Advance09 Conference

This week is really crazy! Last week we were in TN to visit family, then we went to the Advance09 Conference in Durham, NC. VBS started the day after we returned, and I am trying to get ahead for a Georgia Baptist Convention RA Camp that I have to preach at next week in Warner Robbins. All that to say that I was planning on putting off this blog until next week...but

It was so good that I couldn't (not the blog, but the conference). It was a great conference, but unlike other conferences, where I usually go to hear one or two speakers, and endure the rest, all the speakers here were great. And usually I hear from God through the one or two that I go to hear, but this time God spoke through the conference as a whole. The speakers were all reading from the same piece of music. And their song was that as a church we must refocus our hearts on Christ!

The audio is up, and it free. You can download all the messages here or here. I really want to encourage you to get them and be encouraged and challenged. If you only have time to listen to one or two, here are my recommendations: 1) you must listen to Mark Driscoll's message on Idolatry, it is devastating. 2) listen to J. D. Greear's message on religion, I think the title is about revitalization, but it is really not about that. I must admit that I haven't listened to Akin's message or Piper's second message. I have downloaded them, but not listened yet. We had to leave the conference early to get home.

Subsequently, we also got to have dinner with our pastor friends (Barry and Missy and Scott and Kim) from Maine while we were there. Our fellowship was sweet, and it was definitely one of the highlights of our trip. And it is good to hear how God is continuing to move in Maine.

As I work on this week's message for New River, I cannot help but reflect on our week at the conference. I am preaching through our vision statement for our church these next few weeks, and God is so good to provide a revival of sorts for my own heart through this conference, as I prepare to preach. May God send the winds of revival as we hoist the sails at New River!

Church Membership for Children

As many of you know, I have some strong opinions/convictions on church membership, responsibility, covenants, and accountability in the local church. I believe them to be biblically based, but I know that some of you may disagree. But humor me for a minute and give me your feedback as if you agreed with me.

Recently, I have had a family that wants to unite with our church in membership. They have taken the membership class, and are ready to join with us. The question that we have is about their 7-year old. He has made a profession of faith and been baptized. These parents are godly people who have been very diligent to instruct their child about the realities of salvation, church membership, Christ and the gospel, and they have seen evidence of genuine saving faith since his conversion. They want him to understand the seriousness and responsibility of church membership in the covenant community before he becomes "officially" a member of a local church.

So we are set to have a little meeting (His father, him, and I) this week. None of us really believe that he is going to be able to fully comprehend the accountability and responsibility that comes with covenanting yourself together with other believers, but he may surprise us. He did not sit through the membership class (which is required for membership, along with a signed covenant for the church). It is a little much for a 7-year old. But obviously, if he is truly saved, he is a member of the universal church, should his lack of full understanding prevent him from being a member with a local covenanted people?

And that is where I would like your input. I am sure that many of you have dealt with similar situations. And maybe your churches have ways of dealing with situations like this. As it stands our church does not. One of many things that needs to be revisited and updated within our church constitution (a discussion for another day). So I am curious for your thoughts and experiences and biblical convictions that may help us see this more clearly and handle it in a way that upholds the seriousness of membership, pleases Christ, and encourages young faith, and a family that truly sees their son as a brother in Christ as well as a biological family member.

Thanks for your help!

Churches Come Together

Psa 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is For brethren to dwell together in unity!

Tonight our church, New River Baptist Church, and Fair Haven Primitive Baptist Church (my friend Matt Strevel's church) came together in a unique service. We spent Sunday night together watching and listening to Josh McDowell (via DVD) exhort us to speak truth through relationships and evidence. The content or occasion wasn't really that important, just the unity (in two different denominations). And I don't mean to get all ecumenical and sing cum-by-ya on you, but it was really great! Our two congregations blended, interacted over the word, laughed together, then fellowshipped afterward for over two hours. There was a deeper unity felt tonight because of our common Savior, common goal (glorifying Christ through the spread of the gospel), and our common hindrances and failures in the task set before us. My prayer is that the sweetness of the fellowship remains for future joint ventures, and that the fruit of repentance will bring forth disciples in our congregations from the truth that we heard preached tonight. Truth through relationships, I think that's what he preached about...