PROMOTER May - June 2015 Volume 36 Number 3

Transcription

1 PROMOTER May - June 2015 Volume 36 Number 3 OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE OKLAHOMA STATE ASSOCIATION OF FREE WILL BAPTISTS

2 Oklahoma FWB State Missions The state mission board has enlisted the services of Steven Earp, church planter and lead pastor of Elevate Church, to help us strengthen our church planter recruiting efforts. Steven is passionate about church planting and shares our desire to see Oklahoma Free Will Baptists launch a church planting multiplication movement that will impact eternity for countless Oklahomans and beyond. In this article, Steven shares some common church planting questions that he encounters, offers his answers, and shares some potential solutions that would positively change the future of Oklahoma FWBs. Common Church Planting Questions I m frequently asked questions about church planting, so I thought I d answer a few of the most common ones: Q What does it take to have an effective church plant? A An effective church plant requires the right people, plan, place, time, resources, and God s favor. Q Are new churches needed in Oklahoma and surrounding states? A Consider the following stats: 78% of Oklahoman s are absent from church each Sunday. Church attendance is dropping as a percentage of the population. From , the Oklahoma population needed 101 additional churches planted stay even. The Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma estimates there are 2 million lost people in Oklahoma. Unfortunately, while many denominations and associations are losing churches, FWB stats are worse than average. In 1992, 262 churches reported to the Oklahoma State Association of FWB. In 2011, there were only 215. The most recent nine years accelerated our loss of churches by 1/3 rd. Q Why plant new churches? A New churches are a natural bridge for culture gaps in changing areas. They are frequently full of young families. New churches grow on average 23 times faster than existing churches and reach five times as many people. Missiologists agree that planting new churches is the single most effective way to evangelize the lost. Q Why plant churches when so many need to be revitalized? A Both are very important. But no amount of revitalization can help us overcome the natural attrition and closing of churches. The growth of FWB will come from a strong church planting strategy. This is similar to the question, Why educate kids when so many adults can t read? Q Do you think FWB can turn around and see a momentum increase? A YES! No doubt. FWBs have done it before. Between 1950 and 1961, the OK state mission board started 57 churches. 17 in just the final two years. How? By walking in great passion and using strategies that worked for their generation. Some of our readers might recognize a few of the names mentioned in these historical records: DaVoult, Maynard, Morris, Jernigan, Young, West, Hall, Wilson These are some who helped lead us in a high growth period. We must do the same! Q What do we need to do now? A The state mission board is excited, active and moving forward. Plans are being made. Prayers offered up. Direction being set. They are working with some of the top church planting strategists in the world to lay a foundation that can change things for generations to come. For now, we need anyone who cares about the future of the FWB movement in Oklahoma and beyond to get involved: Pray for the lost and for workers. Sign up for our s and mailers. Help find potential planters Q What does a potential planter look like? A A heart that nearly weeps for the lost. Thinks outside the box. Has a history of starting things, a business, a class, a church, or an organization. Strong work ethic. Self starter. White hot burning desire. Coachable and will learn from others. I m convinced with a strong foundation and solid systems, that in just a few years, Oklahoma FWBs can be planting 5-10 times more churches than are being planted now and we can even start making an impact outside of our area. We ll unpack more details on some of the above questions in regular s that go out. To be updated on what s happening with evangelism and church planting from the OK State Mission Board, bethhowell15@gmail.com write in the subject line, list. Consumed by the call, Steven Earp Volunteer Church Plant Recruiter and Strategist 2

3 Saints Nation in Missions PANAMA TRIP Missionaries-in- Residence Steve and Lori Torrison Students Chelsea Johnston, Izaak Davis, Josh Hein, and Kaitlin Ward Team Members with locals in Panama Miranda Grimes with school kid ECUADOR TRIP Dr. Spencer Ledbetter speaking at a service Team Members from Hillsdale: Faculty Dr. Spencer and Jackie Ledbetter Students Miranda Grimes, Myriam Le Louarn, and Rohini Samal MEXICO TRIP Mission Team playing outdoors with school kids Team Members from Hillsdale: Faculty Traci Morris Students Anne Nunnally and Clayton Brixey Former Student Stephen Nunnally Clayton Brixey with school kid Saints Nation in Chapel Saints Nation in Basketball Dr. Spencer Ledbetter with Chapel Band Student Speaker: Clayton Brixey Chapel crowd The Hillsdale FWB College men s basketball team had quite the showing at the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) national tournament in March. The Saints took second place in the tournament. Additionally, three players were picked for the All- American teams. Phil Carey and Marqus Moody were named to the first team, while Marquis Burden was named to the second team. 3

4 Encounter KBA June 7th-12th $120 Early Bird Rate by May 4th $130 Regular Rate by May 18th $150 Late Rate after May 18th $120 Sponsor Rate $70 Pre-Camper Rate Churches are responsible for their own meals. You can download forms, maps, ropes course waivers, etc. at Speaker: Allen Pointer Band: The Great Romance Speaker: Ryan Golightly Band: Justin Graves Band Kids Camp June 15th 19th $110 Early Bird Rate by May 11th $120 Regular Rate by May 25th $140 Late Rate after May 25th $110 Sponsor Rate $70 Pre-Camper Rate Churches are responsible for their own meals. You can download forms, maps, ropes course waivers, etc. at www. okstate.com 4 For more information concerning any of these events please go to or contact Daniel

5 May 20, an EF5 tornado ripped through Moore, OK. The magnitude of devastation measured over eight times greater than the atomic bomb that leveled Hiroshima. As the world watched, one question continued to surface-where Was God? -excerpt from wherewasgod.com I ll never forget how I felt coming out of my storm shelter. The house is fine, but where are my kids? Are our friends, family, and church members okay? Which schools were hit? The hours, days, and weeks that followed changed me. Neighborhoods where I played as a child were leveled. Church kids trapped under rubble. Children that ran to the arms of Jesus rather than the arms of their parents. Who runs into a disaster, when the rest of us want to run away? Who has that special calling to roll up their sleeves, dig through the rubble, and help others in their greatest time of need? Who can you count on to care when disaster strikes? John Hewett, Mark Cole, and Gary Curry of Arms of Compassion were among the first Disaster Relief Organizations to call me offering assistance after the May Tornados two years ago. They came and were the hands, arms, and feet of Jesus Christ. Most people don t know that dozens of handicapped and elderly got temporary power for free from ACM. Most don t know that ACM helped bring huge disaster agencies to Hillsdale to support the community. Most don t know that at just our church, dozens of people found Christ that summer because of groups like ACM quietly serving and loving the community. Most people don t know ACM Disaster Relief is the official Disaster Relief Ministry of Oklahoma FWBS and are on the leading edge of developing a denomination wide DR Ministry. They receive no government funding, grant money, or even Cooperative funds from Oklahoma FWBs. They function totally off of free will offerings from people like you and me. Thank you Arms of Compassion for being the arms, hands, and feet of Jesus... Steven Earp, Lead Pastor, Elevate Church 2015 NATIONAL CONVENTION The annual Free Will Baptist National Convention will be held in Grand Rapids, Michigan, July 19-22, Fore more information please go to their website at 5

6 On March 15th, the Collinsville Free Will Baptist Church held a note-burning. They had borrowed money to build a fellowship hall and they were able to pay the note completely off in just 18 months. Bro. Herman Wood delivered an excellent message preceding the burning ceremony. Bro. Bill Adcock is the pastor of this wonderful congregation. The Felker Free Will Baptist Church in Valliant, OK. recently finished a remodel of their sanctuary, entry way and fellowship hall. It is absolutely beautiful. Congratulations to this vibrant church located in Southeast Oklahoma. Bro. Jason Myers serves as pastor. 90 Pastors attended this year s Ministers Retreat. Speakers Spencer Ledbetter and Bob Russell did a wonderful job. Seminole First Free Will Baptist Church replaced an old Flag pole with two new ones. They will proudly fly the American flag and the Christian flag. Rev. Troy Bordeaux is the pastor. He along with the church deacons, veterans and congregation held a brief service to raise both flags and to pray for our nation. 6

7 Its funny how memories can come out of nowhere but show up just when you need them. It happened to me just the other night. A band came to play at an all school assembly when I was a sophomore at Rancho Alamitos High School in Garden Grove, CA. Before they played, the lead singer told a story that went something like this: Some American soldiers were walking down a steep and winding path in Korea during the conflict in the 1950 s. It was a mountainous region and as they were going downhill they met a small teenage Korean boy coming up the path. On his back he carried a grown man nearly twice his size who had been wounded and was unable to walk. One of the soldiers who could speak some Korean told the young man son, it is several miles to the next town, you will never be able to make it. The young man looked at the soldiers and smiled and said, I will make it, he ain t heavy at all, he s my brother. Immediately after the singer finished telling the story, the band began to play a popular song of the day entitled, He Ain t Heavy, He s my Brother. I thought that was about the coolest story and song ever. By the way, that story was not the songwriter s inspiration for the song but it didn t matter, the story stuck with me and I cannot hear the song without thinking about it. A few nights ago, I was at the extended care rehab facility where my mom is recovering from surgery which repaired a second broken hip. I was insisting each evening that dad go home to get some rest. I was staying in mom s room to make sure she didn t try to get up during the night. She was still having some confusion due to the pain meds. On about the fourth night she was particularly restless. I was trying to catch a little sleep whenever I could in an extremely uncomfortable recliner. Around 2 am, I heard something and woke with a start only to look over and see her trying to get out of her bed. I bounded over and was able to prevent her from trying to stand and possibly take another fall. When she was settled in and I was once again in the recliner, I had a moment of self-pity thinking how tired I was. That is the moment the song and the story I had heard so long ago came to my mind. The next 45 minutes or so, my mind was flooded with memory after memory of my childhood and the sacrificial love and care that my mom unfailingly had given to me time and time again. All of a sudden, my heart was filled with unspeakable joy that I was being allowed to provide a measure of care to her. Believe me when I tell you that caring for mom, is not a burden, it is a joy!!! Other folks came to my mind: a good friend who cares daily for a sick wife, some other friends who have cared year after year for a quadriplegic son, yet when I visit with these they never complain and always are so full of hope and joy. When Jesus called all who labor and are heavy laden to come find rest for our souls, He knew that sin is a cruel and harsh taskmaster. He then called us to take his yoke upon us for He is gentle and lowly. I would encourage any of you who are feeling tired, overwhelmed or discouraged in your service to Christ to pause and remember all our Lord has done for us. I think you will find a new appreciation for His words in Matthew 11:30, For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Bro. Mike Written by Mike Wade, Executive Director for Oklahoma Free Will Baptists 7

8 Promoter Oklahoma State Assoc. of Free Will Baptist P.O. Box 7527 Moore, Oklahoma Return Service Requested Mike Wade, Director