Posts by David Roach

Jackson teaches congregation to “walk by faith and not by sight” October 26, 2006

What have you done in the last 20 years that can only be explained by the power of God?

That’s the question Rob Jackson asked the Central Baptist Church in Decatur, Ala., where he is pastor, when he wanted to challenge its members to trust God for greater things than they could ever accomplish in their own strength.

Many people in the church replied that they hadn’t done anything in the past two decades that could only be explained by God’s power.

But if you pose the question to Jackson, he rattles off many tangible examples of God’s gracious power at work in both his personal life and in the life of the church.

Jackson, who was among the first group of students to graduate from the Ph.D. program in the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, says walking by faith is a personal priority.

“In everything we’re doing, we’re going to be a church that either walks by faith and not by sight or we’re going to shut the doors and let somebody else do it,” he said. “I believe with all my heart that Hebrews 11:6 is true—without faith it’s impossible to please God.”

Jackson has taught this biblical truth to his family. Five years ago, he taught his four-year-old daughter Abigail about the power of prayer. Abigail soon began to tell her father of specific instances in which God had answered her prayers.

Walking by faith also extends to Jackson’s life in ministry. Until the year 2003, he worked for the evangelism department of the Alabama Baptist Convention and as an adjunct professor at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. But in the summer of 2003 he accepted an invitation to preach in Decatur at Central Baptist Church. After one service, he knew God was calling him to pastor the church.

“After the service I went down and called my wife and said, ‘You’re not going to believe this. God is leading us to this church ... I just know in my heart that God is going to lead us to this church’” he said.

That is precisely what God did, he says. Even though Jackson did not fit the church’s stated qualifications, they began to speak with him and he started as pastor of the established downtown church within six months.

“I believe God wanted me to come here so the church could walk by faith and not by sight,” Jackson said.

As Jackson began his work at Central, he prepared to teach about the spiritual discipline of fasting. But before he began, God convicted him that he needed to fast and pray that God would show the church His will. During the fasting, Jackson says God made His will clear to him.

“God began to lay on my heart that He wanted our church to relocate,” he said, noting that the church had been in its location since 1892 and voted multiple times not to move.

Fearful of leading the church in a wrong direction, Jackson called two older men in the congregation and asked them to fast and pray until God showed them His will for the church. Without any prompting from their pastor, the men told Jackson they believed that God was leading the church to relocate.

Wanting to make sure he was doing the right thing, Jackson made similar requests to the staff, the deacons and the congregation, asking them all to fast and seek God’s will. Like the initial two men, each group sensed God’s leading to relocate.

Each group walked by faith and not by sight, Jackson said.

“The church voted 80 (percent)-20 (percent) to relocate,” he said. “We didn’t know where we’d get the money. We didn’t know where the land was, and we didn’t know if we could sell our property.”

But as the church prayed, something happened that could only be explained by the power of God, he said. It found a 29-acre location in the middle of Decatur with a 147,000-square-foot building, and the property’s owner was willing to sell for the cost of the land.

But once again there was a challenge of faith.

“People started to say, ‘You’ll never be able to sell this downtown property,’” he said. “So once again we started turning to God in prayer.”

Though no one had expressed interest in the church’s property for years, buyers emerged quickly—a phenomenon Jackson attributes to God answering prayer.

Then it came time for the church to raise money for construction on the new property. The church needed $4 million minimum to begin and $11 million for the entire building program. Consultants from the state convention, however, told Central it could expect to raise a maximum of $2 million.

Jackson once again admonished the parishioners to pray.

“I told the congregation this was the most exciting thing I‘d ever been a part of, and the reason is that God is going to show the world that it’s not about our money,” he said. “He doesn’t need our money.”

Adopting the theme “Mission Possible,” church members committed $6 million, and outside contributions may allow the church to reach the $11 million mark.

Through the whole process Jackson’s emphasis has been on prayer and revival, not money.

“If we’re going to be the church God calls us to be, we have to look at ourselves and say, ‘God, we’ve been prideful. We’ve been doing things in ourselves. We come to You humbly, asking for forgiveness, and now we’re going to seek Your face in prayer,’” Jackson said.

“Our church is doing nothing except turning to God in prayer and trusting God. And because of that, we’re getting the benefit. The blessings are pouring out on us.”

Walking by faith and asking God to do things no human can accomplish teaches churches and individuals that prayer is not just a ritual—it’s a powerful weapon in spiritual warfare, Jackson said.

Central will soon kick off a prayer ministry in which a church member is praying for revival and spiritual renewal 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“We’ve always been a praying church, but now we’re believing in prayer,” Jackson said.

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New video series from Southern Seminary seeks to equip minister’s wives October 19, 2006

A new video and audio teaching series produced by The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary aims at equipping the wives of ministers.

The series, entitled “Christian Essentials: For Ministry Wives,” is based on the curriculum used in Southern’s Seminary Wives Institute (SWI). SWI offers classes for the wives of students in areas ranging from theology and church history to public speaking and hospitality.

The video series is packaged in three volumes and covers topics such as the responsibilities of a minister’s wife, essentials for marriage and family and the basics of Baptist doctrine. Available along with the audio and video set are study guides for each volume.

“It is our sincere hope that this series will serve to educate and equip wives who are already on the field but did not have an opportunity to receive training targeted to them,” said Mary Mohler, wife of Southern Seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr. and director of SWI.

“This is the next best thing to being on our campus to take Seminary Wives Institute classes in person. We hope that as a result of these courses, women will be excited about the unique calling they have been given and will look at it in a refreshed and energized way.”

Instructors include seminary faculty and former seminary faculty along with faculty wives. Among them: R. Albert Mohler, Danny Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources.

“The men who teach in this series are seasoned theologians who have the ability to teach doctrine in a winsome way on an undergraduate level,” Mohler said. “The faculty wives truly teach from their hearts through their wealth of real life experiences. Each one has a different style and personality, of course, but there is a common thread of passion for the Lord and for the training of women called to be ministry wives. This is truly a Titus 2 ministry.”

The teaching is aimed specifically at ministry wives, but all women would find it helpful, Mohler said, adding that women may want to facilitate courses in local churches using the video series.

Two major donors that drove the production of the Christian Essentials course and provided leadership during production were Mr. and Mrs. Harry Nurse. Harry Nurse is a Louisville businessman, Southern alumnus and a member of Southern Seminary’s Foundation Board.

“Their generous gifts of funding and time cannot be overestimated,” Mohler said.

Mohler emphasized the importance of ministry wives sharing their husbands’ callings and receiving appropriate training.

“We believe that God calls ministry couples as a team. Just as the husband often invests years in training and education, it is important for the wife to receive training that is specific to the role she is called to fill,” she said.

“This series seeks to encourage women while at the same time admonish them to be the best they can be for the sake of the Kingdom.”

To order “Christian Essentials” materials, visit www.ChristianEssentials.com or call 1-888-992-8277.

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SBTS alum leads crusade in Louisville-area town October 12, 2006

For three years David Moerschel anticipated a citywide crusade in Taylorsville, Ky.

But he anticipated neither how widespread nor how deep the impact from the crusade would be.

As a student at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Moerschel began attending Elk Creek Baptist Church in Taylorsville in August of 2003. From the start of his involvement at the church, Moerschel had the idea of holding an area-wide evangelistic crusade involving churches from several denominations. He began working on the crusade, but the plans didn’t materialize initially.

Then in 2005 Moerschel was trained in crusade evangelism by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and felt God telling him it was time to try again with a Taylorsville crusade. This time the result was very different.

More than 37 churches partnered to organize an evangelistic effort that culminated Sept. 29-Oct. 1 with hundreds gathering for the Impact Crusade at Spencer County High School. It was the largest religious gathering in Taylorsville history, Moerschel said.

“From the time I started attending that church I just could see a crusade in that area,” Moerschel, who preached at the crusade, said. “There is a lot of growth going on in Taylorsville and a lot of change.”

Moerschel graduated from Southern in May 2006 and is now pursuing vocational evangelism through his own association, The David Moerschel Evangelistic Association, which formed in late 2005 and is based out of Atlanta. His association took the lead in crusade organization and planning. Several other former and current Southern students worked with Moerschel on the event.

Patterning the crusade after Billy Graham crusades, Moerschel garnered support from Taylorsville pastors, assembled a crusade executive committee made up of local leaders, organized teams to carry out different ministries related to the crusade and opened a local crusade office. A kickoff rally in March attended by more than 100 people “marked the beginning of the preparation process for the crusade,” Moerschel said.

During the months following the kickoff rally, local churches conducted Christian life and witness training and launched an initiative known as Operation Andrew, in which Christians pray for and develop relationships with non-Christians, eventually inviting them to the crusade.

Operation Andrew produced results in some churches long before the crusade arrived, Moerschel said.

“We had one local church pastor who just saw tremendous results from Operation Andrew,” he said. “He said the week after they implemented Operation Andrew they started seeing people get saved or come back to church or reconcile to the church. He just saw tremendous results from using this. It’s really nothing about the program. It’s all about Christians praying for and caring about other people.”

When the crusade arrived, the number of people responding to the Gospel was not as large as Moerschel hoped, but some said the event caused them to recommit themselves to sharing the Gospel with lost friends and neighbors.

One woman told Moerschel the crusade “caused her to get out her old evangelism books, to write letters to her friends and write emails and to reach out to them again for evangelism purposes,” he said. “It reignited her evangelistic zeal. If we can do that, we’ve done a lot. If we can raise up hundreds of evangelists in an area, it’s going to have a continual effect.”

One pastor said he had been praying for an event like the Impact Crusade for 15 years, Moerschel said.

On the last night of the crusade Moerschel challenged attendees to continue sharing the message of Jesus with others after the official activities ended.

“I really charged the people after the last service and said, ‘The crusade services are over, but the crusade doesn’t have to be over if you’ll continue to care for those around you, continue to pray for them, continue to invite them and bring them to your churches and if you’ll continue to work in a spirit of cooperation,’” he said.

“I really encouraged them to carry on and let this be the start of something rather than the end of something.”

Currently Moerschel is exploring crusades in several other areas, including sites in Kentucky, Illinois, Georgia and Bolivia.

“We basically have more doors opening up than we have time, money or personnel to explore,” he said.

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SBTS prof. serves as consultant for Cincinnati-area creation museum October 5, 2006

In Kurt Wise’s office at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary you can find fossils that secular scientists claim are billions of years old and represent one stage in the long process of man’s evolution.

But this Harvard-trained paleontology expert is out to show a better explanation for fossils and that neither science nor the Bible allow for evolution. That’s why Wise, director of the Center for Theology and Science and professor of theology and science at Southern, has also agreed to serve as a consultant for the Creation Museum in Florence, Ky., near Cincinnati, Ohio.

The museum, scheduled to open in April 2007, will feature 50,000 square feet and more than 250 exhibits countering the errors of evolutionary science and demonstrating the reliability of the first 11 chapters in Genesis.

Laid out in a walk-through format, the museum shows how science supports the Bible’s accounts of creation, the origin of man and the worldwide flood. The Creation Museum is a project of Answers in Genesis, an apologetics organization focused on answering questions about the book of Genesis.

“It’s a good balance of philosophy, theology and science with the priority being on Scripture as a starting point,” said Wise, who came to Southern in 2006. “We understand science because we start with the Bible. We understand philosophy because we start with the Bible. [The museum] is an attempt to weave those together.”

One goal of the museum is to combine the expertise and resources of two groups in the creationist movement that too often work separately—scientists and popular conveyers of creationist concepts, Wise said. He noted that scientists often have nuanced data that they have difficulty communicating with the public while popular creation speakers often give imprecise scientific data in an effort to present a simple message.

The Creation Museum teams precise science with understandable presentations of data, Wise said, adding that he has consulted with other experts in the fields of biology, geology and astronomy.

“It’s not just my personal expertise I‘m bringing in, but that of everybody I know,” he said.

The material presented in the museum is important for Christians to understand because it shows that biblical inerrantists who take Genesis literally have scientific support, Wise said. He noted that believing the earth was created by God 6,000-7,000 years ago is the most consistent position to take in light of Scripture.

“If you don’t believe in a young earth, you really cannot—and be consistent—believe in the truth of much of Genesis 1-11,” he said. “You have to reject a Babel origin for modern languages. You have to reject a global flood—it has to be a local flood. You have to reject the longevity of the patriarchs—they couldn’t possibly have lived for 900 years.

“You have to reject that the first city was built by Cain or anything associated with Cain. You have to reject that Adam was the first human. You have to reject the origin of agriculture spoken of in Genesis 4. You have to reject the description of Eden—it becomes absurd with rivers on three different continents coming out in one place. You have to reject Genesis chapter 1—the order of creation is wrong, not just the days or the length of the days.”

Wise acknowledged that the majority of Christians and even the majority of conservative evangelicals believe the world is older than 7,000 years, but he argued many of the foundational doctrines of the Bible—such as marriage, the literal fall of man, the necessity of a savior and the end times—depend on belief in a young earth.

“The most important thing is that you ought to be able to trust your God and the claims the Bible makes. I know most people don’t understand what in the world the scientists are saying. That’s okay. Just pay attention to what God says. If you trust what God has given us, it becomes an appropriate foundation for every aspect of our lives.”

As believers examine science, the most important thing they can remember is to always pay attention to Scripture above any scientist, Wise said.

“The most important thing is, regardless of what all the scientists are saying, the Bible is true and you can accept it by faith,” he said. “God is only pleased with faith, as a matter of fact. To trust the scientists is not faith. It is, in fact, trusting in man’s reason rather than God.”

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Recover doctrine of discernment, Brunson tells SBTS students September 14, 2006

Many Southern Baptists have lost the ability to discern God’s truth, and a failure to recover the doctrine of discernment will have disastrous consequences for the Kingdom of God, said Mac Brunson, senior pastor of First Baptist Church Jacksonville, Fla., during the Sept. 12 chapel service at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

“We have lost this ability to discern, and it is destroying the church,” said Brunson, who pastored First Baptist Church Dallas, Texas, since 1999 before succeeding Jerry Vines in Jacksonville earlier this year.

“I worry about our denomination. I feel like if there is not a radical turn, we are going to be like Sherman standing on banks of the Chautauqua looking at the smoke from South Carolina when we look at our denomination in the years ahead—if we don’t begin to use some godly discernment.”

Preaching from 1 Thessalonians 5, Brunson gave three reasons why many believers have lost the ability to discern.

First, he argued that Christians have depreciated doctrine in exchange for shallow emotionalism. It is often difficult to distinguish between Christians and non-Christians today because their beliefs and lifestyles are virtually identical, Brunson said,

“We’ve got all kinds of mess that’s going on in the church today,” he said. “The gap is so small between the believer and the unbeliever that you can hardly distinguish between the two.”

Many Christians have even bought into the popular but deadly notion that truth is relative, Brunson said.

“By claiming the authority to determine right from wrong, we crown ourselves the kings and queens of reality, yet we have no authority,” he said. “We constantly pay the price for the arrogance of believing and acting like we are in control of our destiny and experience. What an affront it is to God for us to claim His name and protection but to resist His moral truths on the basis of human feelings.”

Second, Christians have abandoned the absolutes of God’s Word and seek to gain approval from the world, he said. Scripture pictures the Christian holding the Word of God with one hand and holding back the world with the other hand, Brunson said.

“[The world has] No discernment whatsoever,” he said. “We have abandoned absolute truth. We don’t adhere to ancient texts. We do what we feel led to do.”

Third, Brunson said many Christians have become infatuated with influence and are preoccupied with prestige. This trend should be of particular concern to the Southern Baptist Convention because many in the denomination are excessively concerned with growing big churches and gaining notoriety, Brunson said. Such attitudes differ greatly from Jesus’ teachings in Scripture, he said.

“We want a crowd, but you go and find me in the Gospels where Jesus’ bottom line was a crowd,” Brunson said.

Every believer must be on guard against a lack of discernment because even those who routinely hear sound preaching can drift into disobedience, he warned, drawing on the example of Jonathan Edwards, the 18th century American theologian and preacher who was fired by an undiscerning congregation after 23 years of biblical preaching.

“Don’t think that because we sit under the great teaching of great, godly leaders, if we don’t have discernment, we won’t drift,” Brunson said. “We desperately need discernment.”

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N.Y. partnership offers Southern students opportunity for ministry in 9/11 aftermath September 8, 2006

It has been five years since two jetliners slammed into the World Trade Center’s twin towers in the deadliest terrorist attack in American history, but the need for ministry and healing in the aftermath of the attack is still fresh on the minds of faculty at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

That’s why Southern has launched a partnership with a New York organization called The Leadership Journey.

Based out of a Southern Baptist church plant called The Gallery Church, The Leadership Journey recruits college students from across the nation to spend a year in New York taking Christian leadership classes and doing ministry in churches across the metro New York area. The program was originally an initiative of Southern Baptists’ North American Mission Board under its New Hope New York emphasis before moving to The Gallery Church.

Under the partnership, which began this year, professors from Southern and Boyce College travel to New York to teach classes to students in The Leadership Journey. Beginning in January Boyce and Southern administrators hope students will volunteer to spend a semester at The Leadership Journey. A semester in New York may result in up to nine credit hours and experience in urban evangelism and ministry.

James A. Scroggins, dean of Boyce College, said Southern’s desire to minister in New York is directly linked to the city’s openness to evangelism after 9/11.

“New York City is the most important city in the world and yet one of the most unreached cities in the world,” he said. “Missiologists have known that for a long time. But 9/11 has focused the attention of the world on New York City in a new way.

“ 9/11 didn’t change the evangelistic landscape of New York. It just brought it to our minds perhaps more than it was before.”

Aaron Coe, pastor of The Gallery Church and a Southern student, said the partnership offers students a valuable combination of practical experience, leadership training and theological education.

“This partnership allows students to come to New York City, serve in a vital ministry capacity and gain college-level or masters-level experience while they do it,” Coe said. “And they’re going to gain valuable leadership training.”

Scroggins, who has taught courses at The Leadership Journey, initiated the idea for the partnership during a brainstorming session with Coe, who also serves as executive director of The Leadership Journey. To attract students from around the country, Scroggins urged The Leadership Journey to set up its program so that participants could receive accredited college credit for their work.

The partnership began officially in August when Boyce professor Dave Adams taught “Introduction to Christian Education” in New York.

Adams urged Southern and Boyce students to consider spending a semester at The Leadership Journey because of its combination of practical ministry and classroom instruction. Adams serves as professor of youth ministry.

“It’s like surgeons training surgeons,” Adams said. “It’s one thing to be in the academic side, but to leave the classroom and then walk into the operating room—it’s something that’s not replicable. The students would come there, hear the classes, then spend time actually doing church planting with [church planters].”

Future courses taught by Boyce faculty will include theology, hermeneutics and evangelism.

Southern or Boyce students desiring further information about spending a semester at The Leadership Journey should contact Dave DeKlavon, Boyce’s associate dean for academic administration, at ddeklavon@sbts.edu.

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God’s Word is the authority on which we speak and teach, Mohler tells seminarians August 24, 2006

The fact that God has spoken is the only basis for hope in life and the only foundation for theological education, R. Albert Mohler Jr., president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said Aug. 22 during the school’s fall convocation.

The standing-room-only crowd also witnessed the announcement of Randy Stinson as the new dean of the School of Leadership and Church Ministry, the installation of three professors into endowed chairs and the introduction of nine new faculty members.

In addition, the seminary commemorated the 150th anniversary of James P. Boyce’s lecture “Three Changes in Theological Education,” which in 1856 set forth the principles on which Southern was founded three years later. Boyce was Southern’s founding president.

Preaching from Deuteronomy 4, Mohler said the world is experiencing a crisis today because many people do not believe there is any basis for human knowledge. But Christians must counter the world’s confusion by pointing to God’s Word—the Bible—as the basis for knowledge, he said.

“Christianity depends upon ... a Christian theory of knowledge that is based in revelation alone,” Mohler said. “My colleagues, there is no greater challenge than this: to make certain as we begin this new academic year that we know on what authority we speak.”

Scripture teaches that obedience to God’s Word results in blessing and disobedience results in curses, he said. Mohler pointed out that humans don’t deserve to hear from God but receive His Word out of God’s mercy.

“The revelation of God is sheer mercy,” he said. “We have no right to hear God speaking. We have no call upon His voice. We have no right to demand that He would speak. There is mercy where God speaks.”

Because God has spoken, humans have an obligation to hear and respond to the Creator’s voice, he said. One response to God’s Word should be to recognize that all His instructions are for our good, Mohler said.

“God does speak words of judgment in the Scripture, and God does speak words of warning,” he said. “There are hard words in Scripture, but it’s all for our good. God spoke to Israel even the words of warning in order that Israel might hear the warnings and obey the Word and not suffer the inevitable consequences of disobedience.”

God’s Word is also for our redemption, Mohler said, noting that the Bible shows God saving and redeeming people throughout its storyline. In the Old Testament God brought Israel out of slavery in Egypt, kept the nation alive in the wilderness and allowed it to hear His voice yet remain alive—all acts of redemption, he said. In the New Testament God performed the ultimate act of redemption by sending His Son to die on a cross for sinners.

Another response to God’s Word should be obedience and trust, he said.

“We must fashion, because of the sprit of the age and because of the imperative of the health of the church, a clear defense of Scripture in terms of its inspiration and authority and perfection,” he said. “We must teach that, remind ourselves of that and be accountable to that. But in the end it all comes down to trust.”

A Christian’s response to God’s Word is not complete until he tells a lost world about the salvation offered in Christ, Mohler said.

“There is, as the Word of God makes so very clear, the mandate to go and to tell. If God has spoken, then we do know. If God has spoken, then we are accountable. If God has spoken, then it is by mercy and for our good. And if God has spoken, it comes with a commission and a command,” he said.

“Our task is not to go figure out what to teach. Our task is not to figure out where to find our meaning in life. It is to be reminded continually that we heard the voice of God speaking from the fire and survived, and thus we teach. This is the mercy of God.”

Mohler installed three faculty members into endowed professorships: Gary J. Bredfeldt as Gaines S. Dobbins Professor of Leadership and Church Ministry; Thomas R. Schreiner as James Buchanan Harrison Professor of New Testament Interpretation; and Mark A. Seifrid as Mildred and Ernest Hogan Professor of New Testament Interpretation.

Southern’s president also recognized several new Southern Seminary and Boyce college faculty members, including Steve R. Halla, assistant professor of philosophy and director of the Center for Theology and the Arts; Thom S. Rainer, distinguished professor of evangelism and church growth; Peter J. Richards, associate professor of theology and law and director of the Center for Theology and Law; Kevin L. Smith, assistant professor of church history; Michael S. Wilder, assistant professor of leadership and church ministry; Kurt P. Wise, professor of theology and science and director of the Center for Theology and Science; Robert K. Cheong, assistant professor of biblical counseling; Brian K. Payne, instructor of expository preaching and pastoral leadership; and Jeremy P. Pierre, director of the writing center at Boyce College.

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SBTS mission trips strengthen churches and share the Gospel July 26, 2006

Nearly 40 students and faculty members from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary fanned out across four continents to spread the Gospel of Christ during spring and summer mission trips.

Teams led by professors traveled to South Asia, Peru, Canada, France and Guatemala between March and June. Another team is working in the Pacific Rim July 14-Aug. 1.

Brian Vickers, assistant professor of New Testament interpretation, led the trip to South Asia and said seeing the intense suffering of South Asian believers illustrated the seriousness of following Jesus. Vickers’ team taught and discipled Christians, focusing especially on teaching how to understand the big picture of the Bible’s plan of salvation.

“Many of those we met had suffered and still suffer for their belief in Jesus,” he said. “We heard stories of beatings, being driven out of homes and towns, disowned by families, becoming homeless, all for the sake of the Gospel. They were living testimonies of men who take the call of discipleship seriously.”

Vickers said the opportunity to serve God and lead devoted students encouraged him to take more trips to South Asia in the future.

“The opportunity to lead such excellent men on this trip was a high point,” he said. “Lord willing I‘ll lead more trips to South Asia, but it’s hard to imagine that I could ever have students that could surpass this year’s group.”

The Peru trip, led by associate vice president of distance education and innovative learning Hayward Armstrong, surveyed villages to discover the extent of evangelical presence in the area. The group also prepared a 17-page photo guide for potential volunteer groups that will travel to the region from U.S. churches.

Highlights of the trip included participating in worship services in three languages—Spanish, English and Quechua—and encouraging pastors, Armstrong said.

“As we discovered some weak and struggling groups of Christians, we were blessed to be able to encourage them and give them hope for possible assistance from volunteers in the future,” he said. “Our unexpected, brief visits with lonely lay pastors serving faithfully in remote areas seemed to be a booster shot to their commitment to the task.”

In Canada, Southern students laid the foundation for the start of the first Southern Baptist church in the province of Newfoundland. Working with the Canadian Convention of Southern Baptists (CCSB), the team searched for people interested in beginning Bible studies and gathered cultural data for church planters.

“We met many people and had numerous opportunities to share the Gospel,” said J.D. Payne, assistant professor of church planting and evangelism and the trip’s leader. “Possibly the highlight of the trip was meeting a retired couple ... who had led several people to the Lord, saw them baptized and had started a weekly Bible study with them.

“After contacting this couple, who greatly desired to partner with other churches in their mission work, we put them in contact with the CCSB leadership. Now it looks as if the Lord is preparing to birth the first Southern Baptist church in a province of 530,000 people.”

The France trip, also led by Payne, worked with missionaries from the International Mission Board (IMB) to conduct personal evangelism training with two French congregations, prayer walk and lead worship services. Payne led a strategy development workshop for IMB missionaries in Paris and taught a personal evangelism course in conjunction with Southern’s Master of Arts in Theological Studies-International Leadership program.

Payne noted that a new church might soon begin in Paris as a result of IMB work.

“It appears as if the Lord is preparing to birth a church from a Bible study,” he said.

The Guatemala trip involved students from Boyce College, Southern’s undergraduate school, led by professor of Christian theology and missions Mark McClellan. The team worked primarily among Mayan people in the villages of San Pedro La Laguna and Huehuetenango.

The Boyce team participated in personal evangelism, presented dramas of Bible stories, conducted sports ministry and shared testimonies. The team also led worship services that were broadcast on the radio and conducted conferences for youth on biblical and theological issues.

One pastor told the team they made a major impact with local youth.

“The pastor said it was the first time that a team had ever come and worked specifically with the youth,” McClellan said. “There were changed lives and commitments made by children, youth and adults.”

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Ministry to pornographers ‘crossed a line,’ Mohler says June 27, 2006

A pastor who runs an anti-pornography ministry and passes out Bibles with “Jesus Loves Porn Stars” printed on the covers has crossed the line of appropriateness in his effort to share the Gospel with the porn industry, R. Albert Mohler Jr. said on ABC News World News Tonight June 25.

Appearing in the news segment with Mohler was Craig Gross, the leader of the anti-porn ministry XXXChurch.com. Gross regularly attends porn conventions driving his “porn-mobile” and says the new Bible, the text of which is a paraphrase of “The Message,” is a way to reach sinners like Jesus did. He handed out his Bible at the recent Erotica convention in Los Angeles, according to ABC News.

“These younger guys seem to say that older evangelicalism is just out of touch,” said Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky. “In a rush to be relevant I think these guys have crossed a line that I would not cross.”

Gross’ Bible was well received by those in the porn industry, but some Bible publishers have refused to print it, ABC News reported, adding that the American Bible Society wrote Gross a letter refusing to publish his Bible “out of a sense of propriety,” saying the “wording ... was misleading and inappropriate.” It finally was printed by NavPress.

Gross said Bible companies “just freaked out” and thought, “I’ve never seen something like this, and I don’t know if we can do this.” Gross argued that his new methods of evangelism are necessary to reach people in the adult entertainment industry.

“We’re trying to reach a new audience, and so we can’t just do things like our parents did, like the generation before us,” Gross said.

Gross also said he believes Jesus would attend porn conventions with him if He walked the earth today.

“I believe Jesus, He’d be in the show with us,” Gross said. “He’d be mixing it up with these people. Because He doesn’t look at them as porn stars, or porn producers. He looks at us all the same.”

Mohler said he admires Gross’ intent of reaching people with the Gospel but believes the new Bible is packaged in a way that demeans the Word of God.

“It is, after all, the Word of God, and there’s no way to package it as just another book,” Mohler said. “It’s not just another book.”

Gross challenged critics to find a better way to take the message of Christ to the porn industry.

“If they have another approach, if they have another idea, come join us,” Gross said. “We’re here riding solo here. There’s nobody else doing this. ... Sure we’re gonna maybe make some mistakes along the way, but we’re trying.”

Mohler predicted that Gross’ Bible may end up as a passing fad and said its cover commits a major error by misleading people about the book’s content.

“I just have to wonder what people think when they see that cover,” Mohler said. “In other words, are they expecting the Bible or are they expecting something else?”

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Buddy Gray named alumnus of the year at Southern luncheon June 20, 2006

GREENSBORO, N.C. (BP)--Southern Baptist Theological Seminary named Alabama pastor Buddy Gray its 2006 Distinguished Alumnus of the Year at the school’s annual luncheon June 14 at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Gray, pastor of the 4,300-member Hunter Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, served two terms as a Southern Seminary trustee beginning in 1995, including two years as trustee chairman. He received a doctor of ministry degree from Southern in 2002.

“I am indeed humbled to be given this honor,” Gray said. “Of course all the glory goes to God.... I‘m especially thankful for Southern Seminary. Of all the things that I‘ve been able to be a part of, other than my local church, Hunter Street, Southern has had the greatest impact on my life.”

Southern Seminary President R. Albert Mohler Jr. cited Gray’s service in the local church, his state convention and the SBC as indicators of his extraordinary giftedness and ability.

“We have so many distinguished alumni, but this year it was clear there was one man that rose to the top as one who represents Southern Seminary,” Mohler said of Gray.

When Gray became pastor at Hunter Street in 1986, church attendance hovered around 120. But through a relocation project and an emphasis on biblical doctrine, the numbers have swelled. Currently -- in addition to the thousands who attend worship services -- the church has 480 people who participate in weekly theological reading groups that study through Wayne Grudem’s “Systematic Theology.”

“It has been the most wonderful thing to see laypeople -- men and women -- fall in love with God’s Word, fall in love with theology,” Gray said. “It’s changed who we are, and I attribute a lot of that to the cause of Southern and being around Al Mohler.”

Mohler said a recent trip to Gray’s church served as a reminder of how powerfully God has used his ministry.

“He has one of the great churches in America,” Mohler said. “I had the honor just a few weeks ago of preaching there. I was just reminded again, seeing all those thousands of people coming, how the Lord has used Buddy’s ministry.”

A native of Alabama, Gray is a graduate of Samford University in Birmingham and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, as well as Southern Seminary. He has also served as president of the Alabama Baptist Convention.

“The 11 years that I have been associated with Southern, it has emphasized the idea that I am not ashamed of the Gospel, the power of God in salvation, that there is absolute truth, that everything really does focus on the glory of God,” he said. “Southern has reminded me that how we do what we do is as important as what we do. And the idea that all we do is truly to glorify God -- I know that sounds simple, but that has been one of the most freeing concepts for me.”

The luncheon also featured a presentation by Mohler on special events, facility changes and faculty accomplishments at Southern during the past year. Mohler called the luncheon an opportunity for friends of the seminary to reunite around the school’s purpose of training ministers for God’s glory.

“This is a reunion of friends who are drawn together not just because we happen to have connections to this wonderful institution that means so much to us,” he said. “But we are drawn to this institution because of the commitments it has to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the Gospel of Christ and God’s truth.”

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