Billy Graham Gets Me a Seminary Degree!

I appreciate the help that Billy Graham gave to those seeking evangelical theological education.  Growing up I was aware of the crusades on TV and how people felt about Billy Graham.  But when I learned about his involvement in Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, I saw a huge part of his work that some may not know about even today, during the week of his funeral.  I recommend reading about the founding Gordon-Conwell as part of learning the larger history of post WWII evangelicalism in America.  It is truly fascinating stuff, and I thoroughly enjoyed studying under and seeing in person some of those leaders who were involved in it way back then.  I found it to be very helpful in finding theological identity in the postmodern world in which there seems no place for truth.  I believe that all this began for me during those busy years in South Hamilton.  Here are photos I took back then from the 1992 Convocation, and of his printed signature on our degrees. Dr. Graham also spoke at Commencement in 1994, when I received my M.Div.  There are links to the videos of these occasions via Gordon-Conwell.  I hope all this expands your appreciation for Billy Graham, and other leaders like him, who where (and are!) a great help to those seeking the truth through theological education.

Billy Graham 1994 Commencement Gordon College Chapel

Convocation 1992 GCTS Chapel

Happy because of Jesus,
Pastor James

Some Thoughts on Hiring Larry Doyle

Look what fell out of my file cabinet!  I would have shared with my church back in the day.

Dated July 15, 2003 (Edited only for typographical errors)

Some Thoughts on Hiring Larry Doyle

On Monday night, I sat and watched Dr. Larry Doyle pour out his heart for what Cooperative/partnership Missions looks like. This is his way of speaking about Associational Missions work, which is what he as a Director of Missions will promote.

His text for the sermon part of his talk was Mark 2, the healing of the Paralytic: (Read Mark 2:1-12).

These four men were on their way somewhere perhaps. Maybe they were going to the meeting to see Jesus speak. They valued the ministry of Jesus, they knew that he healed people and was a person of great power and strength. So first, Dr. Doyle said that they had shared values. Next, these four men, on their way somewhere, saw a person in need. They realize that Jesus could make the man in need walk again. They valued the ministry of Jesus, and this gave rise to their vision that Jesus could make the man walk again. So they had a shared vision.

Next, these four men cooperated. They each cooperated in carrying their share of the burden. What would have happened if one man had decided not to carry his part of the stretcher? So these four men had shared values that led to a shared vision, that caused them to cooperate and share the work.

Next, these men had a problem. What happened? Did they just get to bring the paralytic right in and set him down? No! They could not get to the house. So they moved on to plan B, they overcame an obstacle together. So, they had shared values, that led to a shared vision, that caused them to cooperate and overcome obstacles.

They believed in their vision sufficiently to cooperate and overcome obstacles. But this common vision wasn't imposed on them. It arose naturally because of their shared values. They valued the ministry of Jesus.

One of the most difficult things to do in life is to get different people working together. Consider the following old sayings:

Too many cooks in the kitchen.

Too many chiefs and not enough Indians.

Too many generals and not enough foot soldiers.

It seems that plenty of people want to cooperate, as long as they are the one that is being cooperated with.

It seems to me that Dr. Doyle, if indeed we are allowed to vote tomorrow night and if he is elected as our DOM, will have significant challenges. Why is that? Because it is rare to find a majority of churches and pastors that share their values enough to have a common vision, a common sharing of burdens, a common effort to overcome obstacles.

Why is this? Because everyone says they are concerned about lost people, and believe that the gospel should be taken to the lost through acts of service, love, and the spoken word.

But wait, that sounds like a shared value to me! But too often it is only the surface value. Consider these other values and see if they sound like those ACTUALLY held by pastors and church leaders:

We value our independence; so we don't want to be told what to do by others.

We value our finances; so we don't want to give money unless we get something out of the deal.

We value our reputations; so we don't want to associate too closely with anything unless it is guaranteed to make us look good.

We value our status; so we don't want to be equal partners with those pastors of small churches or Bi vocational pastors. They should be learning from us, we shouldn't be partnering with them.

We value our correctness; so we won't cooperate unless it is proven that other churches or pastors agree with us on virtually everything that we consider to be important.

As you can see, there are some shared values that don't work very well for a shared vision.

So what is the answer? I believe there are two.

First, we can abandon Baptist ideals and go for authoritarianism. We can have a top-down model of cooperation, where Hitler tells us all what to do and we just do it. He says jump, and we say how high.

Second, we can renew our commitment to the real value we profess. Do we really value the ministry of Christ like these four men did?

Do we really appreciate His help in our own lives? Do we realize that He is the first and best of all beings? Do we want to please Him as we should by delighting ourselves in Him above all other things in life?

Do we love Jesus more than we love our independence, our reputation, our finances, our status, our correctness?

When we do, we will have a real foundation for shared vision, cooperation, and kingdom growth.

So join me in praying that we will glorify God by enjoying Him forever.

Dr. Larry Doyle is leaving us as Director of Missions of the Piedmont Baptist Association at the end of this year. He has been an encouragement to many pastors and churches, and has led the PBA through many initiatives and transformations. His ministry work continues with Unleashed by Design at facebook.com/unleashedbydesign 

Pastor Russ Moyer

News-Record Obituary for Pastor Russ Moyer

See the audio player on the right for "Meditations for Pastor Russ Moyer" from Rolling Roads Baptist Church on Sunday March 15, 2015.

Another reason to stick to the basics

I missed this article earlier in the year, but I did read the how-to guide.  Are you comfortable with this sort of "method" in your church services?  Is this different than what is used at the mass crusades when the counselors come forward first when the alter call is given?

RNS Article about not-so spontaneous "Spontaneous Baptisms"

Church Leadership and Antagonism

 John 10 speaks of "hirelings" or "substitutes for the real thing" who want to "climb up some other way."  Where leaders get into trouble is with independent acting, outside of the confines of congregational life in love.  When we step out alone in public ways (without our leaders or church members on board) we are endangering the fragile relationship between clergy and laity. Often church members won't understand what we are thinking since they are focused only on our independent (re:trouble-making) actions!  Such independent action may be symptom of the sinful desire to be Pastor/leader outside of the congregational life, so that the church serves us and not we the church. 

Servant leaders will lead from the heart if we are willing to exercise independent spiritual thinking.  Following the ineffable lead of God's Holy Spirit, welling up from within, under the guidance of Scripture, we can lead with integrity.  This is about conversation, about communication, about bringing people together with how God is leading the shepherd.   It is about persuasion, convincing, and challenging within the church.  For me, this is an implication of John's imagery of the good shepherd.  In Baptist life much of leadership is about consultation and conversation, reaching understandings, and moving forward.  It is about free pulpits and free people, but not clashing mavericks clamoring for attention with the trappings of the church but without its authority.  Churches should not exist to validate pastors' desires or egos, but their callings.  Is the calling to love and serve others who love Christ, or to be affirmed and served in one's own desires?

We need More love, people!

So my take on Sara Bareilles' new single, "King of Anything" is that the singer is right, no one did die and make the evangelistic person king of anything.  I think it is a protest/demand for the historically Baptist principle of "soul competancy."  I also think it appeals for the right to decide without personal condemnation for the decision made, and may actually stop short of a radical subjectivist autonomy. The song describes "waiting for a moment when it was my time to decide."  In John, Jesus calls on everyone to decide for themselves if His claims were true or not.  Notice though the protest against being called "lost," "I'm not the one who is lost."  Another clue for people who are evangelistically minded, or who care genuinely about others and their souls- we need love in our hearts for others! So maybe they don't have to feel like the one in the song; that they are being disrespected, labelled, categorized, and condemned all at once, and against their will!  The gospel is "good news," so let's take care lest we make it "bad news."  "So what if you disagree?"  We all know the disrespect might, sadly, be mutual, and songs like this confirm the social tension.  This might be a pretty neat song, for those who care about what other people think and feel about evangelistic efforts.