This is the second installment in this series about our objectives. If you haven't already read the first four of them, then please do so before reading these final three.

Objective #5: To provide practical, biblical messages and Bible study opportunities for God’s people to grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord.

Once a person has trusted Christ as his Savior, a desire is created within him to learn more about God, His will, and His ways. Because this learning process requires understanding the Bible, God wants every believer to commit himself to a local church where he can find assistance in this pursuit. Through the pulpit ministry, Sunday school, small group Bible studies, and other Scripture learning opportunities offered by our church, we seek to communicate, in an understandable fashion, the life-changing principles of His Word, thus enabling His people to “grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord.” We make a concerted effort to present God’s Word in a manner that is both relevant and applicable to modern society, while maintaining our commitment to His eternal and uncompromising Truth.

Objective #6: To train and involve every member in using his/her abilities and gifts to do the work of the ministry through the local church.

Most everything in life requires teamwork to be successful and the church is no exception. Wonderfully, God has gifted each of His children with talents, abilities, and spiritual gifts that, when blended together with those of other Christians, cause the ministry of the church to flourish and bring fulfillment to the believer’s life. This partnership in ministry is portrayed through a vivid word picture in Scripture used to describe the functioning of the church: a body. As a body has many different members, each working to fulfill its responsibility for the good of the whole, so the church has many members working together for the glory of God. No member is unimportant or insignificant and each plays a key role in enabling the church to do God’s work successfully. It is our desire to see every member working with the leadership of our fellowship to find and hone their gifts, talents, and abilities and then to utilize the same as valuable members of God’s team. Serving God through the local church with the gifts and abilities He has given is a satisfying and beneficial way to live.

Objective #7: To build and utilize a church facility that can be used to minister to the total person -- spiritually, physically, and socially.

People are multi-dimensional creatures with many different needs spanning the full spectrum of life. For many years churches primarily concerned themselves with only the spiritual aspects of believers and directed the membership to look elsewhere to meet their other needs. Because we believe the church should be actively involved in ministering to the total person, it is our desire to develop and maintain a broad range of programs that provide the Christian community an alternative to secular programs. To accomplish this we must utilize our existing facilities for activities that are in addition to the regular worship services and plan all new facilities with these expanding opportunities in mind. It is our desire to see a growing number of Christians build their lives around the church and the ministries of the church.

Our Church Objectives

Over the next two weeks I will outline our church objectives. These seven statements (with the accompanying explanations) are the framework of what I believe God has called us to do, with the specific details coming as we continue moving forward into the future. I first wrote these about twelve years ago and they have been the guiding principles we have followed. I hope you will not only read them with interest...I pray you will join us in the work God has given us to do for His glory.

Objective #1: To have 1,200 active members in services, glorifying the Savior together through worship.

Worship is the heart of the Christian life and the fundamental purpose for our very existence. So important is this part of the spiritual life, that the Bible says God is “seeking” those who will worship Him. The reason is that when Christians begin to understand God and His majesty, which is the goal of true biblical worship, submission to His will and His Word is the result. While worship should take place privately in each individual’s life, it is also to be something that we do corporately as the body of Christ. Heaven is the perfect example of this kind of worship, when we are all together around the throne of God glorifying Him. In anticipation of that day, we meet together weekly as God’s people to lift up our Savior and believe that God is honored when all of the members are present and active in this most holy vocation. It is our desire to fill our worship center to capacity with adults, teens, and children, blending their voices and hearts together in song, praise, prayer, and preaching that recognize and exalt our great God.

Objective #2: To share the Gospel of Christ with every resident of the Tri-State area in a persuasive and understandable manner.

There is no greater responsibility given to a New Testament church than to communicate the Gospel of Christ to the lost. The importance of this task rests upon the fact that a person who dies without receiving God’s salvation (made possible through the death, burial and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ), will spend eternity separated from Him in eternal torment. For the sake of men’s souls, we take very seriously our duty to reach Tri-State residents with the only message that can change a person’s eternal destiny. Because of the great diversity of people and backgrounds, it is extremely important that we present this message in a manner that can be clearly understood by all people and that we use the most effective means available to influence as many for Christ as possible. Some of the ways that we are presently spreading the Good News from our church are: personal visits, television broadcasts, Gospel literature, evangelistic services, holiday programs, friendship evangelism, etc. We are always looking for better and more persuasive ways to spread God’s love to everyone. Our methods may change for the sake of effectiveness, but our message must never change!

Objective #3: To be the kind of New Testament fellowship where God’s people can find love, acceptance, guidance, encouragement, and discipline in their pursuit of a godly life.

Godliness is not something that simply happens apart from the proper nurturing of a believer’s spiritual life. Therefore, our church exists to provide the atmosphere necessary for each individual to reach his fullest potential in Christ Jesus. We believe that this includes a balance between the following spiritual factors: love, acceptance, guidance, encouragement, and discipline. Love and acceptance produce the environment in which a believer can feel safe to open up to what God wants to do in his life, without fear of rejection. Guidance and encouragement come through the Word of God and concerned saints whose interest is to assist others in maturing in their faith. Discipline is simply the means of helping a person stay on course through compassionate, non-condemning accountability. The presence of these qualities, working together in unison, provides the spiritual framework in which the Lord can best perform His work of making a person like Himself. Each of us must be involved in maintaining these attributes in order for them to be fully realized in our fellowship.

Objective #4: To reach every country of the world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to send out career missionaries and pastors from our membership.

As difficult as it is to believe, there are millions of people around the world who have never once heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ and of His power to save. Our desire is to do all we can to place within the reach of every person the opportunity to know Christ as we know Him through faith in His death, burial, and resurrection. But, the question must be asked, “...How shall they hear without a preacher?” They can’t, so for this reason we are asking God to reach into our fellowship and choose from among us those whom He can use in the States and in foreign lands to preach His glorious Gospel. Coupled with this is a willingness to financially and prayerfully assist these chosen servants as well as believers from other churches who are called of God for this purpose. We need members to seek God concerning His will for their lives, to pray faithfully for those who have been called, and to give generously to our world missionary outreach.

Next week I'll share the final three objectives...

Catch the Vision: 2010

"Maximum effectiveness with minimal change" is an oxymoron and a goal usually unattainable, but we believe that God has shown us a way to reach both of these objectives at the same time.

For the past two years our church has been completely full in most of our Sunday morning Bible study classes and our second morning worship service has consistently been over 80% full. Whenever a church's facilities reach this percentage of saturation, it is inevitable that attendance will soon become stagnant or even begin to decline. In an effort to avoid this outcome, our leadership team and I have been on a mission the last few months to find the best way to create additional space in our facilities without "upsetting the apple cart."

One piece of the puzzle necessary for us to reach our goals has already been implemented and your response to it has been phenomenal. On Wednesday nights we now have Bible studies going on all across our campus and on other days of the week, as well. When we began decentralizing the Wednesday night service a little over a year ago, we were overwhelmed with the receptivity of our people to the idea. Our goal now is to continue multiplying these studies on Wednesday evenings and on other nights of the week. We'd even like to eventually offer a few studies in local neighborhood homes. This is something revolutionary for an independent Baptist church to try, but it is something that God is using in our fellowship in spectacular ways. It is also something I firmly believe we must do if we are going to reach our community with the Gospel of Christ.

Now comes the implementation of the second part of the plan involving Sunday morning Bible studies and our Sunday worship services. Let me first alleviate any fears that we are canceling Sunday morning Sunday school classes. This is not part of the plan and there are several reasons we cannot do this:

1. There are senior adults who cannot attend on Wednesday nights because it is difficult for them to see after dark to drive to church.
   
2. Some of our people who are involved in other ministries on Wednesday nights cannot attend one of these Bible studies and need to attend a Sunday morning Bible study.
3. Many church guests will not know our Wednesday night Bible study schedule and will need a class for their children and themselves to attend on Sunday morning.
4. This has been the traditional time for Sunday school classes and some people just need to maintain this tradition.
   

The only real changes to these Sunday morning Bible studies will concern the times they meet and potentially their room assignments. Beyond that, if you want to attend a Sunday morning study it is still available for you.

To accomplish the overall changes to Sunday school classes, we need to alter the times of our services on Sunday morning to 9 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. We believe that this slightly later service of 9 a.m. will result in some people attending the early service who had normally been attending the later service. It is also possible that some guests will opt for the early service simply because it is slightly later. In addition, the second service congregation will also benefit because they will be out earlier than in previous years.

While each of these services are going on in the Worship Center, there will be Sunday morning Bible study classes happening downstairs at the same time. What are the benefits of this adjustment? Well consider these:

1. It opens up seats in Sunday school classes and worship services for guests to attend.
   
2. It gives us the potential of using our classroom space twice allowing new classes to be added.
3. It gives our Sunday morning Bible study teachers a greater amount of time to teach his/her lesson.
4. It gives each teacher and class participant time for discussion and interaction.
   
5. It provides opportunities for fellowship in each class, something that is virtually non-existent because of the limited class time.
6. It provides more than one time slot for people to get involved in small group Bible studies making it easier for more/new people to participate.
   
7. It opens up parking spaces for guests when those attending Wednesday Bible studies (instead of Sunday morning studies) leave the campus after a worship service.
8. It facilitates a more equal division between the two morning worship services opening seats for new attenders.
9. It potentially allows the choir to sing in both of our morning worship services.
   
10. It eliminates one full nursery block that has to be staffed each Sunday, thus easing the burden on these wonderful servants of God who care for the littlest among us.

Here are the most important things to ask ourselves. Did God leave us here to reach people? Do we stop reaching people simply because we have run out of room? Does this mean we must be willing to make adjustments to continue our mission? You know the answers to these questions!

If our mission is to make our church members comfortable and provide for their convenience, then we don't need to change anything. But, if our mission is to reach new people with Christ's love, then we have to be willing to do what is necessary to make that happen. None of these changes will come until early next year (2010), but I'm asking you to begin praying that God will give us clarity of explanation and unity of hearts as we prepare for the future God wants to give our church.

Pop at Hilton Head

Pop at Hilton Head
Originally uploaded by jdlemming

This is a picture of my dad that my son made while we were at Hilton Head Island this year (2009). He is 87 years old and still uses his computer, but hasn't been feeling too well this fall. Please keep him in your prayers as he recovers and returns to himself. He and my mother are the two finest Christians I know. Not everyone was blessed to have Christian parents, but my two sisters and I were taught God's ways from our birth. Thanks for your prayers.

The Intolerance of Tolerance

Please take a few moments to listen to what Dr. Carson has to say. It's interesting to me that many people demand tolerance from Christians, but fail to be tolerant of them. The very definition of tolerance has been so skewed that it no longer means what it's always meant. Actually, the only ones toward whom many people are intolerant are Christians. It's a strange world we live in and it really shouldn't surprise us that the level of persecution is growing towards Christ-followers. The kind of tolerance our world commonly espouses is actually totalitarianism. Dr. Carson says it well...

Follow the text of what he is saying while you listen:

The intolerance of tolerance… And it’s important to understand that the notion of tolerance within this framework has a certain intellectual heritage that has been transmuted by postmodernism.

Under the modernist paradigm, tolerance looked something like this: I may disagree with you, but I insist on your right to articulate your opinion, however stupid and ignorant I think it is.

That’s tolerance.

In other words, this means there is tolerance for the individual to say things with which I disagree. The tolerance is directed toward individuals. But, there is robust debate at the level of content and substance.

So, I may disagree profoundly with Marxist historiography; but, if I’m a tolerant person under a modernist regime, I insist on the right of the Marxist historiographer to articulate their views. But, likewise, under the Western vision of tolerance and under a modernist camp, I insist on the right of Capitalists to articulate their views, or Theists to articulate their views, or whatever—however right or wrong I think they are. So that unless there is something deeply, deeply damaging to public well-being, as for someone coming along and vociferously advocating pedophilia… then the notion of tolerance allows you to defend almost anybody teaching almost anything.

Because you see, under the modernist paradigm, the assumption is that in the marketplace of disputed ideas, the truth will come out.

There is a truth to be searched out. There is a truth to be pursued.

Truth, ultimately, is desirable and attainable.

So in other words, this view of tolerance is itself tied to a certain kind of vision of truth. A certain kind of epistemology.

But once you change that epistemology, and lose that vision of truth—tolerance itself is redefined.

Now, tolerance means that you must not say anybody is wrong. That’s the one wrong thing to say. But, now notice, under this view of tolerance, you are tolerant, not of individuals, you are tolerant of all positions. The tolerance is now directed toward all views that are articulated because you are not in a position to say that any view is wrong.

The one thing that is not tolerated is the view that this view of tolerance is wrong.

And thus you have the intolerance of tolerance.

Worse, if somebody comes along and says this view of tolerance is wrong, under this view of tolerance that person is not tolerant and therefore should not be tolerated.

That person is a bigot.

And because there is no understanding of tolerance directed toward the individual, but only toward all views—except that view that says this view of tolerance is wrong—the university campus can become a very scary place toward anybody who says that there may be an absolute right and wrong after all. Or there may be an absolute truth.

I would argue that this new view of tolerance is in fact, logically incoherent. I don’t simply mean that it is inconsistent; that is, it proves intolerant. I don’t mean that. It is inconsistent, but I mean something worse than that. I think that it is incoherent. Because the very notion of tolerance, under whatever regime, presupposes that you have to disagree with someone or something before you tolerate it. You see, if I say, “On my university campus I will tolerate those who propagate Islam, or Marxism, or whatever… ” It doesn’t matter. I have to disagree with them before I can use the word tolerate.

But if I say, “Well, y’know, you’re no more right or wrong than I am. I may agree with you. I tolerate you…”

It’s incoherent. That doesn’t even make sense. To be able to tolerate something, you’ve got to disagree with it in the first place. But if, in fact, you’re not in a position to say that any position is wrong, how can you speak of tolerating it?

Thus, I would argue that the new definition of tolerance is not only inconsistent, but incoherent. And it proves, in fact, to be less tolerant than the brand of tolerance that was around under modernism. Because at the very point where it comes up with that which disagrees with it most, it has to dismiss all opponents as intolerant and bigoted, and therefore becomes, in fact, totalitarian.

A Dying Church

Thomas Rainer has identified five warning signs that a church is unhealthy and in trouble. Just as we have to monitor our physical health we must also constantly monitor the health of our own church. Inevitably, there are signs that point to trouble ahead, if we aren't too preoccupied to notice them.

Listen to Dr. Rainer's conclusions from his research and thank God our church is not exhibiting these trends. Then, let's ask God to do His work in us so that we NEVER become a congregation that is inward focused rather than outward focused.

The leading indicators of a church that is dying are...

1. The church has few outwardly focused ministries. Most of the budget dollars in the church are spent on the desires and comforts of church members. The ministry staff spends most of its time taking care of members, with little time to reach out and minister to the community the church is supposed to serve.
2. The dropout rate is increasing. Members are leaving for other churches in the community, or they are leaving the local church completely. A common exit interview theme we heard was a lack of deep biblical teaching and preaching in the church.
3. The church is experiencing conflict over issues of budgets and buildings. When the focus of church members becomes how the facilities and money can meet their preferences, church health is clearly on the wane.
4. Corporate prayer is minimized. If the church makes prayer a low priority, it makes God a low priority.
5. The pastor has become a chaplain. The church members view the pastor as their personal chaplain, expecting him to be on call for their needs and preferences. When he doesn't make a visit at the expected time, or when he doesn't show up for the Bible class fellowship, he receives criticism. In not a few cases, the pastor has lost his job at that church because he was not omnipresent for the church members.

May God keep us focused on His purposes and His priorities!!

This is Luke, his daddy, and little sister having some fun!!!

Thought I'd post a video or two about our grandson having fun and walking. They grow up so fast.

LMBC Missions Celebration 2009 Videos - part #3: The Rescue

This is the third video in the series of three. These were done for our "Great Adventure" missions celebration before introducing our missionary guests each evening. After each video we "deputized" our missionary guests. They were a GREAT success.

LMBC Missions Celebration 2009 Videos - part #2: The Search

This is the second video in the series of three. These were done for our "Great Adventure" missions celebration before introducing our missionary guests each evening. After each video we "deputized" our missionary guests. Part three will come on Saturday. Stay tuned for the conclusion.