The following article is by Chuck Lawless, Dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions and Evangelism at Southern Seminary

In my current roles, I have had the privilege of educating young SBC ministers, assisting state conventions in conferences, working alongside the North American Mission Board (NAMB) in training leaders and consulting with the International Mission Board (IMB) in theological education.  Our denomination has much room for improvement, but I am more excited today about Southern Baptists than I have ever been - and the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force progress report is one reason for my excitement.  Southern Baptists must still address a final report when meeting in Orlando in June 2010, but this progress report is filled with possibility and hope.

First, the report begins with a call to repentance over our disunity, arrogance, selfishness and caustic rhetoric.  Southern Baptists have unfortunately assumed that our size is evidence of God’s blessings on us, and seldom have we been accused of humility.  The GCRTF report is a jolting call to repent of our belief that the evangelical world somehow revolves around us. We have no right to think such about ourselves, especially when our denomination is in decline.

Second, the report calls for a return to the primacy of the local church.  A Great Commission Resurgence will occur only when local churches led by God-called pastors grieve over lostness and share the Gospel message with people outside of the church.  That is, a GC Resurgence begins and ends with my personal willingness to be obedient to the GC task.  Waiting for the denomination to “vote in” a resurgence is not only an abdication of personal responsibility; it is a guarantee that no resurgence will take place.

Third, the report calls for funneling more Cooperative Program funds to the task of international missions.  A one percent increase may seem insignificant, but the increased dollars are both symbolic and real.  For the first time in our denominational history, we will have affirmed that more than one-half of our cooperative giving goes to international missions.  Moreover, a one-percent increase will surely result in more real dollars given to missions — a positive move that we must celebrate.

Fourth, the task force recognizes that North America is changing and has challenged NAMB and the IMB to cooperate in reaching our continent.  God is bringing the world to our continent — most often to our cities — where the Great Commission task is so large that both mission agencies will have much to do in assisting our churches to reach our contexts.  God alone knows how much more we could do if our agencies and entities worked together under a common vision rather than duplicating efforts and competing against each other.

Fifth, the report emphasizes the necessity of training missional leaders to reach our world.  While the task force has proposed that NAMB and LifeWay share the duty to help “heighten our commitment to equip current pastors to missional leadership,” all of us must accept this responsibility.  As a seminary professor and dean, I can affirm that we are producing men and women who believe the Word.  I fear, though, that we are not as intentional about producing strong missional leaders.  Our graduates seldom struggle because their theology is bad, but they do not always know how to relate to their context as a mission field.  Leaders with a healthy understanding of contextualization are a must if Southern Baptists are going to reverse our decline.

Sixth, the task force affirms the Cooperative Program while also celebrating “Great Commission Giving” beyond the CP.  I am convinced that cooperative giving is still the best way to support the global cause of Christ, and I am grateful every day for the benefits I have reaped because of the Cooperative Program.  At the same time, though, I rejoice as more local churches prayerfully and seriously seek the best way to support missions causes.  A “both-and” approach to giving toward Great Commission causes (rather than “either-or”  between the CP and Great Commission Giving) may well result in even more dollars supporting the work of missions at all levels of Southern Baptist life.

Seventh, the report calls for continued honest evaluation of our current work.  Four billion people around the world have little or no access to the Gospel. More than 250 million people in North America are not believers. Meanwhile, Southern Baptists baptized no more in 2008 than we did in 1950.  Honest, gut-wrenching, God-honoring evaluation of our structures, processes and programs is thus in order.  This process is difficult and never-ending — but only through accountability can we improve our Great Commission efforts.

What, then, should we do in response to this progress report?  Because Southern Baptists will be changed only through the power of God, prayer is a non-negotiable response.  I invite you to join me in praying these prayers:

I pray that I will be ever aware of my own arrogance.As an older Southern Baptist, I must not get frustrated with younger Southern Baptists who are calling for change; instead, I must hear them even while helping them to stay properly focused.  Younger Southern Baptists who continue to call for correction must do so with gratitude to God for the rich heritage of this convention.  All of us must humbly pray for the Great Commission Task Force as they continue their work on this report.

I pray that I can genuinely say, “Not my will, but God’s be done.”For some Southern Baptists, the suggestions of this report may go too far.  For others, they may not go far enough.  In either case, though, this report is not about what I want.  Any unwillingness to change for the sake of the Gospel will result only in a retaining of the status quo — and the status quo will not work anymore for this denomination.

I pray that I will be patient with this process. The SBC will consider this report in Orlando in June, but any proposed changes will take time.  Ours is a large denominational ship that is not turned quickly.  Patience is imperative, as impatience can result in poor implementation of otherwise good plans.  Now is not the time to jump ship because changes are not occurring quickly enough; instead, it is time to jump in, help us steer the ship and rejoice over every move in the right direction.

I pray that the discussions at the SBC meeting in June will be God-honoring. Change is seldom easy, especially when structures and processes to which we have become accustomed are challenged. This report calls for an intense Great Commission focus that will require hard choices.  I am praying now that the world will see us discuss the issues with fervor while still rallying around the Great Commission.  Anything less will harm our witness.

I pray that the Great Commission Resurgence begins with me now.To be sure, this final prayer sounds “preachy.”  The point, though, is this: no report from any committee will in itself produce a Great Commission Resurgence.  A genuine GCR will begin when I pray for a lost world, give sacrificially to God’s work and personally tell others about Jesus.  A resurgence will grow as I disciple others to do the same.  To begin these tasks, I need not wait until the SBC gathers in June.

Text/title: Proverbs 1:20-33 — The Dangers of Being a Professional Sermon Listener

Students at Southern Seminary will spend 3,700 hours listening to lectures. Add to that hundreds of sermons from your pastor, in chapel and via podcast: listening to teaching is a huge opportunity for sanctification.

But that opportunity is missed if you listen to these sermons with no intention of applying them to your life.

Listening to sermons has never been intended to be a spectator event. It is supposed to be participatory.

Biblical listening entails the hearing and heeding of the Word of God. It is dangerous to procrastinate submitting to the Word of God. What starts out as a small act of hypocrisy, becomes a habit and what becomes a habit becomes a pattern and what becomes a pattern - if unchecked - leads to a lifetime of not listening to and applying sermons.

The Bible was written not merely to grow us in knowledge, but to transform us into Christlikeness.

I have experienced seasons in my life of being a professional sermon listener. You would never know it from the outside. The hard cold fact is that my sloppy lack of discipline replaced zeal for the application for the Word of God in my life.

Being a professional sermon listener is a danger that we are susceptible to, being around good teaching regularly. It is imperative that we not be professional sermon listeners. You can’t take people where you are not going yourself in the context of ministry in the local church.

The dominant theme in Proverbs is wisdom. Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God. Wisdom is the ability to have spiritual “street smarts.”

Right out of the gate, Solomon says, “Listen, son: you need to learn to fear God” (Prov 1:1-7). The second thing Solomon says is honor your father and mother (Prov 1:8-9). Then he says choose your friends wisely (Prov 1:10-18). Then we encounter our passage (Prov 1:20-33). The admonition here is: obey Scripture immediately.

You must learn, seminary student, to follow Christ now. You can’t wait until you get to your ministry post. You must obey now. Being under the truth is not enough. The truth must be in us, it must grip us, it must lay hold of us.

The thesis is this: if you shun wisdom today, wisdom will shun you.

It is deadly dangerous to postpone obedience and to suppress the conviction of God’s Word in our lives.

1. Wisdom screams to the unteachable (Prov 1:20-23)

Solomon portrays wisdom as a bold, attractive woman. Wisdom makes herself available. She cries out on the streets. Accessibility is important to lady wisdom. She is on the corner of the busiest intersection of the gates of the city. She understands the principle of access. She positions herself to be heard.

Her message is one of urgency: she is on mission. Wisdom shouts in the streets. She is not hidden, unclear or passive. Rather, she is bold, boisterous and in your face with her wisdom. You would have to intentionally avoid her. You cannot say, “I didn’t know.”

We have an amazing collection of resources available to us today: books, podcasts, small groups, conferences, etc. Wisdom is readily available and is screaming for our attention and our allegiance.

To hear and to not obey is not just sloppiness or laziness: it is sin. Obedience is expected of us. Obedience is doing what God says, when He says to do it with the right heart motivation.

Look at the progression in 1:22: from naïve (ignorant) to scoffers (arrogant) to fools (belligerent). This is the progression. Procrastination is not neutral: you are moving one direction or the other.

The ignorant like having their ears tickled, but Scripture calls us to box people’s ears.

The arrogant like to write blogs and hear themselves talk, but they do not obey Scripture or apply Scripture.

Whatever category you find yourself in, you must repent. Repent of your unteachability. Repent of the idol of ever learning and not applying Scripture to your own life.

2. Wisdom indicts the procrastinator (Prov 1:24-31)

We learn from this section that wisdom’s patience is long, but not unlimited. To reject truth is dangerous. There is a serious price to pay.

If you turn your back on wisdom, wisdom will turn her back on you. This sounds a lot like Galatians 5:8: you reap what you sow.

There are four results from spurning wisdom:

• Wisdom will laugh

Wisdom will laugh at our calamity. When you need the most, she will not be available. When the storms come and the difficulties come, you will not be able to find wisdom, because you have built a habit and a pattern of ignoring the Word of God. You thought there were no consequences for ignoring sermons and ignoring the Word of God.

Do you know why wisdom laughs? Because you laughed at her. You ignored clear, diving truth from the mouth of God Himself for your own wisdom.

• Wisdom grows deaf

Wisdom will not answer in the time of calamity. This is not a question of “if.” It is a matter of “when.” Life’s adversities happen in a moment. You need wisdom before calamity strikes.

• Wisdom will hide

Do you sense the movement in the text? From laughter to deafness to hiding. Wisdom is actually actively evading the person who is seeking her out. Wisdom will be known when she chooses to make herself known. This is a spiritual enterprise.

• Wisdom will judge

Because they spurned my reproof, so shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be satiated with their own devices.

It is a bad habit to procrastinate applying God’s Word your life. It is spiritual insanity for us at Southern Seminary to not apply the Word of God to our own lives. We cannot lead people where we have not gone ourselves.

You can fake it during the easy times when everything is going smoothly in your life. But what about the difficult times? The difficult times reveal the spiritual sloppiness in our lives. And it is not just knowledge. It is life change.

Stop becoming a professional sermon listener. If you minister in the flesh, you get the fruits of ministry in the flesh. And then when trials come at an inconvenient time you will have nothing. You will wonder why you are blown so easily off course.

3. Wisdom exhorts the foolish (Prov 1:32-33)

The ball is in your court to apply wisdom to your life. Wisdom leaves us with a decision.

The waywardness of the naïve kills them; the complacency of fools destroys them. There is dread here.

But delight is available. To those who hear and heed comes blessing. Those who hear and heed will know how to respond in calamity. They have poured the Word of God into their lives and they now live like Jesus Christ.

Biblical listening means not only hearing, but also heeding the Word of God. The sermon is not over when the preacher says “amen.” It is then incumbent on us to apply the Word of God.

Don’t be a professional sermon listener.

Russell D. Moore had this to say, among other things, in an article reflecting on the event:

“On Friday night, the chapel floor here was filled with people on their knees, seeking the face of God, with brothers and sisters laying hands on them and praying. People hugged one another, encouraged one another, and (to that point) total strangers cried as they prayed for new friends.

“I was able to pray with people who are infertile and grieving, with people who are thinking about whether God is calling them to adopt, with people who are discouraged about the prospects of starting orphan ministries. One man sought prayer in repentance for being an orphan maker, having abandoned his wife and children years earlier through divorce.

“There was a freedom in prayer. It wasn’t ‘habbity-habbity-habbity, in Jesus name, Amen.’ Broken people and hopeful people were crying out ‘Abba.’”

This issue of Towers includes an article on the three main speakers at AFL 2010: Moore, senior vice president for academic administration and dean of the School of Theology at Southern; Jedd Medefind, president of the Christian Alliance for Orphans, and David Platt, lead pastor of the Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Ala.

Another story provides a summary of several of the breakout sessions held at the event. The breakouts were largely geared toward practical application, addressing the topics of funding an adoption, nuts and bolts of international and domestic adoptions, ministry to the birth mother, developing an orphan care culture in your church and other issues.

Ronnie Floyd also delivered a Great Commission Resurgence Task Force progress report to the SBC Executive Committee near the end of February. Towers features a first-time published response article by Chuck Lawless, dean of the Billy Graham School at Southern, and a response article by Aaron Coe, lead pastor of the Gallery Church in New York City. R. Albert Mohler Jr. has also written an article specifically focusing on the task force’s recommendations relating to the North American Mission Board.

We were grateful to Andrew Peterson for taking the time to do a 3 questions feature, and to Trent Hunter an SBTS alum who briefly detailed and reflected on he and his wife Kristi’s two recent adoptions.

In August 2009, Diffey joined Southern’s operations department as the energy education specialist, a position that allows him to explore the SBTS campus and find ways to make it more energy efficient. Last year the campus administration adopted a collection of energy management guidelines and Diffey was brought on board to facilitate those guidelines.

“Our ultimate goal is to save money,” Diffey said. “It is all about being good stewards of our money and being better stewards of our environment - which is important.”

Diffey — who jokingly refers to himself as Southern Seminary’s “Energy Tsar” — works directly with representatives of Energy Education, a company responsible for creating and helping implement customized energy conservation programs for K-12 school districts, institutions of higher education and large churches.

In 2009, Southern entered a multi-year partnership with Energy Education to learn how to heighten efficiency and ultimately save budget funds. Diffey reviews data and tours campus facilities with the Sodexo facilities management team and Energy Education representatives, who are on campus at least twice a month, and then seeks to implement cost saving measures.

Diffey reports that with the support of Sodexo, and the campus community, Southern is planning on saving at least 20 percent on 2010 energy expenditures with these new energy conservation initiatives, which equates to hundreds of thousands of dollars in savings.

“In the first six months of the program we’ve saved more than $115,000,” Diffey said. “And we’re about to step up into even more cost savings.

“In the first phase of the program we’ve focused on some big things, like making sure that were only heating and cooling facilities when needed and making sure that were not keeping lighting on when unnecessary. The Chapel for instance, costs more than $2 per hour to light, that doesn’t sounds like much, but that is about $50 a day, which computes to over $15,000 a year to light the chapel. If no one is using that facility, we should keep those lights off.”

Diffey is starting to focus on smaller things, like asking employees to turn their computers off at the end of the work day and turning lights off when rooms and offices are empty, which will compute into thousands of dollars in savings.

“If every individual would turn their computer off when they leave for the evening they would each save the seminary between $150 and $300 each year. We have enough employees for that to mean saving thousands of dollars each year,” Diffey said.

“We’re just in the habit of keeping things on. When you keep the lights on, even in small room, you’re talking about a couple hundred dollars a year. That is why I am the energy educator; I hope to make people conscious about how much money they consume in using energy when it is not necessary.”

Individual staff members will be asked to take responsibility for their own workspace and each office will have a point person who will work directly with Diffey.

“We are not trying to make people feel uncomfortable, we’re just asking them to be good stewards,” Diffey said. “When you set guidelines or general principles, there are always exceptions. We are just trying to save nickels and dimes, thousands of times a year. That turns into significant amounts of money, which can be used towards better things, like furthering the mission of Southern.”

Some general energy management guidelines will include:

1. Staff members are responsible for implementing the guidelines during the time that he/she is present in the classroom/office

2. All office machines (copy machines, laminating equipment, etc.) shall be switched off each night and during unoccupied times. Fax machines should remain on.

3. All computers should be turned off each night. This includes the monitor, local printer and speakers. Network equipment is excluded.

4. All capable PC’s should be programmed for the “energy saver” mode using the power management feature. If network constraints restrict this for the PC, ensure the monitor “sleeps” after 10-minutes of inactivity.

5. Temperature settings on thermostats should be about 68 degrees in the winter and 72 in the summer.

Text/title: 2 Corinthians 3:11-4:6 - “You are not your worldview: finding the freedom to let the faith defend itself.”

Moore shared the story of accidently sending a text message to Matt Hall, Dr. Mohler’s executive assistant, instead of his wife. It was an endearing message meant for his wife and it went out to Hall instead.

It doesn’t matter how well-crafted your message is: if it is going to the wrong audience it is saying the wrong thing.

We spend a lot of our time thinking about Christian apologetics and talking about defending the faith. We spend great amounts of time talking about Christian apologetics and different defenses of the faith with other believers. But when we go out and start telling these arguments to non-believers they just look at us and they are bored.

At the core of the reason why we are failing at defending the faith to our non-Christian loved ones and to non-Christian strangers around us is because we don’t understand why people find the Gospel hard to believe and we don’t understand why people don’t believe the Gospel.

Why don’t people understand the Gospel?

The problem, first of all, is with a voice.

In 2 Corinthians 3, Paul recounts the people of Israel not accepting the voice of Moses. The problem is not intellectual and it is not cognitive. The problem is personal. People did not accept the voice of Moses because Moses was speaking about Christ. Moses was the voice of Christ.

Adam is scared of the voice of the God in the Garden of Eden after he sinned. Israel is scared of the voice of God at Mt. Sinai. When Moses read the law, people would find anything they could to hide behind because they did not want to be exposed to the voice.

The problem, second of all, is with the light.

It was painful for people to look at Moses when he came off Mt. Sinai because it is painful to look at glory when you are a sinner. People don’t want to see the light that is on the face of Jesus. Jesus tells us why in John 3. Jesus tells us that the light and glory of God that goes forth with the proclamation of the Word of God is a Who. The Light is Jesus. People have an aversion to the light. Why? It is not primarily intellectual or cognitive. It is because their deeds are evil and the light is a reminder of their condemnation and so they hid from the light.

There is a personal activity involved in this blindness. The god of this age has blinded the mind of unbelievers to that they cannot see the light. Satan is actively working to blind the mind - which is the core of who you are. Satan is in conspiracy with the sinful nature, working to keep people from seeing the light.

But Paul says, “Don’t lose heart,” even when people reject you. Don’t lose heart because our enemy is not people, our enemy is the devil who is blinding those people.

We can’t view unbelievers as people who merely have a different worldview than us. We must rage against the reptile, not against his prey.

How do people come to believe?

People come to believe by giving them the thing they are shrinking back from.

We give them the voice.

We give people the open statement of the truth. We openly speak of the Gospel, we openly speak of the crucifixion of Jesus, we openly speak of condemnation, we openly speak of the days when graves will be ripped open by Christ and we openly appeal to people to repent and believe.

It is not just that we deliver the facts of the Gospel. We openly speak of the truth and we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience.

There are a lot of people right outside these doors who don’t know that the Gospel is directed to them. They think it is for someone else. There are a lot of people with consciences that are awakened to a Romans 2 understanding of judgment and condemnation and when they hear people speak the Gospel who are not willing to directly address the conscience - who say I know what you are suppressing, I know what you are running from, when you identify yourself as one who was a sinner: the worst kind of sinner like Saul before he became Paul - when you don’t do that then you don’t have an impact. But when you do that you come as the voice of Christ.

We give them the light.

The light transforms through the open statement of Christ Jesus as Lord, crucified and risen from the dead.

I am grateful for brilliant Christian apologists. But it is interesting that most brilliant Christian apologists were not converted through the ministry of brilliant Christian apologists.

What ultimately convicts of sin is the open proclamation of the Gospel. When you hear of the life-changing and forgiving power of Jesus and you want to get up and follow after Him that is the light invading your heart.

Paul said we do not just proclaim the message: we proclaim the message as those who are slaves of Jesus Christ. We present ourselves through service as we proclaim the message.

We preach in the church to those who are slaves along with us.

Apologetics are important. Apologetics are important not because people come to believe through the proof for a complex molecular structure of the eye. People are saved when you talk to them about what they are hiding behind. People are saved when you talk them about whatever presuppositions they are hiding behind and whatever supposed evidences they are hiding behind, but they are saved when you ultimately get to the real issue: people’s sin that they don’t want to expose to the light. This is what Jesus did with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4).

The voice of God we are afraid of is the voice that speaks and says, “Let there be light.” What happens when the voice of God says, “Get out of the grave?” People come out of the grave. When the voice of God speaks there is light.

Thus, we should not be intimidated by lost people. There is nothing more significant to say than the Gospel. Ultimately, we heard the Galilean Gospel whether we were sitting in the honky tonk or whether we were sitting in the back row of the Baptist church.

People believe through the voice and the light of the Gospel that comes through the open presentation of it.

If you are apathetic or afraid toward people around you then you do not understand the Gospel that saved you. Paul was saved by a blinding light and the voice of Jesus.

Initially, we are blinded and we are scared. But when the voice of God speaks and sheds His light upon our hearts, we believe.

If you think that your mission is primarily intellectual or cognitive, then it is no wonder people do not hear you. It is no wonder people are bored by us. You are not your worldview. The people you are engaging are not disembodied worldviews. Lost people holding up worldviews are holding up those worldviews so they can avoid the real issue: their sin.

We come not with plausible arguments. We come as the voice of Christ with the light of Christ. We come proclaiming the word of the cross, because it pleases God to save people through the folly of what we preach.

Ruth 2

Ruth and Naomi came back from Moab with nothing. They had no family and no food.

Isn’t it true that God often ordains sorrowful tragedy to set the stage for triumph?

Boaz is introduced. He is from the clan of Elimelech - Naomi’s deceased husband - and Boaz is a worthy man with property. So, Boaz is a worthy man and he is able to provide.

God had set up a way in Israel for the poor to be provided for. The poor could glean in the field after the reapers.

Ruth went to glean and she came to the field of Boaz. The text conveys the idea of Ruth just happening to end up in Boaz’s field. Just happening to be there.

Nothing happens by accident. Everything is by appointment. There is a God who is sovereign over detail of your life, a God who is always plotting for your good and His glory.

It just so happens that a hurricane (Hurricane Katrina) wiped out our house in 2005. It just so happens that I had more time to look on the Internet and explore the possibility of adoption. And it just so happens that we decide to adopt from this obscure country of Kazakhstan. And it just so happens that we adopt a son from Kazakhstan. God is sovereign over every detail of life and He works for the good of His people and for His glory.

Boaz notices Ruth. “Who does this woman belong to?” Boaz asks.

Ruth is a Moabite woman. Ruth belongs to no one. Isn’t that a picture of adoption, spiritual and physical?

No one wanted our son. We went over to Kazakhstan and we went to the orphanage and they told us that no one wanted our son. It was one of those moments when we wanted to stand up and shout, “We want him!”

Boaz approached Ruth and told her to not glean in any other fields. He told her that he had charged his young men to not touch her. Boaz was providing for Ruth.

Platt recounted going to a local foster care office in Birmingham and asking them how many families they would need to care for all the children. They laughed. Platt asked again. They said 150 families. Platt went back to the Church at Brook Hills and preached on orphan care from James 1 (v. 27 in particular). As a result, 160 families signed up to serve as foster care families. As they began to start serving as foster care families, Platt was meeting again with the local foster care officials. One of the women there pulled him aside and asked him what he had told those people that caused them to come and serve through foster care. Platt told her that he did not tell them anything that caused them to come. He said they came because the God who loves people told them to come and reflect His love to people around them. To reflect His love for children to the children around them.

God has ordained His people to be a reflection of His care for His people.

What would happen if we unleashed the resources that God has entrusted to us, as churches and as individuals?

Boaz ate a meal with Ruth. Then Boaz told his men to make sure that she got plenty of food.

Ruth went home and took food to Naomi. Naomi asked, “Blessed are you. Where did you go to glean?” Ruth still doesn’t know who Boaz is. The writer saves the name of Boaz for the last word of the sentence.

Naomi is amazed.

Naomi tells Ruth, “He is one of our redeemers.” Key word in the whole book: redeemer.

In chapter 4, Boaz redeems Ruth. Boaz has the right, resources and resolve to redeem. This is a great parallel with adoption. You must gain the right to adopt, you must have the resources to do so and you must have the resolve to carry it out.

The text says that Boaz carried through on his resolve and he and Ruth were married. Ruth had a son, she who was barren.

The story began with two women in need of food, provision and family. The story ends with Naomi holding Ruth’s son, with Ruth and Naomi provided for.

And this son is named Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of David.

And that is where this story ratchets up to another level. The story of Ruth and Boaz is the story of God keeping His people alive, of God sustaining His people. Of God sustaining His people through a king, and not just king David.

Ruth is in the family line of Jesus. She is there not because she earned it or deserved it.

Brothers and sisters, we are Ruth. We have done nothing to earn or deserve the favor of God. We were wandering with nothing and God has pursued us. God has stooped to save you from harm. God has protected you and provided for you. God alone has the right to redeem us. God alone has the resources to save us. And He, praise God, has the resolve to redeem us. And Jesus has resolved to obey to the point of death. Jesus has taken a cross and taken my sin and your sin and taken it upon Himself to die in our place.

That is the Gospel. That Gospel is how God saves us and that Gospel should be the backdrop in our minds as we carry out physical adoption.

Luke 9:44-51

Moore recounted revealing to his 8-year-old son the reality of slavery that used to be present in the United States. His son was totally incredulous. “How could anyone practice slavery?” “How could anyone fight for slavery?”

It is interesting to note that they are times when people blindly go along in life, oblivious to something like slavery that goes on around them and that they even support. Things like this happen around us all the time.

Some of you in this room have adopted, some are thinking about adoption, some have been adopted, some are here to learn how to promote adoption in your local church and some of you are called to work in the foster care system right where you are.

The question that all of you must consider is, when we are talking about orphan care are we talking about something different than the Gospel? When slavery was a reality, there were people who said, “We are not going to focus on slavery, we are going to focus on the Gospel.”

If you do not speak to those things that Jesus says are the sum and substance of the Gospel: love of God and love of neighbor, then you cannot preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Preaching Christ and Him crucified means you must preach Christ and what it means to follow after Christ. And preaching Christ does not mean that you merely preach about who Christ is and what He did, you must be crucified along with Christ. You must be crucified with Christ as you do your orphan care and as you practice adoption.

What does the Bible say about orphan care and the crucified Gospel?

This is the question that you must answer when it comes to orphan care and adoption.

When Jesus would speak about the fact that He would have to die, His disciples did not want to hear about it. His disciples did not understand and they did not want to understand. In Luke 9, you have an argument arising among Jesus’s disciples about who is the greatest. This looks like a bare, haughty move to us, but it probably did not seem that way to them. Jesus had already given the disciples power to cast out demons and heal people. Jesus’s disciples were likely talking about Kingdom service and discussing who had the most zeal among them to proclaim, “Jesus is King.”

But Jesus, knowing the reasoning of their hearts, called a child to stand by Him. What is critically important to everybody in this room that God is calling to orphan care is to understand why Jesus did this. Jesus put the child by His side and said, “Whoever receives this child, receives me.” Why does Jesus do this?

They have already seen Moses and Elijah by Jesus’s side. Now they see a child. Now Jesus puts a child right were Moses and Elijah were standing and he shows the disciples that any identity, ministry and initiative that they have must be derived by and from Jesus Himself. Jesus says the issue here is not about the power and the greatness of the people involved or about the ministry, it is about Christ.

You must become as the least: that is the one who is great.

In order to carry out the Gospel, you must see what God is doing in Christ and you must have a transformation of the imagination. Whether that is in conversation with your children, or the people in your congregation or out on the mission field, Jesus understands that wherever we are, the human heart is going to go toward self-exaltation. Jesus knows what is going on in our hearts, but He does not leave us there.

Jesus here is speaking to the imagination of His followers and He is showing them here with the presence of this child that the issue is, in order to follow after a crucified Jesus and to announce a Kingdom of a crucified Jesus, there must be crucified followers.

If we are going to have Gospel-centered orphan care, we must stop having the perspective that we are rescuing orphans from impoverished situations to bring them into a white, middle class American home. If we have that perspective, we are not bringing Gospel-centered help and care to orphans.

We are not the solution to the orphan crisis. The cross is the solution to the orphan crisis and the cross is the solution to our crisis.

Malaria kills and we must fight malaria. Aids kills and we must fight Aids. But prosperity kills and we must recognize that too. Moving children from suffering to prosperity is not enough and we must recognize that.

We must turn ourselves and our attention toward the cross, reminding ourselves that we are the people who are following after the man who is classified as a terrorist, staked to a stake and left to drown in His own blood. We must have the perspective not of being the rescuers of the world, but of being the rescued who love and receive those who have been given to us.

We must become orphans before we become orphan ministers.

You and I have to be driven to adoption and orphan care because we believe the Gospel. We are the people who were abandoned and given up on, but who were found and who were found through the cross and the empty tomb.

That means a humbling of ourselves as we see ourselves as bought by blood.

Jesus says you must see yourselves in the cross before you proclaim to others the cross. It is a crucified Gospel.

Why does Jesus choose the child? Because everyone would have seen this child as a waste of time. The disciples were probably thinking, “Why would you waste your time on this child, when you have a Roman empire to take over, when you have synagogue rulers waiting to talk to you?”

Ministering to a baby who will die in the next 30 days, who will never be around to give a testimony, is it worth it to receive that child? Absolutely. That is not a waste of time. Jesus says, “Let the little children come unto me.” What is ultimately and really important is Jesus and in the faces of the least of these Jesus says “I am there.”

It is a Gospel issue to receive the least of these.

It would seem as though love of neighbor is an issue that is entirely separate from the Gospel. Believe and love God? That directly relates to the Gospel. But love of neighbor? Surely that is a separate issue, right?

Often we interact with people in a way that is driven by self-justification. We seek to justify ourselves in our interaction with others instead of loving them. The Gospel blows self-justification away. Love of neighbor relates directly to the Gospel.

Jesus announces, “All things are made new: come and follow me.” That is the message we proclaim.

The mission of God is not dependent on us.

We have to see and welcome those who the culture says are marginal.

The mission of God is coming, crucifying this imagination and removing this kind of haughtiness that says, “We will carry on the mission.” God will remove this haughtiness by using Nigerian Pentecostals who don’t have a dime to their name to save people and God will say, “That is just the way I like it.”

The reason why it is so difficult for us to see why orphan care is so important, the reason why I didn’t want to adopt, is because I wanted first to have children of my own. I wanted my own genetic material. I wanted my own biological pattern. I was haughty, self-exalting and absolutely unaware that God doesn’t owe me fulfilling my life plan for the rest of my life. Instead, His plan for my life is to conform me to the image of Christ.

Not all of you in this room are called to adopt. Not all of you in this room are called to start an orphan care ministry in your church.

But all of us in this room are called to recognize the face of Jesus in the least of these. And all of us in this room are crucified people ministering to a crucified cosmos in the name of a crucified Messiah who nonetheless lives by the power of God.

Medefind said he is aware of people all across the nation who are awakening to a desire to adopt. Henry Blackaby says when you see God doing something, join Him there. That is what we are doing here.

Medefind read verses from six different Psalms to begin: Psalm 118, Psalm 22, Psalm 34, Psalm 102, Psalm 24, Psalm 88.

Medefind challenged people to respond to the choice at the crossroads of light and darkness because God beckons people through orphans at this crossroads.

Medefind recounted a difficult situation in an orphanage of a two-year-old girl who spent more than 23 hours a day lying on her back in a crib. Medefind held this girl and the smell of human urine and feces almost overpowered him. As he walked out of the orphanage, Medefind was almost in tears at the profound fallenness of the situation.

This is our world.

And yet, this is not the whole story.

Light in darkness

The language of darkness and light is the language of the Bible from the very beginning. Darkness hovered over the waters and God said, “Let there be light.” The same imagery is used to describe the incarnation. John called Jesus the Light of the world.

Isaiah says, if you spend yourselves on the needs of the hungry then your light will rise in the darkness. Our role is to be light in the midst of this darkness, reflecting the glory of God. And light shines the brightest in the midst of darkness.

Rwanda

I spent time in a genocide museum in Rwanda and I left stunned. There were tens of thousands of people in prison. A few years later, the governor of Rwanda - under a lot of outside pressure - released the prisoners. Adopting someone coming out of this situation is being light in the midst of intense darkness.

Personal adoption story

A year and a half ago my wife and I began an adoption process from Ethiopia. We were waiting and waiting. Finally, we got a picture in the mail from our adoption agency of the girl who would be ours. We began to make plans to go get her. Then, one afternoon I got a phone call. Our adoption agency was calling and they told me to go home and call them back from home because they had some difficult news. I drove home and we called and they told us that our little girl had died from pneumonia. She was only six months old and her body was not very strong. We shed many tears in the months that followed.

We knew that we were tasting a small piece of what goes on in Africa every day: parents losing children.

On the day of that little girl’s death, there was no one there with her who would claim her and say, “She is ours.” But on that same day, there was a mother and father and siblings and our whole church family who would say, “She is ours.”

Portraits: light in darkness

Medefind showed a series of portraits that depicted darkness, twisted darkness, and a series that showed light. Medefind said portraits that are all light do not depict the life that Christians are supposed to live. Christians are to be light in the midst of darkness. Medefind showed portraits by Rembrandt and Caravaggio, portraits that depict light in the midst of darkness (including a portrait of Abraham and Isaac by Rembrandt). These portraits are what should characterize Christians.

Someone once said to me that people are afraid to get close to suffering because they fear that it is contagious. The purpose is not to seek discomfort, but it is to seek the place of great darkness where light can shine the brightest.

Even the Son of Man did not come to serve but to be served and to give His life as a ransom for many.

What does this mean for Christians?

There are three important implications for Christians:

1. We need to count the cost.

A few months ago, I learned of a story of family who had adopted a Russian orphan who was a special needs child. The mother told me that this has been the hardest year of her life. We need to realize that.

We need to know up front that it will difficult. We need to count the cost. If we imagine that we are exempted from suffering because we are responding to a call of God, then we are going to be disappointed. We cannot obligate God. God has loved us and we are to respond to that. We can know that all be well in the end, but between now and then anything could happen.

Hebrews 11, the hall of faith, is one of the most inspiring and at the same one of the most terrifying chapters in all of Scriptures. That chapter carries verses that speak of people putting foreign armies to flight and people being fed to lions and being sawn in two.

We need to know that if adoption is something we are thinking about, we need to be frank up front and count the cost.

2. We must speak openly and boldly about the struggles.

I am passionate for the cause of orphans and I am passionate about adoption. Adoption is a beautiful thing, but we need not be merely cheerleaders for adoption and orphan care. We can’t be like Toyota. Toyota was not upfront about the problem with their vehicles. They tried to downplay it at first. They tried to keep it out of the limelight. We can’t that be that way. We have to be honest.

If we are honest, we can bear one another’s burdens. We can say, “Hey, I am having problem in this area.” We can ask each other for help. We need not run away from the whole host of issues we will face. We can talk about those. There is no need to push issues to the side. We must speak honestly about the issues.

If we are afraid to acknowledge issues and speak frankly about them, then we are not going to be the free, open and loving people that we need to be.

The analogy of this is marriage and preparing people for marriage. We want to be upbeat, we want to be positive and we want to share with people that there are challenges in marriage. People spoke honestly with me about challenges in marriage up front and because of that I went in prepared and it has been amazing.

This is a healthy way to approach marriage and it is a healthy way to approach adoption and other forms of orphan ministry as well. The church needs to be the community that wraps around adoptive families and walks with them through this journey.

3. We need to know why we are getting involved.

When we realize the magnitude of what we are up against, our work in orphan care and adoption cannot be merely a response to what we see. Don’t get me wrong: we should weep at the brokenness of the world.

But here is the thing: the world’s pain will always overwhelm your enthusiasm. Going up against the world’s great sufferings equipped only with a sense of obligation or righteous anger or guilt is like trying to cross the Sahara Desert with only a canteen: you will run dry.

Guilt and duty are powerful forces. Enthusiasm as well. We should feel holy pleasure in using our energy and gifts to serve the Lord. But these things are not enough. They will not sustain us.

But there is one wellspring that never runs dry. We love because He first loved us. Those are springs that never fail. We serve a God who pursued us when we were wayward and alone and He draws us to Himself and He invites us to call Him, “Abba,” to live as His sons and daughters. And it is this God who calls us to do the same throughout the world. And to be as He is, as a match in a cave.

When we choose to enter such places it will not leave us the same. When we come as Christ’s light into the blackest places it is a powerful, transformative thing. It transforms the places we go and it transforms us as Christians as we encounter Christ in the flesh in a way that we never have before.

And it doesn’t just transform orphans and it doesn’t just transform us and the churches we are a part of. It has a transformative effect in the world as well because we are making the Gospel visible.

I believe God is once again waking us to be a people who respond to the call of the fatherless.

Text/title: Luke 9:57-62

Platt said he was humbled and overwhelmed to open the Word of God and preach. He said he was humbled and overwhelmed to lead Christ’s church.

6.8 billion people in the world. The most liberal estimates say that 1/3 of those are Christians. Even with those estimates that would leave 4.5 billion people in the world without Christ and on their way to an eternal hell.

Along with this great spiritual need comes physical need. 26,000 children will die today of either starvation or a preventable disease.

If these things are true, then we do not have time to play games with our lives or His church. We do not have time to waste our lives and ministries on the American Dream. We have a master that demands radical sacrifice and a mission that demands radical urgency.

Luke 9:57-62

Isn’t this text odd? Doesn’t it seem like Jesus is trying to prevent these people from following Him. Isn’t this odd? We will do everything we can to get people to follow Jesus. But whenever large crowds were following Jesus, He would turn around and say things like, “Whoever would follow after me must hate his father and mother.” He would turn around and say things like, “Pick up your cross and follow me.” Pick up your instrument of torture and follow me.

Jesus has said these things to us. He has told us to give up everything we have. He has told us to love Him in a way that makes our closest relationships in the world look like hate compared to our love for Him.

But we begin to twist this picture and redefine Christianity according to our thoughts and our ideas. We twist Jesus into a Jesus who wants us to avoid danger altogether. The problem is when we do this we are twisting Jesus into a white, middle class American man, and when we worship this Jesus, we are not worshipping Jesus, we are worshipping ourselves.

1. Are we going to choose comfort or the cross? (Luke 9:57-58)

In Luke 9:51, the book of Luke shifts. There Jesus sets His face to go to Jerusalem.

You do not follow Jesus to advance yourself. Jesus is the end, in and of Himself. When you follow Jesus, He is all you have. You may not even have the basic need of shelter. You find your sufficiency in Christ.

And I look at my life and I see how tempted I am at every turn to use Jesus Christ to advance myself and to attain more comforts in this world.

My wife and I were living in New Orleans and our house went under water and we lost everything that we had. It was a sanctifying time for me and my wife. What we discovered was an incredibly satisfying place. We were stripped of the comforts of this world in order to find our sufficiency in Christ.

But it didn’t take long. I was invited to preach in a large church in Birmingham and a year later we had more than we ever had. From the world’s perspective, we were living a dream. But inside I had sinking feeling that I was losing what it meant to trust in the sufficiency of Christ.

I went to Cuba recently. When you go to Cuba, you don’t see the church as buildings. You can’t find the church in buildings. You find the church in people. I went to Cuba and I met a pastor who had planted 60 churches. 60 churches. I asked him how he did it. He looked and me and he said, “We just make disciples of Jesus.”

Jesus is enough for him. He is enough for our brothers and sisters in underground locations. Imagine going to a location at night dressed in dark clothes. You go to gather at the risk of your life. You enter a little room with 60 believers crammed in. There is one little light bulb hanging in the room and they say to you, “Will you preach for at least two hours?”

These people have gotten the idea that all you need is the Spirit of God and the Word of God with the people of God to carry out the mission of God and they are right.

We are coming up on the time when we set the budget for the next year. I hate budget time. We evaluated our budget and I said, “We have got to cut stuff.” We cut our worship budget by 83%.

2. Are we going to settle for maintenance or are we going to sacrifice for mission? (Luke 9:59-60)

There is a man who wants to go back and bury his father. Jesus says to him, “Leave the dead to bury the dead.”

I got a call one day telling me that my dad had died. I cannot imagine not going back to do his funeral. What is Jesus saying? Jesus is saying that when we follow after Him, there is no higher priority in our lives. There is no higher obligation and responsibility on our lives than to advance the name of Jesus.

There is an urgency that resounds here that beckons us to leave behind the maintenance, business-as-usual mentality in the church to move ahead in advancing the kingdom of God to the ends of the earth.

We cannot settle for maintenance in the church. We cannot settle for a Christianity that designs endless programs that revolve around us. We cannot see missions as a program. We were created to take the Gospel of Christ to the ends of the earth. This consumes us, this saturates us, this motivates us, whatever position we have, we are doing it to proclaim the Kingdom of God to the ends of the earth. Every single follower of Christ. I want the people that God has entrusted me to lead to see that there is a grand purpose of God for their lives. They were created to impact the nations for the glory of God.

Does this mean we are all supposed to go overseas? Many, but not all. Every job we have is intended for one thing: to proclaim the Gospel to the end of the earth.

3. Are our lives and ministries going to be marked by indecisive minds or undivided hearts? (Luke 9:61-62)

The last guy Jesus talks to wants to go back and talk to his family before he goes. This is the same thing we would want to do. Jesus said if you follow after me, there is no looking back. Our hearts are the issue. Where we find our delight, joy and satisfaction is the issue.

Isn’t this why those believers in those house churches are in those churches for hours at a time? Isn’t this why our brothers and sisters in the Sudan are dancing in war-torn villages in the midst of persecution?

Does Jesus have our affections? Do we believe that He is supremely satisfying? Will we let go of everything that we have and go and follow Jesus?

Brothers and sisters, we have Someone worth losing everything for. Are we willing to forsake the pleasures, pursuits and stuff of this world to forsake everything to follow Him?

Let’s lead people to see another way to live. The cost of discipleship is great, but the cost of non-discipleship is far, far, far greater. The cost of non-discipleship is great for the lost and the poor around us and it is great for us who would never know the supreme satisfaction that is found in following Christ.

James Petigru Boyce: A Southern Baptist Statesman by Thomas J. Nettles

P&R Publishing announced in February that Thomas J. Nettles, author of “James Petigru Boyce: A Southern Baptist Statesman” and professor of Historical Theology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, has been selected as one of three finalists for the 2010 John Pollock Award for Christian Biography.

The John Pollock Award for Christian Biography is awarded each year by Beeson Divinity School at Samford University, and carries a cash prize of $5,000 to the author. The winner will be announced in May and an award presentation will be scheduled for sometime in the fall. Typically, the presentation includes a public lecture by the selected author at the Samford University campus in Birmingham, Ala.

“James Petigru Boyce,” published June 2009, chronicles Boyce’s founding of Southern Seminary. The biography focuses on Boyce’s theological development, his lifelong struggle in establishing the seminary and the theological controversies that shaped Baptists in the last half of the nineteenth century.

R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Seminary, called the biography, “A masterpiece, combining keen insights with a definitive historical account.”

Other finalists for the 2010 award are Herman Selderhuis for Calvin: A Pilgrim’s Life (IVP) and John Wigger for American Saint: Francis Asbury and the Methodists (Oxford). Upon learning of the nomination, Nettles responded, “What an honor even to be included in this list.” 

The Pollock Award was established in 2001 and is named for the British author of more than 30 books on religion, the majority of them being biographies of Christian leaders. Recent recipients include Barry Hankins (2009) for Francis Schaeffer and the Shaping of Evangelical America (Eerdmans) and Jonathan Aitken (2008) for John Newton: From Disgrace to Amazing Grace (Crossway).

Text/title: 1 Corinthians 10:1-13 — “Take Heed Lest You Fall.”

Burk recounted his wife calling him on Valentine’s Day weekend, crying after having fallen down the stairs after tripping on a ball.

Burk’s wife was crying primarily because she is 24 weeks pregnant. She was concerned for her little baby boy.

Burk rushed his wife to the hospital and - thanks be to God - the baby was okay and so was his wife.

As Burk and his wife reflected on the event, she said that she would never go down those stairs the same way again. She said she would hold on to the railing every time.

In essence, she was taking heed lest she fall.

Do you take heed lest you fall?

How many of you surf the Internet trembling that your sin might take you further down and deeper in than you might ever imagine. And that is just the Internet. Scripture says that wide is the gate that leads to destruction and narrow the path that leads to life. Are you taking heed to every step that you take?

To take heed lest we fall, we should pay attention to Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 10.

In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul gives a stream of Old Testament examples designed to teach people to take heed lest they fall.

Beware your privileges (1 Cor 10:1-5)

We have more in common with that Exodus generation than we think. In vs. 1-5 Paul says that Exodus generation had two of the same privileges that we have and yet they fell under judgment. Paul speaks of the Exodus generation being under the cloud, a reference to God leading Israel through a pillar of cloud and fire. This means that God’s presence was with Israel. We also have God’s presence with Israel in the Holy Spirit.

Israel also passed through the Red Sea, experiencing a baptism under the leadership of Moses. We also have received a baptism, a baptism in Christ.

Paul says Israel ate spiritual food and drank spiritual drink. This is a reference to manna. For Paul, Paul is speaking of an old rabbinic tradition, speaking of water that Israel carried around with them. This water is a type of Christ.

We have spiritual food and spiritual drink as well. Jesus is the bread of heaven, Scripture says. We have the Lord’s Supper.

Despite these privileges that Israel had, with most of them God was not well-pleased because they rebelled against God and turned away from Him. Paul is not saying that Christians can lose their salvation. But Paul is saying that some people experience external spiritual privileges, but will still one day undergo judgment. This is a warning to us.

Beware of your desires (1 Cor 10:6-11)

Paul says these things - these Old Testament accounts - were written as examples to us so that we would not crave the evil things that they craved.

Side note: The Old Testament is a Christian document written to teach us how to be faithful to Christ.

If God has your heart, then He has you. If God does not have your heart, then He does not have you. Jesus taught that out of the heart come evil thoughts and actions.

The exhortation is clear here: beware of your heart, beware of your desires.

Paul lays out four temptations in vs. 7-10.

• Idolatry - The Israelites were having problems with eating, drinking and idolatry. The believers in Corinth were having problems with eating, drinking and idolatry.
• Immorality - The Lord did not tolerate Israel’s immorality in the Old Testament. Neither will He tolerate our immorality.
• Testing the Lord.
• Grumbling against the Lord.

In every one of these instances, the people’s hearts went astray. When people fall into judgment, their heart is always the first thing to go. Paul is saying to us, “You have to beware your desires.” You must turn your heart from evil and set your affections on Jesus.

Beware of your strength (1 Cor 10:12-13)

Paul says, “Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” The moment that you think you stand is the moment in which you are most vulnerable. You are not as strong as you think are. But God is strong. God is faithful. He will not let you be tempted beyond what you are able to endure. Nothing will surprise God and there is no temptation that God cannot enable you to stand against.

The same God who provided you salvation in Jesus, who provided you forgiveness in Christ, will provide you a way of escape from every temptation, if only you will take it.

A few days ago, Burk went down to those same stairs that his wife had fallen on. It was late at night and when Burk turned on the light switch to the stairs there was a flash and the light bulb went out. Burk thought, “Well, I know these stairs. I’m not pregnant. I’ll be fine.” And Burk fell and fell hard. He landed flat on his back and his head snapped back and hit the stairs. He thought he was strong, but he was not and he fell.

Self-reliance is deadly for Christians. God is saying don’t be arrogant people. We stand on Jesus as a humble, empty-handed people before God. If God did not sustain us in our salvation, we would fall.

We must count everything as loss compared to knowing Christ. We must fix our eyes on Christ and learn to crave Christ by craving His Word.

Take heed lest you fall.

Chandler also answered two questions in video shorts: (1) What is the mission of the church? (2) What advice do you have for a young man interested in church planting?

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From the moment of Matt Chandler’s conversion at age 17 he didn’t have much doubt that he would do vocational ministry. The only question became: would it be in the local church?

Chandler serves as lead pastor of The Village Church, formerly Highland Village First Baptist Church, which has campuses in Highland Village, Denton and Dallas, Texas. Chandler has filled that post for seven years, beginning in December 2002, but prior to that time local church ministry was not a certainty for him.

“I thought ministry worked better outside the church:” Chandler’s journey to The Village

Chandler said he attended church growing up, but it was not until three days before his 18^th birthday that he professed faith in Christ and began to follow Him. Upon his conversion, Chandler said godly men around him began to pour into him, recognizing in him a giftedness for spiritual leadership.

As he finished high school, Chandler did whatever was asked of him in his church - First Baptist of Texas City, Texas - from teaching fourth grade Sunday School to helping with recreation at Vacation Bible School.

“If somebody wanted me to talk or teach I did that,” he said. “If somebody wanted me to set up stuff, I would come and set up stuff. For me, my sanctification was pouring myself into the life of the church there in Texas City.”

Chandler attended Hardin-Simmons University, a small Baptist school in Abilene, Texas. While there he taught a college Sunday School class and led an “ecumenical Bible study that grew very large.”

Chandler graduated with a bachelor of arts in biblical studies from Hardin-Simmons in 1999. Though he started seminary twice, on both occasions he chose not to finish.

“I am not anti-seminary, but for me it felt like I was laying a foundation in a house I was already living in,” he said. “I had the Greek; I had the Hebrew; I had the tools I needed (from my undergraduate studies).”

During and immediately after his time at Hardin-Simmons, Chandler said he grew significantly disenchanted with the church.

“My experience in church was the Gospel had become extremely assumed and not explicit at all,” he said. “I was sharing the Gospel with friends and bringing them to church and they were hearing ‘don’t do this or do that.’ They were hearing all sorts of things that maybe even are morally correct, but they weren’t hearing the Gospel.”

Through such experiences Chandler concluded that “ministry worked better outside the church.” But then the Lord brought David McQueen into his life.

“I had grown bitter and hard … and then David McQueen at Beltway Park Baptist Church (in Abilene, Texas) came and got me and said, ‘Hey come on, come here and help,’” Chandler said. “He brought me on staff and I sat in the elder room and the executive staff room. I went on all the retreats. He helped show me that you can do church differently.”

While at Beltway from 1996-1999, Chandler continued to teach the ecumenical Bible study, and in 1999 he decided to move to Dallas and start a non-profit itinerant speaking ministry.

Then came the call from Highland Village First Baptist Church (HVFBC): they wanted Chandler as their senior pastor. Initially, he did not share their desire.

“I had some real doubts about HVFBC’s philosophy and theology and whether it was compatible with my own,” Chandler said. “That, and I had a thing for the city and didn’t really want to live out my life in the suburbs.”

Because of his lack of interest, Chandler chose to be significantly forthright during the interview process about his theological beliefs and philosophy of ministry, believing that this would scare off the church.

But Highland Village continued to pursue him. Eventually, Chandler accepted the position.

“It came down to not being able to lose the job,” Chandler said. “I was honest and thought I killed the opportunity a couple of times, but we just kept talking. I thought there was some providence involved in that.”

In 2003, Highland Village First Baptist Church became The Village. Today, the church has three campuses and has planted two churches: Providence Church in Little Elm, Texas, in April 2005 and City View Church in Keller, Texas, on Easter Sunday 2006.

Interviewing for a potential ministry position

Chandler said that though his forthrightness in the initial interviewing process with Highland Village has resulted in “unbelievable dividends,” he does not necessarily recommend this approach to young, would-be, first-time pastors. He said that if the position in question was in a small church that has had the same people in it for decades, he would recommend stepping in, preaching the Bible faithfully, getting experience in leadership and answering questions about particular theological convictions as people have them.

“If they are asking questions, then you be honest,” he said. “I don’t know if you need to provide a list of where you land on everything from eschatology to ecclesiology. But if they say, ‘What do you believe about predestination?,’ then you answer the question biblically. If they say, ‘What do you believe about the role of women?,’ then you answer that question biblically.”

For a position with more long-term potential, Chandler said he knows of men who have stepped in and slowly and patiently taught and that has worked well. Chandler said a key thing to keep in mind is the power and connotations that certain labels carry.

“I don’t care if anyone at The Village can give you the five points of Calvinism,” he said. “If you pulled some people out of The Village and said ‘Are you a Calvinist?’ they might even say, ‘No, absolutely not.’ But if you said, ‘Do you believe man is born intrinsically sinful?’ they would say, ‘Oh, absolutely, we are born in iniquity,’ and they would unpack it (the doctrine of original sin).

“If you asked, ‘Is everybody going to get saved?’ they would say, ‘No. They’re not.’ If you asked, ‘Can you say no to God?’ They would say, ‘Well, God doesn’t force you, but it is just beautiful if He reveals Himself to you.’ So, I don’t want to go to war over labels. What I want is biblical theology in the hearts of our people.”

So what things did Chandler openly share when he interviewed at Highland Village?

“I was honest particularly about my complementation view of the role of women,” he said. “I was very honest about being a continualist and not a cessasionist. I was very honest about being reformed in my soteriology. And then I was very honest in my ‘Christian hedonism’ foundation, my John Piper foundation, in regard to theology.

“Philosophically, they were a Willow (Creek) model. They would even say things like ‘Worship is the enemy of evangelism.’ So, they had been taught that the more affection we show toward the Lord in worship, the more that deterred people wanting to know the Lord. So, I pointed out my frustration with their system of government and their worship style. Now, I didn’t (share my thoughts) angrily or aggressively. I tried to teach as I did it.”

Missiology and ecclesiology

Chandler said the mission of the church is clear: the reconciliation of all things to God through Christ.

“You can share this message in one of two ways: You can do ‘God, man, Christ, response’ or you can do ‘creation, Fall, reconciliation, consummation,’” he said. “The mission of the church is to live out the Kingdom of God: that we are saved by grace through faith and not by anything that we have done and that
we declare to people that their sins have been forgiven in Christ if they will repent and put their trust in Him. So this is the mission of the church.

“We live out the mission of the church in whatever domain God puts us in as well as being the community of faith, the covenant community of faith, in the local church context. So, if we are in business, we are missionaries in business; if we are in economics, we are a missionary in the domain of economics, agriculture, education, all of these domains that God has given us.”

Regarding ecclesiology, Chandler said he sees three viable models for local church government.

“One, is congregationalism. Two, is elder-government. Three, is what you see commonly and that is a strong staff that pretty much runs the church,” he said. “What I have found is where you have all three pieces you tend to have a really healthy church: where you have an elder body, an elder-governing body, like we see in the Scriptures, that sets philosophy, theology and direction; where you have a staff team that handles the outworkings of that philosophy and theology, and where you continue to come to the body and inform, get pushback and create feedback loops. When you have those three heads, you tend to have a very healthy place.”

Chandler described The Village as mostly elder-ruled with some elements of congregational rule. The church’s constitution and bylaws, which were rewritten in April 2004, calls for a congregational vote on buildings, the hiring of the senior pastor and whether or not to go into debt. Chandler said there is some flexibility, however, to extend congregational-rule beyond what the constitution stipulates.

“We just added a bunch of elders,” he said. “Our constitution does not dictate that we vote on those elders, but I rolled the vote out. Some of those people in our congregation are (likely) going to be brought under church discipline in the next couple years. They need to have had a say in who their elders are.”

How about the multi-site approach to church? Chandler said there is “not enough biblical ammunition to kill the multi-site approach or sing its praises too loudly.”

“It (the Bible) doesn’t teach anything on multi-site,” he said. “I think there are some implications in the Scriptures that we need to look at, but the truth is technology always creates - from the printing press forward - these types of arguments, where people want to draw lines.

“I think it (multi-site) is something that you need to be very careful with. It is something that you need to move very slowly on. And it is something that you need to put up a lot of yield signs on. But nobody can take the Scriptures and say you can’t do multi-site. Where they do, they break their own hermeneutical rules and if you replace multi-site with something else, then they would change their opinion of how they are using the Scriptures.

“So, what I say is it needs to be slow, careful, purposeful and you need to make sure that in the end you are not building something that is around a personality.”

Doing what he was created to do

Chandler said everything about pastoral ministry is rewarding despite the difficulties it includes.

“The lost being saved (is rewarding). The nominal coming to a saving faith. The de-churched falling in love with Jesus,” he said. “Watching sanctification occur in the life of people. That moment where a guy has been in church for 15 years, but all of the sudden the light comes on. I mean that is unbelievable.

“That the Lord would let me do this. That He would trust me with this. That He would sustain me in this. It is all rewarding to me, even the hard days. Some days the hard days are more rewarding. But I love it. He wired me for this.

“I am going to keep my face like flint toward the Lord and do what He has called me to do, planting churches and preaching the Gospel to the lost and the saved.”

“I think God is always good, He is always sovereign. He is loving and compassionate but because of the sin of our world we have consequences,” Barthelemy said. “He is in control, and He shows that.”

Just 25 miles from Haiti’s capital city Port-au-Prince, the Jan. 12 earthquake struck Jacmel with equal force, and yet two weeks after the quake the city continued to wait for any kind of aid. The Miami Herald newspaper reported that piles of dirt and fallen boulders have blocked the narrow, winding road that leads from Port-au-Prince to Jacmel. Being cut off from fresh water, food and medical supplies has raised the town’s death toll, which Barthelemy said had already reached 3,000.

Barthelemy said that in the aftermath of the quake 1,785 homes were completely destroyed and 4,410 were partially destroyed in his hometown, displacing nearly 6,000 families. Many of Jacmel’s 35,000 residents are living in tents or some kind of makeshift structure. The majority of Barthelemy and his wife Cerette’s family members are fortunate to have tents, but many Haitians find themselves homeless. Barthelemy continues to praise God that his immediate family wasn’t physically harmed in the quake, but asks for prayers that their need for food, water and shelter be met during this time of recovery.

“God has put them there for a reason. God is powerful, and He alone is sovereign,” Barthelemy said. “I trust that they will be okay.”

Barthelemy’s hometown overlooks the blue waters of the Caribbean and its streets used to boast buildings reflecting historic French architecture. Today, the ocean is about the only thing that remains. In Jacmel, 24 hotels and 87 businesses no longer have a structure. Barthelemy is pleased that the city’s 200-year-old Baptist church remains standing and he hopes the church rises to the occasion and goes on mission to meet the people’s physical needs and share the Gospel with them.

“In 35 seconds we lost people for an eternity; that should make us want to be on mission,” Barthelemy said. “I want to challenge them (the Baptist church) to be on mission and tell people about the Gospel.”

Barthelemy has long had a heart for missions. Prior to enrolling in Boyce College he served through the Evangelical Baptist Union of Haiti (UEBH) in a number of Haitian cities. While on mission, Barthelemy has helped plant churches, equip schools and spread the Gospel. His three children: Abel Jobert, 13, Abelson, 10, and Laurett, 4, were born while he and Cerette were on the mission field.

Barthelemy has three semesters remaining at Boyce, and upon graduation he feels God is already calling him back to his native land to continue his mission work.

“This is a wonderful school; all the professors have a great, deep conscience for the ministry and the Gospel. There is no better place to be,” he said. “There is no good school to train ministers in Haiti, but my heart wants to go back.

“Thank you to all professors and staff at Boyce and SBTS who are praying for me and have given me strength through prayer. Thank you to the Southern Baptist Convention for the relief effort. I also thank all Americans who are giving with a compassionate heart.”

As Southern settles into 2010, remodel work has been completed in Cooke Hall, which serves as the home to the School of Church Ministries, and additional upgrades to classrooms across campus are being launched. The Honeycutt Center’s Health and Recreation Center has been under renovation since January 2010 and upon completion, will be more accessible to students and offer more opportunities for families to use the center together.

“We are completely modernizing the Health and Recreation Center,” Dan Dumas, Southern’s senior vice president of institutional administration, said. “With this project we’ve taken into consideration young children and mothers. There will be places for mothers to gather and talk while their children play. There will be a total upgrade to everything from the facility entrance, to the locker rooms, to the types of games, etc. We’ve also decided to open the Recreation Center at 6 a.m., allowing more time for students and employees to workout in the mornings and still have plenty of time to get ready for class or work.

“The Recreation Center’s pool renovation is in response to a new national law that requires all pool drains to have reverse-flow protectors. Since we were making the safety upgrade already, we decided to go ahead and repair some ceiling leaks and bring the entire space up to date and to make it more appealing.”

Dumas has been working with Southern’s President, R. Albert Mohler Jr., and the Executive Cabinet to plan, fund and initiate these improvement projects and is excited to see what is still in store for Southern’s campus and students.

“We really want to mister to and care for our students. We want to put our capital funds towards the students and their student life experiences,” Dumas said. “We are building all the time; we are rolling out large quantities of capital and energy towards projects that are for the students and will only better their experience at Southern as they prepare for Gospel ministry.”

Dumas is looking forward to this spring, when construction begins on two state-of-the-art conversation pits, which will be located outside of the Mullins Hall and Fuller Hall complexes.

“These conversation pits will include fire pits, gas grills, Wi-Fi accessibility and comfortable seating for a crowd,” Dumas said. “These are areas that will serve as conversation and discipleship places, and places to take advantage of the climate that we enjoy here in Louisville.”

The Executive Cabinet is hoping projects like the conversation pits will further the community spirit that is already prevalent at Southern.

Campus safety and security are also paramount issues to Southern’s administration. This year, a 360° security camera and emergency phone post, which will be connected with the Campus Safety and Security office, will be installed between the seminary lawn and Boyce College. Dumas said that within the next 12 to 18 months similar posts will be deployed across campus.

Another major improvement to campus security comes with door-entry security upgrades. Within the year, all Mullins Hall outside-entry doors will require a hand scan for admission. Once the technology is installed in Mullins Hall, similar systems will be installed in other residence halls.

Dumas and the Executive Cabinet are engaging a master plan to roll-out additional campus-wide security measures and facility upgrades, but as with all growth, expansion is limited by time and funding. The electrical work that comes with security upgrades and remodeling buildings the size of Southern’s are not projects done overnight nor are they done inexpensively.

“The big issue is that we want to make sure that we are deploying capital towards strategic, well thought out student life and security projects,” Dumas said.

Dumas and the Executive Cabinet are developing plans for the projects listed below, which are scheduled to be implemented in the next 12 to 18 months:

• Upgrading student lounges in residence halls and campus-wide buildings.
• Relocating residence hall laundry facilities from the basement to a main floor and digitalizing machines for efficiency.
• Renovating residence hall kitchenettes.
• Installing additional lighting in campus-wide parking lots.
• Instigating a five-year master plan for renovating on-campus apartments. Renovations will start with the Springdale Apartments and will include kitchen and bathroom upgrades and installation of new carpet and windows.
• Monthly student financials will be emailed directly to students from the accounting office.
• Continuing the advancement of climate control in Southern and Boyce College classrooms.
• Renovating Crismon Hall to include larger classroom space.
• Reviewing dining hours to ensure they cover class schedules.

You write a lot about the idea of a pastor being a shepherd of the flock instead of  being one who is a mere ‘dispenser of sermons.’ Do you see a resurgence of this approach to soul care among the pastors and future pastors you teach?

Ray Van Neste: No, I don’t yet. I see students here who, when they are exposed to this idea, rally to it. But for many of them, it’s new; they’ve never really heard this idea before. It’s what we do in our pastoral care class and they typically come up to me say, ‘Man, this is great.’ I had one young man e-mail me and tell me he was praying for my paper at this conference on this. He said, ‘These are the truths I heard as a 19-year-old and I am now basing my life and ministry on them.” But I don’t hear it a lot. More of what I hear from guys coming out of seminary is their preaching, which of course is important and we have to make that clear. But I hear that and I don’t hear the other. I hear an attitude sometimes that communicates, ‘[Preaching] is important, so I can’t bother with people.’ Now, they don’t say it that harshly, but their attitude toward it does.  That is partly what has given me the desire to make it a more important issue because I think it is missing.

During the Puritan era in England and America and even beyond, it certainly was a major pastoral emphasis. Where did we lose the shepherding pastor and replace him with the professional minister?

RVN: I don’t know enough to speak real authoritatively, but there are a few things that seem obvious. Greg Wills talks about when you come to the early 20^th century, there was a move from purity to pragmatism or “efficiency” is the word he uses, I think. This kind of ministry is not efficient. So we’ve moved in that sense. When you move to a more program-driven, efficiency model, then this is going to begin to slide. You find evidence of it in the 1950s, but as the business and efficiency model continued to grow, this fell out. It can’t fit along with all the other things that are crowding in, particularly the CEO mentality. Then you also have that idea that [the pastor] is too important to do this. And of course, this is hard, so we look for other ways out. It’s easier to preach against adultery than it is to sit down with a man who has walked out on his family and rebuke him and call him to repentance. It is easier to preach on obedience to the parents in your church than it is to sit down with a rebellious child in your church or simply to call him out at church while everybody else is watching him do what he is doing, but nobody else is willing to stop him and speak to him. I think it fits with our whole scattering from one another and just being by ourselves. It fits with our move from church being a community towards just being a place where you show up and get your card punched. All that impersonal drive of culture has affected this too.

Who and what writings/books have been your main influences?

RVN:  As I came through seminary and doctoral work, I had some older pastors to ask me, ‘Do you think people are caring for the flock?’ They understood that I cared about preaching and sound doctrine, but didn’t think I cared about the other thing (pastoral care) and that was a challenge to me. I had to reconsider. Then, Richard Baxter’s “Reformed Pastor” was a key for me. Baxter and also Eugene Peterson have probably been the two biggest influences. I think there is a lesson there with Peterson. I say ‘Eugene Peterson’ and a lot of people freak out, and I certainly have my differences with Eugene Peterson, but people who are wrong on one thing can be right on other things. In my estimation, he is the wisest voice writing on this topic today, at least in my experience.

So writes Trevin Wax at the outset of his recently-released book, “Holy Subversion: Allegiance to Christ in an Age of Rivals” (Crossway: 2010). Wax has served as associate pastor for education and missions at First Baptist Church of Shelbyville, Tenn., for the last three years. In December, he graduated from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary with his master of divinity degree. Towers recently caught up with Wax for a few questions about his new book.

What is the thesis of your book?

Wax: This book is really a call to the church to intentionally discover what the idols are in the prevailing culture and then to deliberately subvert those idols by the way that we live. It is a very practical book on idolatry.

The way that the book is set up is that it takes the early Christians as our example and shows how they were deliberately subverting the Caesar worship of the day, the cult of Caesar worship, by proclaiming that Jesus Christ was Lord and by living according to the reality that Jesus is Lord and that God raised Him from the dead.

So, by taking that truth and living according to that truth, they were a very subversive bunch. Not subversive in the revolutionary, “We are overthrowing the government” kind of way, but in the way that they lived challenging the powers and principalities of that age. We as Christians don’t live under a Caesar, but there are idolatries in our world that are grappling for our attention and affection.

In the book, you talk about subverting the idols of self, success, money, leisure, sex and power. Regarding leisure, you write “Instead of being a friend to a hard worker, Leisure often morphs into a taskmaster that squeezes the life out of us.” Explain what you mean.

Wax: I think leisure is one of the prevailing idols in our churches and sometimes I think pastors are afraid to touch it. Leisure should be a friend to us. God has created us to enjoy rest and enjoy recreation. For example, sports are a gift from God. We can honor God in our sporting activities and our entertainment choices. We shouldn’t be so hyper-spiritual in the sense that we can’t enjoy the good things in life that God has given us.

But we in the United States, including in our churches, have made work something that is necessary so that we have time for leisure. Work is also necessary so that we have the money to fill that leisure time. Take sporting events. Sports are a great way to instill discipline in your kids and to show them what teamwork is all about and sportsmanship, but what happens when sporting events compete with church? Too often I think ball is a modern day Baal. No matter what we as parents tell our kids about the importance of God in our lives and the priority of church, if church runs up against a ballgame and ball wins, we have demonstrated something completely different than what we have said.

Define success, biblically.

Wax: Faithfulness. Faithfulness to Christ’s call. Faithfulness to fulfilling God’s role for each one of us individually. Success looks different for different people. We, as a church, are often guilty of taking the world’s definition of success and imposing that on the church and on believers and it puts a certain kind of pressure on church leaders that we weren’t meant to bear. We have this mindset that a successful church is always a growing church numerically. So, part of the problem is how we have defined success.

We must remain faithful to doing what God has called us to do, day in and day out, week in and week out, seeking first His Kingdom, leaving the results in God’s hands and not just taking what the world sees as success and imposing it on the church and then trying to build that up. God calls me to be faithful and I have to leave the results in His hands. Success in the eyes of God is different from success in the eyes of the world. Sacrifice, serving and suffering: those are the three - when you look at Jesus speaking to His disciples and He is defining what greatness is He is constantly pointing them back to sacrifice, suffering and serving.

Do you think American Christians by and large see a need to be distinct from non-believers in the way that they live?

Unfortunately, no. My friend Tullian Tchividjian says we have a fascination with fitting in. His whole book, “Unfashionable,” is about that. I am saying a very similar thing as Tullian. I think that evangelicals believe that to make a difference we need to fit in. We are obsessed with fitting in: looking cool, being cool, doing things a certain way. When we as church leaders are fascinated by that, with showing how cultured we are and how much we fit in, our church people get that and they do the same thing and then we wonder why we don’t see enough difference in the lives of the people that we minister to.

” … True Christianity is not merely life-changing. It is world-changing.” Explain what you mean.

Wax: When I talk about the early Christians I don’t want to leave it at just, “What did individual, early Christians do?” We, as evangelicals, are the ones who champion the idea that Christ changes individual lives. That is one of the things that distinguishes us from the other traditions in the Christian faith is that we put an emphasis on personal conversion and we are right to do so.

The early Christians, though, also changed the world, not just individual lives. They changed the world not because they were trying to, but because they lived the life that was world changing.

What I mean by that is when communities of faith begin intentionally living according to the reality that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead, when they live in light of the forgiveness they have received from God through His sacrifice and when they live in light of the power of His resurrection, then world-changing is inevitable because it clashes with the prevailing powers and principalities that the apostle Paul tells us about.

If you preach individual conversion and never stop to think about what the resurrection of Christ means as public truth in the world - how it deals with political structures, systems and society - then you have left systems in place and you have failed to call them under the Lordship of Christ. For example, I think back to slavery and racism.

On the other side, though, if you feed the hungry, champion rights for people and go on crusades against abortion, but you don’t share the Gospel then you have left people dead in their sins.

So, we have to bring together the importance of individual conversion with the importance of individual Christians in their vocations seeking to fulfill the will of God in their respective roles and areas.

What do you hope people take away from the book?

Wax: I hope they are challenged by the call to cast out our idols and to lean heavily on Christ, on His finished work on the cross and on the implications of His resurrection. That their lives would be shaped and formed by who Christ is and what He has done for us and in such a way that the idolatries that are in our world and that take hold of our heart sometimes, without us even knowing, are exposed and dealt with and then we move forward in a more positive light.

I do hope that churches as communities will seek to put into practice a lot of what is in this book because I think that is where … there is a lot of insight for individuals, but I would love to see churches intentionally trying to live out the things in this book.

Text/title: Ephesians 1:7 — Christ and Cultural Chaos

The early church went through uncharted waters, through trial, difficulty and death for the sake of the Gospel. These uncharted waters continued in the early church, then through the medieval period, the Reformation and the English Separatists coming to America.

I was born just before the 1950s at the beginning of the baby boomer generation. In the 1960s people became more introspective and thoughtful. Music reflects this. We moved into the 1970s where you had the Vietnam War and Watergate. Skepticism rose in America.

In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan was elected and the economy began to rebound. The Southern Baptist Convention began to rebound and revive as well, a Conservative Resurgence, rediscovering the Word of God in the house of God.

In the 1990s, the Berlin Wall fell and the Cold War ended. Then the new century: 9/11 - an event that has greatly affected our nation.

This brings us to today. There are many people today who have never heard the Word of God. There are many who have never heard the Gospel.

I have identified five primary characteristics of people in this culture:

1. People are searching for meaningful relationships in life.

Many people in our culture have never had a meaningful relationship. Many people have never had a meaningful relationship with a father. People are homesick for a home they have never had.

2. People want immediate gratification.

People today live in a world of instant gratification. The Internet has changed things. People don’t make popcorn like I used to: they just pop it into the microwave.

3. People want something for nothing.

Give it to me, give it me right now, but give it to me without cost or condition. This is true on both ends of the economic spectrum. There is a sense of entitlement on the lower economic end and the higher economic end.

4. People want guilt-free living.

At night, when people turn the light off and lie in the darkness, some people have a haunting longing that makes them want to go back and change something in their past.

5. People are thirsty for prosperity; they are just not sure they are going to be able to attain it.

With the economic issues before us today, it is likely that our grandchildren will live in a world that will not be as prosperous as the one we live in today.

Of course, we have the answer for what people are searching for today. We find it in Ephesians 1:7, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace, which He has lavished upon us.”

People want meaningful relationships. Look at the verse: “In Him.” Not in religion, not in ritual, but in a relationship, the very thing that people are searching for: a meaningful relationship. It is in Him that we have redemption: not our works, not ourselves.

Each person has three types of relationships: (1) outward expression. We are made to connect with one another in productive interpersonal relationships. (2) inward expression. That is the relationship you have with yourself. (3) upward expression. We have the capability of having a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. No other creature in creation has this upward expression.

We must find our self worth in Jesus Christ. We must find our self worth in the person of Christ in us, and that life then is transferred to others through outward expression.

People want immediate gratification: look at the next phrase, “We have redemption.” We have redemption right now. Today. This very moment. On Jan. 3, 1965, I came to know Christ. You talk about immediate gratification: the pardoning of sin. Christ coming to take up residence in me. Christ alive in me. Think about it! How glorious. God had granted unto me repentance and faith.

We are the only ones who have the answer in this cultural chaos.

People want something for nothing. Look at the next phrase, “Through His blood.” We are not saved by our works. We are saved by Christ’s blood. What people are looking for is the free offer of the Gospel. Sin takes an expensive toll on life. Peter put it this way; we are redeemed by the precious blood of Jesus.

People want guilt-free living. Look at the next phrase, “The forgiveness of sins.” We are the only ones who have the answer. Sin will haunt you. There are two kinds of guilt: there is artificial guilt and authentic guilt. Artificial guilt is guilt that people live with that has been heaped on them by someone else. I am not talking about artificial guilt. I am taking about authentic guilt. Authentic guilt is God coming to you and whispering in your heart and in your mind, “You have sinned.” Guilt is God’s way of saying you have sinned. Confession is our way of agreeing with Him.

The basic problem of people in this culture is not biological, educational, psychological, or economical. Man’s basic problem is sin and it is so serious that it necessitated the cross. We are the only ones who have the answer that explains to people how their sins can be forgiven.

People are thirsty for prosperity; they are just not sure they are going to be able to attain it. Look at the next phrase, “According to the riches of His grace, which He has lavished upon us.” God has lavished riches on us in Christ by His grace.

We are the only ones who have the answer for what people in the culture are searching for. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace, which He has lavished upon us.

Timothy Paul Jones, professor of Christian leadership and education in Southern’s School of Church Ministries, spent several weeks last fall in Australia speaking at two conferences on family ministry for the Anglican Church in Sydney.

Jones first spoke at Youth Works College, a small school in the Australian bush, where he urged attentive students to become leaders who take the lead in leading Gospel-centered homes that will, in turn, positively impact local churches. The college also sponsored a youth ministry forum for which Jones served as the keynote speaker and he also served as keynote at a conference on a theology of children’s ministry, which staff members of some 50 churches attended.

“They were hungry to hear about family ministry,” Jones said. “Their churches are actually more segregated than ours are in terms of age. They will have a worship service for each generation - adults, children, older adults - and they are hungry for ways to connect the generations.

“I also had the privilege of speaking at one of the largest Anglican churches in eastern Australia, Menai Anglican Church, to all their weekend services and proclaimed to them the vision for family ministry. The people were incredibly kind and gracious and open and it was good. Literally, Southern Seminary is having an impact with Family Equipping Ministry around the world.”

Unlike the Anglican Church in its home country, England and also in the United States, the Sydney diocese is conservative and largely holds to biblical inerrancy and inspiration, a complementarian view of gender roles in the home and church and an orthodox interpretation of the 39 Articles of Faith.

One unique factor in Australia is that public schools include Bible classes. The school system operates out of a genuine pluralism and offers classes in Christianity and other world religions such as Buddhism and Islam, among others. Jones said he encouraged conference attendees to capitalize on the opportunity in public schools for the sake of the Gospel.

“They have an incredible opportunity to be able to get a hold of the kids in public schools at that level,” Jones said. “One of the things I encouraged them to do that they didn’t seem to be doing as a whole was to make contact with those kids’ families.

“I told them, ‘You have a unique opportunity in your culture that we don’t even have in ours in America. You can make contact with and make some sort of connection with the parents of those kids you have in Scripture classes in public school, then you have huge opportunities there.”

Nix, a former student at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, traveled to Port-au Prince just three days after a massive earthquake splintered the island country’s most densely populated area. Nix serves as a preaching elder at Isaac’s Keep, a small home church in his native Canton, Ga., out of which he founded Grace to the Nations, a mercy ministry that partners with local churches to execute Gospel-centered mission to those most desperately in need.

It was after he had been there a few days that Nix came face to face with Moses outside an orphanage where 56 children had died in the rubble and the 75 that remained alive stood in desperate need of help. His encounter provided Nix with much-needed Gospel encouragement in the midst of the utter wreckage.

“I remember burying my face into my hands and thinking of the cross,” he said. ” I was thinking of Christ and what He accomplished through suffering and the cross. How sin has had devastating effects upon our world but even still Christ gives us hope even in the midst of this reality. The Gospel was so real to me in those brief moments of realizing what had occurred here. And that reality gave me strength to carry on.

“A woman brought our doctor a 19-day-old baby whose mother had died in the earthquake. His name was Moses. Baby Moses was virtually untouched by the earthquake, just a small scratch on his forehead, and seemed to be thriving in the midst of the devastation. The doctor told the woman what a wonderful job she was doing caring for him and then prayed over Moses, that, like his namesake he would one day grow up and lead his people to God.”

The pictures are not enough

Nix said the scene in Haiti cannot be understood through mere words or pictures. So unconscionable is the damage and suffering, Nix said he found it difficult to even wrap his mind around the situation.

“At times it felt like I was on a movie set, not in a real place. I saw an enormous amount of suffering and confusion while I was there, but I also saw hope.

“The small groups and individuals I was able to work with (from the Dominican Republic, Germany, the U.S. and Haiti) were so motivated and passionate about the work they were doing. When we arrived at one hospital after having obtained several thousands of dollars worth of supplies, one German relief worker was overjoyed. She said it was the best day she’d had in Haiti so far. Being able to bring that kind of excitement with just some simple medical supplies was humbling.”

Redeem Haiti

Haiti was on Nix’s radar long before the tectonic plates beneath Port-au Prince began to pull apart; Grace to the Nations began a formal outreach to Haiti last year through its initiative called “Redeem Haiti,” and Nix has made three visits to the poorest country in the West. He visited Haiti in December, a few weeks before the quake struck, teaching in conjunction with Oasis Church in the Dominican Republic. Following the quake, Nix stayed for nine days and assisted with emergency response work.

“My goal with Redeem Haiti was to devise a strategy for both the churches in the U.S. and the Dominican Republic to work together for sustainable, long term ministry in Haiti,” he said. “That has to address their physical needs, but it must simultaneously address their spiritual needs.

“But I also know there are those in Haiti dedicated to the Gospel and biblical ministry. Our goal is to find those people and connect with them, to raise up spiritual leaders in Haiti and to do ministry there for years to come in order to see the Gospel bring real and lasting change - redemption.”

So pervasive was the suffering, Nix said there were times when it was difficult to press on. But those who worked alongside him to minister to the acute needs of thousands provided desperately-needed reminders of redemption, he said.

“I’m not sure I can put that into words at this point,” Nix said. “So much there made me want to weep, and I did when I could find a quiet spot. Death, destruction, hunger, frustration- there was so much tragedy.

“But then I saw volunteers hugging those waiting for care and Haitians weeping at the kindness of strangers. I saw individuals from all over the world working together for these people, who were formally known to us as ‘the poorest people in the Western Hemisphere.’ They now had names and faces for so many whose hearts went out to them, and seeing those people respond with grace and love was powerful.”

Nix and his wife Paula have two young daughters, a fact that made the suffering especially difficult for him. He urged believers to continue praying for Haiti - both for physical and spiritual renewal. Believers should also pray that God would raise up godly men to lead biblically faithful churches that will be able to meet the people of Haiti’s deepest need - a new heart, he said.

“We can pray that those working would share not only physical supplies and care but also the grace and truth of the Gospel,” he said. “We can pray that God’s glory would be seen among the Haitian people in the midst of disaster and that God would continue to use suffering for the purposes of redemption.

“Long-term, I think we pray that the Gospel would take firm root in communities in Haiti, that God would raise up biblical leaders and biblical churches in the country to impact them with the truth of His word for decades to come. And we can all pray that God shows us how He wants us to be a part of that.

“When I look back on these last few days and my involvement in Haiti, I am blown away by the providence of God. It is a great thought to know that God was preparing me for these past few days of ministry over the last 10 years of education and ministry. I am thankful that The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary is part of this providence. To God be the glory!”

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For more information on Nix’s Grace to the Nations, visit www.gracetothenations.com. Grace to the Nations is located in Canton, Ga., and exists to spread the glory of God to all peoples and nations by connecting the community of believers into the community of need, according to the ministry’s website.

For more on Nix’s “Redeem Haiti” initiative, visit www.redeemhaiti.org. There you will find information on how you can give through Redeem Haiti and video updates from Haiti.

Non-essential offices will open at 11 a.m. and chapel for tomorrow is canceled.

These plans are subject to change, depending on the weather.

The event is free, and open to members of both Sojourn campuses as well as the public. Free childcare will be provided as well.  For more details on the event, click here.

As casualty totals mounted in staggering numbers in the days following the deadly tremor, many churches in Louisville led or populated by students, staff and faculty from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary did precisely that. Several congregations began relief efforts for Haiti and plan to continue assistance as rescue and recovery in Haiti turns to rebuilding.

Sojourn Community Church, where SBTS graduate Daniel Montgomery serves as pastor, had a unique opportunity in the days following the earthquake. Sojourn had already started plans for a concert to benefit G.O. Ministries, a Christian non-profit organization that seeks to help build sustainable communities in impoverished areas.

When the earthquake devastated Haiti, the church’s leadership believed they should focus the concert on raising awareness for the plight of the people in Haiti. All of the proceeds from the concert went to benefit the ministry’s efforts in Haiti. As many churches did, Sojourn took a special Haiti offering in all five of its services at its two campuses on the Sunday following the earthquake.

At Ninth & O Baptist, where SBTS professor Bill Cook pastors, former Southern student Robert Patterson acted quickly to help through his connection with Agape Flights. Patterson, himself a pilot, said the Christian missionary aviation group has helped supply missionaries for years through weekly flights to Port
Au Prince.

Patterson and Ninth & O’s leadership organized a collection of medical supplies and food the Sunday after the earthquake, which Patterson then hand-delivered to the Florida-based aviation group.

Ninth & O also served as one of the sites - along with Second Baptist Church in Madisonville, Ky. - for Kentucky Baptist Convention Disaster Relief Training. Southern is working closely with the KBC to provide aid to Haiti in the form of resources and staffing. The Disaster Relief Training is necessary for anyone who wants to do volunteer work in Haiti with the KBC.

Michael Clark, director of the Church Planting Center at Sojourn, said that because of the KBC’s commitment to disaster relief in Haiti, Sojourn has channeled all of its members to work with the state convention in providing hands on disaster relief in the devastated nation.

Clifton Baptist Church, whose pastor is SBTS professor Tom Schreiner, has a couple of members with connections to Haiti. The father of Jeremy Pierre, a professor at Boyce College and an elder at Clifton, serves as chairman of the board of the Baptist Haiti Mission.

Nate Harmon, a Clifton member, has kept the church appraised of the situation on the ground in Haiti through his family that works with an orphanage in Haiti. In both cases, Clifton’s leadership is keeping church members informed on how they can give financially to support these causes.

While some churches, such as Highview Baptist Church, do not have direct contacts on the ground in Haiti, they are heavily committed to helping however they can. Highview’s leadership has pointed its members toward the Southern Baptist Convention’s existing channels for disaster relief.

William Brown, minister of missions at Highview, said that in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, Highview took an offering totaling nearly $12,000 to help with relief efforts. The International Mission Board, Baptist Global Relief and the Florida Baptists have all mobilized efforts for the disaster relief work in Haiti.

The desire to help in significant ways is a response shared by many churches, regardless of size. New Heights Baptist Church, where Southern Seminary student Cody McNutt serves as pastor, is using church events to encourage its congregants to give to relief efforts in Haiti. On Feb. 14, New Heights will host a world mission’s banquet, where an offering will be taken to support Baptist relief efforts in Haiti.

As the recovery turns into rebuilding, many churches in Louisville and throughout the country will be praying about ways to continue supporting the people of Haiti. As the situation continues to be sorted out, Southern Seminary will continue to provide details at news.sbts.edu and inside.sbts.edu about opportunities to partner with existing ministries already on the ground. For the latest on KBC disaster relief efforts, visit http://www.kybaptist.org/kbc.nsf/pages/disaster-relief.html.

Garrett E. Wishall contributed to this story.

Generations later, geologists estimated the deadly tremor at around 7.0 magnitude on the Richter scale, a device that was not developed until nearly 50 years later.

Amid the rubble, Southern Baptist preachers used their pulpits to answer the inevitable question: Where was God when the earth began to break apart? There was an overwhelming consensus, nuanced according to a given pastor’s precise theological convictions, that was worded something like this: A sovereign God sent or allowed the earthquake for the good of His people and the glory of His name.

Fast forward nearly 124 years to January 12, 2010. The Caribbean island of Haiti is devastated by an earthquake of identical magnitude, but the death toll is staggeringly worse: 150,000 have been confirmed dead with the total certain to grow by thousands. The place and result are different, but the question remains for many: Where was God when His creation began to split wide open?

David Sills, associate professor of Christian missions and cultural anthropology at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said the answer also remains the same as that given by SBC pastors in late-19^th century Charleston.

“The world is asking this question and saying, ‘God can either be all powerful or all good, but he can’t be both,’” said Sills, who spent many years as a missionary in Peru. “I think we have to patiently and humbly turn that back around to them and show them, that that is not the right way to look at this.

“The problem is not what happened in Haiti; the problem is why we are ever allowed to have one smile, why we are able to ever enjoy one moment of bouncing our grandchildren on our knee or why we are able to enjoy the blessings of a meal every day or the salvation we have. The problem is one of pleasure and not of the pain we see in Haiti. God is sovereign, and we must affirm that, especially in times like these. He is our only comfort.”

The problem of pain: Where was God in Haiti?

So how should Christians approach the questions of their family, friends and neighbors about God’s proximity to the earthquake? Sills said it is an opportunity for Christians to both weep with those who are weeping and to share with them the good news of God’s redeeming love in Christ.

“It’s a wonderful witnessing opportunity to walk them through the whole thing: God made the world perfect, Adam and Eve fell into sin and when they did, death came into the world, tragedies like this came into the world and yet God is so loving and patient that that is not what determines, or what defines, our lives,” he said.

“This is such a rare anomaly on a global scale that, when it does happen, the whole world is reeling because that’s not what is normal. But that should be what is normal; we all should be suffering abject horror and torment in hell and yet we don’t.

“Even pagans have pleasant lives. Why is that? That is the bigger problem when what we deserve is judgment. And the only answer is God’s grace and His patience with us and I’m praying that that patience would extend even to Haiti and His grace would be poured out and we would see that grace.”

Both/and: Comprehensive Gospel ministry needed

But how do well-meaning Christians avoid seeming glib and falling prey to accusations that they merely care about making converts? Sills said full-orbed missions work entails meeting both physical and spiritual needs, particularly among a people who are facing a disaster with such deep-reaching consequences.

Our model is Jesus, who did both kinds of missions work, Sills said; He fed the hungry and also admonished them to feast on the Bread of life.

“We shouldn’t back up to feeding a hungry person, certainly, if we take the New Testament seriously,” Sills said.

“If someone is starving to death and all I do is preach the Gospel to them, I have not done my comprehensive Gospel-duty. But if a person is starving to death and they are lost and all I do is give them a bag of bologna sandwiches, I have not done my Gospel duty; I must do both.”

Handle with care: Haitians open to many spirits

While many mission maps stamp Haiti as “reached” due to the longtime presence of Christian missionaries in the republic, Sills said it is a nation that remains overwhelmingly bound up in darkness. The predominant religion in Haiti is voodoo, which is polytheistic, syncretistic and consists in a toxic blend of animism and African spirit worship stirred together with elements of Roman Catholicism. Haiti is the birthplace of voodoo.

Voodoo is steeped in superstition and is driven by fear; its adherents often worship a number of local deities that are often tied to earthly elements - volcanoes, bodies of water, trees, changing weather. A jarring event such as the earthquake in Haiti will strike a deep-seated fear into the hearts of the people, making them open to other religions, including Christianity, Sills said.

But, such openness can be a two-edged sword, Sills warned, and Christian missionaries must be patient in ministering the Gospel to the Haitian people. Being a polytheistic people, they are prone to accept any religion uncritically and will often merely add its “god” alongside their collection of deities. They must be carefully taught the difference between genuine Christianity and other religions, he said.

“The good news is they are looking for answers,” Sills said. “And many will be open to really listening to the good news of the Gospel for the first time.

But how do we begin to pray for a land so ravaged by disaster, so wracked by poverty and so lacking in even the most basic essentials of everyday life - a land so deeply disconnected in worship from its Creator? Sills admits that prayer for Haiti in recent weeks seems to fall into the category of Romans 8:26, “For we do not know what to pray for as we ought…”, but believers must join together and pray for God to work in the broken nation.

Sills said he’s been praying that God would restore order to the chaos that has virtually consumed Port-au-Prince, that God would restrain the predatory crime that often arrives on the doorstep of such a vulnerable people during times when there is no defense against it, that God would meet their physical needs and that God would get glory for Himself by sending genuine revival.

“It’s a powder keg down there,” he said. “I pray for a sense of peace among the people. I pray that out of the very worst thing we can imagine, God would bring about the very best thing we can imagine. That’s what happened on Good Friday; from a purely human perspective, it looked like it was the worst thing that could happen and yet God brings about our salvation through it.

“I pray that there would be an awakening, that God would pour out His Holy Spirit, that while the whole world is watching Haiti every day, that the world would begin to see an awakening, that they would begin to see the difference that God’s Spirit makes in the lives of people, even people who have suffered such unbelievable tragedy.”

• R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of Southern Seminary.

Panelists:

• Russell D. Moore, senior vice president for academic administration and dean of the School of Theology at Southern Seminary.
• James Parker, associate dean of worldview and culture and professor of worldview and culture at Southern Seminary.
• Mark Coppenger, professor of Christian apologetics at Southern Seminary.
• Theodore J. Cabal,professor of Christian philosophy and applied apologetics at Southern Seminary.

Mohler

The James Cameron movie Avatar has recently passed the $1.8 billion mark in sales. In this movie, we not only have a box office sensation, we have the question of how Christians are to engage with popular culture.

Evangelical Christians have not known what to do with Hollywood from the beginning. This has been true for the Christian church and popular culture going all the way back to early Christians and Roman entertainment and the gladiatorial games.

The title of this panel is not accidental. What we have in Avatar is a new secular Eden or at least an Eden that is very different from the book of Genesis. What are we to do with this?

Coppenger

There is a hunger for Eden. We have that hunger so we fashion a variety of movies. There is this hunger, but the world supplies it in so many idealogical ungodly ways.

Parker

One way C.S. Lewis became a Christian was a longing he had, a sense of unfulfilment he experienced that could not be fulfilled in this life. Buddhism, animism, pantheism cannot fulfill this sense of longing. The glorious news of the Gospel is that this Eden shall be restored and it shall be made available to human beings.

Moore

There is always going to be that kind of person who is going to want to escape from life. When you look at these things they bounce back and forth between utopia — this vision of Eden — and dystopia — some sort of apocalypse. So you have Avatar, but you also have The Road or Planet of the Apes or The Day After Tomorrow.

It seems that in popular culture that you have people’s longings and people’s fear of judgment and death and those are being expressed in movies the best way people know how. Then you have people looking at those movies and it resonates.

Cabal

Worldviews contain an Eden, an eschoton and a problem in between that must be solved. So, it is not surprise when you have a movie like Avatar that presents that. The problem is not that there is a longing for Eden, that there is a longing for something that is beautiful and fulfilling. The problem is with the solution that the movie presents. The problem with the movie is that primitive cultures are not like what we see in the movie.

Mohler

What about humanity in this film? This is sort of a reproduction of Bambi. This film (Avatar) is so undisguished in terms of its antipathy toward human beings. What do we make of that?

Coppenger

Avatar screamed at every point: I am doing a hack job here, I have overlooked things. It is an adoration of the primitive, as Cabal said. It is also a hatred of humanity. Avatar presents a terrible lie about humanity: the movie depicts a hatred of man, a hatred of capitalism and a hatred of the military. It is this whole package of things that is so anti-Christian and sub-Christian.

Mohler

Hollywood has celebrated Cameron as an engineer and an entrepreneur: that is capitalism.

Cabal

There is a lot of standard science fiction in this movie. It acts like it presents a spiritualism of some sort, but it actually presents a physicalism, a materialism, that trumps spirituality. Capitalism has always pushed along the edges of technology. There is the James Cameron game, Avatar, coming out. So, there is a lot of capitalism going on here in relation to Avatar.

Mohler

Dr. Moore you have described the movie as Rambo in reverse.

Moore

What worries me about the movie is that it is anti-authority. What concerns me is not so much the message, but so many people are not so much getting or seeing the message. The propaganda that comes through that is so obvious does not worry me. The propaganda that worries is what you might not get that then infiltrates your life and affects you and you don’t even know it.

Mohler

Avatar has its own metanarrative, the Creation metanarrative of creation, fall, redemption, consummation - it is all there. When you look at the screenplay, it is clear that the religious message is pointed in a way that you might not catch. There is an insistence that this is not some kind of superficial religion, there is an insistence that this is real religion. This pantheism with the tree and its interconnected roots.

James Cameron knows what he is doing here: there are hints of the Gospel in this reshaping of a gospel. The movie is tapping into some sort of religious longing that people have, particularly in the area of environmentalism.

Cabal

To me, the thing that leaped out was this overt religious message. It is a glorification of pantheism the whole way through. Cameron knows what he is doing. He was the executive producer for the Lost Tomb of Jesus on the Discovery channel trying to argue that they found this bogus tomb of Jesus that had His body in it.

Avatar appeals to the average postmodern religionist. They don’t really know what they want: this movie is aimed at those kind of people.

Mohler

This is a “supermovie:” it is fun to watch. It has a story and it comes with all this technology. This appears more real than reality, one writer said. What do we do with that?

Moore

Think about what people say when they see beautiful things in nature. They say, “This is like a movie.” They are so accustomed to seeing movies that they see everything through that grid.

We really are not moving into the kind of world where people are paganizing, but they are paganizing in a way that has to have a counterfeit Christianity in order to address their longings.

Mohler

This movie is really, really good at showing human sinfulness and depravity. But it doesn’t know how to depict redemption.

Coppenger

I used to get really frustrated about that reality in movies, that people can’t depict rebellion. Then I realized: they really don’t get it. It is sort of like a cat trying to do algebra.

We have turned Hollywood over to pagans. We can blow up a movie like we are doing today, but we can’t really produce such a movie.

Mohler

I am going to respond by saying we can’t do that: you can’t meet the medium on its own terms. I am not saying that Christians can’t be involved in the film industry: they certainly can. And there are movies that have told a story that is conducive to the Christian metanarrative of the Gospel. As much as we are called to be transformational in every area of life, to make it in Hollywood you have to have the backing of people financially who have a very different goal.

Cabal

One reason the movie is so appealing is not just that is touches the deep longings that we have, but because of the technology that mimics the real world. The movie is so powerful because it is this world presented in film through technology.

Moore

You have Romans 2 there. You have sin and you have judgment in this movie. You have the conscience: it is misdirected, it is misguided, but it is there. That is exactly what Paul was talking about. And you have that in many apocalyptic movies.

Mohler

You can look at the history of Christianity and it is not new for Christians to be interacting with culture and critiquing entertainment in culture. How is it that all of the sudden evangelicals are now consumers of popular culture?

Coppenger

There are rocks on both sides. You can become too culturally immersed or you can go too far the other way. I am not as pessimistic of us (Christians) making great movies. I think there is a kind of insecurity among evangelicals. I think we feel as though we are sort of backward and embarrassing so we like to get our credibility in the culture and sometimes it is kind of pitiful how hard we work to show that we are cool. But putting that aside I think people are awakening to the splendor and power of film and I think that is a good thing.

Mohler

What interests me is that evangelicals are now consumers of popular culture as if there were no moral question about it.

Cabal

We are seeing in this generation what a generation that followed a strict generation does, tending to want to go out and learn what it is like to be free. I went through all the phases of Christ and culture: I was pagan, then I was a baby Christian I thought you had to reject everything in culture. I sold everything, I gave it all away, and I wouldn’t watch television. And I think that is a legitimate Christian option. But what I was doing was I was mimicking another sub-culture with its own little rules.

Then I went through a phase where I would watch them with my kids and we would worldview-analyze every movie and my kids didn’t like that very much because I was ruining every movie for them. And then there is this sort of thing that says you can’t avoid culture, you breath it, and we are going to engage and do evangelism.

I don’t think there is one standard way that we have to deal with culture, but I think that the sort of uncritical engagement of popular culture that you are talking about is very dangerous.

Moore

I agree with the generational shift. I think most people in this room have seen a movie that your grandparents would consider to be pornographic in a way that is not alarming to you because you don’t even have the tools to see what is even there. I am worried about the things that we don’t even notice in films.

Coppenger

I think the most dangerous film I ever saw was a PG rated film called “Same Time Next Year.” It is a guy who is in a lodge in the mountains and he meets a lady who comes up for a retreat. It led to an adulterous affair and she would come back each year. There was no skin, no cussing, but it showed that adultery is workable and charming if you do it right.

Mohler

Let’s talk about the particular power of film. There is something about film that is unique. It is a way, as some cinematographers say, entering into a different world. What is the power and what is the danger of that?

Parker

The danger is that your critical faculties are set aside. You might find yourself rooting for the adulterer. Things could be great on the cinematograpical level and this could cause you to put your critical faculties on hold.

Moore

One of my favorite novels is Walker Percy’s “The Moviegoer.” The protagonist in that novel is living this really boring, kind of meaningless life, because these movies have a meaning with a storyline.

I think that is kind of the good side, the glory, of film. People have these lives without meaning and they go to all of these films that do have meaning, that do have a storyline, they do have a resolution. We have to ask what are people wanting to escape to? They want to escape for the freedom to sin, but ultimately it is because they are created in the image of God and are trying to escape the Fall and we have thus have an opportunity to say something to them.

Cabal

Pastors need to patiently and lovingly teach their people how to engage with culture. Our job as Christian leaders is to help people think through what it is they are experiencing as entertainment that they don’t realize has become the prophet and the preacher to them because they don’t critique it.

Mohler

Popular culture is not a new challenge. We must be asking what we are watching, reading, and listening to and what is it doing to us? It also helps to define our mission field. If this is the story that millions of people are paying to see, those millions of people are looking for a story and that gives us an opportunity to speak of the story of stories, the narrative of narratives, and that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Feb. 8 edition of Towers focuses on how the Southern Seminary community is responding to the crisis in Haiti. Haiti-related stories include:

• Haitian Boyce student praises God his family is safe, prays for the future of his country (page 3).
• Former Southern Seminary students ministers amid “enormous suffering and confusion in Haiti” (page 3).
• How do we answer the burning question: Where was/is God in the tragedy in Haiti? (page 4).
• SBTS community works through local churches to help Haiti (page 7).

Other stories include:

• “For Tebow, abortion is not political, but a matter of life and death,” an editorial by Jeff Robinson, director of news and information at Southern Seminary (page 5).
• “Avoiding semester burnout before it begins,” an editorial by Eron Plevan, master of divinity student at Southern (page 5).
• SBTS to host stem cell donor drive for professor Carl Stam (page 7)
  The stem cell drive is from 11 am.-3 p.m., Feb. 11, in the Honeycutt Campus Center lobby.
• “Holy Subversion: Allegiance to Christ in an Age of Rivals:” A Q&A with recent SBTS graduate Trevin Wax on his book by that title (page 9).
• 3 questions with Ray Van Neste, assistant professor of Christian studies and director of the R.C. Ryan Center for Biblical Studies at Union University in Jackson, Tenn. (page 16).

No, not that kind of hacker: a Greek hacker. If Greek found its way into one of my sermons or Bible Fellowship Group lessons it was basically a glorified word study on a verb or participle spliced out of its original context. Because I didn’t want to do that, I actually wasn’t really a hacker: I was a non-user.

Five months ago, however, I decided I wanted to change this. I enrolled in Southern Seminary professor Tom Schreiner’s Galatians exegesis course. And I started using BibleWorks 8.

Now I am no longer a hacker; I am a user. Not an expert, or even a semi-expert mind you, but I am a user.

There is only one way to learn Greek: long hours of study. There are no shortcuts, no secret passageways to Greek mastery. It is like digging the Panama Canal. But there are tools to aid you in your work and over the last five months BibleWorks has been my central tool.

If you are looking to unpack, understand and use the original biblical languages, BibleWorks would be a great resource to consider. In the five months I have used it, BibleWorks has done two key things for me: save me time and enable me to better understand biblical Greek and, thus, the Bible.

A time saver

So far, BibleWorks has saved me time in two main ways. First, it helps me rightly identify words quickly that I can’t break down (parse)
at first glance or that I might break down wrongly. This is particularly helpful for words with irregular forms or that look like one form, but are actually another. In years past, you would have had to look up each word you didn’t know in a dictionary. Now, you can scroll over the word and you have everything right in front of you.

Of course, if you lean on BibleWorks in this way too hard it will become a crutch that cripples you versus an aid that helps you. But if you take a moment to figure out why a verb is an aorist - drawing on the paradigm chart tucked away in your mind from previous study - you will begin to need less and less help.

Second, BibleWorks provides a number of reference works that are readily available and searchable. For instance if I am trying to determine how an infinitive functions in a sentence, I can search Daniel Wallace’s “Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics” and get his thoughts on different uses, broken down into categories (purpose, result, time, etc.). This is an instant time saver.

Of course, there are many other ways BibleWorks would save you time. One is its ability to allow you to quickly cross reference words and phrases to other passages. One prominent example of this is John Piper using a Bible software program to cross reference the key verb and noun in the phrase “filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions” in Colossians 1:24 to Philippians 2:30 to help him determine its meaning. With BibleWorks, you can do this in a matter of minutes.

For those who are not mere users, but who are experts or scholars in the biblical languages, I am sure that BibleWorks saves times in more advanced ways as well. For example, SBTS professor - and Greek and Hebrew scholar, and pastor - Jim Hamilton says “If my computer is on, BibleWorks is open” (For more of Hamilton’s thoughts on BibleWorks, visit jimhamilton.wordpress.com/2009/01/17/bibleworks-8).

Better understand biblical Greek and, thus, the Bible

Another key benefit, perhaps the greatest benefit, of BibleWorks is that it helps you understand biblical Greek and, thus, the Bible better (yes, it can help you better understand biblical Hebrew as well: I just haven’t used it for that purpose yet). Bibleworks enables you to access the original languages of the Bible in a more efficient manner. For busy students and pastors, the importance of this can not be overstated. Students and pastors must balance the priorities of family, counseling, pastoring, studying, reading and evangelizing to grow in their understanding of the biblical languages. It is possible to do this without BibleWorks. But BibleWorks makes it much more feasible. It is like digging the Panama Canal with a backhoe instead of a shovel.

Update: the Philip Webb concert previously scheduled for tonight has been canceled as well.