Children as Church...

We are in the process of reworking our Constitution and Bylaws at Cornerstone and have bumped into a previously held rule that prohibits children under the age of 18 from voting in congregational business sessions. I have not previously seen this prohibition in any Southern Baptist Church of which I have been associated.

The rationale for not allowing children to vote seems to run in two primary streams of argument:

• #1--Children do not have the mental development or maturity to cast a vote.


• #2--Large families would have increased influence in church decisions through their children.

I can appreciate both of these arguments as rational and reasonable. However, we must ask some other questions in order to make a sound spiritual decision based upon the biblical record.

Question #1--Does the Holy Spirit indwell all believers including children?

Question #2--Are there biblical examples of God speaking to and through children?

Question #3--Should we be concerned with mental development or spiritual development?

Question #4--What would Jesus do?

I'll be posting over the next several days the answers that I am finding to these important questions.

Baseball has been very very good to me...

Lately, I have found myself retreating to the sanctuary of my 12-year-old son's baseball games. It's a great two-hour escape! "Let's see...constitution and by-laws committee meeting?...or baseball? Hmmmmm....BASEBALL!!!" I'm not much of a "meeting-kind-of-guy". I'm not intellectually challenged by debating how old one should be before being allowed to vote in a church business meeting. I weary of debating the intricate nuances of joining the church by letter versus by statement. I would rather watch my son steal second! I am "honored" to chair our state convention's executive board. The title comes with its fair share of meetings. How easy it is to let my mind wander out into the green pastures of left field as we discuss disengaging pastors and their disengaged churches. Tomorrow I will meet for lunch with other pastors in our association. In the midst of our meeting, I'm sure that I will find a way to share of the pounding that my son's team gave to the Johnstown Riders tonight. I will passionately share of his 4 for 4 night at the plate while trying to show interest in the stories that others will tell of stewardship campaigns and parish politics. Even now the smile on my face has turned to despair as I have realized that I have unintentionally allowed a wedding to be scheduled in the midst of the Longmont Tournament this weekend. Perhaps, I'll phone my wife at the baseball field during the wedding's musical interludes in order to keep up with the game's highlights. Yep, I'll be able to make it for the second game if I don't take the time to change first. I'll be the one in the stands in a black suit sporting a lovely red carnation on my jacket's left lapel. Yes indeed...baseball is a wonderful escape! Earlier today, I met with one of our college students from Hawaii who was led to Christ in a campus Bible study by another one of our college students. We talked about the life-changing salvation that Jesus has brought, about the symbol of baptism, and how this student should invite as many friends as possible to come witness the baptism that will take place on Sunday morning. The college student who led this person to Christ will have the honor of conducting the baptism. Funny thing is....I didn't think of baseball even once...

Fellowships' Five Facts...

Dr. Ken Hemphill keyed in on "Nurturing Biblical Fellowship" in April's SBC Life. You can access the entire article here.

I had the priviledge of attending Southwestern Seminary during Dr. Hemphill's tenure as president and studied the book of 1 Corinthians under his teaching. He is an excellent communicator with a depth of knowledge in the area of spiritual gifts.

I've come to the conclusion after 20+ years of church-related ministry that the church's fellowship is one of the most critical aspects of church health. Unity within in a local body is absolutely essential in order to see Holy Spirit empowerment. With that in mind, Dr. Hemphill's thoughts on biblical fellowship are very timely for our denomination and our individual churches.

Dr. Hemphill identifies five undeniable truths of fellowship within the church:

• Truth #1: Fellowship is not optional to biblical Christianity! Jesus said, "I give you a new commandment: love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:34, 15:12, 17). Dr. Hemphill says, "It is an inescapable truth--we cannot belong to Christ without belonging to a community of believers".
  
• Truth #2: Fellowship with other believers is essential to personal spiritual growth! "And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge" (Ephesians 3:17-19). The love of Christ surpasses knowledge! Paul says in 1 Corinthians 8:1, "But while knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church.".
  
• Truth #3: Fellowship is essential to ministry since the unified body is the platform for the proper functioning of the spiritual gifts! According to Ken Hemphill, "In every passage where spiritual gifts are mentioned the issue of unity of the body and the common good are always preeminent".
  
• Truth #4: Authentic fellowship can only be found in Christ! Dr Hemphill stresses, "For the early church koinonia was a group of believers who were bound together by their common loyalty to Christ. Our fellowship crosses racial, cultural, gender, and other artificial boundaries to find its basis in Christ alone."
  
• Truth #5: Fellowship is essential to Kingdom expansion! According to Hemphill, "The church that practices biblical fellowship will function like a magnet to the fellowship-hungry world".

The Joy of Life Change...

Philippians 1:27-30

"Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ . . ." (v27). Christians are to live their lives in a way that affirms Christ's gospel--in a way that makes it valuable. Since the centerpiece of the gospel is gracious life-change, the best way in which we can demonstrate it's worth is by allowing Christ to completely change our lives.

"standing firm" (v27). We are to stand our ground! We must put on the spiritual armor that God has provided for our protection. Take a look at Ephesians 6:10-18.

"one spirit" (v27). There is only one Holy Spirit who indwells all Christ-followers. There is an amazing unity that can exist among believers when we are all following and listening to the unified Spirit of God.

"one mind" (v27). The gospel is evidenced when the church is able to come together with one will--one purpose! If each of us is submitted to the Holy Spirit's leadership, then we will be united in mind. The Holy Spirit is not divided and He is not dividing Christians. We are divided by our own rebellion to the promptings of the Holy Spirit of God.

"striving together for the faith of the gospel" (v27). "Faith" is confident belief in what remains unseen. The "faith of the gospel" then is the confident belief that the gospel will be effective in the lives of those who receive it. The church comes to together to struggle for ongoing life-change in it's members.

"in no way alarmed by your opponents" (v28). Lives that are being transformed by the power of the gospel have nothing to fear. Christ's transforming power is evidenced by fear being replaced with love in the lives of those who know Christ.

"but also to suffer for His sake" (v29). We not only have been given the ability to believe but also the ability to suffer for the sake of Christ. The manner in which we may endure suffering gives evidence of Christ's transforming power. It's not culturally popular to speak of our need to suffer but it is biblical!

San Antonio Awakening

I was thrilled to read in Baptist Press that Southern Baptist Convention President, Frank Page, is intending for our 2007 annual meeting in San Antonio to focus on prayer, revival, and spiritual awakening. You can read the entire article here.

The theme of the convention will be: 2 Chronicles 7:14, "... and if My people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land". In more ways than not, the SBC meeting is like a church business session on steroids. I am hopeful that Dr. Page's priority on prayer will transform our meeting into something much greater than just doing business. Imagine if messengers from our cooperating churches could actually come together in unity and beg God for transformation in our churches and in our communities. Imagine if business sessions were postponed or deemed unneccessary as groups of men and women became lost in prayer. Imagine if spontaneous songs of praise were to rise up as worship became the order of business. Imagine if we didn't have time to worry about parliamentarians and protocol because our faces were humbly planted on the floor. Imagine if revival ignited and if returning messengers carried the sparks back into their individual churches. Imagine if our meeting in June marked the beginning of a great awakening of our mostly-sleeping SBC churches. Imagine if God actually began to heal our land . . .

What Does a MEMBER Look Like?

I created an acrostic a several years ago that summarizes biblical expectations for church members. Consider it one small step in the process of "equipping the saints for works of service"

MEMBERS of the church....

Meet with God daily
Express worship weekly
Minister diligently
Bring offerings consistently
Equip themselves fully
Reach out faithfully
Sacrifice lovingly

Why do I talk so much about building the church?

Tonight, during AWANA, one our children approached me with a great question. He asked, "Pastor: why do you talk so much about building the church?" My answer was simple, ". . . because Jesus talked so much about building the church!" Read Jesus and you must conclude that the Kingdom of God is ever-expanding and growing!

Jesus statement to Peter comes to mind first, "And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it" (Matthew 16:18).

Through the parables, Jesus taught of a growing kingdom. For example: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches." He told them still another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough (Matthew 13:31-33). And again, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how (Mark 4:26-27).

I talk so much about building the church because the church is built with the souls of the redeemed. As long as there is still one more person who hasn't found salvation and restoration through Jesus' gospel we must keep building. When is the church big enough?--only when "everyone" has called upon the name of the Lord. Until then, we keep building! It is our purpose! It is our function! It is our life! Rick Warren recently said, “I am addicted to changed lives.” May we all share His addiction!