Category Archives: Christian Life

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July 22, 2014

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Christian Life

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8 Ways to Help Your Church Maintain a Missional Focus (Part 1)

By John M Galyen

Since its inception, the church has been focused on outward expansion.  We seek to win people to Christ, not just to have bigger churches or more volunteers for ministry, but because we serve a missionary God who is in the sending business.  God sent his Son to redeem us and provide a relationship with himself.  Now he sends the Church to spread the good news of Jesus Christ to a world in desperate need of a Savior.

The local church must maintain a missional focus, for both local and global missions.The local church is charged with the responsibility of spreading the gospel both locally and globally.  For many churches and church leaders this may seem like an impossible task.  How can a small church is Arkansas, or Missouri, or Kentucky reach the world with the gospel?  Obviously, no church can single-handedly reach the world, but we each have a part to play in God’s plan to redeem every nation, tribe, and tongue.  As a pastor, I want to make sure my church is engaged in local ministry, but I also want to lead them to give to, pray for, and go to all nations because this is what we are called to do.  There are at least eight ways church leaders can encourage their churches to maintain this missional focus.

1. Preaching

Pastors have a tremendous opportunity to influence their church’s understanding of missions.  You might consider having an annual “Missions Day” at your church where the entire service, including the sermon, is focused on informing and challenging the congregation to live a missional life.  If you are the pastor, either prepare a message that speaks to the Church’s calling to share the gospel, or invite a GBIM staff member to come talk to your church about how they can get involved in international missions.

2. Promote Mission Opportunities

When is the last time you publicized General Baptist mission opportunities in your church?  General Baptists provide numerous opportunities for mission involvement throughout the year.  The Mission Volunteer Program (MVP) plans trips to countries like Mexico, Honduras, the Philippines, and India, among others.  You can learn about these opportunities from the weekly Leadership Team emails, The Messenger, or by contacting GBIM.  Promoting these trips provides church members with valuable information, but also gives them the sense that they can become personally involved in what General Baptists are doing around the world.

3. Testimonies

As people from your church take advantage of these MVP opportunities, you will want to provide them the chance to share their experiences.  One of the greatest advertisements for missions in the local church is a testimony from someone who has “been there and done that.”  Hearing from a fellow church member who just got back from a trip where she worked in a clinic and shared gospel with people in another context can be a very impactful way to remind people of our Great Commission calling.  A testimony service is also a great way to glorify God and let the church know what the team members did while on the mission field.  It can be a fantastic way to remind the church that missions are an important part of your church culture.

4. Prayer

Prayer is an important part of our worship.  As we gather from Sunday to Sunday, one way to help people stay focused on the Church’s mission is to include a time of prayer that focuses on a person, country, or people group that needs to hear the good news.  You could spend a little time doing this each Sunday, or set aside a special prayer time monthly or quarterly.  If your church is sponsoring a GB missionary, do more than just mail in your check.  Take time to pray from them and the work God has called them to do.  You can even make your people aware of Operation World or joshuaproject.net so they can pray for foreign nations during their personal quiet time.

John is the pastor of Leigh’s Chapel in Greenville, Kentucky, where he has served for the past 8 years.  Check back on Thursday for Part 2 of his article on the Church’s mission. 

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July 15, 2014

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Christian Life, General Baptists, International Missions

Macedonian Call

By Byron Beck

This past October I had the opportunity to travel to China on a “vision tour” to observe the ministry of a group with which General Baptists have a partnership (it shall remain nameless for this article).

A street musician in China

A street musician in China

This organization helps people who want to teach English in Asia to find a university job in one of the great cities of China, or in one of a few other Asian countries. General Baptists have been partnering with them for a few years now-we provide teachers and they have the connections within the country.

I was truly impressed with the quality of people working for this organization and with the support structure they have developed to assist the teachers. Not only do they train and assist teachers for the cross-cultural challenges they will face, but they also provide an essential network for educational, emotional and spiritual care.

these men answered the Macedonian call

The visionary tour group on the Great Wall

I traveled with a great group of men. There were four General Baptist leaders and one Freewill Baptist. We visited two cities: Beijing and Yinchuan. We toured a few Chinese landmarks such as the Great Wall and the Forbidden City. We worshiped in two churches on Sunday: one in Chinese and one in English (Several stories could be shared about these experiences). We also visited schools and met teachers and students. That, to me, was an exhilarating experience. I was very impressed with the students’ hunger to learn and their respect for their teachers, which is not so common in America.

I was most impressed with the Chinese Christians that I met. There are several stories that I could share, but I would like to mention one young PhD student that we met. His English name was Charlie and he was studying Mechanical Engineering. He told a fascinating story about his conversion that IMG_1887-30included a dream/vision. His encounter with Christ was real and undeniable, but he spoke honestly about how hard the decision was for him.

In fact, being the analytical guy that he was, he drew out for our group a diagram of the “barriers to faith” that he and others must address in their journey toward Christ.

Here are the six barriers:

  • Party Membership – Everyone is encouraged to join, and it is, of course, officially atheistic
  • Education System – They are taught Marxist doctrine and other belief systems that are not sympathetic to Christianity
  • Alternate Faiths – They are told Christianity is not Chinese; if you are going to be religious, pick something like Buddhism
  • Family/Peer Pressures – This cannot be over-emphasized; it is disgraceful to betray one’s family.  Theirs is not a “rebellion” culture and harmony is greatly valued
  • “Normal” Temptations – sexual, materialism, etc
  • The Battle of the Will – Will I surrender to God’s Kingdom? Will I give up my rights for the sake of Christ?

Honestly, I could not have been more impressed with this young man’s insight and his ability to graphically demonstrate the struggle. I was also impressed with his earnest desire to follow Jesus in spite of the obstacles.

I suppose there is a diagram like this that relates to every culture in the world.

There is a great opportunity in China. The Chinese educational officials have told this organization that they would like 300 new teachers over the next five years. That sounds like a “Macedonian Call” to me. What do you think?

Byron Beck has served General Baptist churches in Illinois, Kentucky and Missouri, and has pastored Fellowship General Baptist Church in Poplar Bluff, MO for 27 years. He is married to Kathy Beck, and they have a daughter, Katie.  He will be sharing more about his trip and the different opportunities for you to invest in Asian students overseas at the Summit next week.  His workshop will take place Tuesday, July 22nd, at 1:30 pm in Plaza A.  This is your opportunity to make a major impact on students in Asia, either for a few weeks or a few years.

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July 10, 2014

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Christian Life, International Missions

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More Like Maddie

By Robbie Myers

At the end of June, we suffered a heartbreaking loss in our home.  Maddie, my wife’s service dog, passed away unexpectedly.  Maddie had been part of our household for over 9 years-her entire life.  Our family has faced many challenges in the past decade, and during those times, I always felt better and more peaceful when she sat in my lap.  Hopefully, she felt that same peacefulness when she took her last breath while sitting in my lap.

During this sad time, we have been intentional about being grateful to God for the time we were blessed to have her in our lives.  We are comforted by the many great memories we have of Maddie.

Maddie’s eyes would stare deeply in mine.  Her look conveyed her loyalty, her love, her admiration.  Whenever we arrived home, she would always meet us at the door with a present.  Usually, it was her most prized possession.  For the past year and a half, that item was a stuffed octopus toy.  This was a Christmas present given to her as we prepared to move to our mission field of Saipan.  Sometimes, she was too anxious to go find the toy so she would grab anything she could find-like a sock.  She would run right up to us, vigorously wagging her tail until we accepted her gift, then wait for us to pet or embrace her.

Maddie’s favorite activity was to go for a ride with her family.  We had to take great care to spell (and not say) the words “ride” and “go” or we would have a hyperactive dog to calm down.  Once in the car she would bark with excitement, and would even push the button to roll down the window so she could stick her head out.

Here in Saipan, I would take her for a walk in beach side parks after a ride.  Invariably, we would be approached by families.  When they walked up to us, they would almost always say the same words-“Your dog is pretty.  What is it’s name?”  We learn a lot from our dogs.This allowed me to engage in a conversation about my family and how we were serving as missionaries.  I was able to have some great conversations about our mission and Saipan Community Church with these families that hailed from all over the world, including Korea, China, the Philippines, Japan, and Russia.  Maddie enjoyed the attention and being petted by all the children.  Her presence helped us with our mission by creating opportunities for us to have conversations with people that would not have occurred otherwise.

As I reflect on the experiences I shared with Maddie, I keep coming back to the same thought-I want to be more like Maddie.

What do I mean, “more like Maddie”?  I mean I want to fix my gaze upon Jesus and worshipfully convey my love and dedication to my Master.  I want to show my joy for being in His presence by providing Him my best.  I want to demonstrate an unbridled enthusiasm for the journeys He has prepared for me.  I want Christ to use me to introduce Him to people from all over the globe.  I want to enjoy the same curiosity and appreciation she had for God’s creations.

In her life, Maddie provided joy to my soul.  Through her passing, she challenged me to find an even deeper joy in my spirit and a stronger relationship with my Savior.