Month: November 2015

Hundreds of missionaries voluntarily return to States as plan to reset IMB addresses revenue shortfall

NEW ORLEANS—It’s been a tough two months for Terry and Vicki Lassiter as they say goodbye to colleagues in the region where they served as Southern Baptist missionaries for the past 26 years.

Offering his final report on Nov. 5 to International Mission Board trustees tasked with oversight of the Americas region, the affinity group leader from West Texas shared the stories of local believers who are now leading churches after being trained by IMB missionaries.

“They’re stepping up to the plate in better ways than we could,” Terry Lassiter said, his voice choking a bit.

Texas trustees Geraldo Disla of Dallas and Thom Polvogt of Katy, joined other members of the American Peoples Affinity Committee in gathering around the Lassiters to pray for their transition to Waco where he will return to practicing dentistry and she anticipates ministering to women as opportunities arise to speak, write and serve.

“Every move we’ve ever made tore my heart out,” Vicki Lassiter shared, recalling earlier stints in St. Vincent, Suriname, Ecuador and more recently, Peru. “I actually think that’s a good thing,” she added. “It should tear your heart out when you leave a place because it means you’ve really been there.”

The next morning they cheered on fellow Texans Jacob and Dodie Glover, who shared their calling to work among an unreached people group in Mexico. “It is kind of neat that as we’re leaving, we see some new couples coming in,” Lassiter said. “These are good people.”

Glover has childhood ties to Friendly Baptist Church in Tyler and his wife was a preacher’s kid from Oak Street Baptist Church in Colorado City. They met at Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth while attending Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and eventually married.

After one term with the IMB in Peru, their call to international missions was put on hold when the Dallas church he previously served as a youth minister asked him to fill a pastoral vacancy. Glover led them to merge with a Hispanic church, become bilingual and transition to new leadership. Their reappointment with IMB fulfills a desire to plant their lives among a people group with no access to the gospel.

Seven other missionaries with ties to Texas will be serving in locations that cannot be identified due to security concerns. In all there were 35 new missionaries commissioned by the board during a service at First Baptist Church of New Orleans on Nov. 8, bringing the total missionary count to 4,761.

The Lassiters are just two of the hundreds of missionaries accepting the Voluntary Retirement Incentive offered to personnel over the age of 50 with at least five years of service. It’s the first phase of a plan to sharply reduce the number of personnel in order to address a five-year revenue shortfall of $120 million.

A second phase described by IMB President David Platt as a “hand-raising opportunity” will be offered in January when all personnel and staff will pray about whether God is leading them to seek vocational service outside the IMB.

“These are financial realities that we just can’t ignore,” Platt said in the Nov. 6 board meeting, pledging to budget based on the resources provided by Southern Baptists, use that income to enable the mission that has been assigned, and move toward a balanced budget.

“Based upon letters of intent which have been submitted for VRIs as well as the hand-raising opportunity that is still to come, we are projecting that we will meet our need to reduce the total number of our personnel by at least 600 people,” IMB President David Platt told trustees Nov. 6.

The $22,580,000 increase included in next year’s $278,755,000 budget “is almost entirely explained by one-time net costs associated with the voluntary retirement incentive,” Platt said. “God has given us resources to generously honor those that are making that transition,” he assured them, referring to reserve funds.

IMB expects to save $38.6 million next year from the reduction in personnel, while spending $23.1 million to cover VRI payouts, yielding a net savings of $15.5 million.

After expressing gratitude for growth in both Cooperative Program and Lottie Moon Christmas Offering gifts, Platt said current LMCO giving projections are based on a historical projection of the past four years of receipts, rather than “our stretch goal.” That approach estimates the 2015-16 receipts at $151.8 million, an amount $23.2 million below the 2015 goal of $175 million.

Proceeds from property sales are not included in the budget, but will replenish and stabilize IMB reserves which have declined from the recommended six-month level to just four.

While global engagement expenses are decreased by $7.5 million, the per capita spending will increase by 10 percent per field personnel.

After approving the budget, trustees received news of a plan to shift all four of the 2016 trustee meetings to Richmond, anticipating a cost savings of $750,000.

Other items of business included the election of Support Services Vice President Rodney A. Freeman to serve as treasurer and Margaret Wilson as second assistant recording secretary. The board also approved the transfer of property to the national convention in Zambia and the sale of property in Zimbabwe.

In response to a motion made at the annual Southern Baptist Convention meeting in June that was referred to all SBC entities, trustees assured the messenger of the IMB’s commitment to “boldly promote the truth of the gospel through all media avenues available to us for the glory of God amidst the rapidly shifting moral landscape of our culture.”

Trustees honored IMB leaders who are accepting the IMB’s voluntary retirement incentive, including the Lassiters for 26 years spent in the Americas; Tim and Charlotte Cearley for 35 years in Africa; Tom and Janet Williams for 34 years in Thailand, Singapore, the regions of Western Pacific and Western Europe Region, and the office of global personnel; and David and Judy Steverson for 29 years in Thailand and more recently his tenure as chief financial officer.

Platt said stories are starting to be told of new opportunities offered to missionaries who trusted God for their future after taking the VRI, including:

–a missionary in Central Asia who is transitioning to a teaching post with a university, affording continued opportunities for church planting and discipleship;

–unreached people in the city of Houston who will be reached with the gospel as a result of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention creating 25 church planting positions to be filled by returning missionaries; and

–a pastor praying a particular missionary would come to serve as missions pastor and asked the man to consider the position hours after the man and his wife had sensed the Lord telling them to take the retirement offer with no idea where they would go.

“Not one of us can write these scripts and the stories being told over and over again across IMB as God is working all things together for the good of those who are called according to his purpose.”

Having approached the quarterly meeting with a “heavy but hopeful heart,” Platt said, “I am looking forward to the day when we’re not spending all our time talking about financial challenges but operating within the budget, talking about how we are supporting a mission force around the world that is making the gospel known, planting churches and reaching the Lampung people of Indonesia, and thousands of other people groups alongside with them as well.”

Board chairman John Edie of Springfield, Mo., told trustees when they reconvene next February “the IMB as we have known it will not be the same,” as “faithful servants will be moving onto new chapters in their lives.” He reminded them that God not only knew about that but allowed it and will limit the impact.

“His being faithful or capable is not the question,” Edie said. “The question is are we willing to fit into his plan for our future?”

Osborne describes pastor”s role in making disciples

HOUSTON—Instead of focusing on attracting a crowd, pastors need to disciple those who come from out of the crowd, stated Chris Osborne, pastor of Central Baptist Church in Bryan, turning to the example of Jesus in John 6 to describe the role of the pastor in discipleship.

That process involves shrinking a church before growing it, he said, pointing to the “hard saying” that Jesus preached that led many of his disciples to turn back. “We may even have to preach in a way that we make sure we don’t keep the people who are offended,” Osborne added.

“They’re not disciples because they come to your Bible study, attend your church, give money and tithe, or serve in the deacon body,” Osborne said. “Discipleship is a process when you come to a place that you say, ‘I do not care how or what Jesus says. I’m totally in because of what I believe about him.’”

He turned to Eph. 2:11-13 for an illustration of diverse groups coming together by the blood of Christ. “We can’t even get blue hairs and young people to sing songs together for 30 minutes,” he said, warning pastors against succumbing to the demands of people to cater to their preferences.

“Why do we do that?” he asked. “It’s because we’re not interested in discipleship. We’re interested in numbers.”

Recalling that Jesus was focused on making disciples, Osborne said, “If you have one hundred people who are obedient and a thousand who aren’t, pick the one hundred because you’re making disciples not attracting crowds.”

The elements of discipleship are found in Matt. 28, Osborne said, referring to baptism and teaching. “We tell our people, ‘When you walk through that water, you need to tell everyone you’ve come to Jesus,’” he explained, adding that new converts need to be reminded that baptism is not a private confession but a public testimony.

Teaching believers to obey the truth of Scripture requires that the pastor give them biblically based reasons why they ought to live a certain way. “Let your people know this is absolutely the driving authority in their lives,” he said, holding up his Bible.

Osborne said he asks two deacons to shepherd every new family for the first six months, inviting them into their homes for a meal, helping them get involved in small groups, and finding opportunities to serve. “Jesus and community are critical,” he said.

In recent years he has simplified what he preaches and introduced a curriculum that leads believers through an understanding of the Christian life. “People coming in have no idea who David and Goliath are. They don’t know the stories most of us grew up with, so I can’t preach as if they do,” Osborne said.

He told pastors to trust God to take responsibility for growing the church while they focus on making disciples. “It’s on you to live it out in your home, with your children. You have a responsibility to live out what you preach.”

Church planting network sees more than 300 come to Christ in Rio Grande Valley

MCALLEN—Disappointment set in with Eliseo Arreguin’s church planting team when no one showed up to their inaugural Bible study in the local library by the 2 p.m. start time. Though they were ready to begin the service, Arreguin instructed them to wait another 10 minutes. Fortunately, within that time, two women arrived, one of whom had been invited the previous day by a member of the team at a nearby park. The service proceeded with this audience of two, and both women showed interest in the Word.

Following the service, one of the women asked if Arreguin’s team could conduct a Bible study at her home the following week. Arreguin agreed to do so.

“When we went to the house,” Arreguin says, “we were surprised to see that the house was full. There were 10 adults and two children. We had a time of music and prayer, and they were very interested in us praying for them and the needs that they had. We also gave an evangelistic message. After that, we got to know each other and shared a meal.”

Before they left, another woman asked the church planting team if she could host a Bible study at her house the following day. The team again complied, and the next day, they conducted another Bible study, this time to an audience of 16.

Thus, in a matter of one week, from two women came 30 people gathering together in two different homes to study God’s Word.

“None of these people have been saved,” Arreguin says, “but little by little, with the relationships we are forming with them, we know that God is working and will continue to do so.”

Arreguin’s church plant is one of several currently being developed in the Rio Grande Valley by the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. Missions Associate David Ortega coordinates the SBTC’s efforts in this area, working with local churches to reach the Valley through church planting.

Barna Research Group identified the Rio Grande Valley as the No. 4 most unchurched area in the United States, indicating the desperate need for new churches in this southernmost part of Texas. Ortega realizes the importance of cooperation between believers to overcome the challenges associated with doing ministry there, which led him to form a church planting network.

“I started casting vision with a number of pastors,” Ortega says, “and I challenged them about coming together in a fellowship with the goal of church planting. We’d like to see 100 churches by 2020. And it’s all of us working together to accomplish that goal.”

This fellowship of pastors and church planters meets once a month to share needs, give praise reports, and determine ways they can work together.

The network now has nine church plants in early stages of development. Few have permanent locations, so their ministries mainly include evangelism and visitation as well as Bible studies in local parks and libraries. Even so, God is clearly at work among them.

“We’ve seen how God worked to prepare the people, and we’ve had at least 300 people receive Christ since Easter of 2014,” Ortega says. “These church planters have come and have developed into competent planters, and we’re still working, but that’s been exciting. I see a potential that we can really do some impact here in the Valley.”

Ortega encourages his fellow SBTC churches to join in this effort, whether through prayer and financial support or through planting churches themselves.

“We’re not going to reach our goal if we don’t all have this vision of reaching the Valley; if we don’t have this network,” he says. “It’s going to take pastors, laypeople and church planters. And I think that’s the way the Lord wants it; so no one gets the glory but him.”

5 Observations as SBTC President

It will conclude my two-year tenure as president of our convention during our meetings at Champion Forest Baptist Church, Nov. 9-10. This has been an incredible and humbling two years. Thank you for the privilege of allowing me to serve our convention in this way. Since this is my final column as president, I would like to share with you five observations from the past two years about our fellowship:

1. Texas is a really big state. Because of its sheer size, we exert great influence upon our national convention. It behooves us to lead the way in ministry, leadership and support of the Southern Baptist Convention.

2. Texas has become a really big mission field. God is bringing the world to us. Our cities and suburbs are teeming with all kinds of people who need to be introduced to Jesus Christ. Our opportunities are limitless.

3. We have a lot of faithful, godly pastors. As we have prayed across Texas, I have had the joy of meeting many of you. I am impressed with our pastors. Some are in difficult places, others in fruitful ones, but all I have met love the Lord, preach the Word and are faithful. We are more numerous than you might realize, which gives us great strength.

4. Our challenges are great. Whether it be lukewarm members of our churches or an adversary that is becoming bold and militant, these days are wrought with the unknown. I would remind you that we are part of a kingdom that shall never be destroyed despite what challenges may arise.

5. We are much stronger when we stand together. Whether we gather in local settings or at our statewide convention, we must encourage each other to stay faithful and true during these days.

These observations underlie the necessity of our joining together and serving through our state convention. Please plan to attend the annual meeting. You are needed, and every one of us is a vital part of our holding forth the Word of Truth to our generation.

God bless you, Southern Baptists of Texas. Thanks again for the privilege to serve. See you in Houston!

Houston “bathroom ordinance” defeated after 18-month legal battle

HOUSTON – Houston voters convincingly defeated a controversial Equal Rights Ordinance that critics said threatened religious liberties and put into jeopardy the safety and dignity of men and women in private places like bathrooms. Proposition 1, also referred to as “the bathroom ordinance,” failed by a margin of 61 percent to 39 percent.

“I think it’s significant,” Ed Young, pastor of Houston’s Second Baptist Church, told the TEXAN when asked about the margin of victory.

“I think there are enough people in the city who still have and will vote godly principals. A lot of people did some soul searching and said this is enough.”

Young joined others at the Houston Area Pastors Council “watch party.” Everyone was cautiously optimistic the organization’s work would pay off. After 18 months of legal battles including a court trial, two Texas Supreme Court decisions, appeals and a disconcerting overreach by the mayor’s office to subpoena pastors’ sermons, council members felt they had done what they could do. The rest was in God’s hands.

The year-and-half-long battle over Houston’s Equal Rights Ordinance, called HERO by its supporters, created a divide within the fourth-largest and one of the most racially diverse cities in the nation. If passed, the ordinance would have required businesses and public areas to permit individuals to use the restroom of the gender with which they self-identify. Critics cited religious liberty concerns as well as potential safety concerns if, for example, a male sexual predator claimed to identify as a woman in order to have access to women and girls in public restrooms.

Houston Mayor Annise Parker, the proposition’s most ardent supporter, had choice words for the opponents of the law, as evidenced by her remarks to supporters once it was evident Proposition 1 would not pass.

“This is a campaign of fear-mongering and deliberate lies. Deliberate lies,” Parker said. “They just kept spewing an ugly wad of lies from our TV screens and from pulpits. This is about a small group of people who want to preserve their ability to discriminate.”

A similarly divisive ordinance was passed in Fayetteville, Ark., last year. In December 2014, Fayetteville residents voted to repeal the measure only to have the same ordinance, with slight modifications, approved by the city council and the mayor six months later. And residents approved it.

“These kinds of conflicts really pit communities against each other,” said Ron Lomax, director of missions for Washington-Madison Baptist Association in Fayetteville, Ark.

Lomax could only speculate as to why residents would vote for one ordinance and not the other, but he did know that without a change of guard nothing new could go into or out of city council. The coalition of churches and civic leaders, as in Houston, that rallied to repeal the ordinance also fought to get two of their own elected to the Fayetteville city council. Only one was successful.

Dave Welch, executive director of the Houston Area Pastors Council, emphasized the need to do the same nationwide because the fight in Houston is not unique. Civic engagement, he said, should go hand in hand with other ministry within the community.

And, for now, the racially and culturally diverse pastor coalition that fought an 18-month-long battle saw the fruit of their labor the evening of November.

“This has been a long battle,” Welch told the group after the initial results showed an overwhelming defeat of ordinance. “There is no way we humanly could have persisted through and carried this to the conclusion without the hand of God. So I want to give him all the glory.”

The fate of Proposition 1 was being watched from across the nation. In the days before the election President Barack Obama and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton threw their support behind the proposition. On the other side of the issue, Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, issued a press release recalling some of the darker days the Houston pastors walked through in their effort to repeal the ordinance. He recalled his comments from a year ago when the sermons of five Houston pastors were subpoenaed as part of a lawsuit.

“I argued then that the preaching of the church of God does not belong to the government, and we will not hand it over. Not now. Not ever,” Moore stated. “Here, the people of Houston have spoken and said the same is true of the conscience. The defeat of this proposition ensures that the consciences of men and women will not be steamrolled, and that unsuspecting citizens will not be put into vulnerable situations.”

Going forward, the pastors reminded the crowd of why they fought this good fight. Khahn Huynh, pastor of Vietnamese Baptist Church, said, “Churches, this is the beginning. We need to rise up and preach the gospel. The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ—he loves the sinner but he hates sin. And that’s our language. That’s our message. We are not hating on people, but we are standing on his word. The gospel is a gospel of hope.”

Houston—A Different City Since We Last Gathered

The last time the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention met in Houston, we were celebrating the beginning of our 10th year of ministry. Here we are seven years later meeting in a very different city.

Houston has become the most ethnically diverse city in the United States. There are more than 300 ethno-linguistic groups. Projections are that Houston will be number three in population, surpassing Chicago, when the 2020 census is taken. While Houston has many wonderful Bible practicing churches, entire segments of the city are without the presence of a New Testament church. Reach Houston is an effort to plant churches where they are needed.

Many existing churches are plateaued or declining. Within a few short years some of those churches will close their doors. The SBTC has a Revitalization Plan that can work for any church that will work it. No plan works itself. Any church can rebound, if the people are willing. God wants his church to thrive.

Church planting and revitalization are the two approaches to Reach Houston. One primary tool fuels both approaches: personal evangelism. Church plants are a result of reaching people with the gospel. Revitalization takes place because new people are brought into the kingdom and then discipled in the church. Both approaches depend on the planter/pastor being a personal, intentional gospel witness.

As you read in the TEXAN about missions and ministry in the churches and by the SBTC staff, you see how God is blessing the work we do together. From Beaumont to Dumas, Texarkana to Odessa, in the Borderlands and rural areas, there are opportunities for all of us to advance the gospel. For the next five years, let’s all pray for Houston. Let’s all give a little time to minister in Houston. Please continue to give through the Cooperative Program so we can Reach Houston. A portion of your Reach Texas State Missions Offering will go to Reach Houston. We are in this together.

On Nov. 10 at Champion Forest Baptist Church in Houston a recommendation will be made to the messengers that we return to Houston in three short years to have another annual meeting. If the proposal is approved, we will celebrate 20 years as a convention in the city where we were birthed. By God’s grace we will be hearing at that time how thousands have been birthed into God’s family because of Reach Houston!

East Texas church”s motorcycle ministry spreads faith

GLADEWATER, Texas—For Allen Schwab, F.A.I.T.H. Riders has been a life-changing ride. Schwab, who became a Christian in 2011, discovered F.A.I.T.H. Riders when dividing his time between his home in East Texas and his job in Alabama.

A landscaper told Schwab about the church-based motorcycle ministry during a casual conversation in Birmingham, Ala., in 2014. “He asked me if I knew Jesus. Then he shared his ministry of riding motorcycles with bikers who share the kingdom of the Lord. He invited me to go with on a ride with the group,” Schwab recalled.

There was one problem: Schwab did not own a motorcycle. However, his new friend had three.

“The Lord is leading me to give you a motorcycle,” the man told Schwab, who at first demurred, then realized he needed to accept the “blessing from God.” Schwab rode with the Alabama group and participated in bike nights.

“My faith blossomed,” Schwab said, praising the organization’s accountability structure, guidance and mentorship.This growth in his faith prompted Schwab to change jobs and move back to East Texas to be closer to his wife and children.

Enter Gladewater’s Joy Baptist Church and pastor Teddy Sorrells.

“Allen and his wife rode a motorcycle to church one Sunday, and we started talking about motorcycles. He told me about riding and preaching Jesus. He was on fire from his experiences with F.A.I.T.H. Riders in Alabama,” Sorrells recalled.

Little did he know it, but Sorrells, a motorcycle enthusiast and former rider, was about to inherit the motorcycle that had been gifted to Schwab as Joy Baptist Church embraced F.A.I.T.H. Riders as an outreach.

“We had been praying hard to reach the community as a whole,” Sorrells, a Gladewater native, said of Joy BC, located between Gladewater and Kilgore. “We are out in the country a little and had been praying for opportunities.”

In summer 2015, Joy BC affiliated with F.A.I.T.H. Riders and began monthly bike nights and regular fellowship rides. They are currently planning Bible studies at the church geared for riders and participation in state and national rallies.

On Sept. 26, the Joy BC F.A.I.T.H. Riders manned a booth and brought their bikes to the East Texas Second Annual Burn Run, held at the Gladewater rodeo grounds. The Burn Run, a fundraiser to benefit child burn victims, was sponsored by the Tyler and Longview chapters of Brother’s Keepers, a motorcycle club of current and former firefighters.

“Our Joy BC riders rode in the ride. The Burn Run gave us an opportunity to meet all kinds of folks and hand out information about our church and the gospel,” Sorrells said.

During the National Night Out, Oct. 6, the church also reached its community through a block party featuring a bounce house, giveaways, face paintings and free food.

“Motorcycles attract attention. We use that as an opportunity to open conversations with other bikers and with people who don’t ride,” Sorrells said.

Schwab and Sorrells look forward to participating in the Lone Star motorcycle rally in Galveston next year and possibly other rallies across the country. For now, word of mouth spreads the news of the Joy BC F.A.I.T.H. Riders, who hope to use their bikes as tools for evangelism.

“At Joy BC we are a small church with big kingdom hearts,” Sorrells said.

“We are using F.A.I.T.H Riders as an outreach ministry,” Schwab said, emphasizing monthly fellowship rides, block parties, the manning of booths at school functions and Bible studies. “The consistent delivering of God’s Word at every function is the standard, no matter the event.”

Bible conference to feature breakout sessions, “less ceremony”

HOUSTON—Organizers of the 2015 Bible conference preceding the annual meeting of the Southern Baptists of Texas convention have added a new feature to this year’s gathering: breakout sessions. The sessions will center on discipleship and will be led by people from across Texas who have implemented discipleship-focused ministry approaches in their own churches and communities.

SBTC church ministries associate Lance Crowell heads the convention’s work in discipleship ministries and explained what attendees can expect from the discipleship-focused breakout sessions held during the Nov. 8-9 conference at Champion Forest Baptist Church in Houston.

“This event has been crafted to give pastors and leaders a clear understanding of what a multiplying disciple-maker is and how to develop that in your church,” Crowell said.

SBTC pastor/church relations ministry associate Ted Elmore said the convention hopes the emphasis on discipleship will move churches beyond simply supporting the idea of “making disciples” to actual intentionality in making disciples.

Bible conference vice president and First Baptist Church of Beaumont pastor Chris Moody says to accomplish that, this year’s two-day gathering, themed “Multiply: Making Disciple Makers,” will be “an equipping conference with a best practices attitude.”

Breakout sessions will cover a variety of topics under the discipleship umbrella, allowing attendees to choose sessions that best fit their ministries and that speak to challenges they face in their own spheres.

Among the sessions to be offered are “If First Baptist Beaumont Can Do It, Anybody Can Do It,” led by Moody; “Pastor, Mentor Your Staff,” led by Dante Wright, pastor of Sweet Home Baptist Church in Round Rock; and “How To Ignite A Movement of Multiplication” led by Craig Etheredge, pastor of First Baptist Colleyville. Tracks geared specifically for women and Spanish-speaking attendees will also be among the sessions offered.

Moody says a shift from a “feeding consumers” approach to an “equipping equippers” approach is critical to the furtherance of the gospel in America. He said such a transition is also essential in the quest to curb biblical illiteracy.

“If the church doesn’t recapture the lost art of disciple-making, we will continue to go the way of Europe where Christianity was once great,” Moody said. “That’s the kind of reformation we need to see in America so we can move forward.”

Crowell said the SBTC wants to assist churches in this effort in any way possible and will have a special booth at the Bible conference where pastors and leaders can get next steps helps.

“We are providing trainings, additional conferencing and consultation to help churches and pastors who really want to take next steps after the Bible conference,” Crowell said.

Crowell said the SBTC also has an eight-part video series available online for free to help churches with disciple-making. The videos are available at http://sbtexas.com/onlinetraining/discipleship/bold-moves/c-66, and Crowell welcomes churches to contact him for any additional help they may need in this area.

In an effort to pack as much useful and practical training as possible into plenary and breakout sessions, Moody said, Bible conference officers have decided to keep speaker introductions and ceremonial items to a minimum.

Joint worship service on Nov. 10 includes two distinct Baptist groups

HOUSTON–Two groups of Baptists meeting in Houston during the second week of November will come together for a joint worship service, Tuesday, Nov. 10. Champion Forest Baptist Church will host in their facilities the separate annual meetings of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention (SBTC) Nov. 9-10 and the Baptist Missionary Association of Texas (BMAT) Nov. 10-11.

Five years ago the two groups approved “a working ministry relationship,” noting their shared affirmation of a high view of Scripture and basic Baptist distinctives. That led to a common commitment to evangelize the state and serve the Lord through cooperative ministries.

Wes Pratt, pastor of the BMAT-affiliated Northside Baptist Church in Conroe, will deliver the message that evening after reports are presented by Jacksonville College President Mike Smith and Texas Baptist Home President Eddie Marsh, representing the two BMA institutions that SBTC funds. The worship team of the SBTC-affiliated West Conroe Baptist Church will lead music along with the choir from Jacksonville College.

SBTC has supported two of the institutions founded by the Baptist Missionary Association over the past decade. The two-year Jacksonville College began receiving funds in 2004 and the Texas Baptist Home in Waxahachie signed an affiliation agreement in 2005.

With autonomous churches spread across the U.S. in 32 states, the Baptist Missionary Association was founded in 1900 by 45 churches that left the Baptist General Convention of Texas over a perception that the board structure might override the sovereignty of local churches. Based in Waxahachie, BMA counts 452 Texas churches in its membership.

TEXAN executive editor Gary Ledbetter wrote nearly a decade ago of the “good unity story” that had emerged in the state through a burgeoning relationship between the Baptist Missionary Association of Texas and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention formed in 1998.

“For about a hundred years the Baptist Missionary Association and the Southern Baptist Convention went their own ways in the specifics of missionary support,” he explained. “Southern Baptists have been more centralized in their support of various denominational causes than have Missionary Baptists.

“In Texas, we are once again finding ways to work together,” Ledbetter added, describing “biblical and godly” unity around “specific ministries with others who substantially agree regarding faith and practice.”

10 Common Views of Millennials

What is a millennial? There are no precise dates when this generation starts and ends; most researchers and commentators (Newsweek, Iconoclast, New York Times) use birth years ranging from 1978 to the early 2000s. I was born in 1978, so I just missed the Generation-X group, and barely fit into the millennials. In fact, some definitions would also keep my age group out of the millennials category, but I am around true millennials all the time by speaking to high school students, college students, church planters, and young families on a regular basis. In my experience with this really broad and large people group, I find there are extreme differences between 34 year olds and 17 year olds. However, there are also some common views that come to the surface in most millennials no matter their age.

This is extremely important, because as children of God, we have firsthand experience of the incredible grace of Jesus. So, we should have a never-ending drive in us to love every age group the way that he loves us, and be students of every generation enabling us to be faithful missionaries with the gospel to them.

With that in mind, here are 10 common views of millennials that may help us understand this large and diverse generation:

Millennials Don’t Promote Ageism: People tend to think that millennials don’t want to have anything to do with the older generation. However, this generation is in desperate need for older generations to invest into them. This is largely a fatherless generation. They often seek out or are more open to discipleship or mentorship then we tend to believe. But, they won’t know how to ask for it, so they ask you to “hangout.”
Millennials Value Experience Over Heritage: For the most part, millennials don’t value “heritage.” For example, a young person is not typically going to be Southern Baptist just because his parents were. If we can’t answer their “why” questions or we get defensive over their questions, we’ll lose them. Be ready to answer their honest questions with love, patience, and kindness. Their experience with something or someone will dictate their views more than history will.
Millennials Are Fairly Non-Committal: Unless, it’s an Apple product, millennials aren’t completely committed to anything. Previous generations may have valued commitment over enjoyment by making statements such as, “I’ve hated my job for over 40 years, but I’m committed to it.” However, you’ll probably never hear a millennial say that because they tend to value enjoyment over commitment. So they may say something like, “Why be miserable for 40 years? I may make less money and ‘move around’ a lot, but I certainly don’t want to be miserable. Life is too short for that!” However, a great way to keep millennials engaged is by constantly communicating, illustrating, and empowering participation in the vision and mission of the church. Remember, the younger generation is not the future of the church—if they’ve been redeemed with the blood of Jesus, then they’re the church right now. So, let them have some ownership of the ministry, and be patient with them when they mess up … possibly a lot.
Millennials Mainly Think About Today: Millennials often seem shortsighted. Of course, we’re all influenced by our environment. Think about it—the defining moment of their lifetime is the tragic events of 9/11. They saw the twin towers fall over and over again on a video screen while they were still children. It’s burned into their subconscious. Because there is so much focus on today, there will be very little preparation for the future in most millennials. This is also the reason for a lot of debt with this generation. “I need money today, so I’ll take out this loan, and worry about how to pay for it tomorrow.” This is a great way for the church to utilize the urgency of each day with this generation, while also discipling them in the values of planning.
Millennials Are More Globally Minded: Most Millennials are up-to-date on world news and affairs. However, they may seem to be less patriotic to the USA than previous generations. They tend to view things from a global perspective while still valuing their country. It’s very possible that the Lord may accomplish the Great Commission through their interest in the nations.
Millennials Know Public Shaming All Too Well: Public shaming was once a thing of the past but now has been revived with social media. Millennials have grown-up afraid. They’ve felt the sting of cyber-bullying and may even have participated in viral trends. Their online persona is often as important to them as their real persona. Where we once said a photo was “A Kodak moment,” we now say, “That picture is Instagram-worthy.” This is an incredible opportunity for the church to teach this generation that a true identity found in Christ is better than a false identity created online.
Millennials See Brokenness At An Earlier Age: They are exposed to more violence, graphic images, and evil at an earlier age. Internet exposure, media coverage, and broken homes are unfortunately the norm for far too many. Mass shootings is mainly a new phenomenon in their generation. This is a pornography-saturated generation—the average age of first exposure is 11. The fastest growing consumer of Internet pornography is girls 15–30; 90% of guys admit to interaction with Internet pornography, and 60% of girls. This generation is looking for solutions at a much earlier time in their lives. They know they’re broken. Thank God for the gospel, because it is mighty to save millennials. Share it with them, because they’re starving for it, whether they know it or not.
Millennials Are Cause-Oriented. This generation wants to be a part of “doing” something. They’ll want more out of their church than sitting on a pew, listening to sermons, going to pot-luck dinners, while waiting on the Rapture Bus to swoop down to pick them all up. They are not scared to die young; however, they are terrified to die at a ripe old age while not having done anything significant with their lives in their own eyes. They are not typically impressed by a church’s size or budget. They’re more interested in being noticed relationally and in what the church is doing outside the walls of the building. Sometimes you’ll find a greater percentage of millennials in smaller churches or church plants because of the assumed accessibility of the leaders to cultivate a relationship.
Millennials Are An AD/HD Generation. Surprising to some, they usually don’t mind long sermons. The communicators most popular amongst millennials commonly preach 45-50-minute sermons. However, millenials have about a 7-10-minute attention span at the most. In communicating, teaching, preaching, it is a must to break up the message several times with a story, illustration, or practical application. Also, teaching has to be more than relaying content. This generation is visual. If they can’t see it or envision it, they have difficulty understanding it.
Millennials Value Doctrine. Mature, Christ-following millennials deeply value doctrine, verse-by-verse preaching, and missions. This generation seems to get weary of gimmicks and ‘sleek presentations’ very quickly. The seeker-sensitive movement of their parents’ generation has grown to be “old hat” for the millennials that grew up in church. In preaching, the more raw, transparent, and vulnerable the communicator is, the more millenials connect. There was a time when preachers were told not to use themselves in personal illustrations; however, this generation wants to hear those personal stories.

Millennials are a hopeful generation, and I personally am encouraged by this! My prophetic prediction (Please, don’t stone me if I’m wrong) about this generation is that God will use them to further the Great Commission more than any previous generation. At the end of the day, millennials are just people made in the image of God that desperately need the gospel of Jesus Christ.