. It was international, not national. It was for all people." He said every Christian's first thought when entering a room should be, "I wonder if these people know Jesus." He said Christians should be ready and willing to talk about Jesus at all times because they love Him. If Jesus is in the hearts of believers, He will come out of their mouths. "If you love somebody, you talk to them and you talk about them," Gaines said. "That's just the way it is. If you don't talk to them and you don't talk about them, you don't love them." Gaines said Acts 1 teaches that followers of Jesus have power through the Holy Spirit. Christians should not be afraid to share the Gospel and be witnesses because the Holy Spirit gives power to do just that. "The Holy Spirit of God is in you," Gaines said. "And He didn't come there just to give you a little feeling, just to give you a little high. He came for you to be a powerful witness for the Lord Jesus Christ." Gaines said believers should have a plan for witnessing. He said some decide to do evangelism, and others decide to love people, but one cannot be done without the other. "When you love on people, they'll listen to you talk to them about Jesus Christ," Gaines said. "It's not either -- or. It's both." He said every evangelistic believer should know the names of lost people and pray specifically about them for three things: conviction, conversion and a contact. He said each Christian should be willing to be that contact. Gaines said winning people for Jesus should take priority over everything, even good things like racial reconciliation, social justice and defending the unborn. He said Christians are alive on the earth to be witnesses for Jesus, and this should be evident in everything that the church and church members do. "God didn't give you breath to go around and complain," Gaines said. "He gave you breath to praise the Lord and to tell people about Jesus Christ." The West Tennessee Evangelism Rally also included several breakout sessions on various aspects of evangelism. The topics included evangelism in the workplace, leading children to Christ, getting the Gospel to Muslims and building evangelistic church ministries. David Evans, evangelism specialist at the Tennessee Baptist Convention, led a session, entitled "Creating a Culture of Missions and Evangelism in Your Church." He said culture has changed drastically in the last 30 to 40 years, and evangelism has changed as well. He said the largest gap in churches is between ages 18 and 25, and people that age want to be part of a passion and a vision that's helping somebody else. "People no longer say, 'Hey, I want to go to church because it's going to help me,'" Evans said. "No. I want to go to church because it's going to help somebody else." Evans encouraged church members to be evangelists where they are and use their gifts and passions to share the Gospel, rather than scheduling time for evangelism. He said evangelism in the New Testament is organic and irregular. "Evangelism is irregular because it happens 24/7," Evans said. "All the time we've got to be evangelistic. We've always got to be Gospel-sharing." -------------------------------------------------------------------- FROM THE STATES: Ala., Okla. and Ark. evangelism/missions news; 'Barriers are being knocked down' by Staff Date: March 07, 2017 - Tuesday Today's From the States features items from: The Alabama Baptist; The Baptist Messenger (Oklahoma); Arkansas Baptist News ********** Ala. association diversifies VBS training opportunities By Grace Thornton BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (The Alabama Baptist) -- Audrey Krier said when it comes to Alabama Baptist churches and summer, one thing is universal -- and it's not the heat. It's that number of trained Vacation Bible School (VBS) workers is on the decline and has been for about a decade. So last year Birmingham Baptist Association -- where Krier serves as VBS director -- formed a task force to figure out why the decline was happening and how to develop new strategies "for this valuable outreach," she said. A variety of reasons rose to the surface. "Some of the largest churches have either opted for writing their own material for VBS or have gone to alternative summer activities," she said. "Many small churches have aging congregations or lack resources to hold VBS." 'Training is critical' Some churches were skipping training their workers because of lack of time or resources, Krier said. "And training is critical. Statistically, for every trained worker, there's a profession of faith that happens in VBS." Daniel Edmonds, state missionary overseeing state VBS efforts, agreed that the more trained laborers there are the better the harvest. "We are seeing better numbers when more people are trained," he said. When it came to figuring out how to address the decline in the Birmingham area, one question quickly emerged in the conversation, Krier said -- why were they holding separate trainings in the same city to teach the same material every year? A common goal "In years past the association would hold training that would be attended by churches with Caucasian leaders serving predominately Caucasian congregations and the African-American churches would hold training for the African-American churches," Krier said. It hadn't been done that way intentionally -- it had just ended up that way, she said. And when they tried to figure out the reason, they quickly realized there was no reason. So last year they decided to combine their efforts and partner together, Krier said. "Last year because both teams already existed the teams became one with responsibilities being shared through team teaching," she said. "This year there is one team made up of a diverse group of leaders." For the past four years training had been held at Eastside Baptist Church, Birmingham, in an attempt to serve the needs of all types of churches, Krier said. "Eastside is located in a transitional community, which did move us closer to being able to appeal to a larger more diverse group," she said of the church, where she also serves as children's pastor. "This year Sixth Avenue Baptist Church has graciously agreed to host the Vacation Bible School clinic for BBA." Vernessa Barnes, minister of education for children and youth at Sixth Avenue Baptist, said it's been a very helpful partnership. "Particularly with the climate of things in the world, it's always good to practice what we preach," she said. "When we're able to work together as the body of Christ, I think people truly see Christianity from a different light." And the more churches get involved from both communities, the better it will be, she said. The Sixth Avenue clinic will be held April 29. A jump-start training will be held Feb. 23 at Raleigh Avenue Baptist Church, Birmingham. 'Conscious effort' Mike Johnson, pastor of Eastside Baptist, said it has been a "conscious effort" to build bridges and work together, and it's paid off in a lot of understanding and headway being made for the gospel. Adult VBS at his church has brought in people from both communities during the past few years and it's brought a lot of great relationships, he said. That momentum at Eastside has carried over into Krier's effort to unite the two teams for the sake of sharing the Gospel in Birmingham. "It's just been a wonderful marriage of the two teams such a mutually advantageous thing. Good things are happening. Barriers are being knocked down," she said. "We just want to be an encouragement to others to do a similar partnership." --30-- This article appeared in The Alabama Baptist (thealabamabaptist.org), newsjournal of the Alabama Baptist Convention. Grace Thornton is a correspondent for The Alabama Baptist. ********** Okla. church helps solve 4-day school week issue By Chris Doyle INDIAHOMA, Okla. (The Baptist Messenger) -- School districts are being creative in facing budget concerns in Oklahoma. According to state sources, more than 100 Oklahoma school districts last year considered observing four-day school weeks or recently made the switch. Indiahoma, located 31 miles west of Lawton, implemented the four-day format last fall. As a small community with a population of less than 400 people, parents faced the decision of what to do each Monday, when school wasn't meeting. For children in Kindergarten through 5th grade, there is a successful solution. Indiahoma of Comanche-Cotton Association offers "MonDay Camp," which meets every week during the school year from 7 a.m.– 4:30 p.m. on Mondays. Scott and Tami Patton, members of Indiahoma Church, coordinate weekly activities that provide both academic and spiritual support. "Sometimes what we may perceive as a problem will end up being a blessing. God disguises blessings in a lot of ways," said Scott who is a retired Army colonel. "We look at this as a tremendous opportunity not only for children to have augment or academic programs but also for a spiritual blessing to come out of it." Indiahoma's school board approved the schedule change last July. Consulting school leaders, community leaders and church leaders about the idea of the all-day Monday program, Scott and Tami worked with pastor Les Banks to make MonDay Camp become a reality. Scott said they started planning in August. "We could have used more planning time, but through a lot of prayers we worked out things logistically," he said. MonDay Camp is free to families. Breakfast is offered when children arrive at 7 a.m., and food is provided through donations and contributions. They also offer lunch through supporting local businesses and restaurants. The church and community have been supportive of the MonDay Camp. Scott said through donations they were able to buy a new basketball goal and take a field trip to a pumpkin patch last fall. He said the Lord has worked through this experience and exceeded expectations. Even the turnout of children surpassed their projections. Scott said he thought if MonDay Camp drew 25-30 kids each week it would be a good start. Last fall, MonDay Camp enrolled 47 students and averaged 33 kids each Monday. Chapel is the first activity the children experience at MonDay Camp. Led by Tami and other teachers, they sing Christ-centered songs "with a lot of movement and a lot of action." They also salute the American Flag, the Christian Flag and the Bible before they offer a Bible lesson. Then the children experience sessions of academics but in a lighter setting. Tami has a great team of teachers and workers who help every week, including Yolanda Blakesley (PreK/Kindergarten), Robin Jones (1st and 2nd grade with Tami) and Gayla Cable (3rd-5th grade). "We make learning fun as much as we can," said Tami who teaches 2nd grade at Indiahoma Elementary School. She consults other teachers to see what curriculum students are covering those weeks and uses MonDay Camp as a fun preparatory experience, applying games and puzzles with related academic content. "The school has been wonderful in donating supplies and loaning equipment," Tami said. "There's been a good relationship. The teachers are saying (MonDay Camp is) making a difference." Banks said the church has been contacted by other churches in surrounding towns, evaluating what Indiahoma Church is doing. "It's really an opportunity where you see the church at work, not only helping this community but helping other churches," Banks said. MonDay Camp also has seen spiritual fruit blooming. Tami said they are "planting a lot of seeds." Banks also has spoken with a 5th grade boy who prayed to receive Christ, and Banks is talking to his parents about following through with the observance of baptism. "Two families have been asking about our church and started coming," Banks said. "We want them to see that the church is a place where needs are met." Discussions have risen among state legislature about school districts observing four-day school weeks. If a law passes that requires school districts to follow the traditional five-day model, Scott said Indiahoma Church will be flexible with how to offer future programs to children. "We may do an after-school program," he said. "We can take same principles and apply to another provision." Pastor Banks believes MonDay Camp is only the beginning of what his church will be doing in the future. "We can be the church in 'here' because we are the church out 'there,'" Banks said. "This church is really community-minded, which is how the church is supposed to be. We need to get outside these walls and be a church out there." --30-- Chris Doyle is associate editor of The Baptist Messenger (www.baptistmessenger.com), newsjournal of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. ********** Ark. Baptists 'recharge, refocus' around evangelism By Staff LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (Arkansas Baptist News) -- Excitement and anticipation for ministry in the new year were high as Baptist ministers and others gathered Jan. 30-31 for the Arkansas Baptist State Convention (ABSC) 2017 Conference on Evangelism and Church Health at Geyer Springs First Baptist Church in Little Rock. The multifaceted event -- historically known as the evangelism conference -- featured a number of speakers, interactive luncheon workshops, a prayer focus and an exhibit hall. The annual conference is a great way for pastors and church leaders to "recharge their batteries and refocus on evangelism," said Terry Bostick, team leader for ABSC's evangelism and church health team. "The ABSC Evangelism Conference is one of the consistently best opportunities in Arkansas each year," was tweeted by Chad Graves of Conway about the event. The Conference on Evangelism and Church Health was a time of spiritual growth, fellowship and conviction, as the hundreds attending heard inspiring messages from a variety of speakers. Robert Smith Using 2 Kings 13:20-21 as his biblical text, Robert Smith, who serves as Charles T. Carter Baptist Chair of Divinity at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Ala., urged attendees at the Conference on Evangelism and Church Health to preach a Gospel that lives beyond the grave. Elijah passed the mantle of his prophetic leadership to Elisha before Elijah ascended into heaven without dying. The two men shared ministries that were "mutually effective," said Smith. Although Elisha ultimately died and was buried, the body of a dead man that was tossed into Elisha's grave came back to life, signifying his ministry outlived his physical life. In order to preach a Gospel that goes beyond the grave, preachers must preach a Gospel that promotes "alien righteousness." People must understand, Smith preached, that "apart from Christ they are dead." God imputes His righteousness to His people, but no one person is indispensable, said Smith, explaining that when he became a Christian, "The Trinity didn't become a quartet." For the Gospel to go beyond the grave, preachers must also preach the truth of Christological exclusivity. Elisha's name, he said, means "my God is salvation," urging attendees not to offer a "salvific buffet" but rather to preach, "There is no salvation outside of Jesus Christ -- none at all." Finally, he called on pastors to preach messages that are "fueled by the Spirit of God." In Spirit-fueled preaching, "There is this reality of the eternal witness of the Spirit (Who) … takes and applies the Word to people that you and I preach to," said Smith. Herb Reavis Herb Reavis, pastor of North Jacksonville Baptist Church, Jacksonville, Fla., answered the question, "What kind of church does God attend?" Drawing his answer from Revelation 1, Reavis said that God attends a church that "produces a dynamic Christian." John, the apostle, exemplifies the kind of Christian God wants us to be, Reavis said. "If you really know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, you may fall down, but you're going to get back up. You may stray, but you're going to come back because you're in the grip of His grace. Even though you may leave Him, He doesn't leave you," he preached. He said that there is "purpose in pressure" in the Christian's life and that the Bible doesn't differentiate between God being a person's Lord and a person's Savior. The church that God attends emphasizes that "faithfulness is success," said Reavis. "You've been hoodwinked into thinking success in ministry is a number and a visible result. When it's all said and done, there is no human number that's gonna blow God's mind," he said. The church that God attends, he continued, gathers on a special day. "Church is not a funeral service; it's a celebration that Jesus Christ is alive," he said. Also, the church that God attends fulfills a unique responsibility of seeking to save the lost. "Let's don't curse the darkness; let's turn on the Light," he said. Finally, the church that God attends, he said, worships a living Savior. "I need to go to a church that God attends because … sometimes I need to be corrected … sometimes I need to be encouraged … sometimes I need to get a touch of revival," he said. In his second sermon of the conference Reavis spoke from Luke 3 about "power priorities." Reavis shared that, after graduating from high school, he attended the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago to prepare for his call to ministry. He said that he used to ponder what the secret was to the school's founder, Dwight L. Moody's, fruitfulness until it dawned on him that "it was the power of God." Reavis said that while at Moody he would spend time in the library reading about men and women involved in revivals throughout history. The one thing that they all shared, he said, was the power of God. "Today we have personalities, we have programs ... strategies ... facilities," said Reavis. "But the one thing that we are lacking is the power of the living God coursing through the DNA and the veins of the local church and those who minister the word of God." Reavis listed three priorities for attendees to have the power of God in their lives: 1) the act of obedience, 2) the anointing of the Holy Spirit and 3) the approval of God. "I've come to this place in my life, as I seek to serve Jesus Christ, win souls and lift up the banner of the cross. I've come to the place where if God is happy with me and Mama is happy with me, then I don't give a hoot if anybody else is happy with me," said Reavis. David Allen Preaching from Hebrews 1:1-4, David Allen, dean of the School of Preaching at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Ft. Worth, Texas, said that the Scripture teaches that speech is a vehicle of revelation, communication and salvation. "Jesus is the speech of eternity translated into the language of time," Allen said. The opening words of Hebrews go on to teach "seven wonders of Jesus," Allen said. Those seven wonders, which describe Who Jesus is and what He does, are: 1) Jesus is the heir of all things; 2) Jesus is God's agent of creation; 3) Jesus is the radiance of God's glory; 4) Jesus is the exact representation of God's nature; 5) Jesus sustains the universe by His powerful Word; 6) Jesus made purification for sins and 7) Jesus is God's great King, as He sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Most of the book of Hebrews focuses on the sixth wonder of Jesus making purification or cleansing for sins. "Such is the love of God that although He is all of these things, He is also the Savior," said Allen. "It's a wonderful thing to know about God -- to know facts about Him … it's a whole lot more wonderful to know God personally through His Son Jesus Christ. There's nothing in the universe like knowing Jesus Christ personally. There's nothing in the universe like sharing Him with someone who doesn't know Him," said Allen in closing. In his second sermon of the conference Allen spoke from Hebrews 6. The subject of Allen's second sermon was, "my anchor holds." "Genuine hope for a Christian produces confidence in your life. It produces assurance in your life," said Allen. "We have this hope anchor which keeps us no matter what. … Every link of the chain of hope that connects you to Christ as your anchor of hope has indelibly printed on every link four words: "Thus says the Lord." And when God speaks and promises salvation, nothing can change that," he said. Allen explained that the largest anchor used on ships, used only in the worst of storms, is the storm anchor. He said that Christ is our storm anchor; He holds us even in all circumstances, good and bad. Allen said that all people find themselves either in the midst of a storm, on their way out of a storm or heading into a storm. After sharing about the death of his wife following a battle with cancer, Allen said, "Hear me when I say this today. Everything that I have ever believed, everything that I have ever taught and everything that I have ever preached about this Jesus from the time I was 16 years old in the pine thickets of north Georgia until this moment today -- Jesus has proven Himself to be everything He claimed to be." "He is my anchor of hope. … As long as you are tethered to Him, neither hell nor high water can keep you from Christ," said Allen. Steve Gaines Steve Gaines, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, Tenn., and president of the Southern Baptist Convention, shared five characteristics of Gospel preaching: 1) prophetically declared, 2) scripturally based, 3) Christ-centered, 4) evangelistically persuasive and 5) spiritually fruitful. Speaking from Acts 2, Gaines said, "Gospel preaching requires a Gospel preacher. … When somebody stands up for Jesus, other people start standing up for Jesus. Some of you are waiting on someone to stand up for Jesus. Why don't you stand up for Jesus? Maybe there are 11 people behind you that would do the same thing if you would just do it." Citing a quote from author E.M. Bounds, Gaines said that many Christians want a better program to help them do ministry better, but that God is looking for "better men" to stand up and be obedient to His call. "Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. … They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they will sing as they return with the harvest," said Gaines. Vance Pitman Vance Pitman, pastor of Hope Baptist Church in Las Vegas, Nev., and a national mobilizer for the North American Mission Board, said the kingdom of God is a recurring theme of the Bible. Pitman said when God mentions something in the Bible 100 times in 16 books, "God must think it is important." While he grew up Southern Baptist, Pitman said he heard little about the kingdom of God. "We'll never understand the mission of God and the mission of our church without understanding the kingdom of God," he said. "The kingdom of God … is the big picture of what God is doing in the world." Reading from Revelation 5, Pitman said God's purpose is to establish His kingdom, not your (or any) particular church. Referencing Revelation 5:9-10, Pitman said, "The church you pastor and the church I pastor isn't the goal," adding that churches that were at the center of New Testament are gone. "The church is simply a temporary tool" to further God's kingdom, adding that Jesus' last instruction to the church while on earth in Acts 1:3 was not to forget the kingdom. Speaking from Philippians 4:15-19, Pitman emphasized: 1) "When God births a church, it's always about something bigger" and 2) "When God births a church, He invites us to join His kingdom activity." Pitman said in conclusion, "When you engage a city, your church ought to look like the city. Our church looks like a bag of Skittles." He asked, "Where is God opening doors in the world where we can join Him?" Pitman emphasized that all churches should be "sending churches" so as to further the kingdom of God. "What if we quit being so concerned about keeping them (members), but more concerned about sending them?" he asked. Todd Cook Todd Cook, senior pastor of Sagebrush Community Church in Albuquerque, N.M., began his sermon by sharing how when he was 16 years old, one of his best friends was killed in an automobile accident. After hearing about the death of her son's friend, Cook's mother asked him if he knew if his friend, John, was a Christian. He did not know if he was or not. While attending John's funeral, Cook said he made two decisions: to take His relationship with Christ seriously and to never again miss the opportunity to share Christ with his friends. "We live in a world that is lost and dying and very, very confused. What they need more than anything else is someone who loves Jesus. … We have got to get our friends to Jesus," said Cook. Speaking from Matthew 28, Cook asked the audience if they, and their churches, are living out the Great Commission in their lives. "There is nothing wrong with singing our songs to the Lord. And there is nothing wrong with parsing the Greek if you want to do that and it helps your congregation grow closer to Christ," said Cook. "But if we are not doing what He called us to do, what in the world are we doing?" Christians should go out of their way to bring their friends to Jesus. Cook cited Mark 2 where a disabled man was lowered through the roof of a home where Jesus was staying. "You have to be an idiot to turn away from the Gospel of Jesus Christ," said Cook. "So here's the question: If the Gospel is still compelling, and we believe it is, why aren't our churches growing?" Cook said that churches must have a compelling message, passionately invite the Spirit of God into their gatherings and teach their members how to share Christ and how to create and take advantage of opportunities to share the gospel with their friends and the people they come in contact with every day. "Have we become a holy huddle of 'our four and no more' and to hell with everybody else?" said Cook. "I don't want to offend anybody, but if you're not baptizing somebody you are not a church anymore. You are a country club, and you need to hand the keys over to somebody who wants to do something more with it than what you are doing. "Our world is going to hell in a hand basket … and the Gospel of Jesus Christ is what is going to be the hope of this world," said Cook. --30-- This article appeared in the Arkansas Baptist News (arkansasbaptist.org), newsjournal of the Arkansas Baptist Convention. ********** EDITOR'S NOTE: From the States, published each Tuesday by Baptist Press, relays news and feature stories from state Baptist papers and other publications on initiatives by Baptist churches, associations and state conventions in evangelism, church planting and Great Commission outreach, including partnership missions. Reports about churches, associations and state conventions responding to the International Mission Board's call to embrace the world's unengaged, unreached people groups also are included in From the States, along with reports about church, associational and state convention initiatives in conjunction with the North American Mission Board's call to Southern Baptist churches to broaden their efforts in starting new churches and satellite campuses. The items appear in Baptist Press as originally published. -------------------------------------------------------------------- WEEK OF PRAYER: Teaching, reaching refugees in Jacksonville by Jim Burton Date: March 07, 2017 - Tuesday EDITOR'S NOTE: The annual Week of Prayer for North American Missions, March 5-12, and the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering provide support for missionaries who serve on behalf of Southern Baptists across North America. With a goal of $70 million, this year's offering theme is "Together for His Kingdom." Kim and Ron Carr are Week of Prayer missionaries for the North American Mission Board. For more information, visit anniearmstrong.com . To read about other 2017 featured missionaries, visit anniearmstrong.com/missionaries-overview. JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (BP) -- While sitting with her daughter at a mall food court, Kim Carr noticed internationals in exotic clothing surrounded them. Carr asked her daughter, "When did they all get here? Where are they from? Who is reaching them?" Armed with the new sensitivity, and prompted by the Holy Spirit, Carr felt led to learn more. At a local fitness center she met with a former Southern Baptist missionary who had been praying less than 12 hours before for someone to help with international refugees. Two days after completing her English as a Second Language (ESL) certification, Carr wanted students and figured Jacksonville would have plenty of people needing to learn English. She specifically felt God leading her to help unreached, unengaged people groups (UUPG), a people group where less than 2 percent of its population is evangelical Christian and there is no evangelical church planting strategy. Nearly 20 years later, the International Learning Center (ILC) of Jacksonville, Fla., Inc., has taught English and citizenship to more than 6,000 people from 108 countries. More than 1,500 students have made professions of faith while establishing more than 94 house groups. And God has done this through a woman who hated English as a subject in school. With a bachelor of science in nursing, Carr's professional expertise was starting and running medical businesses. "I kept trying to talk God into a clinic and He kept saying English," Carr said. "That was a huge surprise for me." After receiving her ESL certification, Carr started teaching classes at Chinese restaurants until the YMCA had a plan for what would become a growing project. Now, the ILC has its own 10,000 square-foot building and a thorough curriculum that the North American Mission Board (NAMB) hopes to see implemented in cities throughout North America. The world comes to Jacksonville Jacksonville is one of America's smallest intake centers, but the flow of refugees into the city is diverse. Carr believes most cities have the same mix of immigrants and could use an ILC. New refugees face many obstacles once they arrive. Most don't know English or America's culture, and many left their homeland penniless. Emotional and political baggage often weighs them down. Many flee to America because of threats on their lives, mostly coming from countries where people are leery of western religion and slow to trust. "They will trust an American over almost anyone," Carr said. "They just don't trust people from their own community because too many have been killed trusting." Through the ILC, Carr and her volunteers focus on teaching English and citizenship skills, which the immigrants typically are eager to learn. As relationships develop, she is able to refer students to planters from their language and culture. Those planters become advocates for the immigrants to help them navigate a new and confusing culture. Many eventually join a house group after having a dream or a vision of the Lord. "They bring trusted family and friends into their group," Carr said. "They don't casually bring somebody who just decided to become a believer. They are careful to vet those they bring in." The ILC model of partnering a compassion-based program with indigenous planters is the most natural outcome one could hope for, Carr said. "When you meet people's needs with excellence, establishing an authentic relationship with them, you are so different than anything they have seen," Carr said. "And they will listen to why you are different." Jacksonville's indigenous planters help immigrants understand that following the Lord isn't just a western religion. "We don't want to introduce individuals to a western religion," Carr said. "We want them to enter into authentic relationship and worship in a way that is expressed by believers from their nation." Usha Reifsnider has a Hindu background and serves on the ILC executive team. She's doing masters work at Cambridge in England on the modern Diaspora, the dispersion of people groups from their native lands to live as minorities in new homelands. Reifsnider leads cultural sensitivity training for volunteers. "I have learned that simply the way we position our bodies and speak to people can cause such lasting damage that you can never share the good news," Carr said. One of the ILC's volunteers who has learned to navigate the cultural sensitivities is H.B., who serves as the center's academic director. A former public school teacher, her vision of cross-cultural work expanded on a trip to Alaska with her home church, First Baptist of Orange Park. She believes that God has gifted her to connect to the nations. "I have a big heart, but I can't go to far away places," H.B. said. So she serves more than 100 people groups in Jacksonville who come to the ILC. She is responsible for evaluating incoming students and determining their class placement. The ILC segregates classes by gender but not by nations. As the students learn among people from other nations and receive the love of volunteers, attitudes begin to change. "We wish the world could experience the peace and love that we have found here," the refugees often tell H.B. Multiplication through NAMB When NAMB leaders discovered Carr and the ILC, they realized that the 32 Send North America cities (cities NAMB has prioritized as having the greatest spiritual need and potential influence) also need the Jacksonville model. So NAMB's compassion ministry Send Relief has developed an ILC initiative and made Carr the national director and mobilizer. Now, she's working to establish new ILCs across the United States and Canada. "I am feeling the weight of it," Carr said. She continues to work out of Jacksonville but travels frequently to other cities to implement the ILC template with its proven teaching curriculum. Carr is a member of Mandarin Baptist Church and receives Annie Armstrong Easter Offering (AAEO) funds from NAMB for her work. Likewise, AAEO contributions are funding the template replication. A key component will be a partnership with local indigenous planters who start house groups in each Send City. "At ILC 25-50 may make a profession," Carr said. "However, the UUPG planters are reaching an additional 200 per year. They take the living water to them and enter into the people's 'mess.'" And when they do, Carr calls that, "A beautiful thing." Watch a video about the Carrs: -------------------------------------------------------------------- Trump's immigration orders draw diverse reactions by David Roach Date: March 07, 2017 - Tuesday WASHINGTON (BP) -- President Trump's immigration policy has drawn renewed focus among Baptists, with reactions to his March 6 executive order emerging and criticism of two previous executive orders voiced by a coalition of Hispanic pastors. Trump's March 6 executive order revoked a Jan. 27 order on immigration that proved controversial and was blocked by federal courts. The new order, which would take effect March 16, imposes a 90-day "pause" on entry to the U.S. by nationals of Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen -- eliminating Iraq from a list of seven restricted Muslim-majority nations in the previous order. The new order rescinds an indefinite ban on refugees from Syria and enacts a 120-day suspension of the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program. It lists a range of exceptions to the travel suspensions, such as permanent U.S. residents and visa holders. The March 6 order eliminated a provision of the previous order offering preferential status to refugees from persecuted religious minority groups. Still, it countered claims the previous order discriminated against Muslims, stating the provision in question "did not provide a basis for discriminating for or against members of any particular religion." Among provisions retained from the previous order were a cap of 50,000 refugee admissions annually and a review of vetting processes for foreign travelers to the U.S. Immediate past Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd reacted to the new immigration order as guest host of the Family Research Council's "Washington Watch" radio program March 6. Floyd agreed with a guest's assessment that the order addresses critics' concerns adequately and is likely to withstand legal challenges. "It's so encouraging to know that" the White House "deepened" its treatment of immigration in the revised order, he said. "Pause was pushed ... to make [the order] better to help the future of America," said Floyd, pastor of Cross Church in northwest Arkansas. He claimed the new order "hints at the exclusion of people" from the U.S. "who embrace orthodox Islam's violent extremism." Jerry Johnson, president of the National Religious Broadcasters, tweeted that it is "time for Christian leaders to admit this factor: More than 300 refugees" are currently subjects of "terrorism investigations" -- a claim made in the March 6 order. In a separate tweet, Johnson referred to the order as "anti-jihad" and prescribing "extreme vetting." He commended an analysis of Trump's action by Jay Sekulow, chief counsel at the American Center for Law and Justice. Sekulow wrote that "significant changes" from the Jan. 27 order "not only ensure that America will be kept safe, but they also undercut the various legal challenges to the lawful order." Hispanic pastors concerned Prior to Trump's latest immigration executive order, the Hispanic Baptist Pastors Alliance (HBPA) issued a press release expressing "sadness and concern" over immigration-related executive orders issued Jan. 25 and 27. The HBPA website lists 57 churches that are represented among the alliance and notes a four-member leadership council of Felix Cabrera, pastor of Iglesia Bautista Central in Oklahoma City; Jose Abella, pastor of Providence Road Church in Miami; Raudel Hernandez, pastor of The Summit Church's Spanish congregation in Durham, N.C.; and Julio Crespo, pastor of Iglesia Bautista Buenas Nuevas in Lilburn, Ga. Most of the HBPA's concerns appear to center on a Jan. 25 executive order calling for construction of a physical barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border, the hiring of 5,000 additional Border Patrol agents and detention of "individuals apprehended on suspicion of violating Federal or State law, including Federal immigration law." The order and its enforcement represent a departure from "Obama-era rules that required" immigration officers to focus enforcement actions "only on serious criminals," The New York Times reported. In a March 2 release, the HBPA expressed support of immigration actions against "those convicted of serious violent crimes such as murder or rape." But the Trump administration's policy "puts a far greater share of the Hispanic population in our country and within our congregations at risk of deportation." "Due process" could be "bypassed" by the administration, the HBPA stated, "and many Hispanics are concerned that their ethnicity alone may lead agents to profile them." Trump's immigration policies cause families to fear separation, the HBPA stated. The policies also yield "a decrease in attendance in our Sunday services because Hispanic brethren are afraid to be arrested on the way there, and/or, as we have seen happen already, receive a call that one of their family members has been arrested” by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The issue of immigration is "too complicated" to solve through blanket calls to "remove undocumented people," the HBPA stated. The Jan. 25 order's call to use state and local law enforcement officials to perform the functions of immigration officers could "lead to the breach of civil rights," the HBPA stated. Utilizing state and local officers for immigration enforcement likewise could create "fear and distrust among the immigrant community towards all law enforcement agencies, which means they will be less likely to come forward as witnesses to violent crimes, when they are victims of domestic abuse, or to report cases of child abuse." The HBPA concluded, "We have taught our congregations that the reason why they came to this country was not what they initially believed it was. It wasn't because they were chasing the American dream but because God was chasing them, drawing them to Jesus. It was here where many of them came to know Christ and no matter where they go from this place, their new objective in life is the proclamation of the Gospel." A 2011 SBC resolution "on immigration and the Gospel" asked "our governing authorities to prioritize efforts to secure the borders and to hold businesses accountable for hiring practices as they relate to immigration status." The resolution also asked government leaders "to implement, with the borders secured, “a just and compassionate path to legal status, with appropriate restitutionary measures, for those undocumented immigrants already living in our country." The resolution stated it was "not to be construed as support for amnesty for any undocumented immigrant." The resolution concluded, "While Southern Baptists, like other Americans, might disagree on how to achieve just and humane public policy objectives related to immigration, we agree that, when it comes to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to His church, the message, in every language and to every person, is 'Whosoever will may come.'"