The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-12/11/2012 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. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Survey: Pastors value Cooperative Program by Carol Pipes Date: December 11, 2012 - Tuesday EDITOR'S NOTE: This article initially was published in SBC LIFE (www.sbclife.org), the journal of the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee. NASHVILLE (BP) -- Southern Baptist pastors have high opinions of the convention's Cooperative Program, according to a study conducted by LifeWay Research. The survey of 1,066 SBC pastors found 81 percent agree the Cooperative Program fuels an aggressive global enterprise of reaching the unreached people groups around the world. Similarly, 80 percent say the Cooperative Program provides partnership opportunities for local, state and national missions. The study also indicates that pastors' support for the Cooperative Program does have its limits. One in five pastors (19 percent) say the strategies of the SBC entities that receive Cooperative Program dollars are not moving in the appropriate direction and that SBC entities are not using their contributions effectively. However, the majority (55 percent) agrees the SBC entities supported by the Cooperative Program are moving in an appropriate direction. And 52 percent say the entities are using their contributions effectively. Seventy-three percent of pastors say the Cooperative Program supports the ministries and missions valued by their churches. "As pastors question every dollar they spend, it is not surprising that some are wanting evidence they are being good stewards with their mission dollars," said Scott McConnell, director of LifeWay Research. This study shows pastors believe the efforts supported by the Cooperative Program matter. However, "some do not overlook the need for further ministry improvement in the efforts of the SBC entities supported by the Cooperative Program." Cooperative Program allocations Southern Baptist pastors also indicated how closely they agree with the current allocation of national Cooperative Program funds. The median responses for the entities -- International Mission Board (IMB), North American Mission Board (NAMB), six SBC seminaries, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and SBC operating budget -- were all within 0.3 percent of the current allocations, which pastors were shown as they answered. About one in five pastors entered amounts exactly matching current percentage allocations. A majority listed higher percentages for NAMB and at least half listed lower percentages for IMB, SBC seminaries and SBC operating budget. "Pastors' opinions on CP allocations are remarkably similar," McConnell said. "Even when comparing mean percentages, which can be swayed by those wanting large changes, the responses have not changed significantly from a survey of pastors completed in early 2008 for the Executive Committee. "Both the earlier survey and this study show mean percentages within 1 percent of the current allocations for IMB, ERLC and the SBC operating budget," McConnell said. "Another similarity is both surveys show preferences for a slightly higher allocation for NAMB and lower allocation for SBC seminaries." Nearly 70 percent agreed with the statement, "The SBC allocation budget places a high priority on penetrating lostness both locally and worldwide." Ministry priorities Pastors also were asked to indicate the priority their church places on 12 missions and ministry efforts funded by the Cooperative Program. The majority of pastors indicate "sending and supporting overseas missionaries to reach unreached people groups around the world" is the highest priority. Almost 70 percent of pastors rate it essential or a high priority, and it is the only ministry effort that less than 10 percent of pastors rate a low priority or not a priority. Following is the percentage of SBC pastors who rated each CP-funded mission and ministry as essential or high priority: -- Sending and supporting overseas missionaries -- 68 percent -- Engaging in local ministry projects for evangelism -- 65 percent -- Developing and implementing an evangelism strategy for penetrating lostness in North America -- 59 percent -- Improving the vitality and health of existing churches -- 59 percent -- Educating and training future pastors, missionaries, church planters and other denominational leaders -- 57 percent -- Reaching ethnically and culturally diverse people -- 51 percent -- Promoting an ongoing program of missions education for all ages -- 48 percent -- Engaging in direct international missions -- 45 percent -- Conducting an ongoing program of leadership development -- 45 percent -- Intentional church planting in cities and towns across North America -- 44 percent -- Intentional church planting in large urban centers -- 43 percent -- Providing a Christian perspective and response about social, ethical and public policy issues -- 37 percent "International missions is clearly a rallying point for the Cooperative Program, yet pastors also place a high priority on evangelism efforts in North America," McConnell said. Statistical differences Significant statistical differences emerged among pastors based on average weekly worship attendance and age. Older pastors are more likely to support the Cooperative Program and place a higher value on the ministries it supports. Older pastors, 55-64 (57 percent) and 65-plus (60 percent), are more likely to indicate the entities use their Cooperative Program contributions effectively, compared to younger pastors, 18-44 (45 percent) and 45-54 (48 percent). Older pastors also are more likely than younger pastors to say the Cooperative Program supports SBC ministries and missions their church values: 65-plus (80 percent), 55-64 (77 percent), 45-54 (69 percent) and 18-44 (68 percent). Pastors age 65 and over are the most likely to say improving the vitality and health of existing churches (41 percent) and developing an evangelism strategy for North America are essential (38 percent). Nearly 50 percent of 65-plus pastors say planting in North America's urban centers is a high priority or essential, compared to 40 percent of pastors age 18-44. In regard to sending and supporting overseas missionaries, larger churches, with average attendance of 100-249 (42 percent) and 250-plus (47 percent), are more likely to say it is a high priority compared to smaller churches, 0-49 (33 percent) and 50-99 (29 percent). When asked about engaging in direct international missions projects, differences mainly emerged according to church size. Churches with an average attendance of 0-49 (16 percent) are the most likely to select "not a priority." Churches with 250-plus attendees (53 percent) are the most likely to say it is a "high priority" while those with 0-49 attendees (17 percent) are the least likely to say so. Church contributions through CP LifeWay Research also asked pastors about the decision their churches made regarding contributions to the Cooperative Program in the most recent budget process. The vast majority of churches (81 percent) decided to keep their CP giving the same as last year. Nearly twice as many churches raised their contribution (11 percent) as decreased it (6 percent). Three percent said their church does not contribute to the CP. Of the 177 churches making a change in their giving to the Cooperative Program, 41 percent increased it by less than 2 percentage points; 22 percent increased it by more than 2 percentage points. Ten percent of churches decreased their contribution by less than 2 percentage points while 26 percent decreased their contribution by more than 2 percentage points. The final question on the survey referred to the "1% CP Challenge," an effort by the SBC Executive Committee to encourage all Southern Baptist churches to raise their Cooperative Program contributions by 1 percentage point of their church's undesignated contributions. Nearly 40 percent of pastors had not heard of the 1% CP Challenge. Another 42 percent said they have not accepted the challenge. Only 7 percent of pastors said their church had accepted the 1% CP Challenge with another 8 percent planning to do so in the next budget year. Methodology: The survey of 1,066 SBC pastors was conducted April 1–May 11, 2012. Surveys were mailed to the senior pastor with the option of completing the survey online. The mailing list was randomly drawn from a stratified list of all Southern Baptist churches (7,000 in the South and 1,000 each in the Northeast, West and Midwest). Responses were weighted to reflect the geographic distribution and worship attendance of the churches. The sample provides 95 percent confidence that the sampling error does not exceed plus or minus 3.0 percent. Margins of error are higher in subgroups. --30-- Carol Pipes is editorial manager for LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. This article first appeared in SBC LIFE, journal of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee. -------------------------------------------------------------------- 1% CP Challenge has $100M potential by Roger S. Oldham Date: December 11, 2012 - Tuesday NASHVILLE (BP) -- The 1% CP Challenge is "a succinct way to do something more -- an understandable way to say, 'Yeah, we can do that,'" said Frank Page, president of the SBC Executive Committee. "It is understandable, is easily acted upon, and can be done without shifting major sections of a church's finances." According to a new survey focused on the Cooperative Program by LifeWay Research, 7 percent of cooperating Southern Baptist churches reported they had accepted the 1% CP Challenge to raise CP in their budgets by 1 percentage point. An additional 8 percent of pastors indicated they plan to lead their churches to accept the 1% CP Challenge in the coming year. The survey was taken in May. "The Cooperative Program is not a reservoir that we hold; it's money that we send through the CP to missions and ministries," Page said. "It's exciting to see new pastors, younger pastors, ethnic pastors, Anglo pastors, say, 'You know, it's time to put more emphasis on the Cooperative Program.'" Following his election as Southern Baptist Convention president in June, Fred Luter Jr., pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, joined Page in challenging messengers to the state Baptist convention annual meetings to accept the 1% CP Challenge. This past fall, a number of state conventions embraced the theme of the 1% CP Challenge, making it a focal point at their annual meetings. If every cooperating Southern Baptist church raised its contributions through the Cooperative Program by 1 percentage point of their budgets, the resulting CP gifts would increase by nearly $100 million dollars in a single year. This would allow state conventions to make a greater impact on lostness in their respective states. It would give the North American Mission Board greater flexibility in its Send North America church planting initiative. It would allow the International Mission Board to keep a larger number of missionaries on the field. It would allow our seminaries to explore new delivery systems for ministerial training and graduate theological education to make an even greater impact on training pastors and church leaders for effective service. Simply put, the 1% CP Challenge has the potential to be the rising tide that raises all the ministry boats supported by churches in their states, in the nation and throughout the world. --30-- Roger S. Oldham is vice president for convention communications and relations with the SBC Executive Committee and executive editor of its journal, SBC LIFE, where this article first appeared. -------------------------------------------------------------------- WEEK OF PRAYER: Pastor's passion for missions pushes fear aside by Marie Curtis Date: December 11, 2012 - Tuesday EDITOR'S NOTE: This year's Dec. 2-9 Week of Prayer for International Missions in the Southern Baptist Convention centered on the theme of "BE His heart, His hands, His voice" from Matthew 16:24-25. Each year's Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions supplements Cooperative Program giving to support Southern Baptists' 5,000 international missionaries' initiatives in sharing the Gospel. This year's offering goal is $175 million. To find resources about the offering, go to www.imb.org/offering. CAIRO (BP) -- Gene Brooks* has good reasons not to return to the Middle East or Central Asia.
This small-church pastor has been arrested twice overseas, interrogated by gun-wielding soldiers and forced to spend a night under house arrest. He has worshipped secretly in homes when the church building was no longer safe. On a trip to Egypt, his plane landed in Cairo the day after more than 20 Coptic Christians were killed during a protest in October 2011. These experiences might keep many away, but they're not enough to stop this pastor. His passion to encourage believers and share the Gospel drives out fear. Partnering with Southern Baptist workers overseas, Brooks has heard their cries for help: Please pray. Please give. Please come. Brooks has committed himself and led his church of about 60 people to be a part of God's work to reach the nations -- no matter the cost. "There is the risk, but Jesus said they hated Him, and they're going to hate us. I think part of that is having the passion for missions to go and to tell people about Jesus," Brooks said. "When that is strong in our heart, it tends to suppress the fear factor." Despite the unrest in Egypt, Brooks didn't hesitate to ask God if his church should help fill a request for U.S. churches to partner with Egyptian Baptist churches.
Mark Ayers*, a Southern Baptist worker in the region, sees Egypt as strategic in reaching North African and Middle Eastern peoples. And Ayers feels an urgency for Christians to bring truth and encourage the persecuted church. "Get under the Egyptian church and lift her up," Ayers exhorts. "Serve the church, bless the country." Brooks was willing and, with the support of his church, traveled to Egypt with Louie Smith*, a lay leader who has accompanied him on several international trips. During their visit, the two men witnessed a church under severe persecution. "They are facing death every day," Brooks said. "Yet they are joyful in their experience with Christ. ... They were not fearful to meet together. They were cautious, but yet they said, 'You know, if we must die for Christ, we are ready to do that.' It was an amazing experience." "Ever since I've been back home, I relive my steps in these countries," Smith added, referring to his multiple trips into territories some might consider dangerous. "I still remember the faces and the places, and I'm constantly praying for them. "I am planning on going back. We made some friends there, we made some contacts, we made a difference." Smith and Brooks remain committed, despite experiences such as the time in Central Asia when their team was prayerwalking through a community and handing out Bibles -- and the local police placed them in a hotel under house arrest with an armed guard. The next morning, the police came to escort the men out of town. They asked about the book the two were giving away. Brooks explained that they were Christians and the Bible is their Holy Book -- the Word of God. "We actually gave six to eight of the policemen a Bible before we left town. That was pretty unique," Brooks said with a smile. He is thankful to Southern Baptist workers who have facilitated the work he and other short-term workers have been able to accomplish. His passion to give so that their efforts can continue has become contagious in his church. "Our people have really caught the vision and understood what it is to support our missionaries around the world. We began to encourage people to find unique ways to give," Brooks said. "Since that time our Lottie Moon [Christmas Offering for International Missions] giving has actually tripled, almost quadrupled." The pastor knows that every prayer, every dollar, every plane ticket matters. And it'll take more than a couple of arrests to stop him. --30-- *Names changed. Marie Curtis is a writer/editor for the International Mission Board. Southern Baptists' gifts to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions and through the Cooperative Program help Southern Baptist missionaries around the world share the Gospel. Gifts for the offering are received at Southern Baptist churches across the country or can be made online at www.imb.org/offering where there are resources for church leaders to promote the offering. Download related videos at www.imb.org/lmcovideo. -------------------------------------------------------------------- SBC-wide call to prayer for 2013 issued by Frank Page by Roger S. Oldham Date: December 11, 2012 - Tuesday NASHVILLE (BP) -- Frank S. Page, president and "chief encouragement officer" of the SBC Executive Committee, is asking Southern Baptists to come together in 2013 for a year of emphasis on prayer "like none we've ever seen before." "For some time, God has been burdening my heart about prayer and spiritual awakening," Page wrote in a Dec. 11 First-Person article in Baptist Press. "I talked about this a great deal when I was president of the Southern Baptist Convention (2006-08). I saw then what was happening in our nation, in our churches and in our convention. That deep sense of need for revival in our land has only gotten stronger over these past six years." This is not a new message for Page. On the SBC President's page, posted after his election in 2006, Page wrote, "Across the nation I have spoken about the three 'R's'. I have thanked God for the push for doctrinal rightness. I thank God for the conservative resurgence which has brought us to this point. However, we must, with equal passion, attack the issues of relevancy and revival. If we do not have God's reviving hand upon us, we will move into a precipitous decline from which we will never recover." Page will be enlisting others to help elevate the call to prayer throughout the year, sharing historical insights about prayer and spiritual awakening; first person accounts about spiritual breakthroughs; organized prayer ministry initiatives such as GuideStone's "Widow's Might"; focused prayer reminders such as prayer for the U.S. Supreme Court justices as they consider the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act and California's Proposition 8; as well as pastoral and theological reflections. Page noted he is not alone in his call for prayer and spiritual awakening. Earlier this year, current SBC president Fred Luter addressed the SBC Committee on Order of Business expressing his desire to see spiritual awakening and revival sweep across the SBC and the nation. Citing 2 Chronicles 7:14 and the high priestly prayer of Jesus recorded in John 17, Luter, pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, said it is his "heart's desire" for this convention to "work together as one." "This will not happen unless there's passionate, purposeful revival," Luter told the committee. "My theme [for the 2013 SBC annual meeting] will be centered around revival and prayer. Prayer is the great equalizer, the great energizer." Luter also has underscored the SBC Call to Prayer scheduled for the month of January. In a Baptist Press story today, Luter said the call to prayer is "a pivotal opportunity as churches cast a vision for ministry in 2013. This coming January we will have the chance to gather as a denomination and center our thoughts and prayers on the lost in our communities and around the world." Tom Elliff, president of the SBC International Mission Board, has noted the urgency of prayer and spiritual awakening in addressing the IMB's board of trustees. "The truth of the matter is that if we don't experience spiritual awakening we will forfeit our capacity to effectively partner with others in carrying out the Great Commission," he said at the board's fall 2011 trustee meeting. "[Spiritual] awakening is a missions issue, because if we don't have an awakening in the hearts of Southern Baptists, then the pool out of which we fish for missionaries ... gets smaller and smaller," Elliff explained. "We'll just become another denomination that had its day and has now slipped off into irrelevancy, and when people say 'Southern Baptist Convention,' they will probably say it with a yawn." Such an awakening, Elliff noted, will require a "totally different" kind of prayer, one that rests on God's character rather than our own. "I'm afraid that so much of our praying is a shot at getting something done by God with the thought that if He doesn't come through we've got another plan. Folks, if God doesn't come through, we don't have a plan." Kevin Ezell, president of the North American Mission Board, echoed a similar message. "We're at a pivotal point as Southern Baptists as we do the work to penetrate lostness in North America and around the world," he said. "We are a people of action and sacrifice, but we also need to be a people of wholehearted prayer. I hope to see amazing things happen as God works through a faithfully-praying people." Pointing to the SBC Call to Prayer slated for January, Ezell said the prayer emphasis is designed to be a tool churches can use as they focus prayer on family and friends, their community, the nation and the world, at each point seeking ways to reach those without Christ. PrayerLink, a network of state convention and SBC entity prayer ministry coordinators who met in October to pray together and to encourage prayer ministries across the convention, focused on ways to elevate the importance of prayer for spiritual awakening in local churches and among SBC entities. The network adopted three statements committing to Seek God, Elevate Prayer and Pledge Cooperation. "Recognizing that our only hope is a God-given spiritual awakening, we acknowledge God is calling His people to seek Him through wholehearted love, righteous living and fervent, united prayer," the PrayerLink network said. The same week that PrayerLink met, Page met with Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources, to discuss his burden for prayer. After praying together, Rainer pledged to assemble a list of prayer resources to assist the convention and its cooperating churches in setting prayer and spiritual awakening as a priority. Rainer, co-author with Ed Stetzer of "Transformational Churches," has identified "prayerful dependence" as one of the most significant characteristics of churches that are making the greatest Kingdom impact. "A prayerful dependence is evident in Transformational Churches," Rainer wrote. "These churches are humbly dependent on God for the vitality of the church. Prayer is not a program, and in many cases a weekly prayer meeting is not offered. Yet prayer undergirds everything a Transformational church does." "Jesus wanted His churches to be called 'houses of prayer,'" Page said. "Let us not disappoint our Lord." --30-- Roger S. Oldham is vice president for convention communications and relations with the SBC Executive Committee. Potential resources for the Call to Prayer listed below are produced by LifeWay Christian Resources and may be ordered online at www.lifeway.com, through LifeWay Christian Stores or by calling toll-free 1-800-458-2772. For product descriptions go online to www.lifeway.com. * A House of Prayer: Prayer Ministries in Your Church by John Franklin * Disciple's Prayer Life: Walking in Fellowship with God by T. W. Hunt and Catherine Walker * God's Gateway to Supernatural Power: A Resource, Testimony, and Practical Guide on Prayer and Fasting by Ronnie W. Floyd * Growing Disciples: Abide in Christ by Andrew Murray and Bo Stephens * Growing Disciples: Live in the Word by Philip Nation * Growing Disciples: Pray in Faith by T. W. Hunt and Claude King * Growing Disciples: The Call to Follow Christ by Claude King * Lord, Teach Me to Pray by Kay Arthur * Praying for Keeps: Conversations with God (Fellowship Church Series with Ed Young Jr.) * Praying God's Word Day-By-Day by Beth Moore * Praying God's Word: Scripture-Prayer Resource by Beth Moore * The Life-Changing Power of Prayer by T. W. Hunt * The Power of a Praying Woman by Stormie Omartian (workbook, leader guide, DVD leader kit) * The Prayer of Jesus: Living the Lord's Prayer by Ken Hemphill * Vital Skills: How to Have a Quiet Time (Age Group: Student) * Vital Skills: How to Pray Using Scripture (Age Group: Student) * Vital Truth: Prayer (Age Group: Student) Resources Related to Revival, Spiritual Awakening, and Sacred Assembly * Come to the Lord's Table by Claude King * Consecrate the People: Renewing Our Covenant Commitments to Jesus Christ by Claude King * Downpour: He Will Come to Us Like the Rain by James MacDonald (multiple resources) * Follow Me by David Platt (coming Spring 2013) * Fresh Encounter: Experiencing God's Power for Spiritual Awakening by Henry & Richard Blackaby and Claude King (multiple resources) * Fresh Encounter: Seeking God Together for Revival in the Land (28-day devotional guide) by Henry Blackaby and Claude King * Jonah: Navigating a Life Interrupted by Priscilla Shirer * MasterLife (The Disciple's Cross, The Disciple's Personality, The Disciple's Victory, The Disciple's Mission) by Avery T. Willis Jr. (multiple resources) * Putting on the Armor: Equipped and Deployed for Spiritual Warfare by Chuck Lawless * Radical Small Group Study by David Platt * Spiritual Warfare: Biblical Truth for Victory by John Franklin and Chuck Lawless * Subversive Kingdom (book & curriculum) by Stetzer * Victory in Spiritual Warfare by Tony Evans * Vital Truth: Spiritual Warfare (Age Group: Student) * When God Speaks by Henry Blackaby Evangelism Resources * Faith Evangelism 1 & 2 (multiple resources) * Get Uncomfortable: Serve the Poor, Stop Injustice, Change the World… in Jesus' Name by Todd Phillips * Growing Disciples: Minister to Others by Richard Leach and David Wheeler * Growing Disciples: Witness to the World by W. Oscar Thompson with Carolyn Thompson Ritzmann * Leading a Child to Christ Training Pack with DVD-ROM (and related resources) * Learning to Share My Faith by Chuck Kelley * Live It, Tell It: Learning to Share Your Story (Age Group: Student) * More to Life: Engaging Through Story by Dennis Pethers (multiple resources) * Outreach Teams that Win: G.R.O.W. Kit, Revised by Jerry Tidwell * Sent: Living the Missional Nature of the Church by Ed Stetzer * Share Jesus Without Fear by William Fay and Ralph Hodge (multiple resources) * Share Jesus Without Fear: Students Reaching Students by William Fay (Age Group: Student) * Victory in Spiritual Warfare by Tony Evans * Vital Skills: How to be a Campus Missionary (Age Group: Student) * Vital Skills: How to Do Servant Evangelism (Age Group: Student) * Vital Truth: Service and Ministry (Age Group: Student) * Vital Truth: Witnessing (Age Group: Student) * When Worldviews Collide: Christians Confronting Culture by Ergun Caner Awaken 2012 * Claude King has written a 21-day prayer guide for revival and spiritual awakening. Permission is granted in the copyright notice for free, non-commercial use of the files. You may download a variety of formats for printing or to share electronically at Claude's blog: www.lifeway.com/growingdisciplesblog. -------------------------------------------------------------------- Call to Prayer: January is 'pivotal opportunity' by Adam Miller Date: December 11, 2012 - Tuesday ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP) -- Southern Baptist leaders are hoping churches will start 2013 with an emphasis on prayer and the lost during the month-long SBC Call to Prayer beginning Jan. 1. The effort will help churches focus on prayer in several key ways toward seeking to engage those without Christ. "The SBC Call to Prayer is a pivotal opportunity as churches cast a vision for ministry in 2013," said SBC President Fred Luter, pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans. "This coming January we will have the chance to gather as a denomination and center our thoughts and prayers on the lost in our communities and around the world." Among the emphases of the SBC Call to Prayer are: My Family and Friends. Select a friend or family member and pray that they would come to faith in Christ. My Nation. Select a Send North America city and pray for the church planting efforts in that area (www.namb.net/cities). My World. Select an unreached people group and pray that the Gospel would be advanced among these people (URL=http://www.imb.org/prayerthreads]www.imb.org/prayerthreads). By using online resources and partnership with state Baptist conventions and local Baptist associations, churches can design events and prayer opportunities that fit specific needs. "We want to make it as easy as possible for pastors to lead their churches in praying for their families, their communities, and lost people around the world," said Kevin Ezell, president of the North American Mission Board. "These are tools and resources we hope every church can use to lead their people into a deeper prayer life for the coming year." Al Gilbert, NAMB's interim vice president for evangelism, hopes the emphasis will help Southern Baptists view the lost around them in a new way. "We need to pray with the question in mind, 'Who do I know who needs to know Christ?'" Gilbert said. "It's an opportunity to really think through and intercede even as we seek to penetrate lostness. "When Jesus saw the lost, He was moved with compassion. But notice the first thing He asked His disciples to do," Gilbert said. "He told them to pray to the Lord of the harvest. Often we don't see it as a harvest; we see it as people who don't want to know Christ. But that's not the way God sees it." Gilbert encouraged Southern Baptists to be evangelistically minded in 2013 and said participation in the SBC Call to Prayer is a great way to begin. "As we approach the New Year, who do we know who needs to know Christ?" he said. "It should become a natural question that we ask and something we regularly pray about, and I think this is an opportunity to help us begin to shape our thinking for the coming year." To learn more about the SBC Call to Prayer, visit www.namb.net/sbccalltoprayer . --30-- Adam Miller is a writer for the North American Mission Board. -------------------------------------------------------------------- CALL TO PRAYER: Individuals, churches, SBC entities -- pray 'like never before' by Frank Page Date: December 11, 2012 - Tuesday NASHVILLE (BP) -- For some time, God has been burdening my heart about prayer and spiritual awakening. I talked about this a great deal when I was president of the Southern Baptist Convention (2006-08). I saw then what was happening in our nation, in our churches and in our convention. That deep sense of need for revival in our land has only gotten stronger over these past six years. As we go into 2013, God has laid on my heart the need to emphasize prayer and spiritual awakening like never before. Therefore, I will be talking about this throughout the coming year. I am asking all Southern Baptists to join me in a year of emphasis on prayer like none we've ever seen before. I ask individuals to be seriously involved in "throughout the day" earnest prayer. I am not talking about morning or evening prayers but prayers which last throughout the day. Through Baptist Press and other means we will be helping people know how they might do so. Our friends at LifeWay Christian Resources are providing a number of prayer materials to assist individuals in learning how to pray more earnestly, more effectively and more powerfully. I am calling on churches to host prayer events, to host solemn assemblies, to host 40 days of prayer and fasting events. I am asking pastors to join me in this deep burden of prayer. I am asking for our entities to emphasize prayer in every way they can. I know Dr. Tom Elliff of the International Mission Board has already established a new school of prayer at the IMB. Our other entity leaders have a heart for prayer as well. I ask each of them to join me in this call unto our Lord. Scripture is clear about the need to pray. Almost everyone knows the words to 2 Chronicles 7:14: "And My people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land." Most of us also know the words of our Lord in Revelation 2:4 where He spoke to the church of Ephesus and said, "You have forsaken your first love." We need to remember those words for I believe we are in the same situation. We desperately need to return to our first love. What is that? Did not the Lord tell us that we are to love Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength? The words of the Lord in Revelation 2 continue by telling us what to do. Simply put, it is remember, repent and do the first works. We need to remember the heights from which we have fallen. Do you remember what it was like when you were first saved? Many of us felt like we could touch the face of God with our hand. Remember the excitement and the passion in those days! We need to repent of our sin, of our prayerlessness, of our shallow Christianity. We need to do what He has called us to do. We need to be in love with Him once more, to spend time in His Word every day, to talk to Him throughout the day, all day long. Throughout the year, we will be sharing weekly devotionals on my new blog site, issuing weekly calls for prayer and sharing specific prayer concerns. Please join me in a year-long emphasis for calling to our Lord for His mercy, for His guidance and for His forgiveness. --30-- Frank Page is president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Executive Committee. -------------------------------------------------------------------- WORLDVIEW: The 'Crews missile' and Christmas by Erich Bridges Date: December 11, 2012 - Tuesday Visit "WorldView Conversation," the blog related to this column, at http://worldviewconversation.blogspot.com. Listen to an audio version at http://media1.imbresources.org/files/165/16575/16575-91862.mp3 RICHMOND, Va. (BP) -- Have you heard about the "Crews missile"? It was launched by Nick Crews, 67, a retired British Royal Navy submarine commander. But it wasn't a torpedo aimed at the empire's enemies; it was an email aimed at his three adult children. It blew up family relations -- and created a furor in England and beyond after his eldest daughter, 40-year-old Emily, released the message to the media. Fed up with his children's career failures, divorces and other assorted dysfunctions, angry at the toll their constant crises had taken on his wife and anxious about the future for his grandchildren, Crews let 'em have it. Here's an excerpt from his "Dear all three" email: "Mum and I have been used to taking our own misfortunes on the chin, and making our own effort to bash our little paths through life without being a burden to others. Having done our best -- probably misguidedly -- to provide for our children, we naturally hoped to see them in turn take up their own banners and provide happy and stable homes for their own children. ... [Y]et each of you has contrived to avoid even moderate achievement. Far from your children being able to rely on your provision, they are faced with needing to survive their introduction to life with you as parents. ... none of [whom has] the maturity and sound judgment to make [wise] decisions." He closed with this: "I can now tell you that I for one ... have had enough of being forced to live through the never-ending bad dream of our children's underachievement and domestic ineptitudes. I want to hear no more from any of you until, if you feel inclined, you have a success or an achievement or a realistic plan for the support and happiness of your children to tell me about. I don't want to see your mother burdened anymore with your miserable woes. ... I am bitterly, bitterly disappointed. Dad." Tough love? Crews has become both a hero and a villain in England since his blunt message became public, setting off a media storm and provoking thousands of responses. Many Britons admire his hard-hitting candor in an age of endless excuse making for personal irresponsibility. Others condemn him as unfeeling and cruel. "My parents just don't do tea and sympathy and never have," reported daughter Emily, who said she was devastated by her father's words but admitted they contain a lot of truth. Her two younger siblings insist on an apology; 35-year-old brother Fred refuses to speak to Dad until he gets one. In a subsequent interview with the London Daily Mail, Crews said he "hated having to send [the email] and I have examined my conscience. ... I still mean every word." Navy commanders aren't known for giving gentle feedback. My maternal grandfather was a ship captain, and I've heard lots of stories about the rough justice he delivered when his kids went astray. Sometimes it worked; sometimes it backfired. As an occasionally exasperated father, I can sympathize with Crews. As a son who inspired similar fury and despair in the hearts of my own parents more than once, I also sympathize with his children. But angry tirades about the failings of others don't work, contends New York Times writer David Brooks in a column about Crews. "People don't behave badly because they lack information about their shortcomings. They behave badly because they've fallen into patterns of destructive behavior from which they're unable to escape," Brooks writes. True enough, but he proceeds to serve up warmed-over recommendations about rewarding good behaviors and ignoring bad ones. That doesn't work in the long run, either, if the darkness inside our hearts doesn't change. Why do I bring up this painful family episode so close to Christmas? When I first read about Nick Crews and his anguish over his children, I thought about God, our Father. In many Bible passages, the Lord speaks of His despair and wrath caused by the sins of His people. The Old Testament prophets record a long litany of His bitter disappointments (as Crews might describe them) in His wayward children. "I have spread out My hands all day long to a rebellious people," the Lord cried, "who walk in the way which is not good, following their own thoughts, a people who continually provoke Me to My face ..." (Isaiah 65:2-3). But God also promised a sign in that same great book of prophecy: "Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14b). Some 600 years before the birth of Christ, a Father whose heart had already been broken countless times was planning an act of love that would go far beyond the imagination of any earthly mind. What if He had washed His hands of us altogether? What if He had told us never to seek Him again until we could redeem our own hopelessly evil selves? Instead, He came to live among us as a servant and went to the cross to make a way for us to return to Him. Yes, there will be consequences -- eternal ones -- for every soul that rejects the amazing grace of God offered through His Son. But for now, the offer stands. Here's the message of Christmas: A loving Father is still waiting for us to come home. --30-- Erich Bridges is IMB global correspondent. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress ) and in your email ( baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp).