Let's Do Lunch

Lots of things get done "over lunch" these days. Boards of directors have their meetings over lunch. Business plans are conceived and even finalized over lunch. Old friends get together and catch up on the latest over lunch. Students get together to study for exams over lunch. People have to eat and most enjoy eating, so why not accomplish other worthwhile things over lunch? Besides, here in the South especially, eating together is a way of life!

If all these kinds of things can be accomplished over lunch, then why can't the church accomplish some its purpose over lunch? The answer is, no reason at all. In some of our discussions with folks in our church, we have talked about the need for people to be able to make connections with one another. After all, most of church life involves making and cultivating significant relationships -- first with God, and then with each other. The ultimate vehicle for connections to be made is through small groups. That being said, there seems to be the need for a sort of intermediate step. A way for people to begin to get to know some other people in a non-threatening, low-initial-commitment sort of way. What better way to do that than over lunch?!

Thus you have the birth of an idea: Sunday connection lunches (formal, catchy, fancy name to be developed later). The idea would be for people to stick around after the Sunday morning service (on a periodic basis) and do lunch together. We are already here and we have to eat somewhere. Why not use that time for ministry? (You have to admit, eating is pretty easy ministry.) Of course it would be a time to enjoy the company of friends we know well. It would also be a time to get a little bit out of our comfort zone in order to connect with some folks we may not know quite as well. I think in doing so we accomplish at least two things: 1) We help incorporate those who are newer to Petal FBC into the life of the church; and 2) we help strengthen the bond of fellowship with those we already know.

A few things will be required. We will need people who are willing to eat. (Probably not a big problem.) We will need people who are willing to serve. (If this gets off the ground, we will need a new Strategic Service Team for setup, serving, cleanup, etc.) We will need people who are willing to connect. (People who are willing to get to know some new people.)

Let us know what you think and any ideas you may have. You can comment here (no anonymous comments please), or you can email me at jspiller@megagate.com.

Is the Southern Baptist Convention dying?

I encourage you to click here to read a blog post by Michael Spencer entitled "Avoiding Death by Nostalgia: My Denomination (the SBC) Today." You obviously don't have to agree with everything that is put forth, but it is an important (and alarming) read for those of us long time Southern Baptists who would like to see the Convention thrive for the sake of Christ and the Gospel.

Sharing the Gospel

Every Christ-follower should be able to very simply tell another person how they can become a Christian. Articulating the gospel cannot be limited to preacher types and/or those with a theological education. We are all called to be salt and light, which includes being able to share God's plan of salvation when the Holy Spirit provides an opportunity.

There are many different ways to share the good news of Jesus, but whatever way you choose it should be true to Scripture (otherwise it's not the gospel, right) and not come across as rote and rehearsed. While getting the message out is urgent, we want to share it in a natural and relaxed manner.

One simple way is to use John 3:16. You probably already know it by heart and it needs little explanation. Let's break it down.

For God so loved the world... You're a part of the world, so that means God loves YOU -- He really does! He is not sitting up there just waiting to zap you. If that was His plan, He would have taken you out long ago.

...that He gave His only Son... The Bible makes it clear that all have sinned. The very best person you know has sinned. God sent Jesus, His only Son, to die for your sin. God is perfectly just so every sin has to be paid for. We either pay for it ourselves, or we allow Jesus to take our punishment for us.

...that whoever believes in Him should not perish... To believe in Jesus means to trust in Him. We turn over our lives to Him and allow Him to call all the shots. When we do that, we will not perish, which means we will not die eternally and we will not spend eternity in hell.

...but have eternal life. From the moment we trust Jesus, God comes to live inside us. He gives us what we need to live this life the very best it can be lived, and when this life is over we go to spend eternity with God in heaven.

To trust Christ you simply repent of your sin (which means to turn you back on your old way of living only for self) and put the full weight of your existence on Jesus Christ.

There's no doubt that you can do what I just did. You certainly don't have to use the exact explanations that I used. Remember, we don't save anyone. It's not our power of persuasion that will drag people over the line of faith. Salvation is of God. We are just the mouthpiece. The most important thing for us to do is to be faithful to Scripture and to genuinely love the person we're sharing with. God takes care of the rest.

When God's words flow through His people expressing His love, miracles happen! According to God's sovereignty, people who are dead in sin are made alive in Christ!

Keeping the Gospel Great

Do you ever get tired of hearing the gospel? Does its impact on your life ever grow stale? I hope not. Click here to read a reminder by John Piper regarding keeping the gospel in its rightful place in our lives.

Church Strategy

The mission of the church is the same for every local church. Jesus said that we are to make disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19). We call it the Great Commission. The strategy of a local church is how it goes about accomplishing the mission. While it should always be biblical, the strategy of each church will be at least somewhat unique.

I will be so bold as to say that, whatever the strategy is for your church, you need to know and be able and willing to communicate it to others. At Petal FBC we attempt to keep our strategy as simple as possible. We intentionally have very few programs. We want the path to be very clear. If you will remember just a few key words you will be able to talk about our strategy with ease. We think it's pretty logical.

First, there are two basic aspects of church life. We call these the church gathered and the church scattered. The church is people -- not a building, not an institution, etc. There are times when we gather together as a church and times (most of the time in fact) when we are scattered out going about our lives. We have a strategy for making disciples in both venues.

As a church gathered, we talk about worship, grow, and serve. We want to worship God. We want to grow spiritually. And we want to serve God by serving others. We have worship services on Sunday to worship the Lord together. We connect with others in small groups in order to help one another grow spiritually. (We call it "doing life together.") And we have Strategic Service Teams through which we serve one another and others on a weekly basis. Very simple.

As a church scattered, we want to be salt and light. Jesus said that His followers are the salt of the earth and the light of the world (Matthew 5:13, 14). Among their many characteristics, salt and light are both huge difference makers. So as Christ-followers, we want to make a HUGE difference for Christ wherever we find ourselves.

So if you can remember five key words (and of course you can), then you can remember what they connect to: worship -> worship services; grow -> small groups; serve -> service teams; salt and light -> difference makers. Very easy. Very simple.

Of course the point of all this is not just to come up with some words that will be easy to remember. The goal is to have increasing numbers of people actively engaged in the process of worshiping, growing, serving, and being salt and light. But the better we know the process and are able to articulate it, the more likely we will be involved.

So let's do a little self-evaluation. Let's each ask, "Am I actively engaged in my church's strategy? Am I growing in each of these areas and doing all I can to influence others to do the same?"

And the next time someone asks you a question like, "What is your church all about?" you'll have a great answer!

Witnesses...to the End of the Earth

"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." (Acts 1:8 ESV)

In my last post I wrote about a potential partnership between Petal FBC and churches or new church plants in western New York state. As many of you already know, our student ministry has entered into a partnership with an area of God's work in Southeast Asia. Our goal is to be engaged in church planting efforts around the world, both close to home and far -- in our state, in North America, and overseas. We believe that is the pattern demonstrated in the New Testament. In other words, we want to be an Acts 1:8 church.

Occasionally I will hear of someone saying something like this: "Well, I believe in missions, but there are a lot of lost people right here at home. I think we need to put our focus and energies here before we try to go to the other side of the world." What we need to understand is this: taking the gospel to those here at home and to those on the other side of the world is not "either-or" -- it is "both-and." We are to be continually proclaiming Jesus "to the end of the earth." We are to make disciples of all the nations. Should we have a burning desire for people in our own community to know Jesus? Absolutely! Should we do all we can to make Jesus famous around the globe? Without question!

Wherever people live, whatever language they speak, whatever the color of their skin, people need the Lord. Let's get busy being witnesses -- to the end of the earth!

Potential Partnership Update

Back in February I wrote about the possibility of traveling to western New York state in April to investigate possible partnerships with churches and/or new church plants in the area. It now looks as if that trip is going to happen. I'll be traveling with three others: Paul Harrell, a consultant with the Mississippi Baptist Convention Board; Danny Avery, pastor of Brooksville Baptist Church and Associational Missions Director for Noxubee Association; and Johnny Sykes, Associational Missions Director for Simpson Association. We will attend a meeting of the Frontier Baptist Association on Saturday, April 18 and most likely speak in churches on Sunday, April 19. Through the entire weekend we will be visiting with the missions director of the Frontier Baptist Association regarding possible partnerships. Please pray that I will be especially sensitive to the Holy Spirit's leading as to God's will for Petal FBC's involvement in this area of the world. Also pray for the other three men and our safety and the safety of our families while we are away.

Need or Want?

Would you agree that in the culture in which we live here in the US, even Christ followers have a difficult time discerning genuine needs? What I mean by that is we confuse "needs" with "wants." Not to pick on any one area, but just to mention a few examples: Do we really need cable television? I mean, really? Do we need a closet (or two or three) full of clothes, most of which we never wear? Do we need two or three or four thousand square foot houses? Do we need plush, high tech church buildings? Do we need all the food we eat? (In my case, the thirty extra pounds I carry around would have to answer "no".) Do we need newer and fancier vehicles? Do we need smart phones, or even cell phones for that matter? Of course the list could go on. Again, I'm not trying to pick on any one thing. I think I possess or desire to possess all of the above.

The normal disclaimer and/or protest at this time would be to say, "Now, of course, there really isn't anything wrong with having these things." Well, maybe not. But maybe so. Maybe possessing these kinds of things is wrong if we are neglecting to help meet the needs of those around us, especially the needs of fellow Christians. James 2:15-16 (ESV) says: If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that?

Acts 2:44-45 (ESV) describes life in the early church: And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. This was not communism. But it does show that these first Christians were willing to do whatever they needed to do to meet the needs of those who did not have the basic necessities of life. They held their possessions loosely. If they needed to sell them, they were willing, and I dare say, even glad to do so. Should these folks not be a model for us?

I wonder if too many of us Jesus followers who even believe in tithing think that the other 90% is for us to spend on ourselves in any way we choose. I wonder if some of us should purpose to live on half what we are living on now and use the other half in service to the Kingdom.

I don't mean to imply that it's wrong to go past our needs to possess any of our wants. But where do we cross the line of simple living to excess? God must be trying to get my attention here. What about you? What do you think?