Kevin Ezell has begun to share his new vision for NAMB and Baptist Press is reporting it. He is planning to divide NAMB into 5 regions, each of which will have a VP who will report directly to him. He has named the VPs for the Midwest and Canadian regions.
Here is the map of the regions that NAMB has published in BP:
He claims that each of the regional supervisors will work with the state convention executives in partnership. There has been a persistent fear (long before Ezell took the helm) that NAMB has been wanting to move away from partnerships and wants to work directly with churches independently of the state conventions. Right now, that does not seem to be the case. Ezell seems to be consistently expressing his desire to work in partnership with the states.
It was that fear that was at the root of a lot of GCR opposition in the New Work states. At this time, Ezell seems to be indicating his intention to continue to work in partnership. Hope that follows through.
Of course, the thing that I have read that makes some of us nervous is the idea that he will focus on population centers for NAMB work. He says that his strategy, “prioritizes the largest areas of lostness.” That strikes some fear in rural areas and in the smaller states with smaller cities. We will have to wait nervously to see how that plays out.
Here is the full text of Ezell’s letter:
I will be presenting several items to our Board of Trustees when I meet with them February 9 and I wanted to share some of those details ahead of time.
— Strategy and Approach
I believe NAMB’s strategy needs to revolve around church planting that is focused on penetrating lostness in North America. We will mobilize churches to become part of this church planting effort. Then we will equip them for the task and help them get it done.
This national strategy will be implemented regionally, working in close partnership with state Southern Baptist conventions in a way that prioritizes the largest areas of lostness. I am proposing that these five regions—Northeast, South, Midwest, West and Canada—each have their own leader who will report directly to me.
— New Personnel
I have been asking God and others to lead me to those who would be best equipped to provide leadership for these regions. I am happy to say that I will present two of those to our trustees in February.
— VP — Midwest Region — Steve Davis
I am proposing that Steve Davis, who has provided great leadership at the Indiana Baptist State Convention since 2003 and has pastored for three decades, should lead our efforts in the Midwest Region. I could not be happier at the prospect of having Steve in this vital role.
— VP — Canadian Region — Jeff Christopherson
Jeff Christopherson has been one of our church planting missionaries and is at the forefront of those efforts in Canada. He has proven his great leadership and mobilizing abilities. I will present him to lead the Canadian Region.
These are the only two regional vice presidents we will be presenting to our trustees at this time, but I will present two other vice president candidates at our meeting.
— Organizational Structure
As I have said over the past months, once we determine our strategy, we will need to re-align our organization in a way that will let us best carry out that strategy. I will present that re-structuring to our trustees at February’s meeting. There are not any staffing reductions associated with this re-alignment.
I want to thank all of those who have been praying for me and the North American Mission Board during these days of transition. These are exciting times, but also critical days as we forge ahead with what I believe can be a new era of effectiveness for Southern Baptists.
Serving Together,
Kevin Ezell, President, North American Mission Board, SBC
January 28, 2011
Here’s hoping the “new era of effectiveness” for NAMB is more than a slogan.
Seems like a workable plan, but I’m still skeptical. It could be nothing more than rearranging the chairs on the deck of the Titanic. I’m not convinced the problems at NAMB have to do with organization. Perhaps that is part, but I think there is something else amiss.
I’m not sure if what is being proposed makes NAMB more accessible to the churches, or adds another level to the bureaucracy. I don’t see a great commitment to the local church and I think that is going to be a hindrance to any real difference.
If, in fact, there continues to be a “State Run” planting effort, I think giving will continue to erode in the pioneer states. The State Conventions already seem more like para-church organizations than partners in missions, at least in my state. I know some conventions do a better job of partnering with churches than others.
I guess I’ll have to wait and see and hope for the best.
I guess we all tend to look through the lens of our own interests. Since much of the work in Iowa and other smaller new works states is largely dependent on NAMB funding, anything that would interrupt that funding is viewed with skepticism.
I think that the thought here might be that Iowa and its churches may know better how to strategize church planting in Iowa, because we know the region, the people, etc. Some NAMB expert that comes in might not know what we know.
So, we rely on partnerships.
But I think that you get at the heart of something that is going to be under constant review in the next few years. Do we need as many layers of denominational structure now that we have always had? Association/State/National?
Will this mean that the SBC will have 5 different NAMBs, each squabbling over resources? What about ethnic ministries? Geography doesn’t matter much in missions to Somalis or Nepalis or Iraqis… ethnicity, language, culture and that whole bundle of wax does.
I think the short answer, Ryan, is no.
All 5 VPs will report directly to Ezell.
Ryan, very good questions. My fear is that this plan will not be thoroughly vetted.
Im not sure how this all plays out, but I really like the idea of splitting efforts into 5 regions… Now we just need to get the money evenly distributed between these 5 regions.
Yeah, I thought the regional emphasis was good – I remember it being discussed in the GCR debate.
I’m not sure about equal distribution of funds. I’d like to see LESS money spent in the orange areas and more in the other regions.
If we can just get it to equal it would be a million times better than it is now… But yes, I agree with you.
Dr. Steve Davis is a great choice for the Midwest Region! He will be able to work well with the state exec’s since he already has a close working relationship. Excellent!
Isn’t he the state exec now?
I think it is actually a hopeful sign that he picked a Hoosier for the Midwest area and someone working in Canada for Canada. Don’t know the men, so I can’t really comment on that.
But I think it is a good sign that he is picking people with local knowledge and credibility to be the VPs.
Like Frank L., I too am skeptical (no surprise there). If your vision is to have NAMB be almost exclusively a church planting organization, then this reorganization makes sense. However, who will NAMB be partnering with? I know that Dr. Ezell said that NAMB would work in “close partnership with State Conventions,”, but what does this mean? We simply do not know what the partnership will look like, but if I had to guess, I would say it will not be a partnership of equals.
If the existing partnership agreements are replaced with new ones, will funding be allocated based on the church planting priority? If State Conventions and local Associations, comprised of existing churches, must primarily focus on church planting to be considered worthy of partnership, then each of these entities will have choices to make.
As anyone who has read my posts on the GCR knows, I did not vote to approve the report or recommendations. I continue to be very concerned that we are marching toward a “top-down” federal model, with the SBC’s national entities akin to our own federal government. I believe that what NAMB does, coupled with what happens with the Cooperative Program, will set the course for our Convention for years to come. Time will tell, but don’t be surprised if the partnership agreements are redefined by NAMB as to no longer be identifiable. I hope I am wrong, but from what I have already heard (from very good and reliable sources), church planting will drive the bus and occupy most, if not all of the seats on the bus. And, if you don’t like it, then no partnership for you!
Howell
Its impossible to agree or argue, really. Until he reveals more of his strategy, we are taking shots in the dark.
I think your supposition that the Cooperative Agreements are going to change is pretty accurate. What will happen? I don’t know. Maybe the new system will be better, i don’t know.
One thing, Howell, I’m not real sure that the SBC organization has ever been as “grassroots” as we like to think. Its always been kind of a top-down thing, hasn’t it?
Resources probably won’t be distributed evenly across the regions. They probably won’t even be distributed evenly across the states.
Before you all castigate me for my bluntness, let me explain.
1 million spread across the Northeast will go alot further in geographic reach than across the entire west or Canada.
1 million spread across Iowa will go further than 1 million in New York state (city, even).
Also, you are not going to need as many resources hitting the South like the other regions because there is such a presence already. I just hope NAMB pulls the plug on suburb plants in the major cities. I hope NAMB funds the needs of churches planted in the regions least represented and in the parts of the regions (case in point, inner cities) that have the greatest needs.
To be absolutely honest, I hope that NAMB puts a moratorium on church plants in the south completely and develops a program to assist established churches rather than dumping more churches in areas already inundated with churches. These church plants drain members from existing churches, damages relationships, and put these churches in the awkward position of competing with each other rather than reaching the lost.
I would like to see our seminaries putting graduates in these new churches with an invigorated state convention ready to train and mentor as church plants grow and mature. NAMB should readily be in contact with the various seminaries and have it to where our top graduates are walking into these outreach positions rather than having to spend weeks, months, years trying to find gainful employment.
We’ll see what happens.
I still maintain that NAMB will be folded into the IMB before 2020. That’s my prediction and I’m sticking to it.
I don’t see that happening, but we’ll know in nine years, I guess.
If Ezell messes up and adds to the dysfunction at NAMB, you may very well be right.
If Ezell sorts things out and gets NAMB moving the way it should be, NAMB will never get folded in.
Matt Svaboda, Split it evenly huh. Based on what ? Area ?, People ? Ice 12 months of the year ? Manattees ( number in resident ) ? How about Native Indians that haven’t marched somewhere and are still on the reservation in Oklahoma with no relatives east of the Mississippi ( gets rid of any unfair Johnny Hunt connections ) ? All of Alaska’s money can go in a pile until the summer thaw. I think we need different colors. These are the same exact colors that the Government Homeland Security and they did such a wonderful job they got rid of them – to us – and we took them. I’m still bothered about the dancing at the Friday night Pow-Wows the Inuits have – peace pipe or not ! I’ve traveled up there. No wonder stuff is “secret” to keep the Purple Lovers from fretting that Brown is getting too much. This is Really too hilarious for words and some of you guys are serious. We’ll let Matt drive the Brinks truck and his 1st stop is Maui – what color is that ? Willingham, I take it all back, you & I are not too old. Got to find something for my heart. S’long cruel world.
Just some perspective when it comes to discussing cities vs rural. If when one argues against cities, and they are talking about southern cities (ie Atlanta, Louisville, ect) then I would agree. But food for thought. Bethel Baptist Association in Missouri (the Hannibal area north of STL) has 27 SBC churches. The Twin Cities Metro Baptist Association (The entire Minneapolis/St.Paul area) has 24 SBC churches. To the best of my knowledge there are no ethnic churches in the BBA, yet there are 11 in the TCMB. More statistics to consider, there are more SBC churches in the Blue River/Kansas City Baptist Association (JUST Jackson County Mo…Clay/Platte Baptist Association has everything north of the river…and then the Kansas side is another state convention entirely…obviously), than there are in the ENTIRE Minnesota/Wisconsin Baptist Convention.
It is my opinion, that if you are called to plant churches in the south, and that is what God is calling you to do…GREAT! But NAMB funds should be going else where, not where there are SBC churches nearly every block.
I also would say that the Church Planting exclusively model is wrong. While we need church planting, we also need to work on church revitalization and discipleship. Why plant a NEW church, when an existing one can be fed spiritually, and grow? We have so many churches that are struggling to bring people in, why are we putting up a new church plant two blocks down, instead of working on those existing churches?
Serving in new works states for 24 years, I felt two dynamic tensions:
1. The need to start new kinds of churches to reach new people.
2. The need to strengthen existing churches.
Without these two wings (starting & strenthening) … the bird can’t fly … for very long.
So hopefully there will also be a strong emphasis in the new strategy of helping existing churches through evangelism, discipleship, etc.
Blessings!
I think we all agree with those primary goals, Ron, and I don’t really see them in tension. They are parts of the same Great Commission continuum – evangelizing and discipling.
But the rub here comes in the “how” and I’m not sure we have found the precise formula yet.
Let me preface my comments with a brief thumbnail sketch of my experience in nontraditional areas in the U.S.
1. 10 week summer joint church planting mission with HMB and NOBTS in 1978 in Oregon. Started from scratch and planted a church that summer.
2. 2.5 years as a bivocational pastor in Wisconsin.
3. 8 years as a full time pastor in Montana. Supported and helped finance new church plants through our church and association. Also served as Convention President for two terms.
Less is Best. Put sufficient funds into fewer strategic church plants and give the planters more than starvation wages.
Case in point. We spent $10 million in Montana over 10 years and at the end of the period didn’t have any more members or any more churches convention wide.
Observation and opinion: All across the northern tier of states there are many Southern Baptist Churches that sprang up in the 50’s and 60’s who were started by people who wanted a church just like they had back home in the South. Many of them even named their church – First Southern Baptist Church of ____________. Those people have mainly all retired to the south and have left their kids and grandkids in the north and most of them are unchurched. The result has been a lot of declining “Southern” Baptist Churches in an area that has no clue what Southern Baptist means or even cares. The strengthening of existing churches that many are calling for will be an uphill struggle to change names, mindsets, and methodologies which is never an easy task. Many are basically “Restarts” with an inadequate building already in place.
I too want to see how much money and how much manpower is allocated to the Orange Zone. That will tell us if GCR is a real change or just an organizational adjustment.
I pretty much agree with everything you said.
1) I’ve advocated the “focus” church planting method for a long time around here. Instead of giving a little bit to 10 churches (most of which do not really go anywhere), focus a lot of time and money on one or two strategic plants. It’s a long-term approach.
2) My dad was a part of the wave you talked about of “Southern” church reproduction in the Midwest in 1960. A lot of southern engineers had moved to Cedar Rapids for the aerospace industry and wanted churches like those in the south. The church my dad pastored grew rapidly because he built with locals instead of just transplanted southerners.
Good thoughts, Jim.
Our church is the result of an influx of southerners who were building a missile complex here in the Langdon, ND area. The church managed to reach enough of a local population to leave behind a solid foundation, but the metamorphosis that you mentioned is currently in process (except for a name change) in order for us to be able to begin to reach the community again.
As so many have previously stated… the relationship between NAMB and the state conventions is the key. Added to that will be the work of the local Association. How can the three overlapping entities (NAMB, States, Associations) work in harmony with each other? Our autonomous structure makes organizing entities so difficult, especially when talking about dividing resources. I hope the Lord gives Pastor Ezell a compelling vision that we can all get behind and that the entities are humble enough and selfless enough to do what leads to Gospel growth.
I see great value in the Association when it serves a purpose. The one I am in is really leading churches to cooperate in ministry, evangelism, church planting, missions. The big issue for me is if the states really need to retain as much money as they are? Funding colleges and other state supported agencies could still come from the state, but it seems like a larger part if the budget should be sent on to NAMB.
Bill
As a former DOM and State Convention Missionary — one of the unpleasant things that I encourntered through the years was seeing some guys develop the Golden Rule complex … meaning … he who has the “gold” rules. It generates a host of nasty attitudes and I’ve had to repent from several.
They forget that all the monies in SBC Life are given by Southern Baptists at the local church level. The Association, State Convention, nor NAMB generates money in and of themselves.
As many older NAMB guys have left … many of the new guys may develop this unfornuate sickness. Sadly it will destroy any new strategy that NAMB seeks to develop. It kills partnership in our system of autonomy.
I pray that this will be avoided.
Good insight.
Ron, I like your perspective, but I’m going to come at it from a different direction.
I think that one of the unfortunate side-effects of the generosity of NAMB/CP giving in New Work states has been an unfortunate dependence on NAMB to do everything for us. If NAMB doesn’t fund it, we can’t do it.
That’s kind of the other side of this whole thing.
Dave,
That is the other side and I’m glad you mentioned that.
I believe that partnerships are agreed upon by equal partners (No big “I” and no little “u”). The partnership agreements are spelled out. Then accountability flows through those agreements at all levels through a spirit of cooperation.
Checks and balances are agreed upon. This is where the rub happens. In HMB days … guys at the national level and state level did a great job working with local DOM’s in holding church planters accountable for money received. If a planter did not report evangelistic visits — his money was withheld at a certain point and it was explained “why”. If he send in no reports, then no money was sent into that state for him. Everyone understood “why”.
Actually, we’ve got to learn how to fund “Kingdom results” and not plodding and treating everyone the same. We should fund new works at minium level at first with salaries and give start-up monies for launching the new work (block parties, mail-outs, etc.)but increase the church planters funding based on reaching new people with the gospel (attendance, evangelictic visits, professions of faith, baptisms, Bible Study attendance, leaders raised up, etc.)
Historically, we have de-funded church planters. Why not learn to bless those who are being good stewards of their time, the gospel, follow-up, and discipleship?
Dave,
This is the biggest problem I can see in the way things are now. This is why there is such a panic in our areas as this unfolds. We have become dependent on NAMB/CP funds in many ways. I think the answer is to work toward more self-sufficiency long term, obviously; which is probably going to come from strengthening existing churches more than just increasing the number of needy churches.
Yep
It’s definitely a good start to see people placed in regions they are familiar with.
And living here in the South, I can see why it looks like we need church vitalization more than we need church planting, but you do run into the stone wall that local church autonomy can be. A primarily Anglo congregation sits in a neighborhood that has become predominantly one ethnic group or another, but there’s White Island Baptist Church (Apologies to any real cities of White Island and their respective Baptist churches) in the middle. They’ve got a big facility left over from the heyday of the 70s-80s, but they are not interested in really reaching the community around them. Or, they lack the resources because what was 500-750 people is now 75 on fixed incomes.
Either way, which gets quicker results? Redirecting White Island or planting a new church down the street?
Meanwhile, the children and grandchildren of White Island moved into a rural area that has Our Family Baptist Church which wasn’t interested in reaching these new folks. Again, do you battle for years with OFBC to get them to accept people or do you just plant a new church and avoid them?
Given that neither NAMB nor State nor Association can force a church to be obedient to Scripture, sometimes the only effective solution is to plant a new church across the street.
However, I’m with NAMB money going from the South and into the Pioneer (I’m stuck with the old term, what’s the better one?) areas. My opinion is that NAMB should be focused in those areas and in provide broad ethnic ministry support (based on the general idea that we’re a pretty much white bunch). State Conventions should be handling work within their states and the more specific ethnicities found within them. And in those areas that the State Convention lacks the resources because of the number of lost people, NAMB should be their partner.
Of course, if you acknowledge that State Conventions have responsibilities that the national level won’t be doing, then you have to acknowledge that they do need to keep CP money in state to reach the lost. That’s another discussion.
Back on point: this looks positive. Run the work from the areas the work is being done. I have some concerns but I honestly think I’m being overly cynical and suspicious, so I’m going to keep my mouth shut for a while on them.
Doug
PS: I still think we’ll eventually need to acknowledge that “lost American” is a culturally different enough people group from “Christian Southern Baptist” that we’ll go to one mission board because we reach a time it works better. But I don’t think that’s really the plan here.
Doug, in your scenario where you just “avoid Old Family Baptist Church” where are you going to get the money for new work?
I think this strategy is the same flawed mentality that gave us “New Coke.” One can’t get milk from a dead cow.
I don’t want to see a strategy that crates an us/them scenario of new work vs. Established churches, or “old folks be damned.” this attitude has prevailed in many purpose-driven preachers and brought more strife than growth.
I’m not saying you believe this or this is an inevitable consequence of Ezell’s strategy. However, some of his comments have generated such a concern.
Since I pastor a church that could be “Old Family” but we’re working to grow spiritually beyond that.
Certainly the scenario is faulty, but that’s a part of what does happen: there are churches that won’t reach their neighborhoods but will fund the efforts of someone else to do it. We’ve got several here in this state, and my experience in other states I’ve served in reflects the same situation.
In the end, where do you get the money? You milk “OFBC” until it’s gone, and hope the new work is self-sufficient by then. This is, honestly, what it feels like we’re doing in the SBC.
Thanks for acknowledging that I might not approve of that. I don’t. Either from OFBC’s position of not reaching their own neighborhood or from over-milking the old cow. I just wanted to highlight that while I agree that most money and effort needs to go out of the South, there are reasons to consider church planting down here. Some of the churches in the SBC’s old line areas are so dysfunction and unhealthy that the best you could do would be let them die and replace them. But to replace with a clean slate that is not beholden to any prior tradition.
Another thing I’ve thought about: the first church I pastored was a bi-vo position in rural Arkansas. Many of the children of that church had grown up and moved to cities where they were going to churches with oodles of staff. There weren’t jobs left back home for them with the change in agriculture and other economic issues, but the people that had left had good work and were part of churches that were, in truth, doing well.
Anybody think we could ever persuade multi-staff churches to delay employing one more “Associate Pastor for Junior High Boys Last Names A-G” and instead fund a rural church’s need for a full-time pastor? Many of the OFBC’s that won’t reach the community around are being run by the old-timers because they can’t really get pastoral leadership. A grant process from a mega-church to help out might be a wonderful thing out in the sticks.
Sounds good to me. Unfortunantly, I will never pastor a mega-church, but if anyone figures out how to get them to fund that, I’ll be in line!
Seriously, we are too self-centered for that to ever happen. But I will make it a prayer concern.
John
I note with approval the mention of checks and balances and the rejection of the Big I and Little You mentality. Respect for individuals regardless of their status or standing is the mark of Christian Love and Faith. The church, the ekklesia, is composed of believers, each of whom is the equal of the other in regards to rank and standing and right to participate in the work of the Church.
I’m not sure why trying to reach the most needy areas of North America would strike fear into Southern Baptists. If I was the president of NAMB not one more dollar would go to any work in the south. The existing churches, associations and conventions can plant churches without NAMBS resources. Not one more penny for the South! Please reach New England, Canada, the West, or even South Florida. Someone mentioned spreading the money evenly. Really? Money needs to follow need, not greed.
The words of the GCR Recommendations, Dr. Ezell, and the SBC establishment have been fairly clear — NAMB will be almost exclusively a church planting organization. I fully expect their actions to follow their words. I do not know anyone who is opposed to strategically planting new churches. However, there are many of us who continue to argue that the seemingly “single-minded” pursuit of church planting to the seeming de-emphasis on discipleship and church growth/revitilization — at least as far as NAMB is concerned — is short-sighted. I can tell you that bird will not make it very far off the ground here in New Mexico.
If this vision is implemented, then most of the funds will end up in the hands of new church plants or being used for ministries that DIRECTLY assist new church plants. Again, nothing wrong with planting new churches, but as several have mentioned already, do we really need a hip, cool, new church plant two blocks from an existing SBC church? Maybe yes, maybe no, but I can see that scenario playing out time and time again.
Lastly, a concrete example of what happens when the new “partnership” agreements are drawn up with church planting as the central focus. We have outstanding collegiate ministries here in NM. Most other states have similar ministries to this generation of students. Are these important ministries? Are these church planting ministries? I would answer the first yes and the second no.
If that is the case and the GCR vision for NAMB is fully implemented, then the previous NAMB funding for the collegiate ministries will no longer be available. If State Conventions believe that these ministries are vital, then they will have to fund them. Where will the funding shortfall come from? It will most likely come from autonomous State Conventions sending less money to NAMB (however that works out). After all, not everyone is or will buy into the Acts 29 model for NAMB. Thanks and God bless,
Howell
Howell for president! Superb post. A single-prong approach may give short-term buzz but long-term problems. I suspect this is a done deal, however, and NAMB may become an arm of the mega-church movement.
I prefer an even distribution across all regions. Yes, we have fewer churches in the green, yellow and blue states where the culture has been very resistant to the gospel, so we desperately need to invest resources there. But in spite of a plethora of churches in the orange region, there is still plenty of lostness in this culture which is much more open to the gospel, at least for now. We dare not abandon this open door to reach people in a culture where church life is still revered by country singers and comedians.
Suppose you are a mission board executive with a million dollars to spend. Spending it in the orange region is projected to yield 1,000 souls while spending it in the green region is projected to yield 100 souls. What do you do? I think you split the money evenly, reasoning that while the orange money may reach more souls right now, the blue, green and yellow money will reach a larger territory and will spread the seed of the gospel so that it grows over the course of time to reach even more people.
What about if the churches in the orange region have the money to spend independently and can still win the 1000 souls without the help of the mission board; whereas the green region doesn’t have those same resources and cannot do so? Where should the money go then?
Most of the orange churches I know are laying off staff and cutting back across the board — salaries, operations, missions, etc. A “Robin Hood” approach only works if somebody, somewhere is actually rich.
The one exception might be the less than 2% of our churches that qualify as megachurches. They do spend “independently” in their multi-site expansions, but take a good look at their CP gifts. When they spend independently on local missions, it seems there is very little leftover for the green region. I would say that, primarily, it is the great number of SMALLER orange churches that do not possess a great deal of wealth but are faithful to contribute to the CP that is providing the majority of green state missions support.
Maybe we struggling Northerners tend to think all southern churches have an unlimited supply of cash and that there is a church on every corner.
I think what you are describing Rick has been called “The Walmartization of the Church.” Towns used to have a lot of little shops and Walmart comes in and they all go out of business.
Megachurches do a lot of good but are also draining the smaller churches.
There’s a church on every corner in my town.
But there’s only one corner.
For four years I pastored in small town in Virginia – there was not a traffic light in the entire county.
There are about 20 traffic lights in the county. 14 are in Stuttgart, where 60% of the county’s population lives.
The single busiest intersection in the county is a 4-way stop.
City-slicker
Yep. No walking uphill both ways in the snow with no shoes for us in the big town. Shoot, that Wally-World is only 14 miles away! So is the grocery store. And anything else but rice fields and soybean fields.
Does a flashing yellow/flashing red light hanging in the middle of a hwy intersection count as a traffic light? Otherwise, we don’t have one in our county either.
Our closest Wal-Mart is in Canada, but I don’t have a passport at the moment and customs is a pain anyway. We just discovered that there is a Supercenter to the west of us that is only ~110 miles away as opposed to the one in Grand Forks that is ~120 miles away.
If flashing lights don’t count, we don’t have 20. We have 12.
Jeff, be careful that the convenience of that newfound Walmart doesn’t do you in, financially. When it’s that much closer, you might be tempted to go more than once a day!
Dr. John L. Nevius spent his life and ministry in China and left defeated. He asked himself the question: If I could do it all over again, how would I do it differently?
He wrote his thoughts down and his path crossed with three young missionary couples taking the gospel into the virgin land of Korea (well over 100 years ago). He taught these young missionary couples the principles that he had learned the hard way and through the study of scripture.
These young missionaries went into Korea and applied the Missiology they had been taught. Today the largest churches in the world are in South Korea and they are a mighty sending force around the world.
One of the principles that Nevius taught (now know as the Nevius Method) was not to accept outside or foreign monies to establish the mission churches in Korea. They would be self-supporting from the get-go.
They sought to start home bible studies and every new believer would be taught that his or her home would become a new outreach post for the gospel. Every believer sought to learn from someone (mentor), while seeking out a lost person to teach the gospel and disciple.
In our land that is quickly becoming pagan, we must learn that some of the secrets have been learned in the past, and they will not be found in the latest seminar, book, or gospel guru.
Blessings!
Interesting stuff, Ron.
Ron, you said this:
In our land that is quickly becoming pagan, we must learn that some of the secrets have been learned in the past, and they will not be found in the latest seminar, book, or gospel guru.
And I can’t help but think you’re very right. One area I think we need to grow in as Southern Baptists, even down here in the “Orange Area” (let’s use that label all the time :)) is to stop assuming the Gospel. I think that’s part of our issue. We spend a lot of time bemoaning moral issues and the slide in cultural Christian behavior when the culture has moved to the pagan side. We need to back up and behave like Christians in a non-Christian country, as much as that might hurt our sense of history. It’s where we are now.
Doug
Here is a link to Nevius’ work on missions.
FYI, for reasons I don’t completely understand, our spam filter is still taking some of your comments. I just went in and got some out. I’m checking it pretty regularly, but its still putting some of you in the penalty box and I really do not know why. Plus, a bunch of comments by regular commenters went into moderation (ones I did not put there).
I’m monitoring things, but ask for patience.
Jeff Musgrave, As I’ve been told two brothers from Germany came to this country; one went north to a town a few miles southwest of you called Wolford and the other south. I only, credit them with the saying, ” If you find work – write “. It’s not said if either did. Many moons ago I got hired as a co-pilot with North Central Airlines in Chicago and flew over your area. The whole earth was a white out with the airport runway in a tunnel of blown snow and a quonset Hut with snow on it. I’m glad I was flying with a Captain who knew his way around. Sometimes we called the airline ” jet powered service to Indian Reservations”. I’m only joking because I have a lot of respect for the people that have tamed that weather and that country . I envey you in a lot of ways for your accomplishments.
Jack,
I can’t even begin to describe for you the awe I have for the people who went before us here. Many of my church members talk about the thrill of getting indoor plumbing when they were younger and/or the “winter bathrooms” that were set up in basements back in the day(can you imagine running to the outhouse at -25). I have heard some pretty amazing stories.
So, there’s indoor plumbing now? I’m shocked.
Jeff M, While Dave’s machine is acting up, One of mt Heros is Teddy Roosevelt who after his wife and Mother died on the same Valentines Day went to Medora , battled as well as any man and survived with his life but his business failed. He wrote, hunted a lot. In the summertime the bees take over the outhouses in AK which is a thrill. I’ll know you’re there when I read the news about severe weather as is shaping up now. Take Care.