We Passed Another Hurdle

Last week my wife and I sat down with Charles Campbell and Eddie Pullen, members of the Illinois Baptist State Association Church Planting Team, to discuss the results of our recent Invest assessment for church planters. When we went began the assessment process I spent a lot of time working through a book and preparing documents. Then we went through the actual assessment, which was a series of interviews with assessment teams. They asked a lot of questions, and either wrote notes on paper or entered notes in a computer. We had no idea what they wrote. But the process was good.

So when we sat down with Charles Campbell and Eddie Pullen we were looking forward to finding out if we had “passed.” The good news is that we have passed that stage. The results will be passed on to the North American Mission Board. We are trusting that God will lead us through this next stage.

We are still moving forward. While we wait to hear from NAMB we are in the process of seeking a church to serve as our sending church. I am looking for a job, and we are looking for a place to live. We are also praying that God will lead us to the “person of peace” that we need to discover in order to begin the planting process.

We will be planting a “house church” in East Alton, Illinois. House churches are small, with an attendance that usually is between ten and thirty people. East Alton is a town in the metro-east area of St. Louis. The population of East Alton is just a little over 10,000 people. The town mimics the U.S. average with a third of the population uninvolved in a faith experience, one-third somewhat involved, and one-third actively involved. The average age of the people is 41 years old.

Right now we are looking for prayer support. Here is a list of our prayer needs:

• Pray for our approval from the North American Mission Board.
•  Pray for a sending church to come alongside us.
•  Pray that God will provide employment for me.
•   Pray that God will provide a place for us to live.
•   Pray for a “person of peace” as we begin to plant a church in East Alton.

My Call To Church Planting

I had the joy of serving as Director of Missions for Saline Baptist Association for almost twenty years. During that time I have the privilege of promoting missions among thirty-four churches and participating in several mission trips. Our association was also involved in support church plants.

About ten years into my ministry there God began to speak to me about the need for new church plants and I took advantage of opportunities to encourage young pastors to consider church planting. At the same time God began to place a burden on my heart about a town in need of a new church plant.

As I prayed about it I also talked to other pastors and with leaders in our state office. There came a time when I finally scheduled a meeting with the state church planting strategist for that area. As we talked about the need and my desire to involve our association in supporting a church plant there he said, "Randy, it's obvious God has given you a passion for this. Maybe you should be the church planter."

I responded that it was a college town and needed a young man to serve as church planter. We prayed, I left, and they called a man to serve as church planter there. I left my position as Director of Missions and began as pastor of First Baptist Church, Ridgway, Illinois. I settled in and thought my interest in church planting was over. After all, I’m approaching retirement age! But God wasn't done with me yet.

I've served as the pastor for Ridgway FBC for almost three years, and I've had a blast. It's a loving church, and I love them. But God was using this time to speak to me about church planting. About a year ago God began to speak distinctly and consistently about church planting. I began to talk with my wife about what God was saying. Then I began to talk to a few close friends and family. Eventually I spoke to state personnel involved in church planting.

During the last few months God has clarified His call to church planting and opened doors I never expected to open. Six weeks ago I began the North American Mission Board and Illinois Baptist State Association assessment process. A week ago my wife and I went through two days of intense interviews. We are now waiting to find out the results of our recent interviews.

I am confident that we will be planting a church in the near future. We believe God has called us to plant in a specific town and a specific kind of church. In my next post I'll tell you more about it. In the meantime, pray that we will pass our next interview.

It's Been A Long Time Coming

A week ago I announced to my church family that God has called my wife and I to become church planters. In the near future we will sell some of our belongings and pack up the rest to move to the St. Louis, Missouri area to plant a new church. It's been a long time coming.

It's been awhile since my first day of school. Where we lived there was no kindergarten, so I started when I began first grade. One major event that year stands out in my life, and it was the beginning of my love for missions.

During that time the Southern Baptist Convention was in the midst of the 30,000 Movement, which was an attempt to start 30,000 new churches in America. My father was called by God to plant a new church on the west side of Rockford, Illinois. So, we loaded everything we owned into a cleaned out cattle truck and moved. I was six years old, but I remember the move and much of the next five and a half years that Dad served there.

We met in people's homes on Wednesdays and Sunday evenings. Sunday morning Sunday School and worship were held at the Odd Fellows Hall. I remember that because we always had to go early on Sundays to clean up after their Saturday night parties. I also have fond memories of the experience because a year later I asked Jesus to be my Lord and Savior. The church moved from meeting in the Odd Fellows Hall. to a house the church built. Worship was in the basement and the main floor was used for class rooms. A couple of years later the church built a new, more traditional, church building and we moved into what became the parsonage. It was my first exposure to missions.

Through the years I have had other experiences that prepared me for my call to become a church planter. There were those trips to Ridgecrest Conference Center in North Carolina. There, as a child and young teenager I heard missionaries tell of their call to missions and of the places they served. There were summer missionaries who stayed in our home. Later, when I surrendered to the Gospel Ministry. I was involved in short term mission trips to New York, Bulgaria, Louisiana, and several other places. God was at work in my life, preparing me for His call to become a church planter,. but I didn't see it coming.

Watch for my next post: "My Call To Church Planting."

Wild Strawberries and 7-11 Songs

As you look back on your life it’s funny the things you remember. And it’s strange how your mind pairs them together. Recently, two things from my childhood came together at the same time—wild strawberries and a “7-11 song.”

I pretty much grew up attending church services and meetings. Dad was a pastor. The first church I can remember was the Mt. Zion Southern Baptist Church in Kilbourne, Illinois. Well, more precisely, Mt. Zion was out in the country near Kilbourne. It was the traditional country church building, I think. It even had a cemetery close by. As summer is just around the corner I was recently reminded of the wild strawberries behind the church. (I wonder if they still grow there?)

In the mid-50’s parents weren’t so concerned about the safety of their children. After the worship service I could run free outside the church building. And, when they were producing, my first stop would be the wild strawberry patch. I’m sure they were not as sweet as the home grown or store variety. But for a five year old boy the thing about those strawberries was that I could eat as many as I wanted. Since Dad was the pastor we were usually the last to leave, and that gave me a lot of time in the strawberry patch.

There were other “sweet” things about my preschool experiences in church. Sunday School classes for the children were in the basement. We had wires stretched across the basement with curtains that slid along those wires to make the classrooms. If you didn’t like what was going on in your classroom you could always listen to what was happening in the one on the other side of the curtain.

So what do I remember about preschool Sunday School? Uh, not a lot. But I do remember feeling loved and I remember “Do Lord.” Oh how I loved to sing “Do Lord.” When I thought about it the other day I burst out in song. And it dawned on me. “Do Lord” was a “7-11 song.”

For you who don’t know what a “7-11 song” is, it refers to songs where you sing the same phrase over and over again—like seven words eleven times.” I’m not going to attach an audio file with me singing it. You don’t need that pain. But, when I was five years-old I loved singing that chorus and had no idea that Johnny Cash recorded it. I just liked the song and knew I wanted to go to “glory land” one day.

Wild strawberries and a “7-11 song.” Those were sweet days for a five year-old boy. You know what? It would be a pretty sweet day for this old guy today. Oh, and here are the lyrics for “Do Lord.”

"Do Lord"

Do Lord, O, Do Lord, O do remember me,
Do Lord, O, Do Lord, O do remember me,
Do Lord, O, Do Lord, O do remember me,
Way beyond the blue.

I've got a home in glory land that out-shines the sun.
I've got a home in glory land that out-shines the sun.
I've got a home in glory land that out-shines the sun.
Way beyond the blue.

Do Lord, O, Do Lord, O do remember me,
Do Lord, O, Do Lord, O do remember me,
Do Lord, O, Do Lord, O do remember me,
Way beyond the blue.

I took Jesus as my Savior, You take Him too.
I took Jesus as my Savior, You take Him too.
I took Jesus as my Savior, You take Him too.
Way beyond the blue.

Do Lord, O, Do Lord, O do remember me,
Do Lord, O, Do Lord, O do remember me,
Do Lord, O, Do Lord, O do remember me,
Way beyond the blue.

Christmas Grace

In just a few days we will celebrate the birth of Jesus. Though we celebrate His birth in December, the evidence is clear that He was not born in December. We have nativity sets that include three wise men and we have no idea how many wise men came to visit Jesus, and it most certainly wasn't at His birth. Though He was placed in a manger, there is not even good evidence that He was born in a stable.

The first two chapters of Matthew and the second chapter of Luke give us what has come to be known as “The Christmas Story.” Those chapters are used for countless Bible studies, sermons, and church Christmas productions this time of year. It’s great to know that, in the midst of Santa Claus, reindeer, and snowmen, the real meaning of Christmas still rings out from churches across America and around the world.

As I've contemplated this Christmas season I must confess that the passages from Matthew and Luke are not my favorites this year. Rather, I like the first chapter of John, in particular John 1:1-18.

¹  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
²  He was with God in the beginning.
³  All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created.
⁴  Life was in Him, and that life was the light of men.
⁵  That light shines in the darkness, yet the darkness did not overcome it.
⁶  There was a man named John who was sent from God.
⁷  He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe through him.
⁸  He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light.
⁹  The true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.
¹⁰  He was in the world, and the world was created through Him, yet the world did not recognize Him.
¹¹  He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him.
¹²  But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name,
¹³  who were born, not of blood, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.
¹⁴  The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
¹⁵  (John testified concerning Him and exclaimed, “This was the One of whom I said, ‘The One coming after me has surpassed me, because He existed before me.’”)
¹⁶  Indeed, we have all received grace after grace from His fullness,
¹⁷  for the law was given through Moses, grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
¹⁸  No one has ever seen God. The One and Only Son— the One who is at the Father’s side— He has revealed Him.
John 1:1-18 (HCSB)

Over 2000 years ago, when Jesus was born into the world, He was already older than time. The most amazing aspect is that He left His home in glory and took up residence among us. And now we receive “grace after grace” from His fullness.

This Christmas, as you exchange gifts with family and friends, and as you sit down to enjoy your Christmas dinner, take time to meditate upon the kind of love it took for Jesus to leave His home to dwell among us so that you and I can experience grace after grace.

It Doesn't Hurt

I grew up in a pastor’s home. For those of you who don’t know much about what that means, it first and foremost means I went to church before I was born. It became a lifelong habit. It didn’t hurt then and it doesn’t hurt now.

Admittedly, I don’t remember those first nine months of church when I was in the womb. Honestly, I don’t remember much about church the first three years of my life. What “memories” I have are those told to me by my parents. So, you won’t be surprised if I share with you one of those kinds of memories.

In the early days of my life it was customary for the pastor to sit on the platform during the music portion of worship. It was a small church and my mother was the piano player. We didn’t have children’s church in those days. My mother placed me on the second row and told me to sit there.

There was only one problem. His name was George. George was one of the men in the church who sat on the other side of the aisle. It seems that on most Sundays George would hold out one of those soft mints and I would scurry across the aisle for a mint. I stayed with George until my mother moved off of the piano bench.

Since those days I haven’t missed too many Sundays of worship. Today I serve as pastor of a village church. I’ve got to say, I love the church. All these years it’s been my family. I’ve been gone from my parents’ home a good many years, now. I have grown children. In fact, I have grandchildren. So I’ve been in church all my life.

Here’s my observation. I seem to have done okay without children’s church. I know it’s the fashion today. I’ve heard all the arguments for children’s church. But I don’t think it’s all that important. I grew up without it. My “church family” took care of me while my pastor father sat on the platform and my mother played the piano. Honestly, I think it was more important for me to be in the worship service with my parents than it was for me to be in children’s church.

I learned to value the worship experience because my parents valued it and thought it was important for me to be there, too. I learned how to first behave, and then to worship, because I sat in the “grown-up” service. I learned how to value the larger church family through the worship experience. And I learned that it wasn’t about me. It was about God.  I learned how to worship from my mother, father, and my church family.

Oh, by the way, my children didn’t make it to children’s church, either. And if I were raising my children again they’d still be in the worship service and not children’s church.

I Need A Vacation!

I need a vacation. I know because my wife told me so.

Now you may laugh about that, but she would know. You see, as of last Friday we celebrated our 39^th wedding anniversary. You don’t spend that many years with a person without getting to know them really well.

She has seen me at my worst and she has seen me at my best. She’s cared for me when I’ve been sick, mourned with me when my father died, and celebrated with me at the birth of our children. She’s been there through a lifetime of ministry, so she has seen me when I’ve come through the door after a contentious church committee meeting. She understands when I feel like I missed it completely in sharing God’s Word on Sunday morning.

She’s also been there to celebrate with me when the sermon went particularly well that morning and when someone has come to the front during the invitation to profess their faith in Christ. She is my soul-mate and helpmate.

As I think about this wonderful thing called marriage I am reminded that it’s also a reminder of a deeper spiritual truth. God has been there through it all. No matter what has gone on in my life, God has always been there for me. He’s seen be bent by discouragement and despair. He’s been there when my heart broke at the loss of my father. But He’s also been there at those joyous times of my life. And it began long before I even met the woman who became my wife.

On a January night fifty-four years ago I surrendered my heart to Jesus. I entered marriage not knowing that what I knew of love was just the starting point. I hadn’t arrived, but I had begun. When I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior I didn’t understand the depth of His love or the full significance of that new life.

Life my relationship with my wife, my relationship with my Lord is a growing one. I haven’t arrived as a husband and I haven’t arrived as a follower of Jesus. But I’m committed to growing in both relationships. I can’t wait to see what the next ten years holds.

Oh, and by the way. Tomorrow morning I start my vacation she’s been telling me I need. You know, she’s right. I’m looking forward to it.

 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God—God remains in him and he in God. 1 John 4:15 (HCSB)