The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-11/06/2014 DISCLAIMER: Baptist Press should be credited for any reprinted stories that originate with BP. Suggested credit line: Reprinted from Baptist Press (www.baptistpress.com), news service of the Southern Baptist Convention. Please note that Baptist Press periodically carries stories from other sources by permission. Individuals interested in reprinting non-BP stories should contact the entity where the story originated to seek reprint permission. -------------------------------------------------------------------- NOBTS conf.: Seek fresh move of God by Frank Michael McCormack Date: November 06, 2014 - Thursday NEW ORLEANS (BP) -- Three Southern Baptist leaders, in a "Prayer Summit for Spiritual Awakening" at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, challenged pastors-in-training to seek a fresh movement of God and lead their congregations to experience the same. Ronnie Floyd, president of the Southern Baptist Convention and pastor of Cross Church in northwest Arkansas, opened the prayer summit in New Orleans Seminary's Leavell Chapel, preaching from Isaiah 63-64. "In the book of Isaiah, there was a situation in chapters 63 and 64 much like what we see in our culture today," Floyd said. "People are realizing 'we can't fix ourselves.'" In Isaiah's time, Floyd said, the people had wandered from God much like the American church has wandered from God. In his day, Isaiah called the nation to a great awakening, a return to God. The United States, he said, needs the same today. "The number one need in America today is the church of Jesus Christ to wake up and experience a mighty manifestation of the Holy Spirit of God," Floyd said. As SBC president, Floyd is leading a Join the Movement call to prayer, urging people to join in prayer for a great awakening in America and for the effort to reach the world for Christ as well as a commitment by Southern Baptists to gather in Columbus, Ohio, for the annual convention meeting there, June 16-17, 2015. After the Oct. 30 chapel hour at NOBTS, Floyd teamed up with local pastor and former SBC president Fred Luter and the current president of the Louisiana Baptist Convention, Lafayette pastor Steve Horn, for a question-and-answer luncheon and time of guided prayer with NOBTS students along with faculty and staff and people from the surrounding community. NOBTS President Chuck Kelley, who emceed the luncheon, asked Floyd, Luter and Horn to describe three steps or places to start in seeking to experience an awakening or new work of God in their ministry setting. Luter answered first, focusing on the issue of faithfulness. "Number one, be faithful to God," Luter said. "God called you. Your mama didn't call you. Your daddy didn't call you. Your mama didn't, daddy didn't, your friends didn't. Be faithful to God." Hard times and difficult situations and temptations can lead pastors to consider leaving ministry, Luter said. "But if God has called you, you're not going anywhere," he said. Second, Luter said to be faithful to family. "I cannot stress this enough. Never put the church before your family," he said. "I would not be where I am today if it had not been for the prayers and support of the love of my life, the apple of my eye, my prime rib, my good thing, my wife, Elizabeth. "When I was going through that really tough time following Hurricane Katrina, she was the one who prayed for me, that encouraged me, that said, 'Baby, we're going to get through this thing,'" he recounted. Third, Luter said to be faithful "to the church you're serving." "Don't go to a church with a resume in your back pocket, with the understanding of 'I'm just going to put this church on my resume before I go on to something bigger and better,'" he said. Luter said when he went to Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in the late 1980s the church had 50 members and he was paid $150 a week. But he was faithful to where God had called him; nearly 30 years later, Franklin Avenue is a thriving community of faith. Luter said when he reflects on his ministry thus far, which includes pastoring one of the largest churches in Louisiana and serving two years as president of the Convention, it all has hinged on faithfulness. "I contribute it to one thing: faithfulness. I've been faithful to God, faithful to my family, faithful to my church," he said. During a short Q&A time, one member of the audience asked Luter how he is able to personally identify God's will for his life. "Very, very easy question. I ask my wife," Luter said to roaring applause. Luter explained: "Deacons will tell you what you want to hear. Church leaders will tell you what you want to hear. But your wife -- or for those who are single, an accountability partner -- should be able to look you in the eyes and tell you the truth." Horn, then, offered three ideas for where ministers can start in seeking a fresh work of God in their churches. "I'm going to use that word 'start.' You've got to start where you are," Horn said. Horn told about how, when he went to First Baptist Lafayette, he was careful not to implement too much in that first year. He said he used a football analogy with church leaders. "I said, 'We're gonna run it up the middle. And after we've run it up the middle for about a year, we're gonna throw one deep,'" he recalled. Secondly, Horn said ministers should model what they want their churches to do. If it's fasting, lead by example. If it's evangelism, take the lead on that. "We can't ask our folks to do something we're not willing to do," he said. Third, Horn recommended teaching some form of evangelism strategy. At his church, members are trained in the FAITH strategy. "It doesn't have to be FAITH, but I would teach some form of evangelism strategy to help people learn how to share their faith," Horn said. Floyd closed the Q&A time, noting the starting points from an e-book he's about to release to Southern Baptists on the same subject. "If I want a fresh work of God, think about these words: sunset, sunrise. Challenge your people to, either at sunset on Saturday or sunrise on Sunday morning, pray for a mighty anointing of the Holy Spirit upon their pastor, their church and the worship service that day," Floyd said. Second, he said he would challenge pastors to take a month between January and May 2015 and preach on the following subjects: repentance, prayer, fasting, revival, awakening and fulfilling the Great Commission. "Imagine what would happen if only 500 of our churches did that. Just think what would happen if 10,000 of the 40,000 did that," he said. Floyd's third suggestion for pursuing a fresh work of God dealt exclusively with prayer. "Pick a Sunday morning and turn the Sunday worship service to a total service committed to prayer," he said. "That would be unique in today's church. … Praying doesn't happen in most churches, it really doesn't. "You say, 'Well if I announce a prayer meeting for Sunday morning, no one's gonna come.' That's why you don't tell them," Floyd said, to laughter and applause. Floyd closed the prayer summit with a guided time of prayer. People gathered in small groups to pray for a spiritual awakening in the New Orleans area, in Louisiana and the United States. Floyd guided the crowd to quote Scripture aloud and to verbally pray for the lost around the world by means of quoting the Great Commission passages. To join the movement, click here or visit RonnieFloyd.com. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Travel risks prompt Baptists to improve training by Shawn Hendricks Date: November 06, 2014 - Thursday NASHVILLE (BP) -- Reggie Quimby thought he and his fellow mission team members were safe. In the company of local guides and a caravan of vehicles, they traveled at night on a rural road in Guatemala. While there was some risk involved with this particular road after sunset, Quimby believed the odds of something bad happening were too small. A group of bandits with AK-47s, however, blocked their path with rocks, forced them to pull over and robbed them. No one was harmed that night several years ago. But Quimby, global missions director for the Alabama Baptist Convention, was reminded that a crime can happen when it's least expected. "... People get comfortable and let their guard down...," he said. "We had been there. We had traveled on these roads.... [We thought] if we traveled together ... that risk would go away. Well, obviously it did not." As the ISIS terrorist group and Ebola scare continue to make headlines, the Alabama convention and other Baptist organizations are continuing to assess the growing risks involved with overseas travel. Many of them have turned to an organization based in Pinehurst, Idaho, called Fort Sherman Academy. Its president, David Dose, is a former Department of Defense consultant and instructor who has helped train government, corporate and faith-based groups how to handle travel risks for the past 17 years. The group is one of the largest -- if not the largest -- providers in the United States of travel security courses, crime survival training and crisis management. Dose and his team have interviewed numerous survivors of overseas crime looking for ways these situations could have been avoided. Among those survivors is Gracia Burnham. She and her husband Martin, who were missionaries to the Philippines, were taken hostage by Muslim extremists in 2001 and held in captivity for more than a year before Gracia was rescued. Martin lost his life when he got caught in the crossfire of a gun battle that broke out during the rescue. "During my time in this work, the Burnham case particularly touched me, and I've been privileged to work with Gracia some since," Dose said. "... I saw opportunities where probably using existing knowledge we could have helped some people avoid, survive or better survive and encourage folks...." Fort Sherman currently works with about 200 clients. Included in that list is the Southern Baptist International Mission Board, nine Baptist state conventions and numerous churches. The group works with organizations from other denominations as well. Fort Sherman has a team of about 50 full-time, part-time and contract workers and its Idaho headquarters also includes a 40-acre guest facility. Helping better equip faith-based groups for overseas ministry is what motivated Dose and his wife Elizabeth to start Fort Sherman. "My wife and I made the decision that probably a lot of missionaries and their families have made -- to throw everything in the basket. We started our own company with a major focus on ... faith-based [groups].... I find enjoyment in that audience. I find purpose in their purpose ... and so we did like everybody else [with] our finances and future plans and cashed those things in and started this little organization." And the "little" organization has grown. Since it began more than 10 years ago, Fort Sherman has trained about 42,000 long- and short-term mission workers as well as corporate and humanitarian workers. Fort Sherman specializes in providing different levels of training -- including Web-based training -- on how to handle various types of crisis situations overseas. It also provides a 24-hour service for clients to call if they need assistance. Some of those situations may include: -- What to do if someone on a mission team gets sick overseas, needs immediate medical care and is unable to travel back to the States. -- Calling for help if you or a team member is robbed and your wallet and passport have been taken. -- What to do if an unexpected natural disaster hits the area you're traveling in and derails travel back to the United States for several days. -- How to handle a team member being detained by an overseas government for several days. Dose said an "upsurge" of interest is developing among faith-based groups as evangelical groups and organizations send more teams into high-risk areas. "This is just one more tool," Dose said, "... to focus on the basics of avoiding crime, surviving crime, being organized in advance for avoiding those things and even having a crisis plan in place if something goes wrong -- whether it's a volcano interrupts travel ... or somebody stops me at a border." Dose says travelers need to realize that finding a "safe place" to travel is becoming increasingly difficult. "... I'll get the guy who says, 'Oh we don't have a problem. We go to the same place every year,'" said Dose, noting he read a U.S. State Department report showing that crime has increased by nearly 15 percent worldwide. "Yeah, but if crime is going up every year and you're doing the same thing you always did, eventually someone might fall victim. We're trying to prep them for that." Days of 'winging it' are gone And sometimes unexpected challenges can arise before a mission team even arrives at their destination. As airport authorities continue to crack down on a variety of criminal activity -- drug and sex trafficking, terrorism -- more mission teams are being detained in airports everywhere, Dose said. Teams often don't plan ahead for handling unexpected questions in an airport, he said. Travelers need to be able to better articulate why they are traveling to a country and what they plan to do while they are there. "They throw out the good ol', 'I'm just an American tourist' and that doesn't work anymore," he said, noting that some travelers have used "American tourist" when traveling to a war-torn country to help with relief work. "... Winging it doesn't help because security has changed." Dose said those types of mistakes can get expensive if a team member is detained. In some situations, organizations can spend anywhere from $10,000 to more than $50,000 in fees and legal expenses triggered by issues with overseas governments. "I've seen up to $100,000 in a month," Dose said. "... That's a lot of money that would have gone to next year's mission trip." Quimby, Alabama Baptists' global mission director, said stewardship was a major part of the decision for the state's convention to develop an ongoing partnership with Fort Sherman. He described the training they've received in developing crisis management strategies as a way of "protecting ministry, protecting our future ministry and helping our churches to protect their ministry." "... We're seeing that if we ... do the training and we invest up front, then we may not have to pay those big expenses ... because we have been trying to do things correctly," he said. Ken Rhodes, director of missions mobilization for the Mississippi Baptist Convention, said they require mission teams and personnel who work with them to go through at least a basic level of training from Fort Sherman -- which can involve an eight-hour course. "... In Mississippi we are really pressing the boundaries to send people to some of the harder ... places to get to in the world," Rhodes said. "We have trained right around 2,000 people at this point." In addition to the general risks involved with overseas travel, Rhodes said there also are liability issues to consider. Organizations should be prepared to resolve conflicts that could surface between them and the family members of those involved in an unexpected crisis, he said. "We send husbands of unbelieving wives ... we send students whose parents are unbelievers and they do not understand what is happening," Rhodes said. "So I think that is a huge liability when you're sending family members who are from families who are not supportive and may not even be believers...." More and more Baptist colleges and universities also are working with Fort Sherman to train students planning to study abroad or participate in mission trips. Cynthia Jayne, associate provost for intercultural and international studies at Union University, noted, "... We decided that it really didn't matter where students were going. [Students] had the potential to get themselves into really serious difficulties if they didn't understand some of the basic things." With a total enrollment of more than 4,000 students on its main campus, satellite campuses and students utilizing their online programs, the university sends about 250-300 students overseas annually for academic programs and about 200-300 overseas for mission projects. Jayne said the university continues to push its leadership to be more prepared when working with students overseas. "The bottom line is, If you're in charge of this group you'd better have more information than they have to be able to make decisions," she said. "... Our faculty [is] now asking questions about assessing the risk of what they are doing in ways that help them think through how they're going to put the trip together." The training also has helped them prepare to better handle potential crisis situations on campus. Last February, Baptist Press reported that a Union University student had been charged with first-degree murder in the shooting death of another student on its campus in Jackson, Tenn. "It raised a lot of other questions for us about ... preparing our students to deal with many kinds of life situations," Jayne said. The campus is now working with Fort Sherman to provide online training to freshmen this year, Jayne said. "Ultimately our goal is to have every student have that basic online ... training," Jayne said. "... You can fence in. You can lock the gates. You can do all of those things but if the students themselves don't understand how to protect themselves, it isn't gonna help." For more information about Fort Sherman and the training they provide, contact them at 888-211-8674 or info@fortsherman.org. -------------------------------------------------------------------- MISSIONARY PERSPECTIVE: Why I love Ukraine by Tom Long Date: November 06, 2014 - Thursday DNEPROPETROVSK, Ukraine (BP) -- My love for Ukraine started more than 20 years ago. God first called me to the former Soviet Union in 1992, and I moved to Lugansk, Ukraine, in February 1994. In those early years, I saw lots of growth numerically in believers and church starts. Sure there were difficulties that included long lines to simply purchase bread. However, seeing people who lived under communism for 70 years stepping forward to live in Christ was worth every challenge encountered. After three years I returned to the United States to attend seminary, and eventually went back to Ukraine in September 2003 with the International Mission Board. Life had dramatically changed in the six years I was gone. Unfortunately, church growth was slowing in the midst of prosperity. Four years ago I moved to Donetsk in the heart of the industrial belt. Trying to plant churches in eastern Ukraine had always been difficult, but God blessed me with a group of young people who had the same desire. Last fall, we moved into a rented hall and were averaging 20 people in the worship service. We made plans to start new groups. But in February 2014, Ukraine's president left office. His departure set off a series of events that turned our world upside down and led me to leave Donetsk in April. War came to the city in late May and dispersed the church members to Russia and all over Ukraine. By mid-June I knew I would not be returning to Donetsk. I would go to Dnepropetrovsk instead. It would be my fifth move in 11 years -- a move I really didn't want to make, yet a move I knew I had to make. Since I left Donetsk, God has been teaching me much about loving Him with all my heart, soul, mind and strength and loving my neighbor as myself. What does it mean to love my neighbors? Surely God doesn't mean those neighbors who caused me to flee my apartment, my life, the city I loved. Or does being a Christ follower mean I must love even those neighbors? I've seen examples of several pastors loving these neighbors in the conflict zone. One brother shared with me that during the height of the war their church housed more than 70 people and fed many more. This pastor could be retired, yet he stayed and served others. He told me he couldn't leave; it was his duty to stay. Because the church's doors have been open, they have seen numerous people from the neighborhood repent. A second pastor and his family have stayed right in the midst of the war. Their church serves food to their neighbors. He drives outside the conflict zone so he can get money and food. His family, along with a few church members who stayed behind, prepares the meals for those who don't have any resources for purchasing food. Through this ministry, the church has seen people more interested in hearing the Gospel, and some have put their faith in Jesus. Another pastor recently challenged me to pray a list of Scriptures back to the Lord and to substitute my name for the pronouns. So as I sat in the park on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, I prayed John 13:34. A clear picture came to me of what the Lord intended in this verse. It doesn't matter where I live, whether in Texas, Donetsk or Dnepropetrovsk. If I am going to be His disciple, I must love. How you can connect During the height of the war during the summer, it was estimated that more than 1 million people were displaced from eastern Ukraine. Some have returned to their cities, but most are still displaced, and many are being helped by Baptist churches throughout Ukraine. IMB missionaries have partnered with Baptist churches to provide basic necessities for those displaced. Through Baptist Global Response, food, medicine and bedding are supplied. For more information on how you can help, go to http://gobgr.org. Or, go to https://netcommunity.imb.org/StrategicOpportunities; in the "Find Projects by keywords" search box, type "Rebirth" and you can find more information on how to help. -------------------------------------------------------------------- AT THE MOVIES: '40' & 'Redeemed' reminders of God's grace by Phil Boatwright Date: November 06, 2014 - Thursday KANSAS CITY, Kan. (BP) -- Dramatized precautionary tales for the Christian come at a cost, whether tackling the issue of abortion in the documentary "40," or adultery in "Redeemed." The pro-life documentary 40 examines the effects of abortion during the 40 years since Roe v. Wade. The film takes a straightforward stand and sends a warning to young women, making it clear that there is a subconscious price to pay for aborting a child. The documentary will no doubt have an effect on thousands of girls and women who have, until now, reasoned that they, not the unborn, are the only ones with civil rights. But what of the woman who has already undergone the procedure? How do these messages affect her? Too often we defenders of the unborn come across as unfeeling or unthinking in regard to those who followed through on that course of action. Abortion is sin, but it can be forgiven. The woman who condemns herself for the deed need only ask for God's forgiveness. If she does, she will find it. And one day, she will be reunited with her child in heaven. Anyone who suggests otherwise is just throwing stones. The movie Redeemed concerns a church-going businessman who has been married 20 years, but is tempted when he encounters a beautiful female associate. The movie is a potent, well-meaning warning that emphasizes how infidelity will haunt those with a conscience. Indeed, it is a film that should be seen by newlyweds and those getting ready to enter the 7-year-itch period. But for those who have already repented of adultery, the experience of seeing films that focus on this subject can rekindle the fires of guilt. Ever wish you could push a button and revisit a decision you made that defined your character? Have you pondered how it would change your world if you could just go back and alter that particular decision? We are reminded in Genesis that when Esau gave away his birthright for a bowl of soup, he later cried bitter tears over that bad judgment. His regret didn't change the outcome. The point of that story, at least one point, is that we have to live with bad decisions. These choices are generally made from selfishness, ego, lust, or just plain stupidity. As we grow spiritually, those undoable acts can haunt us. And no matter how often we ask God for forgiveness, we may be further frustrated by screen characters who make the right choices and avoid our mistakes. There is good news, which often takes a backseat in movie parables. Most biblical personalities, including Moses, David, Peter and Paul, had to live with their transgressions. Our biblical heroes underwent negative character-defining moments. Punished, and perhaps feeling tremendously unworthy due to their folly, each was still redeemed. They were loved by God and went on to serve our Heavenly Father. Does that mean King David never again thought about the man he had murdered, even after repenting and being renewed by God's embrace? Did he just blissfully go through the rest of his life never thinking about that past evil act? Maybe. But this raises one more question concerning our guilt. That is, even if we believe God has forgiven us, how can we forgive ourselves? To truly trust God means accepting that He can bring right out of our wrong. If we are forgiven, will our prayers for those we've wronged fall on deaf ears? Satan will try to convince us that God won't listen. That's when we must remember the importance of faith in our Heavenly Father, for nothing is more important in our relationship to Him than childlike trust. I include myself among those yet unable to completely accept absolution for past mistakes. We find little solace in films where the theme is more about not making the mistake than being forgiven for it. There is comfort in Romans 8:1: "Therefore, no condemnation now exists for those in Christ Jesus." Remember this the next time you're overcome by guilt. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Bible Study: November 9, 2014 by Staff/LifeWay Christian Resources Date: November 06, 2014 - Thursday NASHVILLE (BP) -- This weekly Bible study appears in Baptist Press in a partnership with LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. Through its Leadership and Adult Publishing team, LifeWay publishes Sunday School curricula and additional resources for all age groups. This week's Bible study is adapted from The YOU curriculum. Bible Passage: Acts 2:37-47 Discussion Questions: Why is unity in Christ an absolute necessity for the health of a church? When was the last time you joined other believers in prayer, expecting God to use you to spread the Gospel? Food for Thought: American Express used to run an ad campaign with the slogan, "Membership has its privileges." The idea was that there are some privileges in life you just can't get without an American Express credit card. It was a good ad campaign, too, because it made people want the card. Some people view the church with the same kind of consumer mentality. You know, join the club, get the benefits. But the privilege of church membership has far less to do with a great children's program and more to do with great community. It has less to do with business networking opportunities than it has to do with opportunities to serve other people. Church membership isn't like carrying a card that gets you stuff you like; church membership goes much deeper. People come to church with different sets of expectations regarding both what they want from church and what they will give to it. Today's lesson will help us examine the question, "What holds us together as a church?" and will drive home this one truth: Unity goes much deeper than being members of the same church. Sometimes when people are talking about a preacher and a great message he delivered, they say, "He brought it!" On the day of Pentecost, people could have said that about Peter; except they probably didn't, because everyone who heard that sermon was overcome by conviction and in awe of the power of the Holy Spirit. The sermon itself is recorded in verses 16-36. Verse 37 lets us know what happened when Peter finished. Peter didn't spend any time begging people to come forward. The truth of the Gospel compelled them on their own to do something about it. They were united in their need for forgiveness and salvation. What did they need to do? "Repent and be baptized." They needed to turn from their sin to faith in Jesus. In so doing, they would receive forgiveness for their sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. This is the same promise made to each of us. Here's the irony: there are many churches that would say they are united in Christ, but are not united in devotion. This is impossible. Faith in Jesus necessitates devotion to His purposes. The early Christians weren't just on the rolls. They were devoted to the leaders' teaching, to fellowship and breaking bread, and to prayer. These four practices give insight about the priority of unity in the church, because they all center on community. For those believers in Acts 2, church was literally awesome. The God-given result of their unity in devotion was that many signs and wonders were being performed. It wasn't because the apostles were super cool guys, either. Believers weren't devoted to the apostles' personalities, but their teaching. Since everyone was on the same page about what was important, how to spend their time and resources, and the meaning behind all of it, God used them to reveal Himself in unmistakable ways. Just like it is impossible to have true faith in Jesus without also being devoted to His purposes, it is impossible to have faith in Jesus without being devoted to His people. That's why Jesus said the command to love people is like the command to love God (Matt. 22:36-40). When those 3,000 people repented and turned to Jesus in faith, they also turned to each other. Every day they met together at the temple and in their homes. This isn't a call to communal living; they just shared their belongings and their food, and they were glad to do it. The last sentence of chapter 2 comes at the end for a reason. Numerical growth, in and of itself, wasn't the focus; it was the result. When the church is united in Christ, devotion and community, God uses that unity to draw people to Himself. The church grows, because people see the effects of the body of Christ at work, and the process comes full circle. Conviction happens, people repent, and they join in the unity of believers. Belonging to a church requires both unity and togetherness. To be God's church means we must remain in right relationship with God and also with one another. YOU Intentionally focused on African-American, urban and multicultural believers, YOU is biblically based with culturally relevant and affirming lessons to help people connect, grow, serve and ultimately be engaged in impacting the world for Christ. This flexible, non-dated, all-in-one quarterly resource offers weekly Bible study for leaders and learners, devotionals and teaching plans, as well as articles on hot topics and missions. For additional online teaching resources, visit LifeWay.com/YOU. Other ongoing Bible study options offered by LifeWay for all ages can be found at LifeWay.com/SundaySchool. -------------------------------------------------------------------- FIRST-PERSON: Fewer churches growing, more churches declining by Ronnie Floyd Date: November 06, 2014 - Thursday SPRINGDALE, Ark. (BP) -- From 1978-1983, 30.5 percent of churches in the Southern Baptist Convention were seeing at least a 10 percent increase in total membership over a five-year period of time. During this same time, 51.9 percent of our SBC churches were plateaued and 17.6 percent were in decline. Declining churches, as defined in this denominational study, are those where total membership declined by at least 10 percent in this five-year period of time. Plateaued is categorized as between growing and declining. When you compare that with the most recent five-year period of record from 2008-2013, only 25.9 percent of our churches were categorized as growing by at least 10 percent in total membership. During this same five-year period, 44.3 percent of our churches were plateaued and 29.9 percent were declining, meaning their total membership declined by at least 10 percent between 2008 and 2013. Again, plateaued is categorized as between growing and declining. This should burden each of us. You can see it clearly: As Ed Stetzer, executive director of LifeWay Research, put it: "In the years that this statistic has been calculated, we have never had fewer growing churches and never had more declining churches." I want to suggest four actions we can take to see this turn around over the next five years. 1. We need to refocus our churches on evangelizing lost people. We need to stop imagining that real church growth occurs when we trade members between our churches. Real church growth only occurs when we evangelize lost people. 2. We need to develop a strategy and culture of discipling people. Real church health can only occur as we disciple our people as Jesus said, "Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you." (Matthew 28:19b-20). Discipleship involves not only baptizing people, but teaching people to obey all that Jesus commanded us to do. Therefore, we need to develop not only a culture for disciple-making but also have a strategy for disciple-making in our churches. 3. We need to believe again that healthy churches grow. In our excuse-making American culture, the church has adopted this same disease of excuse-making. Most churches refuse to be honest with themselves in seriously evaluating their spiritual condition. Acts 16:5 says, "So the churches were strengthened in the faith and increased in number daily." Church health eventually leads to church growth. Excuse-making of any kind by any leader or church cannot ignore nor deny this biblical reality. 4. We need to experience the God Factor in our churches again. As recorded in Matthew 16:18, Jesus said, "I will build My church and the forces of Hades will not overpower it." Jesus is committed to building His church! This is the God Factor! I believe the God Factor occurs when we preach the Gospel, strategically reach lost people, and pray to the Lord of the Harvest who is committed to building His church in this world. Whether your church touches 35, 350 or 3,500 people a week, ask God to grow His church where you are. Develop a strategic plan to see the church grow. Lead the people to get it done by God's power and grace, for His glory alone! Ask God for His vision for the church you serve and implement it immediately. I believe with all my heart that God can move our Southern Baptist Convention churches into having more growing churches than ever before in our history. We need pastors to lead, church members to support, and together strategize to see your church become healthy spiritually and grow numerically for His glory. -------------------------------------------------------------------- N.Y. Baptists consider name change by Staff Date: November 06, 2014 - Thursday NANUET, N.Y. (BP) -- The Baptist Convention of New York could soon have a new name and a new location for its offices, messengers learned at the convention's 45th annual meeting Sept. 29-30 at Grace Baptist Church in Nanuet. Messenger Edwin Attaway of First Christian Church in Brushton, N.Y., moved that the BCNY's constitution be amended to change its name to the Great Commission Baptists of the Northeast, a name that would better reflect the presence of churches in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York. Messengers voted to refer the motion to the executive board for consideration at next year's annual meeting. Terry Robertson, BCNY executive director, noted the appropriateness of referring to the convention's 417 churches and 35,944 total members as "Great Commission Baptists" in keeping with the meeting's theme of "Until the World Knows." "Across this territory our churches are increasingly recognized and referred to as 'Great Commission Churches,'" Robertson said in his printed report. "I hope that in time we will prove more and more to be those who fulfill the Great Commission ... The churches of the Baptist Convention of New York should be known as Great Commission Baptists." The printed executive board report indicated that in September the board authorized Robertson to initiate the process of selling the BCNY office building in East Syracuse. Once an offer is made on the property, board authorization will be required to finalize the sale. The convention is considering office options in lieu of a centralized ministry hub. The credentials/enrollment committee reported 83 messengers and 39 guests for a total of 122, representing 53 churches. Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd preached a message titled "Know the Times" and invited messengers to attend the 2015 SBC annual meeting in Columbus, Ohio. Floyd also challenged churches to participate in a one-day evangelistic blitz Oct. 14. The convention adopted a 2015 budget of $1,846,750, an increase of 8.9 percent from the current year. Included in the 2015 budget: $717,000 in anticipated Cooperative Program giving from BCNY churches, for 39 percent of the budget. Among the convention's other sources of funding are the North American Mission Board and LifeWay Christian resources. The convention will continue to forward 25 percent of CP receipts -- $179,250 -- to the SBC's national and international missions and ministries. The budget includes no shared expenses with the SBC. Elected as the convention's 2014-15 officers were: president, Scott Gillette of Amherst Baptist Church in Amherst, N.Y.; vice president, Brian Robinson of Fillmore Community Church in Buffalo, N.Y.; recording secretary, Van McClain of Grace Community Chapel in Ballston Spa, N.Y.; assistant recording secretary, Matt Evans of New Life Baptist Church in Niagara Falls, N.Y.; executive board chairman, Ted Harvey of Somerset Hills Baptist Church in Basking Ridge, N.J.; and executive board vice chairman, Andy Smith of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Cortland, N.Y. George Russ, executive director of the Metro New York Baptist Association, delivered the annual sermon from Acts 17. Dan Trippie, pastor of Restoration Church in Buffalo, was elected as the annual preacher for the 2015 annual meeting, scheduled for Sept. 27-29 at All Nations Church in Henrietta, N.Y. Jim Murphy, an elder at Missio Church in Syracuse, is the alternate. Among the annual meeting's guest speakers were C. Ashley Clayton, vice president for Cooperative Program and stewardship at the SBC Executive Committee; two International Mission Board missionaries who cannot be identified for security reasons; Jeff Christopherson, regional vice president for the North American Mission Board's Canada region; and Jeff Robinson of GuideStone Financial Resources. The night before the annual meeting, more than 360 people from 19 churches and six associations attended a worship service at French Speaking Baptist Church in Spring Valley, N.Y. It was the first time the BCNY held a pre-convention meeting at a French language congregation.