Grace and Peace:
And ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8).
The first human being walked on the moon on July 20, 1969. He and his crewmates were 240,000 miles from the earth...I didn't find that on google maps, but you can look it up. The United States had invested $24 billion and employed 400,000 workers from some 20,000 private firms.
Joe Shea was the man charged with the task of brining all of those resources together for this historic task. As you can imagine, the challenges were beyond daunting. There were pressures, arguments, and unspeakable dangers inherent in this project, but they had one thing going for them. In the book Apollo, Shea recalled, "We would go out in the parking lot and look up at the moon asd say, 'You really want to go there?'"* The answer was yes.
Our Great Commission for Christ carries a much higher calling than putting a man on the moon. Southern Baptists have a mandate from our Lord that requires an amazing investment of monies, over 10,000 missionaries, and the cooperative efforts of 42,000 Southern Baptist Churches with 16,000,000 members. We will always face problems, challenges, pressures, and even arguments. But if we really believe what we say we believe...if we really do accept the Great Commission...if we really can gaze heavenward and affirm that we really want to take everyone we can with us there...then we can look to Jesus and see the value of our efforts, our time, and our investment. Do we really want to do missions? The answer simply must be YES!
Please Look at this Opportunity:
Celebrate Missions! Thursday, 06.28.12. Come on out to Wilda Baptist Church on St. Clair Rd., just past Gardner, LA, off Hwy 28 W., at 6:30 pm. A Central Louisiana Baptist Association event to help you take notice of the many mission endeavors that are in action from right here in central Louisiana. Who knows? You just might discover a previously uncovered passion for a mission that our Lord has placed "right up your alley." Oh yeah, there's good food and fellowship, too!
Blessings,
Robert Daniel
__________________
*Charles Murray and Catherine Bly Cox, Apollo (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989), 178.
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
The Genius of Baptist Associations
Grace and Peace to You,
In Southern Baptist Church life, there is a fundamental concept of "cooperation." In fact, one of our most common avenues of connection is the missions support mechanism called "The Cooperative Program." Notice in the following text, please, how that principle works at the associational level.
Associations in SBC life are clusters of Baptist churches that work together to accomplish that which cannot be done by a lone congregation for God's Kingdom. Realistically, no one church will reach everyone with the message of the gospel. Working together, churches are more effective in delivering the message of the gospel to the varied people of a given area. In the central Louisiana Parishes, Rapides and Grant, three associations with a total of 92 churches have voluntarily chosen to work together in telling the people who populate these Parishes about the Good News that is the gospel. To come to that point of cooperation, churches have adopted basic principles:
1. Every Person in Central Louisiana Must Hear. So, then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing comes by the word of God (Romans 10:17). We believe that a person who dies without faith in Christ here in central Louisiana will suffer the same eternity apart from God as a person who dies without faith in Christ in some distant country.
2. Every Church in Central Louisiana Must Share in the Task. Multiple approaches are needed and in the providence of God, central Louisiana churches are perfectly positioned and wonderfully diverse in order to relate to the people who occupy this part of our beloved Louisiana.
3. Cooperation is Our Foundation. Working together, churches support the associations ministries and provide for the coordinated efforts that help us do that which can not be done by any single church.
In central Louisiana, three associations have bound themselves together to provide an associational office and a Director of Missions. The Baptist Mission Center is our associational office and it is engaged at the "Front Lines" of the ministry to churches and pastors who are giving their best in sharing the gospel in central Louisiana. We exist to help...whatever form that may take...the churches of central Louisiana. As the Director of Missions, it is my joy to partner with central Louisiana churches, to worship in those churches, and to be of service to each one. Call on me anytime.
Blessings,
Robert Daniel,
Director of Missions
Big Creek, Central Louisiana, and North Rapides Baptist Associations
In Southern Baptist Church life, there is a fundamental concept of "cooperation." In fact, one of our most common avenues of connection is the missions support mechanism called "The Cooperative Program." Notice in the following text, please, how that principle works at the associational level.
Associations in SBC life are clusters of Baptist churches that work together to accomplish that which cannot be done by a lone congregation for God's Kingdom. Realistically, no one church will reach everyone with the message of the gospel. Working together, churches are more effective in delivering the message of the gospel to the varied people of a given area. In the central Louisiana Parishes, Rapides and Grant, three associations with a total of 92 churches have voluntarily chosen to work together in telling the people who populate these Parishes about the Good News that is the gospel. To come to that point of cooperation, churches have adopted basic principles:
1. Every Person in Central Louisiana Must Hear. So, then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing comes by the word of God (Romans 10:17). We believe that a person who dies without faith in Christ here in central Louisiana will suffer the same eternity apart from God as a person who dies without faith in Christ in some distant country.
2. Every Church in Central Louisiana Must Share in the Task. Multiple approaches are needed and in the providence of God, central Louisiana churches are perfectly positioned and wonderfully diverse in order to relate to the people who occupy this part of our beloved Louisiana.
3. Cooperation is Our Foundation. Working together, churches support the associations ministries and provide for the coordinated efforts that help us do that which can not be done by any single church.
In central Louisiana, three associations have bound themselves together to provide an associational office and a Director of Missions. The Baptist Mission Center is our associational office and it is engaged at the "Front Lines" of the ministry to churches and pastors who are giving their best in sharing the gospel in central Louisiana. We exist to help...whatever form that may take...the churches of central Louisiana. As the Director of Missions, it is my joy to partner with central Louisiana churches, to worship in those churches, and to be of service to each one. Call on me anytime.
Blessings,
Robert Daniel,
Director of Missions
Big Creek, Central Louisiana, and North Rapides Baptist Associations
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