Michael Hardaway s Responses to Glenview Baptist Church s Questionnaire. Describe your conversion and your call to ministry.

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1 1 Michael Hardaway s Responses to Glenview Baptist Church s Questionnaire 1. Testimony and call to ministry: Describe your conversion and your call to ministry. 2. Doctrine: o As a child, God had dealt with me regarding the sin that was in my life and that as a sinner I needed to be saved. This hit home with me during Vacation Bible School at First Baptist Church of Benton, Louisiana in the summer of Both my parents and pastor helped me to understand that faith in the Jesus of the Cross was the way that I could be saved. On August 7, 1984, my pastor led me in the sinner s prayer. I knew then it was not prayer that saved, but Jesus saved me the moment I believed in Him. The scripture is clear in Acts 16:31(NKJV), So they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household, and also in Romans 10:31 (NKJV), For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved. Soon after I followed the example of Jesus in the worship act of baptism. o I knew from an early age that God had a call on my life. He allowed me witnessing, missions and service opportunities. From 3 rd grade on, my mother took me on mission trips to Mexico. And as a student in high school, I started a small group Bible study at the front doors of our school. In the summer of my sophomore year the Holy Spirit convicted me about surrendering my life to ministry. God was leading me into the ministry for the purpose of preaching and teaching the Word of God. At the age of 15 God began giving me opportunities to preach in my home church of Cypress Baptist in Benton, La. While at college I was given the opportunity to be an interim pastor, and then called to be the pastor of a little country church. While I always thought I would be an evangelist, it was there in that little church I fell in love with being a pastor of God s church. My love for God s church has not changed. It is my great honor to see God work in a church to transform it more and more into His glory. Do you subscribe fully to the Baptist Faith & Message, 2000? [X] Yes Describe your position on the inspiration, authority and inerrancy of scripture. o The Bible is the inspired and infallible Word of God. It is without error and it is inspired by God Himself and delivered under inspiration to the servants of God who wrote down God s Word. There is nothing in God s Word that is not from God. Everything we need to be fully devoted followers of Christ is found in God s Word.

2 2 o Paul states to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (CSB) All Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. The Bible is fundamental to helping believers draw closer to Christ. It renews our minds daily for the purpose of being transformed into the likeness of Christ, and discerning the will of God. (Romans 12:1-2). Describe the relationship you see between God s sovereignty and man s free will pertaining to salvation. o I do not hold to Calvinism or Reformed Theology. Through out my time in ministry I have had congregates that do hold to such doctrine. They have never been berated by me during a sermon or Bible study. They clearly disagree with me on some points, especially in Romans 9-11, but we do not break fellowship over our disagreements. In fact, they have sharpened me to better understand and communicate my position. I point out to my friends that we are still commanded to share the gospel with all people. So, let s go and bear witness. o Salvation was given to man through the powerful grace of God, who came as a man to offer Himself upon the cross, paying the penalty of our sin, that by the name of Jesus people could be saved. Salvation is a complete work of God. And because He is God, we can trust that salvation is perfect, untouched by human hands. For if we had anything to do with the work of Salvation, then it would be flawed, and useless. But God is perfect in the way that He saves. He offers salvation to all as a gift, but a person must receive the gift. While God chose beforehand to save mankind, we must in turn choose to be saved by Him. Salvation includes admitting that we are sinners in need of a Savior. Believing that Jesus not only died on the cross for our sins, but also was resurrected on the third day. And upon counting the cost of following Jesus and being His disciple, confess Him as Savior and Lord of our lives. 3. Philosophy of ministry: Describe your view of church polity structure. o The congregation, through the work of the Holy Spirit, is the final authority for all major church action. Day-to-day operational matters and ministries are conducted by the staff in accordance to the By-laws, policies, procedures and budget set by the church at large. Committees and Ministry Teams are tasked with the responsibility to represent the church at large, in both action related items that do not move forward to the floor of the church, in holding staff accountable in the decisions they make, and presenting any major business to the church for its approval. The staff

3 3 serves by equipping the committees and ministry teams with the information needed to make decisions or present major decisions to the church. Committees present to the church matters that are outside their authority to decide. A ministry team s purpose is to fulfill the ministry based upon the already set direction of the church. Deacons are servants to the church. The Deacon Ministry Team should consist of godly men who serve the Lord, the church, and the community. They should be among the first to share the gospel, disciple others, and be on mission. o I believe it takes every person serving in their role to make the church function effectively for the glory of our Savior. Paul says it best in 1 Corinthians 12:12-31, when he says that God shows the more excellent way for the body of Christ to be healthy in how it operates. I am a congregationalist, that believes in the use of committees to help the body of Christ at large make godly decisions. I believe in using ministry teams to accomplish ministry and mission goals. I believe Deacons are the greatest servants, confidants to the pastor, and wise counsel. And finally, I believe the pastor is to lead out as a servant, a shepherd, an evangelist, a disciple-maker, a man of God, and a preacher of the Word of God. Describe what you believe is the most important thing for you to do in the first year of ministry as a new pastor of a church. How would you go about making any changes in the church? o Develop Relationships and build trust Every new pastor should start with prayer, and surround himself with prayers warriors. I would request the pastoral search committee serve as a prayer team the first year. Invest in relationship building opportunities with the current staff. Evaluate how to best build up the staff and lay leadership. Listen to their hearts for ministry and Glenview Church. Spend time in fellowship and service with God s people. You can not lead or equip others if you do not take the time to develop a relationship with them. Start key leadership groups, small Bible study groups, and open up the opportunity for mentorship relationships between godly wise men and woman, and those that want to deepen their walk. I believe mentoring and small group opportunities are very important in the life of the church, and are also craved by all generations. Preach and teach the Word of God from the pulpit in a manner that helps our congregation see the growing relationship between God

4 4 and His preacher. Preaching the Word also allows me to cast the vision of Glenview Church, and the strategy to accomplish it. Both are linked to expository preaching that grows a Christian closer in their walk with Christ. Start new Sunday School or small groups that meet needs in our church and community. Provide service or mission partnerships where we as a church family can serve together. o Develop a Strategic Plan Assess the spiritual needs of the church, as well as strengths and weakness. Identify ministry opportunities that align with the church s vision, mission, and core values. Staff and lay leaders will be needed to map out the right ministries to connect to, and the right people to lead and serve in them. Examples: Neighborhood canvas to serve the needs of our community. Church replanting or planting opportunities. After-school evangelism program in schools. (Child Evangelism Fellowship) Set attainable goals. Goals allow me to measure where we are at and where we are headed. I recommend setting 5 major goals. Examples: Baptism goals. Servant recruiting goals. New small groups or discipleship opportunity goals. Recruit and train followers of Christ to do the work of ministry. Ephesians 4:11-16 (NKJV) explains it best, And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head Christ 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective

5 5 working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. 4. Missions: Are you in agreement with the Southern Baptist Cooperative Program and program of the Southern Baptists of Texas? [X] Yes How, and at what levels, should the church be engaged with mission s work? 5. Worship: o The church should be involved financially as we cooperate in our association to reach our community, in the SBTC to reach our state, and in the SBC to reach the nations. Acts 1:8 (NKJV) But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. I do not believe that this command is an either/or proposition, but a both/and command. Pooling our resources is a great strategy in advancing our missional purpose as Southern Baptist. Just as it is important to evaluate our own ministries to ensure effectiveness, so we must evaluate the associations we have with other entities to ensure they are making effective use of what we entrust to them. It is a matter of stewardship. o As part of discipleship and service, the church should offer missional opportunities in our community and around the world. o The church should pray for and make it a practice to encourage others from our church to become ministers and missionaries of gospel. We should financially invest in those that come from our church family. o Healthy churches produce church plants and help struggling churches replant because they have a desire to get the gospel out to as many places as possible. They are not concerned about competition. Describe your view of an effective worship service. What style of public worship and preaching do you prefer? o Effective and acceptable worship begins with fully surrendering control of our lives to Christ. Romans 12:1-2 (NKJV) I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of

6 6 your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. o An effective worship service should reflect Heaven by representing the diversity found in our community. We are commanded to be His witness and invite into the body of Christ everyone in our community. o Together with every age, every ethnicity, and culture, I believe God has called us to worship as one, because we are one in Him. One-style worship allows all followers of Christ to participate in a way that best displays Christ and is attractive to a world that has seen far too much ugliness from worship wars. My generation loves hymns, praise songs, contemporary worship songs, choirs, modern choirs, and worship teams. Maybe its just me, but as long as its God-honoring, Holy Spirit filled, and does not contradict the Word of God, I m in! o If we are to be disciples that make disciples we need to learn the Word of God. In today s church culture, the congregation challenges the importance of the preaching ministry. In a highly emotional and sensually driven society, believers experience its influences to the point that, if a worship service does not give them a spiritual high, then it is not adequate. As a result, many preachers dismiss the importance of preaching biblical and expository sermons. Instead, preachers opt for sermons that are more needs based. Unfortunately, this style of preaching teaches the congregation that God s word is neither inherent nor wholly important. Daniel L. Akin, David L. Allen, and Ned L. Matthews in their book Text-Driven Preaching, refer to a diverse group of devotees, some paying homage to the chapel of creativity, others sitting at the feet of the culturally relevant. Some are transfixed at that nave marked narrative, whereas others have their hearts strangely warmed at the chasse of poppsychology. There is never a shortage of worshippers at the new homiletic altar, and the topical shrine always receives its share of Sunday patrons. 1 These forms of preaching teach that believers can search the Scriptures to back up their particular positions or pick and choose what they believe to be relevant and true versus approaching God s Word and simply allowing the Spirit of God to speak whole truth. Paul writes to a young preacher by the name of Timothy, in 2 Timothy 4:3 4 (NKJV), giving him this warning: For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 1 Daniel L. Akin, David L. Allen, and Ned L. Matthews, Text-Driven Preaching, God s Word at the Heart of Every Sermon (Nashville, Tennessee: Broadman & Holman Publishing Group, 2010), 1.

7 7 o Expository preaching begins with soaking the text in prayer, and asking the Spirit of God to work in the preparing of the message. It is the call of God to proclaim the Word of God by exposing the original message in order to get at the truth that God speaks both then and now. I must tie the message, both in its central idea and points, directly to the Scriptures. It is vital that I clearly communicate the Word of God so that the hearer of the Word understands. Explaining, interpreting, and applying God s Word for the purpose of making known the mysteries of God s Word is my task every day. Exposing truth possesses a reason, and that is to transform the hearer. Therefore, a sermon can t just be a lecture of knowledge, it must possess ways for its hearer to apply the Word. The same truth that God spoke originally to the hearers of the Bible he speaks and applies to people today. The text dictates the message, the development of the message, and the presentation of the message. My role is to present the message of God in order to draw the listener to respond to the life-giving message of Jesus Christ by putting one s faith in Christ, and by the pursuit of living for Christ daily. o Finally, I believe an open-ended invitation must be given to put one s faith in Jesus, to follow Him, to respond to His Will for our life. An invitation is given at the end of each sermon I preach so that those that hear may respond to the will of God. 6. Personal Evangelism: Describe your personal evangelism and witness practices. o The lead pastor must be the leading evangelist. Every day I get to meet people, whether at our school, at the hospital, or in the Wal-Mart parking lot. I like to visit with people and hear about their life. This affords me the opportunity to relate to them and find ways to pray and minister to them. o People are hurting or facing tough choices in life, and it shows that we care when we listen. It also allows us to point them to the one that gives us peace, hope, and help. o My evangelism style is relational. I do not push, but allow gospel conversations with others happen naturally. I start by finding out what interest them. Usually family, their work, or their hobbies come into play. A conversation is a two-way street. It is not the time to preach, it is the time to listen and talk about those things that are important. The gospel message always comes up.

8 8 7. Family: o Just this morning I shared about how our family was impacted by adoption. The young mother I was talking with asked about how we went from 1 child to 4 overnight. In sharing the story, I was able to relate what God has done and why I placed my faith in Him. The seed was planted, and someone will come behind me and water it, and then harvest the fruit. o My dad was in the hospital for 6 weeks before he died last year. The nurse watched how our family loved him and let him go to be with our Father in Heaven. God gave us an opportunity to share the faith to the nurse and doctors that were by our side as he died. The nurse told me that seeing the love our family had for Dad as he drew his last breath was a sweet and peaceful sight. Do you know where that peace comes from? It comes from the relationship with have with Jesus Christ. Knowing that when I draw my last breathe I m going be with Jesus brings me peace and hope. o God opens doors to share our faith all the time. We must be sensitive to how the Spirit of God works in those moments. Witnessing is not a preaching time for me, it is a conversation that allows me to point people to Jesus, and to back it up with the Scriptures. Describe how you see the role of your family contributing to and supporting your role as pastor. o I love my family. Our family worships together and serves together. Heather, Noah, Ben, and Gracelin join us during worship on Sundays. My wife is quite amazing in how she trains them to participate. Every now and then you will hear Gracelin say, Amen, Daddy. They also participate in Bible studies and appropriate programs. We desire for our children to know Jesus and live for Him. We are their example of what that means to serve in the local church and in the world. o Heather serves the church and community as the Lord leads. Each church has an expectation. My expectation is simple. I want my family to love the Lord, serve the Lord in the church and in the world, tithe and give to missions, be soul-winners, and disciple-makers. We demonstrate how to do this to our kids in how we participate and contribute to God s missional activity. o We are raising warriors for Christ who are not afraid to share their faith, learn on the Word of God, serve others, and sacrifice for Christ. We foster in our home the love of God, study God s Word, and forgive and serve one another.

9 9 8. Leader: Describe your general approach to leadership with church staff and church leadership. o My role is to be a Christ-like example of God s love to the staff and leadership. That does not mean I won t mess up. In fact, I will tell you it is likely happen. What it does mean, is that when I do make a mistake I will own it, apologize for it, make it right, and make sure I never do it again. To lead a staff and leaders of the church I must be transparent about the work God is doing in my life. o I am collaborator. When in our staff meetings or a committee meeting, I want to hear what everyone is thinking that sits around the table. I like to hear every idea and possibility. There is wisdom in the counsel of the godly, and I want to hear it, even when it might be in opposition to what I was thinking or planning. When our leadership team meets I remind them they are not a Yes committee. They are there to help me think through and execute the right plan. o Pastor cannot dictate to his staff, lay leaders, or the church at large expecting them to follow. The greatest example of Servant-Leadership is Jesus. The disciples followed Him because He served them. One of the most profound scenes is Jesus washing the feet of His disciples. This is the manner in which a pastor is able to lead the church. Recently, Myrtle Springs Baptist Church invited me back for the note-burning service on our new Sanctuary. Their new pastor had only been there for about 3 months. God reminded me of how Jesus served the disciples by washing their feet. So, I decided to serve Myrtle Springs new pastor by washing his feet before the congregation l lead for 10 years. We cannot lead unless we serve, and we cannot serve unless we humble ourselves before God. o Both staff and lay leaders can struggle in their roles. It is my role as pastor to help coach them to excel in the area of ministry God has called them. It is also my role to help move staff and leaders into the positions that best fit their giftedness. There are times when I have to coach people to their next place of service because they are not rightly fitted in our local church. The reasons for not being rightly fitted vary from losing one s passion for the ministry to not having the same set of values as the church you are in. 9. Read the following statement and provide a short response to it: There is a difference between Glenview Church being the best church IN the community versus being the best church FOR the community. Describe what you think is the difference in these two statements and how you would lead the church to be one or the other.

10 10 o I am only interested in one name being known and that name is Jesus, not the name of our church. When people say the name, Glenview Church, I want the phrase, they love Jesus, to follow. In Acts 1:8, we are to start in our community and reach the world for Jesus Christ. God has not called us to be inward focused, but as go out share Jesus with our neighbors. o We are not in competition with other churches. As The Body of Christ, we are to join our sister churches to work together in order to advance the gospel and penetrate the darkness. Being the best IN the community is driven by selfishness and ego. Being the best FOR our community honors God because it recognizes that our community needs to know the urgent message of the gospel. As a church we must live rightly before this Holy God so we do not cause our community to run away from Jesus, but rather by His transformation in our lives, they will want to run to Jesus.