Our Deepest Thanks

A year or so ago, our church had the incredible opportunity to hear a special word from Lieutenant General William "Jerry" Boykin (retired). While General Boykin's military career is the stuff of legends, it was his faith in God and the stories of God's provision throughout his service that were truly inspiring.

General Boykin served in a variety of posts during his 36-year career in the Army, most of them involving Delta Force and Special Forces. He is an original member of the Army's Delta Force. His last post was as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Intelligence in the Pentagon, overseeing the gathering and exploitation of intelligence during the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

As one who has a great passion and appreciation for history, I found it facisnating to read General Boykin's book, Never Surrender: A Soldier's Journey to the Crossroads of Faith and Freedom. I also enjoyed reading other books and materials surrounding the timeframe of General Boykin's military career and the Special Forces. One of the things that truly fasinated me was the Special Forces prayer. Let me share that with you:

Almighty GOD, Who art the Author of Liberty and the Champion of the Oppressed, hear our prayer.

We, the men of Special Forces, acknowledge our dependence upon Thee in the preservation of human freedom.

Go with us as we seek to defend the defenseless and to free the enslaved.

May we ever remember that our Nation, whose motto is "In God We Trust", expects that we shall acquit ourselves with honor, that we may never bring shame upon our faith, our families, or our fellow men.

Grant us wisdom from Thy mind, courage from Thine heart, strength from Thine arm, and protection by Thine hand.

It is for Thee that we do battle, and to Thee belongs the victor's crown.

For Thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory, forever. AMEN

This prayer reminded me that even the strongest and bravest warriors in our military are still relient on God. It also reminded me that we have a great responsibility to lift up in prayer the men and women who dutifully serve in our military. We were reminded this week with the tragedy at Ft. Hood of the great sacrifice of life these soliders face. I encourage each of you, if you do not already do so, to make prayer for those in the military a part of your daily or weekly prayer journey. Your prayers are greatly needed and wanted by our troops.

With today being Veterans Day, I want to say a special thanks to all those who have served our country and to their families. To the the men and women who currently serve, and to their families, we also say "thanks" for your service.

In His Grace,

Chris

A Gift That Opens A Heart

For the last several years New Missions, one of the mission organizations our church supports, has held a Christmas Shoebox Drive for the children of Haiti. New Missions is an amazing organization who has made a phenomenal impact in Haiti and is now working in the Dominican Republic. Last year we were able to collect over 200 boxes for this project. This year, following one of our mission trips with New Missions to the Dominican Republic, Jo Kennedy, one of our team members, learned that the nearly 800 kids in the DR did not receive a shoebox. After visiting with the New Missions field personnel in the DR, Jo decided to come back and lead our church in collecting shoeboxes for the children of the Dominican Republic.

Under Jo's leadership, and with the help of several of our ministry areas, particularly the Children's and Student areas, we were able to collect 614 shoeboxes. That is nearly three times as many as last year. Inside each box you could find small toys, school supplies, hygiene items, clothing, and other items. In addition to the boxes, we collected over $3000 to help ship the boxes to the Dominican Republic. It was so exciting to aid in loading these boxes into the semi heading for Florida...I knew that with each box a child's life was going to be dramatically touched.

While we were not able to raise all 800 boxes needed for the kids in the Dominican Republic the folks at New Missions were ecstatic our church could mount such an amazing effort for this project. New Missions plans to approach a couple of additional churches to round out the number needed for the children of the DR. Through our efforts New Missions will be able to assist the children in the Dominican for the very first time this Christmas with these precious gifts.

Tim DeTellis, President of New Missions, said this about the the Shoebox Drive..."It all starts with a special gift, packed by you, filled with love, and sent with prayers. A Christmas Shoebox has the ability to capture the attention of a child and open their heart to learn about Jesus."

January 18-25 our church has the great privilege of sending a team down to the Dominican Republic to help distribute these boxes. It is amazing to think we get to be a part of such a "first." If you are interested in being a part of this team please contact me at cdavis@fbchtn.org for more information.

In closing, let me say a special word of thanks to all those who participated in this years Shoebox Drive. Please know that you are making a major difference in the life of a child in the Dominican Republic!

In His Grace,

Chris

Enlarging our Impact: The Cooperative Program

As Southern Baptist, missions is a vital component of who we are as a denomination. To maximize our mission endeavors our denomination created the Cooperative Program. The Cooperative Program works to unify our efforts in impacting the world, not just as a funding channel but as one of the critical ties that bind Southern Baptists in voluntary fellowship for cooperative ministries and missions.

Over the last several weeks our denomination has placed a special emphasis on the Cooperative Program. Today I wanted to share an article that was published in October in the Baptist Press. The article was written by David Dykes, pastor of Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, Texas. My prayer is that this article will help each of you to realize the importance of the Cooperative Program and to commit to praying for this amazing ministry.

TYLER, Texas (BP)--I am thrilled with the emphasis that the Southern Baptist Convention has placed on a Great Commission Resurgence. I'm praying for Ronnie Floyd and the blue-ribbon GCR Task Force as they seek ways to increase our effectiveness in fulfilling the Great Commission. I'm more convinced than ever that the best channel for funding our global mission enterprise is the Cooperative Program. Because I'm passionate about the Great Commission, I'm also a champion for the Cooperative Program.

When I graduated from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 1977, I was blessed to serve a small but vibrant congregation in Tallassee, Ala. Tallaweka Baptist Church ran about 100 in Sunday School, and these folks were some of the sweetest, most generous Christians I've ever known. Even with a small budget, we gave 10 percent through the Cooperative Program. We didn't have the people or money to participate in short-term mission projects -- most of the members worked at a local textile mill and had little time to devote to mission trips. However, because of our support of the Cooperative Program, our congregation felt we were a vital part of the worldwide mission efforts of the Southern Baptist Convention. There was no way our congregation could provide financial support for even a single missionary family (they could barely support the pastor and his family!), but we were happy to participate in supporting thousands of missionaries through the Cooperative Program.

Fast-forward 32 years and I'm now blessed to serve a large and vibrant congregation in Tyler, Texas, called Green Acres Baptist Church. With total receipts last year of more than $19 Million, we could theoretically support a large group of missionaries ourselves, but we choose to support missionaries through the Cooperative Program. Each year, we send almost one thousand of our members on short-term mission projects, but we never rob the Cooperative Program to fund these direct mission projects.

In 1996, our church embarked on a $28 million project to construct a new 3,200-seat worship center. I didn't want us to lose our focus on missions, so I challenged our church to increase the percentage of our Cooperative Program giving half a percent a year until we reached 15 percent of our undesignated offerings. That doesn't make sense from the world's perspective, but when we moved into our new worship center in 2001, we were giving 15 percent through the Cooperative Program -- and God enabled us to occupy this new building debt free.

In 2006, we launched a $40 million expansion project to add 200,000 square feet of additional space and add much-needed parking. I challenged our congregation again to give the first $1.5 Million we received in this campaign for missions, and that's what we did. We will complete this project next summer, and I'm expecting God to do another miracle. Last year, God enabled us to give $1,825,736 to missions through the Cooperative Program. Even in these tough economic times, we have concluded each budget year with a surplus. I share this information to support my belief that holds true for churches as well as for individuals: YOU CANNOT OUTGIVE GOD.

As a member of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, my heart fell last year when we were forced to cut the budget of the International Mission Board. (And this was after Dr. Jerry Rankin shared with us about the hundreds of thousands of conversions God is orchestrating in foreign lands. He also shared that we have qualified missionary candidates ready to go and places where they are needed, but we just don't have the money.)

We should never forget that most churches in the SBC are more like Tallaweka than Green Acres, Prestonwood, or Bellevue. They need us and we need them. In order for the Great Commission to be fulfilled, we all need the Cooperative Program. This isn't a time to forsake the Cooperative Program; it's a time to enlarge it.

It isn't a sacred cow -- it's a channel. I've often thought of it as the Panama Canal of missions support. When the French had failed after 13 years (and the death of 22,000 workers) to dig the canal, the U.S. took over the project in 1904. The U.S. finished the canal in 1914, two years ahead of schedule. Since that time, billions of dollars have been saved because ships have sailed straight from the Caribbean into the Pacific without sailing around Cape Horn on the southern tip of South America. Our old societal method of supporting missions was like sailing around Cape Horn. Thank God for our spiritual forefathers who dug the trench for the Cooperative Program. Now it's the Panama Canal of missions support, and other denominations envy its effectiveness.

However, the Panama Canal is only 110 feet wide, and many modern ships are now too wide to fit through the locks. By 2011, it is estimated that 40 percent of the ships on the sea will be too wide to fit through the Canal. Are they doing away with the Canal? No. Plans are being made now to enlarge the locks to handle the modern supertankers. That's my challenge to Southern Baptists. May we never go back to the old way of sailing around Cape Horn to support missions. Neither should we be limited by the past. Let's find a way to go in and dynamite the channel so it can be greatly enlarged to carry the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the ends of the Earth!

A Bitter Refuge

Earlier this week I recieved a devotion via email that I found really interesting. The devotion dealt with bitterness. You might say, "Why are you printing this devotion on a missions blog?" A friend of mine shared last week that he beliefs Christians have various barriers that keep them from fufilling the call to be "on mission." Most of these barriers are self made...I believe that bitterness is one of those barriers for certain believers. Plus, I thought it was a real great devotion with an amazing story. So, take a look at today's blog..."A Bitter Refuge":

In November 1930 The Chicago Examiner reported the story of Harry Havens, who went to bed and stayed there for seven years, with a blindfold over his eyes, because he was angry at his wife.

Havens had always tried to be a good husband. He worked around the house, took care of the yard, carried out the trash, and even helped with the dishes. One day his wife complained that he wasn't doing it right, and Harry decided that enough was enough. He said, "All right, if that's how you feel, I'm going to bed. I'll stay there for the rest of my life and I don't want to see you ever again."

Harry went to bed, put a blindfold over his eyes, and stayed there. According to the Chicago Examiner, he finally got up again when the bed started to feel uncomfortable...seven years later.

The article's headline states, "Man Spites His Wife By Staying Blindfolded in Bed Seven Years." Maybe his exile did get on her nerves somewhat, but who did Harry really spite? Who was the biggest loser in this extended temper tantrum? It was Harry himself. He lost seven years of his life. He lived seven years in darkness. No reading. No walks in the sunshine. No laughter with friends. Just seven long, miserable years trying to settle a score that maybe was never settled.

The writer of Hebrews said, See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. (Hebrews 12:15)

Bitterness can damage a relationship, true. Most of all, it damages you. It destroys your happiness and peace of mind, and it causes you to miss out on the grace that God offers to each of us.

It reminds me of what Nelson Mandela once said: "Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies."

It took Harry Havens seven years to decide that his refuge of bitterness felt uncomfortable. How long will you wait to let your bitterness go?

Victory after Victory

Below is an article that was published on Oct 31 on the New Missions website. It is an interview with Mike McClanahan, Minister to Men, at FBC Hendersonville. Mike was the team leader for our Haiti Mission Trip in Sept. of this year.

Victory after victory is how Mike McClanahan, a pastor with First Baptist Hendersonville in Tennessee, described his team’s recent mission trip to Haiti. From challenges early on in preparing for the trip, to the challenges they saw Haitian interpreters and pastors facing everyday, the team saw firsthand how God wins again and again.

Leading up to the trip, team members faced a variety of concerns. Many had never been on a mission trip, nor had to raise support to cover trip expenses. But when God puts a teamtogether, the victories come. One first-time mission team member experienced victory over “fear of the unknown.” Another team member experienced victory in raising support when a small50-member church unexpectedly funded her entire trip. “I am amazed at how God put together this team,” said Mike. “We’ve had good teams before, but this team had such a variety of people. I believe nearly all of us are planning to return to Haiti again next year.”

The team focused most of their attention on a village called Amber Pere, the most recent village where New Missions is ministering. A temporary school has been established until one can be built, and church worship is being held in a tin roof shanty. Team members distributed school uniform material here, and also assembled and distributed shopping bags of gifts and hygiene items. First Baptist Hendersonville’s 4th grade Vacation Bible School also played a role earlier this summer by raising $1,500 for the purchase of rice, which the team helped distribute. One of the team’s most memorable experiences was worshipping with the Haitians on Sunday. The villagers in Amber Pere were excited to be in church in spite of the sweltering heat and sang with unabashed joy.

Says Mike, “We were all very struck at hearing God’s Word read in another language – to realize that the language barrier is only temporary because someday we’ll all be worshipping together with no language barrier. The Haitians were very welcoming and gentle.” This welcome and gentle nature, however, doesn’t make it any easier for the young Haitian interpreters who accompany the mission teams. According to Mike, watching these men serve as interpreters sharing the Gospel and as leaders in the Wednesday night worship band is a humbling experience. They are leaders in such a tremendously difficult environment. Sadly, there are times when the interpreters will be sharing the Gospel with someone who would like to respond but who does not because of intense pressure – the pressure from friends and a long heritage of Voodoo. Despite this, God continues to work victories through the interpreters.

“It was an overwhelmingly humbling opportunity for our team to be ambassadors for Christ,” said Mike. “There are so many who don’t know the Lord. To see what God is doing through New Missions – 22 schools and churches – victory after victory – to see such a huge undertaking, first-hand on the ground and working, was amazing. We all left a huge part of our hearts in Haiti.”

~ Terri Starcher, Contributing Writer

The Call to Surrender

For those that might not know me I am a little bit of a history buff...my wife might call me a nut. If we pass a historical marker along the roadside I want to slow down or stop so I can read it. I love to go places were I can explore history...museums, historical homes or cities, battlefields, etc. When I am not visiting historical locations I love to read about history. I have always found the timeframe surrounding World War II enthralling. I think a large part of that fascination comes from being able to interaction with many from that generation. One of the stories that I always found powerful and moving deals with the Siege of Bastogne.

In December 1944, when the German army launched their surprise offensive, General Maxwell Taylor, commander of the 101st Airborne Division, was away attending a staff conference in the United States. In Taylor's absence, General Anthony McAuliffe was acting commander of the 101st and its attached troops. At Bastogne, the 101st was besieged by a far-larger force of Germans under the command of General Heinrich Freiherr von Lüttwitz, who soon demanded that the Americans surrender. McAuliffe sent back a simple one word reply to the call for surrender, "NUTS!"

The 101st was able to hold off the German advance until the 4th Armored Division arrived to provide reinforcement and the town was regained the next day due. For his actions at Bastogne, McAuliffe was awarded the Distinguished Service and later the Distinguished Service Medal.

McAuliffe became famous for his single-word reply to a German surrender ultimatum: "Nuts!" To many, it epitomized the character and drive of all Americans during World War II...we would not surrender, we would not give up! I believe that same zeal and determination is found today in Americans...we do not want to surrender!

I was thinking about surrender today and was reminded about something Ed Stetzer wrote in the first chapter of "Compelled by Love." Stetzer said "...as we surrender our lives more and more to Christ, the mark upon our lives is being changed, renewed, and conformed to look like Christ. I have to come to understand the missional view of following Christ requires a perspective of surrender..."

I think Christians in American struggle with surrender because giving up is something we do not do, it is culturally ingrained into us. This isn't a crutch, it just means we must fight our flesh continually to surrender to Christ. I believe this is exactly what Christ was speaking to in Luke 9:23, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." To follow Christ, to live a missional life, we must daily surrender ourselves...our desires, comforts, wants, plans, and be willing to do whatever the Lord calls us to do. This means we will have to make sacrifices, it means we lose control, but it also means that the love of Christ is able to be made known to all those we contact. Ultimately, isn't whatever we must sacrifice a small price to pay to see Christ lifted up and our world changed through His love?

I am not very good with surrender but I am trying to remember that to be the Christian I am called to be, to be the husband and the father I am called to be, to be the ambassador of His love that I am called to be, I must surrender. How are you with surrendering yourself daily to Him? Does your soul scream "nuts" or are you willing to let him do with you as He needs and desires?

Live Sent,

Chris

True Biblical Community

Today I was reading about the Exponential Conference coming up this April. This conference is the largest gathering of church planters and those associated with church planting in the world. In addition to church planting there is quite a bit of material on missions. Many of my friends in ministry have told me I have to attend this conference...I even had one who said he would pay my way!

While reading the conference website I found a link to their blog. The first blog I clicked on was by Francis Chan. Chan is one of the most dynamic Christian speakers of our time. He is a church planter, author, college founder...the list goes on and on. I enjoy reading and hearing from Chan. His passion for the Lord is awesome. That is what led me to check out his blog entry. There was one section on "Engaging in Authentic, 24/7 Community" that really struck me.

I believe that as we reach our community we must have community within our churh family. I believe that community is vital to churches. Chan does a wonderful job of helping us see that community was foundation in the first century church. I hope you find today's entry thought provoking...

Starting over would also mean changing how our church viewed and fostered community. If you came off an island after reading Scriptures, and then walked into a local church, what would you expect to see? I would expect to see a group of people boldly loving one another, sharing their possessions with each other, spending time together like a family. A little over a year ago, we baptized this guy who came out of the gangs. I remember loving his fire and passion. A while later, someone came up to me and said that this guy had stopped coming to Cornerstone and had told him, “I had the wrong vision of church. I thought that when I got baptized and joined the church, it was going to be like when I got jumped into the gang. Immediately, we became family. They had my back 24 hours a day. If I was sleeping in the street, they were sleeping there with me. We didn’t get together just once a week; it was all the time. I guess I just didn’t understand church. It’s like Satan stole God’s playbook, and people are attracted to gangs because they’re doing things biblically—except for the killing part.”

That kills me! It’s so sad that gangs are a better picture of family than the body of Christ. And it just makes me say that it’s not this guy, it’s us—we are the ones who don’t under­stand church.

And I’ve heard the arguments. I know people say that even though it’s biblical, you can’t pull off that kind of bold community in today’s culture. And to that, I ask, Have we for­gotten who the Holy Spirit is? If Jesus could look at 11 people and say, “You’re going to get the message to the whole world without Internet access,” then we can grab 11 people and reach these three or four blocks. It’s the same Holy Spirit. I’ve got to believe that the Holy Spirit still can and will do these amazing things.

We’re going through this as a church right now. The leaders of our church are my best friends. I trust them. I know that if I die tonight, these guys will take care of my family. They’ll treat my kids like their own. We’re seeing that type of bond happen. Today’s Church can foster bold and authentic, 24/7 community.