Fireworks

Ministry is accomplished in the daily pulling on the yoke of Christ.  Very few people will be like Peter and see thousands respond to a single message.  Very few will have the opportunity to run alongside an Ethiopian chariot, preach the gospel is a kingdom official and see the beginning of the first church in a nation.  Very few will be whisked away physically by the Spirit of God to a town in order that the word of God might be spread.  Very few preachers are on television.  Very few sermons are remembered past Monday.  Very few believers are remembered around the world.

But ministry happens through the everyday faithfulness to Christ.  Don’t look for the spectacular or the fireworks.  Your success in ministering in God’s kingdom is not measured by notoriety but by faithfulness.  Keep speaking the gospel of the kingdom.  It is your bread and butter. 

Church Membership – Take 2

Here is a partial text of the SBC resolution on a regenerate church membership:

“RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana, June 10-11, 2008, urge churches to maintain a regenerate membership by acknowledging the necessity of spiritual regeneration and Christ’s lordship for all members; and be it further

 

RESOLVED, That we humbly urge our churches to maintain accurate membership rolls for the purpose of fostering ministry and accountability among all members of the congregation; and be it further“

 

Historically, Baptist’s have believed in a regenerate membership.  In other words, only those who profess a salvation experience and give evidence of such should be accepted into the membership of the local church.  This sets us apart from some of our brethren in other denominations.  For instance, in the Presbyterian tradition, membership in the church includes baptized children/infants.  This is mostly due to their understanding of the covenant community and what I believe is a misunderstanding of the meaning of baptism itself.  But an outgrowth of this theological principle is that there are members of the church who, although baptized as infants, do not demonstrate the fruit of repentance and conversion to Christ.  However, in keeping with the Presbyterian (and other similar denominations) principles, they are still considered part of the covenantal community.

 

Against this view of padeobaptism and the covenantal community stands the Baptist tradition.  Those who are able and do profess a salvation experience are baptized and accepted into the local congregation.  It is those who are justified that are members of the church.  The resolution at the SBC (as seen above) recognizes this as our mutual understanding.  Because of this need for a regenerate membership, the local church (i.e. First Baptist) should maintain our membership rolls with that understanding.  Those who are on the roll but do not express neither a biblical understanding of salvation nor demonstrate the fruits of such should be ministered to but not as members.  Our rolls are not for the purpose of social standing in the community or the convention.  They are a testimony of faith and a record of those to whom we as leaders are to minister and to give an account for. 

 

Accountability is needed for both sides of the aisle.  Pastors, elders and deacons are accountable for every name on our roll.  We are accountable to see them equipped for ministry.  We are accountable for the spiritual growth and whether we are exercising biblical discipline as under-shepherds of God’s flock.  At the same time, every name on our rolls is expected to be accountable to Christ.  They are to be following His lead and submitting to His lordship.  They are responsible for their growth towards maturity and the practice of spiritual disciplines.

 

Church membership is important.  A regenerate church membership is critical to the life of the body.  The implications are then that we need to know who is on our rolls.  If we haven’t seen them for years we need to find out.  We should be bold in our inquiries into their salvation and be bold in exercising either church discipline or removal from the church membership if required.  It isn’t easy and it surely isn’t pretty.  But both our theology of the church and our theology of salvation require it.

The Prodigal Son

I simply adore Keith Green’s music.  It is the real deal (even though it dates me a little).

Church Membership

Is church membership necessary?  I would have never considered this question until we spent our 8 years in Europe.  In our church there I faced this question regularly.  We had people from all strains of Christianity worship with us…Lutherans, Presbyterians, Pentecostals, non-denominationlists.  Many of them did not have a real concept of being a “formal” member of a church.  They felt that it was enough to just attend, participate in church life and in so doing, were members of a church body.

To some degree this is true.  When you consider the Church universal, you have to recognize that believers are part of that larger body of Christ without any man-made regulations or requirements.  Entrance or membership is automatic upon regeneration and salvation through Jesus Christ.  We are baptized into His body by the Holy Spirit and instantly are members of the Church, extensions and parts of His body of which He is the head.

But when you consider the local church (little “c”), does the same thing apply?  Should we consider everyone who is a Christ-follower to be a member of the local congregation?  I think the answer is no.  There is good reason to have a degree of formal church membership.  First and foremost, it assists the church in ensuring that to the best of its ability, it recognizes that membership in the church family is dependant on an authentic and real conversion experience.  If someone does not display the fruits of conversion nor testify to a biblical salvation then they are not qualified for membership in the local congregation.  Additionally, it would be unmanageable for everyone who was a believer to be part of every church body.  The processes that each church has in place for leadership, decision making on issues in the congregation and other areas would fall apart if there were no formal membership requirements.

Another issue that is relevant to this question is that of church discipline.  Who may be disciplined by the church?  To whom are the elders of the church responsible before God to care for and to challenge to grow in faith and maturity?  It must be to the members of the church.  I used to tell people in Belgium that unless you are a member of the church, I am unable to biblically exercise any oversight in your life.  While I can counsel and encourage anyone, it is the church member that I am to stand before God and give an account for.

So is membership important?  You bet it is.  That is why the SBC passed a resolution on a regenerate membership (this simply means that everyone on the membership roll is a believer and if they are not, they shouldn’t be on the roll!).  This next post will explore how the substance of this resolution affects our church and what we need to do in light of it.

Mudout in Worthington, IN

Some pics from our day cleaning up after the flooding in Worthington.  Just let me say that Southern Baptist’s rock when it comes to disaster relief!!

Hitting the Streets

Ministry happens!

Two weekends ago, the great people here at FBC attempted to reach 2000 homes in our town of Mooresville with invitations to Vacation Bible School and with the written Word of God.  Thanks to the flooding and storms, we only accomplished about 1/3 of that.  But this week we are back at it.  Lord willing we are going to finish the task.

Tomorrow we are also headed to Worthington to assist in the flood clean up process.  God is working through Southern Baptist’s and I am so thankful for the SBC organization that can help people in time of crisis.  It’s going to be a long day but I love the thought of putting feet and hands to the gospel message.

See you on Wednesday.

Tired

This morning in our Bible reading time, our family read Luke 3 which contains the geneology of Christ.  One of the ancestors of Jesus was Enoch and I was explaining to the kids that the Scriptures teach that Enoch walked with God for 300 years and then was not more.

Levi remarked “No wonder he was no more…he walked a long time!”

Resolution on Regenerate Membership

On Wednesday, the SBC finally admitted that our numbers reported for membership are inflated and that our member churches should repent and once again, affirm the truth of a regenerate membership.  While this is something that we have yet to tackle at FBC, we will soon be doing so.  Here is the text of the resolution as passed by the SBC.  May God give us the grace to now put in practice what we have corporately affirmed.

WHEREAS, The ideal of a regenerate church membership has long been and remains a cherished Baptist principle, with Article VI of the Baptist Faith and Message describing the church as a “local congregation of baptized believers”; and

 

WHEREAS, A New Testament church is composed only of those who have been born again by the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the Word, becoming disciples of Jesus Christ, the local church’s only Lord, by grace through faith (John 3:5; Ephesians 2:8-9), which church practices believers’ only baptism by immersion (Matthew 28:16-20), and the Lord’s supper (Matthew 26:26-30); and

 

WHEREAS, Local associations, state conventions, and the Southern Baptist Convention compile statistics reported by the churches to make decisions for the future; and

 

WHEREAS, the 2007 Southern Baptist Convention annual Church Profiles indicate that there are 16,266,920 members in Southern Baptist churches; and

 

WHEREAS, Those same profiles indicate that only 6,148,868 of those members attend a primary worship service of their church in a typical week; and

 

WHEREAS, The Scriptures admonish us to exercise church discipline as we seek to restore any professed brother or sister in Christ who has strayed from the truth and is in sin (Matthew 18:15-35; Galatians 6:1); and now, therefore, be it

 

RESOLVED, That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana, June 10-11, 2008, urge churches to maintain a regenerate membership by acknowledging the necessity of spiritual regeneration and Christ’s lordship for all members; and be it further

 

RESOLVED, That we humbly urge our churches to maintain accurate membership rolls for the purpose of fostering ministry and accountability among all members of the congregation; and be it further

 

RESOLVED, That we urge the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention to repent of the failure among us to live up to our professed commitment to regenerate church membership and any failure to obey Jesus Christ in the practice of lovingly correcting wayward church members (Matthew 18:15-18); and be it further

 

RESOLVED, That we humbly encourage denominational servants to support and encourage churches that seek to recover and implement our Savior’s teachings on church discipline, even if such efforts result in the reduction in the number of members that are reported in those churches, and be it finally

 

RESOLVED, That we humbly urge the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention and their pastors to implement a plan to minister to, counsel, and restore wayward church members based upon the commands and principles given in Scripture (Matthew 18:15-35; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15; Galatians 6:1; James 5:19-20).

Southern Baptists – Indy Style

This was a great week in Indianapolis for the Southern Baptist Convention.  Thank you sooooo much, First Baptist, for letting me take the week out of the office.  The Pastor’s Conference on Sunday evening and Monday did wonders to refresh my spirit.  There was a lot to take in from the SBC meeting and I know that I still need to process a lot of it.  But let me say right now that I think we are on the right road.  The emphasis on being a great commission church is spot on.  The resolutions adopted by the convention were for the most part thoughtful and rightly needed.  Only time will tell the impact of this years meeting.

But for now, its back to the business of the office and preparation for Sunday’s worship and message.  Have a great week.

The 64th Anniversary of D-Day

 
A view of Pointe du Hoc (from our last visit in Aug 07)

For more information on Pointe du Hoc and its significance in the landings on Normandy, please visit http://www.worldwar2history.info/D-Day/Pointe-Du-Hoc.html