Monthly Archives: November 2017

Tearing Down the Walls

In November of 1989, the East German government announced it would allow limited travel across the West German border.  within hours of this news, hundreds of thousands of East and West Germans gathered around the Berlin wall.  A massive celebration erupted and people began spontaneously tearing down the wall with hammers and chisels.  The rest is history, and in October 1990 Germany was reunified.  The wall that had divided the people was brought down.

May I ask, are there any walls in your life that divide you from others?  Walls that place you on one side and separate you from those other folks?  Perhaps the young adult with more tattoos and piercings than you find comfortable?  Maybe that Syrian family that just arrived at the airport?  Could it be the Latino family who moved to your neighborhood?  Or that homeless person standing on the street corner near your workplace?  And if you really want to get personal, how about those Samaritans?

In Jesus day, there was a huge invisible wall that stood between Samaritans and Jews.  The two cultures had hated each other for over a thousand years or so.  Jews believed that Samaritans were half-breeds, and those who had rejected the true faith by marrying pagans.  A Jew counted a Samaritan as a little less than a stray dog.

Jesus, however, broke all the rules.  Jesus had reached out to a Samaritan woman at a well and shared that God was more concerned with worshipping in spirit and in truth than whose family you were born in.  Jesus showed us that God loves the world…every person in the world.

That is why we read in Acts 8 that God sent Philip to preach Christ in the city of Samaria, and revival broke out.  God’s hammer was tearing down walls.

But God was not through.  He sent Philip on a second cross-cultural mission, and as he journeyed, his path intersected with an Ethiopian eunuch.  Philip shared with him the truth of the Gospel, and the Ethiopian became a baptized follower of Christ.  The walls of race were hammered to the ground, and the two became brothers in Christ.

Walls always divide us.  God desires to bring down the walls and to unite us as family in Christ.

We cannot experience the life that God wants to give us unless we are willing to lay aside our bias and prejudice. Who is the Samaritan in your world?  Who is the Ethiopian eunuch that God has brought across your path?   Will you take God’s hammer and help Him bring down the walls?

Kentucky Baptists have always been willing to go to the airport and travel to the farthest corners of the world for the sake of the Gospel.  God is asking us today; will we be just as willing to go to the airport to meet a refugee family for Christ’s sake?  Would we be willing to go down the street and offer a little hospitality to the family that looks a little different from us for Jesus?

Will we be those who tear down the walls?

Interested in becoming involved with a refugee family, contact the Kentucky Baptist Disaster Relief office to learn more at (502) 489-3527 or by ewmail at [email protected].

 

 

Missions Participation Involves Sending, Going and Making

The idea of Christ followers being involved in missions is supported throughout scripture. Two very familiar passages are Matthew 28:19-20 and Acts 1:8. Both record the words of Christ, telling His followers to go and make disciples of all people by being His witness in all places.

The church is not supposed to only study or learn about missions. The Bible is clear about our responsibility and uses action words like “send”, “go” and “make” disciples to emphasize the church’s role.  A church that is sending, going and making will experience a high level of missions participation by its members. Participation in missions is critical to healthy church development, individual spiritual growth and advancement of the gospel.  How exciting it is to learn of churches that are missions active, rather than simply missions minded.

Below is a list of Kentucky’s top ten churches, in terms of missions participation. Missions participation refers to mission trips, church planting efforts, local ministry projects and disaster relief responses.  Each of the churches has earned recognition because they had a greater percentage of their worship attendance participating in missions this year than they did the previous.

  1. Chestnut Grove Baptist Church, Lewisport, Jerry Dalton, pastor.
  2. Charleston First Baptist Church, Dawson Springs, Patrick Yates, pastor.
  3. East Hickman Baptist Church, Lexington, Kevin Davidson, pastor
  4. Oakland Avenue Baptist Church, Catlettsburg, Mike Blankenship, pastor.
  5. Tiny Town Baptist Church, Guthrie, James “Buck” Tidwell, pastor.
  6. Williamstown Baptist Church, Williamstown, Terry Leap, pastor.
  7. Little Flock Baptist Church, Shepherdsville, Rodney Alexander, pastor.
  8. Salem Baptist Church, Irvine, Jerry Smith, pastor.
  9. Mount Pisgah Baptist Church, Nancy, Patrick Patterson, pastor.
  10. Gamaliel Baptist Church, Gamaliel, Danny Pace, pastor.

Pastor “Buck” Tidwell shared that Tiny Town Baptist Church experienced an increase in missions participation because of their initial involvement in Operation Inasmuch a year ago.  Not only did that single day of community engagement through missions projects involve a large percentage of their Sunday morning attendance, but a weekly backpack ministry to needy children was birthed as a result. Now, every week members are participating in missions because they were first encouraged to participate in a one-day mission event.

I don’t know how or why all of the churches saw increased missions participation, but I do know that the more seeds that are sown, the greater the Kingdom harvest. Pastors should lead their people to participate in missions because we’re commanded to do so and we have a gospel to proclaim.  However, there are benefits to churches that are sending, going and making disciples through missions participation.

Benefits to the missions participating church include: 

  1. Improves health and vitality.
  2. Generates passionate and exciting worship.
  3. Stimulates revitalization and growth.
  4. Develops disciples.
  5. Puts emphasis on people, not buildings or budgets.
  6. Turns focus outward, rather than inward.
  7. A greater Kingdom harvest because more seeds are sown.

My prayer is that more churches will experience an increase in the number of people participating in missions, but it won’t happen accidentally.  It demands an intentional effort by the pastor and church leadership.  What will you do in your church to encourage greater missions participation that calls people to send, go and make?

Thankful for Kentucky Missions

It’s November and Fall is in the air.  The days are getting shorter.  The crisp, cooler temperatures are here, and the hills are filled with the beautiful red, orange, and yellow colors of the season.  Soon we will celebrate Thanksgiving Day and reflect on the many ways God has blessed us this past year.

What has your year been like?   What do you have to be thankful for?  How has God blessed you?  And, how have you been a blessing to other people?

As I look back over the past 12 months, I want to thank God for His calling on my life and for allowing me to have a part in His great work in Kentucky.  It is a blessing to serve across the state with churches, associations, KBC staff, Kentucky WMU, and most of all, our Kentucky missionaries.  Below are some highlights of year for which I am thankful:

  • for the 93 Kentucky Missionaries that serve across our state.
  • for 17 new missionaries that joined our Kentucky Missionary Family.
  • for the 3217 professions of faith reported by the missionaries.
  • for over 20,000 volunteers that served with the missionaries, and many others that served churches and associations.
  • for thousands of dollars of resources that were donated to Kentucky ministries.
  • for the more than 15,000 Christmas Backpacks that blessed the children of Kentucky last Christmas, and for over 7000 Christmas Backpacks that were filled by Kentucky Baptists for needy children in Kentucky and the Send Cincinnati area this Christmas.
  • for Kentucky Missionary of the Year Amy Wilhelmus, Director of the Moore Activity Center in Covington.
  • for George & Cathy Chinn, Ryan Horrell, Pat Howard, Arlene Miller, John Morris, and Twyla Sheffield – the 7 mobilization consultants that serve assist me across the state.
  • for Cooperative Program and Eliza Broadus Offering that helps to fund the ministries in Kentucky.

Many lives have been touched this year by Kentucky Baptists, and the year is not over.  There are still nearly two months to serve.  Who can you bless during this time?  Look for ways that you can share God’s love during these last 2 months of 2017.

For information on serving with a Kentucky ministry during the holiday season contact the KBC Missions Mobilization office at 502-489-3530 or email [email protected].  You will be blessed, as well as be a blessing.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Going to Zimbabwe


Recently, I had the privilege to lead my second short-term mission team to Zimbabwe, Africa.  The purpose of the mission was twofold: train pastors and church leaders in theological education and model racial reconciliation.  The team consisted of 8 African-American pastors and 5 Anglo pastors.  The team was not only diverse ethnically, but also demographically.  We had team members serving in the inner city, suburbs and rural areas of KY.  We had the privilege to partner with Nick and Kyndra Moore, IMB missionaries serving in Zimbabwe.

No one on the team knew every team member of the team (well).  In fact, the day we left for Zimbabwe was the day some of our team met each other for the first time.  We arrived in Zimbabwe and hit the ground running.  Spending the first night in a central location, the next day (Sunday) after the team split up for worship in two local churches, we grabbed our bags and loaded our vehicles and ventured out into twelve different locations throughout the country.  Some of our team members stayed in larger cities and enjoyed more modern accommodations (such as warm bread pudding and ice-cream), while others stayed in huts with hammocks and dodged giant moths, just being grateful they were not bats!  Regardless of where our team members stayed, they loved on the people of Zimbabwe and the people of Zimbabwe loved on them.

Each team member was responsible for teaching a set curriculum in partnership with World Hope Bible Institute.  The material consisted of courses ranging from hermeneutics to expository preaching to soteriology to New Testament to Systematic Theology to Ecclesiology.  Each location received teaching in three courses.

Relationships were built and churches were strengthened through the teaching ministry of our team.  Even more impactful were the lessons learned by our team as they observed the hunger and passion by the Zimbabweans to the learn the Word of God.  As always, our team received more than they gave.

 

While the whole mission was designed to intentionally create an environment for multi-ethnic cooperative missions, our team spent intentional time at the end of our week discussing what that looks like for churches today.  We used the new book Removing the Stain of Racism from the Southern Baptist Convention as a springboard for our discussion.  Kevin Jones, one of the book’s editors, who also was on our mission team, facilitated our discussion.  While much was said during our time of dialogue that was extremely beneficial, what stood out to me the most was that relationships are key to racial reconciliation in the Southern Baptist Convention and Kentucky Baptist Convention.  We must live life together and do ministry together before the ills of racism will truly crumble.  So, let’s not just talk about racial reconciliation, let’s live it out together for the cause of the gospel and the glory of God to all nations.