A "Flypaper" Ministry

I had a fantastic experience last night at "Best of the Blessed," an annual fundraiser for the Christian Women's Job Corps of Guntersville.  I've attended it every year since it began, and this year my dear brother Mark Brickey was kind enough to invite me to join him at a table sponsored by Sand Mountain Toyota.  The event was hosted by the Church at Lake Guntersville, which has been blessed to do this each year.

If you've never been to this event, make sure you get a ticket next year.  If you're a married man, it makes a fantastic date for your wife -unless your wife is like mine and insists on working.  Of course, having such a wife is a great blessing itself.

 The food was good, as it always has been.  This year they raised the bar by serving on real China, though the settings have always been classy.  The musical talent was diverse and entertaining.  A group from Sweet Home Baptist did a fine job opening, followed by the Church of Christ Chorale -a very talented group.  The First Baptist Pickers did a set of songs that reminded me of my younger days in an old Country Church.

The man whole really set the bar, though, was Zac Hicks.  The boy has talent.  He played acoustical guitar, but used a looping box that allowed him to accompany himself in an ever growing arrangement that ended in a crescendo of sound.  He was literally a one man band, and a very good one.  He even managed to make "Old MacDonald" sound good in an impromptu composition.


She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.
She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her:
“Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all.”
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

Nothing, however, compared to the main event.  Two of the ladies gave their testimonies about how CWJC had "lifted their heads."  Every year we get to hear about the powerful work of the Holy Spirit in this ministry.  Women turn their backs on lives of poverty, drug abuse, crime, abuse, and a whole host of evils.  They choose to follow Jesus Christ and be changed by him.  The two ladies this year both told of how God had brought them out of sin and broken homes, and restored their families.

I had a chance to meet one of the ladies who graduated several years ago when I first served on the Board of Directors.  She and her husband, both strong believers in Jesus, were led by the Lord to sponsor a table for $1,000.  She is now serving as a leader and mentor to other women through CWJC.  Truly God has lifted her up and made her a woman of strength and character.

Someone asked me what keeps drawing people to CWJC, and I answered that the ministry is like flypaper.  Once you touch it you're stuck, there's no getting away.  The work of the Holy Spirit, when it is obvious like this, is not something you can walk away from.  I'm already thinking ahead to a group of women coming to Beirut to set up the first CWJC in Lebanon.  Wouldn't that be great?

My hat is off to Site Coordinator Shelia Banks, who is stealing all the crowns in Glory, and to the many volunteers and leaders who serve in CWJC.  Brenda Hicks has been as blessing there, as she is with everything she touches.  Thank you all for your obedience.

Travel light, Christian

[Jesus] sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic." (Luke 9:2-5)

 What an odd set of instructions for Jesus to give his 12 disciples as he sent them out to spread the Gospel.  He could have told them not to pack a bunch of junk, but this was even more emphatic.  "Take nothing," he said.  Naturally I did a word study on this to better understand it, and "take nothing" actually means "take nothing."  Having failed to dilute this seemingly strange commandment to the 12, I now have to try to understand why such a bold instruction was made.

This is the same Jesus who said "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."  He was referring to our needs such as food and clothing.  If I need a staff, I'll find one.  I don't need a bag, because it is used to carry things I don't need.  I don't need to carry extra money, God will provide what I need as the need arises.  I don't need an extra tunic, I can clean this one as I go.

Several years ago I had the pleasure of meeting Mike Johnson, who was then Pastor of First Baptist Church in Albertville.  He has since moved on to Boone's Chapel, and the great folks at FBC have another fantastic Pastor, Chris Johnson (oddly, no relation).  FBC Albertville one of the largest congregations in our County.

As Pastor of FBC Albertville,  Mike Johnson lived in a trailer.  Now, it was a nice trailer, but nonetheless his home was brought in on wheels.  It wasn't a salary issue.  Mike is also a successful business man and could have afforded to live in just about any house in town.

Mike chose to live in a trailer, he said, so that if God called him to do so, he could follow right then.

That hit me like a ton of bricks because I am in exactly the opposite situation.  My wife and I own a large poultry farm, a fairly large home, and a mortgage to go with the whole thing.  My chicken contract and mortgage contract are obligations that I must in good faith keep.  While we've never lived extravagantly, we are definitely tied down to the farm.  I should not be.

As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”  At once they left their nets and followed him.

Did you read that, fellow Christian?  "At once" they left their nets.  It was two years ago when Kim and I agreed on God's call in our lives, to go to Lebanon.  Unfortunately, we have a mortgage on our nets, and as the Bible says "the borrower is servant to the lender."  I have to sell my boat and my nets to pay off my mortgage.  I've compared selling a chicken farm to wrestling an octopus.  When you pry a few tentacles off, there's always another one to grab you.

The problem is not what we have, it's whether it has us.  Mike Johnson is not a poor man, but he is a man who is ready to follow God's calling "at once."  I want to be like that.  This has been a painful lesson in some ways, knowing I should be doing something else, but being unable to do it "at once."  I know that God will work out the timing according to his will, but I haven't worked out my part according to his will.

No more debt, or contract entanglements, will keep me from being able to follow God's will in my life.  This is my last round wrestling the octopus.

A Tale of Two Kingdoms

Leviticus 19:33  Don't mistreat any foreigners who live in your land.  Instead, treat them as well as you treat citizens and love them as much as you love yourself. Remember, you were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God. 

So often we forget the simple lessons of God's Word, and get caught up in our own idea of wisdom.  Such is the case with the way the people of Alabama, and our government, are treating illegal aliens.  In order to understand the application of this part of God's Law, we must first understand the principle of Two Kingdoms.

John 18:36  Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

The central message of Jesus was the Kingdom of God.  Many of his most famous parables begin with "The Kingdom of God is like..."  Yet, no matter how much he preached and taught about the Kingdom of God, he couldn't get people to let go of the kingdom of this world.  There's a reason that the kingdom of this world is so alluring, so powerful.  It is the kingdom of Satan himself.

1 John 5:19  We are certain that we come from God and that the rest of the world is under the power of the devil.

But Jesus came to rescue us from the "Prince of this World".  He came to show us a better Kingdom, a kingdom based on his Laws, not the laws of man.  As we live in this world, there will always be a tension between the Law of God and the law of man.

John 12:31  Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.  And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself.

So, where does our allegiance lie?  When those Kingdoms collide, how does a believer respond to that?  We cannot expect the government to respond in a Christ-like manner, but shouldn't that be our response as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, citizens of his Kingdom?  He bought our citizenship with his own blood.  Why, then, do so many Christians put their allegiance in the law of man?

Leviticus 19:33  Don't mistreat any foreigners who live in your land.  Instead, treat them as well as you treat citizens and love them as much as you love yourself. Remember, you were once foreigners in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.

God's Kingdom knows no boundaries of citizenship or nation.  Lines drawn on the ground by men can never be the basis for how we respond to those in need.  In the parable of the Good Samaritan, we are taught that our neighbor is the person we find in need.  We are to love that person without regard to legal documentation.  They are to be treated just as we treat citizens.  Any other response is disobedience to God's Law.

If you, Christian, spend more time worrying about deporting illegal immigrants than you spend sharing the Gospel with immigrants, loving them as yourself, to which Kingdom do you belong?

John, Beloved of Jesus -an Easter Message

Good morning, Haney's Chapel, I have good news for you. Jesus is alive! I saw it myself! I have a message to share with you this morning that will change your life, a story about Jesus. Your pastor asked me to come and share my story with you. I know that you’ll all be glad of a break from his preaching.

I was fishing when I met Jesus. My brother James and I had put in our fishing boat and were cleaning our nets. I heard our partner Simon Peter calling to us from out in the lake, telling us to come out and fish. I thought he was nuts, but we went out and caught so many fish that the boat almost sank. It was the catch of a lifetime, but that was nothing compared to the man in the boat with Peter.

He didn’t look like much, really. I’ve seen pictures of him in your Churches looking all handsome and well groomed. He didn’t look like that. He was… swarthier, more… wild in a way. You wouldn’t think anything special about him just to look at him.

But when he spoke, I was awestruck. His voice had power, his words were.. words of life. I can remember what he told us when we got off the boats. “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.”

I dropped everything and followed him. You would have, too. He was just that way.

There are so many things I could tell you about him, many stories, but I’ll tell you this one that swells my heart every time I think of it.

We were in Jerusalem for the Feast of Booths. Jesus had gone to the outer courts of the Temple one morning to teach the people. Some Pharisees brought a woman to Jesus who had been caught in adultery. They asked Jesus whether she should be stoned as the law commanded.

I was afraid for Jesus, because if he said yes, then the Romans might arrest him for causing trouble, since the Romans didn’t allow us to stone people. If he said no, then the people would think he feared the Romans more than God. I wondered what he would say.

Like he always did, Jesus chose another option, a better answer. He told the men standing there that the one without sin should cast the first stone.

All of them walked away. I would have. You would have. Jesus was the only one worthy to throw a stone. It was his right to throw it. But, he chose mercy. That was his heart. He didn’t deny sin. He didn’t deny the law. But, he loved mercy and he loved merciful hearts.

She deserved to die, sure, but so do I. So do you. But his last words to her were “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more.” He loved people, and he hated what sin did to hurt them.

He talked about love all the time, especially that last week. I can remember him over and over again saying that the one who loves him is the one who obeys him.

“A new command I give you” He said. “Love one another. You have to love each other just like I’ve loved you. People will know that you really are following me if you love each other.”

He didn’t just talk about love, he lived love. I remember the time when Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you want to do it, you can make me clean.” Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I want to,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him.

Jesus was my best friend. He taught me about how to really love people like a brother. What I learned from him was this” Loving other people doesn’t have anything to do with other people. It’s about me and God. If I love God, I’ll love the people he loves.

Have you ever been around someone who knew that he was about to die? When people know it’s coming, they spend their last precious minutes talking about important things. I remember the Passover with Jesus, the night that he was betrayed. He talked about a lot of important things, mostly about love.

He wanted us to remember his teachings and obey them. He said “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” I didn’t think about it until later, but he was telling me that I’m at home obeying his commandments. When I’m not obeying him, I’m like someone who has run away from home.

Jesus told us that he was going away to make a place for us, and that he’d come back again and take us to be with him. It was scary to think of being without Jesus after spending three years of my life with him. He comforted us with a promise . “I will not leave you as orphans;” he said, “I will come to you.”

But that wasn’t his greatest promise. The best was yet to come. He promised us a Counselor, a spirit of truth that would speak the words of Jesus to us. I didn’t understand what it meant when he said it, but he was talking about the Holy Spirit. The Counselor, The Holy Spirit, came to us at Pentecost, after Jesus had gone to the Father. Now my heart, and the hearts of all believers, are the dwelling place of God’s Holy Spirit. Jesus walked among men a few at a time, but his Holy Spirit dwells everywhere at once in the hearts of his children.

He prayed for us, that God would watch over us. That prayer helped me through some hard times. I thought about it often when I was exiled on the Isle of Patmos. I thought about it when Peter was crucified. God has removed the sting and fear of death. He has brought meaning to death. I’m ready for it when it comes.

Jesus prayed for you, too. The prayer meant so much to me that I wrote it down in my Gospel that I wrote to the Churches. I want to read it to you.

I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

Unity. Love. Remember this, Haney’s Chapel. When Jesus prayed for you, he didn’t pray for better music, or a bigger building. He didn’t pray for more activities. He didn’t pray for good preaching. Maybe he should have… He prayed for unity and love. Count yourself rich when you are rich in unity and love. First Methodist has a daycare, but Jesus didn’t pray for that. First Baptist has a bus, but Jesus didn’t pray for that. Unity and love. Hold onto those things with all your might, because they are dear to the heart of Jesus. That was his prayer for you on the night he went to die.

I’ll never forget the arrest in the garden. Jesus had been praying, and the traitor Judas brought some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They told him that they were looking for Jesus of Nazareth, and Jesus said “I AM”. They fell backwards at the power of the name. He spoke it to Moses through the burning bush, and it spoke it in the garden that night. It was then that I understood, he’d had his eye on the cross the whole time.

He didn’t go with them because he had to go. He could have wiped them out with just a thought. In fact, he could have stopped willing them to exist, and they would have disappeared. His divine will holds all of creation in existence, and he kept them alive even as they carried him off to die.

He had some sham trials, none of them done according to the law. No one could find anything that he had done wrong, but finally they accused him of blasphemy for telling them the truth. They took him to Pilate to be executed, but Pilate found him innocent. Pilate would have released him, but God’s will was for Jesus to die. For me. For you.

You see, it was the Passover season when Jesus died. We remember the blood of the lamb that saved us from death. Jesus is the lamb of God, the passover lamb, and his blood saves us from sin and death. Rivers of blood of goats and rams flowed across the altar at the Temple, and yet the law was never fulfilled. Jesus did it once for all of us, and his blood was spilled one time to set all of us free.

Jesus carried his cross up to the hill of the Skull to be crucified. It’s a long and painful story, but you can read it in Mark and Matthew’s Gospels, or the Gospel written by Peter’s disciple -the historian Luke.

I brought his mother Mary to the cross. He gave her into my care. What an honor it was for him to trust me with that. I hope that I can always do my best for the people that he loves and places in my care. I hope that you will, too.

I’ve told you this story so that I can tell you the ending. Joseph of Arimathea took him down from the cross just before sunset when the Sabbath began, and buried him in his own tomb. The religious leaders were suspicious and had guards posted to make sure that none of us bothered the tomb. If they had known how scattered and confused we were, they probably wouldn’t have bothered. His death was hard for all of us. We didn’t think it would really happen.

After the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene and some of the other women went to the tomb. They were going to ask permission to finish his burial preparations. Joseph had been in a hurry on Friday and wasn’t able to put on enough wrappings and salts. She came running to Peter and me and told us that the tomb was open. She thought that the Romans or the religious leaders had moved his body.

Both of us ran to the tomb. I got there just ahead of Peter and looked inside. I saw his burial wrappings lying on the floor, but I didn’t go inside. I didn’t know what it meant. Peter was always a bit bolder than the rest of us, he ran inside and found the burial cloth folded up on the table. Who would steal a body and fold up the cloth? It was like a bed that was made in the morning when person wakes up. I went in after Peter and looked around. It was hard to believe, but Jesus was gone. Peter and I went back home, and we talked about it the whole way back, but we couldn’t figure out who would have done it.

Mary, bless her, came running along later and told us that she had seen Jesus. Her story was strange, but then all of this was strange. She had seen an angel and spoke to Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him at first. Mary said that he looked different somehow, but couldn’t explain it, but she knew his voice. When she said that I thought of what he said about being a good shepherd, and that his sheep know his voice.

Do you know his voice? If he spoke to you, would you know it was him? Are you his sheep? Or are you just hanging with the flock?

I knew that something great was happening, but I didn’t know what. Some of the others didn’t know whether to believe Mary, but then Monday evening it happened. We were hiding for fear of being arrested, and he came to us. The Lord was risen! Mary knew it on Sunday, perhaps her faith was stronger, but now all of us knew it. We could all have celebrated the first Easter if we had placed enough faith in him, but Mary celebrated it alone.

He sent us out, and breathed the Holy Spirit on us. I saw him again a few times before he went up to heaven. He wanted to encourage us, to empower us to go. That’s why I’m here. He sent me to tell you this story, and the Good News. Your sins were placed on him at the cross. Your death was on him in the grave. Your eternal life begins when you accept the risen Lord. Listen to his voice, and follow him. He is risen, Hallelujah!

Hosanna, a Palm Sunday Sermon

This is a Sermon I gave several years ago on Palm Sunday. I'd like to share it with you as we go into Holy Week together, anticipating the death, burial, and resurrection of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Hopefully by now all of you have a palm frond in your hand. If you don’t there should be a few more available. We’re going to use this in today’s interactive sermon, so keep it handy.

A little boy named Bobby was sick one day and couldn’t go to Church. When his family got home, they all had palm fronds. When he asked his sister what it was all about, she said “All the people laid these down in front of Jesus when he rode in on a donkey.” He frowned and said “Just great, the one Sunday that I miss Church, and Jesus shows up! Did he give out donkey rides?”

I believe that Jesus is here among us today, and I believe that he is still worthy of our worship. I want to share first with you the story of Palm Sunday as it is written in John chapter twelve. You can turn in your Bible to read the passage.

Jesus had come into the city to celebrate the Passover. This was a great holy day among the Jewish people to commemorate their deliverance from the death angel sent by God to kill the firstborn of Egypt. Jesus spent the last week of his life in the city of Jerusalem in the time leading up to the Passover feast.

News of his coming had spread among the people, and a great multitude gathered at the gates of Jerusalem to honor and welcome him. Jesus sent some of his disciples to get a donkey so that he could ride it into the city. This was an ancient sign of a King coming in peace.

They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,

“Hosanna!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”

“Blessed is the King of Israel!”

“Hosanna in the highest!”

The people of Israel welcomed Jesus as their King! It wouldn’t last, mind you, but for this one moment Jesus got the welcome that was his. I’d like for us to give him that welcome today. Would each of you please take out your Baptist Hymnal and turn to number 682? I grew up in an independent Presbyterian Church where there were no responsive readings, but I’ve grown to like the idea. These in the Baptist Hymnal are especially good because they are scriptural, and they talk about important doctrines of our Baptist faith. I’ll read the parts in normal print, and then we’ll all read the parts in bold print together.

[Responsive Reading on the Triumphal Entry]

Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is our King!

I’d like for us to look at who Jesus was today, and I’d like for us to worship him together. Today’s sermon is going to be interactive. You keep your palm frond ready. Whenever you hear me say “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” I want you to wave that palm frond and say “Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest.” “Hosanna” literally means “save us” but it is used as a form of praise to the one who can save. Effectively it means “You can save us.”

The waving of the palm fronds originated at the Jewish feast of the booths. This was a feast to celebrate the harvest. It was one of three feasts that Jewish men were required to observe in Jerusalem by God. The people would wave the fronds as Psalms 113 through 118 were recited. I’d like to start off by reading Psalm 113 and then finishing with Psalm 118. While both of them are praises to the Lord, Psalm 118 points us directly toward Jesus.

When I say “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,” you’ll say what?

[“Hosanna, Hosanna in the highest.”]

Psalm 113

¹ Praise the LORD.

Praise, O servants of the LORD,

praise the name of the LORD.

² Let the name of the LORD be praised,

both now and forevermore.

³ From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets,

the name of the LORD is to be praised.

⁴ The LORD is exalted over all the nations,

his glory above the heavens.

⁵ Who is like the LORD our God,

the One who sits enthroned on high,

⁶ who stoops down to look

on the heavens and the earth?

⁷ He raises the poor from the dust

and lifts the needy from the ash heap;

⁸ he seats them with princes,

with the princes of their people.

⁹ He settles the barren woman in her home

as a happy mother of children.

Praise the LORD.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

Psalm 118

²² The stone the builders rejected

has become the capstone;

²³ the LORD has done this,

and it is marvelous in our eyes.

²⁴ This is the day the LORD has made;

let us rejoice and be glad in it.

²⁵ O LORD, save us;

O LORD, grant us success.

²⁶ Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD.

From the house of the LORD we bless you.

²⁷ The LORD is God,

and he has made his light shine upon us.

With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession

up to the horns of the altar.

²⁸ You are my God, and I will give you thanks;

you are my God, and I will exalt you.

²⁹ Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;

his love endures forever.

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD

Let’s talk some more about Jesus.

Romans 5

⁶You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

He died for our sins! When no one else would care about us, he gave it all for us. We don’t deserve anything but the punishment for our sin. But Praise God he took that away from us on the cross and gave us a new life! Thanks to Jesus you can live free from guilt and condemnation. That’s worth some praise!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

1 Peter 1

In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you,

He defeated death! When this life is over, death is not the end. We have eternal life in the presence of God because death has no hold on us. Praise God, we have an eternal life –an inheritance that will never spoil or fade. That’s worth some praise!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

Revelation 22

¹²“Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. ¹³I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

He is coming again for us! When the dark powers of the world are ready to defeat God’s people, all hope is not lost. Praise God, Jesus is coming again! This time he won’t be born in a barn and laid in a feed trough. He won’t be spit upon, beaten and cursed. He won’t be shamed and crucified. He is coming again as King of Kings and Lord of Lords! That’s worth some praise!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

Matthew 23

³⁷“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. ³⁸Look, your house is left to you desolate. ³⁹For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’^”

I want you to spend this week thinking about what Jesus Christ has done in your life. Do you have something to praise him for? Has he done something powerful in your life? If you can’t think of anything to praise him for, get something! Don’t waste another day wondering what life could be like. Ask Jesus today to give you new life, and something worth some praise!

Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

Christmas Hope

“Dis crazy, Miss Harriet,” the young girl gasped as they sprinted down the dimly lit lane. The older lady showed no sign of hearing the complaint. Instead, her attention was on the straggling runners who were falling ever further behind. “We's runnin' right for 'em,” the girl pleaded.

Harriet turned her attention momentarily to the girl. “Hush, Liza, we're doubling back on them. Just keep running -straight for the back of that Church building yonder.” Harriet fell back and urged on the slower runners, hoping that they would make it in time. She hadn't meant to cut it quite this close. The child was right, those dogs were dangerously near. As they neared the Church building, the sounds of singing and praise could be heard from within.

Harriet quickly led her group to the back of the building, where they pulled loose a few boards and crawled underneath. From the inside, Harriet wedged the boards back into place. Obviously she had used this hiding place before. On their bellies, they crawled under the building to a place near the center where a depression was carved out. It was large enough for their group to huddle in without being seen from the outside.

“They gone find us fo' sho' now,” grumbled Liza. “Them nigger dogs knows they work.”

“That's slave talk,” Harriet chided. “The man that owned you may have called you that, but you're a free negro now. If you don't start acting like one you'll be back in chains before we make it North.”

“We ain't makin' it nowhere when them dogs git up under here,” complained one of the older men. “They gone turn 'em loose on us and what don't get chewed off gone get whipped off later. There ain't no foolin them noses, they gone catch us.”

“There's no fooling those dogs, they're too good,” Harriet agreed. “But I ain't fooling the dogs. I'm fooling the hunters.” The sounds of singing and shouting suddenly died down, and the sounds of the dogs could be heard a short distance away. They were closing in on the Church quickly, the shouts of their handlers could already be heard in the distance. The sudden shuffling and stomping of feet on the floor above their heads suddenly drowned out the frightening sound of the slave hunters. The congregation was leaving the building, and the sounds of their laughter and shouting soon surrounded the building.

From the Church steps a gunshot rang out. “Nobody leaves!” a loud voice shouted. “We tracked some escaped slaves here and nobody leaves 'fore we find them.”

A calm voice replied “Those are mighty fine dogs, Sir. They led you right to the biggest gathering of slaves in the county. You may may have noticed that everyone here is a negro except you and me.”

“The preacher's right, Billy,” chimed in a low, deep drawl. “Them slaves give us the slip back up the road and them dogs just kept tracking nigger scent. Lord knows there's enough of it here, but none of these are the ones we're looking for.”

Another voice chimed in “It's Christmas eve, Billy. Let's git on back home, we already got a long ride ahead of us. There ain't no escaped slaves here. I can tell 'em by the look in their eye. They either look scared or proud, and none of these niggers has the look. I got my kids expecting me home tomorrow, escaped slaves or no escaped slaves.”

After a little more bickering, the gang loaded up their dogs on a wagon and headed back south on the road. The Pastor waited for them to get out of sight before calling the congregants back to the steps. “Brothers and Sisters,” he intoned solemnly, “somewhere out there in the cold, dark night there's people in need. They need our prayers tonight. We'll all go home to our family, maybe a fire and some food. They won't have anything but cold, fear, and hunger. Join me now as we pray for them.”

Liza listened quietly as the group prayed for them, seemingly unaware that they were in earshot. The voices seemed solemn -there were men and women, some even sounded like children. Liza wondered if the children were with their families. “I miss my Momma,” she whispered, not even realizing that she had spoken it.

“She'd be proud to know you are free,” whispered Harriet. “I know it must have hurt her to see you sold off South, being as young as you were.”

Liza's head drooped. “I remember that day like it was yesterday. They ripped me outta her arms and throwed me in the wagon. She was cryin' and I was a' bawlin' like a baby. I guess I was a baby. Ever since I felt like I ain't got nuthin in the world. I sho' do wish I could spend a Christmas with her, even if we didn't have nothin' to eat special.”

“I know it hurts, child, but all of it led to something good, you're free.”

Liza chuckled. “Free? I hope dis ain't what free is all about. We is hidin' here under a floor runnin' from dogs. We's cold and hungry. I don't feel free. I can't walk around like the ole' Massuh can. He's free to do what he want.”

Harriet shook her head. “Child, do you think that man is free? He beat you in a inch of your life for readin' the Bible. You know what else he done to you, and you so young. Don't you reckon he's got a price to pay for that? The lawd Jesus say that it would be better for him to have a rock tied round his neck and be throwed in the creek than to hurt you. That man won't never be free. The devil owns his soul and he don't even know it.”

Aware that the others were now listening, Harriet paused to let her point sink home. “Remember, baby child, tomorrow is Christmas. The lawd came down from heaven above to make us free. You think about that little baby layin' in an old barn full of animals. He was just like we is tonight -no home, his momma and daddy even had to run from ole King Herod.” From the darkness, Harriet could hear a few whisper “Amen.” As the prayers continued outside on the Church steps, Harriet took Liza by the hand. “Bein' free, child, is about what is in your heart. Jesus came and died to set you free. If you ain't free inside, you won't never be free outside.”

From the steps nearby, they heard the minister close the prayer. Through the silent, still night his final words rang out.

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

“And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

“And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

Sucessful Evangelism

Tomorrow (Monday) I'm heading down to Birmingham with Pastor(s) Keith and Kenny to meet with Pastor John Constantine about a joint effort by our Churches to minister to Iraqi refugees. In praying about and planning for this meeting, I've been thinking a lot about what constitutes legitimate and “successful” mission efforts. Over the years I've had the opportunity to attend many meetings about missions and ministry. Among Baptists, for the most part, the success of a mission is measured by how many people were saved. Numbers are often thrown out as proof of success.

Now, don't get me wrong on this, I love seeing people get saved. There's really nothing better than seeing a dead person get a new lease on life. Yet, I can't help thinking that we as Baptists suffer from a fundamental misunderstanding of how people get saved. Because of this, we are reaching out in ways that are not producing the sort of kingdom fruit that God desires.

The teaching of the scriptures about what we are to do as Christians does not focus on people being saved. Consider one of the scriptures that is a favorite among those of us who are mission-minded Baptists, the Great Commission:

Therefore, as you go, disciple all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you.

We are given a single task here, broken into two elements. The single task is to make disciples. We accomplish that by doing two things. We baptize disciples, and we teach them. Nowhere here is there a mention of saving them, or even of leading them to salvation. Yet we understand, of course, that people cannot be baptized and taught as disciples unless they are saved.

Jesus made it clear that he alone offers salvation.

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

We cannot baptize or teach those who do not claim the name of Jesus. No amount of teaching them how to behave in Church will save them. Merely “Christianizing” people is not enough. The most we can accomplish is changing their behavior, which has no bearing on their eternal relationship with the living God.

Jesus made it clear that he alone does the saving:

On this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hell shall not withstand it.

He will build his Church. He didn't ask us to build it, nor should we. Any Church I build is destined to be as screwed up as its founder, or worse.

We must leave salvation to the work of the Holy Spirit, because we are unworthy to save. It should not be manipulated, coerced, or otherwise “helped”. The very idea that we can arrange matters so that more or fewer people are saved is arrogant, and an attempt on our part to play God.

Charles Finney is to blame for the modern invitation system, and much of the poor theology that goes along with it. In addition to being a Pelagian heretic, he pioneered the use of altar calls, high-pressure preaching, and emotional appeals. The idea of scoring a large number of converts with slick packaging at an event is a recent concept with no roots in historical Christianity. It's a marketing technique rooted in modern thinking, and its legacy drives missionary efforts worldwide. When we do see large numbers of people converted, as happened at Pentecost, it is with a simple preaching of the Word during a move of the Holy Spirit.

The Gospel of Finney would equip missionaries with the following instructions:

Go out and organize large evangelistic gatherings, draw as many people as you possibly can to the event. Preach an emotionally charged message, and deliver it with great fervor. Use dramas, music, or anything you can to appeal to people's emotions -guilt, anxiety, fear.

If people aren't responding, turn up the volume. Preach harder, sing one more verse of the invitation song and make an especially strong emotional appeal. Plead, cry, beg, threaten -do whatever it takes to get them to come forward and make a decision. Plant a few people in the audience who will pretend to respond, to serve as a catalyst.

When Jesus sent out his first missionary team, he gave them these instructions:

As you go, proclaim, 'The kingdom of heaven is near! Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without payment you have received; without payment you are to give. Don't take any gold, silver, or copper in your moneybags, or a traveling bag for the trip, or an extra shirt, or sandals, or a walking stick. For a worker deserves his food.

Whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you leave. As you enter the house, greet it. If the house is receptive, let your blessing of peace come on it. But if it isn't receptive, let your blessing of peace return to you. If no one welcomes you or listens to your words, as you leave that house or town, shake its dust off your feet.

More to the point, Jesus told us:

In the same way, let your light shine before people in such a way that they will see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."

If we want to know what missions and ministry should look like, we need look no further than the words of our Lord and Savior:

When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels are with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be assembled in front of him, and he will separate them from each other as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right but the goats on his left.

Then the king will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who have been blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger, and you welcomed me. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you took care of me. I was in prison, and you visited me.'

This is nothing like the one-shot evangelism practiced by so many today. Churches and ministries move in for a short term effort, and look for ways to manipulate people to maximize the results of their work -a work which is not theirs in the first place.

We live in an industrial age, and view everything in the lens of mass production. We look for a more efficient process to produce greater results. Applying this to ministry and evangelism may produce more decisions, but does it produce more disciples? More to the point, does it follow in obedience to God?