A Sad Day for Denominations...

internetmonk.com has just posted an assessment of the Southern Baptist Convention's current situation regarding youth, evangelism, missions etc. Based on what he writes here It seems that this is a very sad day for denominations. If the Southern Baptist are sliding into Oblivion what does this mean for other denominations that pattern themselves after and gain much from the SBC?

Many people from my denomination (Free Will Baptist) would say that we do not pattern ourselves the SBC, but the fact is there is a lot of copy cat going on (not that it is all bad by any means, I think it is great that we learn from one another). In fact one could say that we are the red headed step brother of the SBC that is always a day late and a dollar short. I am sure the same could be said of many other small Baptist denominations within America. The question is now, where do we go for leadership, where do we go for ideas? (In the article refrenced earlier, Michael Spencer points to the large non denominational churches as the ones who will give this leadership.)

The real question to be answered is if the SBC starts a decline (this actually may have already started) are Free Will Baptist and other denominations strong and independent enough to do it on our own. Will Free Will Baptist step up to the plate keeping a strong community, that is committed to the Kingdom, or will Free Will Baptist follow the SBC in decline. I pray that God is not done with Free Will Baptist!

You Alone Can Satisfy

You Alone Can Satisfy

Ross King

Verse 1

I have bowed at the altar

Of the world and its lies

Now I long to return to You

You alone can satisfy

I have wasted affections

On the things You despise

Now I long to return to You

You alone can satisfy

Chorus 1

My bread of life

You're my provider

You fill my soul with living water

Beneath Your wing

There is a shelter where I hide

You alone can satisfy

Verse 2

There's no fortune or pleasure

That this world can provide

They have failed and they always will

You alone can satisfy

You're the Treasure that I've found

You're the meaning of life

You're my deepest desires fulfilled

You alone can satisfy

This song just played on my computer as I was listening to worship music on shuffle mode. As this song played I was thinking: Why do we struggle so much with sin? As I listen it makes perfect sense:

I have wasted affections

On the things You despise

Now I long to return to You

You alone can satisfy

But the fact that it makes sense, has not made it true in my life. I know that God is the only one that can satisfy. But I don't know how to stop seeking satisfaction else where. I know this is an age old question, but I really wonder why do we look other places for satisfaction. How can we know everything theologically, but it not play out the right way in reality.

As I listen to the chorus I see a piece of what is missing in my life. It seems like I live such a comfortable life that I do not need God. Of course I need him for spiritual things, and even for long term direction. But I don't feel like I need him for: bread, provision, water, shelter.... But the fact is I do. If I fully realized how much I needed God I would not be tempted to sin as much. I would realize that he is what I need, not sin.

Lord help me to realize that I need you supremely for every part of my life so that I may find my satisfaction only in YOU!!

The End of Evangelicals

I just received an email with a link to an essay by Michael Spencer about the death of the Evangelical church in America. He expects the Evangelical church to follow the Mainline denominations that have all but disappeared in any contributing form in the past few years. He is expecting the Evangelical church to all but disappear in 10 years. Yes 10 years!!! I do not know what to think about his article (which you can read here in essay format or here on his blog), but some of what he said stirred my soul and made me feel very uneasy. Here are some of the highlights/lowlights

• "We fell for the trap of believing in a cause more than a faith." speaking of the fact that more Christians can articulate their Biblical stance against abortion and gay marriage, than they can articulate the Gospel to a non believer.


• "This collapse will herald the arrival of an anti-Christian chapter of the post-Christian West. Intolerance of Christianity will rise to levels many of us have not believed possible in our lifetimes, and public policy will become hostile toward evangelical Christianity, seeing it as the opponent of the common good."


• "We Evangelicals have failed to pass on to our young people an orthodox form of faith that can take root and survive the secular onslaught. Ironically, the billions of dollars we've spent on youth ministers, Christian music, publishing, and media has produced a culture of young Christians who know next to nothing about their own faith except how they feel about it." Not much to say about this, it just makes me step back and say hmm.?!


• "Evangelicalism doesn't need a bailout. Much of it needs a funeral." when answering the question if this is a good or bad thing. His stance is not that it is good, but then again he sees some things that will only change when the churches fail.


• "We need new evangelicalism that learns from the past and listens more carefully to what God says about being His people in the midst of a powerful, idolatrous culture."

Once again, I have not fully processed what I have just read, but I know this should shake us a little. Even if Spencer is not accurate in what he is saying he is accurate in some of the problems he is seeing. As long as Evangelicals are joined at the hip with political conservatism in a world turning away from political conservatism Evangelicalism will not flourish. We need a movement that is not focused on politics, but rather on winning souls. A movement that is more focused about the kingdom we will live in than the one we do live in.

I am afraid that Spencer that the best way to reach the world in the future may be through another medium than the Evangelical church.

Two key things...

I always try to have a few thoughts that guide my life. Whenever I am having a tough time figuring out a situation I break the problem down as much as possible so I can answer questions as easily as possible. For instance, when I was getting close to finishing college with my major in missions everyone thought (as did I for a while) that I would go right to the mission field. The problem was I couldn't get peace about it. So I spent about a year considering what God had gifted me with and what He wanted me to do with that gifting (interestingly enough that year was when I lived in Russia). I came up with several key areas that I knew God had gifted me in, areas I knew had to be involved in whatever I decided to do with my life. The four things were: leadership, teaching, missions, and preaching. The list may not seem like much to you but to me it helped me make good decisions, and helped me end up where I am now. I would love to go into what these four areas mean to me (and I may do so some time soon), but I was writing all this just to illustrate how I like to break things down in order to solve problems easier.

For the six months or so I have been thinking about the church, and its job in the world. My purpose in thinking about the church is to be able to explain the church better to those around me, help them understand their place in the church so we can do more for the cause of Christ together. At Central Church we have broken down the job of the Church (and believers) to a three fold vision:

1. Worshiping God
2. Loving You
3. Reaching the World

We are attempting to make this more and more a part of our church thought process, and infrastructure. We want to be able to say to our people: "There are three things we want you to do as a believer: worship God (attend corporate worship on Sunday mornings), love each other (be a part of a small group to love and be loved), and do your part to reach the world (be involved in service and evangelism inside the church and out). This three fold emphasis makes life easier, makes vision easy to explain, streamlines efforts, and hopefully adds glory and souls to the kingdom. I love this, and am a big supporter of it...but my question is this: "Is our job even more simple than this?"

In my thinking I have taken this three fold approach down to a two sided approach. As believers we should be:

1. Worshiping God
2. Pushing others toward God

Whenever I share this I feel like there is so much left to explain, but then I remember that there will always be much more to explain. I like this approach for a couple of reasons: 1) This approach mirrors the Great Commandment of Mark 12:28-31. In the Great Commandment there are two sides: God and others, this lets me know that our ministry philosophies should fit into that same vein. We should not have a ministry philosophy that emphasises the human side more than the God side, we should follow the Biblical model and have a two fold model. 2) Encouraging our people to "Push others toward God" is much more general but much more descriptive than other models. As Christians we should push everyone we meet towards God; if we have a conversation with a fellow believer they should be closer to God because of it, if we meet up with a non-believer they should be a step closer to calling on the name of Christ as Savior. We can push others toward God in everything we do, whether it be at church or at work, this can be life! 3) The language used does not intimidate. Most people feel like they can worship God, and most people feel like they can push others a little closer to God, on the other hand they get a little overwhelmed with the thought of reaching the world or even loving everyone. This gives the average Christian something they can hold on to and strive for as they push on toward maturity. If Christians will do these two things on a daily basis the Kingdom will grow exponentially. 4) It is much easier for me to remember 2 points rather than three, though we could just go with the Westminster Catechism which has one point for this....

There are also two things I don't necessarily like about this phraseology: 1) it doesn't necessarily flow off the tongue (not that important I know) and 2) it doesn't mention the name of Christ. I don't ever want to be accused of getting away from a Christ centered Gospel (that is an oxymoron), so I want to use the name of Christ in this, but to this point I haven't.

Here is the point. As Christians we have a job to do. Whether we break it down to three points or two, or even fifty: we have to be obeying the Great Commandment, and the Great Commission. This is the job of the church. As leaders we must streamline our churches so that our people can concentrate on these main things, as Christians we must streamline our lives, getting rid of what is in the way so that we can concentrate on what Christ told us is most important: 1)worship God, and 2) push others toward Christ.

Sanctity of Human Life

Sanctity of Human Life
A Reading of Responsibility

Sanctity of human life started back in the beginning. God created all, but he created man and woman a little different. The Bible says in Genesis that they were created in the image of God, set apart from the rest of creation for a special relationship with God. We continue to see the sanctity of human life throughout the Bible: Jesus reminds us of the value of children, James reminds us to take care of the widows and orphans; The Law demands that we make provisions for the poor and for foreigners. And Paul warns us against racism and against looking down on those in different social strata than us. From beginning to end we see that God values human life and considers it sacred.
Our temptation now is to concentrate on one part of the greater problem of the sanctity of human life. Reminding ourselves and each other that life starts in the womb and that any baby that dies – whether pre-birth, during birth, or after birth should be mourned is a good thing. But we cannot stop there. As Christians we must stand for the sanctity of human life from the womb to the nursing home, from our doorstep to the backwater tribes of Africa. We cannot fight for the sanctity of human life on the topic of abortion while at the same time we say nothing about the slaughtering of that sanctity on the islands of Asia.
As Christians we must stand beside the persecuted and forgotten; the fetus and the sex slave; the orphan and the aged; the battered woman and the starving child. We must link arms against abortion, the AIDS epidemic, genocide, and exploitation. We need to be the leading voices in reminding the world that every life matters.
This is not a government project or a political platform: this is a relational requirement. God began human history by setting mankind apart. His expectations and viewpoint have not changed. He is a God who cares for all, who cares for you. He even knows the number of hairs on our head. Let us not forget He even cared enough for mankind that he sent a savior to give us life to the fullest.

Let us pray.

O God, our help, please remind us of our responsibilities as humans to one another. We as Christians are your ambassadors here on earth; please show us what you want us to be involved in. Please show us what should be important to us. O God our creator let us not forget those that are hurting, and unable to help themselves. Let us remember that true religion, according to James, is just that, helping those who cannot help themselves. O God our potter, help us to remember that we are clay in your hands, but that you have not thrown us away, but have molded us as vessels of honor – more and more into your image every day. O God our Savior, let us tell of your salvation to all, that all may know that you have made a way for us. O God our Father, we thank you for adoption, that we are no longer orphans without a home, but that we are now sons, daughters and heirs. We pray these things in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Amen

First read at Central Free Will Baptist Church in Royal Oak Michigan on January 25th 2009.

Highs and Lows

Not long ago I had one of the highest highs in my ministry. Everything went well, a plan was envisioned, put into play, an executed well. We had a service that I had been dreaming about for about seven months, and it went awesome! Better than could have been expected. I went home that night on cloud nine, expecting things to continue going well. The next day, Sunday, was one of the worst days in ministry I had ever had. Things didn't go well, not at all. Along with that I found myself strugelling with sin more than normal (and giving in at an alarming rate). "What happened?!!!!" I went from a high of all highs, to a low, and it was a bad low.

Even this past Sunday, everything went well, it was the best Sunday of our Advent season, but then something came up in the afternoon that brought me down. It seems like it always happens.


I think this is the way it works. When we are on top of the mountain, it seems like the logical time for the devil to come after us. And come after us he does, he comes hard, and for some reason we are not ready because of the success we just had. We get tempted, and we fall. Heck, sometimes I think I don't want to succeed, if this is what happens next.

I don't think that is the only thing going on. On some level the Lord also keeps his servants humble, he wants us to do great things for him, but he wants us to do them for his glory not ours.

Am I the only one, or has this been your experience as well?

Stingy Christians

Stingy Christians was the name first considered for this book, and probably a better name. Passing the Plate analyzes the giving patterns of American Christians and finds some very shocking (or maybe not so shocking) statistics. Did you know that 20% of Christians give nearly 90% of the total given to the church and other charitable institutions? On top of that the top 5% gives more than half of the total given. The authors show all the possibilities for Christians if only the ones that call themselves committed Christians would give: The number is a staggering 46 billion.

As I write about giving, many would say: "How can you talk about giving during an economic crisis?" Well, because if we as Christians would change our giving habits in times of turmoil, that would make it a lot easier for when the economy gets better. I was listening to Johnny Hunt (the president of the Southern Baptist Convention) speak to his church the other day, and he, and his deacons, made a commitment to his church to double tithe until the economy turned around. I thought that was a great example of Christian leadership, Pastor Johnny and the leaders of the Woodstock Baptist church have stepped out and stood in the gap giving an example to their people not only to hold strong in their giving, but also to go above and beyond showing that God is in control.

What should we as pastors and laymen do? Well, we should first of all take the opportunity to make sure we are giving as we should. Then we should do all we can to push those around us to be the stewards that God wants them to be. This is no easy task, but we must challenged those around us even though our culture tells us that we should never talk about finances because that is a sensitive topic. We have a responsibility because giving is important to God, and it is his means of doing his work around this world.

The information about this book came from an article published by Christianity Today: http://www.christianitytoday.com/bc/2008/006/5.11.html

I'm a Butler?

I just found this article by Gerrit Gustafon about the job of ministers during the worship service. I think it will be enlightening to ministers and lay people alike.

Worship leaders and musicians (...and really all ministers) are like butlers
whose job it is to bring the congregation before the King. But many people
on their way home from the service find themselves with a nagging
dissatisfaction... they didn't get to see the King

For the rest of the article follow this link:

http://www.ccli.com/usa/Community/Articles/Article.aspx

The Launch of ChurchMetrics.com

I am pumped about the launch of churchmetrics.com. This web based application is provided free of charge from Life Church and claims to be "Built by a church, for churches...for free!!!" I have spent a little time poking around on the site and am so excited about the possibilities of keeping up with church attendance as well as giving. You can even set it up to keep up with the youth group seperately than the main church by using the seperate campus tool. Nevertheless, check it out, I think you will find it very useful to your ministry. http://www.churchmetrics.com/

By the way, read Josh Griffin's post about this on his blog: http://www.morethandodgeball.com/?p=4426

Wednesday Night's video

We have been in a five week study in Youth Group answering the question "Who is Jesus?" Last week was the final week so we used this great video to bring it all home for the students. They say today's students learn more through a narrative rather than a three point outline, so I am attempting to do more using narratives rather than just a logical progression.


Enjoy!!

Heck, Even You Could Do IT!!!!

Just finished a great book today. Radically Unchurched by Alvin Reid is a great read for anyone who wants to learn more about reaching the lost around them, especially a good read for pastors or people training to be in the ministry.
One of the many practical ideas found in this book seemed so simple that I nearly didn't even try it. The idea is this: whenever you go to a restaurant ask your waiter or waitress if they have any prayer requests for you to pray for when you pray over your meal. The idea is that this will begin good conversations with people about the Lord. Well today I went out to eat for lunch with two of the members of the church. I did not have this in mind when I showed up, but when I sat down I realized that I had to ask. Just like any wimpy Christian, I tried to make excuses to get out of it, but I knew that I had to do it. When our waitress served us our food I called her by name and said "We are about to pray for our food, do you have anything that we could pray about?" She was shocked at first but asked us to pray for her as she makes a decision about having sugery or not. We prayed for her, but the amazing thing was that when she came back to our table she had a huge smile on her face and thanked me for praying for her. She thanked me at least one other time before I left. I didn't know that it would be anything like this, but now I see. People need to hear about hope, when Christians talk about prayer, they hear hope. I am planning on doing this every time I go out to eat from now on. Will you join me? Will you take the challenge, will you be a conduit for God to show hope and love to be the post-modern people around you? Hey, just try it, I think you will be hooked after one time.

New Song from Everclear - Talk about a wake up Call

I just ran into this website while doing my regular blog reading this afternoon. Everclear has a free download of their new song, you can listen to it and read the words at the site below. The song is an indictment against Christians for the choices and stances they make. I found myself agreeing with the song a lot, and I realized that these are the areas where American Evangelicals do not communicate the true meaning of Christianity. Everclear is not a Christian band by any means, but one thing that can clearly be seen in this song is that Everclear is rejecting American Christianity not Jesus. They may have a somewhat naive or even twisted view of Jesus, but Jesus is not the problem for them, I am (Christians are). We need to learn something here, and realize that the world is begging for answers and even open to Jesus, but they are not open to Christianity.


NOTE: This music is not for the faint of heart. There is cussing, and a wholly irreverent attitude. Just a warning, I don't want any comments about how this song is inappropriate.

Check it out: http://www.everclearonline.com/

A Great Blog Post

This is probably the best article, blog, or book on the subject of worship styles I have ever read. Jacob gives a great perspective on it, and will be helpful for all of you. He reminds us that worship is our responsibility as individuals and should not be dictated by worship styles. It is an awesome article, a must read!!! Check it out http://www.rhblogs.com/jr/?p=419

Trip to Frankenmuth

Recently, Jill and I were able to get away for a few days for our anniversary. It was nice to be able to rest for a few days to enjoy each other. It was also nice being in Frankenmuth, a German town here. The food was great, and the view was great as well, but I kept forgeting that we wern't really in Germany so I wouldn't be able to see the Bavarian Alps. What a bummer. (In Michigan we only have a few hills. Anyway, enjoy some pictures.

Resurrection Clip

Tonight we are talking about the Resurrection of Christ. This is the video we are using to introduce it. I think it is going to be great. Enjoy.

Wishing for a little more time in a day

My wife and I are sitting on the couch wishing for a few more hours in the day. I am currently working on my grad school stuff (specifically, I am studying about the Gospel of Luke), but also on my mind: my big paper due by next Sunday, this Sunday's test, paper, and Worship Service, as well as other ministry concerns, and neither Jill or I are feeling well. Well, I guess this is what I get for having a full time job (about 50-60 hours per week) and full time graduate school (I don't really want to know how many hours, but I read about 350 pages per week). I am not sure how I get it all done (sometimes it gets close), but then again I am sure we all are wishing for a few more hours in the day. In the end, I guess if I had more hours in the day, I would fill it up with more stuff. Here's to sleep!!!!

Remembering 9/11/01

As I look out of my hotel room window I see on the other side of the interstate a large American flag flying half-mast. The site brings back memories every time I see it, but nothing like it does today. Today as I look at the flag, a myriad of thoughts and images run through my mind, as they probably do yours. Do you remember where you were on that late summer day in September of 2001? Or did you actually remember that it was seven years ago today that this second Day of Infamy occurred?
Trying to think of my emotions as I walked into the dormitory, during my Freshman year in college, and saw a group of usually rowdy and irreverent students guys huddled around the television in silence. We all sat there stunned, and wondered what that meant for the rest of our lives. We knew something would change, but the question was WHAT!
Think about that day for you, did you hear the news in your car or at your desk, as your were getting ready for work, or as you sat in your classroom at school? Did you find out because of the gridlock around the break room TV set, or because of the gridlock on the highways and airports of Boston and New York? What did you do? Who did you hug? Did you cry, or were you just mad?
I was mad, I was also scared. I was scared at the potential of military service in my future (a fear that dissolved into resolve within hours, but was never needed) but also scared because for the first time in my life I lived in a city. I had only lived there for weeks, and was wishing for the comfort and security of rural Alabama again. Could my city be next. For many of us the emotions were the same, that is not to mention those of us who lost someone on that day, we were angry, we were scared, we wanted to do something about it.
As I look back on the last seven years I think about what has happened in America, what has changed. Many things are different, though not to the proportion that we envisioned that day.
We wait in line longer at airports (and pay more for our tickets at that), we have to have passports to go on cruises and to visit Canada, and Mexico, we have a color coded pattern we hear about describing the threat level, and we know of countries and governments that we barely knew existed 10 years ago. But despite the many changes things seem very similar today as they did 9/10/01.

In the last seven years I have lived all over the eastern part of the US, and traveled to even more of it; I have traveled and also lived in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Northern Africa. I have seen the world from a different perspective through these years. The threat of terrorist attacks have been real around me (and sometimes very close), and yet because of 9/11 I know that terrorist do not have to win.

9/11 a day of much death and destruction. But the fact that I can look out my window seven years later and still see an American Flag flying means that the terrorist did not win! In all that I think on today, I will thank God that the terrorist have not won!!

Back To School!!!

And nope this is not a blog about the students here in our church, this is about me. Patrick McDaniel is going back to school. I am in my first semester of my MAR (Master of Arts in Religion) at Liberty University. Kudos to Liberty for making this available to pastors in such an accessible way (pastors if you would like to know how accessible let me know). Notice I said accessible, not easy: some people have taken knocks at online education, and in the past I was one of them. There are still some courses and subjects that cannot be done well online (like preaching practicum, and foreign languages), but other than that online is right on par with on campus. Liberty does its best to give you the best educational experience ever.

I do remember in my undergrad in Nashville (Free Will Baptist Bible College) that a class with more than three books was considered a killer, in fact any class with more than one text book was complained about. But here in Seminary everything is a little different, 300 pages per week of reading not to mention discussion forums, tests and papers. Its a good thing I like to read! Just for info, one of my classes has eight books for reading, yes 8! Once again, good thing I like to read.

Jill and I are excited, and just think in about two and a half years I will be done with my MAR and my MDIV and looking for that ever elusive PHD. Busy, busy, busy. I gotta get back to my reading now.

PGA Championship at Okland Hills

Well, maybe you can already guess, I was able to spend a day athe the 90th PGA Championship just up the road in Bloomfield Township. Just about the first thing we did was go to the pro shop and buy this flag. When I bought it I was thinking it will be worth it for four signatures, but little did I know that I had many in store for me. We spent the whole day between the 7th and 8th holes and asked for autographs as the players came through. It was awesome!!! What is funny, is that most of these guys I had never heard of, and the ones that I had heard of didn't even make it past the cut this week. What's tough is that one of the guys that held the lead for a while and ended up finishing 3rd gave us the stiff arm when we asked for his autograph.

If you haven't been to an event, even if just to watch the practice rounds you have to get out to watch these guys play, because as the commercials say: "These Guys Are GOOOD!!!"

Living it up at the Tigers Game

Every job has its up side, one of mine is that sometimes church members take me to local sporting events to encourage Jill and I. I have been to two Pistons games and two Tigers games in this way since I moved here 10 months ago. Once for the Pistons and now once for the Tigers I have gotten to sit in a luxury suite. For the Tigers game, not only did we get to sit in the nice area, we got to have all the food we wanted. It was awesome. The only problem is that it seemed like something besides baseball. Jill and I went downstairs to check out batting practice, and experienced all the sights, sounds, and SMELLS of baseball: when we got back up to the suite for the game it just wasn't the same. Something about the hot dogs, nuts, and pop corn that just say baseball. I am not knocking the ribs, chicken, and shrimp that we had in our suite, but it seemed more like a company Christmas party than a baseball game. So for the record, living it up in the suite is awesome, but you still have to sneak downstairs for a good ole hot dog! Enjoy the pics. (Yes I know that one of them is the Pistons, I had to throw it in two).

P.S. To the wonderful people that gave us these wonderful seats, do not be offended, we had a great time, and would love to do it again anytime.