
The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-04/01/2008

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Despite destruction by Katrina, church keeps missions focus
by Karen L. Willoughby
Date: April 01, 2008 - Tuesday

LONG BEACH, Miss. (BP)--At first glance it looked as though First Baptist Church had been completely destroyed by Hurricane Katrina, but that was before the character of its people and the cooperative spirit of Southern Baptists kicked in.

"Pre-Katrina ... we thought we were a Great Commission church," said pastor LaRue Stephens, pastor of the Gulf Coast congregation in Long Beach, Miss. "We gave a lot of money to missions, sent a lot of missions teams all over the world, and many of our people had been involved in direct support or going. We had our community food bank ministry, and housed it on our campus at no cost, plus provided volunteers for it.

"However, one of the sweet blessings of the storm is that God allowed it to remove the walls," Stephens said. "We had to decide what do we do now, and we began to discover that the place to do church was not behind the walls in activities we called Bible study and worship. The place to do church is out in the community. With no walls to be concerned about, we saw the real needs of real people."

Cooperative-thinking Southern Baptists, meanwhile, took note of the church's needs. Within two weeks after the hurricane, First Baptist had sound equipment for its worship services and computers for its offices.

Located one block off U.S. 90, which runs alongside the usually placid Gulf of Mexico, First Baptist was in the direct path of Katrina when the hurricane made landfall on Aug. 29, 2005. All that remained of the church when the wind stopped howling was the worship center's round roof and a modern-shaped steeple topped by a cross that the wind was able to blow through rather than push over.

Stephens, who has led First Baptist for nearly 11 years, said the church is "committed to maintaining our level of commitment to the Cooperative Program because number one, we know what it means to have nothing." Pre-K (pre-Katrina), about 500 people worshipped at the church on Sunday mornings. 

"We understand the value of a cooperative partnership because we have benefited from the cooperative efforts of Southern Baptists around the nation. But even before Katrina, we knew the value of the Cooperative Program," Stephens said, noting that it gives the church "an organized and efficient channel ... &#91;to&#93; engage in significant Gospel ministry that impacts people in time and for eternity."

With the financial, prayer and hands-on support from 150 partnering churches across the country, First Baptist accomplished an amazing variety of ministries in the weeks and months after the hurricane, which touched virtually every family remaining in Long Beach and the surrounding region.

"It was a neat thing to watch our people," said Brenda Davis, First Baptist's minister of education. "They had lost everything, but they were helping others. It gave them a purpose."

Among the church's post-Katrina initiatives:

-- An emergency distribution center was stocked like a grocery store, with as many as 1,400 people a day receiving food, cleaning supplies, batteries and more. Colonial Heights Baptist in Jackson, Miss., was a major partner in this outreach.

-- A continuous supply of underwear was provided for local police and fire personnel, because the first responders had no place to wash clothes for at least the first three weeks after Katrina. First Baptist and its partnering churches also provided each officer with a personal ice chest and their departments with pallets of Gatorade.

-- A school year's supply of toilet tissue, antibacterial hand cleaner, paper towels and various other products were given to the Long Beach school system before the schools reopened in October. Meanwhile, backpacks stuffed with pencils, paper and other grade-appropriate supplies were provided for 1,250 students in the school system.

-- A displaced church ministers' support fund was essential, Stephens said, because "we could not afford to have any of our ministers leave."

-- A Katrina Relief Fund provided monthly support checks for 167 families "adopted" by the church in October, November and December 2005.

-- Eleven high school seniors selected as the most deserving/needy by the school system received $1,000 Katrina scholarships from the church.

-- In the first month after the storm, one family in the church had enough financial resources to buy a travel trailer. When they talked about needing to buy everything from dishes to linens and even a toaster for their new home, Stephens realized each family moving into a FEMA trailer had similar needs. The church staff developed a list of necessary items and provided 500 families with a "kit" valued at about $250-$300 of household items in three large plastic containers. Hoffmantown Baptist Church in Albuquerque, N.M., was a major partner in this initiative.

-- Chain saw and debris removal ministries started the first week of Katrina's impact, with Long Beach members guiding volunteer groups to their ministry sites, since street signs and other landmarks were gone. Mudout and gutting of homes started about a month later.

"We didn't even think about rebuilding the church for nearly a year," Stephens said. First Baptist initially met for worship services at an elementary school; now it meets at a middle school. "When we did start talking about rebuilding, it dawned on me that when you're involved in meaningful ministry – connecting with people at their point of need -– you really don't think about yourself or your need.

"Through Southern Baptists' amazing spirit of cooperation, people from all over the country helped us meet peoples' needs here," Stephens said. "We've been overwhelmed by all the volunteers we've had."

To this day, First Long Beach continues to coordinate housing for construction mission teams. More teams still are needed, Stephens added.

The church bought a 17-acre site a bit further off the shoreline, and its new 60,000-square-foot facility, with worship center seating for about 720 in multi-purpose space, is slated to open in July.

"Our regular church schedule has been pretty heavily impacted," the pastor said. "We are able to be at the school only Sunday mornings. No Sunday evening. No Wednesday evening," except for mission programs for elementary students -– RAs and GAs -– and choirs during the week.

Members meet in homes for three midweek Bible studies. The youth meet in a local office suite. First Baptist had a morning weekday preschool before Katrina, which now has grown into a full-day daycare in seven modular buildings for about 170 youngsters.

About 400 people now attend Sunday morning worship, but "there are some people who cannot sit in metal chairs or on bleachers, so it's hard to say how many we've actually lost," Stephens said. "I think we don't want to stop and count. We had a number of people who lost their homes, but no deaths."

Despite their losses, and the tremendous needs in Long Beach and the Mississippi Gulf Coast, First Baptist continued its five-year partnership with First Baptist Church in the port city of Bath, Maine, and is developing a three-year partnership with First Baptist Church in Aberdeen, Md., a Southern Baptist church directly outside a military base expected to triple in size over the next few years as other bases around the nation are decommissioned.

"The church in Bath had only been Southern Baptist for six months when we began our partnership," Stephens said. "They were disbanding as a North American Baptist church and decided to give it one more try with the SBC. For the last five years we have sent mission teams, construction teams to remodel their facilities, as well as Vacation Bible School and leadership training."

The new partnership in Maryland builds on a mutual military connection. A Navy construction battalion, the Seabees, is located near Long Beach, while Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Miss., is about 15 miles away. Many military families live in Long Beach because of the highly regarded public school system.

"We feel strongly about our involvement with military families," Stephens said. "We have been intentional in our ministry to the Seabees, especially, during the last 11 years."

When Katrina careened through the area, Calvary Baptist Church in Bel Air, Md., became one of First Long Beach's partnership churches. The person responsible for coordinating Calvary's eight mission trips to the Mississippi Gulf Coast was Mike Karmann, a deacon and Bible study leader who recently was called as pastor of First Baptist in Aberdeen.

"We feel this &#91;partnership with First Aberdeen&#93; is a significant opportunity for us," Stephens said. "Mike has led teams here to restore homes and make families whole again. How can we not go up there and help Mike rebuild their facilities, provide leadership training, backyard Bible clubs, and Vacation Bible School? We feel compelled to help that congregation connect with military families there."

In addition to the 10 percent of undesignated funds allocated for the SBC's Cooperative Program and 3 percent for the work of the Gulf Coast Baptist Association, the Long Beach congregation also budgets for a jail ministry, seamen and truckers ministry, ministry to Vietnamese nationals who have immigrated to the Gulf Coast and Baptist Collegiate Ministry on two local campuses.

"We're very involved in missions; we're committed to not becoming ingrown," Stephens said. "We want to be an Acts 1:8 Great Commission church in practice. All of us &#91;in the SBC&#93; are, in theory, but we really want to be a church involved continuously in reaching out locally, in our Jerusalem, and in our Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth."

Currently, the church's biggest challenge is "to avoid debt in our efforts to provide the ministry facilities and furnishings to carry on the ministries that are available to us right now," Stephens said. "We have a $4 million shortfall &#91;because of the building construction&#93; and there is no way we can service a $4 million debt without adversely impacting our ability to continue all our ministries at the present level of engagement and to seize other opportunities as they present themselves.

"So many of the partnership churches have moved on in other directions, and yet the magnitude of need in the families of the community is still very great," Stephens continued. "We have need of a Christian counseling service here and we're trying to generate enough capital to start one because families are falling apart. The emotional, psychological and spiritual needs are at crisis level now -– as great today as right after the storm, if not more so."

Other needs expressed by church leaders: a piano for choir rehearsals, organ, classroom tables and chairs, sound equipment for the children and youth areas, additional lighting, puppets and related staging, a third octave of handbells, teacher preparation materials for the church library, commentaries and computers for tutoring.

"We could use Christian inspirational reading but if we had to pick and choose, our goal is to reach and preach the Word of God," Stephens said. "To communicate that to our people and our teachers, we need to assist with their Bible study materials because they lost it in their homes, too.

"God has faithfully provided everything we have needed at each stage of our ministry since Katrina -– and before," the pastor continued. "We're trusting Him to continue to do what He has done, as we have been obedient and even eager to serve in His Kingdom agenda in Long Beach and across the world."
--30--
Karen L. Willoughby is managing editor of the Baptist Message, newsjournal of the Louisiana Baptist Convention.


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CP: 2.39% ahead of 2007 pace
by Staff
Date: April 01, 2008 - Tuesday

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Year-to-date contributions through the Southern Baptist Convention's Cooperative Program are 2.39 percent ahead of the same time frame in March 2007, according to a news release from SBC Executive Committee President and Chief Executive Officer Morris H. Chapman.

As of March 31, the year-to-date total of $104,513,493.00 for Cooperative Program (CP) missions is $2,436,847.88 ahead of the $102,076,645.12 received at the same point in 2007. For the month, receipts of $16,338,497.78 were 8.99 percent, or $1,347,404.51, ahead of the $14,991,093.51 received in March 2007.

Designated giving of $128,643,986.15 for the same year-to-date period is 9.59 percent, or $11,253,431.00, above gifts of $117,930,555.15 received at this point last year. The $29,316,094.41 in designated gifts received last month is $5,392,370.00 above the $23,923,724.41 received in March 2007, an increase of 22.54 percent.

For the SBC Cooperative Program Allocation Budget, the year-to-date total of $104,513,493.00 is 104.20 percent of the $100,300,768.15 budgeted to support Southern Baptist ministries globally and across North America. The SBC operates on an Oct. 1-Sept. 30 fiscal year.

During the last fiscal year Southern Baptists surpassed for the first time the $400 million mark in combined Cooperative Program and designated giving. Gifts through the Cooperative Program by SBC churches reached $205.7 million during the fiscal year spanning Oct. 1, 2006, to Sept. 30, 2007, while designated gifts, including the SBC's missions offerings, topped $204.9 million. CP gifts increased 2.55 percent during the year while designated gifts increased 7.09 percent.

The Cooperative Program is Southern Baptists' method of supporting missions and ministry efforts of state conventions and the Southern Baptist Convention.

The Cooperative Program total includes receipts from individuals, churches, state conventions and fellowships for distribution according to the 2007-08 Cooperative Program Allocation Budget.

Designated contributions include the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions, the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions, Southern Baptist World Hunger Fund and other special gifts.

State and regional conventions retain a portion of church contributions to the Southern Baptist Convention Cooperative Program to support work in their respective areas and forward a percentage to Southern Baptist national and international causes. The percentage of distribution is at the discretion of each state or regional convention.
--30--
Compiled by Baptist Press editor Art Toalston.


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Copeland, Dollar fail to meet deadline
by Staff
Date: April 01, 2008 - Tuesday

WASHINGTON (BP)--Two television ministries still are refusing to comply fully with a U.S. Senate committee's probe into their financial records.

Televangelists Kenneth Copeland and Creflo Dollar failed to provide the requested information by the March 31 deadline, according to a written release from Sen. Charles Grassley, R.-Iowa, the minority leader on the Finance Committee. Sen. Max Baucus, D.-Mont., the committee's chairman, and Grassley had asked Copeland and Dollar, plus fellow televangelist Eddie Long, to submit the documentation they are seeking by the end of March.

Long and three other televangelists have either complied, have begun doing so or have committed to fulfill the request, the written release from Grassley said. According to the release:

-- Long will provide information April 15, his ministry reported.

-- Randy and Paula White have shipped their initial set of answers, a lawyer said March 28.

-- Benny Hinn submitted a second collection of documents March 28.

-- Joyce Meyer has fulfilled the request.

Grassley said he would continue his dialogue with the ministries of Copeland and Dollar. 

Copeland said his ministry provided 23 pages of answers to questions and 291 pages of supporting material in response to Grassley's initial request in November, but Baucus and Grassley said March 12 the information was "incomplete." Dollar has not produced any of the material requested by the senators.

"It's good to see the majority of the ministries offering information," Grassley said in the March 31 release. "They receive generous tax breaks as non-profit organizations. In general, the federal Treasury forgoes billions of tax dollars a year to tax-exempt groups. The ministries' sharing of material with the Senate committee in charge of tax policy shows an interest in accountability for their special tax status."

All the televangelists targeted by the committee are identified with the "word of faith" movement, Copeland said on his ministry's website, adding that the inquiry "raises significant concerns" as to whether religious beliefs are being targeted. "Word of faith" teaching often consists of a so-called "prosperity gospel" that promises physical and financial blessings for believers in Christ. Accusations of contributions being used to support lavish lifestyles have been leveled against at least some of the televangelists.

Grassley initially requested information from the six ministries in a Nov. 5 letter. He asked them to provide their personal and ministry related financial records, including credit card statements, expenses for secondary residences used by the televangelists, gifts given by the ministries and lists of private automobiles. Grassley's questions were based on accounts from watchdog organizations and whistleblowers, as well as investigative news reports, the senator said.

Baucus and Grassley sent a joint letter to Copeland, Dollar and Long -– the three who had yet to say they would comply -- March 11, long after Grassley's original Dec. 6 deadline had passed. Baucus and Grassley expressed hope at that time the committee would receive the documents "without resorting to compulsory process," an apparent reference to the possibility of subpoenas.

The Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (ECFA) welcomed the increased cooperation by the televangelists. 

"Financial transparency is the cornerstone of financial integrity for nonprofits," ECFA President Ken Behr said in a written statement. While he appreciates the religious freedom concerns expressed by some, Behr said he believes ministries that comply with current regulations "actually improve donor confidence in our religious charities."

None of the six ministries is a member of the ECFA.

In early December the National Religious Broadcasters expressed concern about Grassley's investigation, even though none of the ministries belongs to NRB. NRB President Frank Wright said in a letter to Grassley he was worried about the "broader implications," saying the senator's letter "goes far beyond a mere request for financial records necessary to scrutinize the charitable nature of &#91;an&#93; organization's operations."

The names of the televangelists and their ministries, plus the locations of their headquarters, are: Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Copeland Ministries, Newark Texas; Creflo Dollar, World Changers Church International, College Park, Ga.; Eddie Long, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, Lithonia, Ga.; Joyce Meyer, Joyce Meyer Ministries, Fenton, Mo.; Benny Hinn, Benny Hinn Ministries, Grapevine, Texas, and Randy and Paula White, Without Walls International Church and Paula White Ministries, Tampa, Fla.

The Whites announced in August they are divorcing.
--30--
Compiled by Tom Strode, Washington bureau chief of Baptist Press.


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Author debunks 'prosperity gospel' myth
by Erin Roach
Date: April 01, 2008 - Tuesday

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--God does not reward those who earnestly seek rewards, He rewards those who earnestly seek Him, author John Revell writes in a new book titled "Getting the Most from God (but not how you might think!)," which uses Scripture to debunk the prosperity gospel often preached by popular televangelists.

"I've concluded that regardless of what one believes about the appropriateness of the current congressional investigation of certain televangelists, there is no doubt that there are some unscrupulous individuals who are making outrageous claims and getting filthy rich by duping unsuspecting victims -- all in the name of Christ," Revell told Baptist Press. "Christians need to know the truth about what it really means to be blessed by God."

Revell, editor of SBC Life, the journal of the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee, was inspired to write the book after a few teenage boys in a discipleship group he leads pulled a prank and placed his name on the mailing list of a televangelist.

"Over the next 18 months, I received some of the most bizarre correspondence ever sent in the name of Christ," Revell said. "This man claimed that God had given him specific visions concerning me and my particular situation, and he promised all manner of physical and financial 'blessings' if I would only follow his outlandish instructions -- and send him money."

In response to the letters, Revell studied what God's Word really says about blessings, and he compiled what he learned into a lesson plan for his Sunday School class and Wednesday night Bible study.

Realizing a need in a larger audience, Revell developed the material into a self-published book aimed at three specific groups of people: those who have been deceived by the prosperity gospel, Christians who are young in the faith and those who don't know Jesus as Savior.

"The book makes the case from Scripture that God truly desires to richly bless His children, but that His blessings often do not take the shape we might expect and that these blessings are conditional," Revell explained. "It examines two passages from the Psalms and two from the Gospels, and demonstrates that God's richest blessings are directly related to our walk with, and our total surrender and submission to Him.

"That is not what we are hearing from some popular 'health and wealth' evangelists, and it is not a very popular notion these days," he said.

Revell hopes the book will be used by local churches to teach members the fundamental truths about a vital, daily walk with God and the resulting blessings. Portions of the book, he said, underscore the essentials of daily Bible study and prayer while others focus on the need to surrender each aspect of life to God. 

Another goal, Revell said, is for believers to use the book as an evangelistic tool, distributing it to people who have not placed their faith in Jesus and are perhaps baffled by the messages they hear from purveyors of the prosperity gospel on television.

"I have made it as affordable as possible with the hopes that it would get into as many hands as possible," Revell said, noting the book is available at LifeWay Christian Stores for $3.99 per copy. "At this price, churches, and even individuals, could afford to buy multiple copies and distribute them freely."

The 100-page book is written in an easy-to-read style, he said, and soon he'll post free Bible study outlines as well as outlines for evangelistic book clubs at www.GinoskoPublishing.com.

In the book, Revell refers to Hebrews 11:6, which says "anyone who comes to &#91;God&#93; must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him."

"Ultimately, He is the reward -- when we seek Him, we are overwhelmed with the incredible riches and blessings of who He is and of fellowship with Him," Revell writes.

"... The richest blessings in life are directly and inseparably linked to a relationship with Him -- a relationship in which we surrender all that we are and all that we have to Him and walk in humble submission to and with Him. Yet, as we surrender and submit to Him in this relationship, He lavishes us with the glorious blessings of His love."
--30--
Erin Roach is a staff writer for Baptist Press.


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Perkins: Evangelicals facing new issues
by Katherine Kipp
Date: April 01, 2008 - Tuesday

WASHINGTON (BP)--Conservative evangelical Christians continue to influence government policies, but they also are facing the challenge of responding to additional issues, pro-family leaders said in a National Press Club panel discussion.

Speaking on whether religious conservatives have lost their clout, Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, said they have not.

"Religious right and evangelical, social conservatives are having a pronounced impact on the shaping of the policy in this country," he said. "I think evangelical, Bible-believing Christians who are concerned about their community and their country have always had a broad perspective of the issues.

"It's just that the issues are changing, and &#91;evangelicals&#93; are working through trying to come up with responses to those issues," Perkins said.

Those issues include the "value of life, immigration, poverty and justice, racial reconciliation, religious liberties, rebuilding the family, the environment and global warming," said Harry Jackson, chairman of the High Impact Leadership Coalition and senior pastor of Hope Christian Church in Lanham, Md.

Jackson and Perkins were joined in the panel discussion by Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, and Jim Wallis, president of Sojourners. The March 12 exchange focused on ideas in a new book coauthored by Jackson and Perkins, "Private Faith, Public Policy."

"Historically, the white-led evangelical church in America has been focused on righteousness issues —- issues that deal with same-sex marriage, abortion and have a lot to do with our personal relationship with God," Jackson said. "The black-led church in America has oftentimes been occupied with justice issues -- the fact that poverty and other issues ... concern us and we've had to fight our way through over the last centuries in being equally understood. But, it looks like both of these parties have been polarized. My point was righteousness and justice, the Bible says, are the foundation of God's throne."

Jackson said the evangelical community's priorities entail more than "just a push for public policy. There is great depth in personal commitment and involvement in trying to solve these issues. We should continue, we should do more, but we should not be afraid to talk about it."

Rodriguez said he believes a demographic shift is taking place in the evangelical world. He calls it "browning" -- a move away from evangelicalism as a predominantly white movement to a community encompassing more Hispanics and African Americans.

In continuing to work with the religious right and public policy, Rodriguez said, "We want to be able to prophetically address both parties, and not from a driven social, political worldview but from a biblical worldview. That's where I believe the agenda is going to shift. I believe the future of American evangelicalism will not be left or right, but will be centered."

Wallis, emphasizing the importance of evangelicals in this election year, said, "Red and blue, left and right are not biblical categories; they are political ones, and religious people don't easily fit the labels, nor should we. Nor should we be squeezed into them… God is not a Republican or Democrat, and people of faith should be in the pocket of no political party."

Poverty has not become a main concern of the religious right, Wallis said, but it along with environmental issues should be added to "same-sex marriage" and abortion, two major concerns of the church for years. Wallis said he struggles to understand why the religious left is more concerned with health care and jobs than the religious right.

Perkins, who has attempted to gain passage of federal legislation to change abortion and health care laws, noted, "The founders had a priority when they put in the preamble in the Declaration &#91;of Independence that&#93; we're endowed by our Creator with certain rights, among them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. They put life first. Obviously if we don't have life, nothing else matters."
--30--
Katherine Kipp is an intern in the Washington bureau of Baptist Press.


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Store manager's heart: Customer service
by Jenny Rice
Date: April 01, 2008 - Tuesday

MACON, Ga. (BP)--Serving at the LifeWay Christian Store in Macon, Ga., is a family tradition for Daren DuBose, who has been named as the chain's 2007 manager of the year.

DuBose began working at the Macon location 17 years ago as a high school student. His sister, then a LifeWay store employee, recommended him for the job.

DuBose's mother Helen was a long-term LifeWay store employee. While Daren was managing a store in North Carolina, Helen served as store manager for the Macon location, retiring after two years. Even his wife Laura worked for a brief time as a store associate.

LifeWay Christian Stores -– encompassing 146 stores operated by LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention -– selects the manager of the year based on financial criteria, customer feedback, professional accomplishments and contributions to LifeWay as an organization.

Regional director Zach Lang said, "I can't think of a more deserving person for this award than Daren DuBose. When Daren applied for the management training program in 1996, he wrote: 'I am confident that I have chosen the career God wants for me, and it is my personal vision to be the best Christian retail manager, surpassing company, customer and employee expectations.' Daren, your personal vision has indeed become a reality."

Beyond his store's success, DuBose said he hates the limelight and prefers to focus on his heart for ministry to customers.

"At LifeWay, our customer service sets us apart as well as what we believe," DuBose said. "We stand on what we believe and make no qualms about it."

When interacting with customers, DuBose encourages store employees to keep an eternal perspective. "I always tell my staff, 'You never know when you impact someone.' For some, we are impacting their eternal security....

"We at LifeWay are seed planters and sometimes we are like pastors, moving people to the next level of their faith," DuBose said. With regard to the store's service to pastors, he noted, "It's important for us to have good reference materials because we have pastors come in, too, and they are the ones that need encouragement and resources because they are preaching and teaching others." 

Store associate Lee Schurter said, "What most impresses me about Daren is that he remembers why we are here and he reminds us, too -– we are here for the Lord and for His namesake," Schurter said.

DuBose's humility carries over into his management style. "Never consider yourself top dog," he said. "The award is not about me. I'm honored and humbled because my staff deserves this award more than I do. I may be the manager, but they are my face to the customers. I couldn't do this without them. Your staff is what makes you."
--30—-
Jenny Rice is a corporate communications specialist with LifeWay Christian Resources.


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Where does God want you?
by Keith Manuel
Date: April 01, 2008 - Tuesday

ALEXANDRIA, La. (BP)--When you are in the center of God's will, you are in the middle of action. Even when you are waiting on the will of God for a specific situation, it is still action packed.

Recently, I met Bobby Watkins, a member of Bethel Baptist Church in Jennings, La. One of his first comments to me was, "I'm just an old man who loves Jesus." 

God placed a ministry on Bobby's heart. Bobby calls it his "Gazebo Ministry." Others might call it fishing, but Bobby turned his passion for fishing into an activity for the Lord. 

On most Fridays, you can find Bobby at the first gazebo by the Lake Charles (La.) Civic Center. He brings rods, reels and bait for anyone who wants to fish. He puts his Bible on the picnic bench and then begins to attract customers.

"With their parents' permission, I let all the little children playing on the playground next to the gazebo use my equipment to catch fish," Bobby said. "Then I get the opportunity to share Jesus with them and their parents."

Finding ways to share the Gospel doesn't have to be difficult or forced. It can be as natural as identifying your passions and then doing them with people who don't know Jesus.

According to LifeWay Research, 78 percent of people who are uncommitted to Christ would enjoy an honest conversation with a friend about religious or spiritual matters. By the same percentage in the study, people say they would be willing to listen to someone they don't know share his or her beliefs about Christianity. Both percentages are amazing.

I spoke to a friend, Mike Landrum, by phone recently. He asked if I knew an innovative pastor for his church in Mississippi. The church is on the outskirts of a growing, college community.

I remembered the church as a rural, small church and asked about its current condition. He said the church had great potential. Many young adults are moving into the area and the church sits in the center of the new growth.

Mike told me why he, his wife and four children attended this smaller congregation when larger churches were 15 minutes up the road. He tried the larger churches but just couldn't get plugged in. His work, as the vice-president of a growing financial services company, keeps him busy. He realized he was more likely to attend the smaller church because it was just a minute or two up the road.

"I know God has put Amy and me here for a reason," he said. "This is where I'm supposed to serve."

It was then that Mike began to share his heart. "I look around our church and we are missing older men," he said. "We are reaching young to median adults, like us. But, the husbands of our older ladies don't come."

We talked about activities those particular men liked to do. If the church would connect this group of disengaged men with activities they want to do, the potential exists for these men to surrender their lives to Christ. At the very least, this group will hear the Gospel.

The center of God's will is a place of action. Turn your passions over to Christ. You might be surprised to find that ministry can be a whole lot of fun.
--30--
Keith Manuel is an evangelism associate on the Louisiana Baptist Convention's evangelism & church growth team.



