December 1, 2023 Illinois Baptist

Illinois Baptist

Born to win the battle A new view of the manger Meredith Flynn P. 16

in focus

Behold

P. 14 GALLERY

Positive year

For student events P. 14

NATE ADAMS

Post-war motivation With surprising results P. 2

MIDWESTERN SEMINARY

New achievements Spurgeon would be pleased P. 4

IllinoisBaptist.org

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News journal of the Illinois Baptist State Association

In our age of incredulity, God’s command is simple.

DECEMBER 1, 2023

Nonprofit Organization U.S. POSTAGE PAID Peoria, Illinois Permit No. 325

Vol. 117 No. 12

A Christmas essay on seeing and believing. P. 11

Partnership

mission Encouragement Pastors’ initiative launched at IBSA Annual Meeting

Special Section P. 5-10

Church helps church After tragic accident in Arizona

Phoenix, Arizona | Ten Mile Baptist Church in McLeansboro was in its first partnership with Foothills Baptist Church of Phoenix. The plan was for a mission team with members from the two churches to build a home for a family in Mexico.

What happened has drawn the churches together in even greater ways.

“We were just building the relationship with Foothills,” Pastor Jacob Gray said. “To ride with them and work with them, we thought, was a great way to do missions together.”

The Ten Mile team was in Phoenix just ahead of their building trip when a collision changed everything. Randy Stover and his family had been members of both churches, in Arizona when he P. 3

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Illinois Baptist

The Illinois Baptist staff

NATE ADAMS

Editor - Eric Reed Graphic Designer - Kris Kell Contributing Editor - Lisa Misner Comm. Coordinator - Nic Cook Graphics Assistant - Makayla Proctor Team Leader - Ben Jones

War & the world

The general telephone number for IBSA is (217) 786-2600. For questions about subscriptions, articles, or upcoming events, contact the Illinois Baptist at (217) 391-3127 or IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org.

The Illinois Baptist is seeking news from IBSA churches. E-mail us at IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org to tell us about special events and new ministry staff.

POSTMASTER: The Illinois Baptist is owned and published every month by the Illinois Baptist State Association, 3085 Stevenson Drive, Springfield, Illinois 62703-4440. Subscriptions are free to Illinois Baptists. Subscribe online at IBSA.org.

The BIG Baptist family album

Our Illinois Mission Field: Austin Henry Jordan, his wife Tia, and their two children, are sharing Christ with the Austin neighborhood. Cornerstone Chicago launched in June 2021.

Jordan, a Chicago native, holds a B.A. in theology and a doctoral degree from St. Thomas University. “I request your prayers for our church, and wisdom for myself on how to continue reach people through the gospel with relevancy and power.”

Pray the news The Nativity goes up in the Capitol Rotunda in December, along with other religious symbols. The 2022 display included a snake in a bowl of apples. Pray for visitors to seek the truth as they see Jesus in the manger.

A

s 2023 draws to a close, many political and military leaders are referring to the times in which we now live as “the most perilous since World War II.” The invasion of Israel

by Hamas on October 7 and the escalating and expanding responses since then seem to have placed the words “war” and “world” in the same sentence an alarming number of times.

Yet if you look at our history as Southern Baptists, our identity and our story are not defined by the world leading us to war, but by war leading us to the world.

At the end of World War I, Southern Baptist veterans returned from Europe and described the devastating physical and spiritual needs they had left there. A divided and war-torn continent desperately needed the hope of the gospel.

Southern Baptists responded at their 1919 convention by launching “The Baptist Seventy-five Million Campaign,” challenging members of every church to sign pledge cards and give sacrificially over a five-year period to meet the pressing spiritual and missional needs of the day. I still have my great-grandmother’s pledge card for twenty-five dollars, a sacrificial amount in that day for a farm wife whose house had recently burned to the ground, my mother tells me. Written across the pledge card, in her own hand, are the words “paid in full,” two years early.

Later that year, in October 1919, services for “calling out the called” resulted in more than 20,000 volunteers for ministry and mission service.

About 3,000 new churches were organized, and eight new international mission fields were entered.

By the way, the size of the convention that year was about 4,200 messengers. Seventy-five million dollars back then would be the equivalent of over $1.3 billion today. And while economic hard times hit the South in the 1920’s and the total collected through 1924 was “only” about $58 million, that amount given over five years amounted to about 90% of the entire amount Baptists had previously given over their first 74 years of existence since 1845.

The Baptist Seventy-Five Million Campaign ended up becoming a pilot and predecessor for the establishment of the Cooperative Program in 1925, which continues to prepare and place thousands of missionaries, pastors, church planters, and volunteers today.

Both demonstrate what everyday Baptists and Baptist churches of all sizes can do when they choose to cooperate for bold missionary causes on a worldwide scale.

Many would say it was after World War I that cooperative missions truly became a defining and core characteristic of Southern Baptist identity. It now stands alongside unwavering commitment to the Bible and Baptist doctrine as one of the primary reasons that diverse, autonomous Baptist churches choose to stay together through good times and bad. We can disagree agreeably about a lot of things when we agree passionately on the Bible and the Great Commission.

Cooperative missions-giving gave compassionate, faith-filled Baptists a powerful way to respond to the spiritual and physical ravages of war. And the same is true today.

And so, even as wars and rumors of wars bombard us in the news, let’s continue to boldly lead our churches to prioritize and give more sacrificially than ever through the Cooperative Program, especially as we approach its 100th anniversary. It’s the most effective missionary-sending system in modern history. And with missionaries around the world, with soundly equipped and resourced pastors and church planters leading our churches, and with Baptist volunteers eager to join them, we can continue to take the gospel to the world, even during wars, and to offer it true and lasting peace.

After WWI, cooperative missions began defining us.

CP at work in Israel

Send Relief is on the ground in Israel. “War produces uniquely difficult humanitarian crises, and this is no exception,” said Jason Cox, VP for international ministry. “As Christians, we want to care for the many hurting, vulnerable people impacted by this violence and upheaval.”

The joint work of the SBC’s two mission boards fed and housed refugees starting soon after the Hamas attacks.

Total giving by IBSA churches as of 10/31/23

$4,445,722

2023 Budget Goal to date: $4,834,444

2023 Goal: $6 Million

Nate Adams is executive director of the Illinois Baptist State Association.

Respond at IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org.

December 01, 2023

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NEWS from the front: building after loss

Culture Watch

Continued from page 1 worked there as a contractor, and in Illinois in retirement. Stover brought the teams together, and he was driving one of two vehicles with team members when he had a medical emergency.

The result was the careening of his SUV off a mountain ledge, crashing 40 feet below at the bottom of the hill. Stover was killed, and the three passengers were severely injured. Ten Mile members in the second vehicle could only watch—and pray.

“Foothills has loved us and our church in a way I can never be able to say ‘thank you’ enough,” Gray said. Families of the two teen boys and one man who were injured traveled to Phoenix to hold vigil at the hospital. Their injuries were very serious.

“Several of our church members opened their homes to family members so they could rest, take a shower or whatever they needed,” Foothills’ missions director Jeanne Nation said. “Whatever they need, it’s available whenever they need it.”

Several Foothills members provided a “ministry of presence” at the hospital, sitting with Ten Mile members, praying with them, consoling them, and engaging in conversation to relieve the stress they were under.

“I think we just see ourselves as one body of Christ because we were partnering on this trip together,” Nation said. “We just want to do our part to help them out while they’re here, away from their support group.”

Over the week following the Nov. 9 crash, about 20 people from Illinois made the journey to Phoenix.

Remembering Randy “Randy was passionate about missions and helping our church be passionate about missions,” said Gray.

“We’re going to honor Randy by continuing to be passionate about missions and not let hearts grow cold.”

Stover, 65, was born in Benton and grew up at Ten Mile Church. His dad was a deacon and Randy became a deacon too. Eventually he turned his engineering degree and construction career toward missions projects. Stover had moved with his family to Phoenix for work in the late 1990s. While there, he participated in multiple missions projects with Foothills Church. They partnered with Amor Ministries, a Christian nonprofit based in California that has partnered with those who have built more

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than 200,000 homes over the last 43 years, including the ones at Rocky Point.

When Stover returned to Illinois two years ago, he was again called as a Ten Mile deacon and also served on the missions team. Last year he invited Gray to join him in Foothills’ missions endeavor south of the border.

“It was life-changing for me,” Gray said. “It was an amazing trip, seeing how something as simple as a one-room home can change someone’s life forever.”

After the fatal accident, the Foothills team did not go to Mexico. “We refocused on meeting the needs of the people from Ten Mile Church flying in to be with their family members,” Nation said. At Foothills Church the following Sunday, time was given to pray for Stover’s wife, two daughters and mother, as well as for the Ten Mile members injured in the crash and their families.

At Ten Mile Church there were three nights of prayer, “one for our church, one for youth and one for the community,” Gray said. “Randy was known for his love for missions and for helping people in need.”

Despite the crash, loss of life and serious injuries, the house was built. Amor Ministries’ Mexico-based team, already onsite for another project, built the house with help from a Catholic youth group and some village residents.

The family given the completed house laid a stone marker in Stover’s memory. “While this tragedy has made us all heartsick, the Father has used it to knit the hearts of our two congregations together around this mission to not just build a home but to bring the gospel to those who need Christ,” Foothills Pastor Brian McCoy said.

“Lord willing, Foothills will return to Rocky Point to engage this mission again,” the pastor continued. “We look forward to welcoming members of Ten Mile Church as we engage in this mission together.”

—with reporting by Karen Willoughby and the IB staff

IllinoisBaptist.org IBSA.org

Great expectations

Among church changers

About half of regular church attenders have only attended one church as an adult, Lifeway Research reported in a new survey. Among those who go twice a month or more, 47% have belonged to one church, while one-third have attended two or three churches, and less than one-fourth have attended four or more. In most cases (60%), the reason for changing churches was relocation to a new town.

Personal invitation from a friend or family member and word of mouth were the most common means of introduction to their new church for about 3-in-10 newcomers. Far lower on the list was exposure through the church website or social media at 2-in-10 or less.

“A church’s worship service is still the front door of the typical church, but a third of first-time visitors will use a different door today,” Lifeway Research’s Scott McConnell said. “It is important that every ministry within a church realizes they may have the first contact with someone who needs a church.”

Newcomers have high expectations when they arrive, with about 85% saying preaching, doctrine, and authenticity are “important” or “very important” to them.

Other important factors are: → Community care and unity among members at 82% each → Worship style 80% → Changed lives 78% → Potential relationships 76% → Biblical learning opportunities 74% → Music 68%.

Lifeway Research surveyed 1,001 Protestant church goers in the summer of 2023.

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Midwestern marks records, adds Spurgeon artifacts Kansis City, Mo. | Cutting the ribbon on a renovated dorm for its Spurgeon College, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Jason Allen marked record enrollment at the SBC’s youngest seminary, with more than 5,000 students for the first time.

“Our total headcount and credit hours for Fall 2023 are each up approximately 4% from last year,” Allen said.

“This is something for which we are incredibly thankful.” When Allen arrived ten years earlier, the residence hall was an abandoned building.

Allen used the Oct. 16-17 trustees meeting to point to the importance of prayer, citing Mark 1.

“In Christ’s ministry, you see a ministry of power,” Allen said. “Our churches today know so little power.

We’re accustomed to a mild-mannered man standing in the pulpit and delivering a mild-mannered message

to a group of mild-mannered people. But just as Christ’s ministry was marked by power, I pray our graduates would be men and women of power....

“May God bless us with students and graduates who are hot-hearted, spiritually minded, and pulpit-filling men who in every way reflect the ministry of Jesus.”

Research collection expands The Spurgeon Library at Midwestern has acquired an additional collection of thousands of books, manuscripts, letters, artifacts, newspaper cuttings and more from Charles Spurgeon.

“The Heritage Collection is truly a one-of-a-kind collection and an invaluable stewardship,” Allen said.

“This is a stewardship we feel well beyond Midwestern Seminary. It’s a stewardship for Southern Baptist pastors and churches.

It’s a stewardship for the broader Baptist and evangelical world. And that’s a stewardship I could not be more delighted for Midwestern Seminary to exercise.”

The Spurgeon Library began ten years ago from the gifts of Bill and Connie Jenkins.

Additional gifts made possible the new purchase from Spurgeon College UK. “All who love Spurgeon’s ministry owe a debt of gratitude to this dear couple. That’s certainly a gratitude I feel, and no doubt many, many others will, too, feel it,” Allen said.

The Heritage Collection offers an unparalleled glimpse into the life and ministry of Charles Haddon Spurgeon (1834-1892), the legendary preacher and pastor of London’s Metropolitan Tabernacle, and the Pastors’ College that he founded. The collection includes 10 of the famed preacher’s earliest sermon notebooks.

Midwestern has collaborated with the U.K. school in curating the vast collection. And Spurgeon’s descendants supported the move of materi-

als to the U.S. “We are encouraged to think that the students at Midwestern Seminary will pour over the numerous sermons, sermon notes, and other writings and not only will they be blessed, but their studies will bless others too. We hope and pray that pastors will be inspired by Spurgeon to preach Jesus to their congregation not just in the United States but across the world,” the family wrote.

“We are also confident that Midwestern Seminary will preserve and display the collection at the highest level as they have done with the Spurgeon Library. It is wonderful to think that much of the writings were probably done in his actual library.”

—from Baptist Press

SBC NEWS In a special-called Zoom meeting held in executive session, the SBC Executive Committee created a work study group to examine several issues that have produced some controversy recently. The group of seven will be asked to examine biblical justice and due process doctrine, a broader longterm legal strategy for the EC and SBC moving forward, and the process by which the EC and SBC approve significant legal decisions.

The EC also encouraged the group “to seek input from leading biblical scholars, trauma informed consultants, and legal experts.”

The meeting in closed session was the second in two weeks. It came after criticism for EC participation in two court cases that former interim EC President and CEO Willie McLaurin and SBC President Bart Barber agreed for the SBC to join as friends of the court (amicus curaie), but that the EC Board of Trustees did not know about. Barber apologized in November.

One case involved a sexual abuse suit in Kentucky. The other involved the North American Mission Board.

Baptist Press reported that at the closed meeting of the SBC Executive Committee Nov. 16, it was announced that Jonathan Howe was approved to continue serving as the Interim President/CEO for the duration of the EC presidential search process, which is anticipated at least through February.

HOWE

ROBERTSON

PRESSLEY

Howe is the remaining EC Vice President. He is responsible for Communications, including Baptist Press.

Howe’s continuation in the role was uncertain based on comments by EC Chair Philip Robertson in September, when another candidate for interim CEO withdrew his nomination unexpectedly the day before a vote was scheduled. Meantime, the search team reported progress in their work, and the desire to present a nominee for permanent CEO by the time of the February 2024 EC meeting. And the Baptist grapevine has posited at least one leading candidate for the position, although that information is supposed to be confidential.

North Carolina Pastor Clint Pressley said at his state’s pastor’s conference in November that he will allow his nomination for President of the SBC at Indianapolis in June 2024. This is a very early announcement. The first declarations usually come in February or March. Pressley has been engaged with what was called a “traditionalist” Baptist position on evangelism and other theological issues as far back as 2014, when top leaders were trying to avoid a schism over Reformed theology.

A mooooving tale

In Farmerville, Texas, SBC President (and rancher) Bart Barber takes a break to read Annie Farmstrong and Lottie Mooooon’s calf Cookie a story about her mom’s namesake.

Southern Baptist missions legends Annie Armstrong and Lottie Moon probably never expected to have cows named in their honor.

The Week of Prayer for the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions is December 3-10.

— From X (formerly Twitter)

December 01, 2023

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MISSION

‘For the Pastor’ New ministry unveiled at IBSA Annual Meeting AN ILLINOIS BAPTIST TEAM REPORT Marion | The needs of busy and discouraged pastors addressed in the Pastors Conference dovetailed with a new ministry emphasis introduced at the opening of the state convention’s 117th IBSA Annual Meeting November 8-9. “We believe that healthy pastors are needed for healthy churches,” IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams said to messengers at Cornerstone Church in Marion.

Adams told the messengers, numbering 384 along with 57 guests, that a new website will be a portal to a variety of existing opportunities, such as free pastor’s retreats at the two IBSA camp facilities, and new services including additional Multiply Hubs to bring pastors together next year.

Other actions and reports in the two-day meeting included passage of the 2024 Cooperative Program budget, delivery of Buckets of Blessing for six ministries, an interview with a couple serving international missions from a local base, two national SBC guests, and a sermon by IBSA President Michael Nave detailing his church’s confron-

tation of immoral actions by a staff member and the lessons they learned. (See sermons on page 7.)

In his report, Adams said, “As 2023 draws to a close and we prepare to enter 2024, IBSA is beginning a ‘For the Pastor’ emphasis, designed to deliver practical care, encouragement, and forward momentum for IBSA pastors.

“Included in the emphasis will be surveys and focus groups to better understand pastors’ deepest needs, resources, retreats, and other encouraging gatherings for both pastors and spouses, and partnership with local associations and others to further expand IBSA’s capacity for delivering more intentional and consistent pastor care,” Adams said.

Dilbeck urges eternal focus Hance Dilbeck’s message emphasized the vital nature of pastoral work. “Get focused and stay focused because your ministry has eternal consequences,” the President and CEO of Guidestone P. 6

Never alone Twin themes at the meetings in Marion demonstrated that while the pastorate may feel lonely at times, the pastor is never alone. Jonathan de la O was one of the speakers at the Pastors Conference (above) which explored “Life in the Spirit.” The Annual Meeting that followed drew attention to the needs of people in ministry, offering to the discouraged fresh hope and new resources.

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Continued from page 5 Financial Resources told pastors.

“You’re dealing with the souls of men and women.”

Dilbeck preached, “Paul is writing Timothy, a young minister of the gospel, so that churches can thrive.”

He cited 1 Timothy 4:16, “Pay close attention to yourself and to the teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.”

“It’s refreshing to me to hear Paul say there are really only two things you must get right: the doctrine and yourself,” he said. “Jesus calls us to deny ourselves, he doesn’t call us to neglect ourselves,” Dilbeck said, crediting a colleague with the statement.

“And there’s a difference.”

Dilbeck said pastors must persevere because “there is no burden like the pastor’s burden.” Having served as a church pastor and CEO of a multimillion-dollar corporation, he said, “I never carried a heavier burden like when I was shepherding the flock of God.” “Because we’re dealing with the souls of boys and girls, of men and women! We don’t have that margin for error!” Dilbeck emphasized.

“We’ve got to pay attention! We’ve got to get this right! We’ve got to get this right because our ministries have eternal focuses!”

Porter on CP at 100 The 100th anniversary of the Cooperative Program will be observed by Southern Baptists in 2025. Adams told the story of his grandmother, Effie Hooks of Kentucky, who pledged $25 to the SBC’s $75 Million Campaign in 1920. That was a precursor to CP intended to bring the convention out of financial distress. With money she saved from selling eggs, Hooks paid her pledge in three years.

The SBC Executive Committee, which disburses CP funds to mission boards and seminaries, was represented by Brandon Porter, editor of Baptist Press. “This is our day, this is our time, the Lord has given us this opportunity… to be part of his kingdom, to be part of his church,” Porter said. “I would encourage you to ask what your church could do to increase the reach and impact” of the Cooperative Program.

IBSA Board Chair Jeff Logsdon presented the IBSA Budget to messengers. The 2024 budget is based on a Cooperative Program goal of $6.1 million dollars with a CP ratio of 56.5%/43.5% (IBSA/SBC). The ratio remains unchanged from the previous year. The budget and ratio were approved by messengers with no dissent.

In his report, Adams outlined the network’s engagement with its churches throughout the year. It included the Health and Growth Teams’ direct engagement to revitalize 84 churches and 15 local associations. Adams said by midyear, nearly 1,000 students had been discipled at IBSA camps, and 93 students came to Christ at Lake Sallateeska and Streator Baptist Camps this summer.

In January, IBSA will again host in Springfield the 2024 Midwest Leadership Summit, where more than 1,000 Baptist leaders are expected to attend. “National SBC leaders frequently tell me that MLS is one of the most practical and beneficial conferences they attend anywhere,” Adams said.

Multiply Hubs will be one the primary gathering opportunities IBSA provides in 2024 for the exchange of ideas, for practical training, and for facilitating transformational leadership groups to help pastors and

leaders follow through on their ideas and strategies.

Adams reported 11 new churches will be planted by the end of the year, with about 50 plants in some stage of development.

Credentials Committee chair Don Evans presented six churches for affiliation which were approved by acclamation. The churches are → Anchor Church, Palos Heights → Empowerment Community Church, Chicago → Life Community Church, Hillsboro → New Nazareth Missionary Church, Chicago → Oreana Church, Oreana → Transformation Church, South Chicago Heights Actions, resolutions, and elections In addition to approval of reports and budgets from the three IBSA entities, including the Baptist Foundation of Illinois (BFI) and Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services (BCHFS) as reported on page 9, messengers approved the second reading implementing tweaks to the IBSA constitution and first reading for amendments for a vote next year.

The amendments approved this year clarified wording, with changes from “chairman” to “chairperson” throughout the document, and limiting the tenure of the IBSA president when the holder has assumed more than half of an incomplete term while serving as vice president.

The first reading for a 2024 vote was on new wording that clarifies the relationship between IBSA, which is a 501©3 non-profit corporation, and its component parts, which are the association of churches doing ministry under the IBSA name, BFI, and BCHFS. Messengers also approved four resolutions. The Committee on Resolutions and the Christian Life brought motions that focused on church health, the wellbeing of pastors, and missions, along with a measure

calling for prayer to end the conflict in Israel.

“Illinois Baptists are urged to honor, support, and uphold in prayer the work of Christians in Israel and the Middle East,” the resolution says, “both Messianic Jews and Palestinian believers, to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with their unbelieving relatives, neighbors on all sides of the conflict…”

The document traces God’s covenant relationship with Israel and the admonition for his people to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. It passed without objection.

Michael Nave was elected to a second term as IBSA President. Nave is pastor of Cornerstone Church in Marion. Carlton Binkley, pastor of Tabernacle Church in Decatur, returned as Vice President. Charlene Moe was elected to serve a second term as Recording Secretary. Moe is a member of Chatham Baptist Church. Matt Philbrick, Student Pastor of First Baptist Church of Ramsey, returned as Assistant Recording Secretary.

Missions at home and away IBSA Missions Director Shannon Ford interviewed IMB missionaries Scott and Catt Turner (*not their real names for security reasons) who serve the technology needs of fellow missionaries in Europe and Africa.

They provide online security for missionaries serving in an ever threatening world.

Catt explained how she is busy with digital engagement. “I put ads on Facebook with gospel content in hopes of eventually engaging them in person,” she said. Last month, she said, “We had 15 digital Bibles given out in Prague” as result.

Scott requested prayer for the digital security work he is doing with 600 missionaries he is assigned. He has a three-month deadline to accomplish the work that will prevent data leaks and can “prevent people from being sent home from the field.”

December 01, 2023

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from the pulpit

Nave: ‘Honest assessment’

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Cornerstone Church Pastor Michael Nave was candid about the crisis season that resulted in the termination of a staff member on moral failure and the month-long public examination of the church’s actions and responsibility.

He called it a time for “honest assessment”—and the lessons in transparency should steer actions in all kinds of ministry situations.

“Honest assessment is a gift we give each other, so we can hear the voice of God,” Nave said.

In the IBSA President’s address, Nave told how in August young men began to come forward with evidence of grooming behaviors by a pastoral staff member. Nave described the series of meetings he had with parents, the church family, and the worship services where the man’s termination was explained.

Local law enforcement investigated, but no charges have been brought. The Cornerstone leadership team determined however that the actions disqualified the man from ministry. He was quickly dismissed.

Nave chose to be up front about the situation, preaching on it four consecutive weekends, and addressing it on radio and social media. “We’re going to honestly pursue truth, then pursue healing,” he said.

“When we were vulnerable about our failure, and our leader’s failure,” Nave said, it became an

opportunity to turn attention to Jesus.

His experience served as a message to Illinois church leaders to address issues of declining attendance and faltering discipleship. “If we don’t honestly assess reality, we can’t honestly follow where the Lord is leading us. We won’t know what to pray for,” Nave said.

Nave pointed out biblical leaders who were honest about their situations: Joseph, Esther, Nehemiah—and Jesus.

“We love it when other people are honest in assessing their reality, but why don’t we do that?”

Crisp: No more ‘PLUM’ parties 4

1-2. Praise and prayer were woven through three days of meetings.

3. IBSA Health Leader Scott Foshie led a presentation on church revitalization.

4. Rachel Wiles of the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission spoke about pro-life needs in Illinois.

5. Nate Adams (l) thanked IBSA officers, who were all reelected.

Have you ever had a PLUM party? In the Annual Sermon, Josh Crisp, pastor of First Baptist Church in Bethalto, introduced what was an unfamiliar term to some but turned out to be a very familiar concept to most.

Crisp explained that in Southern Illinois parlance, PLUM stands for “Poor Little Old Me.” As a child when Crisp was having what others might call a “pity party,” his father would tell him to quit having a PLUM party. Citing Elijah in 1 Kings 19, Crisp said, “We see pastors and prophets in the Bible having a PLUM party,” he said.

“Ministry is people. Ministry is serving people. At times people don’t want to be led.” When those times came to the prophet Elijah, he became afraid, ran away, and sat down under a broom tree. Targeted

by Ahab and Jezebel, “Elijah was Israel’s most wanted.”

Crisp related a story from his own life, when he felt God’s call to leave Kansas City where he was attending seminary and move to Indianapolis to plant a church and continue classes remotely. Once there, his wife fell into a deep depression, their financial situation became desperate, and he didn’t know if their marriage was going to make it.

While in Indianapolis Crisp, who was discharged from the military on a disability, saw a doctor for a six-month physical. The doctor told him about a vocational rehabilitation program for veterans which would help pay for his last year in school.

God had intervened for him just as he had Elijah.

Crisp reminded pastors, “God will give you personal supplies when ministry is difficult.”

Elijah was on the run and the Lord came to him.

“The Lord was not in the wind, earthquake, or fire,” said Crisp. “After the fire there was a voice, a soft whisper… God will give you a soft whisper.” When the prophet needed encouragement, God reminded him that he was not alone. There were 7,000 others in the land who had not bowed down to Baal.

Crisp told about when he was in basic training and had poison ivy in one eye that was quickly progressing to the other, taking away his sight. This was just as he was to embark on a 28-mile march that would mark the completion of his training.

His options were to go to the infirmary to have it treated, which would mean redoing the entire six weeks of basic training, or find a way to finish basic training and then deal with the poison ivy.

His drill sergeant knew what he needed. “Hold onto your gun with your shooting arm and the ruck sack of the guy ahead of you with the other,” he said. He encouraged Crisp all along the way, even walking with him that last mile. “He knew what I needed,” Crisp said.

“We’re not the first ones to go through hard times in ministry…. Pastors, pastors’ wives, and ministry leaders, let’s quit having PLUM parties and get to work for King Jesus!”

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Pastors conference

Sermon series offers hope for weary brothers Stephen Love of Indiana opened with a joke: “I can’t move back to Illinois. It’s not because I’m spiritual; it’s because of property taxes.” There was laughter across the room. Then the Illinois native turned to a hard subject: sin in the pastor’s life.

“Sin cannot be domesticated; sin cannot be brought into your house as pet,” Love said.

Love, planting pastor of Redemption City Church in South Bend, took off the gloves at the IBSA Pastors Conference meeting in Marion ahead of the IBSA Annual Meeting. His message was one of six focusing on Romans 8: “Life in the Spirit.”

DAVIS Love told how his father, a pastor, gave him a book by Puritan author, John Owen. It wasn’t the video game a 13-year-old wanted.

It was called “The Mortification of Sin.” One line in particular stuck with Love: “Be killing sin or sin will be killing you.”

“What is it, pastor, that is calling out to you, that you spent many DICKERSON years answering yes and yes and yes… so out of obligation, you keep going back to that thing? Is it pornography, anger, bitterness, the fact that you treat the church better than you treat your wife? Bruh, you don’t owe that anything,” he said, calling for repentance.

Bob Dickerson, pastor of LOVE First Baptist Church of Marion opened the conference. “You cannot get rid of the law of gravity, but you can transcend it. You cannot get rid of the law of sin and death, but you can transcend it,” he said.

“I thought about buying a T-shirt so that I could open my coat to see ‘No Condemnation!’” he said, pointing to the assurance of Romans 8:1. “I looked it up. Did you know Amazon has those for sale?”

The longtime Illinois pastor told a room full of his colleagues, “We don’t have to worry about our performance—only about our obedience.”

Jonathan de la O, pastor of Starting Point Community Church in Chicago, moved to the Fruit of the Spirit, while telling a story about the ongoing

partnership between Hispanic churches in Chicagoland and downstate churches reaching out to migrant workers picking pumpkins near Mt. Vernon.

“These pumpkins will be in your store in Chicago soon,” farmer Leon Adams who encouraged the gospel ministry to his seasonal workers told de la O. “How many pies will they make?” the pastor recalled asking.

“These pumpkins are not for consumption,” Adams said. “They’re decorative.”

“I thought, that’s crazy—a fruit that can be consumed is used for decoration,” de la o said. He applied the lesson to the Fruit of the Spirit. “Can our relationship to the Spirit be the same—purely decorative—rather than mobilizing us to serve and to go?” he asked, to amens. “Ask what God wants you to do, then do it!”

pastors?” he asked.

“The weight of the world may come crashing on our backs, but it’s going to be OK, brothers, because God is for us. When we really mess up, somebody’s got our back,” Edwards assured the pastors. “Sometimes you just need to know that Jesus, your mama, and your dog will always love you, and that’s enough.”

Jesus, Mama, your dog “The sufferings of ministry won’t last forever,” Ryan Rice said, receiving a round of amens as he repeated the phrase. “The sufferings of ministry won’t last forever, but guess what, the glory of the Lord will.” (More amens.)

Rice is a church planter and SEND City missionary in New Orleans. “If we are not careful, we can allow our suffering to take so much of our vision and blur the glory that awaits us,” he said.

Paraphrasing Paul, he called the present trials of ministry “a blip” compared to the glory to come.

James Westbrook, a St. Louis native now planting a church in Oakland, California picked up the theme. “I don’t have to tell you that pastoral ministry is hard work, whether you are in crazy California or the Land of Lincoln.

“We don’t have to force ministry to work out for our good,” Westbrook said, in reference to Romans 8:26. “God has fixed the system, he works the system, so that everything works together for our good…. He works with the Holy Spirit to bring good in the lives of his people.”

“Romans 8 opens with no condemnation for those who are in Christ and ends with no separation for those who are in Christ,” Jamus Edwards of Owensboro, Kentucky concluded.

In a time of his own desperation, Edwards listed 18 friends in ministry; 16 of them told him they were struggling to feel the love of God. “Why is it so hard to believe that Jesus us loves us when we are

In the Exhibit Hall

Bivo Pastor of the Year Jeremy Hamson, pastor of Belle Rive Missionary Baptist Church, was named 2023 Bivocational Pastor of the Year at the Pastors Conference. Hamson was selected by the state’s Associational Mission Strategists after nominations were received from local Baptist associations.

Hamson has served while working in agriculture as a seed representative for a large region. “Our church family are pretty awesome,” Hamson said.

“I’ve been their pastor 19 years, and sometimes I’m surprised they keep me around.”

Hamson thanked his family as the award was presented by IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams.

“My dad was a bivo pastor all his life, and I probably learned more from him than anybody else,” he said.

Jonathan Davis, pastor of Delta Church in Springfield, hosted the event and led its planning as president. Dustin Haile was elected president of the 2024 Pastors Conference. Haile is lead pastor of Gateway Church in Mt. Vernon. Tommy Thompson, pastor of Ashburn Baptist Church, was elected vice president, and Jacob Goble of Rooted Community Church in Lebanon was elected treasurer.

The Pastors Conference will be held at Ashburn Baptist Church November 12-13, 2024 prior to the IBSA Annual Meeting.

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1. Drew Heironomous (r) and Jeff Deasy manned the registration table.

2. Students from Tabernacle Baptist Church helped fill messenger bags.

3. Illinois Baptist Disaster Relief (IBDR) celebrated its 40th anniversary with a mug honoring Thurman Stewart, a key leader who died last year.

4. Jorge Melendez and Tony Munoz enjoyed the taco bar hosted by the Church Planting team.

5. Camp Manager Brock Vandever (r) shares info about Lake Sallateeska.

6. Illinois Baptist Women’s popcorn proved very popular.

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December 01, 2023

IBSA.org

Baptist Foundation of illinois

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baptist children’s home and family services

Can you see eternity from here? Redemption and transformation Doug Morrow challenged messengers at the IBSA Annual Meeting to think eternally. Before introducing a slate of Illinois Baptists to give testimonials about interactions with the Baptist Foundation of Illinois (BFI), the Executive Director said, “The real impact is in people’s lives. What I want you to observe is dependent on whether we can see eternity from here.”

Judy Shoemaker, a retiree, committed to missions, said before investing through BFI she “thought it was [just for] preachers and church staff members.”

She likened her previous investing to the parable in Matthew 25 about burying money in the ground.

“I realized I was the one burying the money,” she said. “Putting it in a bank account and only getting 1%. Folks you don’t have to have $20,000. You can just have $1,000 and put it together with other people’s money and do good things with it.”

I should have done that years ago,” Shoemaker proclaimed. “I should have saved up when I was working. I wish I’d done that.”

Next up was Carol Stewart, who became involved with BFI before the death of her husband, Thurman.

She and Thurman were always able to tithe, but they never seemed to have money left over at the end of the month for investing. Still, she said, “God was good.”

Before his death in 2022, she said Thurman started to make small investments and became involved with the BFI board. After Carol’s mother’s death, he insisted they begin a scholarship in her name.

Since Thurman’s passing BFI has checked up on her and helped her with investing decisions. Carol said, “They’ve just been a tremendous help and blessing to me.”

Next, Skip and Joannie Leininger shared their testimony via video. They had begun the process of writing their wills with BFI, but then Skip was diagnosed with cancer—multiple myeloma and lymphoma. He began treatment but became septic and went into a weeklong coma. Before he was totally unconscious, Skip told his wife to call BFI about his will.

“All I could think of was we had done our wills, but we had not completed them with our signatures,” said MORROW Joannie. “The very next day they came to Barnes [Hospital] and I finished my part. Skip woke up enough the next day and completed his STEWART part.”

In business, Morrow reported BFI has helped almost 200 families create Christian Estate Plans, which will produce $250 million in Kingdom giving. At the tenth anniversary of expansion of the church bonds program, BFI has written 92 bond issues and raised more than $21 million for church loans. And BFI manages 1,715 custodial accounts valued at more than $64 million.

Messengers approved the following for 2024: → Budget of $442,500 which is $26,344 above the 2023 budget. → BCHFS Board of Trustees Officers: Chair—Pam White, The Ridge Church, Carbondale; Vice Chair— Brent Cloyd, Northside Baptist Church, Fairfield; Secretary— Mihaela Sexton, FBC, Petersburg.

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“Matthew 9:36, that’s a verse that’s become very important to me.”

So said Kevin Carrothers, Executive Director of Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services (BCHFS), as he delivered his report to messengers at the IBSA Annual Meeting in reference to his first months in the role. Reciting the verse, its relevance became clear, “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.”

Carrothers said BCHFS “values the protection, healing, restoration of families and marriages.” It does so through its five agencies: Angels’ Cove Maternity Center, Children’s Home, Faith Adoption, Pathways Counseling, and GraceHaven Pregnancy Clinic. Carrothers said three people have come to faith in Christ through Angels’ Cove with two baptized in local churches this year.

There have been four professions of faith through the Children’s Home.

In line with IBSA’s For the Pastor focus, he said “Pathways Counseling offers six free sessions to pastor and wife. We believe in the health of the pastor and his family. We want to see him thrive and then we can see his church thrive.” The ministry is on track to serve a record 1,000 clients in 2023.

In a poignant video testimony, Kay, a client at GraceHaven, shared her story of post abortion recovery over 40 years after undergoing one.

When she learned she was expecting, Kay said she “was a preacher’s kid” who couldn’t see how her “father could stand in the pulpit and preach with his daughter pregnant out of wedlock.”

Then a sophomore in college, the abortion clinic staff told her it

was just a “procedure.” But when she was laying on table, Kay said, “I heard the suction of my baby being aborted. I knew I had made the biggest mistake of my life. I had taken that baby’s life into my own hands. I took that life and it wasn’t mine to take.”

The regret and shame drove her to become a drug and alcohol addict. Years later she learned about the counseling ministry offered by GraceHaven for women who regret their abortions and seek forgiveness in God. She’s since confessed to her father what she did so long ago to “protect” him and received no condemnation.

“Kay’s story is one of redemption,” Carrothers told messengers.

“It’s why we serve the Lord. To see lives transformed. To see how God uses his people to help people who are hurting and need the gospel.”

In other business, messengers approved the following for 2024: → Budget of $3,937,000, which is $35,926 above the 2023 budget. →BCHFS Board of Trustees Officers: Chair—Eric Bramlet, FBC Mt. Carmel; Vice Chair—Sarah Bordewick, FBC Mt. Zion; and Secretary—Cheryl Dorsey, Beacon Hill Missionary Baptist Church, Chicago Heights.

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Ministers’ Wives

Speaker urges women to break free from distraction “We live in a culture of distraction,” Jesus without being with Jesus.” In John Melissa Spoelstra told the women 21:15-17, Jesus had cooked breakfast for gathered at the November 8 IBSA his disciples and then told them, feed my Ministers’ Wives Luncheon. This year’s sheep. theme was “Finding Peace in the Purpose “We can’t feed the sheep without being of Jesus.” with Jesus,” she said. “When you find Any number of things can create yourself angry with the sheep that’s when distractions and cause harm to your walk you come back to this verse.”

SPOELSTRA with God she warned. “Just like we do Third, she told them to “look up physical hygiene, we need to do spiritual instead of sideways.” hygiene,” she said. “Silence and solitude are needed “‘Jesus said my sheep listen to my voice in order for the Lord to speak to us.” and they listen and follow my voice. No one Spoelstra, the author of seven Bible studies can snatch them away from me.’ The thief for women and a regular contributor to online wants to steal, kill, and destroy.” She urged devotionals, the women to make “God’s voice louder outlined than anyone else’s voice in your lives.” three ways Dara and Greg Whaley of Immanuel to break Baptist Church in Benton led worship. the habit of The group elected officers to plan distraction. and host next year’s luncheon. They are First, she said, “Embrace the humility plan.

Recognize that none of us are going to get it right every time.”

Peter denied Jesus three times.

“Where in our lives are we denying Jesus?” she asked. “We can’t outpace his grace. Peter was a kingdom denier and Jesus trusted him with his work. Some of us keep giving Jesus reasons to leave, but Jesus trusts us more.”

The key is in how we respond.

“Look at the difference between Peter and Judas,” she said. “Repentance leads us to turn from sin, remorse often leads us to more sin.”

Second, Spoelstra said, “We can’t do anything for

‘Buckets’ bless kids, migrants A steady stream of red, orange, yellow, green, purple, and blue buckets flowed into the lobby at Cornerstone Church during the IBSA Annual Meeting. The blue five-gallon buckets were new this year, signifying an addition to the ministries supported by the collection of goods for Illinois Baptist compassion ministries.

The blue buckets were filled with toiletries and personal care items for refugees arriving in Chicago and migrant workers in Southern Illinois. “Shout out to churches in Southern Illinois” who have partnered in ministry with Hispanic churches, Pastor Jonathan de la O said enthusiastically at the Pastors Conference.

In Chicago, de la O’s church has led outreach to migrants bussed from the Mexico border in Texas.

“Our church was really excited about supporting the ministries,” said Paul Cooper, pastor of

President, Holly Duckworth, Mt. Olive Baptist Church, Dongola; Vice President, Stephanie Lingle, FBC Vienna; and Treasurer, Claudia Tackett, FBC Carterville.

The sponsors of this year’s luncheon were Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services, Baptist Foundation of Illinois, and Illinois Baptist Women.

OPTIONS — Women had two ministry gatherings with their needs in mind. The Ministers’ Wives Luncheon (above) sharpens leadership skills while the Women’s Sampler (left), led by IBSA’s, Carmen Halsey-Menghini, offers a look at ministry opportunities coming in 2024.

Thankyou TO THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE IBSA ANNUAL MEETING EXHIBIT HALL

▶ Gearhart Church Insurance Group ▶ GuideStone ▶ Hannibal-LaGrange University ▶ International Mission Board Marshall Baptist Church. “One of our members heard about it at our associational meeting. She recommended getting a bucket for each of our small groups to fill.”

Messengers delivered the goods, as did churches across the state that filled 377 buckets and brought many more rolling carts and boxes of supplies.

“Buckets of Blessing” was started last year to supply the Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services and its ministries at Angels Cove Maternity Home, GraceHaven Pregnancy Resource Clinic, and Pathways Counseling.

Christian Activity Center in East St. Louis is also a recipient of the outpouring of supplies.

▶ North American Mission Board ▶ Rethink Ministry ▶ Send Relief ▶ Southwest Baptist University ▶ Walk Thru the Bible

December 01, 2023

IBSA.org

IN FOCUS

Behold Throughout Scripture, this word is both command and invitation.

J

A CHRISTMAS ESSAY BY ERIC REED ack Benny was from Waukegan. The renown comedian of the mid-twentieth century mentioned it occasionally on his radio show and later on The Jack Benny Program on television, along with his screechy violin skills and his miserliness. But even if this Scrooge who played it for laughs had never referenced his hometown, viewers could have deduced it from his use of an interjection common to the north Chicago suburbs: Lookit!

The script might open a sentence with “Look” before Rochester’s boss delivered some wry pontification, but Benny would say “Lookit!” It was as natural to him as y’all is to a Southerner. All the kids in his neighborhood said it back in the day.

They still do.

The Bible has its own version of “Lookit!”—that attention grabbing exclamation that arrests the hearer and forces focus on something important.

It is both interjection and imperative, exclamation

and command: “Behold!”

It’s God’s way of saying to all the kids, Lookit!

The Christmas narrative is especially punctuated with its Beholds, and a significant number are delivered by angel messengers.

Most famous may be the pronouncement over a Bethlehem hillside accompanied by the brilliant angel chorus: “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy” (Luke 2:10).

This series of attention grabbers reaches back to Old Testament prophets as Isaiah tells a weary people in foreign exile that their rescue will come, albeit in an unexpected fashion: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14).

To this rescuer’s doubting uncle, an angel interrupting his annual temple duty first offers the customary comfort “fear not” before predicting the birth of old Zechariah’s own son as the forerunner of the Messiah. But when the elderly priest questions the message, comfort turns to caution with P. 12

Behold the child,bynature’s kindly law pleased with a rattle, tickled with a straw.

—Alexander Pope

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Illinois Baptist Continued from P. 11

Behold!

Interjections (Hey!) show excitement (Yow!) or emotion (Ouch!).

They’re generally set apart from a sentence by an exclamation point, Or by a comma when the feeling’s not as strong.

Interjections show excitement or emotion, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah...

YEA! —Schoolhouse Rock, ABC-TV

the familiar interjection: “And behold, you will be silent and unable to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time” (Luke 1:20).

When that same angel appears to young Mary, her question does not betray doubting, but curiosity. “How can this be?” she asked.

“Behold,” Gabriel interrupted, stopping what could have become a string of questions and redirecting an unmarried teenager to the answer.

“You will conceive in your womb and bear a Son, and you shall call his name Jesus” (Luke 2:31).

The angel’s explanation is backed up with similar miraculous evidence, signaled by a second holy Lookit!

“And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 2:36).

Then Mary adopts the word herself, not just as a rhetorical device, but as if to borrow the messenger’s own way of saying, if you need proof, you can see it for yourself. The young woman said to Gabriel, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 2:36).

And if we need proof that the promise was fulfilled, we can look to John’s own nativity story not in a creche but in the cosmos. In the poetic prologue to his Gospel, John uses another word that in the King James translation beautifully references the angels’ interjection. John attests it really did happen and we were eyewitnesses: “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

Behold? Indeed, we did.

of them discovered the Messiah, both Andrew and the Samaritan woman said to those around them, If you don’t believe me, come and see for yourself.

Behold a man.

In Hebrew, behold is often translated from hinneh. Sometimes it comes out as “Lo!” To the earthy and redoubtable Jews, God regularly says Hinneh! If you need proof, look here.

But before we are too harsh on the nation who often heard this directive and still struggled to believe, we should remember our own age of incredulity. In these days, it’s hard to believe even what we see with our own eyes, where artificial intelligence trumps real intelligence with computer-generated realities, and where lies are easier to sell than truth.

In this toxic time with its doubting and headscratching and furrowed eyebrows, God still says, “Lookit!”

Changing me, changing you If we are to accept God’s invitation to investigate and more fully understand what he had been doing all along, we can look back to his own prophetic declaration more than 500 years before the birth of the Messiah.

God’s people were in exile in a foreign land.

Should they fear God had forgotten them and that his reported promises were somehow delayed, Isaiah brought a word that explained that it was all part of a bigger plan.

Hinneh, here is something new.

“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:19).

“Behold! I bring you good news of great joy!”

—The angel to the shepherds outside Bethlehem

Eric Reed is editor of IBSA media.

Ancient words, ever true The words often translated “behold” in English appear 1,298 times in the King James translation of the Bible. Other versions render it as “look” and “see.” In other forms, it can mean “to find out” or “to make sure.”

In Greek, this is from the word idou. Not a gentle nudge, this is a command to “Stop! See this! Don’t miss it!” It is a demanding version of the more gentle invitation heard later in Jesus’ itinerant ministry to “come and see.” When each

What a beautiful, yet insistent invitation to come and understand what God has intended from the beginning: to bring into the world a Savior who will change hearts, and lives, and peoples, and nations. We cannot close our eyes to him or to his mission.

God’s new thing is ancient. It is the restoration of a pathway into his very presence, cut through wilderness and desert, cut through sin and separation, cut through the veil into the throne room.

And all who accept his beckoning are welcome to the change that it will mean for each of them.

“Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Idou, new creatures.

Not merely a Baby in a cow stall for shepherds to come and see, this is the Savior of the world. And he issues his appeal personally and persistently.

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20).

Behold, Jesus.

December 01, 2023

IBSA.org

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GROWING MEET THE TEAM

Jonathan Peters IBSA Zone 8 Consultant

Hometown: Chicago born and raised (West Rogers Park) Education: Master of Divinity, Southwestern Seminary Ministry: Still serving as senior pastor at First Baptist Columbia after 25 years.

My salvation story: I got stuck living at the Baptist Student Center dormitory at SIU when my assigned dorm was infested with cockroaches. I met genuine followers of Christ. Soon, many became my friends. They invited me to begin reading the Bible with them once a week. That spawned an 18-month journey, where Jesus invaded my life with his grace and love and called me to himself and to serve him in ministry.

Life verse: Jeremiah 33:3 Fave Bible person: Paul. He was crushed by God, used mightily by God. He was humble but a tough dude. He was unrelenting in his fight for God’s kingdom. And he wasn’t afraid to name names of those causing trouble in the church.

table talk

Don’t wait!

A procrastinator’s plan for the new year

“I’m not a procrastinator!” That is my new go-to saying whenever my wife notes something I need to do.

Instead of waiting (and then forgetting), I’m trying to be more helpful by getting right to the task at hand.

The reason for saying “I’m not a procrastinator” is because, well, for much of my life I’ve had a tendency to procrastinate.

“I’ll get to it later–probably.”

“Now isn’t a convenient time.”

“Maybe the rapture will occur, and I won’t even have to do this hard thing!”

There are, of course, some items that need to be pondered. We should be patient where patience is needed. But some things shouldn’t be put off. Some items need more immediate attention.

Some things are better dealt with sooner than later.

Here are three things that ought not be waited on. Instead, these areas of life need our willingness to say, “No more putting this off.

I’m not a procrastinator!”

1. Don’t wait on things that are important.

Instead of having that devotional time where you dig into God’s word and spend time in prayer, you can put it off until later. You think it might be more convenient at another time or that you just aren’t quite awake enough yet.

But important things need to be done. Time in God’s word is too

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time…” Ephesians 5:14-15a important to forget. Praying matters too much to be relegated to the vague hope of a better time.

Important things need to be prioritized. Important things need to be tended to.

What you do with your time gives you a pretty good clue about what is really important to you.

Putting things off suggests that maybe those items aren’t as important to you as you think.

Instead, make sure to prioritize those things that matter most.

Prioritize your devotional life. Prioritize time with your family. Prioritize church attendance. Don’t wait on things that are important.

2. Don’t wait on things that are urgent.

Some foods have a shelf life. You eat them within that time frame or they spoil. Some issues of life have a shelf life. An opportunity to share the gospel with a questioning friend may never come again.

It is too urgent to put off. A chance to minister to a dying family member can’t be relegated to another day. It is too urgent to put off.

You can’t prepare for that Sun-

Fave Illinois discovery: My wife, Sheila.

Fave snack food: Hummus Book: “Night” by Elie Wiesel Movie: The Godfather (I and II) Desert island disc: Stevie Ray Vaughan, “Texas Flood” and “Pride and Joy” Hobby: Being with my grandson Quote: “You can’t have my Jesus.

You must come to Jesus on your own.”

“Wait... you did remember to book a room before we left Nazareth?”

day morning Bible study on Sunday afternoon. And, if you want to give your best to the class, you will want to begin your preparation long before late Saturday night.

Time is always moving forward and that provides an urgency to seize the opportunities that come today, knowing that tomorrow is almost here.

3. Don’t wait on things that are difficult.

One reason we procrastinate is because we know the task that needs to be done is hard. We often put off dealing with problems or having hard conversations or engaging in necessary confrontations because those things can be so challenging. But putting those things off doesn’t make them go away. Sometimes our unwillingness to deal with them in a timely fashion only makes those problems harder.

I’m trying to learn not to put things off just because they are hard. Instead, I generally find it better to do the hard things first before moving on to simpler tasks.

God asks some hard things of us.

Hard doesn’t mean wrong. Sharing the gospel with others isn’t always easy, but don’t put it off when the opportunity comes.

Serving in a ministry isn’t always easy, but don’t wait when the Lord prompts you to volunteer.

Maybe you struggle with putting things off just like I do. Maybe you too find yourself hoping the Lord returns so that you don’t have to do something you would rather not do. But, you know what? Even should the Lord return while you are doing that hard thing, it will be great that he finds you being faithful to what you need to do.

After all, you aren’t a procrastinator!

Doug Munton has served as senior pastor of First Baptist Church of O’Fallon since 1995.

He blogs at dougmunton.com.

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Illinois Baptist

Fall student ministry events encourage faith, discipleship AWSOM explores identity in Christ The issue of identity was addressed at AWSOM, the annual event for teen girls, held November 3-4 at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Decatur.

“There is such a search for truth today,” said Alyssa Caudill, a pastor’s wife from First Baptist Church of Carmi, who spoke at the event. “What they’re being told is that they need to search within themselves for who they are, but instead God has created for a purpose and a reason. Getting near to him and finding who he has made them to be, and leaning into that is really vital,” she said.

The theme was “Being You.” We wanted to help the girls see who God made them to be and to prepare them for trials and tests in the future.”

AWSOM stands for Amazing Women Serving Our Maker. It dates back to Sandy WisdomMartin’s staff leadership at IBSA in the early 2000’s.

“The girls were amazing,” Caudill said. “They were great listeners and there was a great response.”

AWSOM is fun, but there are serious discipleship times as well. “If there is a practice I encouraged them in it’s to memorize God’s word and let that continually shape and change how they face every situation,” Caudill said.

Almost 300 girls in grades 6 through 12 attended the event.

Youth Encounter produces evangelism decisions Almost 1,000 students attended the two locations of Youth Encounter October 8. At the events in Marion and Bloomington, 26 faith decisions were reported, including recommitments.

“It was great to see youth getting excited about the gospel and wanting to dig into the Word of God,” said Kevin Jones, IBSA Church Planting Director, who also leads campus ministry.

“These experiences are important for students, especially as they seek God’s calling on their lives.

Sometimes you need to get youth to get out of their world in order to listen more clearly to the gospel,” Jones said.

Featured speakers were Daniel Nemmers, planting pastor of Salt Church on the ISU campus, and Derrick Nichols of Marcus Pointe Church in Pensacola, formerly with Metro Church Edwardsville. The worship teams from Cornerstone Church and Metro Church led the music.

ROCK ‘EM, SOCK ‘EM — This inflatable combat game was a hit at the Bloomington location. And yes, participants say it was a lot of fun. No injuries were reported.

December 01, 2023

IBSA.org

Networking Send Networking items to IllinoisBaptist@IBSA.org Unity Baptist Church seeks senior pastor. Send resume to Pastor Search Committee, 716 E. 1700 Ave, Vandalia, IL 62471 or email unitysearchcommittee@gmail.com.

In Paul’s steps…

Athens, Patmos, Corinth, Ephesus Historic sites of the first-century church

Martinsville First Baptist Church seeks bi-vocational pastor. Celebrating its 144th anniversary, the church seeks an energetic candidate to work with a motivated congregation to grow programs for all ages. Send resume to MFBCpastorsearch@yahoo.com.

Search more church openings at IBSA.org/pastor-search or scan this code.

Visit Greece with a Cruise April 22-May 1, 2024

Led by Nate and Beth Adams Offered by Believer’s Travel For more information email NateAdams@IBSA.org or phone 217-391-3108 or scan the QR code.

CLASSIFIED AD FEE FEE BAPTIST CHURCH Bridgeton, St. Louis County, Missouri is seeking a full time Senior Pastor. For more information, go to feefeebc.org/jobs.

Please submit resume and biographical profile to pastorsearch@feefeebc.org.

FREDERICK BOULEVARD BAPTIST CHURCH Frederick Boulevard Baptist Church in St. Joseph, Mo. seeks a Lead Pastor to join with our elders and ministerial staff to contribute with expositional preaching, discipleship leadership, and administration.

More information at frederickboulevard.com/ps.

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Multiply Illinois Hub

EVENTS December 3-10

Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and Week of Prayer What: Offering for International Missions Where: Your church Info: IMB.org/pray/week-of-prayer

What: Church planters and interested churches Feb 27-28, Metro East St. Louis March 7, South March 12, East Central March 21, Chicago Contact: PaulWestbrook@IBSA.org Info: IBSA.org/multiply-illinois-hubs

VBS Clinic

March 9, location TBA March 23, location TBA Info: IBSA.org

March 17-18

Ignite Evangelism Conference

January 23-25

Midwest Leadership Summit (MLS)

Where: Crowne Plaza Hotel, Springfield What: Training for over 1,000 leaders from 12 Midwestern states and 9 state conventions Contact: AubreyShelby@IBSA.org Info: MWadvance.org (attendance by invitation only)

February 24

IBSA Training Events

Where: Metro St. Louis Area Contact: LisaHarbaugh@IBSA.org Info: IBSA.org/ministries/evangelism

March 23

Hispanic Multiply Illinois Hub Where: Chicago, TBA Contact: PaulWestbrook@IBSA.org Info: IBSA.org/multiply-illinois-hubs

The pastor’s life isn’t easy.

It helps to share the journey with someone who understands.

Learn more about your network that ministers to those who minister.

IBSA.org/for-the-pastor

Where: IBSA Building, Springfield What: Tax Seminar, VBS, more Info: IBSA.org/calendar

BRIGHTER DAY

War and Christmas

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few years ago on Christmas Eve, afford to miss the nature of the battle, I heard the song “This is War” our teacher said.

by Dustin Kensrue. The lyrics Indeed, even at Christmas, the highlight Jesus as warrior, come to signs of warfare are all around. earth to do battle with sin and death.

Brutal, endless violence abroad.

No moonlit manger scene here, just Growing discord at home. One, two, the cosmic war for the souls of men three hard diagnoses for loved ones. and women.

The acknowledgement that so many I get it, I thought when I heard the people are facing so many hard song. But maybe a little much for things. There is so much darkness.

Christmas?

And yet. Or as Paul writes Like a lot of Christians, I earlier in Ephesians, “But have a complicated relaGod.” tionship with the reality “But God, being rich of spiritual warfare. If I in mercy, because of the label a trial or struggle great love with which as such, isn’t that a little he loved us, even when presumptuous? Wouldn’t we were dead in our I have to be doing a trespasses, made us alive really good job of living together with Christ—by like Jesus to be engaged grace you have been saved” MEREDITH FLYNN in a spiritual battle, to be (Ephesians 2:4). anyone’s target? Perhaps that’s why The battle swings in a completely a Christmas song focused on warfare different direction at the birth of initially struck me as dissonant with Jesus. Immanuel, God with us, born the spirit of the season. to win the battle we can’t fight on our But the Bible is full of reminders own. Another song by worship duo that the battle is real and believers Shane & Shane puts it this way: “I’m are on the frontlines. “For our fighting a battle You’ve already won.” struggle is not against flesh and I’ve come around on “This is War.” blood,” Ephesians 6:12 says, “but It turns out Christmas is the right against the rulers, against the author- time to focus on the battle and the ities, against the cosmic powers of King—graciously, humbly, mercifully this darkness, against evil, spiritual born—to win it. forces in the heavens.”

Our church’s fall women’s conferMeredith Day Flynn is a wife and ence was on Ephesians this year, and mother of two living in Springfield. the final message focused on chapter She writes on the intersection of 6 and the armor of God. We can’t faith, family, and current culture.

Tracker Trends from nearby and around the world.

Silent Night?

BETHLEHEM 2022

“These days, there are bombs in the sky over Bethlehem.

Children are scared, my kids don’t want to be separated from our side…. There are no pilgrims, everything is empty, there’s no one. And they say it will last until Easter.”

—Rony Tabash, Christian owner of a shop in Manger Square

10%

86%

55% of all U.S. citizens view Israel favorably

80%

white evangelicals 10% of people in Bethlehem are Christians today, compared to 86% in 1948.

white non-evangelicals Black Protestants

61%

43% —Pew survey (March 2023)