Oliver W. Billups Jr.

Transcription

1 Oliver W. Billups Jr. Thirtieth Annual Session Louisiana Baptist State Congress of Christian Education Dr. Jesse B. Bilberry Jr., Director One Hundred Forty-First Annual Session Louisiana Missionary Baptist State Convention Reverend (Dr.) C. S. Gordon Jr., President Rev. Edward Alexander Jr., General Secretary Tuesday, July 22, :45 A.M. Shreveport Convention Center 400 Fannin Street Shreveport, Louisiana 1

2 Mr. Presider, Dr. Jesse B. Bilberry Jr., Director of the Congress of Christian Education; Dr. C.S. Gordon Jr., President of the Louisiana Missionary Baptist State Convention; Rev. Van H. Brass, Convention Vice President at-large; Dr. Robert Hudson, Host Moderator, Thirteenth District Missionary Baptist Association; Rev. Edward Alexander Jr., General Secretary; Dr. Hilda Guillory, Women s Director; Brother Charles Hunter, Laymen s Director; Brother Barry Payton, Usher s Director; Mrs. Rosie W. Hudson, Young People s Director; Regional Vice Presidents, Rev. Tommy Carr, Congress Vice-Director; Divisional Deans Mrs. Josephine Dupree-Dean, Dr. Ammie Washington, Mrs. Vallie Mims, Rev. Joseph Garner, Minister Audrey Bowman, Rev. Freddie Brown, and Rev. Ike Byrd III.; Directors Mrs. Georgia Rice, Ms. Kendra Rushing, Mrs. Alberta Davis, Mrs. Sharon Williams, Mrs. Rilla Smith, Mrs. Shirley Brown, Mrs. Evleana Bonds (a miracle) and Rev. Oscar Nelson, the 60 Instructors of this Annual Congress, Dean s Office Staff Mrs. Odessa White, Mrs. Maggie Jamison, Rev. Clarence Bryant, and Delegates and guests. We have come to Shreveport, Louisiana third largest city in the state, the Port City, on the banks of the Red River home of the President Emeritus Dr. Harry Blake, the commercial and cultural center of the Ark-La-Tex region where Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas meet. We are blessed to be here. I thank God for the Mount Olivet family and my secretary Ms. Tiffany Anderson for all their support as I carry out the duty of State Dean. I thank God for my wife, the helpmate I needed for this task. And I thank you, Ruby for all your help and support. I especially thank our granddaughter, Ms. RaiLynn Deanna Smith, a second grader at New Vision Learning Academy, Monroe, Louisiana, for her well-chosen and warm thoughts as she introduced her Papa today. I also recognize Rai s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Randall Dean Smith, her loving younger brother Richmond Dean Smith, her maternal grandparents_ Mr. & Mrs. Raymond Stewart other family members, my sisters Irma and Faye. Delegates, my brothers and sisters, to God be the glory for His sustaining grace which has brought us together another year in this One Hundred Forty-First Annual Session of our historic Convention and the Thirtieth Annual Congress of Christian Education. I must now give an account of my stewardship. When we met in Monroe last July we offered 56 classes for adults, youth and children and issued 570 course cards and more than a hundred certificates. Since then, this Congress has offered 30 Certificate of Progress Program classes and 2 Seminars issuing 259 course cards. We have met for Quarterly Conferences in the cities of 2

3 Marrero, Ruston, and Alexandria. This week we are offering 41 certified adult classes, 2 adult Seminars and 7 children classes and 9 youth seminars. Noticeably missed from our hearing and sight is the Rev. Albert Green, our Devotional Leader whose voice and musicianship was unparalleled. So I paused now in honor of his memory and faithful service. I also acknowledge the absence of Dr. Irma Miller, Mrs. Carolyn Rushing, and Rev. Everett E. Slack, Director General. Now a word about our theme: Solidarity with the Savior through His Witness. Jesus said, and ye shall be witnesses unto me (Acts 1:8 KJV) and you shall be My witnesses (Amplified) Witness refers generally to someone that bears testimony to things seen, heard, transacted, or experienced. The bearing of our testimony can be either passive or active. I suggest, that today, too many believers have become passive, acting like spectators or bystanders at a time when our world is so desperately in need of a Christian testimony. Have we forgotten the words of our Savior? You shall be My witnesses. We must be active in the bearing of our testimony, as when one gives evidence as a witness. Our lives and words serve as a witness to the world. Our model in witness is Christ Himself. I Timothy 6:13, Jesus Christ, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession. You shall be My witnesses The command we have is to tell others about Christ regardless of the consequences. God empowers us to be faithful witnesses even when we face insurmountable opposition. The same power for witnessing is available to us today. Our task is not to convince people, but to testify of the truth of the gospel. We, like Martha, spend much of our time doing other things rather than choosing the good part (re: Lk. 10:41, 42). The world is in need of our testimony. The headlines bespeak the desperation of our times: CHP officer beats black woman on freeway New York newspaper headline The N in the White House July 4 th float in Norfolk, Nebraska depicting the Obama Presidential Library as an outhouse a mother of a 10-month-old baby leaves her child on a subway platform the jerk, the twist and slow drag have turned into twerking championships. God has appointed us our work and with authority has assured us of success in it. God has made us servants to his honour in our own day and generation, let this be enough for us. The pursuit of position dean, president, general secretary, etc. is not our work, our work is 3

4 witness. It is a work that is honourable and glorious: you shall be My witnesses. We must proclaim him king, openly and solemnly to the world. We confirm our testimony, not as other witnesses do, with an oath, but by our lives. Witness is used to mean reputation ; and, as such, we are to be people of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom (Acts 6:3); have a good report of them which are without (people outside of the church must speak well of us) so that we not be disgraced and fall into the snare of the devil (I Tim. 3:7). My brothers and sisters let us be warned by the words from the one who has the sevenfold Spirit of God and the seven stars: I know all the things you do, and that you have the reputation for being alive but you are dead (Rev. 3:1). Witness may also refer to one s own life or person as John the Baptist. God sent a man, John the Baptist, to tell about the light so that everyone might believe because of his testimony (John 1:6, 7). Louisiana Baptist, as we seek Solidarity with the Savior through His Witness, I must put this question to you as I close, Have we hurt our witness? The last words of our Lord on this earth were ye shall be witnesses unto me (Acts 1:8). God has made a tremendous investment in us through the cross of Christ. He not only saved us from our sin, but also to be His witness. So it is not a question of whether or not we are witnesses, but the question is what kind of witnesses we are. Are we good or bad witnesses? Since our theme emphasizes unity with the Savior through His witness, I know we all want to be good witnesses. And since this is the Congress of Christian Education, the teaching arm of this Convention let me close today with a refresher course in Witnessing Why preparation for witnessing is important: I Peter 3:15-16 We must first in our hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Sanctify the Lord God in our hearts. Ahaz King of Judah, faced a crisis because of an impending invasion by the Assyrian army. The kings of Israel and Syria want Ahaz to join them in an alliance, but Ahaz refused; so Israel and Syria threatened to invade Judah! Ahaz secretly confederated himself with Assyria! The Prophet Isaiah warned him against ungodly alliances and urged him to trust God for deliverance. Sanictify the Lord of hosts (armies) Himself, and let Him be your fear, and let Him be your dread (Isa. 8:13). We, too, are faced with crisis and tempted to give in to our fears and temptations and make the wrong decisions. But if we sanctify Christ as 4

5 Lord in our hearts we will be ready to answer if someone ask about our Christian hope, we will be ready to explain it. Why is preparation important? We must answer in a gentle and respectful way ( with meekness and fear ). Our conscience must be clear, the verse says having a good conscience. A good conscience is one that accuses when we think to do wrong and approves when we do right. Have we hurt our witness, because our conscience has become seared? So sinned against that it no longer is sensitive to what is right and wrong. I Timothy 4:2 tells us that it s easy to speak lies of hypocrisy, when we have a seared conscience. Have we hurt our witness? When your conscience is clear and then if people speak evil against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. 2. There are at least four things we should pray for to prepare our witness, Colossians 4:3-6. a. Pray that God will give you opportunities to witness, along with courage and ability (v. 3). b. Pray that you will proclaim this message as clearly as you should (v. 4). Have we hurt our witness by some of the verbiage of our witness? c. Pray that you live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity (v. 5). Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. We (believers) are sometimes viewed with suspicion, distrust, and disdain (the feeling that someone is unworthy of one s respect). It is important that we dispelled misunderstandings by virtuous living. Have we hurt out witness because we have not lived wisely? d. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one (v. 6). When we witness to others we must be gracious in what we say. We can negate the effectiveness of our message when we are not courteous. Have we hurt our witness? because corrupt communication proceeds out of our mouths. 3. We must have compassion for them that are lost, as Jesus did in Matthew 9:36 when he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Have we hurt our witness? because we are cold and unfeeling, having the means but unwilling to alleviate the distress of others. 5

6 4. And we must first witness to families and friends before we go beyond Jerusalem. Have we hurt our witness? we say and do among those closest to us. Jesus commanded, and ye shall be witnesses unto me. Are you his witness? Have you caught anything lately? Or have they all gotten away? Ripley s Believe It or Not told of a champion bait-n-fly caster who never caught a fish! There are many Christians, I m afraid, who must fall into the same category. They possess all the necessary equipment_ have been born again, are familiar with the Gospel of Christ, have available all the power of God promised to believers, have the sword of the Spirit_ yet they are ineffective witnesses, either because they do not act, or because they depend upon themselves rather than upon the Spirit. And ye shall be witnesses unto Me. 6