April 14, 2014 Illinois Baptist

IB Insider

Seminary to relocate

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Churches leading Illinois’ baptism increase

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Missionary’s lament: Oh, Canada Page 9

Turning bridezillas into believers Page 11

O, how I love Jesus movies

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Pierced, crushed, chastised

Embracing the offense of the cross

By Jonathan Davis

Our culture loves blood The latest vampire novel, graphic movies, every CSI crime drama, the nightly news –they’re all pictures painted in blood Even the walking dead are promoting a bloody afterlife every Sunday night on cable But our culture’s bloodthirst is biting into the wrong vein

As God’s people, we also are to be marked as lovers of blood Not because of an obsession with gore, but because of the Savior who shed his life’s blood on our behalf

Yet, for some reason, we often shy away from the bloody language of the cross Our culture, so fascinated with blood stories, turns away from the most important blood lines of all Talk of the cross is offensive to many, and to bring up the blood as central to faith will bring many conversations to a halt And rather than offend, some Christians will stick to the more polite apologetic: Jesus loves you, and has a great plan for your life

But that’s a bloodless Christianity And a bloodless Christianity is no Christianity at all

News and updates

Throughout the week:

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Women take the lead in missions

Meeting May 1-3

Marion | The theme of this year ’s Illinois Women’s Missions Celebration is somewhat daring for traditionally non-dancing Southern Baptists: “Can God have this dance?”

The concept, said IBSA’s Carmen Halsey, is based on Mark 8:34, where Jesus calls on his disciples to deny themselves to follow Him “Will we surrender to God's purpose for our lives and trust Him with the choreography?” asked Halsey, director of missions awareness and Illinois WMU “Will we follow His lead?”

The meeting is May 1-3 at First Baptist Church in Marion During the sessions, women will have the opportunity to hear from International Mission Board missionaries Brock and Polly Vandever who will share

stories of God’s grace in their highsecurity mission field Scott Venable, a North American Mission Board church planter, will share about his experiences planting Mosaic Church in Chicago

Continued on page 2

Flesh and blood isn’t just Easter language; it is gospel language to be used at all times and in all places We are to embrace the bloodiness of Scripture, for to do opposite is quite dangerous

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Baptist to helm Chicago school

D e e r f i e l d | David Dockery, a leading Southern Baptist thinker and college president for 18 years, will serve as the next president of Trinity International University.

“We are overwhelmingly grateful to God for the invitation from the Trinity Board to serve the students, staff, faculty and various institutional constituencies in the days ahead,” Dockery said after his unanimous election.

He has served as president of Union University in Jackson, Tenn , since 1995 Union is affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention

As president of Trinity, whose primary campus is 30 miles north of downtown Chicago, Dockery will lead the institution’s four schools: a liberal arts college, graduate school, law school, and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, known as TEDS Trinity has

Continued on page 2

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5, KJV)

Sculpture by Harrisburg artist Libby Morecraft

BRIEFING the

Golden Gate to move south

Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary President

Jeff Iorg announced this month the school will sell its Mill Valley, Ca , property and relocate its primary campus to southern California The seminary had been limited for several years in how to develop its campus, located near San Francisco.

“This is an unprecedented opportunity to build a new kind of seminary campus fo ucation in the 21st century,” Iorg told stud and faculty The seminary plans to operat commuter campus in the Bay Area after relocation

IMB searches for next president

A 15-member search committee is accepting nominations for the next leader of the Southern Baptist International Mission Board Current IMB President Tom Elliff asked trustees in February to begin looking for his successor “[God’s] telling me that this is the time to leave,” said Elliff, who will stay in the post until the next leader is named to ensure the IMB’s 5,000 missionaries have continued vision, communication and leadership as Elliff transitions out of the role

The IMB search committee, is accepting nominations at searchteam@imb.org.

Church gets kicked out of school

A New York appeals court ruled last week that public schools can forbid churches from meeting in their buildings. “We’re very sad about it,” Pastor Robert Hall told the New York Daily News His church, the Bronx Household of Faith, has been fighting almost 20 years for meeting space “There seems to be an i creasing attempt to marginalize Christia in civilization,” Hall said The Christi Post reports the church’s attorneys a considering appealing to the U S Supreme Court, which refused to hear the case in 2011

Marriage views oust CEO

Employees at tech company Mozilla protested their new CEO, Brendan Eich, after it was revealed he supported a measure in California to define marriage as being between a man and a woman Eich co-founded Mozilla, maker of the nternet browser Firefox, and was named CEO on March 24. He resigned just 10 days later, after online dating site OkCupid encouraged a Firefox boycott because of Eich’s views

New doc focuses on family

What is family, and does it still matter? Those questions are at the center of a new film set to premier May 6 “Irreplaceable,” produced by Focus on the Family, will get a one-night release in 700 theaters

“Irreplaceable is the first in a series of feature-length documentaries that will approach the concept of the family from a number of different angles,” reports the film’s website “The goal of each documentary is to recover, renew and reclaim the cultural conversation about the family ” Ticket info is available at fathomevents com

Baptist Press, ChristianPost com, Irreplaceablethemovie com

Dockery’s Trinity presidency begins June 1

Continued from page 1

numerous notable alumni, including pastors Bill Hybels and James MacDonald, historian Mark Noll, and apologist Ravi Zacharias

“Almost every Southern Baptist seminary and many key Baptist universities, including Union University, have a number of Trinity grads on their faculties,” Dockery told the Illinois Baptist “So Trinity's influence in Chicagoland, across the nation, and around the world has few parallels in the entire evangelical world ”

Dockery announced last year his intention to transition out of his role as president at Union During his tenure, the school more than doubled in enrollment, expanded and improved its campus, and increased its net assets from less than $40 million to $120 million Dockery also established an annual scholarship banquet that has drawn speakers like George

H.W. Bush, Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice

He helped establish Union as a leading center for Baptist education with events like the Baptist Identity Conferences of 2006 and 2007 And he led the school through the aftermath of a devastating tornado in 2008

“As we were considering the opportunities beyond our days at Union (we always used the language of transition from the presidency to the next phase; we have not really thought of this as a time for retirement), we asked the Lord to grant us guidance and to open doors that would be clear to us (not only to us, but also to others) that the Spirit of God was leading our steps,” Dockery said of the process he and his wife, Lanese, have followed from Union to Trinity

“Trinity’s commitment to theological education with excellence, their focus on global

opportunities and partnerships, and the distinctive prospect of serving in one of the world's great metropolitan areas were all strong attractions for us ”

Trinity is affiliated with the Evangelical Free Church of America, and Dockery will officially assume the presidency after the denomination’s board of directors approves his appointment He will begin serving as Acting President June 1

“We will trust the Lord to give us the opportunity to serve and support many churches across the evangelical landscape from our work at Trinity,” he said “It will be a special joy to introduce Illinois Baptists in a deeper way to the work of Trinity and to introduce the Trinity community to the work of Illinois Baptists.”

– Additional reporting by Baptist Press

ChicaGO Week links students with planters

Elgin | IBSA will host the first ChicaGO Week this July at Judson University.

Designed as a way to introduce students to church planting, GO Week sends them out during the day to work alongside Chicago area planters who are reaching neighborhoods that have little to no evangelical witness

The students will return to Judson in the evenings for worship led by Ben Calhoun of the band Citizen Way

GO Week is July 13-18 for students in grades 7-12 The cost is $150 per person For more information or to register, go to www IBSA org/student, email BarbTroeger@IBSA org, or call (217) 391-3138

Pray through the news

Women’s meeting has missionaries, breakout sessions

Continued from page 1

Halsey describes the meeting as a time of encouragement, networking with other women’s leaders, leadership development, and hearing missionaries’ stories of surrender “It’s a time for women to fill their ministry cabinets with resources – literally and metaphorically,” she said Allison Allen, formerly of Women of Faith, is Friday evening’s featured speaker, and Carol Causey will represent National WMU at the meeting Arkansas Prison to Purpose chaplains Kenneth DeWitt and Stacy Smith, along with former inmate Jennifer Smith, will also share inspirational testimonies of God’s goodness Tammie Emerson, a member of Living Faith Baptist in Sher-

man and wife of IBSA’s Mark Emerson, will lead times of praise and worship An expanded exhibit hall will host more than 30 exhibitors

Multiple breakout sessions will address a variety of topics, including:

- What does fitness have to do with evangelism?

- What if Rahab comes to my church?

- The fresh face of WMU

- Why your kids’ view on hell matters

- What is the Gospel:

Comparative religions

The meeting starts Thursday evening with a reception where women can meet the conference speakers and breakout session leaders. The morning session begins at 8:30 Friday, with afternoon and evening sessions to follow The final ses-

sion begins at 8 a m Saturday and ends at noon

Seasoned conference participants are especially encouraged to bring younger women from their church to the meeting with them “We need all of our Baptist women to be active in women’s missions and ministries,” Halsey urged

“It is my prayer that women leaders from across our state will commit to attending the conference and bring another woman with them,” Halsey said “It is my goal that Illinois women be doers of God’s Word ”

Registration fee is $20 per person, which includes lunch on Friday Childcare will be provided by Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers Go to IBSA org/womensmissions for hotel information

– Pray for students who will attend ChicaGO Week, and that planters would be encouraged by their help and enthusiasm

Kids hear cross-cultural concert

Springfield | The room had been buzzing, at times roaring, just moments before Dozens of kids, fresh from a day of mission projects, had come back to the IBSA Building to finish Children’s Ministry Day with a closing celebration service

But now they sat transfixed by the angelic voices coming from the stage The Bonifantes Boys Choir from the Czech Republic, making a quick stop in Springfield during their U S tour, gave a half-hour concert of sacred, folk and classical music

The choir includes boys of all ages, and the youngest ones sing at octaves we often don’t hear in the U S , said IBSA’s Steve Hamrick. He has worked with the choir and their director, Jan Misek, and also has taken choirs to the Czech Republic

The musical styles they presented were different than what kids learn in school, and they didn’t sing many songs in English But it was still the kinds of music that talks to your spirit, Hamrick said And a valuable experience for the young missions volunteers

“It opens their horizons to styles of music that you just don’t hear very much on the radio ”

A money plan that lives on New

BFI resource aids estate planning

Springfield | Christians who practice good stewardship can have a great impact on ministry in their lifetime, and afterward too

“If we’re going to be consistent as Christians, and have a Christian worldview, we’ve got to have some ethical consistency between what we do in our lifetime, and what we do after death,” said Doug Morrow, executive director of the Baptist Foundation of Illinois

Morrow has been teaching churches the principles of “life stewardship” since he took the lead at BFI in 2010 Now, through a new tool called the Life Stewardship Navigator, Morrow is encouraging people to see Christian estate planning as an essential way to exercise their faith

The Navigator, available online at www BaptistFoundationIL org, is a step-by-step estate planning process After users provide basic contact information, they can access a document that takes them through each phase:

- Creating an asset profile

- Listing individual beneficiaries

- Deciding organizational beneficiaries, and

- Estate administration

The website also links to the newly created BFI Legal Network, a list of attorneys throughout the state who are available to assist with estate planning for a nominal fee Navigator users also can contact BFI to request a free consultation

As he teaches stewardship princi-

ples, Morrow often mentions the parable of the talents that Jesus told in the Gospel of Matthew Morrow likens many of us to the servant who buried his single piece of money for safe keeping Many times, he said, we choose the “default position” of doing nothing

But, “The only way for us to be obedient to God’s call on our life is to plan ahead,” he added Morrow met recently with pastors in East Central Association, including Steve Diehl from Cornerstone Church in Champaign He plans to encourage his members to check out the Navigator website.

“We hear conversations about all kinds of things that people do –health care and plans for retirement, and all kinds of stuff like that,” Diehl said “But I seldom hear people talk about how we’re going to allow our material wealth to continue to make a difference in ministry ”

It’s vital that the principle catch on in more churches, Morrow said “If we get this right, it will permanently change things If we get this wrong, we will continue to limp along worrying about a few percentage points ”

Contact the Foundation at (217) 391-3116

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Easter: Only the beginning

n churches both here and around the world, so much preparation goes into getting ready for Easter Of course, that’s as it should be Easter is arguably the church’s greatest single day of celebration Though surrounded by distractions like bunnies, egg hunts and new spring fashions, it suffers far less secularization than Christmas And because Easter is always Sunday, it gives every local church a special opportunity to shine in its own community Yet, in an effective, evangelistic church, Easter is only the beginning

Several years ago, I was part of a group that helped start a new church in the suburbs of Chicago We decided to hold our first public worship service on Easter Sunday We called it our church’s birthday Prior to that “launch Sunday,” we had prepared for a full year For weeks, four families prayed and studied and planned Then three neighborhood Bible studies grew into a core group of about 40 Then we met for weeks in teams to plan and outreach strategies and worship that would be relevant and inviti community.

In the days leading up to Easter, envelopes, hung door hangers, an ads in the local papers And on Ea Sunday, 182 people came to the grade school gym where we held our first Easter celebration

But Easter was only the beginning Because that first Sunday was our new church’s “birth,” we decided that birthday cakes would be great welcome gifts for all our first time guests So we baked birthday cakes – dozens of them And for hours after we packed up our portable church that afternoon, our core group delivered both a welcome and a friendly witness to those who lived in our Jerusalem

Across North America, including right here in Illinois, new churches often still choose Easter to begin a new witness in a new Jerusalem But even in churches like yours and mine that have been around a while, Easter can be preceded by special preparations that invite new people to come and meet Christ, and followed by tireless effort to make them feel welcome, both at church and in the family of God

Do you feel comfortable, even enthusiastic, inviting your friends and neighbors to come to your church? Are you confident in what they will expece there? Is your church ready, not only to come and accept first time guests, but also to he extra mile to understand their needs and

questions, and respond with compassion to their imperfect lives?

It takes love and great intentionality to continually invite new people to church, and even more to be truly ready for them when they find the courage to come The great thing is that Easter Sunday gives a church one of its best opportunities all year to welcome new people, and even churches that do little inviting are often blessed with first-time guests on that special Sunday

Let’s be ready this Easter In fact, let’s be ready each and every Lord’s Day Let’s be winsome and sensitive and compassionate and good listeners Let’s make sure we prepare and invite, and that the Gospel message is clear, and lovingly delivered in multiple ways And let’s not let Sunday lunch be the end of it

For the early church, Easter was not the grand finale; it was the start of something big The risen, ascended, and returning Lord sent His Spirit to fill His disciples with power, and with boldness And He said they would be His witnesses, from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth

It’s the same for us today. The ends of the earth still really need the Gospel, and so do the people who live in our Jerusalems Again this year, Easter is only the beginning

Nate Adams is executive director of the Illinois Baptist State Association Respond to his column at IllinoisBaptist@IBSA org

World Vision changes its mind

Every time we publish the marriage map, it seems it’s out of date before the newspaper hits the mailbox. This time it’s Michigan

A U S district judge struck down Michigan’s ban on same-sex marriages, and gay couples rushed to city hall to get their licenses Then, four days later, an appellate court put the marriages on hold until the first judge’s ruling is appealed Two days after that, the Obama administration said the federal government will recognize the marriages performed in that brief period as eligible for federal benefits.

There are several points to be made here:

This thing is moving very quickly – so quickly, in fact, that ordinary folks can’t keep up with the developments As a practical matter, just keeping the states on our marriage map colored correctly is a challenge We’ve had to add stripes to some of them to show what’s legal, not legal, enacted, reversed, or pending

The current count is 17, 10, 33, and 10 That’s 17 states (plus D C ) where same-sex marriage is legal; 10 that still recognize civil unions; 33 where marriage is limited to the traditional definition; and 10 others “moving to end the ban” on same-sex marriages, as The Washington Post described the states with pending court cases

In most states, it’s not the state governments moving to end the ban, but the federal courts. With the latest developments involving Michigan, it is clear that the legality of same-sex marriage in all states will be determined in the courts Public opinion is no longer at issue Nor is legislative action It’s up to the judges

In the 1970s and 80s, federal judges issued edicts on public schools, voting districts, and prison conditions These jurists were called “activist judges ” They often forced local leaders to do the right thing that would have been, for the locals, political suicide

The term “activist judges” is coming up again A Google search points out it’s not a compliment, if it ever was

Perhaps that’s because federal judges, appointed for life with no fear of popular reaction, aren’t enforcing laws that the locals have refused to obey They aren’t taking up cases that arrive on their dockets in due course Instead, they are bypassing the system (and the people, for that matter) and forcing the issue in states where same-sex marriage was unlikely to be enacted through the recognized legal process They are, in effect, creating law against the will of the people

One of our team remembered this story this week: At the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting last June, Birmingham pastor David Platt chuckled when a fellow panelist asked him to give an update on his state and same-sex marriage Alabama was standing firm, Platt said No one would have argued with him then But with the judiciary taking the lead, not even Alabama is safe

So much has changed in a year

World Vision U S announced March 25 that people in same-sex marriages would be made eligible for employment at the organization. Many Christians took to the internet to decry and debate the decision.

“This is not us compromising It is us deferr i n g t o t h e a u t h o r i t y o f c h u r c h e s a n d d enominations on theological issues ” – World Vision U S President Rich Stearns “Stearns says that ‘every employee’ must be a ‘follower of Jesus Christ’ even as he affirms that some of his employees will be livi n g i n o p e n i m m o r a l i t y W h a t d o e s t h i s m e a n ? I t c a n o n l y m e a n t h a t h e b e l i e v e s being a ‘follower of Jesus Christ’ is someh o w c o m p a t i b l e w i t h b e i n g i n a s a m e - s e x marriage ”

– Blogger Denny Burk, dennyburk com

“We do not need any more inflammatory sold i e r s i n t h e c u l t u r e w a r s ; w e n e e d m o r e thought leaders who are slower to publicly condemn their faithful brothers and sisters and quicker to invite reason and dialogue to the table ”

– Blogger Jen Hatmaker, in response to Burk’s post, jenhatmaker com

Two days later, World vision reversed the policy change

“ W e a r e b r o k e n h e a r t e d o v e r t h e p a i n a n d c o n f u s i o n w e h a v e c a u s e d m a n y o f o u r

friends, who saw this decision as a reversal of our strong commitment to Biblical authority We ask that you understand that this was never the board’s intent ”

– Letter from World Vision U S Board

“World Vision has done the right thing Now, let’s all work for a holistic gospel presence, a d d r e s s i n g b o t h t e m p o r a l a n d e t e r n a l needs ”

Nate

Voices

Walking where Jesus walked

For 32 years, I have stood in the pulpit and proclaimed Jesus To do so, I have read and studied the Bible I have sat in seminary classes and countless clinics and workshops I’ve waded through thousands of pages of commentary

But until January, I had never been to the land of the Bible I had never walked where Jesus walked I had never cast my eyes upon the things Jesus saw, until I had the opportunity to go with a group of 44 church leaders from Illinois (photo at right)

I had been told it would be an enlightening experience, and I was not disappointed The trip was better and more helpful than I ever imagined, by far the best educational and spiritual experience I have had in 32 years of ministry My only regret is that I waited so long to go! I should have gone 25 years ago If I had, I am confident that my churches would have had a better pastor and preacher

Seeing the places where Jesus preached and ministered gives one a much different perspective than just locating them on a map Now, when I read of Jesus teaching and casting out demonic spirits in the synagogue at Capernaum, I have been there I can envision the response and amazement of the listeners I can better imagine the tension that was taking place in the streets and countryside My mind now

has a clearer picture of what that scene might have looked like, and I am better able to communicate that picture in my preaching

Visiting Israel created a stirring in my soul And that stirring moves me to a greater commitment to the call of God in my life Jesus spent the great majority of His ministry in the villages, hills, and seashores that surrounded the small body of water known as the Sea of Galilee He ministered with patience, precision, and compassion and yet, at times, with severity and tenacity

“Amy and I left our previous church because we didn’t feel like we were being fed ”

A slice of life

LifeWay Research asked Americans how they feel about this statement:

Going where Jesus ministered gave me fresh purpose and understanding of God’s call on my life

My advice is simple: Set aside the time and save the money and go to Israel! Sure, it costs something But don’t look at it as an expense Look at it as investment that pays dividends in biblical knowledge and spiritual maturity Whether you are in the pulpit or in the pew, it will help you become a more committed follower of Christ

Brent Cloyd pastors North Side Baptist in Fairfield He plans to visit Israel again soon For more information, e-mail PatPajak@IBSA org

Table Talk: Theology, ministry, and things that matter

The death of death

I wish you could meet Richard *

When our church moved into the hulking former Masonic Temple, squatting on a Kedzie Boulevard corner, the guy I would come to know as Richard hung out with a crowd of 20 guys in front of our building each evening

This was their hood

This was their corner

Now, many years later, Richard has confessed with his mouth and believed in his heart the Lord Jesus

He’s in my Grow Group that meets every

Thursday night The week after Easter we were bemoaning that Richard had to work the previous Sunday He’s a security guard at a hospital, which has served this dangerous Humboldt Park neighborhood since the early 1900s

He was recounting the hectic happenings at his ER security post on Resurrection morning

“Yeah, we had two rape victims come in, then we had two other girls who were hit and run ” His hands were waving “Then we had a shooting victim brought in ”

Right about here I interjected,

“This is all Easter morning?”

“That’s right,” he affirmed, voice rising

“Then the Monsters* (local gang whose turf surrounds the hospital) started gathering outside the ER door trying to get in to finish off the guy

think of the crime, the plagues, the fires, the wars that have wreaked havoc on cities throughout history

Even natural disasters are more dramatic and more death-dealing when they hit cities Think of the tornado in Joplin, Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and Biloxi, and Hurricane Sandy in Long Island

Think of Jerusalem – ravaged, destroyed, blood soaks every square foot of its rocky soil Several hundred years before Christ, the Babylonians decimated the city Several decades after Jesus, the Romans brought great horror to the sacred city

awfully rare occasion There had been a knock as our group assembled The door was flung open Richard entered the tiny living room seemingly filling it. Rosa told me later, “I recognized him right away! I don’t know if he recognized me, so I just introduced myself

“Pastor, Pastor, he’s the guy who told my son that he was going to kill him!”

“When was this?” I asked

“Over 15 years ago Right out in front of church!”

they shot but failed to kill. We had to put a call into CPD (Chicago Police Department) for some help On top of that, two overdoses came in ”

While all that was going on, about a mile and a half north, Armitage Baptist was lifting praises to the resurrected Christ We were declaring the good news that Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection is victory over sin and death He’s in the life-transforming business That very morning, almost a score of sinners confessed Jesus as Lord in our services

Cities are centers of death The wages of sin is death Cities more sinners more sin more wages of sin more death I can’t help but

Jerusalem – The city The city that is the center of the earth. The city central to God’s grand plan On one dark Friday it is again the center of death This death is the death of all deaths Three days later death is conquered in a city, the city

Could it be with all the devastation Satan has hurled at humanity in cities and through cities, that God chooses the city purposefully as the place where death will be conquered?

“O death, where is your sting, O grave where is your victory?” (1 Cor 15:55) The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord, Jesus Christ Rosa,* new to our Grow Group, sat in stunned silence as Richard talked Which, if you knew Rosa, was an

It seems Rosa’s then-teenage son had some kind of run-in with Richard Rosa had literally feared for her son’s life, taking precautions to avoid the big guy that ran the hood Not having seen him for years, she had the spiritually jolting, emotionally shocking experience of sitting that night studying the Word of God with the very man, now her brother in Christ, who had threatened the life of her son And doesn’t God often take it up one more notch? Rosa’s son now works at the hospital because Richard helped him get the job!

Jesus is the death of death in the city

Charles Lyons has pastored Armitage Baptist Church in Chicago since 1974 This column first appeared in the Baptist Bible Tribune

*Names changed

Brent Cloyd

God chose Jerusalem – the city – as the place where death would be conquered

Charles Lyons

The danger of bloodless Christianity

Continued from page 1

“Man of Sorrows,” what a name For the Son of God who came

Ruined sinners to reclaim!

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Bearing shame and scoffing rude, In my place condemned He stood; Sealed my pardon with His blood; Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Guilty, vile, and helpless, we, Spotless Lamb of God was He; Full redemption can it be?

Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Lifted up was He to die, “It is finished!” was His cry; Now in heaven exalted high; Hallelujah! What a Savior!

When He comes, our glorious King, All His ransomed home to bring, Then anew this song we’ll sing Hallelujah! What a Savior!

– P P Bliss

The Bible presents us with a robust theology of blood Because Christ was crucified, we reap a multitude of benefits for His glory and our good

• We once were people without hope, but have been brought near to God by the blood of Christ (Ephesians 2:12-13)

• In Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, we have redemption, the forgiveness of our sins (Romans 3:24-25; Ephesians 1:7).

• We have been justified by Christ’s blood (Romans 5:9)

• We have peace with God by the blood of the cross (Colossians 1:20)

From Adam and Eve’s first sacrifice outside the garden, to our High Priest’s completed work, and everywhere in between, the history of God’s people is marked by blood For several thousand years, it’s the blood of animals, offered as a covering for sins And finally, it’s the once-and-for-all sacrifice that washes whiter than snow

When it comes to salvation, nothing but blood will do

Maybe the most startling example of flesh and blood language in the Bible is found in John 6 Jesus tells his followers they must eat his flesh and drink his blood On the surface, it’s a revolting concept “Is he advocating cannibalism?” they must be thinking

Then, at his last meal with the disciples, Jesus enacts the teaching, tying together eternal life with eating his flesh and drinking his blood Jesus notes that we are abiding in him when we do so To commune with Christ is to embrace

this bloody language

Now, it’s not too hard for us to talk about the crucifixion and the blood this time of year, especially in our churches At Easter, the person and work of Jesus come to the forefront of our minds, and rightly so This is the time of year we celebrate Christ’s crucifixion, and it makes sense that flesh and blood speech is on our lips

But what concerns me is our postEaster language, and how we share the gospel with people who don’t know Christ Too often, we avoid talking about Christ’s suffering, and in doing so, we drain our faith of its very power

Power in the blood

The next time you’re on break at the water cooler, try dropping this line from Jesus into the conversation: “Hey, did you know that Jesus said, ‘Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you ’”

I can hear the crickets chirping

The Corinthians felt the shame of flesh and blood preaching, and this led them away from boasting in the cross to boasting in worldly wisdom Preaching a crucified king sounded so un-wise that they forsook the very message they had heard and believed

Devotions drawn from Jesus’ declarations at Calvary

“Father forgive them,”

“Today ... in paradise.”

“Woman, behold your son.”

Read John 19:25-27

One a day during Holy Week

Or an hour ’s contemplation on Good Friday

To prepare for celebration of the Resurrection, we must first witness the agony of the cross Crucifixion is a most torturous form of execution It may last several hours or several days The body’s systems shut down and the condemned man’s lungs fill with fluid In effect, he drowns

As he pulls against the spikes in his flesh, trying to lift his body just enough to gulp another breath, Jesus uses his last energies to make seven bold declarations

Standing at the foot of the cross with his most devoted follower, John, and his mother, Mary, we watch as Jesus pours out his life We listen for clues to his future – and ours – as the Lord of all creation bows to his Father’s will on our behalf

Read John 19:17-24, Luke 23:32-34

It’s brazen The soldiers who beat Jesus then stripped him and nailed him to the beam They raised the cross and let it drop into the hole that held it up, letting Jesus’ full weight pull against the severed flesh where the great nails affixed him Now they have the nerve, stooping to the ground before that very cross, to gamble for the only nice thing Jesus had on earth, his seamless robe

Read Luke 23:39-43

One thief spits curses and ridicule The other pleads, Remember me Both deserve death for their crimes The law said so The judge said so The hammer said so The executioner agreed But their reactions to their punishment are exactly opposite Why?

Jesus’ most tender word from the cross is to Mary; perhaps his most challenging is to John Behold To both of them he says “behold,” a command meaning to look, see, and understand

“Behold your son behold your mother ” Behold my provision; behold your responsibility

To Mary, Jesus is affirming his love for her

As the eldest son in the family, it is Jesus’ duty to provide for his mother in his earthly father’s absence He entrusts her care to his dearest friend on earth, his beloved follower John

And yet, their brazen offense, to kill a man and rob him of his clothes as payment, is not the most heinous crime Jesus suffered that day He had laid on his back all the sins of all people of all time And still, he says, Forgive them

Who else could offer such a word? Only the one who is offended has the right to forgive the offender Only he could extend grace to the one who sins against him Jesus’ desire is always that we accept his forgiveness and live in his grace

PRAY Lord, I, too, am responsible for your death Help me to live in gratitude for your forgiveness

One gives up hope, even when hope is right before him The other holds onto hope, not because he can see it, but because it’s the only thing he has left One man believes in death there is no future The other believes in the future there is no death And in response to his faith, Jesus holds before the believing thief the promise of paradise

What a contrast to the utter degradation of the executioner’s hill beside the smoking city garbage dump: Paradise Eternity Joy A never-ending future in the presence of a loving God

PRAY Lord, help remember me there is a future and a hope as I face death, even though I deserve it

To John, what an awesome responsibility this must be, that his friend, teacher, and Lord would give to him this duty as if Mary were his very own mother If he never knew it before, John must realize it now: he really is one of the family Jesus’ family

Behold Could there be any greater statement of the love of God than to be made part of the family?

PRAY Lord, when I behold you, help me to understand that you are the Son, and you have welcomed me into your family

SACRED HEAD – Worship artist Libby Morecraft adds a crown of thorns to her sculpture of Jesus For more photos of Morecraft’s work, go to www ib2news org

But Paul argues that crucifixion language is the very language the Holy Spirit empowers He had come to the Corinthian believers in weakness and fear His speech and message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power (1 Cor 2:3-4)

We must recover that kind of speech in our churches and as we go out into the world Sin is serious, so serious that it warrants death This is why there is great danger in bloodless Christianity

To remove the bloody language of the cross is to remove man’s only hope of being made right with God

The gospel of the cross is the good news that God is holy, you are not, and the necessary sacrifice to make you right with God is found in Jesus Christ and Him crucified

As believers we have tasted and seen the goodness of salvation applied to our hearts, and our desire is to see the lost know this same salvation Is talking about the cross offensive? Yes Is it difficult to speak? Yes

But let’s not run from it Rather, let us press into it, speaking Christ and Him crucified plainly and with conviction, trusting the Holy Spirit to draw the lost to the Father through the Son

When we do, people will begin to understand there’s power in the blood

Jesus in living color

Watching actors portray Jesus on film is a little like Goldilocks trying out chairs at the three bears’ house This Jesus is too small (“Jesus Christ Superstar”) This one is too passive (“Son of God”) Or just too weird (“Godspell”)

Even when Jesus resembles the one you met in Sunday school, like in the 1965 epic “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” you still find yourself looking for the inconsistencies that prove this Jesus isn’t as satisfying as the one in the Bible

And when his suffering is gutwrenchingly authentic (“The Passion of the Christ”), you want to see this Jesus during the rest of his life, and not just the last few hours Movies can’t capture him, and they’re not the best way to connect with him But there’s still a reason to watch Jesus on film may be undersized compared to the real-life version, but the other humans in the movies are caught in brilliant living color

Judas, Nicodemus, Barabbas and the others are fully life-sized, and watching them interact with the film version of Jesus is downright convicting

See the shades of jealousy you’ve never noticed in the “Greatest Story” Judas, and his belief that he was actually doing what was right for his people Or listen to him wail in “Superstar,” narrating the whole story in what he believes is the voice of reason.

Watch Nicodemus in “Son of God” draw close and then pull away, again and again, as he’s torn between this new gospel and what he’s always known

Simon of Cyrene comes to life in “The Passion,” starting off skeptical and reluctant to help Jesus carry his cross, but defending him at the end of their long march In the same movie, Mary Magdalene can’t turn away from the gruesome crucifixion scene, her current reality mixing with memories of how Jesus rescued her from the Pharisees

Even in “Godspell,” the loopy 1975 musical, we watch the disciples have their world turned upside down as

Jesus teaches them things that are the opposite of the status quo

The filmmakers created some of the dialogue to fill in places Scripture doesn’t describe in detail, so we don’t know exactly what was said or felt But Judas’ jealousy and Mary’s neediness and Nicodemus’ doubts are relatable all the same because we’ve been in their shoes.

There’s a young church in San Diego called Barabbas Road The founding pastor picked the name because all redeemed Christians have walked Barabbas’ path, he said In fact, one of their early promotional videos featured different church members each proclaiming, “I am Barabbas ”

These Jesus movies elicit the same reaction: I am Barabbas I am Nicodemus You are Peter You are Simon of Cyrene Watching Jesus interact with vividly human people like us is the most moving thing about all these motion pictures.

And as a bonus feature, these abridged versions of Jesus will drive many viewers back to Scripture for the full story

– Meredith Flynn

“Why have you forsaken me?”

Read Matthew 27:45-49, Psalm 22

“I thirst.”

Read John 19:28-29, Psalm 69:21, Zechariah 12:10

“It is finished!”

Read John 19:30, Hebrews 1:1-3

“Father, ... I commit my spirit!”

Read Luke 23:46-49, John 19:31-42

The crowd on Golgotha thinks Jesus is calling on Elijah for rescue, but he isn’t He’s calling on Elohim With the opening to Psalm 22, he invokes the entire prophetic psalm It’s a word picture written a thousand years earlier showing the Messiah, abandoned to die

How can someone who lives in constant contact with two others ever be alone? That has never happened before The Trinity is the perfect picture of community: three persons enjoying complete unity, holy boon companions always in agreement

But for three hours Jesus feels nothing but the weight of our sin, and the one who knew no sin becomes sin for us It’s so revolting that the Father who ordained it can have nothing to do with it And Jesus, for the first time in all eternity, is alone

Standing beneath the cross, disciple John and mother Mary witness in the skies what’s happening within Jesus Himself The sky grows dark The sun is blotted out And rain falls on them all, the tears of heaven, as Jesus cries, Why have you left me?

PRAY Lord, when I feel alone, remind me that you know how it feels And because You bore my sins, I need never be separated from God anymore

Several times the Gospel writers say the events of the crucifixion happened to fulfill Scripture Jesus sipped the sour wine His bones were not broken, which would have sped up the dying process His side was sliced open, and the water separated from the blood that spilled out showed he had died Why was it necessary to fulfill the Scriptures?

Doubters might say that Jesus, sweet but deluded, had sacrificed himself unnecessarily They might say there was no divine plan from before creation to redeem humanity from sin and death They might say it was all miserable happenstance, a bad turn of events

When its payment is completed, a bill is customarily stamped “paid in full ” No more payment is expected The cancelled paperwork is proof that the debt is no longer held against the

debtor In New Testament times, the word written across the final invoice was tetelestai This Greek word means “it is finished ”

Tetelestai (pronounced “tuh-TELL-uh-sty”) appears only twice in Scripture, in John 19:28 and 19:30 In the first verse, “Scripture” is described as tetelestai Often translated as fulfilled or completed, it is finished Jesus did everything the prophets said he would do He left no job undone, no stone unturned

Here are some signs that Jesus’ work really worked: The earth shakes, as God’s own creation trembles at the mighty act just finished on a barren hill outside the city The massive temple curtain separating the place of God’s holy presence from sinful people is ripped from top to bottom, signifying the Creator’s invitation to humanity to enter into restoration And on the cross, Jesus makes his own great declaration of faith in the Father’s plan: I trust You

How could Jesus say this?

No prisoner in solitary confinement was ever more alone than our Christ on the cross It had to be that way

But as the pivotal point in all history, the crucifixion was no accident And to prove it, the Author of the plan had it written down hundreds, even more than 1,000 years before it happened Bible scholars point to over 300 Old Testament prophecies of the birth, life, death, and resurrection of the Messiah

And for it all to be proven true for those of us who stand on the A D side of time, Scripture was fulfilled Down to the last sop of vinegar Down to the last spear point

PRAY Lord, thank you for the details of the crucifixion proving Jesus’ humanity, the reality of his death, and your divine plan over it all

Only two verses later in John’s account, Jesus himself declares his mission accomplished After six hours on the cross, painfully pulling his body up to swallow every breath, it is almost impossible for Jesus to seize enough air to shout this news

But he does And everyone is stunned Telesestai!

PRAY Lord, I am amazed by all you did to save me Thank you for completing my redemption Your work is finished, and I am paid for in full

Only Jesus could serve as the sacrifice for our sins Only Jesus could be our spotless lamb Only Jesus could be the human qualified to pay the penalty for sin Because he was sinless And in this he was unique in all of the universe In this he was alone

All he had to hold to was the Father’s promise of life on the other side of the grave Soon he would rest, his salvation work complete Soon all heaven would celebrate PRAY Lord, because of Your great love and completed work on the Cross, into Your hands I, too, commit my Spirit

Jonathan Davis pastors Delta Church in Springfield

Why I saw five Jesus movies in three days

Greatest Story Ever Told

Godspell

Jesus Christ Superstar

Passion of the Christ Son of God

PEOPLE & CHURCHES

New Faces

Lamon Avenue Baptist Church in Chicago has called Corey Fifield as pastor He and his wife, Amy, have been ministering on Chicago’s northwest side for more than a deacade They have a son, Levi

Ordained

Eric Holder and Tim Knapp were ordained as deacons at First Baptist Church, Zeigler, on March 23 Pastor Matt Frizzell conducted the ordination service

PAID ADvERTISEMENTS

Star Hope Baptist Church (Elsberry, MO) is looking for a full-time pastor who supports the Cooperative Program and embraces the 2000 Baptist Faith and Message Some seminary training preferred Please send resumé to shbc@starhope org

Calvary Baptist Church (SBC) in Clinton, Iowa, is seeking a fulltime pastor E-mail resumes to CalvaryBaptistPSC@gmail com

Zone News

• Zone 6: Church of the Open Door may have voted to disband late last year, but the young congregation is still supporting other new church plants in their city The church, pastored by Richard Tribble, lost its meeting space and was unable to find other accommodations in the community They agreed unanimously to give their remaining finances – more than $23,000 –to their local association to help future church plants Over its 19-month existence, Church of the Open Door baptized eight people

Churches baptized 5,063 last year

Reported total is 3% more than 2012

Springfield | Churches in Illinois reported great news through their Annual Church Profile reports: More baptisms in 2013 IBSA congregations baptized 5,063 last year, an increase of 3 1% over the previous year

“This is a moment to pause and give God the glory for the great things He is doing through our churches,” said Tim Sadler, IBSA’s evangelism director “I’m grateful for evangelistically hearted Illinois Baptists They have passionately shared the Gospel with friends and family members throughout Illinois

“My prayer is that the news of upward trending baptisms in Illinois would fan the flames of evangelism,” Sadler said Nationally, Southern Baptist baptism numbers have trended downward in recent years, although data isn’t yet available for 2013 Reversing declines in baptisms and membership has been a major theme since the convention’s annual meeting last June.

The lists to the right were compiled from Annual Church Profile reports completed by IBSA churches

Current BFI bonds

The Baptist Foundation of Illinois has one bond issue now open for individual or institutional investors:

– 2014E ($120,000): Closes April 30, or when fully subscribed

BFI bonds are sold in $1,000 increments and suppor t Illinois Baptist church capital improvement and/or construction loans Current BFI bonds have a 3 25% coupon paid semi-annually For more information, go to www BaptistFoundationIL org

Confused about CP

AND IN THE PHILIPPINES – Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers baptized Jun Jun, a maintenance worker at the school where Illinois volunteers also served earlier

Prairie

Belle Rive

Start a class for nearly and newlyweds

It’s that time of year – weddings, weddings everywhere! If your church is serious about ministering to young adults, here’s a fresh idea: Provide an eight-week seminar for newly engaged or newlywed couples

A leadership team organizes, promotes, and hosts the seminar twice each year Eight different teachers prepare and present one top-quality topical Bible study Those teachers are members of the church, such as church staff, ministers, or other respected couples or individuals

The class meets at the same hour as your church’s Sunday school or small groups in an attractive, easy-to-find room of the church Each session’s topic addresses the biblical aspects of marriage, such as commitment, intimacy, finances, etc The Bible study teacher uses current technology, lots of handouts and visuals, and personal testimony to explain God’s basic principles for marriage

Great effort is put into publicity

Class dates are published months ahead of time, and registration is of-

April 15, 24: Evangelistic Leaders’ Workshop at Anna Heights, Anna, April 15, and Connection Community, Chicago, April 24 TimSadler@IBSA org

April 25-26: Youth Ministry Retreat at the IBSA Building, Springfield TimSadler@IBSA org, www IBSA org/ ilstudentz Register by April 18

May 1: Evangelistic Leaders’ Workshop at West Union Cafe, West Union, Ill TimSadler@IBSA org

May 1-3: Women’s Missions Celebration at FBC Marion See page 1 www IBSA org/womensmissions

May 2: Youth Ministry Worker Con nection, Aurelio’s Pizza, 6 p m RSVP to JennaNic IBSA org by noon April 28

fered online Preregister any church members or attenders who are engaged to be married, and ask them to serve as greeters during the seminar Challenge every church member to invite potential participants with a quality brochure, Twitter, Facebook or e-invitation Place brochures in local floral, cake and wedding specialty shops

The seminar is scheduled shortly after your town’s largest bridal fair Rent a booth there, create an awesome display and door prize, and joyfully invite brides and grooms Bridal fair publicity generated many attenders for our church’s nearly-wed class

Take time to personalize the class Use nametags Learn names and needs Take a photo of each couple for a class directory with e-mail addresses View each person as God sees them, and show His love with every word and action Encourage friendships by planning lunches, cookouts and ball games for the couples

Training Oppor tunities Training Oppor tunities

May 2: Singing Churchmen Retreat, IBSA Building, Springfield Participants will perform in concert May 3 DebbieMuller@IBSA org

May 3: Worship Leaders Retreat, IBSA Building, Springfield See ad below for details

May 3: Churches of Strength Conference at Bethel, Bourbonnais; 8 a m to noon www IBSA org/CST

May 5: plantMIDWEST on The Gospel and Money Chicago: Armitage Baptist Church, DennisConner@IBSA org St Louis: August Gate, CharlesCampbell@IBSA org

May 11: BCHFS Mother’s Day Offering Go to www bchfs com for more information

Most importantly, give them Jesus Help each person to know God personally Teachers and church members can share their personal salvation stories Encourage couples to attend worship Sit together as a group If someone in your seminar accepts Christ, invite the entire group to attend the baptism service Assure that each person gains a clear understanding of God’s eternal plan of salvation and His purpose for their life and marriage

At the conclusion of the seminar, the pastor may present each couple with a certificate and invite them to the join the youngest married Bible class

People often think about eternal things during big life changes, such as marriage Will your church intentionally share Jesus with young couples?

©Diana Davis is author of “Deacon Wives,” “Fresh Ideas,” and “Fresh Ideas for Women’s Ministry” (B&H Publishing) Visit her online at www dianadavis org

May 12-13: IBSA Golf Scramble, Oak Terrace Resort, Pana Pastors, church staff and leaders can bring their own foursome or join a team

www IBSA org/Church Health

May 16-17: Mother/Daughter Camp, Lake Sallateeska and Streator camps 4:30 p m Friday to 3 p m Saturday

Cost is $75 for moms, free for daughters www IBSA org/Children

May 22-26: Rally to Ridgecrest

Motorcyclists leave at 9:30 a m May 22 from Mt Vernon, and the group will return after the annual conference in North Carolina www IBSA org/Motorcycle

May 23-24: Men of Valor, Lake Sallateeska For young men in grades 7-12; teaching the biblical definition of manhood through warrior-type games Contact Scott Slone at (618) 303-2130 or pastorscott95@yahoo com

DAVE

Says

Keep your lifestyle simple

Q: My new job will increase my income by $ 2 0 , 0 0 0 a y e a r I ’ v e g o t $ 6 5 , 0 0 0 i n d e b t , and I’m trying to pay it off, so I know I need to adjust my budget Any suggestions?

A: The first thing I’d tell you is not to get used to any permanent luxuries while you’re paying off debt Celebrate with a nice dinner or something like that after you get your first paycheck But don’t go nuts or pick up any big, new stuff The more you put toward debt, the faster it goes away

I want you to be so passionate about getting out of debt that you don’t even consider doing anything else until it’s all gone Think, “Wow, I got a new job making more money I can get out of debt even quicker!” I’m okay with you adjusting a bit that first month and having a little fun to celebrate your good fortune But then, turn around and attack the debt with even more intensity than before

You don’t inherit debt

Q: My in-laws have lots of debt How will this affect my wife and family if they die with all their debt still in place?

A: You do not inherit debt Now, if you were foolish enough to co-sign on a loan with them, then you’d be liable for the remainder of that loan. But if they ran up $100,000 in credit card debt on their own before they died, then the credit card companies just don’t get paid It wouldn’t cost you a dime, except that you might get no inheritance from them, because what they left behind would be sold to pay off as many creditors as possible

Let’s say they owned a home, and they’re behind on the mortgage or upside down on the house – meaning that they owed more on it than it’s worth You can just hand it back to the mortgage company You’re not legally or morally obligated to accept the house and the situation surrounding it because it was left to you in a will

For more financial advice from Dave Ramsey, go to www IBSA org

Check

Potluck Blogger

colate Trifle

Impressive, but pretty simple We love that combo

Ingredients

1 boxed brownie mix (dark chocolate works well)

1 package mint Oreo cookies

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1 ½ c heavy whipping cream

1 c hot fudge sauce (from jar)

Mint extract

Green food coloring

1 Mix brownies according to package, and add 1 tsp mint extract to batter Bake in 9x13 dish at temperature on box Check often, until toothpick comes out clean

2 Whip softened cream cheese first; then, add heavy whipping cream and 1 tsp mint extract Whip at medium speed until soft peaks form Add food coloring to desired hue

3 Warm hot fudge topping according to package instructions

4 Cut brownies into one-inch squares

Assemble trifle in layers: Start with 1/3 of the brownies The middle layer is 1/3 of the whipped topping Top layer is 1/3 of the Oreos, crumbled Drizzle with hot fudge

5 Repeat layers twice more to finish the trifle

Submitted by Gail Waddell from Delta Church in Springfield

Chart Toppers

Albums out this month

Anthony Evans

Real Life/Real Worship

Francesca Battistelli

If We’re Honest FLAME

Jesus or Nothing

POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE

Shawn McDonald Brave Passion

Take It All

Clip and save in a prayer journal, your Bible, or stick on the fridge.

Missionaries: Jeremy & Jessica Guthrie (with Eli and Regan)

Planting In: Schaumburg

Focusing On: House church discipleship

Pray: For opportunities to serve while working bivocationally

Trending

I’ll be a monkey’s uncle!

60% Among those rejecting the idea of human evolution:

of U.S. adults say humans have evolved over time.

33% say humans existed in present form since the beginni

64% 50% 15%

white evangelicals black Protestants

white mainline Protestants

48% 27% Republicans Democrats

Can you believe this!

The theory of evolution is no mere nuisance –it represents one of the greatest challenges to Christian faith and faithfulness in our times ”

- R Albert Mohler, Jr

EMPTY, PROMISES

“Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful ” –

Hebrews 10:23

Easter is a wonderful season for followers of Christ When we look beyond the baskets, bunnies, and bonnets, we find hope that is built on a paradox Passion Week culminates with an empty cross, an empty tomb, and empty grave clothes Amazingly, when we choose to believe in the Savior who died on the cross and rose from the dead we find life that is filled with hope

What a paradox!

But our life in Christ is filled with paradoxes: God’s power is made perfect in our weakness God chooses foolish things to confound the wise We must die to self in order to live

In those times when I feel weak, insignificant, and broken in spirit, I am grateful for the Word of God and the Spirit of God that remind me of the hope that is found through emptiness The world makes a lot of promises, mostly empty Easter offers us an emptiness that is full of promise!

PRAY that we will have ears to hear the promises of God above the clamor of our world Allow God to speak His promises through us to someone who is feeling broken and insignificant

Odis Weaver is pastor of Friendship Baptist Church in Plainfield, and is serving as president of IBSA

– Pew Research (2013 poll)

turns

100 this month. Cubs fans, this maybe your year… WrigleyField