April 1, 2023 Illinois Baptist

Illinois Baptist

‘Brutal beauty’ IllinoisBaptist.org

Jeremy Byrd contemplates the Cross P. 13 News journal of the Illinois Baptist State Association

PRO LIFE Tears in Springfield Annual march moves to Capitol P. 4 IBSA NEWS Big reno reveal New meeting space dedicated P. 6 MISSION Passing the baton Frankfort church takes next lap P. 12 in focus “Let’s go somewhere” Nate Adams P. 2 mission Can the emerging generation save the world? P. 7 Learn more at servetour.org PLUS : TikTok impact on evanglism P. 8 &

Coming of age

‘ In the bubble,’ but not of it P. 10 P. 16

Springfield | IBSA Church Planting Director Paul Westbrook has been promoted to fill the Association’s second Associate Executive Director (AED) position that has remained empty since its creation in August 2019. He will step into the role effective July 1. Until then he will fulfill priorities relating to his church planting role and train with Associate Executive Director Mark Emerson.

My Columbian Exposition MEREDITH FLYNN

“Paul and I first discussed the possibility of him taking on the AED role some time ago, as we talked about his best fit on the IBSA staff,” IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams said. “Paul has done a great job transitioning into the Church Planting position from his longtime planter-pastor role with Metro Community Church. Now after continued conversation and prayer, including Mark’s valuable participation and input in the process, we believe the time and fit is right for this transition.”

The Illinois Baptist staff

Editor - Eric Reed

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

Joel Vancil is laying the groundwork for a church plant in Ashley. The town of 500, with a few similar towns around it, has no Protestant or evangelical church. Vancil, a native of Sunfield, will return from his current ministry near Savannah, Georgia at year’s end, when he graduates from Midwestern Seminary’s online program. Meanwhile, churches in Nine Mile Association will help him with a Maundy Thursday service in the former Methodist building that will become the plant’s new home. “They’re my people,” he said of Southern Illinoisans. “I’m a Midwest farm boy at heart.”

Pray the news: Upcoming convention

With the Southern Baptist Convention set for New Orleans in June, now is the time to pray for preparations and upcoming elections. Messengers will handle important doctrinal issues. Begin praying for the body to exercise godly wisdom.

CP @ work: New missionaries

Total giving by IBSA churches as of 2/28/23: $846,004

Budget Goal: $1,027,186

2023 Goal: $6 Million

NATE ADAMS

Let’s go!

et’s go somewhere!” The request from our two-yearold granddaughter surprised me, because at the time we were sitting comfortably on the living room floor, surrounded by her many toys, books, and other amusements. She had our full attention in her playtime. Many of her favorite foods and snacks were nearby. We hadn’t even turned on any electronic distractions yet. But she was ready to go somewhere.

Ivy has been learning recently that the world is so much bigger than the comforts of her home, or even her grandparents’ home. She has learned to love the park, the mall, her church, and yes, Walmart. Even video chats with her cousins remind her how much fun it would be to go to Colorado again. And with more and more of those exciting places and experiences now stored in her memory, her toddler logic tells her that there must be countless others, if we would just go somewhere.

Going somewhere should be a growing desire in our churches too, all the time, but especially now as summer approaches. We should be talking about where the group or groups from our church might go to help deliver the gospel, or to work alongside a church or a church planting missionary that needs help engaging their community.

Mission trips can be times of great spiritual transformation. Certainly they can change for eternity the lives of those who hear the good news of Jesus Christ. And they can also reshape the lives of the participants. Many times, those who engage in short-term mission trips return newly motivated and empowered to live more missional lives at home.

Every church, regardless of its size or location, can provide life-changing mission trip opportunities for its members. Ask your pastor what opportunities your church may already have planned! And if your church needs assistance, your local association or our staff at IBSA can help you find a destination and partner that would eagerly welcome your group’s assistance.

Plan a trip that motivates people to live on mission.

If you don’t already have plans for this summer, let me invite you to join me and several of our IBSA staff on a special, short-term mission project right here in Illinois. On August 4-5, the North American Mission Board’s “Serve Tour” is coming to Chicago. For two days, multiple ministry projects are being pre-planned around four “hub” locations in various parts of the city, each hosted by an IBSA church. Whether you have a group from your church or just one or two individuals, you’re welcome to participate.

For more information, go to servetour.org and click on the Chicago project. Once you indicate your interest, you’ll be notified about how to register for more specific projects and locations.

There are several great things about this summer missions opportunity. It’s a chance to meet and work alongside hundreds of volunteers from other Baptist churches. The only cost is for your personal transportation and lodging. It’s relatively brief, requiring only one or two days off work for most people. And you can choose a project that best fits your skills or passions.

My wife, Beth, and I plan to participate, along with several IBSA staff. Volunteers from dozens of IBSA churches have already registered. If you can’t go personally on these specific dates, maybe you can help sponsor others from your church who can.

This summer let’s not be content to stay home and sit in the comfort of our routines and safe relationships. Let’s find ways to deliver love and service and the gospel message to those who are still far from God.

Let’s go somewhere!

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

Newly appointed international missionaries Luke and Leslie Montgomery, center, pray with family and friends during the Sending Celebration. IMB reports the number of potential missionaries has rebounded with 1,200 candidates in the pipeline.

Graphic Designer - Kris Kell

Contributing Editor - Lisa Misner

Team Leader - Ben Jones

From the front: new aed named

Continued from page 1

Westbrook joined the IBSA staff in May 2022 after serving as Senior Pastor of Metro Community Church in Edwardsville for 31 years.

The church has been instrumental in starting new congregations in Illinois since it was first planted in 1991.

Westbrook will lead the Health, Growth,

and Missions Teams, and Zone Consultants, while Emerson will lead the Communications and Operations Teams. “I think it will put us in the next level for us to do what we’ve been doing so far,” Adams said. Westbrook and his wife, Melody, moved from Oklahoma to Illinois and started the church in a duplex along with six other couples. The church would eventually grow to more than 1,000 worshippers and support several church planters.

IBSA Board marks milestones

Springfield | The Spring meeting of the IBSA Board was part business, part celebration, as members adopted reports, welcomed good news from the Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services (BCHFS), and gathered for hors d’ouevres and a dedication ceremony in a newly renovated space.

“I look forward to celebrating this special day with you,” IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams told the Board. Calling the renovation of the first floor east wing a “generational improvement,” he noted it will cap an entire building renovation that began in 2011. “Our architect told us it would take about $10 million to build [the IBSA Building] again today.”

The meeting opened with Scripture and prayer from Drake Caudill, pastor of First Baptist Church of Carmi. “Burnout is real,” he told members. Citing Hebrews 4:12, he shared hope for endurance. “If God’s Word is the foundation of your calling, then God’s Word will sustain your calling.”

New BCHFS Executive Director Kevin Carrothers reported on his first three months in office, noting a surge of people needing help. As a society, “we’ve gone from 11% of people experiencing anxiety and depression pre-pandemic to 41%,” he said. “We would serve more people if we had more staff.”

Carrothers expressed gratitude for opening a second girl’s cottage, enabling BCHFS to serve 10 girls on its campus. He also reported Angels’ Cove Maternity Center recently welcomed a healthy new baby, although the mother is experiencing some post-natal complications.

In his report, Adams said 97% of IBSA churches completed an Annual Church Profile (ACP) showing rebounds over 2021, however most categories have yet to reach 2019 levels. The 2022 IBSA Church Needs Survey affirmed IBSA’s strategic direction, Adams said.

Stetzer leaves Wheaton

To lead Biola’s theology school

Wheaton | Missiologist Ed Stetzer will serve as dean of the Talbot School of Theology at Biola University, a nondenominational evangelical university in La Mirada, California. Stetzer is currently a professor and dean at Wheaton College and executive director of the Billy Graham Center.

In February, Adams met with the Board’s Strategic Planning Committee which approved the 2024 IBSA Goals and Celebration Metrics to be presented to the full Board. They included 15 “church facing” goals and nine that are “network” facing. Adams described church facing as “ministry directly to churches,” while network facing is work “you may not see directly but will make the network more effective.”

Adams called the ongoing refocus and revitalization process “the gold standard for how a church can focus on itself.” Also, he said the newly implemented Next Step Consulting Process continues to be a success already assisting nearly 15% of IBSA churches. However, Adams said the greatest need continues to be “church planting in Illinois and a more intentional process for helping churches hire pastors and staff” as many left during the pandemic.

In other business the Board:

• Approved the 2022 audit with a clean opinion conducted by Capin Crouse LLP.

• Approved the 2024 budget of $6 million and Cooperative Program ratio of 56.5% to be retained in Illinois and 43.5% to be forwarded to the Southern Baptist Convention, which will be submitted to messengers at the IBSA Annual Meeting.

• Heard how the IBSA staff is gearing up to host the Midwest Leadership Summit in January 2024 and preparing to mark the 100th anniversary of the Cooperative Program in 2025.

PRAYER AND PINWHEELS

See the ‘reno reveal’ P. 6

He is a former vice president of Lifeway Christian Resources and previously served at the North American Mission Board. At Wheaton, he led the Billy Graham Center and frequently staged conferences related to evangelicalism and compassion ministry.

Stetzer has served as a church planter and pastor and has trained church leaders through his blog, books, and radio show. He is editor-in-chief of Outreach magazine and host of the Stetzer Church Leaders Podcast.

While in Illinois, Stetzer was a regular contributor to Christianity Today based in Carol Stream. He served in leadership roles at Chicago’s Moody Church and High Point Church in Naperville, which is a NAMB partner and former partner with the Harvest Bible Chapel network of churches.

Stetzer begins his new role July 2.

Trinity goes online-only

Deerfield | Trinity International University will end in-person undergraduate classes at its suburban Chicago campus after the Spring term and operate online only.

The move will help the school with a strong evangelical tradition continue to offer in-person classes for graduate level students at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and Trinity Law School.

The Board set as a goal offering “fully online courses and programs intended for global audiences” on the undergraduate level by the fall of 2023. The college had 571 undergraduate students in 2020, and a total enrollment of 1,454 according to U.S. News & World Report, but more recent numbers are not available.

– info from Pioneer Press online

STETZER

WESTBROOK

More bills to follow at statehouse

Springfield | Illinois lawmakers have filed nearly 6,500 bills in the 103rd Illinois General Assembly spring session. As the session continued, bills involving samesex marriage, equitable restrooms, and non-profit board demographics reported in the March Illinois Baptist made their way through committees, although none had reached the floor of the House or Senate for a vote.

Here are four more bills of particular interest to Baptists in the state:

HB 0001, the Compassionate Use and Research of Entheogens Act, would legalize psychedelic mushrooms, LSD, and other hallucinogens including psilocybin and psilocin. Under the bill, home rule powers would be preempted and specified prior criminal records would be expunged. Introduced by Rep. La Shawn K. Ford, the bill has been assigned to the Executive Committee.

HB 1162, the Reproductive Health Act, would prohibit mobile abortion services and other nonpermanent abortion clinics in the state. Rep. Cindy Jacobs filed the bill which has been assigned to the Reproductive Health Subcommittee.

HB 2463, the Deceptive Practices of Limited Services Pregnancy Centers Act, would allow pregnancy resource centers to be fined up to $50,000 by the State Attorney General for not offering clients abortion-related information. It would also give clients and non-clients the right to sue for not providing abortion-related information when requested. The bill was introduced by Rep. Terra Costa Howard and has been assigned to the Health Care Availability and Accessibility Committee. Its companion bill in the Senate, SB 1909, was introduced by Sen. Celina Villanueva and is pending in the Senate Assignments Committee.

SB 218, the Physician Assistant Practice Act of 1987, would be amended to allow physician assistants to prescribe drugs, including those that would induce an abortion, without a doctor’s authorization. Filed by Sen. Ann Gillespie, it has been assigned to the Licensed Activities Committee.

The General Assembly is scheduled to be in spring session through mid-May with a deadline to pass bills by May 31.

Marching for life in Illinois

Annual rally moves to Springfield during legislative session

Springfield | Gray skies made for a somber looking afternoon, but the hundreds who gathered for the Illinois March for Life were enthusiastic. Participants were eager to share their prolife message with lawmakers inside the State Capitol.

The rain held off March 21 as they stood in the shadow of the statue of President Abraham Lincoln listening to Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Springfield Catholic Diocese as he quoted from the 16th U.S. president’s House Divided speech, “A house divided will become one thing or another.”

Like Lincoln, Paprocki said he did not expect the house (referring to the state of Illinois) “to be dissolved, but to become one thing or another.” He urged marchers not to harden their hearts in the fight for life.

The Illinois March for Life, previously known as the Chicago March for Life, was held annually in July. Last year’s march, which took place after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade with the Dobbs ruling, was held as planned, but the decision was made in November to move the 2023 rally to Springfield while the legislature was in session.

Prolife advocates have a growing task. While many states have restricted abortion, Illinois lawmakers have made it more easily accessible. Gov. J.B. Pritzker and many others in state government “have unequivocally expressed their unabashed desire to expand abortion rights and make Illinois an abortion haven,” Paprocki stated.

According to statements from abortion providers, they have been successful. In December, Planned Parenthood of Illinois stated nearly a third of patients at its 17 clinics were coming from 31 other states, including Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin. Choices, another group of abortion clinics now in Illinois, reported it served women from 14 states in October and November of last year.

Noting the many progressive abortion laws the General Assembly has passed since the Dobbs decision, including repealing the parental notice of abortion for minors and tax payer funding of abortions for Medicaid recipients, Paprocki said, “nothing is impossible with God.”

A small, but loud group of counter protestors could be heard from their position just down the block. March for Life organizers reminded attendees not to engage them and that local and Secretary of State police were onsite for their protection.

Church, private school, and college groups were represented by their distinctive banners, hats, and shirts. The High School of Saint Thomas More in Champaign brought its marching band dressed in yellow, and mothers with children in strollers walked in the downtown march.

Michael Mohr, president of the Central Illinois District, Lutheran Church (Mo. Synod), described Planned Parenthood’s new mobile abortion clinics as “uninspected, parked in empty lots by the border.”

“Women of this state and those who travel here from out of state deserve better,” Mohr told the crowd from the steps under Lincoln’s gaze. “We can do better.” He appealed to government leaders to roll back the state’s progressive abortion laws to let Christians show mercy.

Rally speakers encouraged marchers to speak to their legislators about Senate Bill 1909 and House Bill 2463, the Deceptive Practices of Limited Services Pregnancy Centers Act, which would force prolife pregnancy resource centers to make referrals to clients or face fines of up to $50,000. Proponents of the bill claim it’s necessary, alleging pregnancy resource centers spread false information and fail to adequately train their staff.

Mohr told the marchers to remember blind Bartimaeus who, with faith for healing, cried to Jesus for mercy. Mohr urged marchers to do the same. “Lord, have mercy on us!” Mohr called out. The crowd responded, “Lord, have mercy on us!”

– Lisa Misner

Saddleback mulls appeal, larger debate coming

Nashville, Tenn. | Saddleback Church is considering whether to appeal a vote by the SBC Executive Committee (EC) that ruled the California megachurch not in “friendly cooperation” with the Southern Baptist Convention. Whatever their decision, the church founded by Rick Warren in 1980 plans to “continue our 43-year partnership with our local association and state convention,” new lead pastor Pastor Andy Wood told Baptist Press.

“If we choose to appeal this decision it will be based on a desire to help serve other SBC churches,” Wood stated.

Saddleback posted a video featuring Wood explaining the church’s position on women in ministry. He explained that while the church believes women can be empowered with spiritual gifts, including preaching, those gifts are exercised under the authority of the elders of the church. The elder team at Saddleback is limited to men.

At their February meeting, the EC affirmed a recommendation by the Credentials Committee to disfellowship Saddleback, one of six churches removed from the rolls, five for having women pastors.

Fern Creek Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky, will appeal its ouster at the June convention in New Orleans. The church, which is still a member of the Kentucky Baptist Convention and the Louisville Regional Baptist Association, has been pastored by Linda Barnes Popham for 33 years. As pointed out in a Tennessean article, she has served there “in the shadow of Southern Baptist institutions and leaders who have zero tolerance for women pastors.”

Messengers may be required to face the

larger question of women as pastors and, in particular, as senior pastors, which could lead to debate over revisions in the Baptist Faith and Message (2000).

Virginia pastor Mike Law circulated a letter in February pushing for a constitutional amendment banning women pastors. Law’s letter received more than 2,000 signatures in support from SBC pastors.

Workers fear reprisals

“Abiding women in the pastoral office materially harms the work of the Convention because it cultivates disunity where we have long been united,” Law wrote. “It contaminates the soil of our Convention with distrust and disobedience.”

The amendment would require SBCmember churches to affiliate based on the BF&M (2000). Presently some churches use the 1963 version as their statement of faith, which is allowed by the national SBC, some state conventions including Illinois, and many local associations.

Fern Creek Church said in a letter to the SBC Credentials Committee, “If our convention continues to make ‘minor things’ the ‘main thing,’ there will soon not be many churches left in the convention.”

It will be up to messengers ultimately to determine what’s minor and what’s the main thing.

– with information from Baptist Press and The Tennessean

Hunt sues SBC for defamation

Nashville, Tenn. | Former SBC President Johnny Hunt filed suit March 17 against the Southern Baptist Convention, the SBC Executive Committee (EC), and Guidepost Solutions. The suit seeks damages related to defamation and the invasion of privacy based on accusations made against Hunt in the 2022 Guidepost investigation into alleged mishandling of sexual abuse claims by the EC.

In the report, Guidepost stated, “During our investigation, an SBC pastor and his wife came forward to report that SBC President Johnny Hunt (2008-2010) had sexually assaulted the wife on July 25, 2010.” Guidepost says their report “was corroborated in part by a counseling minister and three other credible witnesses; and our investigators did not find Dr. Hunt’s statements related to the sexual assault allegation to be credible.”

Hunt contends he was made a scapegoat. “The encounter involving [Hunt] had nothing to do with the types of reports that led

to Guidepost’s engagement. It should not have been included in Guidepost’s report. Indeed, it should not have been published at all,” the lawsuit says.

Messengers to the 2021 SBC Annual Meeting overwhelmingly approved a motion calling for a task force to oversee a third-party investigation into allegations of the EC’s mishandling of abuse claims. Guidepost Solutions interviewed hundreds of people connected to the claims.

The suit states Hunt “lost his job; he lost income from speaking engagements and… publishing opportunities. His losses are substantial.”

Hunt resigned from his vice president position with the North American Mission Board shortly before the release of the Guidepost report. Hunt has resumed preaching engagements after a group of four pastors declared his restoration complete. The church he served for more than 30 years, FBC Woodstock, Georgia, was not one of them.

– excerpted from Baptist Press

Many employees worry about workplace repercussions for expressing deeply held views both at work and even while off the clock, according to the new Ipsos Freedom at Work survey commissioned by Alliance Defending Freedom. While 3 out of 5 respondents say that respectfully expressing religious or political viewpoints would “likely or somewhat likely” carry negative consequences at work, another 1-in-4 say they know someone who has experienced such negative consequences. More than half of all employees (54%) say they fear that sharing political content on their own social media accounts.

Data collected on Fortune 1000 companies’ policies shows employees have good reason to fear: Of 50 benchmarked companies, only one— Paychex—confirms that it respects employees’ civil rights outside of work.

Teen depression rises

The Centers for Disease Control reports 57% of high school girls felt persistently sad or hopeless in 2021, a nearly 60% increase and the highest level reported over the past decade. And 30% seriously considered suicide. In comparison, 29% of boys the same age reported the same feelings. “These data show our kids need far more support to cope, hope, and thrive,” CDC’s Debra Houry said.

– USA Today

Rising gay tide slows

After climbing steadily for almost a decade, the percentage of Americans who identify as LGBTQ remained steady at 7.2% in 2022, according to the latest Gallup survey. The percentage is more than double Gallup’s first measurement in 2012 (3.5%). Most say they are bisexual (4.2%). Fewer say they are gay (1.4%), lesbian (1%), or transgender (0.6%). Approximately 0.1% claim some other sexuality label.

LGBTQ identification is higher among younger generations. Almost 1-in-5 adult members of Generation Z, those born between 1997 and 2004, identify in that way (19.7%), with the overwhelming majority claiming to be bisexual (13.1%). More than 1-in-10 millennials (11.2%) say they are LGBTQ. Among older generations, the percentages are much smaller: 3.3% of Generation X, 2.7% of baby boomers, and 1.7% of the silent generation.

– Baptist Press

Board celebrates reno reveal

‘Good bones’ in 50-year-old building produce bright gathering space

Springfield | Calling it “our living room for Illinois Baptists,” IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams opened the dedication of a first-floor renovation that has been more than a year in development, but 12 years in the making.

While the IBSA building has multiple small conference areas and a large auditorium, it lacks meeting space for medium-size groups. Beyond the usual staff meetings, at least 50 events including board and committee functions are held in the building each year. The renovation was done to address this need. Leaders who have attended conferences in Springfield may recall the area as the former executive suite, a cluster of five offices and a small kitchen just inside the front door that was largely untouched since the Baptist building was opened in 1971.

The remainder of the facility has been renovated over the past decade, starting with the third floor which became a central hub for IBSA staff who at one point were scattered about the building, and continuing with the remodeling of the first-floor auditorium and conversion of a warren of cubicles and offices into the open floor plan Resource Room and Chapel. That area also doubles as dining. Sprucing up meeting spaces in the basement was mostly completed before the Pandemic, and an update in common areas for tenants who rent space on the second floor left only the old offices of the Executive Director and Communications.

Demolition began in September 2022 followed by construction. Some final touches remain, but the work to adapt the mid-century modern concrete and glass office pod into a gathering area with café seating, board room, and serving kitchen is almost complete. The finished project is expected to come in around $400,000.

IBSA Board President Jeff Logsdon led the March 28 dedication with a reading from Titus 2:1114. He asked God to “use this space to purify people for zealous good work and zealous good deeds.”

“Even if they’re just eating sandwiches,” the pastor of Island City Baptist Church in Wilmington asked that God would “use their conversations in the space for good works.”

IBSA Board Vice President Bruce Kirk, pastor of Alpha Baptist Church in Bolingbrook, led board members and staff in a prayer of repentance and forgiveness. IBSA President and pastor of Cornerstone Church in Marion, Michael Nave added the challenge to make “disciples of those who would make disciples who would spread all over the state.” Nave urged “that this would be the start of revival here.”

1 – IBSA Executive Director Nate Adams (right) and architect John Schafer whose team led the renovation, plus earlier work on the first and third floors.

2 – Beth Adams (left, facing) and Kim Cooper, an Illinois Baptist whose company supplied furnishings.

3 – IBSA Board President Michael Nave (left, foreground) and board member Drake Caudill

4 – IBSA Health Team Leader Scott Foshie (left) and IBSA Board Vice President Bruce Kirk

5 – IBSA Leadership Director Carmen Halsey (left, standing) and IBSA Recording Secretary Charlene Moe in the board room, with guests in the café and gathering area behind them.

The Marist Poll publishes a “Mindset List” about incoming college freshmen each year. Here are some recent highlights for the Classes of 2024-2026.

This generation...

Now between 12 and 26 years old, was mostly born after 9/11 and is entering college in the Covid era

Has lived entirely in the Internet Age, and has a near 100% possession of Smart Phones

Always had Facebook, although they prefer TikTok, Instagram, and Snapchat

Is the first since the “duck and cover” generation of the Cold War to live with the real possibility of world war and global conflict

Knows more about Hillary Clinton’s political involvement than Bill Clinton’s; knows only Vladimir Putin as the leader of Russia

Is starting a poetry renaissance, led by Amanda Gorman at the 2021 presidential inauguration

Talks about “fashion sustainability,” although their consumer choices do not reflect a strong commitment to protecting the environment

Reveres LeBron James, may not know about Michael Jordan other than his shoes, will debate who’s the GOAT.

IN FOCUS

The February revival at Asbury University and several other Christian colleges turned the spotlight on Generation Z in a new way: Can this generation—which is facing into so many challenges to its gender identity, mental health, and spiritual beliefs —be the generation that delivers the message of salvation to a faithless world?

Shane Pruitt, the National Next Gen Director for the North American Mission Board, calls Gen Z the “best evangelists” to other members of Gen Z because “they are passionate about Jesus and their heart is broken over the spiritual lostness of their own generation.”

Here am I, send me Facing problems with flagging faith and mental health, Gen Z’s solution may depend on their own willingness to witness.

The last generation that changed the religious landscape was Baby Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964. The “me generation” was responsible for the hippie-led “Jesus revolution” that began in 1969 in California and swept across the nation, a story told in a new film of the same name. In a sea of drugs, protests, Woodstock, and free love, the young adults who got serious about their faith led many in their generation to faith in Christ.

Generation Z has a lot in common with their long-haired grandparents, the Baby Boomers. The term “generation gap” was coined to describe the difference in beliefs and ways of living held by that

age group, born after World War Two, and those that came before it. Gen Z, which is generally represented as those born between 1997 to 2012, represents another gap, one which may even be wider than the gulf that preceded it.

Gen Z has created a host of new pronouns to identify by. This generation doesn’t talk about “finding themselves.” Instead, they label themselves non-binary, say they were assigned the wrong sex at birth, or even identify as an animal. According to the latest Gallup poll, 20.85% of Gen Z identifies as LGBTQ. In the words of the

Who will lead revival? Education Special Section 7 – Photos courtesy HLGU

TikTok ban could impact evangelism

As the social media app TikTok continues to raise security concerns, some churches and ministries would face a significant shift in outreach strategy if Congress bans the platform in the U.S. The app, which allows users to easily create and share videos, is one of the world’s fastest-growing social media platforms, especially among young people.

TikTok has 150 millions users in the U.S. The U.S. has threatened to ban the app here over concerns of spying by the Chinese government. TikTok’s CEO met an angry Congressional committee in March.

While TikTok is best known for viral dances and recipes, Christian leaders use the platform to reach younger audiences: Passion Conferences has more than two million likes on videos of its worship events.

NAMB’s Shane Pruitt encourages deeper discipleship among young people. Cristina Baker started sharing her hope-filled videos during the pandemic and now has more than one million followers on TikTok.

Churches too have begun using the platform to connect with a larger audience. TikTok offers leaders a unique opportunity, Lifeway’s Zac Workun wrote in 2021, to upload short, rewatchable lessons and begin to build community there.

The potential shifts in social media come at a time when churches are enjoying a big advantage across all platforms, said Brady Shearer of Pro Church Tools. For the first time, he said, social media are prioritizing vertical video as the preferred type of post. (TikTok led the trend.) Churches already have a “gold mine” of content for vertical video, Shearer said, because most create a video message every week.

Additionally, social media platforms are moving toward algorithms that point users to new content based on their activity, rather than limiting them to content liked or posted by friends, he noted. That means churches can post the same vertical video on multiple platforms to reach different audiences.

Last year, Pew reported 67% of teens in the U.S. said they use TikTok, and 16% said they use it constantly. Only YouTube has a larger share of teen users.

Continued from P. 7

pop song, this generation is all about being “born this way.”

But the message of Christ runs counter to that message. “Christianity is not something you are born into. It’s something you have to be reborn into,” Pruitt told students at Hannibal-LaGrange University in February. Between the chapel service and a worship event that evening, a few hundred students heard his message and 25 came to Christ.

Pruitt told the Illinois Baptist he believes this generation is more open to the gospel. “I’ve personally seen more young adults, college students, and teenagers make professions of faith in Jesus for salvation in the last three years, than the previous twenty years of ministry combined.”

That’s a good thing because a recent survey by the American Enterprise Institute found more than a third (34%) of the generation are religiously unaffiliated making it the least religious yet.

But Pruitt said Gen Z appears to be “very aware of their sin” and recommends when sharing the gospel with them to “focus on Jesus’ victory over it.”

Pruitt said he doesn’t feel he’s had to adapt his message or method for sharing the gospel to connect with the younger generation. “Of course, certain ‘slang terms’ change over time and more updated illustrations are necessary,” he said. “However, the Bible doesn’t change, the Holy Spirit doesn’t change, and the gospel doesn’t change. We’ll be at our best when we stick to what has worked for 2,000 years.”

He believes “focusing on the truth that Jesus can do for you what you can’t do for yourself is very intriguing. Life, Cross, Resurrection. They’ve been told self-help nonsense their whole life, and they’re realizing that it doesn’t solve spiritual problems.”

The key is “when we help them realize the gospel isn’t more selfhelp… they’ll relate to it. When self is the problem, self can’t be the solution. We need Someone outside of self, His name is JESUS.”

Pruitt says it is important church leaders recognize “Christian young adults and teenagers are not the ‘future of the church.’ If they know Jesus, then they are the church of today.”

Fertile ground on campus

Kevin Jones, IBSA’s state director of church planting, agrees. He says church leaders can trust members of Gen Z to start using the skills they already have, especially in the area of technology, and letting them get involved in areas of leadership. “You can

have students running social media, planning events, and leading worship. All these things are available and accessible to them. There’s a leadership vacuum that they’re just waiting to fill.”

Students also have ideas related to new technology, such as social media, that leaders from previous generations “may not have thought of or be familiar with,” he noted.

Jones acknowledges some church leaders may prefer students “mature more until leadership roles are accessible.” He suggests those with “years of experience” develop mentoring relationships with students to get them started in leadership.

To help get over a technological communication gap, Jones says one of the best ways of communicating with students is texting with them. “Showing that you care is learning their technology.” He

woman who became actively involved with student work through New City Church after becoming a Christian. “She helped disciple girls and you saw her life being lived out for Jesus constantly.” She is now in Mexico serving as a missionary.

Gen Z wants to see authenticity and that carries over into the way they are discipled by leaders in the church. Stories such as that student who answered the call to missions illustrate the type of authenticity they seek. “They can sniff out a fake,” said Jones. “If they don’t see us living out our lives for the Lord, they know it’s just an empty claim and they don’t want to follow fakes.

“It’s simple,” Jones said, “if you live out your Christian walk they will too.”

Pruitt also stresses the importance of discipling Gen Zers “to lead them to live on mission now

pointed out most young adults prefer using their phones to text rather talk. “Texting is a conversation to them unlike with previous generations,” he said.

Students need our encouragement and to hear the truth, Jones urged. “If we claim to live by the Bible, our theology should match that. If we give them leadership opportunities, help coach them. They’re wanting someone to help guide them. Challenge them to be leaders now.”

IBSA currently has seven leaders on contract across the state working with campus church plants and is providing evangelism training through those plants, including SALT Church in Bloomington, Metro Community Church in Edwardsville, and New City Church in Champaign. Jones said he is working to train 1,000 students in evangelism each year for the next ten years.

Jones told about one young

and influence their friends with the gospel now.”

Much has been made recently in the media regarding the mental health issues Gen Z is facing. Many are placing the blame on the pandemic and the social isolation it created. In March, the World Health Organization released a study claiming that in the three years since the start of the pandemic, there’s been a 25% increase in the prevalence of anxiety and depression worldwide.

However, Pruitt believes there’s more behind the problem. “The pandemic didn’t necessarily create new problems with Gen Z,” he said. “It just poured gasoline on the problems that were already rampant in that generation. Gen Z is realizing at a much earlier age that the world is broken, and that they’re broken.”

The up-and-coming generation may only be reaping the harvest sown by those who preceded

Gen Z is realizing at a much earlier age that the world is broken, and that they’re broken.

– Shane Pruitt

– Meredith Flynn for The Baptist Paper

HLGU team leads worship

them, including Gen X and Millennials. “They are the refugees of the sexual revolution,” Jones stated. “They are getting bombarded with the ultimate end goal of what the sexual revolution has become.”

Their brokenness is why Pruitt thinks the generation’s rates for depression, suicide, and anxiety have increased and has caused many to begin looking for hope, answers, and the truth. “That is where we (the church) get to slide in with the gospel and say that hope has a Name,” he said, “The answer has a Name, and truth has a Name—JESUS!”

Faith can make a big difference on a young person’s mental health. A recent survey by Springtide Research Institute found 73% of religious young people agreed “that their religious and spiritual practices positively impact their mental health,” while 66% of religious young people agreed “their religious or spiritual life matters for their mental health.”

Pointing to the 2023 Asbury Revival that mirrored the 1970 outpouring of the Spirit at Asbury and spread across the nation, Pruitt indicated he’s hopeful it will continue. He characterized the weeks

of prayer as renewal with “no screens, movie clips, fancy lights, fog machines, stage props, production meetings, planning centers, branding, promotional strategies, or ‘big names.’” He called it “just a lot of Holy Spirit, gospel, Scripture, confession, and repentance. He hopes it continues. At HLGU, as at

his preaching engagements across the nation, Pruitt urged students to pray that God will spark revival in their hearts.

“Our nation needs revival. Our nation will not see revival until our churches see revival,” said Pruitt. “Our churches will not see revival until the individuals in our churches see revival.”

And as revival often starts with young people, it can begin today with Gen Z.

Serving beyond ‘the bubble’

Christian colleges offer pivotal training ground for new leaders

Listen to enough college students and you’ll hear it—a nickname for their school that is equal parts affectionate and sarcastic. “It’s a bubble,” they say, calling to mind a giant transparent dome covering stately stone buildings and a leafy quad. What they mean is that colleges—especially Christian universities—protect their students in a way that is comforting for four years but might not prepare them for the harsh realities outside.

“One of the fears students have in choosing Christian education is that they’re choosing to be in a bubble,” said Matt Dearden. “But as they start exploring and looking around, what becomes really obvious is that every college is a bubble. It just depends what kind of bubble you want to be in.”

Dearden is associate vice president of enrollment at Cedarville University in southwest Ohio. It’s one of the Christian universities taking seriously the mission to shepherd students during their integral college years. New research from Barna shows just how pivotal those years are: according to an extensive study on Gen Z, 32% of U.S. teenagers ages 13-17 identify as “committed Christians” and say they have made a personal commitment to follow Jesus Christ.

But that number falls to 17% among Americans ages 18-22, indicating what may be a sharp drop

Our college story

Sending your teenager off to college can be a fearful thing, especially for Christian parents. Both the statistics and stories we’ve heard can fill a parent with anxiety. I spent time at a state university, and I know how that environment can actively work against spiritual development.

When my son Will was in his early teens, my wife and I decided he should experience God outside his normal life. A home that emphasized prayer, the Bible, and conversations about faith was essential, but he also needed to see a God bigger than our home and local church. God was at work in the world, and he just might call Will out into it.

When Will was 17, we sent him to Israel for 12 days with a friend’s church. When he was 18, he spent a week in Central America doing missions. And when he struggled through a first semester of Covid-induced online college courses,

in faith commitment during young adulthood, Barna reported. Additionally, 30% of young adults are nominal Christians who self-identify as Christian but haven’t made a personal commitment to Christ, and 52% don’t identify as Christian or don’t know of Jesus.

Christian universities have a challenging mission to help students deepen their personal faith and develop a love for Christian community, while also charting a course for their future in an increasingly secular world. In the bubble but not of it, one might say.

“I think parents are looking for a place where their child can development a sense of vocation,” said Ben Wayman, chair of the theology department at Greenville University in Greenville, Ill. What does it look like to be a Christian in whatever discipline a student decides to pursue? The goal at Greenville, Wayman said, is to prepare students to lead an integrative life where faith is an active part of everything they do.

“When Christian colleges are doing their job well, they’re helping their students do that well, whatever they decide to study or do.”

The greenhouse effect

When Suzanne Davis meets with prospective students and their families, their conversations

include the expected questions about academic programs and degrees. “They have questions like, ‘Do you have my major and are you excellent at it?’” said the president of Greenville University. But they really want to know what the institution is all about. Parents want their children to have a well-rounded experience in a faith tradition that will last after graduation, Davis said. They also want to know their child will belong there.

That’s the kind of experience Davis had during her own time as a student at Greenville. As her brother’s health was failing at a St. Louis hospital, people at Greenville came around her and changed her whole life, she said. They gave her a safe space to ask big questions, like why a good God would allow such a terrible thing to happen. “There were people who weren’t afraid to have those conversations,” she said.

Now, even if her conversations with families start with questions about majors, she said, this is what parents ultimately want to know about the college their child will attend.

Some Christian universities like Greenville admit both Christian and non-Christian students, encouraging students who already have personal faith to create a hospitable, winsome community where people who don’t know Jesus are drawn to him. Other Christian universities, like Cedarville, ask students to share their profession of faith before they enroll.

“Most every student is following Christ, and that really transforms the learning environment, because you’re around brothers and sisters in Christ who are trying to do the same things in their life,” Dearden said.

At Cedarville, two-thirds of students are from out of state and a high percentage live on campus. That creates a vibrant community where students are growing in their faith alongside one another, Dearden said. Students are encouraged to be part of local churches, and the university’s mandatory daily chapel services rank highest on graduates’ lists of their Cedarville experiences. Those on-campus conditions create an environment that’s less of a bubble and more of a greenhouse, he said.

I believed it was time for a bigger version of those experiences.

I asked him to consider a Christian college. I knew the right school would expand his intellectual horizons and deepen his spiritual roots. For us, that meant sending him 800 miles away from home. There were good choices close by, but this was the right choice for us. I had spent three years at Liberty University in Virginia for seminary. Our family remained there another six years as I served as faculty.

It was hard for us to drive away, but Will would have an entire community supporting his spiritual development. His professors pray for him. He hears godly speakers every week. His residence hall has small group Bible study. He has made amazing friends who are passionate about Jesus. He has been given responsibility to lead other students’ spiritual growth.

I once read that as a parent, you shift from

being responsible for your children and become responsible to your children. My responsibility was not simply to release him and hope for the best, but to release him to others who are invested in him becoming the man God designed him to be.

BROADER HORIZONS – Will Jones (center) served as a summer missionary in Chicagoland in 2022 with Austin Adams (left) and Isaiah Nichols

– Ben Jones

Education is an investment.

“It’s not that you’re isolating yourself from the world, but you’re saying, ‘I’m going to spend this time intentionally growing and strengthening myself.’” When students do leave the bubble, Dearden said, they’ll have the strength, stamina, and skills to succeed, but also to advance the kingdom of God.

Built for change

A major challenge for Christian universities is helping students prepare to live as believers in a world where their beliefs are increasingly less embraced. The most recent numbers from Pew Research show 29% of Americans say their religion is atheist, agnostic, or “nothing in particular,” up from 16% who said the same in 2007. Pew reports 63% of U.S. adults identify as Christian, down from 78% in 2007.

In the quickly shifting culture, Hannibal-LaGrange University (HLGU) in Hannibal, Mo., is equipping faculty and staff through a partnership with the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. In 2021, HLGU announced the first four fellows in its Colson Fellows Program, noting the program “equips Christians with a robust Christian worldview so they can thoughtfully engage with post-Christian culture, inspire reflection in others, and work effectively toward re-shaping the world in the light of God’s kingdom.”

“As higher education increasingly becomes the domain of the liberal secularist and our society progressively rejects notions of biblical morality, we need unapologetically Christian universities,” said HLGU President Robert Matz. “Graduates from Hannibal-LaGrange University are uniquely equipped to face the challenges of a society that is at best apathetic and at times hostile to the Christian faith.”

An important part of learning to live as a

Christian in a post-Christian world is understanding varied perspectives. At Greenville University, freshmen take a class on “Christian Thought and Life” where they visit different places of worship and learn tenets of different faiths. Keagan Bouman, a senior planning to attend divinity school after graduation, said her classes have helped her learn to have empathy for others without judgment.

“We can’t share our faith without learning first about theirs and how they perceive the world.”

As a high schooler, Anna Grace Galkin wrestled with questions about her own faith, like how the Bible or Christianity could claim to be the only truth. She spent a lot of time reading the book of Romans with her dad, a church planter in Salt Lake City. When she got to Cedarville, Galkin said, her participation in the university’s honors program gave her an opportunity to compare the truth of the Bible to other systems of belief. It allowed her to see the Bible can stand up to questions as big as hers.

Galkin is a writer and an English major currently considering graduate programs. She will also graduate with a 15-hour Bible minor, a requirement for all Cedarville students.

“Even embedded in my degree, my professors have structured it in a way where I’m continually trying to understand other people’s perspectives—from Plato to the present,” she said. “I’m going to use that no matter what I end up doing in the future. No matter what, I want to be able to engage with my neighbors, or my coworkers, or my clients, or my audience.”

Adventure awaits Universities with intentional discipleship at their core have their gaze fixed firmly on the local church, and their students’ places in it.

www.hlg.edu

“We challenge students in their time here to not only get involved in campus ministries but also to root their lives in a local church,” said President Matz at HLGU. “We as a university partner with local churches in service to our community and encourage students to join local churches and be active servants.”

All students who are ministry majors do a fulltime, nine-week internship at a local church the summer before their senior year, Wayman said of his school. “Everything we do is in connection to the church. We’re not training our students to be pastors in a vacuum. We’re trying to pay attention to what churches they are hoping to lead and serve, and how can we train them for that very thing.”

Leah Brown is a college senior with a call to vocational ministry. She senses God leading her to serve people who don’t feel welcomed by the church, helping them see they are worthy of Christ’s love, and fearfully and wonderfully made, she said. “You don’t have to clean yourself up before you come to Jesus. He loves you as you are, and has more for you.”

Before college, Brown said, like most people graduating from high school, she thought she knew everything. “Being here has really opened my eyes to just how deep-rooted brokenness is, and how trauma and the evil of the world can really lock onto somebody.” Her college experience has produced a clear sense of calling to address cycles of sin and brokenness that result from deeper trauma and hurt.

“The church is the end game of the Christian university,” Wayman said. “Hopefully we’re living our faith in a way that is compelling for our students. Hopefully, they’ll find a Christian community is the most exciting community on offer—and see the adventure of following Jesus.”

The time and money spent on your foundation of knowledge is crucial to your future. At HLGU, we aim to equip & empower our students for success in their career. An education anchored in a Biblical worldview facilitated through our talented professors will transform you to create an impact for generations.

Passing the baton and planning for victory

Suburban Chicago church begins next season as a replant

Frankfort | “God always finishes what he starts.” That was the word of encouragement heard on a February evening in this south suburban Chicago church. But just like a relay race, sometimes what looks like the finish line is instead a hand off: the baton is passed, and a new runner continues the same race with fresh energy.

Members of Lighthouse Fellowship Church in Frankfort gathered for a legacy service celebrating 61 years of faithful ministry and officially recognizing the passing of the baton to become a campus of Ashburn Baptist Church.

“The gospel has been, and the gospel always will be at the forefront of everything we do as a church,” Tommy Thompson, senior pastor of Ashburn told the crowd. “There will always be a need to plant new churches, to replant churches, to revive and revitalize churches… and the work we’re doing to replant is not for the benefit of Ashburn. It’s for the benefit of the Kingdom of God.”

Lighthouse was started in 1961 as Palmer Park Baptist Church in Roseland by founding pastor J.B. Clymer. The church’s motto was “A going church for a coming Lord,” said Peggy Farris, Clymer’s niece and a member there since 1965. The church was marked by outreach and love for the local community, she recalled, with many people, including her husband, coming to faith.

“We (also) have some experience with a church merger,” Farris said, referring to the church’s move to Dalton in 1971. That move came at the invitation of a struggling church to merge with them and take ownership of their building. Two decades later, the congregation moved again, purchasing the present campus and changing its name to Lighthouse Fellowship.

The suburban congregation experienced a surge of growth through the late 1990’s and early 2000’s under the leadership of Matt Woodford, now pastor at Springbrook Community Church in Plainfield. However, the church eventually experienced the same declines in attendance as many other churches, both in Illinois and across the U.S.

Statistics show that the median worship attendance in U.S. congregations has declined from 137 worshippers per Sunday in 2000 down to 65 in 2020. During a season of pandemic-driven decreases due to inability to meet, members’ concerns about health risks, and

difficulty discerning who was connecting online, most churches didn’t know the real number of their congregation size.

The past year or more of resumed in-person gatherings has shown that number to be at least 20% less than the pre-pandemic attendance for many churches. For Lighthouse it was closer to 40%. During a time of pastoral transition, church leadership reached out to IBSA for help navigating the

congregations and plans to start a Filipino congregation. But they were praying about the right physical location and thought the village of Frankfort, population 20,000, could be a good match.

Foshie made the connection between the two leadership groups, then took a hands-off approach to allow the churches to decide what they wanted to do. “I just gave the Lighthouse leadership different options to consider and pray about,” Foshie said. “I was simply there to help them move forward with whichever option they chose.”

Lighthouse, which had been facing the possibility of finishing the ministry at their Frankfort location, decided to instead pass the baton. On February 12, the members voted to be “adopted” by Ashburn.

next season. IBSA’s Health Team Leader, Scott Foshie, met with the church to assess their current health, to pray, and to consider how best to move forward.

During those months of prayer and conversations, an opportunity presented itself. Ashburn Baptist Church, located 12 miles away in Orland Park, was also going through their own health consultation with IBSA. Though at a very different place in ministry than the Frankfort congregation, they, too, were prayerfully considering the next step they needed to take to move forward in ministry.

Under Thompson’s leadership, the Ashburn church had decided that their next step was multiplying by planting another campus. They already had two campuses, their namesake location in the Chicago’s Ashburn neighborhood and the main campus in Orland Park, as well as Hispanic and Arabic

The legacy service two weeks later was a reminder of the value of cooperation that has been a hallmark of Baptist associational life for more than 300 years. It was facilitated by the Ashburn church and Pastor Thompson. He had led the former independent Baptist church to join IBSA in 2021, recognizing the advantage of cooperating with like-minded churches to reach Illinois and the world with the gospel.

Representatives of IBSA were present in-person and on video. The North American Mission Board’s Chicago Send City Missionary, Scott Nichols, who is also pastor of the multi-campus Gospelife Church in Carol Stream, encouraged the gathering as they honored the past and looked forward to the future. And former Lighthouse Fellowship pastor, Matt Woodford, delivered the message.

The former Lighthouse Fellowship Church plans to re-launch officially to the community on Easter Sunday as Ashburn Baptist Church, Frankfort campus.

– Ben Jones

FRESH START – Ashburn Church worship team leads legacy service marking merger.

Peggy Farris

Tommy Thompson

Matt Woodford (left)

Scott Nichols

Scott Foshie

GROWING

MEET THE TEAM

Why the cross is brutal, yet beautiful Our

Aubrey Shelby

Hometown: West Frankfort

Family deets: My son, Timothy, and his wife, Josie, are both in the Air National Guard. My daughter, Hannah, is a junior in high school. Our energetic goldendoodle is one year old.

Education: I’m attending Liberty University Online to become a Certified Associate in Project Management

Me and Jesus: I made a public profession of faith when I was a little girl, however, it wasn’t until I was 19 years old that I recognized my true need for a Savior.

My day job: I lead event coordination and administrative support for IBSA Health, Growth, and Mission Teams. The best part of my job is all the friends I’ve made from across Illinois.

My ministry engagement: I’m the kids church director and I serve on our church worship team.

The word: Romans 8:28

My favorite Bible person: David. I can relate so much to his psalms. There is almost every emotion there, yet I feel so encouraged when reading them.

Preferred social media: Facebook

Favorite TV show: When Calls the Heart (Hallmark)

Desert island album: The Greatest Showman soundtrack

Favorite snack: McDonald’s Coke Reality Show I’d like to be on: The Amazing Race

My secret talent: In the morning, I can be ready for work in 15 minutes or less!

It was a comment that I have heard often but am never ready to hear. I was on the phone with someone who confessed that they wished the revealed nature of God in the Old Testament was more aligned with what they see in the New Testament. The struggle stemmed from Numbers 16 and the rebellion of Korah. Specifically, it was the realization that Dathan and Abiram were swallowed up with their families.

How can the loving and merciful God revealed in the Son, Jesus, be the same as the God who swallowed up these families?

Theologically, we believe in the immutability of God. Scripture makes it clear that God does not change in verses such as Numbers 23:19, Malachi 3:6, and James 1:17. The answer is not that God changed between in the 400 years between Malachi and Matthew, but that the object of his righteous wrath has. The heart of our misguided question, I think, lies in our misunderstanding of two issues: the righteousness of God and the weight of sin.

First, while we love to focus on the examples of compassion in the ministry of Jesus, we must also recognize that he demonstrated his righteousness with equal power. Yes, Jesus welcomed the little children, but he also turned over tables, whipped those engaged in predatory behaviors in the temple, pronounced condemnation on those who obscured the true worship of God, and spoke

hard truths that led some to leave dejected.

Jesus was no stranger to righteous wrath when he walked among us, and he warned of it frequently in his teaching. I’m far more terrified of the reality of Matthew 7:20-23 than I am of Numbers 16. (“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord…”)

Second, our sins against God are not the same as our hurting another human. We are taught to forgive those who harm us, but God cannot simply forgive sin. The two are not the same. Righteousness requires wrath, and his wrath looks different in the two Testaments because the object of that wrath changed. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:20, “He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Before Jesus could become our Savior, he willingly became the object of God’s wrath. This, friend, is the true nature of the Cross.

When we see the Cross, we must

see more than death. Crucifixion was used by Rome not to execute criminals, but to inflect as much pain and humiliation as possible. It was a means of psychological warfare that was designed to sear the brutal cruelty of Rome into the mind of every witness, to remind them of the consequences of going against the Empire.

To put it simply, we must be reminded and confronted by the wrath of God poured out on our sins. Our sins do not merely hurt God’s feelings. They are so egregious to our righteous God that the full weight of his wrath had to be brought to bear. Jesus willingly endured it to preserve God’s righteousness and to secure our salvation.

A perfect example of our squeamishness regarding God’s wrath is in the story of the modern hymn “In Christ Alone.” Some denominations tried to change the lyrics and eventually just decided not to sing it. The reason? Verse two: “…till on that cross as Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied.”

Some wanted to change the wording to read, “Till on that cross as Jesus died, the love of God was magnified.” Composers Stuart Townend and Keith Getty objected to change because, yes, the cross is the ultimate display the love of God—in that Jesus was the ultimate recipient of God’s righteous wrath.

If we do not return to the brutal beauty of the cross and the cost of our salvation, then we can never truly appreciate the just nature of God, and we will forever be tempted to deny the severity of our sin. We need to see the blood that makes us white as snow. We need to witness the humiliation endured by Jesus because of our sins. We need to see justice executed by a just God.

At Easter, don’t skip the cross. It’s easier to focus on an inanimate object such as an empty tomb than to gaze on Jesus and his cross. The tomb is made sweeter because “on the cross where Jesus died, the wrath of God was satisfied.”

Jeremy Byrd is senior pastor of Lincoln Avenue Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Illinois.

Ministry Coordinator for many IBSA events

sins demanded more than an apology

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WELCOME

Daniel Bradley was called as pastor of Sims Missionary Baptist Church in January. Bradley is a native of Crossville and previously served as youth pastor at Ten Mile Baptist Church in McLeansboro. Bradley and his wife, Theresa, have a teenage son, Easton.

Tim Heathcoate joined First Baptist Church of Christopher as pastor in January. This is his first pastorate after retiring from the Illinois Department of Corrections. He responded to the call as a member of Grace Fellowship in Benton and has led “Walking Man Ministries” for eight years. Heathcoate and his wife, Sally, have

Sam Neill was called to serve Hoosier Prairie Baptist Church in Louisville as pastor. Neill grew up at FBC Waterloo and attended Boyce Bible College. He has a long history of participation in statewide IBSA youth and worship ministry opportunities. Neill and his wife, Taylor, have three sons and are actively involved in foster care.

NeTworkiNg

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West Side Missionary Baptist Church seeks a bi-vocational pastor. Send resumé to the church at 2900 Veterans Memorial Drive, Mt. Vernon, IL 62864, Attn: Gary Chesney, Rodney McCoy, or send email tktwjh5@charter.net.

Streator Baptist Camp seeks full-time summer workers and volunteers for recreation leadership, food service, and facilities upkeep during IBSA camps season. This will be for ten weeks starting May 26. Housing and meals provided. Visit StreatorBaptist Camp.org for information, or contact JacobKimbrough@IBSA.org.

Herod Springs Baptist Church seeks bivocational pastor with good biblical knowledge. Send resumé to Linda Banks, 315 Karbers Ridge Rd., Herod, IL 62947.

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Leaders gather for new regional church planting ‘hubs’

Champaign | Leaders from 17 churches gathered March 1 in Champaign for the first Multiply Illinois Hub meeting. A second hub gathering was held two weeks later in Metro East.

The 38 men and women who met at New City Church adjacent to the University of Illinois campus learned about opportunities and strategies to help create a church planting movement across the state. They also built connections with other ministry leaders in central Illinois. “I came expecting to hear about how to get involved in church planting, but what I found was much more holistic,” said Josh Parsons, pastor of Western Oaks Baptist Church in Springfield.

Multiply Illinois Hubs will inspire church leaders interested in church planting and equip them to lead with multiplication in mind, according to IBSA Church Planting Directors Kevin Jones and Paul Westbrook.

Population-dense areas of Illinois, such as Chicago and its suburbs, come to mind when mentioning church planting needs. However, rural areas and small towns often have little gospel witness, as well. There are 10 counties across central and northern Illinois with no IBSA church.

According to Jones, the Multiply Illinois initiative will continue planting in metro areas, while increasing pathways for planting in other regions. With a church multiplication goal in every sector of the state, these quarterly regional gatherings are planned throughout Illinois.

Some leaders come because they want to pray for or financially support a church plant. Some explore the possibility of becoming a church planter. And some desire to see their church plant another church.

“There was information about how to multiply my leadership, multiply our church’s evangelism efforts, and things like that,” Parsons said. “This is helpful now and will help us be prepared if God moves us into more direct involvement with church planting in the future.”

Jones said their team wants to help leaders, volunteers, and planters in all kinds of locations lead with the Great Commission in mind. “At every hub meeting, we are asking those who attend to do one thing they learned before we gather again for the next meeting. We hope this leads to them multiplying their ministry, leading to lives being changed, churches revived, and new churches planted in every community across Illinois.”

The second Multiply Illinois Hub took place at Heights Community Church in Collinsville in Metro East. For more information about future hub meetings, visit IBSA.org/multiply-illinois.

How to ‘Ignite’ evangelism

Both the Metro Peoria and Quad Cities Baptist Associations hosted Ignite Night evangelism trainings March 13 and 14. Between the two evenings, over 70 people from 19 churches gathered for churchwide evangelism strategy and methods. They chose two of four breakout sessions.

Joe Gardner, IBSA Zone 5 Consultant and Associational Mission Strategist for Metro Peoria Association, helped organize both events. “I thought the trainings were really well attended,” said Gardner (pictured below left). “There was definitely excitement for the opportunity.”

The Metro Peoria Ignite Night

was held at Grace Church, near downtown Peoria while New Hope Church in Coal Valley hosted the Quad Cities event. Church volunteers served dinner, then IBSA leaders covered evangelism principles including “The Domino Effect,” a churchwide strategy taught by IBSA’s Director of Evangelism, Scott Harris.

Communications team leader Ben Jones demonstrated the SOW Evangelism tool, a smartphone app designed to mobilize church members to pray for and reach out to lost people in their lives. Users can create an evangelistic prayer list that reminds them to pray daily. Ignite Nights are a partnership with IBSA and local associations. They are single evening versions of the larger Ignite Evangelism Conferences held regionally across Illinois. The next Ignite Night is May 2, hosted by the Three Rivers Baptist Association. For more information about Ignite Evangelism events, contact ScottHarris@ IBSA.org.

Revival huddle inspires leaders

About 170 leaders gathered at Pleasant Hill Church in Mt. Vernon March 17-18 for Revive ’23, a touring revitalization conference staged by the North American Mission Board (NAMB) and co-sponsored by IBSA.

“Great movement of God among his people,” posted NAMB’s church replanting expert Mark Clifton, one of the plenary speakers. “In 45 years of ministry across USA/ Canada, I’ve never experienced anything as transforming as these two-day Revive gatherings. That’s not hyperbole.”

Mike Young, pastor of New Beginnings Church in Streator which was born of a merger five years ago, said he came away with

fresh attention on the role of worship in reaching the community. Joe Crider, dean of worship at Southwestern Seminary, “pushed everything back to Scripture,” Young said. He was impressed by Clifton’s question, “Is God being made visible in your worship service?”

Speaker Richard Blackaby said to pastors of median and smaller churches seeking revitalization, especially after Covid’s impact, “Because God is sovereign, every assignment from him is significant,” he said.

Clifton concluded, “There are no ‘small’ assignments or ‘insignificant’ places of service assigned by an all-powerful God.”

OPEN SEATS – Ten Illinois counties (pictured in white on this map) have no Southern Baptist church.

BRIGHTER DAY

Orderly disorder I

n our home sits a yellow display board with COLOMBIA in red letters at the top. Our second grader just finished her first school project—a report on the country she tells us is the “Gateway to South America.”

I know Colombia’s nickname because she wrote it in script that slopes toward the middle of the board. That was after she arranged red sticky letters in a zigzag—a zigzag—at the top. The poster doesn’t look like it would have if I had been in charge of more than the purchasing. But her teacher gently reminded parents that this isn’t our project. Let them zigzag if they choose, I suppose is what she meant.

MEREDITH FLYNN

God and toward something we want more. It didn’t take me long to identify control as one of mine. Control is a particularly sneaky idol because it not only affects how I see my own life, but also other people. If someone makes a surprising decision or changes direction, it can feel uncomfortable, even when evidence makes it clear God is leading them.

My daughters and I are reading a biography of missionary Lottie Moon, whose new faith in Christ drew skepticism from classmates who had witnessed her early rebellion. I understand how they felt. Her messy path would have made me nervous too. Like the believers watching Saul’s dramatic shift from persecutor to apostle, I would have struggled to trust such a disorderly change.

But isn’t that the way God often works? He interrupts our sense of order to showcase his ultimate control, his sovereignty.

I did, but it wasn’t easy. I had to close the tri-fold display board after bedtime because it was unsettling. Should I have pushed for more order? Are we setting them up poorly if we don’t establish boundaries? By morning, some sense had settled in: of course, we need boundaries. But maybe a school report is a safe place to explore the value of a jagged path.

I was a young adult when I first heard a pastor talk about heart idols. Like gods worshiped in the Old Testament, these idols draw us away from

EVENTS

April 14-15

D-Now Weekend (students)

Where: Streator Baptist Camp, Streator

Contact: JackLucas@IBSA.org

April 15

Disaster Relief Training and 40th Anniversary Celebration

Where: Emmanuel Church, Carlinville

Contact: LisaHarbaugh

@IBSA.org

Info: IBSA.org/ disaster-relief

We’ve kept the tri-fold open the last few days. Now you can see the handdrawn pictures of some of Colombia’s prettiest features. The zigzag path is still there too. Hopefully, it’s a reminder to our daughter she has some creative freedom. And to her mother to loosen my grip on the path ahead.

Meredith Day Flynn is a wife and mother of two living in Springfield. She writes on the intersection of faith, family, and current culture.

April 28-29

Priority Women’s Conference

Where: Bank of Springfield Center, Springfield

Cost: $50 per participant, $25 Leadership Breakfast (optional), $15 Ministers’ Wives Luncheon (optional)

Info: IBSA.org/priority

May 3

Church Planting Hub

What: Helping churches multiply at every level

Where: Central – Journey Church, Bloomington Info: IBSA.org/Multiply-Illinois

Trends from nearby and around the world

Tracker Faith: Thomas’s peers

Half of Christians say they have had a prolonged period of doubt in their lives. The general population (ages 13+) experienced doubt

12% Frequently 16% Occasionally 24% Sometimes

The numbers were similar for practicing Christians, but 37% reported doubts “rarely” and 23% “never.”

Why do you doubt?

For believers, human suffering was the top reason for doubt at 19%, while religious hypocrisy and “woke Christianity” each drew 15%, while 42% of non-Christians pointed to religious hypocrisy.

“If Christ spent an anguished night in prayer, if he burst out from the Cross, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ then surely we are also permitted doubt. But we must move on.

To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation.”

– author Yann Martel

The Jesus Revolution drew more than double its opening weekend projection in ticket sales at $15.5 million, following Ant-Man and beating Magic Mike. The film got 99% approval rating on the viewers’ review site Rotten Tomatoes. In the early 70s hippie-led revival story, Pastor Chuck Smith “just threw his doors open to this group of people,” producer Jon Erwin said. “I think that is a challenge to pastors all across America.”

“My title isn’t important… What matters is that people know that God is love and mercy and compassion. And there’s always more room for people to know and discover who he is and how he can radically and profoundly change their lives if they give him a chance to do so.”

– Red carpet interview with actor Jonathan Roumie (above), who played Jesus in The Chosen and hippie-preacher Lonnie Frisbee in The Jesus Revolution. Quotes from Christian Post

– Barna survey reported by Christian Post

Popular media: Debut called ‘miraculous’

“Stop doubting and believe.”

– Jesus holding his nail-scarred hands out to Thomas (John 20:27)