Month: May 2016

If You”re a Christian, You”re a Missionary

To the surprise of most, the words “missions” and “missionary” are found nowhere in Scripture. However, the definition and concept of missions is a central theme in God’s Word.

A simple explanation of missions is that we have a glorious king who has rescued us into his kingdom, and now we get to love him, worship him, and tell the world about him so others will love, worship and share him.”

So, what is a missionary? Often, the image that comes to mind are those “superstar” Christians that have their pictures on the back walls of our churches, who get on planes and wear cargo-pants; coming back once a year to offer slide-show presentations. In no way should we belittle that view of missionaries. Thank God for those who surrender their lives to share the love of Jesus on foreign soil. They definitely are missionaries, but they’re also not the only ones.

Believe it or not, Wikipedia gives one of the best definitions I’ve found of missional living: “In Christianity, missional living takes place when the believer adopts the posture, thinking, behaviors and practices of a missionary in order to engage others with the gospel message.” Unfortunately, the word “missional” has become such a misused and misunderstood buzzword in the last decade. But, at its core, the term emphasizes the truth that ALL Christians should be involved in the Great Commission of Jesus Christ, not only a select group of “professional” missionaries.

Scripture is clear that all Christians are missionaries. Here’s why:

  1. Salvation is a call to be a missionary. The following statement can’t biblically exist in the minds of Christians: “God has called me to salvation but not to missions.” The call to a relationship with the king is also a call to tell the world about this same king! And, this should make us extremely joyful. After all, thank God that there is more to being a Christian than getting ‘saved,’ sitting on our blessed assurances on padded pews, going to a bunch of potluck dinners, waiting on the Rapture Bus to swoop down and pick us all up to the “good ol’ by-and-by”.

    “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”  (Ephesians 2:8-10)

    “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)

    The beautiful truth that comes from these Scriptures is the teaching that “We’re not just called FROM something; we’re also called TO something!” Yes, we’re saved from sin, hell, God’s wrath and the kingdom of darkness; but we’re also called to the kingdom of God, community, the church and the mission of God! Missions is one of the reasons we were adopted into the Family of God. As believers, we cannot be selfish with the gospel. We must share it with the world, which includes our schools, jobs, families, neighborhoods and the nations. How and where we are missionaries will be revealed by the Spirit of God, but the fact that we are missionaries has been declared once and for all in God’s Word. It’s now our purpose, passion and point of living to tell the world about Jesus.

  2.  Missionaries carry with them a message. God told the prophet Isaiah, “Go and say (Isaiah 6:9)”. The apostle Paul told the Corinthians, “…entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:19b – 20). Therefore, any kind of missions that doesn’t have a verbal gospel proclamation is most likely not the missio dei—mission of God—but rather temporary service projects. There is nothing wrong with painting fences, planting gardens or handing out sandwiches. However, if there is no message tied to it, let’s not call it missions. Those efforts are no different than what many other clubs, organizations or philanthropists do.

    True, biblical missions uses avenues like social justice, mercy ministries and service-work to ultimately point people to the savior named Jesus. It’s not very loving to let someone live with physical hunger when we have it within our means to feed them; however, it’s also not loving to let someone live with spiritual hunger when we have within our mouths the message of life. Hell is just as hungry for the souls of those with full stomachs as it is for those with empty stomachs. Here is what true care for someone looks like: we give a sandwich out of love while also telling them about the Bread of Life out of love.

    “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” (Romans 10:14-15)

 

The church reformer Martin Luther said, “It wouldn’t matter if Jesus died a thousand times if no one heard about it.” This is a haunting reality that should motivate us all to realize and remember that missions is not one of the many ministries of the local church, nor is it a passion and calling of “some.” The mission of God is the very reason the church exists! If you’re a Christian, you’re a missionary. So, go and tell the world about your king.

18 Things to Pray for Your Church

Have you ever been reading your Bible and noticed how Paul prays such rich, kingdom-saturated prayers for churches?

  • For the church in Thessalonica: “To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power” (2 Thess. 1:11; see also 1 Thess. 1:9–13).
  • For the church in Colossae: “We have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Col. 1:9–10).
  • For the church in Ephesus:  “I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him” (Eph. 1:16–17; see also 3:14–21).
  • For the church in Rome (Rom. 15:14–33) and the church in Philippi (Phil. 1:9–11).

Of course, there’s far more where this came from. See Don Carson’s excellent book on the topic, Praying with Paul: A Call to Spiritual Reformation (Baker).

Leading the Charge

It’s comparatively easy for you and me to pray for ourselves, our families and our friends. But how can we learn how to pray more fervently and consistently for our local churches?

For one, we just need to start doing it—and encouraging others to do so.

To help with that, here are 18 things you can pray for your church. They aren’t as rich as Paul’s since I wanted to keep them simple and Twitter-length. (Also because I’m not inspired.) Still, perhaps you could print out this article and pray two or three of the points below per day for the next week—maybe in your quiet time, maybe at the family dinner table.

Also, consider copying and pasting your favorite prayers below into Twitter or Facebook, led by the phrase “Pray for your church: . . .” Don’t insert my Twitter handle. You don’t have enough room, and it’s not the point. The point is to use your social media platform to encourage others to pray for their church.

Who knows? One day in glory, perhaps we’ll see all the good accomplished from believers being more deliberate about praying for their churches.

What to Pray For

    1. That we would have unity amid diversity—loving those with whom we have nothing in common but the gospel.
    2. That a culture of discipling would form in which making disciples is viewed as an ordinary part of the Christian life.
    3. That faithful elders would use Scripture to train members to do the work of ministry.
    4. That a hunger for studying the gospel would form among members so that they can guide and guard one another in it.
    5. That transparent, meaningful relationships would become normal and remaining anonymous strange.
    6. The preaching of God’s Word—that it would be biblically careful and Holy Spirit imbued.
    7. That elders would remain above reproach, kept from temptation, complacency, idols and worldliness.
    8. That the church’s songs would teach members to biblically confess, lament and praise.
    9. That the church’s prayers would be infused with biblical ambitions, honesty and humility.
    10. That adult members would work to disciple teenagers and not just leave it to programming.
    11. That the church’s primary teachers grow in dedication to God’s Word even when no one’s watching.
    12. That it would grow in being distinct from the world in love and holiness, even as it engages outsiders.
    13. That members would share the gospel this week—and see more conversions!
    14. That members would be prepared for persecution, remembering to love, not curse, their persecutors.
    15. That hopes for political change would be outstretched by the hope of heaven.
    16. That giving would be faithul, as well as joyful, consistent and sacrificial.
    17. That more members would use their careers to take the gospel to places it’s never been.
    18. That members would be good and do good in their workplaces this week.

 

Can you think of something I didn’t include? Then pray it and share it! This is hardly the “official list” of the 18 most important things to pray. They’re simply what one guy thought of while sitting in his office chair.

The point is for all of us to start praying more intentionally for our churches, and to encourage others to do the same.

—Jonathan Leeman is editorial director for 9Marks Ministries and an elder at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. This article first appeared on The Gospel Coalition blog and is used with permission.

You say you want a revolution?

Well, alright. President Obama has overstepped. I’ll have to be more specific. His May 13 declaration that Title IX discrimination rules apply to a student’s gender identity du jour as well as his biological gender was a political decision based on almost no science, little history and scant legal authority. He will get away with it unless we in flyover country just say “no.”

Saying no looks like a score of more of governors and attorney generals suing the administration and warning independent school districts that states provide more education funds than does the federal government. Saying no looks like a thousand or more school districts suing the administration for this imperial changing of established guidelines. A class action suit would fit the bill I think. Add to these actions thousands of schools that say, “We will act according to our own policies, thank you.” And of course there are parents whose part in public education is often underemphasized. Parents, now as well as yesterday, must decide who will assist them in educating their children. But these parents are also taxpayers with the right to decide if local bond and sales taxes related to schools are approved. If school boards know that state funding as well as local funding will be affected by their silly dalliance with gender politics, they might find the courage to say “no” also.

The result of policies requiring teachers to refer to a student by his “preferred” pronouns and to keep the fact that Bobby goes by Betty while he’s at school from Bobby’s parents, is advocacy for novel definitions of sex and gender. Bobby is not being accommodated by this servant of the local community; he is being counseled down a path away from health and mature happiness. He’s being counseled by those his parents employ. It’s outrageous. The question really is whether or not we are capable of feeling and productively expressing outrage when the children of our cities are so oppressed. I honestly don’t know that we are, but this is a big moment.

Understand, I don’t mind if a local school accommodates a gender-confused student out of compassion. In fact, I think it’s commendable to do so. Minor children, by definition, need rational adults to assist them, provide for them and counsel them. That’s why policies like the one adopted by the Fort Worth ISD and threats like the one offered by the Obama Department of Education are such a betrayal. The result of policies requiring teachers to refer to a student by his “preferred” pronouns and to keep the fact that Bobby goes by Betty while he’s at school from Bobby’s parents, is advocacy for novel definitions of sex and gender. Bobby is not being accommodated by this servant of the local community; he is being counseled down a path away from health and mature happiness. He’s being counseled by those his parents employ. It’s outrageous. The question really is whether or not we are capable of feeling and productively expressing outrage when the children of our cities are so oppressed. I honestly don’t know that we are, but this is a big moment.

We are deciding a couple of foundational things right now. First, we are deciding if we want any control more local than national over the institutions we locally fund. Do we any longer believe that there are things we understand about our neighborhood that people who’ve never been here or lived anywhere remotely similar cannot understand? Are our neighbors, who serve on the school board, administer public institutions, and work part time in the Texas legislature, servants of our communities or servants of transitory national political agendas? It’s a real question and one that requires a different answer than the one we have given in recent days.

Second, we are deciding who disciples our children. If I had a child in the Fort Worth ISD or any other district determined to keep my child’s mental, spiritual or physical issues from me, I’d fire them. If I couldn’t literally end the employment of the superintendent, I’d find someone else to help me train my children—effectively firing public schools as my assistants in teaching. It will cost you to do that. It cost me thousands, delayed home ownership, leaned out my retirement income and perhaps had other effects I have not considered to disciple my own children this way. I have no regrets.

Really guys, if you needed to hire a nanny to teach your children important things like math, language, the origin of man, the nature of man, the nature of truth and the responsibilities of one person for another, and then give your kids to that nanny for seven hours a day, five days a week, 32 weeks a year, for 13 years (plus college) and know that this nanny and your child will keep secrets from you, you’d better know that nanny well and trust him to a degree you trust very few people.

Really guys, if you needed to hire a nanny to teach your children important things like math, language, the origin of man, the nature of man, the nature of truth and the responsibilities of one person for another, and then give your kids to that nanny for seven hours a day, five days a week, 32 weeks a year, for 13 years (plus college) and know that this nanny and your child will keep secrets from you, you’d better know that nanny well and trust him to a degree you trust very few people. We all like to think of ourselves as good parents. A good parent knows what goes into his kid’s mouth, his heart and his mind. Otherwise he’s not so good.

So yes, I’m saying that President Obama has given us a very personal chance to understand the issues in America. I think we do have the real power to offer an amendment to his rebuilding of our society. But Lord help us, I’m not sure we are generally unified enough to do it or even that we care enough to seriously consider our response.  

Whether we are or are not, this is a watershed. You will remember that this happened and you will associate many things not yet done with our actions, or inaction, regarding the education of our children, the education of your children, in the spring of 2016.

Multicultural churches take varying approaches to musical diversity

By most any definition of a multicultural church, Servant House in Lewisville and High Pointe Baptist in Austin have succeeded in reaching the culture in which they live. An ethnically diverse staff is one component that both churches have in common, though their approach to styles of music is very different.

When Will Langstaff sensed God leading him to plant Servant House in 1999, he was determined to reach a multi-ethnic population. 

“God gave me a vision,” Langstaff told the TEXAN. “I saw all races and people singing in the choir. I knew from that what I was going to do,” the African-American pastor said. 

Over time, the congregation grew to include African-Americans, Asians and Anglos. Langstaff turned to a series of black music leaders, each lasting three to six months, followed by an Anglo who stuck with it for a year. 

“We had a Korean drummer, and he decided he would go to seminary,” the pastor said, recalling the opportunity to mentor Insung Lee by giving him more opportunities to serve. 

“I found out he had been a worship leader in South Korea so I started letting him lead on Wednesday nights and he did a good job,” Langstaff said. “After about six months I put him in on Sunday, and he did a great job!” Soon he enlisted Insung Lee to become worship pastor, a position he has held since 2012. 

While Lee grew up singing traditional hymns, he enjoys listening to black gospel, which accounts for more than half of the songs selected for worship services. Contemporary Christian, Southern gospel and traditional hymns make up the remainder.

“God has trained and prepared me to love and embrace all kinds of worship,” Lee said. 

Choir members gather for quarterly meetings and help select songs they love to sing, Lee said. “That helps worship ministry to have more kinds of music styles as well as various theological worship themes.” 

The adult choir is featured on the first and third Sundays. A men’s praise team typically offers black gospel renditions for one week, and a youth choir draws from hip-hop songs or Christian rock on the other Sunday.

Langstaff provides Lee with his sermon series schedule far in advance, making it possible for him to select a song like “He’s an On Time God” to reinforce the pastor’s message on the faithfulness of God.

The preached word is the focus of worship at High Pointe Baptist Church in Austin as well. As a congregational church, “We seek to keep our worship congregational as well,” explained Robert Baldwin, an elder and pastor of worship. “Our musical center is hymn-based,” he added, incorporating both contemporary and traditional hymns. 

Located in a fast-growing area of Austin that is both ethnically and socially diverse, High Pointe Baptist Church is pastored by Juan Sanchez. Its stated mission is “to see all peoples become whole-hearted followers of Jesus Christ,” according to the website.

Asians make up the fastest growing population in the area surrounding High Pointe with Vietnamese as the dominant ethnic group. Hispanics account for the largest group equaled with Anglos and followed by African-Americans, according to Baldwin.

High Pointe membership follows that demographic with African-Americans and Hispanics “making up a healthy percentage of our congregation,” he said. “Anglos still make up the majority, but not by much. We are also well represented by Asians, both Far East and Indian.”

A Spanish-speaking congregation established years ago is now self-sustaining. High Pointe also live translates their services in Spanish and projects lyrics to music in both English and Spanish.

In another part of the campus, Ethiopians meet to worship in Amharic. They join High Pointe’s service once a quarter, occasionally helping lead music. “They have a pretty typical African style of worship [that is] very expressive and rhythmic,” Baldwin said.

While Amharic is difficult to translate into English, Baldwin said a song like “How Great Thou Art” proved to be an effective means of corporate worship for both congregations.

While High Pointe does not intentionally pursue musical diversity, Baldwin, who is white, finds “that naturally happens as we focus on the gospel and keep our worship focused on what we are seeking to accomplish as a church.”

“We believe worship should be corporate, and we seek to involve everyone,” Baldwin said. As a result, there is no “special music” and very few instrumental or vocal solos. Keeping accompaniment as simple as possible, it is an acoustic set-up of piano, keyboards, trumpet, trombone, clarinet, violin, and both bass and acoustic guitars. The drum set was replaced with congas and a Cajon. 

Baldwin asks four questions as he plans the music portion of worship each week:

  • Is this song Word-based and theologically and doctrinally sound?
  • Is it gospel-centered, dealing with God, man, Christ or our response?
  • Is it helpful to the preached text this week? 
  • Is it singable?

After 39 years in ministry in several Southern Baptist congregations, Baldwin said, “Like any church, High Pointe has been a mixture of peaks and valleys, joys and sorrow, but through it all God has proven himself to be more than sufficient.” The diversity of the Austin congregation has been one of the greatest joys he finds in serving there. 

“It continues to be a little taste of heaven every week.” 

Platt praises improved financial and organizational picture for IMB

ROCKVILLE, Va.—A hopeful report anticipating higher giving to missions, a new slate of officers, and the recognition of Clyde and Elaine Meador for 41 years of ministry were among the highlights of the May 11 plenary session of the International Mission Board trustee meeting that was live-streamed from the International Learning Center outside of Richmond.

While the final tally of contributions to last year’s Lottie Moon Christmas Offering has yet to be announced, IMB President David Platt said “things are looking better than ever,” expressing gratitude for progress toward exercising greater responsibility with short term finances and long term organization for the largest missionary-sending organization.

And yet, even if Southern Baptists receive “millions more,” Platt said the goal is not to send 100 or 200 more missionaries, but rather, thousands of new missionaries through “limitless pathways” involving students, retirees and professionals funded through their vocations in regions where IMB places fully funded personnel to lead those teams.

Platt said he wants to “open wide the doors for entire churches to get involved in taking the gospel to the nations,” while establishing a doctrinally strong foundation. Last year’s policy revisions set a high bar for character, Christlikeness and church engagement, Platt said of deployed personnel.

“We can’t just think like we always have as to who can go and how to get there. We’ve got to make a way for the churches to go to the nations.”

David Platt, IMB President

“We can’t just think like we always have as to who can go and how to get there,” he added. “We’ve got to make a way for the churches to go to the nations.” He announced that IMB leadership would be meeting with Southern Baptist pastors, seminary leaders and state convention leaders to brainstorm how those pathways will develop “if we really are serious about making the glory of God known” to the nations.

Citing the current refugee crisis in Syria and surrounding countries, Platt discouraged “looking at it through the lens of political punditry,” and instead should focus on accomplishing the Great Commission. “We need to see the world in which God has put us.”

The IMB president said he anticipates the day when such sin and suffering will be no more, reminding those present, “As long as we’re in this world, remember every one of us finds ourselves in a foreign land, seeking a homeland—a city where we’re migrants, multicultural citizenry of an other-worldly kingdom.”

Trustees elected a new slate of officers, including Scott Harris of Tennessee as chairman, Rick Dunbar of Mississippi as first vice-chairman, Tim Simpson of Maryland/Delaware as second vice-chairman and Cindy Sneed of Arizona as secretary. All were elected without opposition except for Simpson who was chosen over two other nominees, Susan Bryant of Kentucky and Andy Finch of Oklahoma.

IMB Senior Ambassador Gordon Fort directed trustees in praying for an unengaged unreached people group in need of missionaries to deliver the gospel. He asked the Holy Spirit to prepare the spiritual soil among the Muko-Muko for a spiritual harvest and agricultural assistance so that farms can be better managed and improve the standard of living.

The Board learned that three dozen fewer missionaries actually followed through with voluntary retirement after being allowed to change their minds from accepting a “Hand Raising Opportunity” earlier this year, reducing that count from 983 to 947.

Trustees also honored executive presidential advisor Clyde Meador, along with his wife, Elaine, for 41 years of ministry, including 15 years in stateside administration.

“When you look at Clyde’s and Elaine’s lives, it’s step-by-step obedience in the same direction towards the Father’s will for their lives.”

John Brady, vice president for Global Engagement

“When you look at Clyde’s and Elaine’s lives, it’s step-by-step obedience in the same direction towards the Father’s will for their lives,” said John Brady, vice president for Global Engagement, according to reporting by IMB.

Clyde has worked closely with three IMB presidents as a top advisor and vice president, and even as the mission organization’s interim president from August 2010 to March 2011. Appointed as missionaries to Indonesia, the Meadors served in a variety of roles involving church planting in Medan, training in Semarang and Purwokerto, and as administrator in Jakarta.

Former IMB President Tom Elliff told an IMB reporter, “It is the authentic nature of Clyde’s and Elaine’s hearts that stands out most clearly to me. You can trust they will do what they say they will do. If they say that they are going to pray for you, they will. When they say that you are their friend, you are their friend. They remember their commitments. They don’t take these things lightly.”

The Board also commended WMU President Wanda Lee upon her retirement and contributed $15,000 to the Foundation that supports the auxiliary she led. “There are IMB missionaries right now who are drinking clean water and have water filters in their homes because WMU provided them at no cost around the world,” Platt said. He also praised WMU for helping “Third Culture Kids” transition to college through a re-entry retreat after living overseas with missionary parents, as well as providing them scholarships.

Property sales in Taiwan and Brazil, as well as the transfer of two parcels to local churches were approved without discussion.

The Board will save over half a million dollars that can be reallocated for field ministry after moving this year’s appointment services and trustee meetings to the training facility.

The Hole in our Evangelism

We are living in the midst of a spiritual epidemic that often goes ignored by churches throughout our nation. This epidemic can’t be treated by new books or buzzwords. It can’t be contained through catch phrases or cute acronyms. It can only be turned around by pastors, church staff and lay people who are broken and burdened for the lost. This spiritual epidemic is evangelistic indifference.

We live in a nation growing at overwhelming rates. In 1981, the U.S. population was approximately 229 million, and today, we are at 322 million. The fact that our nation is growing at such rapid rates and yet our churches are dying and baptisms are dropping should send chills down the spine of every follower of Jesus. We must recover our fervency for reaching the lost with the gospel of Christ.

In Acts 17, Paul is in Antioch awaiting the arrival of Timothy and Silas. In the midst of this pagan culture, he becomes driven to reach the lost. Here, we learn three lessons to help us end the epidemic of evangelistic indifference:

1.) Lostness was personal to Paul.

As Paul awaited his ministry partners in Antioch, his spirit was provoked. His spirit was not provoked because people were constantly pursuing him or persecuting him. It was simply that Paul found himself in the middle of a city giving glory to a god who did not deserve it. It became personal to Paul that the god of man’s imagination was bypassing the God of creation.

As we look around today, we find ourselves in a similar place. Our culture is busy laying its praise on the altar of false gods and self-centered pursuits, growing more and more hostile to the things of God. People are flocking to our nation to pursue the American dream while our churches sit silently hoping they will somehow stumble into our doors. If we are going to see this epidemic turned around, we can no longer be indifferent about lostness. It must become personal to us, as it did to Paul. We often forget the reality of hell because we refuse to be close to those who are on their way there. As long as we are more provoked about politics, economics or sports than we are about those lost and going to hell, we will not see this epidemic turned around. We must take personal action.

2.) Paul was intentional about engaging the culture.

Because the city’s spiritual state became personal to Paul, he wanted to do something about it. In verse 17, Paul goes into the synagogue with the Jews and devout men. In other words, Paul went to church. However, Paul doesn’t just go to church and expect others to join him there. He also went into the marketplace every day to seek those with whom he could share Christ. In churches today, we need less expectation that the lost will join us in our church and more intentionality for us to go into the marketplace. We need to apply our time, resources, strategies and efforts to equipping and mobilizing marketplace missionaries who work to make a living but live to make a difference.

Too often, we have made the Sunday morning experience our primary method of evangelism when it’s only a fraction of our church members’ week. This is the hole in our evangelism—that we subconsciously train our people to spend the minimal time on what matters the most. What if we built our strategies on marketplace evangelism? What if we equipped our people to share the gospel where they spend most of their time?

3.) Paul’s objective was the gospel, and his message was compelling.

Provoked by the need, Paul began to preach. He went before the Areopagus; and as verse 18 tells us, he preached Jesus and the resurrection. This was the common pattern of Paul’s ministry. His sole objective was to proclaim the gospel. In verse 20, the men of the city demonstrate a hunger to know more about Jesus and his resurrection. So, too, when we engage people with the gospel, we will see them hunger for more of Christ.

Taking Paul’s example, let’s take the lostness around us personally. Let’s intentionally engage our culture by equipping and mobilizing our people to go into the marketplace. Let’s keep our main objective of faithfully proclaiming the gospel.

We are tempted to identify ourselves and churches as “gospel-centered.” However, if the gospel is not being shared individually and corporately, how are we “gospel-centered”? Perhaps it just becomes a buzzword and a hole in our evangelism. May we work together to put an end to the epidemic of evangelistic indifference!

EDITOR’S NOTE: An expanded version of this article first appeared on Southwestern Seminary’s TheologicalMatters.com blog.

Surprising Statistics (and Solutions) for Equipping Worship Leaders

When I started working at the SBTC in June 2014, one of the first things on my to-do list was to get a clearer picture of the churches we serve. What I gleaned from available data was that 76 percent of SBTC churches have bi-vocational or volunteer worship pastors. Just as surprising to me was that bi-vocational worship pastors are serving at churches of all sizes.

Additionally, I have also come to realize that many churches in our convention have no consistent worship leader week in and out. Churches often rely on recordings or YouTube videos to provide music for congregational singing. While this is a great use of technology to meet a current need, it is missing the pastoral presence a church receives from a minister, whether bi-vocational or full-time. 

This data convinced me that we have an incredible need for bi-vocational music ministers. At the same time, our supply, bi-vocational and volunteer worship leaders need resources and training opportunities that do not fit conventional methodologies. Armed with this information, I feel I have a clearer lens to look through when developing programs and resources to help SBTC churches. 

In light of this, I am grateful for the bi-vocational and volunteer worship leaders who serve our churches. You are giving your time, talent and resources to serve the bride of Christ, and this service cannot be underestimated. Your sacrifice and service have not gone unnoticed and are to be greatly commended. Thank you for serving churches like you do. 

I am grateful for the bi-vocational and volunteer worship leaders who serve our churches. You are giving your time, talent and resources to serve the bride of Christ, and this service cannot be underestimated. Your sacrifice and service have not gone unnoticed and are to be greatly commended.

Lance Beaumont

The SBTC Worship Ministries is here to help you do ministry more effectively. Some of the ways we can assist you are in worship technology training and optimization, locating musical resources and songs for worship, music and worship leadership training, and having a person to call when you have questions about worship ministry. We also have training resources, music and worship related, on our website (sbtexas.com/worship). Using this platform we can cover a narrow topic in three to five minutes. 

I also believe we need more bi-vocational worship leaders, plain and simple. For this reason, we are working to create mentorship opportunities throughout the state for college students. Many college students are involved in worship ministries while they are in school—serving on college praise teams or playing in praise bands at the churches there are attending in college. We should be mentoring these college students in the areas of discipleship, worship leading and theology, pastoral care, and musical skills so when they start their careers they are equipped to serve a local church in worship ministry. This is not a quick-fix solution to the issues I see in worship leadership, but it just might be a solid long-term one. 

Students need to have opportunities to serve in worship leadership. A church’s next worship leader might be a junior in high school. The primary resource we have to equip high school students in this way is LEAD Camp. LEAD Camp is a one-week intensive summer camp where students are taught Christian leadership principles, worship theology and planning, instrumental lessons and master classes, how to run rehearsals and build worship teams. We should think of our high school students like a baseball farm team, giving them an opportunity to “do the reps” of worship leadership. In this way, we will equip and train the next generation of church leaders. 

Without bi-vocational and volunteer worship pastors, worship in our churches would suffer. My goal at the SBTC level is to serve, resource and equip our churches for dynamic worship.

Lt. Gov. Patrick issues statement on Fort Worth ISD gender guidelines

AUSTIN – Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, called for the resignation of Dr. Kent Paredes Scribner, Superintendent of the Fort Worth Independent School District. He issued the following statement:

“After less than a year as superintendent, Dr. Scribner has lost his focus and thereby his ability to lead the Fort Worth ISD. He has placed his own personal political agenda ahead of the more than 86,000 students attending 146 schools in the district by unilaterally adopting ‘Transgender Student Guidelines.’

“After less than a year as superintendent, Dr. Scribner has lost his focus and thereby his ability to lead the Fort Worth ISD. He has placed his own personal political agenda ahead of the more than 86,000 students attending 146 schools in the district by unilaterally adopting ‘Transgender Student Guidelines.’

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick

“Without any discussion with parents, board members, principals, and other community leaders, Dr. Scribner’s unilateral action, underscores this lack of fitness to hold his position as superintendent.

“Campus safety should be of paramount concern for anyone in his position. Every parent, especially those of young girls, should be outraged.

“The State of Texas has an affirmative responsibility to provide a safe environment in the schools where attendance is compulsory. While this may be an example of the need for the Legislature to pass a meaningful School Choice Bill, we must not allow the actions of Dr. Scribner to go unnoticed or unanswered.

“I call upon the parents within the Fort Worth ISD to take immediate steps to repeal this stealthy scheme and remove Dr. Scribner from his post.”

Parents can address the elected members of the Fort Worth ISD School Board meeting on Tuesday, May 10, 2016, at 5:30 p.m. The meeting will be held in the Board of Education complex at 2903, Shotts Street, Fort Worth, TX 76107.