Victory in the Valley

We would love to have you and your church join in and help us reach more people of the Brazos Valley with the life-changing gospel message.

Where
Brazos Center: 3232 Briarcrest Dr, Bryan, TX 77802

When
August 15-18, 2021 | 7:00p each night

The speaker is Sammy Tippit, a world-renowned counselor, teacher and evangelist with experience serving and helping people in over 80 countries. Sammy has previously served as President of the Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists.

The music for the revival will be done by an all-area choir led by Matt Marsh from First Baptist Bryan.

Click below to hear an invitation from Sammy Tippit.

We encourage you to participate in this exciting evangelistic opportunity and we ask everyone to pray heartily for God to use this even to reach people with the gospel. 

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly from SBC '21

If you caught my first write-up about the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) you'll be relieved to know that my return flight was uneventful and quite boring compared to my flight to the Convention. The Convention itself, on the other hand, was not boring at all.

First, let me just state what I love about the Southern Baptist Convention: I love the fact that it is like a giant family reunion where I get the chance to reconnect with people I haven't seen in many years. 

While I was in Nashville, I had the chance to meet with two missionary "uncles" from my childhood in Ecuador, a few of my pastor friends from Georgia, and, randomly, I ran across two young men who used to be in my Children's Ministry when I was on staff at First Baptist Bentonville, AR. One of them is now a new pastor and the other has been on the mission field for several years. I love seeing and hearing how God is at work in the ministries and lives of people with whom my life has intersected over the years.

In regard to the Convention itself, in my article written before the Convention I anticipated 4 major areas of discussion and potential controversy. Those were:

1. The sexual abuse crisis
2. Critical Race Theory
3. Gender roles in the church
4. Transparency and accountability

I'll address these in the order in which I think they were most clearly and most definitively spoken to in Nashville. In doing so, this article will be longer than the first.

Messengers want more transparency and accountability from denominational leadership.

The messengers sent a loud and repeated message to the Executive Committee that business cannot go on as usual. For those who don't know what the Executive Committee is, let me try to explain.

The Executive Committee is an 86-member body that runs denominational affairs in between Annual Meetings of the SBC. The Executive Committee does not control or direct the activities of SBC agencies, rather it receives and distributes the monies Southern Baptists give in support of denominational ministries, acts as the recipient and trust agency for all Convention properties, and provides public relations and news services. To carry out these duties, the Committee employs an executive and support staff in its Nashville offices.

 The Executive Committee has been under scrutiny lately for financial changes it was proposing and for its handling of the sexual abuse crisis. I'm not exaggerating when I say that the Executive Committee was taken out to the woodshed in Nashville. Not only was its proposed revision to the SBC’s Business and Financial Plan (which included the Committee's attempt to exercise more control over other SBC entities' money) overwhelming voted down, likewise its much touted "Vision 2025" five-point plan for the SBC's future was altered and added to by the messengers to better reflect what Southern Baptists want to see as the Convention's priorities. This included adding a sixth point calling for the SBC to strive to root out any instances of sexual abuse and racial discrimination in our churches.

And it was regarding the controversies surrounding the sexual abuse scandal that the Executive Committed received it harshest smack-down. After allegations were made and concerning audio surfaced insinuating that the Executive Committee had stalled and not taken seriously sexual abuse claims, the committee voted to hire an outside group to investigate, but the parameters, results, and reporting of that investigation would have been under the Executive Committee's exclusive control. The messengers, demonstrating their distrust in the Executive Committee's ability to police itself, overwhelmingly rejected that proposal and instead voted for a third-party investigation to be overseen by a task force to be chosen by the newly-elected president.

Overall, and not just in these aforementioned areas, the Executive Committee was given a strong admonition from the messengers that they want more accountability and transparency.

Messengers expressed unequivocal support for sexual abuse survivors and zero tolerance for any form of sexual abuse.

You can already see how the four major areas I outlined earlier intersect and so in addressing concerns about the Executive Committee the Convention also made strong statements about supporting sexual abuse survivors and rooting out sexual abusers from leadership in our churches.

To this point, the Convention passed a resolution calling for the permanent disqualification from the pastorate of those who have committed sexual abuse. This did receive some gentle and thoughtful pushback on the floor as some felt it left no room for grace, especially in the lives of those who may have committed some sexual sin prior to conversion. But like many of the resolutions and motions, the limited amount debate (more on that in a minute) meant that those concerns were easily swept aside and the resolution passed overwhelmingly.

So, the Convention's will on the two issues of sexual abuse and Executive Committee accountability, was definitively communicated and saw very little resistance. But the other two issues I mentioned outlined, Critical Race Theory and gender roles in the church, were not dealt with nearly as clearly or comprehensively.

Messengers chose not to talk about complementarianism.

Perhaps to some people's relief and others' dismay, gender roles in the church weren't even really a part of the conversation at this Convention. 

The Baptist Faith and Message 2000 is clearly a complementarian document, but the narrowness or expansiveness of that complementarianism is still up for debate.

It's clear the Convention doesn't seem to have the stomach for such a debate at this time. The only hint of controversy that emerged on this issue was the fact that the new president of the SBC, Ed Litton, apparently did a sermon series a while back on Song of Solomon in which his wife taught and preached alongside him from the stage. Links to the videos of the sermon series bounced around on social media, but it was not brought up during the Convention nor, apparently, did Ed Litton feel the need address it.

Ed did commit to a complementarian position in a pre-convention interview with Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, but the video leaves many feeling uneasy or confused. I personally believe that, in the years to come, complementarianism will be a continually resurfacing issue that will increasingly create tensions in the SBC. But most people believe that the biggest threat for future problems rests with Critical Race Theory (CRT).

Messengers don't know what to do with Critical Race Theory. 

The convention passed a strongly-worded resolution (Resolution 2) that pushed for racial reconciliation while rejecting worldly systems and philosophies in pursuit of goal, but it did not specifically mention CRT. Resolution 2, by anyone's account, is a better resolution than the infamous Resolution 9 passed in 2019 but its failure to clearly reject CRT upset some.

There was a short debate on the floor about amending the resolution to include language about CRT, but the debate was cut short when a messenger "called for the question," meaning he moving to stop debate and have the messengers vote on the question to amend. His motion received the two-thirds vote necessary and so debate was shut down and a majority of the messengers then voted in the affirmative for the unamended Resolution 2.

What this showed me was that the messengers did not have the will to have a debate about CRT and instead were happy to attempt to address CRT via Resolution 2 without actually mentioning it. Some saw this as a wise and peacemaking approach, but others felt that this was shortsighted and fainthearted. Time will tell if this was Solomon's call to cut the baby in half or not.

I'm afraid that despite good intentions, we have not seen the last of CRT. As one African-American brother said to me, "it seems like the Convention chose to punt the ball." Yes, they did. But I'm afraid it wasn't a 60-yard punt. It was more like a 10-yard shank off the side of the foot. I don't think the concerns over CRT are settled. Southern Baptist seem to be very clear that they want racial reconciliation, but heated debates about CRT and the extent of its danger and/or its usefulness in our churches will inevitably resurface.

The case for optimistic concern.

Overall, I left the Convention optimistic because there was as strong focus on evangelism, missions, and the gospel. I was also joyfully reminded of the big tent family that is Southern Baptist as we aim to agree on the essentials while agreeing to disagree on the non-essentials.

I'm also very glad that strong statements were made regarding sexual abuse, regarding accountability and transparency, and regarding racial reconciliation.

Another area of encouragement was the fact that I heard of the importance of associations to the future of the Convention mentioned over and over and in different settings. I sincerely believe that local networks of churches are going to be more important than large national entities in the decades ahead. 

But I am also concerned about a few things:

I'm concerned that complementarianism has not been clearly defined in our denomination, leaving openings for confusion and friction.

I'm even more concerned that no real conversation is being had regarding CRT. It seems everyone in the Convention agrees that it must be subservient to the Scriptures, but those who see it as an existential threat and those who see it as a redeemable tool are not actually talking to each other. Instead they are "destroying" and "owning" straw men on social media while the average church goer watches with a mixture of confusion and disgust.

And that brings me to my final concern specific to the way this year's Convention was run. Namely, that on too many issues at the Convention there was no real and robust debate. On several motions and resolutions many people standing in line to express their thoughts were left frustrated as pre-set time limits expired or the question was called. Yet at least one entity president, who's allotted time for his entity's report had clearly passed, babbled on interminably to the great frustration of the weary messengers. It would have benefited everyone to hear a little less from the top and little more from the average messenger. The fact is that this year's schedule for the Convention had been truncated by design and in my opinion that was to our detriment.

If there is anything Southern Baptist need to be doing right now it is talking to each other and debating these important issues, but doing so in orderly fashion with charity and Christ-likeness. Intentionally or unintentionally shutting down Convention debate condemns these conversations to the purgatory of Twitter where the venom of asps is under everyone's lips.

To see all the resolutions passed at the SBC'21 click here.
To watch video from SBC'21 click here

The SBC and the Journey We Are Facing

As I write this, I'm sitting at the Bush International Airport in Houston at 4:30 a.m. on Sunday June 13th. I'm supposed to be in a nice comfy bed at a hotel in Nashville getting good rest before attending a worship service with the Southern Baptist Conference of Associational Leaders. But yesterday was one of those unpredictable and utterly chaotic travel days.

My connecting flight from Houston to Nashville was delayed. Delayed twelve hours. I think United Airlines is stretching the definition of "delay" when that delay takes you into a new day. I didn't want wait that long so I got on standby for another flight to Nashville. I sat down to wait for that flight only get a notice on my phone that it, too, was delayed. By 30 minutes. Ugh.

Ding.

The United app now says the new flight is delayed one hour.

Ding.

Make that three.

Needless to say, I never left Houston on Sunday. While I write this I am at the gate waiting for that original flight. The twelve hour delay is almost over.

They just called my group!

The chaos of my travel is illustrative of the fear I have as I head to the Southern Baptist Convention. I usually enjoy the Convention. I enjoy reuniting with old friends I haven't seen in years. I enjoy all the booths and the free swag in the exhibit hall. I even enjoy the business sessions where you hear the praise reports of what has been accomplished and witness the mechanisms of our denomination at work. But this year, I do not look forward to the convention. It is in danger of descending into chaos. I feel that my flight might be a premonition.

I've been to several Conventions, but my first as the DOM (AMS or whatever denominational title you prefer) of our association was in Dallas in 2018. Yesterday I looked back at my notes from that Convention and read how hopeful and excited I was about the cooperation on display.

My second Convention in this role was at Birmingham in 2019. I left that gathering a bit more concerned about some issues brewing. If you recall, that convention took place on the heels of the Houston Chronicle report about sexual abuse in SBC churches. That convention also saw renewed questions about how doctrinally complementarian our denomination actually is. And then there was the passage of the infamous Resolution 9. That was the resolution that accepted Critical Race Theory as an analytical tool subservient to the Bible. At the time I felt it was a poorly written resolution and even more poorly explained to the messengers present.

Two years and one pandemic later, we gather again. The year off has done us no good. The differences and struggles that surfaced in 2019 are now raging like an out-of-control wildfire that threatens to do lasting damage to our convention. The issues are real and deserve a good debate. But the debates have turned bitter, and the rhetoric has become downright Trumpian with name-calling and political mud-slinging. It's no surprise that the largest number of messengers since the 80's are showing up in Nashville. Uber be warned!

Plane is taking off. Airplane mode now on. 

There are four major, and somewhat intersecting, issues that will drive much of the conversation, debate, motions, and resolutions this week:

1. The sexual abuse scandal. One pastor I talked with in the airport after the 2019 convention got angry when I called it a scandal. But friends, even one sexual predator on staff or behind the pulpit of our churches is indeed a scandal. And when cases of abuse are intentionally hidden or minimized, it's a big scandal. While some good steps were taken in Birmingham, the movement to address the issue has stalled (I hesitate to use that word while tens of thousands of feet in the air) due, in no small part, to the challenges of Southern Baptist bureaucracy and local church autonomy. I do not dismiss the fact that the means for addressing and redressing the sexual abuse issues are quite complicated and messy, but we all must agree that as a whole we can do better. Pray that we will put justice for victims and prevention of future abuse above bureaucracy and politics.
   

2. Critical Race Theory. Unless you are living under a rock you've probably heard about CRT. It too is a complicated issue, and quite frankly CRT is hard to actually define, but the fact is that it is threatening to divide and destabilize our Convention. Our Convention must make take a stronger stand for racial reconciliation and biblically-driven social justice, but we also must carefully consider whether or not CRT can be an "analytical tool" we should use in that endeavor. Some believe that any use of CRT is a denial of the doctrine of the sufficiency of Scripture. Others claim CRT is harmless and definitely not the Marxist boogeyman that others claim it to be. Certainly it's more complicated than the talking points on either side, and I personally have good friends who love Christ and His gospel but who view CRT from totally different perspectives. Please pray that God provides a path forward for us to continue to fight the sin of racism while remaining steadfast in our commitment to the authority of God's Word.
   

3. Gender roles in the church. The majority of the denomination overwhelming decided to move in a direction affirming that the Bible teaches that only men are allowed to hold the office of pastor (or elder) with the adoption of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. But the width or narrowness of that Biblical teaching has been debated. Some call themselves soft-complementarians while others are stricter complementarians. The debate has heated up in the last two years. There are big questions driving the conversation. Does Scripture limit only the office of a lead or senior pastor to men, or does that limitation extend to other pastoral roles? And how about female teachers who are not pastors but who exercise the function of a pastor such as preaching to groups of men and women? Is that within the bounds of Scripture? Unfortunately, this debate has gotten really ugly, especially on Twitter where sinful tongues wag without remorse. Please pray for God to grant us the grace to hold tightly to the Scriptures while understanding that we can disagree on secondary issues.
   

4. Transparency and accountability. Part of the problem in our denomination is that there is a bureaucratic class that has rubbed the average church-goer the wrong way. There have been questions about how the Executive Committee has handled certain things, including the sex abuse scandal. NAMB is embroiled in a lawsuit with a former denominational leader that is being appealed to the Supreme Court. Lifeway sued their former President and then retracted the suit after it caused widespread outrage. It makes me wonder if 1 Corinthians 6:1-8 has been taken out of the CSB. There have also been golden parachutes and other uses of money that have caused a good bit of concern. Of the four men running for President of the SBC, only one has made transparency part of his platform. Pray that the leaders of our denomination would remember who they are serving and practice biblical transparency and accountability--whomever becomes the President.
   

They just told me to put way the laptop. We're about to land.

These issue are not light or minimal; they are real and serious. But what I've seen on Twitter and blogs, and heard with my own ears is not believers debating with grace and charity. What I've heard is bitterness, rage, belittling, and dissension. As a life-long Southern Baptist it makes me sad. We need to listen to the Apostle Paul's warning:

But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. (Galatians 5:15)

So what do I hope will happen at the Convention?

One thing: REPENTANCE!

I am praying that a genuine move of Spirit-led repentance will overtake at 18,000+ messengers and that through repentance we will once again focus on the gospel. We are all sinners saved by the grace of Jesus Christ and we all are dimly seeing through a mirror on all these issues. Therefore we need to be humble, teachable, and we need to repent of our sinful attitudes. Join me in praying for repentance.

At the hotel. Finally resting. 

And with that, I am reminded that God will accomplish His purposes and will take His church all the way to its final destination. As Southern Baptists we can fret and fear and fight, but in the end, our Sovereign God will reach the nations with or without us. I just hope it's with!

Noise. Noise. Noise.

A couple of weeks ago, on a weeknight, at about 3:00 in the morning, something happened to the power lines behind our house and our electricity went out. I would not have known until the next morning had my wife not woken me up and told me. Strangely enough, what woke her up was the silence.

As I got up and fumbled around looking for my phone so I could turn on the flashlight app, I too was almost startled by the silence. Not only were the usual noise-makers in our house (appliances, AC unit, etc.) not making their usual racket, but due to the fact that it was the middle of the night, there was practically no sound coming from outside the house either. The sounds of the city would be asleep for at least a few more hours.

After I discerned that the cause of the electrical disruption was not something in my house nor was it something I could address, and after giving the utility company a call, I sat down and just listened for few minutes. The silence was almost startling. It was unsettling. It was almost alien.

I realized in that moment how conditioned I had become come to constant noise. I almost didn’t know how to mentally process the absence of it. Silence forces your mind to fill the void left by incessant sound. It made me realize that noise is a lazy man’s best friend. Instead of having to put our minds to work, too often we put our minds at ease by simply funneling incessant noise into our ears. 

As I sat in silence and thought about these things, I realized that there is a spiritual impact to noise. Noise can keep us from focusing on God, from sensing His Spirit, from hearing Him, from hearing others, from discerning nuances, from exercising wisdom, from listening well to others, from thinking for ourselves. On and on I kept thinking. The silence was now allowing my thoughts to grow louder and fuller.

And so Scripture began to come to mind. Scripture that reinforces the need for us to reduce the noise in our lives. Scripture like…

"The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent." Exodus 14:14

"But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me." Psalm 131:2

"Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind." Ecclesiastes 4:6

"But the LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him." Habakkuk 2:20

I then thought of how we are in such a noisy season right now. Modernity has created a cacophony of physical sounds that run throughout the day, but the culture and cultural moment we find ourselves in has also created myriad psychological, intellectual, and emotional noises.

It seems the pandemic has created immunology experts out of nearly everyone and, therefore, everyone feels the need to shout their newly acquired wisdom at everyone else. Social unrest apparently means that nearly everyone has make sure everyone else knows how virtuous they are through tweeting or posting the latest echo-chamber article with, of course, the appropriate virtue-signaling hashtag. And, in the age of noise, to properly debate your political view, including ecclesiastical and theological views, you must debase your political opponent.

Noise. Noise. Noise.

No wonder we feel far from God. We don’t know how to stop the noise: "Be still and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10

Maybe it's time to pursue silence. This can be done literally through a silence and solitude retreat. That is simply scheduling time to get away and spend time alone with God in quietness. Or, maybe, there are more practical ways right in front of us. Like not turning on talk radio, or even music, when we get in the car. Not flipping on our favorite cable news the moment we get home. Not checking social media when we grab our phone. Or, here’s a novel idea, not grabbing the phone at all.

As leaders in God's Church, if we want to have ears to hear what God wants from us, if we are to have ears to hear the true needs of our neighbors, then we must have ears that are not overrun with noise. And things are only going to get noisier in 2020. The enemy will most definitely keep it noisy.

---

Articles that Caught My Eye 

5 Reasons Pastors Don’t Trust Each Other, and 5 Steps We Can Take to Build Trust

Through a Pandemic and Social Unrest

When Life Feels Crushing

Do Smartphones Make us Dumber?

No One Believes in Social Injustice

1 in 5 churches facing permanent closure within 18 months due to COVID-19 shutdowns

Clarity in an Age of Confusion

Holy Is Who You Are: A Missing Weapon in the War Against Sin

Gospel + Safety + Time = A Church Where Anyone Can Grow

Resource of the Week

Silence can actually be a spiritual discipline. In my mind, the best book on Spiritual Disciplines is Donald Whitney's Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. Chapter 10 of the book teaches on silence and solitude as a spiritual discipline. Now more than ever we need help maintaining the practices that will allow us to walk humbly with our God. 

The Essentials of Church Require Gathering

What Acts 2:42 has to say about the importance of gathering together

Lord willing, the COVID-19 crisis that has gripped our country and our world will be winding down soon. Over the past few months, I've heard it said over and over that there will be a new normal for churches moving forward. I've even heard some say that in-person gatherings may be a thing of the past as people choose digital church attendance either for their safety or as a matter of convenience. 

While I am sure there are some facets of how we do church that must and will change, I am not convinced that the gathering of the saints on the Lord's Day is one of them. Theologically we are not bound to a geographical location to worship God. That was Jesus' point when he spoke the Samaritan woman and said:

“...the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father... But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him” (John 4:22-24)

Can someone worship God while not gathered in a specific location with other believers? Yes. Should that be the norm? No. The new normal cannot be an un-gathered church. I am not saying that buildings are needed. What I am saying is that gathering together is.
 
I believe the core, essential elements of a New Testament church demand gathering in person. For months now we've heard about essential businesses and essential services. We need to ask, what are the essentials of the church and what do those essentials demand?
 
Many people have written on the essentials or elements of a healthy church. From Rick Warren's five purposes of the church to Mark Dever's nine marks of a healthy church, there is plenty already written to help us. I simply want to focus on one verse that Luke gives us to encapsulate what the early church did and see how the four essentials found in that verse should encourage us to gather together, face-to-face, in a location. That one verse is Acts 2:42:

And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

So, what essentials of the church do we see in this one verse?

1. Teaching the Word of God was essential. The devotion they had to the Apostles’ teaching is the equivalent of devotion to God's Word in our day. What we have in our Bibles, the apostolic teaching of Jesus Christ, who is the focus of all of Scripture. The Word must be taught and preached with passion, precision, and power. This needs to happen primarily in a gathered setting. Preaching and teaching are not one-way communication, but rather should be an intimate and interactive experience where the shepherd lovingly feeds and exhorts his flock. If in-person teaching were not essential to the church, then Paul would not have appointed elders and trained pastors. Instead, he would have limited his ministry to letter writing.

2. Devotion to one another was essential. The word "fellowship" (koinonia in Greek) makes its first New Testament appearance in this text. It meant much more than getting together or eating together. It meant being devoted to one another. It encompasses all the 56 "one-another" passages in the New Testament. It is not something we can do in isolation. As a matter of fact, a couple of the "one anothers" are found in Colossians 3:16 where we are exhorted to teach and admonish one another through the singing of psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. We cannot do that if we are scattered. We must gather regularly in order to do life together and thereby live out the "one-anothers".

3. Observing the ordinances was essential. There is some debate as to whether or not the "breaking of bread" here is referring to the Lord's Supper or just other meals they had together. For a few reasons I can't go into now, I believe it is the former. The whole imagery and gravity of the Lord's Supper is not something that can be done in isolation or over a screen. A funny meme was created a few months back called "The Upper Zoom" where it showed Jesus having his last meal with the disciples over video-conferencing. It was obviously meant to be funny, and it was, but it highlighted the foolishness of thinking we can observe the Lord's Supper in isolation from one another. The other ordinance, baptism, of course, cannot be done remotely. We must gather in order to be devoted to the ordinances.

4. Finally, prayer was essential. Of course, prayer can be done by oneself, or over the phone, or in a Zoom call; prayer is not limited to a geographical location. But we are called to pray together and the most effective and powerful way to do that is to do it in each other's presence. The Bible speaks of laying hands on one another while blessing or praying for one another. We can not do that at a distance. And the Body of Christ is called to corporately lift prayers to our Father which implies that we are doing that in agreement with one another and obviously in the presence of one another. 

The early church gathered. They gathered in small groups (house to house) and they gathered in large groups (Solomon's Portico). They understood that the failure to gather would be against God's will and God's design for the church (Hebrews 10:35). 
 
The truth is that we were designed for face-to-face communication and fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. Just because we have mediated forms of communication that allow us to see each other and talk to each other digitally, does not diminish the importance of the physical gathering of the church.
 
The oldest form of mediated communication is the written word, and so let us hear the Apostle John as he says, "I had much to write to you, but I would rather not write with pen and ink. I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face" (3 John 13-14). And so in our age, we should rather not zoom, or stream the service, but rather see each other and fellowship face to face.

Resource of the Week:

This week's resource is from 9Marks. Very few ministries have done more to help churches think about healthy ecclesiology than these guys. They have a lot of resources on their website, but today I want to highlight their Pastor's Talk Podcast. Always informative and entertaining, this podcast will help church leaders shepherd their congregations well.

Articles That Caught My Eye:

When the Headlines are Horrifying

Pastors, COVID, and Criticism

Hang in there pastor, change comes slowly

Calling Out the Call-Out Culture

A Very Common Clash of Culture

Why is the Culture Dark and Decaying?

Unity in the Church With Guest Blake Coffee

I was so happy to have Blake Coffee from Christian Unity Ministries on with us last week for our Pastor’s Round-Table discussion.

If you were not able to join us, I urge you to watch this video. What Blake had to share was so on-point and so needed in our cultural moment.

May we all be guided by God to have the discernment to share the right words to build one another up despite this divisive age we find ourselves in.

Resources mentioned:

• Christian Unity Ministries: https://www.christianunityministries.org/

• 5 Principles of Unity a 6-week small group study.
We have plenty of copies available at the CBBA office, if you’re interested, email us to arrange a pick up.

• Oneanotherproject.com: FREE web-based small group tool

Dr. Mark Faries on Infection Control for Churches

Dr. Mark Faries from Texas A&M, who has been part of the State of Texas Coronavirus task force, met with CBBA Pastors and Leaders to talk about infection control for churches, child care centers, food pantries, and more. 

Here is the recording of that meeting:

Download the PDF Considerations for COVID-19 Infection Control in Churches HERE.

See more from Dr. Mark Faries at theologyinhealth.org

Mastering Uncertainty

I was always told it is wise to get a second opinion before making major medical decisions. The reason is simple and common sense: our bodies are complicated and no medical professional has the market cornered on how to treat any disease or medical problem. 

When I try to learn more about this coronavirus pandemic, I run into news feeds, facebook pages, and twitter streams that are not just filled with second opinions, but third, fourth, fifth and countless more opinions. And the opinions are not merely about the virus, but about every aspect of our lives that have been touched by the crisis.

All of a sudden our nation is filled with countless experts on infectious disease, constitutional law, government, and economics. The flood of information and competing opinions are endless and it can leave us feeling very uncertain about the future and how to approach it. 

"Uncertain" is the right word. The truth is that there is a lot we still don't know about the virus and there is a lot that we just can't predict about the future. This is where worldview is important. Uncertainty can drive us in one of two directions depending on our worldview: fear or faith. 

Having a Biblical worldview doesn't mean that uncertainty vanishes. But it does mean that uncertainty doesn't control us. The Bible is filled with men and women and nations who faced uncertain futures, and those who looked to God were able to find rest amidst the uncertainty. 

I was reminded of this truth as I read Isaiah 7 this morning. Isaiah is prophesying to King Ahaz of Judah and in doing so is trying to get him to trust God in the mids of an uncertain future. The Assyrians and the Northern Tribes of Israel were threatening war and causing all the people of Jerusalem to literally shake in fear, but God spoke to King Ahaz in Isaiah 7:4 saying this: 

"Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint." 

Be careful means to be watchful, be on guard, and pay attention. Church leaders, it is our responsibility to stay informed and pay attention to all that is happening around us. Your church needs you to be aware of all that is happening and to be developing well-informed plans and strategies for your church's future

But we must also be quiet. This means we must be calm and collected, demonstrating that we have complete faith and rest in the providence of God. 

If that is true then we will not fear. This word fear oftentimes is used in the Scriptures to refer to the awe we should have of our God. The fact is if we fear God first, our fear of man and of our circumstances will fade.

Finally, we are to not let our hearts faint. This simply means that like a soldier heading into battle, we are to move forward with confidence and not draw back. We are not to be timid and fearful. 

I recently read an article about a journalist from a major TV network curling up in a ball in the corner of his house because he was so fearful of all that was happening. As I read that I felt sad, for I knew that this man's secular worldview offered him no hope, no escape from fear. 

But friends, we do have a worldview that offers us escape and hope because serve a God who rules over this coronavirus, and over our nation, and over our economy and most importantly, over His church. 

So pastors and church leaders, don't let the very real uncertainly about this pandemic paralyze you. Instead, show yourselves to be different from the world by leading your churches forward being careful, being quiet, not fearing, and not fainting in the midst of uncertain days.  

I am here to pray for you and help in any way that I can. 

Restful in Christ,
Steve

————————————————

More Helpful Resources for These Uncertain Days: 

Here is a very extensive list of help and resources from the Southern Baptist Conference of Associational Leaders (SBCAL). 

This is a good article about church unity in the midst of this crisis. I hope our churches can model a different behavior than what is seen in our fragmented culture. 

Here are some counseling videos from CCEF that I think can be helpful during this season. 

9Marks has produced an excellent page with some very good interviews and resources. 

Finally, here's some food for thought about measuring church health after this crisis. 

————————————————

IMPORTANT UPDATES

Governor Abbot has released guidelines for Phase Two of the plan to reopen Texas. You can download that executive order here or click here to read from the Governor's official page. 

Child-care facilities are included in the Governor's latest reopening guidelines and since some of our church do have child-care facilities below you will find links with official documents to help you reopen safely.

• Check-list for Child-care Centers

• Check-list for families whose children are in Child-care centers

CBBA April Quarterly Gathering

This quarter, our Director of Missions, Steve Doyle unveiled our new Church Health Cycle and shared how churches partnering together will make it possible.

Download a PDF of the Church Health Cycle

Watch the Quarterly Gathering now:

Our Director of Missions, Steve Doyle, unveiled our new Church Health Cycle and shared how churches partnering together will make it possible.

Stay Connected During Quarantine: (w/Tutorial Videos)

ZOOM: 

(Free version: up to 100 people per call // Paid version: up to 1000)
DOWNLOAD IT HERE: https://zoom.us/signup

HELPFUL ‘HOW TO’ VIDEOS FOR ZOOM:

• Getting Started/Basics

• How to Signup and Download

• How to Manage Participants

• How to Use Controls During a Meeting

• A Church-Specific Zoom Demo

• Livestream Using Zoom

• How to Keep Uninvited Guests Out of Your Zoom Event

———

GOOGLE HANGOUTS: 

(10 people max per call)
DOWNLOAD IT HERE: https://hangouts.google.com/

A HELPFUL ‘HOW TO’ FOR GOOGLE HANGOUTS: Getting Started/Basics 

———

GOOGLE MEET: 

(requires paid G Suite to host, but not required to join a meeting)
GET STARTED HERE: https://meet.google.com/

A HELPFUL ‘HOW TO’ FOR GOOGLE MEET: Getting Started/Basics

———

FACEBOOK LIVE:

CLICK HERE TO LEARN HOW TO USE FACEBOOK LIVE

———

MICROSOFT TEAMS: 

DOWNLOAD IT HERE 

A HELPFUL ‘HOW TO’ FOR MICROSOFT TEAMS: Start a Video Call

———

ONLINE GIVING PLATFORMS:

7 Church Giving Options
Planning Center Giving

TALKING ABOUT GIVING:

“Giving is not simply about charity, it’s an act of worship that is joyful, faith-filled consistent, and sacrificial. By giving back from the gifts and resources God has given us, we gain the privilege of partnering with Him to unleash His grace and compassion to a hurting world. Your gift, no matter how big or how small, is significant.”

“Your generosity allows us to care for our community in these ways [insert specifics for your church: paid a member’s mortgage, donated food, took meals to a local hospital, etc.] Thank you for stepping up and trusting Him to multiply what you give in faith.”

TALKING ABOUT ONLINE GIVING:

“Ready to make giving a priority? Make it automatic! Establishing a regular online donation makes generosity a priority. Your recurring gifts help to create the quality environments and programs offered each week and make it possible to budget responsibly. The process is secure, convenient, and makes joining the work of God through the church easier than ever before.”

God is Working COVID-19 for Good

Friends, I hope you are doing well. Here in Brazos county, we've been under a shelter-in-place order for a few days now, but of course, the social distancing and guidelines are now entering their 3rd week, and we have no idea how much longer this will last. So we need to continue to be wise in how we move forward as churches to show submission to the authorities God has placed over us while striving to minister to the body of believers that we are covenanted to. 

We know that God does indeed work all things together for the good of His people (Romans 8:28). So here are just some thoughts from my own personal experience and from what I've heard from others as to how God is already using this for good

1. God is reminding us of how important personal, face-to-face, interaction is in the church. We were not created to have our relationships mediated through internet streams and conference calls. God created us for in-person interaction. This is an important reminder in a day where social media has, ironically, made people less social and more isolated. Perhaps this COVID-19 crisis will help the world see how important embodied relationships are. (2 John 12 - Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete.)

2. God is helping churches learn to minister in the 21st century. Without contradicting my first observation, it is clear that social media and internet presence is key to church life in our age. When I got to the CBBA, I was shocked to find that only 50% of CBBA churches had a website or even Facebook. That is the equivalent of not having a front door in our day, and it makes it virtually impossible to reach anyone younger than 45. This coronavirus crisis has forced the hand of many churches who have been unwilling or unable to change and adjust to communication in a digital age. (Matthew 13:52 - And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”)

3. God is opening up opportunities for creative outreach and evangelism. Evangelism is non-existent in many churches. That is sometimes due to apathy or lack of urgency. The current crisis has created urgency! It's amazing how an existential crisis opens up avenues to have gospel conversations. I have heard from several people that have told me that COVID-19 has given them open doors to share the gospel. Not only that, but many of our churches are seeing people who wouldn't darken the doors of a church logging in online to see and hear the gospel preached. God is giving us new avenues of evangelism. (John 4:35 - Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.)

4.  God is revealing the limits of government, the foolishness of celebrities, and the relative unimportance of sport. Just weeks before this crisis hit you could scan the news headlines and easily see the idols that dominate American lives: politics, entertainment, and sports. But since this pandemic took hold we've seen many of the foolish political side-shows disappear,  we've seen celebrities sidelined to irrelevance, and we've seen sport take a back seat. This is good. It is far past time that we find our peace and comfort in the One True God. (Psalm 20:7 - Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.)

5. God is reminding us to put family first. It has been great to see families posting videos or photos of the fun and creative things they have been doing since being "quarantined." I know that our family has had a lot of fun playing games, going on walks, biking, and finding some new TV shows to watch. I have been reminded of how blessed I am to have a wonderful family and how much I enjoy them. That's a good thing! (Psalm 127:3 - Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.)

6. God is also reminding us that He is sovereign and we are not. Things were pretty good for Americans before the virus crisis. The economy was booming and life was pretty easy. And then one invisible bug brought us to our knees. These events have a way of reminding us that at any given moment our God can sideline the best-laid plans of men, but His purposes can never be thwarted. He is absolutely sovereign over the affairs of men! (Proverbs 16:9 - The heart of man plans his way, but the LORD establishes his steps.)

7. Finally, God has reminded us of the seriousness of sin and the need for redemption. While we cannot say that COVID-19 is the direct result of any specific sin, we can say with complete confidence that the virus is due to the fallen condition of our world. Natural evil exists because we are fallen beings in a fallen world. This crisis has reminded us that we are sinners in need of new-life and that corrupted creation longs to be renewed. Christ Jesus is the only hope for both! (Revelation 21:5 - And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”)

Of course, there are a myriad of other good things that God is working through this trial, most of which we will never know on this side of heaven. With that said it is still a trial and we still need to be praying for one another and helping each other during these days. Below are some more links and resources to help you and our churches navigate the rough seas of the 2020 Coronavirus Pandemic. I know you have probably already had information overload, but here's some more help if you need it and want it:

More Articles, Links, and Resource Helps

Zoom is offering the upgraded version of their video-meeting platform for FREE right now. This is great since Zoom is the best platform out there.

Another article about tools and strategies for ministry during these days. 

Here is an article about one of the trends we're seeing (drive-in church) for creatively overcoming the orders not to gather. 

I hope you enjoy as much as I did this video of several Christian artists singing "It Is Well" remotely. Powerful! 

The National Center for Life and Liberty has a good COVID-19 response page with good resources for churches and Christian schools. 

Here's a question many pastors are asking. I agree with Tim Challies' conclusions. 

Ministry Grid continues to add resources to help churches minister remotely. 

Generosity doesn't have to fall by the wayside while we are not able to gather. This article is helpful. 

Digital curriculum is available through Lifeway. One of the new pastors in our association (and my new pastor) co-authored this helpful piece for the ERLC. 

This article helps you envision different digital platforms as your church building.

My friends over at Union Baptist Association in Houston have produced several helpful articles to think through this crisis theologically and practically.

A good article to help us return to a sense of normalcy. 

Pastors, you are important, especially during this crisis. Jared Wilson reminds you of that in this article. 

Finally, for our pastors. How on earth do you preach well to an empty room? Here are some thoughts. 

Like I said, information overload. But, Lord willing, some of this can be helpful.

In Christ,
Steve Doyle
Associational Missions Strategist (or...DOM)
Creath-Brazos Baptist Association

@lsdoylejr
steved@cbba.org
979-587-1340

Livestreaming CBBA Churches

Based on the new CDC Guidelines regarding COVID-19 (read more here), many churches have chosen to move from in-person, to recorded live or livestreamed services.

This is an opportunity for us to partner together. If you don't have the technical capability to pull off a live-stream option, I encourage you to direct your members to virtually attend one of our sister churches.

Here’s an alphabetical, growing list of Churches within the Creath-Brazos Baptist Association to choose from

Anderson Baptist | Anderson
Sundays 10:45am
WATCH LIVE

——

Central Church | College Station
Sundays 9:45am
WATCH LIVE

——

Crossroads Cowboy Church | Madisonville
Sundays 10am
WATCH LIVE

——

Country Fellowship | Bryan
Sundays 10am
WATCH LIVE

——

Emmanuel Baptist Church | Bryan
Sundays 10:30am and 6pm
WATCH LIVE

——

The Fellowship at Field Store | Waller
Sundays 10:45am
WATCH LIVE

——

First Baptist Church | Bryan
Sundays 10am (English) and 11:15am (Spanish)
WATCH LIVE | VER EN DIRECTO

——

First Baptist Church | College Station
Sundays 11am
WATCH LIVE

——

First Baptist Church | Madisonville
Sundays 10:30am and 6pm
WATCH LIVE

——

First Baptist Church | North Zulch
Sundays 11am
WATCH LIVE

——

Hillcrest Baptist Church | Bryan
Sundays 10:30am
WATCH LIVE

——

Living Hope Baptist Church | College Station
Sundays 10am
WATCH LIVE

——

Living Hope Bryan | Bryan
Sundays 10:30am
WATCH LIVE

——

Rock Prairie Baptist Church | College Station
Sundays 10:30am
WATCH LIVE

——

Wellborn Baptist Church | College Station
Sundays 9:45am
WATCH LIVE

——

West Oaks Baptist Church | Bryan
Sundays 10am
WATCH LIVE

If you’d like to see your Church included in this list, please email your Church name, service time, and livestream link to info@cbba.org

Send Your Best

One of my biggest regrets as a pastor was sending out the first missionary from our church plant. No, I didn't regret the act of sending, nor am I retrospectively anti-missions. What I regretted was that we sent a young man who was not ready for missionary work, and worse, a young man who was far too spiritually immature for the spiritually intense work that lay ahead of him. Predictably this young man's one-year missionary term was cut short and our relationship with the career missionary who hosted him was irrevocably damaged. 

In the midst of the implosion of this young man's missionary journey I heard a sermon by Mack Stiles in which he said something like this (I am paraphrasing): When you send missionaries from your church you should be sending people that you have a hard time letting go of, people who will be sorely missed. In other words, you need to send your best people! I realized at that moment that we had not sent out our best, nor had we tried to. Quite frankly this young man had shown glaring signs of spiritual immaturity, and for some in our church who were exhausted by some of his behavior, it was a relief that he wanted to go away to the mission field. But as a pastor I was foolish to send him, and worse, I was selfish for not praying for my best and most spiritually gifted members to be sent out. 

Yesterday I had lunch with some guys who were helping nail downs some more specifics regarding our Church Planting Center (CPC) that we, Lord willing, are going to launch in August. You'll be getting more information in the coming weeks and months. In the meantime, I am praying for men to be raised up from our churches who are called to plant new churches, or who feel the burden to replant churches that are dying. What I am asking you to do as pastors and lay-leaders in your churches, is to pray with me that God that will pluck some of the best men from our churches and put this call on their hearts. In other words, I am asking you to send your best. 

I know that there are some great leaders being raised up in our CBBA churches and quite naturally you want those leaders to remain at your church to help grow it and strengthen it. But I hope that, by God's grace, you will hold on to those men lightly with the sincere hope that God will indeed call some of them to plant or replant churches. I am asking for CBBA churches to have the disposition of the church in Antioch. We read the following in Acts 13:2-3: 

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off.

I can only imagine that there were some in Antioch who thought sending Barnabas and Saul was certifiably insane. Had God really asked them to send out their most encouraging member and their most astute theologian? Couldn't the Holy Spirit have chosen a couple of people who were less important? But God chose those two men, and therefore the burden was laid upon the Antioch church to send their best. And they obeyed!

So, brothers and sisters, pray with me that God will send out the best from our CBBA churches and in doing so that we will see an explosion of healthy church planting and bold church re-planting in our association. 

Yours in Christ,

Steve

Same Message, Same Bible, Same Savior

Well, it's March Madness time and to get me in the mood for some basketball I may just watch one of my all-time favorite movies this week. If you like sports movies at all you can probably guess which one I'd watch during March Madness. That's right. Hoosiers. If you don't already know, the story of Hoosiers is about a small-town high-school basketball team that overcomes some big odds to win the state basketball championship (sorry for the spoiler). They are coached by Norman Dale, a character played by Gene Hackman, who himself has to overcome some past demons to lead the boys to high-school basketball's promised land.

There are many wonderful and inspiring scenes in Hoosiers and one of my favorites is the one where Gene Hackman's character takes the team to the big indoor arena where the championship game is to be played. The team had never played in anything bigger than small high-school gymnasiums before, so as the boys enter the cavernous facility they are understandably in awe. Seeing the impact that such a new experience is having on the boys, coach Dale takes them on to the court and has them take a couple of measurements—the distance from the free-throw line and the height of the basket—and predictably the measurements are exactly the same as those from their relatively tiny, home-town gym. If you have time watch the scene below:

The point that Hackman's character was making is crystal clear. The team shouldn't let the size of the facility, or the bigness of the moment, cause them to forget that they were going to be playing the same game they had always played, on the same sized court they had always played on, with the same fundamental rules they had always had to follow. 

I was thinking about that scene last night when I considered what makes all of our churches in the CBBA the same: the gospel. No matter if your church looks like this...

or this...

...the gospel message is the same. And each church should be loudly and clearly proclaiming that same message, for the gospel is not only our message that saves us, but it is also the message that sustains us. 

I'm currently teaching a nine-week series on the marks of a healthy church in one of our churches on Sunday nights, and the first three weeks we've focused on 1) the importance of text-based preaching, 2) the importance of preaching the whole counsel of God, and 3) the importance of being gospel-centered. They are all tied together, for the only way to be gospel-centered is to preach from the text of the Scriptures, and indeed all the Scripture (the whole counsel of God) points to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Don't buy into some who tell you to unhitch from the Old Testament for doing so would be like trying to win a basketball championship while only staying in one half of the court. 

So no matter what circumstances and changes our churches face, we must preach the same message we've always preached, from the same Book we've always preached from, about the same Savior we've always proclaimed because He is the only hope for mankind. 

As always let me know if there is any way that I can serve you and your churches as you carry out the Great Commission.