Archive for July, 2008
If you read my last post you would understand why I am writing this post. When I wrote that yesterday, I knew I’d be posting again today, but not focused on looking back…looking ahead. While I am ever grateful and thankful for the past 4 years, I’m even more excited about the next several years. I don’t know how much longer the Lord will tarry before He comes to get His bride, but until He does, we have lots of work to do.
That being said, I believe with all my heart that God has been positioning VBC to impact our community and world like never before. I’m serious…I think the greatest and most effective years for the Victory Baptist Church are just ahead of us. I mean, just look around at what is taking place.
On a local level, the world in so many ways is moving to us! Subdivisions, businesses and industries are closer to us than ever before. They are literally in our back yards…we have so much work to do. Families are needing a place where they can truly worship the Lord and get hope for their desperate lives. Folks, we have that Hope!
Call it “coincidence” if you like, but I call it the “divine plan of God” that our new facility just happens to come out of the ground this particular week. To be honest with you, I didn’t think it would be 4 years before we started this building…I’d thought we’d already be in it. But that’s the problem, “I thought”…One of the greatest things I’ve learned these past 4 years is that God does things on His timetable, not Derik’s. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t “see” this building the day I slipped on the pastor shoes whatsoever, but when the Lord did begin giving me glimpses, I thought it would be sooner than later. But glory to His Name, His will be done, not ours.
The way I see it now however, is that we have right at (maybe less) than 12 months to prepare our hearts, minds, and service to be used by God like never before. Why would God “fill the house” for us if we’re not prepared to “feed the hungry”? Do you see it? I don’t think we’re quite ready for all the people God could send our way. There are so many areas that need improving upon to effectively reach the masses.
You might ask, “Pastor, do you really believe God is going allow us to minister to “masses”? Let me put it this way, if you don’t, I’m failing to get across to you what God’s been burning in my heart. I firmly believe, and have been faithfully preaching now for at least three years, that God loves it when His children give Him opportunity to prove Himself as a great God! According to the verse that has been driving me, although I still haven’t grasped completely, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” – Hebrews 11:6
I think there are way too many churches and individuals that have fallen short of what God has called them to do because of fear. I know that is stating the obvious, but when are we going to start paying attention to the obvious? I do not want to stand before the Lord ashamed by all the many things He had in store for my life and VBC that we didn’t accomplish because we were afraid…because we couldn’t visualize it happening…because we didn’t have the money…because we got our eyes off of Him and on ourselves…because we got our eyes off the lost and onto other things…because we didn’t live by faith!
No, I refuse to do that, even at the expense of falling flat on my face and looking like a fool in the eyes of the world! I only have one life to live for the Lord here, and I may have a good 20-25 years of ministry left, there’s no time to waste. Enough time has been wasted. We have people sitting on the pews of churches all across the world who are “going do something for God one day”! VBC, that “one day” is here! Can you hear “The Call to Victory” as proposed two years ago? It was more than a stewardship campaign slogan, it was a call by God for us to step into the vast, unknown, less-travelled world of walking and living by faith. Yes, few ever become experienced “faith travellers”, but my prayer and aim is to have more experience at the end of the journey than I did when I began…not the same or less.
Someone told me one time that if my wife and I waited till we could “afford children” that we would never have them…they were right. We can use that analogy in the ministry as well. Very few ministries have the resources (people, leadership, funds, facilities, etc) available to them before they reach maximum effectiveness, and if they are waiting for those things to fall into place before they step, the waters will never part and the river will never be forded.
On a greater level, I’m learning that we also can impact the world like never before. Sure, we support a hundred or so missionaries, sure we pray for our missionaries, sure we operate on faith promise, but I’m asking God to help me get a heart for the world like never before. I want to feel, hear, sense the heartbeat of God…world-wide missions! Mark 16:15 “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.”/Matthew 28:19 “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:” Over this next year, I’m praying that God will burden my heart and show me ways how VBC can be more involved with spreading the Gospel on a world-wide basis than ever before. I’m praying that God is going to call from within our church and influence, men and women to the field every year He let’s me pastor.
Right now I’m not sure the best way to lead those folks, but again, God is putting into place the resources needed. Just within the last few months, God has put some missionary pastors and preachers in my life who are helping me develop a system to train men and women for the furtherance of the Gospel and ministry. I can’t tell you how excited I am about it…it’s a driving force that compels me like never before. Within just a couple of months or so, I’ll be visiting some missionaries in Peru with Austin Gardner and I’m praying that will be one of the catalysts God uses in my life.
Church, needless to say, I don’t know what or to what extent the Lord wants to use VBC, but I don’t want to be the one that hinders it, do you? Let’s resolve in our hearts and minds to prepare ourselves these next several months to be at a point in our lives where we are “usable” when the Lord calls us to action!
Lord, may we please You with our lives of faith! Lord, will You help us see You in a greater light than ever before…open our eyes Lord!
July 26 2008 | General | No Comments »
Can you believe it? I hardly can. This Sunday will mark the 4th year that I’ve had to pastor the Victory Baptist Church in Loganville, GA! What an amazing 4 years in my life.
For starters, it doesn’t seem at all like it’s been that long…I mean, for goodness’ sake, wasn’t it “just last week” when I was taking the young people to FDR State Park for summer camp when I received “the call” from the pulpit committee back here at the church? I’ll never forget that night…my wife and I were going down to camp after the teens had already left that afternoon. We were told not to get out of cell phone coverage b/c as soon as the votes were counted, they would call us with the results. We made it as far as Conyers and had stopped to eat at the Mexican restaurant there (of course, I don’t think we hardly ate at all), when leaning over the hood of my truck in the parking lot we were told that the position of Senior Pastor had been offered by VBC to me! We were very excited, yet, still unsure at that point if I was going to accept the position or not. You see, the voting was so close, that I received EXACTLY the percent needed to become the Pastor. Literally, one more “no” vote, or one less “yes” vote and I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to be the Pastor per the church constitution!
Of course, I knew in my heart that this is where God wanted me, but when men are involved, sometimes it skews our vision as to what God wants. When I finally got to camp a couple of hours later, Bro. Chad, Bro. Lamar and a host of other workers and campers met us with congratulatory applause and hugs. When I finally got to speak with some of the workers in private and discussed the vote and other things, I asked them to pray that God would help me make the right decision. One of the things that helped me the most, and I don’t think I shall ever forget, was when Mrs. Amy shared her thought about the closeness of the vote. She said, “The way I look at it is, you got exactly what was needed, therefore you’re exactly the man God wants as our Pastor.” As I thought about that and continued to pray over the next couple of days, God helped settle in my heart that VBC is indeed where He wanted me and I’m so glad that I obeyed the Lord.
Later that week, I think it was on Wednesday night, before I told anyone at the church, I informed my youthworkers and those teenagers that I loved so much of my decision. After that service, I went down to the ballfield at the camp (the only place we got decent reception) and placed the phone call back to the pulpit committee that I would indeed accept the pastorate.
And wow, what a good four years it’s been. God has bless us so tremendously. Every year thus far, we have had an overall increase in souls saved, baptized, families joined and in tithes/offerings…to God be the glory!
As I close this post (leaving unsaid so many things), I want to first of all thank the Lord for His continued blessings on my life and the life of our church. Of all the more qualified men in the world who could pastor here, thank You Lord for allowing me to do it. You’re a great and gracious God!
I would also like to thank my wife and tell her how much I love her and how proud I am of her. She has done a wonderful job these past four years doing her job…taking care of me and my family! Although at times I forget, that is her primary focus. For without that, I could not do the things I need to do. I love you, Michelle.
I would like to praise the Lord for my children as well. I am proud of them and thank the Lord for the privilege to have such great kids. My greatest desire is that God would use them for His glory and they will want to be used by Him. I love you Cole, Hunter, Malia, Marissa and Marianna!
I would also like to thank the Lord for my immediate family. How often do you get to serve the Lord with your whole family? To be able to do that here in so many capacities is wonderful and I love them each dearly. Thanks for the prayers and support Dad and Mom, Cory and Marcy and Adam and Krista.
And then to the staff and their wives…ya’ll are incredible. God is really shaping and forming a team here that I believe will be used greatly to impact this community and world with the Message of the Gospel! I thank each and every one of you for your commitment, compassion and concern for the things of the Lord, for my family and this ministry! I love you all.
And finally, to this great congregation that call me Pastor! I often get overwhelmed that I have this opportunity to pastor such a great church. Honestly, of all the places that God could have sent me, He chose to place me right in the middle of the people that I love the most. The place where I had served for 10 years of my life at! Somebody say it with me, “God is good all the time, all the time, God is good!” Church, all I can say is “Thank You”.
Thank you–
…for your faithfulness.
…for your love.
…for you kindness and cooperation.
…for you support of this ministry.
…for your zeal for the things of the Lord.
…for stepping out in faith with me, for God as we endeavor to grow and reach more people for Him.
…for daily prayers through the Pastor’s Prayer Team and others.
…for just showing up each week 
…for putting up with my mistakes or “not-so-good-ideas”
Thank you most of all for entrusting your family to the spiritual leadership God has placed here. May I continue to lead others as I follow the Lord!
I love you.
July 25 2008 | General | 3 Comments »
Even though I was not able to be at the church this morning for the special prayer time and the beginning of the actual construction, Bro. Chad sent me some pictures to see what we’ve been waiting to see for so many months now. I have to be honest with you, tears came to my eyes as I viewed that track-hoe beginning to dig. That might sound crazy to you, but God has been so good to us and to see what He’s put in my heart come to fruition is really an answer to prayer and an emotional time. This is the answering of the “Call to Victory”. To God be the ALL the glory, honor and praise!
July 24 2008 | General | 1 Comment »
Things have been moving pretty fast these last few days and I want to give an update. By the way, I want to thank our Building Team and the work they’ve been doing. Again, the Lord has really blessed up with so many different people with so many different talents and abilities!
First of all, I got news today that everything went fine in California with the closing and we now have the funds available to commence building the auditorium we feel the Lord wants us to build. Amen!
The sitework plans have been finalized and accepted by the city giving us the ability to start grading.
The grading contractor has also been decided and has secured the contract. As a matter of fact, the pipe has already been delivered as well as some piles of rock and gravel.
There was also a survey crew out there today placing the grading stakes. (Please help us with your children tomorrow (midweek service) in keeping the stakes in the ground…thanks!)
Before I left the office, another crew showed up and enclosed the entire property with erosion control fences.
Needless to say, it is very exciting to see the progress. The guys have had to go through the warehouse in the back and do some major “thinning out”…I don’t think they want me to go up there because I kept asking, “What’s wrong with this?” or “How come ya’ll are getting rid of this?” I went ahead and left before the “save pile” got bigger. (That’s kinda’ weird too, seeing as how I’m the one that usually wants to get rid of everything)
The building plans have been submitted to the city as well and we’re now awaiting approval of them. Everything looks like it’s going to fall in to place as far as time-wise. Theoretically as soon as we get finish with the grading we’ll immediately be able to pour the slab…we’ll have to see how that pans out.
The next step is the moving in of the heavy equipment which is supposed to happen tomorrow (Wed) That’s what I’ve been waiting for! They’ll start by re-working our existing retention pond and then piping up to the new one (which will be in the gravel parking lot where the buses are usually parked)
On Thursday morning, Mrs. Sue Van Horn will be making homemade ham/egg/cheese biscuits and coffee for anyone who would like to show up at 7 AM for a special prayer time for the crews and progress that will take place over the next 11-12 months. We’re going to thank the Lord for allowing us to get to this point and then ask His blessing on the construction.
We are taking pictures on a very regular basis to update the progress but we are also trying to figure out how we can set a camera up to video the progress. There are IP cameras that will allow you to watch the construction from your computer at home or work and that’s what we’re trying to find without having to spend a lot of money. If you are familiar with this type of equipment or have some contacts, please let us know as soon as possible.
One more thing, parking will be cramped for a while so please be considerate for our senior adults and those women with small children. The playground also also been dismantled and we need your help in helping keep your children out of those areas of construction and off any equipment they may try to climb on. Apart from the danger, the tracking in of dirt/mud can pose to be a real problem. All help is appreciated and needed.
Church, truly God is good all the time, all the time, God is good!
July 23 2008 | General | No Comments »
That’s what I heard this morning as I Bro. Chad preached at the Baptist Tabernacle in Covington, GA for Bro. David Moody. Bro. Chad preached a message entitled “Except Thou Bless Me” and it was a great message. I praise the Lord for the men and women God has given us at Victory.
July 22 2008 | General | No Comments »
While I had a great week preaching in PA, it sure is good to be back home. I look forward to seeing our church family and continuing with our “Get Victory in Our Church” series.
Thank you all for praying…there were 6 professions of faith at camp and the Lord really moved, especially in the last evening service. The people of Grace Baptist and their young people were a great blessing to be with.
As a final thought, remember to bring some of them home-grown tomatoes for our Tomato Sandwich Night fellowship following the evening service.
July 20 2008 | General | No Comments »
For a while many have wondered about the direction that Tennessee Temple University seems to be traveling. According to this article here, one doesn’t have to wonder any more.
**UPDATE NOTE**-The following excerpt is a direct cut and paste of the original article found at http://www.thegreenbible.org/article_detail.cfm?AID=10692
SBC President Gives Blessing to Ties With Tennessee Temple
Bob Allen
07-02-08Southern Baptist leaders including the convention’s new president Johnny Hunt are involved in a quiet move to bring the Tennessee Temple University into the fold of Southern Baptist schools.
Last fall Highland Park Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Tenn.,joined the Tennessee Baptist Convention after 60 years as an independent Baptist church. According to a recent story in theChattanooga Times Free Press, Pastor David Bouler saidTennessee Temple, founded by Highland Park’s longtime pastor Dr. Lee Roberson in 1946, “is also in the process of being approved as an SBC school.”
Hunt, who has an honorary doctorate from Tennessee Temple, is at the center of the discussion, along with former SBC President Jerry Vines.
“I realize that TTU desires to become a Southern Baptist School over these next five years, and I would love to see that affiliation become a reality and our ties to be strengthened, because it will take all of us to win this world,” Hunt, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Woodstock, Ga., said in a testimonial posted at the Concerned Tennessee Baptists Web site.
Vines, pastor emeritus of First Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla., who is now a member of Hunt’s church, said both the Highland Park church and university are “coming back to their Southern Baptist roots.”
“Tennessee Southern Baptists would benefit greatly by having a school such as this with which to affiliate,” Vines wrote in his letter of reference. “It could provide a much-needed additional opportunity for young men and women to be trained to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. I believe Tennessee Temple would be a valuable addition to the Southern Baptist educational family.”
Leaders of Concerned Tennessee Baptists would like to see closer ties develop with fundamentalistTennessee Temple, particularly in light of the recent departure of Belmont University, a more moderate school that broke ties with the TBC over a dispute about who would elect the university’s trustees.
Tennessee Temple hired Liberty Theological Seminary Dean Danny Lovett as the new president in 2005, prompting speculation that he might follow the example of Liberty University’s founder Jerry Falwell and establish closer ties with Southern Baptists.
Won over by conservative theology imposed on the Southern Baptist Convention by fundamentalist leaders like his friend Paige Patterson, Falwell led his once-independent Thomas Road Baptist Church inLynchburg, Va., to join the denomination in the 1990s.
Highland Park’s current pastor has been part of an umbrella group seeking to build bridges among independent Baptist groups, as well as with the SBC. Bouler told the Chattanooga paper that what drew the church back into the SBC fold was a program that supplies Bibles to Muslims. “That program touched our hearts,” he said.
Hunt, elected SBC president last month in Indianapolis, is national spokesperson for Muslim Bible Day, an organization of Southern Baptist pastors that raises money to smuggle Bibles into Muslim lands. “The Islamic extremists sent bombs and bullets,” the group’s Web site says. “We want to give an appropriate response by sending Bibles.”
Not all independent Baptists are ready to accept SBC fundamentalists with open arms.
Traditionalists like Marty Wynn, pastor of Lighthouse Baptist Church in Columbus, Ga., view any effort to reach out to Southern Baptists as compromise.
When he graduated from Tennessee Temple in 1980, Wynn said, he was taught that contemporary Christian and pop/rock music were “wicked.” Now that same music is being “condoned and promoted.”
The Tennessee Temple Web site says each mandatory chapel service “includes a live, student-led band.”
“By hiring the new president away from Liberty, it is apparent that TTU seeks to follow Liberty’s equal compromise,” Wynn wrote in a recent blog. “What is very sad is that compromise is being embraced for the sake of increasing enrollment and sustaining funds. Yet, if TTU would have returned to its historical roots, they would find an army of dedicated alumni, who would support the school with finances and students.”
A longtime leader in the conservative movement in Alabama, John Killian, pastor of Maytown BaptistChurch near Birmingham, says Tennessee Temple has already contributed much to the SBC.
“Tennessee Temple graduates serve in Southern Baptist churches across our convention,” Killian wrote. “Numbers of Tennessee Temple graduates have held key positions in the Southern Baptist Convention and in the various state conventions. The sound theology, the biblical worldview and the strong emphasis on missions and evangelism of Tennessee Temple University will be a natural fit for Tennessee Baptists.”
“As a proud graduate of Tennessee Temple and as a loyal Southern Baptist, I feel that closer ties between Tennessee Temple and Southern Baptists would be mutually beneficial,” Killian continued. “May God grant wisdom as godly leaders consider any potential relationship between the Tennessee Baptist Convention and this great school.”
Media contacts for Tennessee Temple and the Tennessee Baptist Convention did not respond to e-mail requests for comment in time to be included in this story.
Bob Allen is managing editor of EthicsDaily.com.
July 19 2008 | General | 2 Comments »
Check out the “Camp Breakout” promo video by clicking here.
July 15 2008 | General | No Comments »
Yes, I’m here in Pennsylvania preaching the Teen Camp for Grace Baptist Church. Bro. Shawn Kell is their youth pastor and they have a great group here this week.
My flight was delayed a little over an hour yesterday evening but finally got off the ground and into the Philadelphia airport. After arriving at the camp I preached the evening service and then went straight to my room. I have been battling (and still am) a sore throat since Friday. I appreciate you praying that I will feel better.
The teenagers are very responsive and attentive to the preaching and teaching. The theme this week is “Champions for Christ”. In the morning sessions I’m teaching the young people about “spiritual warfare” and the reality of it.
Thanks to Josh Ayers preaching the evening service back at Victory Sunday evening. I’ve heard from a few that he did real well.
I love you church…have a great week.
July 14 2008 | General | No Comments »
A leader must have the courage to act against an expert’s advice. ~ James Callaghan
July 12 2008 | Leadership Quotes | No Comments »
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