(EDITOR’S NOTE — This issue of the Biblical Recorder continues our coverage of a seven-part series on the “Seven Pillars for Ministry: Biblical Concepts for a Christ-Centered Vision.” These seven pillars are vision statements developed by Milton Hollifield, executive director-treasurer of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. I believe these pillars need to be known, understood and embraced so N.C. Baptists can do a better job of fulfilling the Great Commission. It is our hope that this series will be a catalyst to strengthen our churches in fellowship, vision and partnership. For more stories on church planting or to find out about the entire package, please visit here.)

Your idea of a church planter may be a young man in his 30s with a casual, contemporary appearance — maybe even spiked hair. Think again. Stereotypes are common. I don’t suppose this will ever change. Perceptions of church planters are not exempt.  

Church planters are not all young, and not all fit the mold of a student fresh out of seminary. Some look like cowboys, most are not Caucasian — Korean, Vietnamese, Mexican, Turkish, Filipino — you pick the nationality.

Herman T. Stevens was a church planter of a different era in Baptist life. A loyal Southern Baptist and proud graduate of Campbell University, he served as the pastor of churches in North Carolina and Virginia. Each grew under his leadership. And each was a mother church to multiple new church plants. He is responsible for at least 24 new churches in the Tidewater-Peninsula area of Virginia. He planted at least seven churches after he retired in 1948. This was a man of energetic leadership and vision. Church planting was his passion because he believed this would reach the greatest number of people through the limited resources of the local church. He believed that God’s resources were unlimited, so the dollars would always be there for a new mission of the church.

Stevens believed in the “Baptist seven-mile concept.” Under this concept, when a church reaches 250 members, you go seven miles down the road and establish a new congregation. He obviously practiced it. He resisted the use of his name when naming a church. Twenty years after he retired, he finally allowed one of those new churches to use his name. The Richneck Mission became Stevens Memorial Baptist Church. My wife’s family was part of that church planting team, and Stevens was their pastor. Pam and I were married in the church 39 years ago. Such is the influence of this church planter on our lives. Church planting was the norm 60-70 years ago in Baptist life. Ed Stetzer says “As the church became established, it began to protect its establishment. Existing churches began to see a church plant as a competitor.” Church planting became the exception.

When I moved into the county of my most recent pastorate, the newest church plant was 40 years old. Thankfully, the last decade has seen significant change in that statistic.

Every church planting network — denominational or independent — has minimal standards for effective church planters. Although not exhaustive, the following five statements summarize the convictions of most networks:

• He must have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
• He must be fully committed to Biblical authority.
• He must be committed to living the truth of scripture daily.
• He must be committed to his wife and family.
• He must be disciplined in his daily walk with God.

But there is much more. An effective planter has passion. He is not serving himself. He is focused on glorifying God, giving birth to a ministry that produces changed lives. His age, nationality and cultural genre fit no stereotype. His uniqueness was designed by God for a purpose.

We have no reason to be threatened by the work God is doing through new churches.

Our partnership in the gospel leaves no room for competition with fellow Baptist churches. We will be wise to ask God to give us a vision to plant more churches which will reach more people with the life changing message of salvation through Jesus Christ alone. Give Him glory for every new Bible-based congregation in this state.

Editor’s Pillar 4 picks

• Planting Missional Churches by Ed Stetzer, B & H Publishing Group, 2006
• The Multiplying Church: The New Math for Starting New Churches by Bob Roberts Jr., Zondervan, 2008.

Pillar 3 — Strengthen Existing Churches

(EDITOR’S NOTE — This issue of the Biblical Recorder continues our coverage of a seven part series on the “Seven Pillars for Ministry: Biblical Concepts for a Christ-Centered Vision.” These seven pillars are vision statements developed by Milton Hollifield, executive director-treasurer of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. I believe these pillars need to be known, understood and embraced so N.C. Baptists can do a better job of fulfilling the Great Commission. It is our hope that this series will be a catalyst to strengthen our churches in fellowship, vision and partnership.)

As a 31-year-old pastor, it is an understatement to say that I was in awe. Sitting in my study with Richard Wurmbrand, we were chatting about his ministry as a Romanian pastor in the environment of the Soviet Union.

He described the solitary confinement, physical torture and hunger he endured through fourteen years in communist prisons. He was guilty of one crime — proclaiming Jesus Christ as the savior of mankind. His godly wife, Sabina, sat next to him as we shared these few treasured minutes. In a moment he would step into the pulpit of the church where I served as pastor and share his story.

He said, “Pastor Allan, your people say you are a good pastor.” While somewhat proudly I appreciated his blessing, I was not ready for Rev. Wurmbrand’s humbling statement that followed. The intense eyes of the seasoned pastor looked into the eyes of this young pastor, pointing his shaky, bony finger at me and speaking with a Slavic accent, he said “It is (a) terrible, terrible sin to be (a) good pastor.” He paused and repeated the same statement with emphasis. “It is (a) terrible, terrible sin to be (a) good pastor!”

Stunned, I did not know how to respond. Where was he going with these words? Surely he read the curious disbelief in my face.

With intensity Wurmbrand said, “God called you to be (a) GREAT pastor! And (a) GREAT pastor is (a) godly pastor.” This private conversation was a defining moment in my life. Wurmbrand showed me that a truly great and godly pastor is a man of prayer, humility and obedience to God’s word.

I was dazed, to say the least, as I led him to the pulpit. For the next hour he captivated the congregation with his personal story, written in the best-seller Tortured for Christ.

This godly servant and statesman had just rebuked every form of mediocrity in my life. His experience of faithfulness and determination in the face of adversity defined discipleship for me. Having read Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s The Cost of Discipleship, I was formulating the basic marks of a disciple of Jesus Christ — marks that shaped my ministry for 30 years.

Biblical discipleship is the core value of Pillar No. 3, “Strengthening Existing Churches.” Whether a church is one year old or 100 years old, a strong focus on disciple making is an absolute essential. If there is no intentional effort for discipleship, there is no healthy congregation.

It is disastrous when the church leadership accepts mediocrity as the norm. Being a “good” Christian or a “good” church is not good enough. We are called to be “great” as disciples of Jesus. Such greatness embraces intentionality and determination. It means we will keep the focus on Jesus and never give up. This is the meaning of Hebrews 12:1-2, “...let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith ...”

Do you remember Jesus’ definition of greatness? “Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:4, NKJ). There it is!

Great disciples are men and women who humbly learn at the feet of the master and deliberately apply His truth. Great disciples are deliberate in disciplined habits and in lifestyle. This makes healthy disciples, and ultimately it produces healthy churches.

Unhealthy churches are not defined by size, age or location. They are defined by leaders and members who settle for less than God’s best. They are characterized by mediocrity, not discipleship.

It is easy to lose sight of our purpose when we enlist believers to serve in the church. Our work is not to recruit people merely to sustain the organization, but to make disciples, calling them to fulfill the vision Jesus assigned to us. Jesus did not tell us to keep the organizational wheels turning. He called us to shape lives in the character of Christlikeness — holy living, faithful praying, depending on “... every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matt. 4:4, KJV).

Here is our assignment: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you ... ” (Matt. 28:19-20). Are we making church members, converts, or disciples?  

(EDITOR’S NOTE — This year marks the 102nd anniversary of Wurmbrand’s birth. He founded “The Voice of the Martyrs” and continued to speak for the persecuted around the world until his death in 2001. Visit torturedforchrist.com or persecution.com.)

Editor’s picks for Pillar 3

Disciples Are Made Not Born by Walter A. Henrichsen, David C. Cook
Henrichsen’s classic is a simple, basic introduction to disciple making. Based on principles from the Navigators, he underscores that discipleship is not complete until the new convert is able to reproduce himself by bringing another person to Christ and training that person to reproduce himself, also.

Sharpening the Focus of the Church by Gene A. Getz, Victor Books
This respected church leader looks at the church through three lenses: (1) New Testament principles, (2) Contemporary needs and (3) Church history. This is a powerful overview of positive solutions to church health, based on a solid biblical foundation.

The Healthy Church by C. Peter Wagner, Regal Books
You will learn how to avoid (or cure) the nine diseases that can afflict any church congregation.  John Maxwell says, “His unique insight will help your church build up a healthy immune system and offers treatments for these destructive diseases.” This one is creative, thoughtful and insightful!

(EDITOR’S NOTE — This item is part of a package of stories highlighting strengthening existing church ministries across the state. The Biblical Recorder is focusing on the Seven Pillars for Christian Ministry adopted by the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. For more stories on strengthening existing churches or to find out about the entire package, please visit here.)

Pillar 2 — Evangelism and Church Growth

(EDITOR’S NOTE — This issue of the Biblical Recorder continues our coverage of a seven part series on the “Seven Pillars for Ministry: Biblical Concepts for a Christ-Centered Vision.” These seven pillars are vision statements developed by Milton Hollifield, executive director-treasurer of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. I believe these pillars need to be known, understood and embraced so N.C. Baptists can do a better job of fulfilling the Great Commission. It is our hope that this series will be the catalyst to strengthen our churches in fellowship, vision and partnership.)

I remember it well. I was 10 years old, and I had just prayed to receive Jesus as my Savior. My Dad and my brother prayed to receive Christ in the same Sunday morning service at New Hope Baptist Church in Charlotte. My mother made her decision for Christ two weeks earlier and my sister two weeks later. Our whole family of five was baptized together soon thereafter.

I remember the clean sense of newness in my life. I’ll never get over it. My life had been changed for eternity. Our whole family was headed in a new direction. My alcoholic father was set free from that destructive addiction, never to be enslaved again.

The truth of the gospel had invaded our household. We were brand new because someone in the church down the street cared enough to share the Good News of salvation with us. What if they had not cared? What if they never told us that Christ died for our sins?  I’ve wondered where I would be if that Baptist church had been caught up in just having activities that keep people busy, but had no evangelistic outreach.

I’m surprised they did not ask my brother and I to stop coming to the church. You need to know that Larry and I rode our bikes to Sunday services for a long time before my parents started attending. We were those little brats who did not know how to act in church, and there were no parents present to supervise us. But there was Mrs. Jordan who loved us like we were her own. And others welcomed us, overlooking our “unchurchy” ways. So, we kept going back.

God was working on me from another angle. The Gideons came to our elementary school. Yes, it was a public school and we knew nothing about “political correctness.” The Gideons said I could have a New Testament if I would memorize one Bible verse. The verse was John 3:16. I put it to memory and received my first reward. God used that scripture to prepare my heart for a greater gift — the gift of eternal life.  Everyone’s story is different, but the result is the same. The gospel is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, as Paul stated in Romans 1:16. Evangelicals believe the gospel is true. We believe it is life-changing. We believe Jesus suffered and died for our sins, was buried and arose the third day. We believe he lives today and that his indwelling Holy Spirit gives us the power to proclaim this salvation to those who have not yet believed.

This is the basic meaning of “evangelism and church growth.” The gospel is proclaimed. Some respond in faith and experience the forgiveness of sin. These new believers get assimilated into a New Testament church. The church grows, reaching out to others and the cycle is repeated.

The methods of evangelism are many — tracts, EvangeCube, verbal witness, Bible distribution, Vacation Bible School, public evangelism events, Sunday School, worship services, concerts. But no method works if we do not share the gospel. We are God’s method!

If there is no proclamation of the gospel, the church is merely a social club. If evangelism is not important, we should not be surprised when baptism numbers decrease and churches close their doors. If there is no faithful proclamation of the gospel, we are guilty of disobedience. Jesus said we will obey him and share his salvation throughout the whole earth when we are filled with His Holy Spirit. Are we filled with Jesus? Are we telling the good news?

Editor’s picks for evangelism
Introduction to Evangelism
by Alvin Reid, B & H Publishing (1998)
Reid traces the history of evangelism with a focus on how Christians can proclaim the gospel effectively. Using methods built upon biblical, historical, and theological foundations, this exhaustive guide integrates doctrinal issues with practical matters of methodology, while developing the personal spirituality of those who seek to carry out the Great Commission.

The Master Plan of Evangelism,
2nd edition, abridged, by Dr. Robert E. Coleman, Revell (2010)
This classic on evangelism needs to be read and applied in every church. For more than 40 years this book has challenged over 3.5 million readers to discover how Jesus used men to proclaim His message.

Concentric Circles of Concern,
Revised, edited by Claude V. King, by W. Oscar Thompson Jr. &
Carolyn Thompson Ritzmann,
B & H Publishing Group (1999)
According to this newly revised edition of W. Oscar Thompson Jr.’s classic work, successful evangelism always starts at home. In Concentric Circles of Concern, Dr. Thompson gives specific details on how best to share Christ’s love by meeting the spiritual needs of close family first, followed by friends, and others in your circle of relationships.

(EDITOR’S NOTE — This item is part of a package of stories highlighting evangelism and church growth across the state. The Biblical Recorder is focusing on the Seven Pillars for Christian Ministry adopted by the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina. For more stories or to find out about the entire package, please visit here.)

I wonder how many people read the title of this editorial and their blood pressure went up 30 points? The purpose of my title was to do just that.

I am not known by enough people to be an attention getter, but when our passions are stirred we will listen. I thought of so many titles that I could use just to stir more people to extend their passion for just a minute. Now, what? What is it that I wanted you to listen to?

What did you think about when you read the title of this editorial? Did your heart sink with, “Oh no, here we go again with another argument on doctrine?”

Were you itching to write an online comment “for” or “against?”

Did you feel threatened or frustrated that someone would write such a statement?

The question asked in the title is very simple. How would you answer? I believe the only answer should be, “Because King Jesus told us to.”

Before we get off track by using the rest of this article defining the word “bap-tid’-zo,” let’s go back to the answer. What stirs my emotions about baptism is the fact that my King said it is something for me to do.

I am stirred! Just like many of the articles I read, I am often stirred, not because of “issues” I have with a person writing an opinion, but because it traces my heart back to ask the question, “Did My King say that?” If so, I have a reason to take note … my passions are stirred!

I’m writing this article to be read just after the State Evangelism conference (Feb. 28-March 1). If you attended, and I lived long enough to attend and preach as planned, then you heard me speak from this very angle of making disciples — because Jesus said so. What does that statement have to do with the title of this article? 

Let’s do some evaluations. Why is it that we make baptism by immersion a “requirement” for church membership (as our church family does), but not discipleship?

I believe the reason we are missing the mark in discipleship is because we have failed to recognize the only reason the subject has validity … Our King commanded it!

Many of you reading this article would cringe if you heard someone say, “It is a requirement in our church that a believer is discipled.” “You can’t force someone to be discipled,” you might say. No, you can’t.

Nor can you force someone to be a disciple. But if you are going to be a disciple of King Jesus, He said you must “make disciples of all nations,” not only “baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” but also “teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” This is also a part of the command. 

Now, the question is, should we be required to baptize?

The answer is YES, but the primary reason is not because we are Baptist, but because we are Christians. I was not raised in the home of Southern Baptist parents, but I was most definitely raised in the home of Christian parents. So when the Holy Spirit of God brought me to see my need of King Jesus to save me from my sin, my life was surrendered to Him, and I was immediately baptized in our little pond.

This I did not because it was the “Baptist thing to do,” but it was the “Christian … Christ follower … thing to do.” I was discipled in the Word of God because discipleship was just the expected continuation of following Christ.

Let’s pause!

What does my heart look like as I write this article? What does my face look like as I pen these words?

Tears well up in my eyes as I make declarative statements of “My King” and “Our King” because I know what a wonderful blessing it is that The King of kings would love someone like me. You see, I work every day of my life with great passion in making disciples and teaching them because I’ve never gotten over how wonderful My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ really is. You may ask, “What difference does it make to know your heart attitude in this subject?” My answer would simply be, because my heart attitude reveals my passion.

The Bible teaches us that it is “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Matt. 12:34). We must come to the place in our personal lives that we allow the Spirit of God to search us to see “why” we do what we do. Heart checks are good for all of us.

Again, the Bible teaches us in Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Did you catch those words?  “a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”

We can’t do that for each other, but God’s Word will sure do that for us. So, how do we help each other?

In my own life, I have struggled many times over with how I am to control feelings of frustration, hurt, anger, etc., in my relationship with other Christians who disagree with me.

What I am learning in my personal walk is that we as God’s people should never be afraid of examinations because they are simply making us more like our King.

What we do need to guard against is attacks from our enemy Satan that bring divisions. So many times I have “debated” with people over “issues” that never accomplished anything because our discussion digressed from a “spiritual question” to an argument. We often do this under the guise of “standing up for truth,” but the reality is that Christians should be led by the Word of God and not by our opinions or the pressures put on us by others.

If we all simply desire to follow our King Jesus, we will gladly help each other walk through His Word and learn the application of what He has said.

That is discipleship!

So, why is it so complicated? I believe the answer is very simple … we are sinful by nature!

I believe the “fix” for evangelism, discipleship, doctrinal purity, fellowship, worship, indeed, most issues we face in life, is to get back to the basics.

Now what would that be? Do what we do because King Jesus told us to and stop arguing with each other about what He said to do; or to borrow from Nike; “Just do it!”

No, I’m not shouting this in anger, frustration, or hurt, but I’m shouting this just like a fireman would shout out directions to someone trapped in a fire and needed to know directions to the nearest exit!

There’s urgency in this my friends!

King Jesus didn’t give us long to work so we have no time to waste! Our task to make disciples of all nations demands that we help each other, and we’ll never do that unless we get back to Who we allow to give us directions.

I will never be all I was created to be until I stop following my orders or your orders and begin following the orders of King Jesus. Until He alone becomes my passion, I will not be a disciple. What about you? Did you extend your heart for this article? Has the Holy Spirit stirred some things in you that you need to just repent of? Will you allow King Jesus to be the last Word? I pray you will!

I want to thank you for taking the time to read this article. My desire is that we would help each other just get back to doing the work by asking, “Who said so?” Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we as God’s people would spend our times talking to everyone around us about our wonderful, perfect King Jesus?

Then, I believe we will see the revival needed in this generation because we will be making disciples of all nations and teaching them to observe everything He has commanded, just like King Jesus told us to. I love you my brothers and sisters! May we follow faithfully until He comes!

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Redding is pastor of Hull’s Grove Baptist Church in Vale.)

(SPECIAL NOTE — Thank you for your continued support of the Biblical Recorder site. During this interim period while we are searching for a new Editor/President the comments section will be temporarily discontinued. Thank you for your understanding and patience in this. If you do have comments or issues with items we run, please contact dianna@biblicalrecorder.org or call 919-847-2127.)

(EDITOR’S NOTE — While the Biblical Recorder is seeking an Editor/President, the normal editorial page will be filled with guest commentaries from the BR Board of Directors as well as experts in their particular fields of ministry.)

“Each one of us must be prepared for the conflict. We must know how to sit with Christ in heavenly places and we must know how to walk worthy of Him down here, but we must also know how to stand before the foe.” — Watchman Nee in Sit, Walk, Stand  

(On Jan. 22) our country will acknowledge the 38th anniversary of Roe vs Wade, the Supreme Court decision which made abortion legal for any reason in all 50 states. The thinking at the time was to make abortion legal, safe and rare. Sadly only one of those ideas has come to pass. Abortion is legal.

Safe? Abortion is never safe for the baby, and it’s safety for the woman is debatable. FDA figures from 2006 state that at least 1,100 women have been physically harmed by RU-486, the drug that causes chemical abortion, since it has been approved for use in the U.S. 

And what about the women who have suffered emotionally and spiritually from abortion? Many women are plagued by guilt, shame, regret, anxiety, even self-destructive behaviors following their decisions to abort.

Rare? Current figures indicate that in New York City, our nation’s largest city, 41 percent of all pregnancies end in abortion. Nationwide 20 percent of pregnancies end in abortion. The numbers of abortion were actually dropping nationwide (thanks to pregnancy care centers and abstinence programs) until the use of RU-486 became more common. Now the numbers are on the rise again. We can only imagine the lost potential of 53 million Americans who have been aborted since January 22, 1973.

How did abortion become so commonplace in America, of all places? When God was removed from the public square we saw a dramatic shift in attitudes and practices. Today more than seven million couples are cohabiting. Many will have had children together. Four out of five of those couples will break up before marrying. The children will be left without the benefit of both parents interacting in their lives daily. Marriage is being reduced to just a contract, sometimes between two or more people of any gender.

Families are being created in unusual ways. There is research available entitled, My Daddy’s Name is Donor. Women are offering their wombs as incubators for the babies of others. Often these women will supply the egg, but not always. Individualism, even narcissism, has invaded our thinking.

We’re operating on the premise of what’s best for me alone. Parents aren’t taking the time to set healthy boundaries for their children. Children, by default, are living lives of self-reliance for which they aren’t equipped, nor should they be. This leads children to be self-protective, which leads away from the ability to be vulnerable. Our moral code is lost. Each person is deciding from situation to situation what is right and what is wrong. In this context it is no wonder that Jesus, whom God sent to save us from our sin (from ourselves), becomes irrelevant. Is it any wonder that abortion is on the rise?

Have we also lost the grandeur of God? We have attempted to put Him in a manageable box, to bring out when it’s convenient. In the meantime, we take charge of own lives. We have forgotten that we are created in God’s image, not the other way around. And, as we reach out to minister to others we must remember that all human beings are created in His image, whether they acknowledge Him or not. He sent His Son to die for all of us, not one of us being deserving of that sacrifice. We’ve lost a sense of humility before God and our fellow human beings.

The good news? There are ministries specifically equipped to enter into the culture and provide alternatives to abortion, pregnancy care centers. Largely manned by volunteers trained to minister to young who are facing the challenges of unplanned pregnancy, these organizations fill a unique niche in their communities. Often they represent a rich cross section of the Body of Christ as the staff and volunteers come from a variety of Christian churches for a common purpose, meeting the needs of women who are definitely products of the culture. These women and girls appear self-reliant and optimistic, but the optimism is often devoid of realism. They can talk about past decisions that had negative consequences, but they express no regret. To express regret creates a frightening level of vulnerability, which they are ill-equipped to manage. 

Enter pregnancy care center workers, who love the Lord and are called by Him to reach out. In no way are we going to make decisions for women nor will we change them, but we can offer sound information and a kind, listening ear. The decision-making process and the heart changes are between the woman and God. We are quick to realize our limitations and also to realize that God has no limitations!

If the choice of abortion weighs heavily on your heart I encourage you to find your local pregnancy care center. Every center needs prayer support because the battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers and principalities of this world.

Centers are in need of volunteers. Some of the tasks assigned to volunteers are counseling clients, answering the phone, sorting baby clothes, serving on the Board of Directors, helping with publicity. The list is long for most centers and all of us have talent we can bring. Centers are also in need of money. Most pregnancy centers receive no government support, and grants are hard to obtain. If you would consider putting your local center in your family’s budget each month you would be providing much-needed encouragement.

Most centers provide parenting education for those women who will be parenting their babies. Could you teach a class or mentor a new mom? Have your children outgrown their baby clothes or is there a crib collecting dust in the attic? Call the pregnancy center near you and offer to donate those baby items. It is wonderful for pregnancy care center workers to be able to tell their clients that the Body of Christ stands with them in their decision to choose life for their babies.

Do pregnancy centers really make a difference? The answer is a resounding yes! We have the opportunity to share who Jesus desires to be in each life. We may be the first ones to believe they can make needed changes as we point them toward healthy lifestyle choices for the future. 

We can instill godly principles as we teach parenting skills. In some communities we have the opportunity to present a message of sexual integrity to teens in the public schools. We are equipped to interface with negative cultural trends and befriend women who may have made very different choices from ours, but whom God loves unconditionally, as He does us.

In Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby says if you want to do God’s will, go where God’s working. He is indeed at work in pregnancy care centers. Won’t you join Him there?

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Every is the executive director of Pregnancy Support Services, serving Durham and Chapel Hill. She has held that role since 1992. In those years she has also served as president of the Board of Directors of Carolina Pregnancy Care Fellowship, a network of pregnancy centers, Christian adoption agencies, and Christian maternity homes. Since 2001 she has served as Regional Consultant for Care Net, a national network of pregnancy care centers. She and her husband make their home in Durham. She can be reached at mimi@pregnancysupport.org.)

(SPECIAL NOTE — Thank you for your continued support of the Biblical Recorder site. During this interim period while we are searching for a new Editor/President the comments section will be temporarily discontinued. Thank you for your understanding and patience in this. If you do have comments or issues with items we run, please contact dianna@biblicalrecorder.org or call 919-847-2127.)

A few weeks ago Google unveiled a new search engine database. According to one news service Google’s Ngram Viewer is “the final word on words ... billions and billions of them.”

For centuries people have been searching the written word for knowledge. Now they can do it in ways that just a few years ago were unimaginable. Google has digitally copied 5.2 million books published since 1500. From these digital copies they have built a database of 500 billion words that is as close as your computer keyboard.

With this database and its associated graphic tools you can visualize the rise and fall of concepts, words and phrases published over the last 500 years in English, French, Spanish, German, Chinese and Russian.

Google’s Ngram is impressive. It’s also amusing to see how the usage and relevance of words has changed over the years. While I am not a prophet, I have little doubt that the Ngram viewer is NOT the final word on words. The day will come, probably sooner than later, when it will seem antiquated, limited and slow. 

Solomon certainly got it right when he said, “Of making many books there is no end” (Ecc. 12:12). Indeed, there seems to be no end to any word based information source. We live in a day of information overload.

The last thing any of us need is more words in the form of useless, meaningless information. And the last thing the (Board of) Directors and staff of the Biblical Recorder want is that the Recorder would be viewed as useless and irrelevant. 

Having stated this, we also recognize the reality of the situation.

Many North Carolina Baptists consider the Recorder an important source of information.  But if we will be honest with ourselves I think we would have to agree that many N.C. Baptists would say — in one way or another — that the Recorder is unimportant, even irrelevant to them and their churches.

I know this is the case because I used to hold this view. For many of the 20 years I have served as pastor of Westwood Baptist Church in Roxboro, the Recorder was unimportant to me personally and irrelevant to our ministry — or so I thought. It was too moderate for my theological tastes, too dated in its format and just too far down in the pile on my desk to make any difference. While that has changed for me, it has not for many of my fellow pastors and their church members.

Our circulation numbers are lower than they have been in a long, long time. In the mid-70s our circulation was near 120,000. It is now approximately 21,500. This is not a problem unique to Biblical Recorder.

Newspapers in general have experienced similar declines. In days gone by, people who desired to be “in the know” were eager for newspapers. Not so today. In addition, the decline is not just about subscriptions and finances. It also represents a decline in influence.

The Recorder’s Directors and staff recognize the unique challenges that face us. But more importantly, we also recognize the importance of being fully committed to the paper’s stated mission: “To further Christ’s kingdom among North Carolina (BSC) Baptists by providing relevant news, insightful opinions, and supportive resources in a timely and accessible fashion.”

For us, this mission statement is not just more words. Until our Lord returns and establishes His visible kingdom, the mission is ongoing. The Great Commission is not yet complete.

While the church moves forward in completing the task of making disciples of all nations the Recorder is committed to the supportive task of informing, assisting and equipping the leaders and members of our churches. It is our desire that the Biblical Recorder would become one of the most valued resources to North Carolina pastors, church leaders and all North Carolina Baptists. 

We will not accomplish this if our goals are limited to maintaining the status quo or simply aiming to be a good state newspaper. In a day of blogs, tweets and social media communities, innovation based on our identity as North Carolina Baptists is required for relevance and effectiveness. One of our Board members stated it well, “Rather than thinking of a paper, the Biblical Recorder’s future might be as a communications hub that would utilize whatever media is appropriate to its various constituencies.”

Every generation has its favored media. The challenge of the Recorder includes print for an older generation while at the same time serving a younger generation that is increasingly oriented to social media. We live in a digital world, and for the Biblical Recorder to accomplish its mission with various constituencies it must have a suitable media mix. Moving toward this new paradigm is essential for the Recorder if we will succeed in our stated mission. 

We take our relationship with North Carolina Baptists seriously.

It is not just a matter of finances, budgets and the bottom line, but a sacred stewardship. The Biblical Recorder must be a good steward of the trust and financial support it receives from individual subscribers and the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina (BSC). The Cooperative Program dollars the Biblical Recorder will receive in 2011 is equivalent to over 23,000 individual subscriptions. We are not unaware of this trust, and will seek to strengthen this bond and earn the confidence of North Carolina Baptists.   

Milton A. Hollifield Jr., BSC executive director-rreasurer has clearly stated a vision for the Recorder that is shared by the Board of Directors and the staff: “The need for the Recorder is greater now than ever before. With the scarcity of Baptist news outlets, the Recorder continues to provide an important service to North Carolina Baptists as we move further into the 21st century. 

“The necessity for Baptists across our state to have a periodical devoted to missions and ministries from an unapologetic Baptist perspective is of utmost importance. North Carolina Baptists both need and deserve a news journal that provides analysis and commentary, from a Baptist perspective, on events impacting us. 

“The Biblical Recorder has the opportunity to provide this and more! It is my hope that the Recorder will take this convention’s news journal to a new level in this new century. By that I mean, that the Recorder will not simply provide news and commentary, but challenge the churches to examine their motivation for ministries as never before. 

“The Recorder can be the incubator for new ministries while helping make current ministries more effective.

“The Recorder can bring the events impacting Baptists around the world to our very doorsteps, and computer screens, helping readers to see not only what God is doing, but also how you and I can join in His work around the world. 

“The Recorder can bring the needs of the hungry, hurting, and hopeless across North Carolina to the attention of the one institution commissioned by the Lord Jesus to truly meet their needs: the local church.

“Although the Recorder is now experiencing a time of transition, I firmly believe the Recorder is still very much positioned to accomplish all these things. I believe the Recorder will continue to be, for years to come, a valuable source of news for North Carolina Baptists.”

Since 1833, the Biblical Recorder has served North Carolina Baptists.

We seek to continue this legacy of service as we move into 2011, but to do this we rely on the partnership of North Carolina Baptists. 

First, we welcome your input and suggestions. We will need your help to produce a resource that will serve your needs and help you in your ministry. Pastors, what do you value in the Biblical Recorder? What needs to be changed? What would you like to see included in each edition? What should be dropped? What would make it better?

Second, we ask you to pray for the staff of the Biblical Recorder. Alison, Dianna and Amie are committed to serving North Carolina Baptists and working out God’s call on their lives by writing and producing an outstanding periodical which gives North Carolina Baptists a “front row seat to what is going on in Baptist life in our state and around the world.”

Lastly, we appreciate you praying for the Board of Directors as we lead in this time of transition. Our Editor Search Team has begun the process of finding the Biblical Recorder’s next editor/president. We are receiving resumes for this position. Any recommendations or referrals you might have for this can be submitted to the Search Committee c/o the Biblical Recorder.  

Thomas Meredith founded the Recorder with the encouragements and endorsement of many denominational leaders.

One of those leaders was General Agent Samuel Wait, who said, “Such a paper we might hope, being adapted to the existing state of our churches, would be productive of the best consequences.”

The Recorder is still committed to this end. We are excited about where God is leading North Carolina Baptists. We look forward to being an integral part of the life North Carolina Baptists in 2011 and for many years to come.  

(SPECIAL NOTE — Thank you for your continued support of the Biblical Recorder site. During this interim period while we are searching for a new Editor/President the comments section will be temporarily discontinued. Thank you for your understanding and patience in this. If you do have comments or issues with items we run, please contact dianna@biblicalrecorder.org or call 919-847-2127.)

Between April and June 1994 an estimated 800,000 Rwandans were killed in the space of 100 days in a tribal, ethnic genocide that people outside of Rwanda still do not understand. Most of the dead were Tutsis and most of the killers were Hutus.

You and I could not tell a Hutu from a Tutsi any more than we can discern salt water from fresh without tasting it.

The two groups speak the same language, are the same color, inhabit the same areas and follow the same traditions.

Yet among themselves they perceived a difference that enabled them to kill each other with impunity on a scale that still takes our breath away.

Today you likely associate the words “Hutu” or “Tutsi” or even “Rwanda” with nothing other than the horrible, barbaric blood lust of those 100 days.

Trying hard not to be overly dramatic, the analogy fits Baptists without the blood. To outsiders we all look alike. We speak the common language of Zion and look similar as we gather in our segregated village temples.

Only tribal insiders can discern among those who look like them, talk like them, believe like them but just do not fit.

And to those on the outside, our internecine battles make us just as irrelevant as the hatred between Tutsis and Hutus makes them to the civilized world.

It was only in the midst of my brief tenure as Biblical Recorder editor that I came to fully understand the depth and significance of Jesus’ words to His disciples at the last supper.

There He gave them a “new command” as recorded in John 13:34-35. “Love one another,” He said. “As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

In His final hours, issuing the last insights He had time to impart to His disciples, Jesus did not tell them to identify with Him by feeding the hungry, preaching on street corners, visiting prisons, signing doctrinal statements, abstaining from wine or even by loving their enemies. Instead, He said the signal evidence of their identity as Christ followers will be their love for each other.

Wouldn’t you think that would be the easiest task that could be asked of a Christian? Instead, Jesus knew that 20 centuries later those who claim His name would spend more time and energy discerning differences so they can exclude brothers and sisters than embracing similarities so they can include others in common mission.

The hard reality is that we don’t love one another. Mac Brunson said it in his SBC convention sermon in Orlando this summer. The truth is, he said, “We don’t like each other.” He said pastors, particularly, find it difficult to rejoice when a fellow pastor shares how God is blessing his congregation. Many are competitive and turf conscious, resenting and working against a new church plant in “their area.” 

Those who live inside the Baptist bubble for any length of time begin to believe that ours is a big, important world; that our meetings matter and the fate of the universe hinges on our ability to align thought on a single plane.

But step outside that bubble and you will see that “outsiders” perceive only our inability to love one another. So what do we have to offer them?

I came to the Recorder with no agenda, other than to serve North Carolina Baptists with all the tools, training, calling and experience with which God prepared me for the role. I learned a lot and offered something in return.

One thing I noticed was that Baptists don’t fuss much over the hard sayings of Jesus — we just ignore them.

We just consign to a drawer His admonitions about loving enemies, harboring strangers, respecting laws and authority and holding very loosely to our money. Jesus tells us how to “be” church.

Our conflicts come over how to “do” church — women in ministry, alcohol, ordination, deacons or elders, music and worship style, private prayer language, qualifications to hold certain offices and who pronounces “Shibboleth” correctly (Judges 12:4-6). Because it is easier and we convince ourselves we’re actually being productive, we immerse ourselves in “church work” and call it the “work of the church.” 

One high profile pastor called me after an editorial ran with which he disagreed. He suggested a majority of North Carolina Baptists also disagreed with my position and said, “Don’t you think you ought to write things that reflect the majority viewpoint?”

The shallowness of that position is both breathtaking and frightening. I’m reminded of a comment by “conservative resurgence” guru Adrian Rogers in the early 1980s when seminary professors were under fire.

As an example of how Rogers thought seminary professors ought to bow to the current theological wind, he said they ought to teach, “whatever they are told to teach. And if we tell them to teach that pickles have souls, then they must teach that pickles have souls!” 

My sadness going forward is realizing that no number of ministry pillars, task forces, church starts, evangelism contacts, or proclamations that we “love the sinner, but hate the sin,” will ever avail when we demonstrate so regularly that we do not love each other.

Can you absorb an insult? Swallow a retort? Read a contrary opinion without assigning ill motive to the writer? Rejoice when God’s blessings fall on another? Refuse the shackles of legalism?

“As I have loved you, so you must love one another,” Jesus said. “By this, everyone will know …”

Last Christmas my family agreed to forego gifting each other in favor of sending money to dig a well in a remote village of the state of Bihar, India. It was the best Christmas giving and receiving that I remember.

It wasn’t a great Christmas specifically because we gave a well. Although even as I write this I can’t help but smile knowing people I’ve never met drink clean water today because my children agreed to give toward a well whatever they would have spent gifting each other or their parents. It was a great Christmas because I felt selfless. I felt generous. Christmas morning gift time was anti-climactic but that helped Christmas be not about me.

The best of Christmas is about others. I like receiving gifts.

They make me feel special, regardless if the gift is needed, practical, frivolous or ridiculous. It says someone loves me and is thinking of me. I don’t make light of the tradition of gifting those you love at Christmas.

But take a moment just now and remember the gifts you received last Christmas.

Can’t do it?

My family can name the gift we gave last Christmas, and we will be able to name it the rest of our lives. Christmas is the season for the annual Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for international missions. There are many reasons to give generously to this offering named for a selfless missionary who starved while giving her food to others.

One of the most important is that giving at Christmas so that others whom we likely never will meet will have increased chances of hearing the life-giving name of Jesus.

This is selfless giving. There is no tinsel involved, no wrapping paper, no Christmas morning exclamations. There are no gift receipts, nor return instructions; no trek to the store Dec. 26 for the great exchange day.

There is just the sure knowledge that people somewhere will bless the name of Jesus because you gave. That is a gift you can always treasure. 

In discussions about funding the goals of the Great Commission Resurgence (GCR), considerable debate centers on the division of Cooperative Program (CP) funds from churches as they are shared with state conventions and the national Southern Baptist Convention.

Those who support the GCR mantra of de-emphasizing state convention work in favor of the national and international ministries of the SBC feel that if state conventions would forward at least 50 percent of the CP gifts from churches, then churches would be inspired to send more money.

This perspective gives great weight to the idea that Baptists want more of their gifts to reach “the nations,” and they are not being as generous as in the past because they feel too much of their money stays in the state for local ministries, when there already are enough churches to take care of local needs.

Is that perspective accurate?

If it is, by all means then state conventions need to move to a 50-50 division as quickly as possible. At the one-half percent a year rate of increase the BSC has made the past six years, it will take another 30 years to reach 50-50 with the SBC.

Some other state conventions made drastic leaps toward the 50-50 goal during their annual meetings this fall at significant sacrifice to their state convention ministries.

There is precedent, however, that implies a 50-50 division of CP funds has no bearing on churches’ gifts. In the early 1980s the state conventions in Oklahoma, where I was on the newspaper staff at the time, and Florida were racing each other to become the first states to share CP gifts 50-50 with the SBC. Southern Baptists were committed to the goals of Bold Mission Thrust, which sought to present the gospel of Jesus Christ to every person in the world by the year 2000.

During an economic downturn similar to the one we are drowning in today, Oklahoma’s Joe Ingram led his convention to go up one and even two full percentage points a year to reach a 50-50 division by 1985. To win the race with Florida, he even had the last 1984 check divided 50-50 with the SBC.

Immediately Oklahoma entered its first year ever of CP gifts being lower than the year before.

Within 20 months Ingram was retired and new Executive Director-Treasurer Bill Tanner was leading discussions on cutting back the SBC portion to keep from starving Oklahoma Baptist ministries.

In 1986 Oklahoma adjusted its budget downward, and changed the CP division to 56-44 with a plan and commitment to return the division quickly to 50-50.

The plan depended on churches’ positive response and increase in giving.

As gifts would increase, a lowered budget would be met more quickly and gifts over the budget would be divided 50-50 and the SBC portion would be increased the following year.

In fact, the division never grew closer than 56-44 and today is at 60-40 – the same percentage as is shared by the Florida Baptist Convention, which also shortly altered its gifts nationally as church increases did not follow the visible commitment by the state conventions to forward more money to the SBC.

Bob Hammons, who led an Oklahoma study committee that recommended a cutback to 56-44, said, “We must strengthen for now our own Judean ministry that we ultimately can do more in the uttermost parts of the world. Not to make the adjustment means we would ultimately do less in the uttermost.”

After leading the convention for 15 years, Ingram retired within months of moving Oklahoma to the 50-50 CP division.

Upon his retirement he was most proud of “the unparalleled sense of unity among Baptists in the state.”

So, in a time of unity within the state convention; when Southern Baptists nationally were unified behind Bold Mission Thrust goals; when state conventions were committed to increasing CP gifts nationally; when 10 percent CP giving from churches was more the norm than the exception, state conventions that adopted a 50-50 CP division could not maintain it.

Churches simply did not respond.

They were neither impressed nor moved by their conventions’ commitments enough to increase their own.

Similarities between that day and now are significant enough that the results should be instructive.

North Carolina Baptists in Greensboro for their 180th annual meeting participated in good preaching, music, worship and prayer times and saw highlighted the work North Carolina Baptists accomplish cooperatively.

The fewest number of N.C. Baptists since 1952 came to participate in their cooperative work. The decline of the annual meeting as a focal point of interest and community for N.C. Baptists is a phenomenon with far reaching implications.

Don Wilton, pastor of First Baptist Church in Spartanburg, S.C., preached at the pastor’s conference and said one of the reasons people do not flock to hear our message is simply because they see our actions do not reflect that message. His and other convention sermons lifted Jesus, called us to holiness, prayer, piety, family priorities, mutual love and an embrace of the lost around us. Those are qualities North Carolina Baptists embrace and are the reasons that most convention participants could go home rejoicing that Jesus was lifted.

But the annual meeting is also to conduct the business of N.C. Baptists’ cooperative enterprise and in business sessions, two motions brought from the floor and approved by messengers for study threaten to embroil the Convention in unnecessary controversies that can only bog down the missions enterprise with issues from the past.

Specifically those motions threaten to move the Baptist State Convention backwards.

Tim Rogers’ motion to establish an alcohol policy for North Carolina Baptist leadership is simply unnecessary and extra-biblical. It asks the Convention to take a stand on one side of an issue over which sincere Christians the world over disagree.

Baptists are certainly known for our stances against things. We don’t smoke, drink, dance or chew and we don’t go out with girls who do. Yet, early Baptists in Kentucky sometimes paid their preachers in bourbon, and the smoking area outside the convention center was occupied by several sincere Baptists as the discussion on alcohol was initiated inside.

Young abstaining pastors who I talked with do not support beverage alcohol use but recognized that making it an issue for N.C. Baptists is divisive and extra-biblical. How much of this move is cultural?

One of our most prominent, rock solid, Bible preaching, abstaining pastors, who came here from another state, told me he cannot preach what the Bible actually says about alcohol because he would be run out of his church. You can argue wine dilution and bad water 2,000 years ago all you want, but I simply point you to John 2 and Jesus’ first miracle.

He turned water into wine so the wedding feast could continue without embarrassment; and it was the best wine and the miracle “revealed His glory” (v. 11).

Now, do not hear me saying that alcohol consumption is a good thing or that you should have champagne fountains in your parlor or beer at your youth meetings. Don’t be ridiculous.

I am saying that, like it or not, many sincere Christians read the Bible for what it says and do not abstain, for whatever reason. To ask the Convention to codify a cultural preference or personal conviction of someone is not helpful and can have the opposite effect on unity and purity than is intended.

The same is true of Phil Addison’s motion to adopt the Baptist Faith and Message as the official parameter of faith for North Carolina Baptists.

For 180 years the official parameter of faith for North Carolina Baptists has been the Bible, and the Baptist commitment to soul competency sees the Bible as wide enough, high enough, broad enough and specific enough to encompass a diverse people to work together in missions, with the “essentials” in common.

During decades of turmoil in Southern Baptist life, “the Bible” was the issue.

Then, once “the issue” was settled we thought we had to revise just what it was we thought the Bible was saying. And the Baptist Faith and Message became the issue. Missionaries had to sign it, or come home. They thought they were going to a foreign land to teach the Bible as priests, who were soul competent. But they were told unless they believed the Bible as laid out in this document, they really were not suited.

Is this the kind of discussion and turmoil we want to bring into the Baptist State Convention, which can only lead to employees and church planters and then program speakers having to sign an extra-biblical document of “faith?” Why is the Bible not sufficient for us any longer?

Maybe the answer is because of the continuing push to lose a North Carolina Baptist identity and merge it with being “Southern Baptist.”

Rogers’ alcohol motion talked about Southern Baptists in North Carolina; Addison said it’s time to identify as Southern Baptists.

In his address Executive Director-Treasurer Milton A. Hollifield Jr. said he supports movement toward a 50-50 split of Cooperative Program funds with the Southern Baptist Convention, but maintains his commitment to North Carolina Baptist Convention ministries.

He tried to encourage greater giving by raising an expectation that increased gifts will result in a greater percentage of those gifts being used in national and international ministries of the SBC. There is certainly a drumbeat by Great Commission Resurgence supporters who say giving is down because not enough Cooperative Program money leaves the state.

I disagree with that analysis but Hollifield’s statement indicates support.

North Carolina leaders will have to ascertain in the near future if a position that reduces the prominence of state ministry in favor of national and international ministry is actually more attractive to those in the state who give.