The Great Commission and Me *

*Initially posted on the website Pray4GCR.com

My wife and I started serving in the local church right after we were married. Attending seminary was our first goal—after three years we finally arrived! Knowing I was called to pastor, I avoided “Missions Chapel.” My call was to the church not “missions.”

But, after years of serving as a pastor, God began to deal with my heart. While my wife served as a trustee for our Foreign Mission Board (1988-96), I had the opportunity to see the lost world through the eyes of our missionaries. Everywhere I turned in the Bible, I began to see God’s heart for the nations. Our church became excited when we led them to go on overseas mission trips and their commitment to Christ grew: they prayed more, gave more and witnessed more locally. Watching all of this, I finally began to get it—the Great Commission is for every believer; God’s plan is to reach the world through His Church!

Then God gave me the privilege to share this message with other churches when I was asked to serve as the Special Assistant to the President of the IMB. For five years I visited missionaries serving in hard places and preached in churches awakening to a missions vision. My assignment was to be bilingual: speak “church” to the mission board and speak “missions” to the churches.

In the churches I kept hearing the question: “Is it local or global?” It is not a question about who needs Jesus the most—the whole world is filled with people who need Christ! We must embrace the local and global task. We know we are called to do evangelism—but what about missions and the local church?

Although the term “Great Commission” is not found in the Bible, it is easy to see that this is God’s heart for His Church. In Luke 24:44-48 Jesus explained that He is the central Person of the Old Testament. He said: “…things written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms…” As we look to the future of the Southern Baptist Convention we must keep the Person and work of Christ at the center of our focus and our message. He alone is worthy to be worshiped! Jesus also explained the central purpose for His followers. He said, “…repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to ALL NATIONS (peoples).” We, His Church, have been given “the ministry of reconciliation.” 2 Cor. 5:18

Now, as I again serve as pastor in the local church, I must challenge our people to this missions purpose every day. Every day we must honestly ask: How are we fulfilling the local and global task given to the church? Even writing this causes me to search my heart and the priorities of our church.

As Southern Baptists we are doing a lot of good things in our churches and denomination but not all of them are accomplishing this Great Commission purpose. The time has come for us to fall on our faces and ask God how to focus the task we’ve been given…telling the world about Jesus.

God has started this movement in the hearts of Southern Baptists. Let’s all continue to pray that this will truly be a Great Commission Resurgence!  

Click here and join us in praying for a Great Commission Resurgence.

Pray for GCR Task Force

We are grateful for the 2,000+ people who have signed up to pray for the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force.  

We meet Tuesday and Wednesday for the first time in Atlanta. We have a big task and I look forward to these first days with great anticipation.  I am praying God will bring clarity to our task and it means a lot to to know that so many people are praying for us.

BTW, I had the priviledge to write this week’s blog for the Pray4GCR website.  Check it out by clicking here

Saturday Nights @ Our Place

KK says, “Sunday mornings begin about 7 p.m. Sat night at our place.”

No matter how much I prepare, I feel Sunday morning coming. I have to go aside, get quiet and pray over the message–soaking my mind and heart with what lies ahead.

Tonight was a little challenging.  We have sweet friends from Nashville spending the weekend with us…they have five wonderful kids.  My daughter, Carissa, is moving today.  Her five kids came over to play while they moved. So, count them…Ten kids, four adults…a lot of hamburgers and a lot of laughing and running around.

Since I cooked the hamburgers on the grill, they were willing to let me escape and come up here in my office to settle in and focus on tomorrow.  Since I cooked–they cleaned (good deal, huh?).  I heard quite a bit of stuff outside the door as they hurried off to find ways to bathe all those kids.  But, no kidding, they were great!  (KK’s a little tired).

As I sit here and think pray about tomorrow, I hope a few of you will read this and join me in praying for God’s work in our services tomorrow.  Will and I are preaching from Rom. 1:16 .  The message is entitled:  “Not Ashamed.”

I am writing this hoping someone might read it and join us in praying for God to do a great work tomorrow.

If you want to think about the importance of Baptism (as you pray), read Matt’s blog (click here).

Staff, Students and Stewardship

God has blessed me with the opportunity to serve Him while be surrounded by some incredibly gifted people.  The men and women on the Calvary staff encourage me every day.  We have some that have been around for just a few years–they bring a fresh set of eyes to help us see our culture, and our church, in a new way.  Others have been on the Calvary staff longer than these “new guys” have been on earth!

It’s not just the pastoral staff I’m talking about…our support staff have incredible gifts and a true desire to walk with God and use every skill and gift for His glory! (Calvary folks–click here to pray for some of the staff by name)

 And, there’s more!  We have seminary students in the year-round Calvary School of Pastoral Leadership, student interns during the summer, etc.

Although we come from many different backgrounds, we are united in our love for God and our desire to serve His people. 

We are all busy finishing the summer ministries and looking at the many opportunities on the horizon for the fall.  As I watch everyone scurrying around to get it done, and prepare for what needs to be done, my heart is overflowing with joy and shouting: “way to go team!” 

Then, in the quiet moments I sit and reflect on the words of our Lord:  “to whom much is given, much is required.”

We know that our IDENTITY is found in WHO we are–not WHAT we do.  

And, we know…that WHAT we do should rightly express WHO we are! 

We are servants and stewards and we joyfully serve Him–together!

Pray For Great Commission Resurgence

Today, a new website is being launched.  Simply put, it is a call to prayer.  We are asking Southern Baptists, of every generation, to join in a prayer movement–asking God to give us the grace and wisdom needed to refocus our commitment to the Great Commission. This is especially important to me since I have been asked to serve on the Great Commission Resurgence Task force

About 30 years ago, there was a movement among Southern Baptists.  This “Conservative Resurgence” was a grass-roots movement that called our denomination to unite around the inerrancy and infallibility of Scripture. By God’s grace, the movement worked and today our boards and agencies share an unwavering commitment to God’s Holy Word.

Now, we must renew our commitment to the Great Commission. Over time, our organizational structure has greatly expanded and the time has come to refocus our task…telling the world about Jesus.

The next generation is rightly questioning the bulky structure of the SBC.  This is our moment to have a multi-generational movement that will share an unwavering commitment to the Great Commission…A Great Commission Resurgence. 

We are praying for 5,000 people to join in this prayer movement.  You can be among the first by clicking here .