For His Glory - The 2018 Mission & Ministry Summit

For His Glory – The 2018 Mission & Ministry Summit

by Jeff Roth – Host/Moderator of the 2018 Mission & Ministry Summit

For His Glory - 2018 Mission & Ministry SummitThe theme for the Mission and Ministry Summit this year is For His Glory. It’s just three simple words, but living out those three words change everything. We hear the word glory used often when people use idioms like, “no guts, no glory” or they start to reminisce about the “glory days”. But what does “glory” really mean?

glory: praise, honor, recognition

In this life, we both give and receive glory. We give glory to others when they have done something extraordinary, selfless, or kind that moves us to respond. We praise them for what they have done. We honor them for their actions. We recognize that what they have done is worthy of a response. We also receive glory from others when we have done something that they deem praiseworthy.

It could be through a post on social media, a thank you note in the mail or a simple pat on the back. It’s their way of saying “Thanks”, “I’m proud of you”, or “You’re amazing!” If we aren’t careful we can spend our entire existence trying to receive glory from and give glory to other people. That existence is a sad existence. It is an existence that never satisfies our deepest longings and always leaves us wanting.

During our life, there is one whom we should give glory to and desire to receive glory from above all others. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you who that is, but just in case: it’s our Heavenly Father.

Our created purpose is to give glory to Him and seek the glory that comes from Him. I think we are most familiar with the Scriptures that remind us that we are to give glory to God. Verses like Matthew 5:16 (ESV) when Jesus says, “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” This verse reminds us that our lives lived in obedience to Christ will give glory to our Heavenly Father.

Psalm 19:1 (ESV) also paints a picture of declaring the glory of God when it says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” Have you ever stared into a sunset and thought you got a glimpse of the glory of God? Whether it’s a Southeast Missouri sunset or the stars on a clear spring night, when we look into the sky we are looking at the work of His hands. May it be so with our lives. When people see us living a life that is transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit they are looking at the handiwork of God and He receives glory from it.

What about receiving glory from God? Should we seek that? Is that even a thing? Well, according to Jesus in John 5:44, it is a thing and we should pursue it. Jesus said to the Jews, “How can you believe when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?” These men fell into the glory trap. They were so focused on receiving glory from other people that they never sought to receive glory from God. They thirsted for the praise, recognition, and honor that came from other men.

That is a very relevant trap today as well. In our social media hyped culture it is so easy to be driven to receive likes, shares, and followers. We want the world to praise us for our good deeds. We want to be recognized for our offerings. We want to be honored for our service.

Those desires to receive glory, while natural, run contrary to what Jesus instructs us about giving, praying, and fasting in Matthew 6. Instead, Jesus tells us to do those things for the glory of God alone and when He sees what we have done in secret (for His glory) He will reward us.

If we let the opinions of mankind dictate our faith we are in trouble. Seeking glory from others people seriously hinders our ability to be faithful to Christ. We can get the glory from mankind, but that usually means we are choosing man’s glory over God’s. It’s not that it is a bad thing to receive glory from mankind, but it can never be our goal. God’s glory is always our goal and motivation. We must desire to be a people that are shaped by the presence of the Holy Spirit and God’s Word, not by the opinions of others.

For His Glory. It is my sincere hope that at Summit 2018 we can be reminded of these three simple words and that it would change everything about our movement.

  • That our churches would be driven to glorify God more than a church in every worship service, event, or outreach we do.
  • That our pastors would yearn more for the glory of God than the glory we can receive from men.
  • That the congregants that make up our churches would care more about what gives God the most glory than their long-held personal opinions.
  • That we would together, unified as the people of God, would make a decision to live for His glory alone.
  • That as we seek His glory above all else it is my prayer that God would, by His grace, use us to start revival and awakening in our communities.
Mission & Ministry Summit

Take the Land

by Clint Cook, Executive Director

Clint Cook - Summit Keynote Speaker - possessIn 1994, I was privileged to speak at the General Association held in Nashville, Tennessee. My scripture portion was from Joshua 1. “Now Joshua was old, advanced in years. And the Lord said to him: You are old, advanced in years and there remains much land yet to be possessed.”

This passage is very similar to the key scripture chosen for the 2017 Summit theme: Take the Land. Deuteronomy 1:8 says, “See I have set the land before you. Go in and take possession of the land the Lord swore to your fathers….”

These two passages have some interesting similarities: they both deal with the Promised Land, and they are both statements to Joshua. The difference between the two passages is Joshua’s age.

In Deuteronomy, we see a younger Joshua who was following a senior leader. Later we have a seasoned, mature Joshua who had encountered many ups and downs over a 40-year span of time. Joshua 1 shows us a man who had weathered the death of Moses, navigated his growth from warrior to national leader, and saw the result of disobedience. It was under Joshua’s leadership that the people of God finally conquered and possessed the Promised Land.

Then, in Joshua 13, the Lord gives a very clear analysis: “There remains yet very much land to possess.”

Like Joshua and the nation of Israel, each of us is given a similar directive by God to Take the Land. Disciples of Jesus are commanded in the Great Commission to go and make disciples. I see a direct correlation between God’s directive to Joshua and the Great Commission to the church.

As a 32-year-old pastor at that G.A., I was a lot like Joshua: young, impetuous, and intimidated. I knew the Great Commission commanded me to share the gospel and make disciples. I also knew of many older General Baptist pastors and preachers who had been blessed with fruitful ministries and growing churches. I recall that I reminded the 1994 audience that the General Baptist movement needs young, middle-aged, and older disciple makers, because, “There remains very much land yet to be possessed.”

Our movement has made wonderful progress for the Kingdom through souls saved, thousands of disciples trained, new churches organized and new international fields opened. Yet, have we run out of communities to change? Has every person we know been won to faith in Christ? No!

Just because General Baptists have had some successes, our assignment is not finished. In the midst of our praise to the Lord for these blessings, we must never lose sight of God’s mandate that remains unfulfilled: “There remains very much land yet to be possessed.”

So what can we learn from these passages?

First, whatever the age of your church, the age of your members, or the age of your pastor, we will give an account one day not only for what we have accomplished, but for what still needs to be done.

Second, the Great Commission is an ongoing, never-ending, retirement-free directive to the church. Church member, leader, pastor: our assignment is not complete. There is more land yet to possess!

Third, let us remember that making disciples is like fighting those Old Testament Canaanites. Sharing our faith is a spiritual battle that is full of obstacles, obstructions, and strongholds. But it is a battle we must continue to fight. The children of Israel dwelt on the obstacles. They asked, “Where can we go up? Our brethren have discouraged our hearts saying the people are greater and taller than we are. The cities are great and fortified up to the heaven.” (Deuteronomy 1:28)

We’re in this fight together. When we Stay Connected, we Stay Strong. Let’s hold fast to God’s response to the nay-sayers in verse 29: “Do not be terrified or afraid of them. The Lord your God who goes before you, He will fight for you.”

My prayer is that 2017 will be the year every General Baptist church renews its commitment and obligation to Take the Land for, “There remains very much land yet to be possessed.” Join us at the 2017 Summit where we will challenged even more to Take the Land!

GBBC Update

GBBC Update – Growing Bolder and Braver Conquerors

By Joyce Porcadilla, President of General Baptist Bible College, The Philippines

Happy new year! We do hope all of you had a blessed Christmas celebration and that you are excited to embrace whatever the Lord has in store for all of us this 2017!

Here at GBBC, Christmas has always been a grand celebration. We started off with our annual Christmas missions outreach in a very remote elementary school where the students and staff of GBBC held a Christmas program, served a meal, and gave out gifts. This was held on December 6th. It is always encouraging to see our students voluntarily put their resources together and share their blessings to the pupils and their families, as well as teachers of the said elementary school. But more importantly, it was a great blessing to see the joy in them because of the love they felt that no matter how simple the celebration was, we were able to make known to them the real meaning of Christmas and the reason of the season we are celebrating—Jesus.

Furthermore, on December 12th, the college students went around the neighboring communities to share the Christmas story through giving out candy canes. The students had the opportunity to share the Gospel and pray for and with various families and even those they met along the streets.

Before we finally ended year 2016 and before everybody went on a brief Christmas break, the entire GBBC family came together on December 14th for its annual Christmas program dubbed as “Christmasensation 2016,” with the theme, “Christmas is Within Us.” It was truly a celebration with friends and family, but above all a grand celebration of the birth of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. The program was highlighted with various musical presentations that revealed the true meaning of Christmas, giving emphasis on God’s amazing love towards us that caused Him to give us the greatest gift we could ever receive. As we have received and experienced that love, GBBCians made sure that we also share and demonstrate that love to others. Continue reading