A pastor in New Hersheybar emails me. \u201cPastor McKeever, I read your articles. We need your help.\u00a0 We are a struggling community of small churches trying to get established, trying to get financial support, trying to get our ministers educated. Can you come help us or send cash?\u201d<\/p>\n
Well, maybe it\u2019s never worded exactly like that, but that\u2019s the gist.<\/p>\n
How to know.<\/p>\n
Is this guy for real, and is this a genuine opportunity to make a difference for the Kingdom of God?\u00a0 Or is this fellow preying on the (so-called) rich Americans who are burdened with lots of spare cash and zero discernment?<\/p>\n
I tell him to contact our International Mission Board at www.imb.org.\u00a0 If we do not have missionaries in his country, we surely have a department with responsibility for his part of the world and someone in that office will be delighted to hear from him.\u00a0 Maybe someone there will know somebody who can assist him.\u00a0 And once in a while, we have a \u201crepresentative\u201d or \u201cconsultant\u201d (as they are frequently called these days) living right there in his village.<\/p>\n
Usually, that\u2019s the last I hear from this fellow. Whether I discouraged him or exposed him is impossible to know.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m thankful for this denominational agency for a thousand reasons.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A pastor in Old Candybar writes to invite me to speak at their international conference to be held on the grounds of their new seminary.\u00a0 Having never heard of Old Candybar or the pastor or his church, I do not know whether this is legitimate or not and something I should take seriously.\u00a0 So, I contact our International Mission Board and someone there knows.<\/p>\n
An uprising breaks out in Old Snickers and churches are in peril.\u00a0 Our Baptist Press sends someone to interview our missionary representative for that part of the world who informs us about the issues, tells how many Christians live there and how the churches are affected.\u00a0 At the breakfast table, we read the Baptist Press reports and are better informed and thus pray more intelligently.\u00a0 Later, when a state of normalcy returns, we\u2019re able to send money to assist the Old Snickers churches in their ministries.<\/p>\n
Our denomination makes this work.<\/p>\n
A series of tornadoes destroys hundreds of homes and a great many churches in a hundred mile path.\u00a0 Those of us hundreds of miles away want to help, but we will be needing some guidance. What\u2019s the best way to help? Who are the ones on the ground? Where should we send assistance? Answer: As a member of a denomination that covers this entire country, we have brothers and sisters there, both those who are affected and the neighbors who are ministering to them.\u00a0 Immediately, our North American Mission Board activates its massive army of Disaster Relief teams, scheduling them so they don\u2019t all arrive at the same time, and overseeing the systematic and Christ-honoring work of ministering to the needy.<\/p>\n
What I do is pray for them, send an offering, and encourage the DR people I know personally.<\/p>\n
A young man is called into the ministry.\u00a0 He is eager to learn to pastor or to prepare for service on a foreign field, but has no clue where to start. Fortunately, due to the foresight of some godly brethren decades ago, our denomination has seminaries in place with highly trained professors to teach the next generation of Christian workers. A number of those professors are veteran pastors and missionaries themselves\u2013many of them longtime friends of mine\u2013and we have great confidence in what they do.<\/p>\n
These days, we are hearing how young Christians hold no allegiance to denominations, how they flit from church to church, depending on who has the best programs with the most to offer.\u00a0 Many of the mega-churches to which they are drawn are unaligned with any denomination and thus may have little or nothing to offer the young people whom the Holy Spirit calls from their midst.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m all for each new generation finding fresh ways to do the work of Christ.<\/p>\n
I just don\u2019t want to see them throw out a system God has used effectively for so many decades without something far better to put in its place.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m so grateful to be a Southern Baptist.<\/p>\n
We\u2019re not the only denomination, and not the only\u2013you\u2019ll pardon the expression\u2013faithful, effective denomination.\u00a0 (This would be a good place to insert a list of denominations which I\u2019ve found to be faithful and effective. Sorry.\u00a0 I have little knowledge or experience with any except ours. I\u2019m grateful for all who love the Lord Jesus and serve Him devotedly and faithfully.)<\/p>\n
Young Christians, you love the Lord and love His church, right? (The two are synonymous the way I read the Word. But that\u2019s another article.)<\/p>\n
All we\u2019re saying here is you get a lot more done for the Kingdom by working with other churches. Call it a denomination or federation or fellowship, whatever you will.\u00a0 We need one another.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A pastor in New Hersheybar emails me. \u201cPastor McKeever, I read your articles. We need your help.\u00a0 We are a struggling community of small churches trying to get established, trying to get financial support, trying to get our ministers educated. … Continue reading