Archive for September, 2009

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Answered Prayer

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

Very few things warm the heart of a Christian as does answered prayer. When God answers our prayers, it shows that He is intimately involved in our lives, that He hears us, and that He cares. The Bible certainly teaches that He has the power to answer our prayers. Jesus said, “If you ask anything in My name, I will do it!”

I am inspired over and over again in prayer when I read missionary stories. Lately I have been reading about J. Hudson Taylor, the pioneer missionary into China, and about Lee King, one of the first missionaries on the Carribbean island of Cayman Brac. What answers to pray these men saw!

There is no reason we cannot see similar answers to prayer. My heart was thrilled last week when our church staff saw a definite answer to prayer one day after we discussed a need. Similarly, my wife and I saw a definite answer to prayer this week.

We serve a great God. The Bible says, “You have not, because you ask not.” As the old song says, we need to take everything to God in prayer!

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Is the Church A Business?

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

Is the church a business? Every now and then some well meaning person says that a church is a “business” and must operate accordingly.

However, nothing could be further from the truth. A church is a mission with a missional purpose. A church is non-profit. Certainly, there are “business practices” which a church should use — to be ethical, legal, and responsible. But in no way can a church, which is a faith based ministry, be considered a “business.” And to consider it a business will result in wrong decisions on the part of church leadership.

Everything a church does is missional. In other words, we do not expect each ministry of the church to “pay” for itself. A business might very well have such an expectation. To stay in business, a typical business might insist on receiving a return in each area of operation. But that is not true for a church. A church is supported by the free-will giving of God’s people, and in turn uses God’s money to support ministries of both outreach and edification which will not bring a financial return. Some outreach ministries will bring a financial return. For example, like a salesman, if a church puts “X” amount of dollars into evangelism, which results in “X” number of new members — those new members may very well “pay” for the very evangelism program which brought them into the church. If that happens, wonderful! But that is not the purpose of evangelism. The purpose of evangelism is sacrificial outreach on the part of the church, regardless of the results. Jesus said, “Preach the gospel to every creature.” We leave the results with Him. Paul said that some plant, some water, and some see the increase. The results belong to God.

Take our church, for example. If Delaney Street Baptist Church were a business, we would not have a “Special Education” ministry. This outstanding ministry of our church is an outreach to bless and assist those who are unable to do for themselves. We do not expect a financial “return.” That is not our purpose. The same can be applied to so many different areas of ministry — including youth, children, senior citizens, etc. When we open our doors for the proclamation of the gospel and for the teaching of the Word of God, we are fulfilling our mission, regardless of whether or not it “pays for itself.”

The church is not a business. It is a faith-based mission.  It is a living organism, established by the Lord Jesus Christ and ordained of God as His witness here on earth.  The church is to operate by faith.

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Reaching the Lost

Thursday, September 24th, 2009

The church of Jesus Christ must never lose its focus on reaching the lost. When the last believer comes to Christ, we are all going up! Jesus instituted the Great Commission, recorded in all four gospels, plus the Book of Acts, and the Book of Revelation. “Preach the gospel to every person!”  God has not revised, amended, or revoked the Great Commission.  It is our responsibility to fulfill it!

It is important that a church not become focused inward. We must always be focused outward (and upward). We dare not become “keepers of the acquarium” or turn the church into a museum. We must always be fishers of men.  If a church is not reaching new people and growing, then something is amiss.  It must be corrected.

Jesus said that He was always about His father’s business! And God is in the “business” of saving souls. Christ said, “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save those who are lost!” And the Apostle Paul said, “Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners!”

A church should enjoy fellowship and seek the building up of every believer and family in the church. But a church must never lose focus of the great mission — to see people both at home and abroad hear of the unsearchable riches of Christ and come to faith in Him alone for salvation.

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Spanish Ministry

Thursday, September 17th, 2009

Wow, what a great week for our church! Our church voted overwhelmingly this week to launch a Spanish Mission here at Delaney Street Baptist Church. Spanish-speaking services will begin this Sunday, September 20.

Dr. Fernando Abella, a Southern Baptist pastor and former missionary to Puerto Rico with the International Mission Board, will serve as pastor of our mission. Brother Abella has a powerful testimony of conversion to Christ in his native Cuba. Already he has a group of approximately 50 people in his new church. Last Sunday they had 73 meeting in a house!

We are excited about what God is doing in reaching the Hispanic community here in Central Florida, and we are glad to be a part of it! With support from the Greater Orlando Baptist Association and the Florida Baptist Convention, we consider it a privilege and an honor to host this new Spanish Mission.

Jesus said, “Go into the highways and the byways and compel them to come in that My house may be full!” Every soul is precious to the Lord. God is calling a people out of every nationality, race and ethnicity. Revelation 5:9

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What we cannot give back…

Tuesday, September 8th, 2009

I read last week a news report that Texas is giving $1.8-million to a man who was wrongly convicted of a major crime and thus spent 22 undeserved years in prison. DNA evidence recently exonerated him, and he has been released — free of any charges. Meanwhile, Texas had passed a law alloting $80,000 per year for anyone who wrongly serves time in prison.

I had not heard of this law, but I think it is a good one. I believe in the American system of justice. I am among those who believe our system is imperfect but that no better human system exists on earth.  Presumably we do the best we can in our judicial system.  It is impossible to avoid mistakes.  And it is impossible to restore or correct fully those mistakes.

It is a terrible thing when someone is wrongly convicted. There is no way to restore the years taken away from an individual. I certainly do not begrudge giving a wrongly convicted person $80,000 per year. That may sound like an excessive amount to some, but how do you give back the years taken away from freedom and family?

There is an interesting principle of Scripture which applies here. Only God can restore those years — or make up for them. Joel 2:25 tells us: “So I will restore to you the years that … (were) eaten.” The primary application here was the years of blight which took away crops. But spiritually, it would be my hope that any citizen wrongly imprisoned would seek the grace of God to fill his or her heart and do what man cannot possibly do.

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