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SHELBY TOWNSHIP – Growing up I always knew I wanted to become a teacher. Some of my earliest memories are playing school or even assisting the teacher in the classroom, and eventually I went to college for a degree in Elementary Education. Before I ever graduated college, I was offered a position at the school where I was completing my student teaching. What a blessing to know I would have a teaching position at the same school I had come to love and build so many connections. However, I still had to finish out my student teaching. I had to remain in the “now” while I awaited what was yet to come. As followers of Christ, we live in this same tension. When we accept Jesus into our lives, we know we are promised eternity in heaven with Him! In 1 Corinthians 15:55- 57 (NIV) Paul writes, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Jesus defeated death so that we can live with Him one day. The Bible says in Romans 8:37 (NIV), “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word conqueror as “one who conquers, one who wins a country in war, subdues or subjugates a people, or overcomes an adversary.” According to Romans 8:37 the Bible tells us that we are “more than conquerors” which means the battle has already been won for us! We can live in the promised victory that Jesus gave us when he died on the cross and defeated death! As amazing and life changing as that promise is, we must learn to live in the tension of the “now and not yet” just as I had to finish my student teaching position before I was able to step into a full-time teaching role and all the benefits that would come along with that. What happens when we know we have the future victory that awaits us, but we struggle to experience victories in our everyday lives? It is vital to remember that we aren’t fighting for victory but that we are fighting from victory. We can know God’s Word and preach it to ourselves when the things around us aren’t working out in the way in which we hoped they would. We can’t allow the temporary things we face to distract us from our eternal victory in Christ! In Romans 8:28 (NIV), we read, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” God is working all things together. God is God, and we are not. He knows what lies ahead for us and He knows what is best. We have such a limited understanding, and often we will create the plan in our minds of what we think is best in a situation and what the outcomes should be instead of truly trusting and relying on God. When we find ourselves struggling in the “now and not yet,” we should search our hearts and ask God the following questions: Where do I not trust you in this situation? Where am I struggling to believe your Word to be true? What is the truth found in your Word to help me in this situation? As we begin to allow God into our fears, doubts, and unbelief… He meets us there. The Holy Spirit wants to show us how we can trust God even when things around us aren’t the way we hoped they would be. By inviting God into our struggles and seeking Him for the outcomes, we will come to know him better. As we begin to grow in our understanding of God’s character, we will believe what His Word says, and we will truly trust He is working all things together. While we await our eternal victory, we can have peace in what we are facing now because we know God is in control. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Karen is married to Scott Blanchard, pastor of Lakepointe Church, and moved from Florida to Michigan in the summer of 2009 to plant Lakepointe Church in Shelby Township. She enjoys mentoring and discipling women and also leads women’s life groups through her church. She is passionate about helping women find their purpose in who God created them to be. She is on staff at Lakepointe Church and loves being part of what God is doing in the Metro Detroit area! #MARCH24

HOLT – Does God ever begin again? Consider Noah and the flood, the generation of Israel raised in the wilderness, David the second king of Israel, the church in Ephesus that had abandoned its first love. These are a few of many examples of God calling his people to begin again. Even the gospel call of repentance is a call to begin again. None of this means that God has failed; rather, it is the very means by which God fulfills his purposes for his people and for his world. This is why I have a passion to see churches revitalized. The people of God, in order to remain faithful to God, often have to begin again. Sometimes he starts a brand new thing, such as through church planting. But oftentimes God brings renewal to something started long ago. This is the work of church revitalization, and specifically of church replanting. That is what we are seeing God do in Holt, MI. I am honored and grateful to be a part of it, and this is how we are seeing God begin again. At Chapel Pointe, we are passionate about kingdom expansion. For us, this happens in many ways, from supporting missionaries and sending missionaries to coaching and strengthening churches. But we have especially seen the kingdom expand over the past year as we have begun launching campuses, and one of those new campuses is in Holt which is just south of Lansing. But this campus is not a totally new endeavor. It is a work of renewal, a replanting of a church that has long had a gospel influence in this area. We were connected with this church last year. While we began with encouraging, coaching, and consulting, it became clear that this congregation needed and wanted more support. Most importantly, we shared a heartbeat to reach to the lost and to see the kingdom expand in this community. So this congregation is now part of Chapel Pointe, and we are replanting this church as one of our campuses. The goal of all of this is that God would multiply transformed followers of Jesus in this community. This has become my prayer for myself and for our church in this season: "Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?" (Psalm 85:6). Would you join with me in prayer for God to renew my heart and your heart, the hearts of our people, and hearts of our churches? Would you pray with me that a deep joy in God would send us out to boldly share the message of the gospel? At Chapel Pointe, we like to say that transformation is a continual process, not a one time event. God is always transforming us, growing us, reviving us. And when that happens not just in me but in a whole congregation, a church is revived. And a revived church is one that not only rejoices in God, but calls others to rejoice in him as well. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Andrew Bolkcom is the campus pastor at Chapel Pointe’s Holt campus. He has been married to his wife for nearly 10 years, and they have two boys who are three and one. #MARCH24

WASHINGTON (BP) – Evangelicals’ nuanced views on immigration should encourage faith leaders to offer biblical responses to all concerns, key evangelical leaders said Feb. 28 upon the release of a new Lifeway Research study sponsored by the Evangelical Immigration Table. Both the compassionate care of immigrants and border security rank high among evangelicals, the poll showed, with respondents overwhelmingly desiring a clear path to citizenship and cohesive care for immigrant families. “It’s important for faith leaders to be clear and speak to both issues, both felt needs,” Dan Darling, director of the Land Center for Cultural Engagement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, said Wednesday (Feb. 28) in a virtual press conference releasing the study’s results. “We can talk about both things, the rule of law and compassion.” Evangelical groups represented at the press conference called for cross-partisan solutions to immigration this year – ahead of the next U.S. presidential term – and did not endorse a political party nor candidate best positioned to accomplish desired goals. Gabriel Salguero, president of the National Latino Evangelical Coalition and an Assemblies of God pastor, instead endorsed justice, love and mercy in the public sphere, and promoted “conviction and civility.” There’s “a growing frustration that Congress can’t work across the political aisle to solve some of the most intractable problems,” Salguero said. “I hear that from people in my church whether they voted for Republican, or Democrat, or Independent or not party affiliated. We elect members of Congress to work together to solve difficult issues, and we are aware that immigration is one of them. Why isn’t Congress listening?” National Association of Evangelicals President Walter Kim agreed with Salguero. “We do pursue policies that are expressive of biblical convictions,” Kim said, “and we also seek to do so in a manner that is dignifying to people. And so, the kind of rhetoric that we would wish to pursue is a rhetoric that seeks to build bridges, even if there is a disagreement on a policy approach that would be presented by a candidate or the discourse that we see in Washington. “In this election cycle all sorts of things will be said about evangelicals and their alignments, as well as organizations that the evangelicals may be affiliated with,” Kim said, emphasizing the NAE’s nonpartisan stance. Nonpartisanship has been an important Evangelical Immigration Table principle, said Matthew Soerens, Evangelical Immigration Table national coordinator and World Relief vice president for advocacy. “Our message is not vote for Republicans or vote for Democrats,” Soerens said. “It is to tell Republicans and Democrats and Independents in Congress that we want them to pass legislation that is consistent with our biblical perspective, and for them to know that there are many of their constituents who very strongly hold to those nuanced, biblically informed views as well.” Evangelicals’ views expressed in Lifeway research track largely with the 2023 Southern Baptist Convention resolution “On Wisely Engaging Immigration,” which emphasizes the inherent dignity of immigrants, legal pathways to employment and permanent status, border security, family preservation, compassionate speech and protecting minors from exploitation. “This research underscores the reality that committed evangelical Christians affirm both a need for a strong, secure U.S. border and for a commonsense immigration system,” Darling said. “A clear majority of evangelicals call for a common-sense bipartisan fix to a broken immigration system. This is a clarion call to both parties to stop playing politics with this important issue and reform the system to both uphold the rule of law and respect the imago Dei of immigrants. “A lot of Baptists,” Darling said, “are frustrated with the inability in D.C. to work this out.” World Relief Director of Government Relations Chelsea Sobolik and Lifeway Research statistician Daniel Price also spoke at the press event. Immigration policy is personal for many immigrants, Sobilik said, either because they’ve been directly involved in ministry to immigrants, are themselves immigrants or are children of immigrants. “Deferring action on passing more comprehensive immigration reform not only harms us as Americans,” Sobilik said, “but … what is happening at the Southern border is not sustainable for anyone.” Evangelicals encouraged pastors to address immigration from a biblical standpoint in sermons and Bible studies, as 82 percent of respondents voiced a desire for such, up from 68 percent in 2015. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Diana Chandler is Baptist Press’ senior writer. #MARCH24

NASHVILLE (BP) – The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) has released a practical resource to help churches navigate difficult questions and scenarios surrounding the topic of gender confusion. The resource, released Monday (Feb. 26), is titled “God’s Good Design: A Practical Guide for Answering Gender Confusion.” The guide contains a theological framework addressing the topic of gender from a biblical worldview and offers answers to practical scenarios that churches or pastors may face or have faced regarding the topic. The guide also contains links to additional resources on the topic of gender confusion from a variety of Christian sources. In the guide’s foreword, ERLC President Brent Leatherwood spoke about the need to address the topic in the church today. “The rate of teenagers who identify as transgender has doubled in the United States according to one estimate,” Leatherwood wrote. “Nearly one-third of Generation Z (the youngest generation for which we have statistics) identify on the LGBT spectrum. It may have (arguably) taken longer for the sexual revolution to reach our churches, but the time is long gone when we could assume it would pass us by completely.” Alex Ward, ERLC research associate and project manager for the ERLC’s research initiatives, said the guide is meant to point to God’s good design for gender and sexuality. “Churches are grappling with contemporary gender challenges, navigating questions and scenarios inconceivable just years ago,” Ward said. “‘God’s Good Design: A Practical Guide for Answering Gender Confusion’ is a resource for addressing these issues, offering a theological framework for fidelity to scripture on sexuality, masculinity and femininity. Developed with input from theologians, ethicists, policy experts and ministry leaders, it provides guidance to practical scenarios derived from real church experiences. While not exhaustive, it serves as a guide for churches navigating their unique contexts amid cultural shifts. “The theological framework created by these experts also can help orient ministries as they create policies and procedures for how to respond in the future. In a time of many perspectives that err away from God’s desires, the ERLC aims to provide a hopeful message that adhering to God’s design for our bodies and sexuality is ultimately for our good.” To create the guide, the ERLC gathered a team of subject matter experts in theology, ethics, public policy and law, as well as a group of pastors and ministry leaders. The team worked together to create a framework for the topic of gender based upon Scripture and theological categories found in the Baptist Faith and Message 2000. The group then uses the theological framework to address 20 different practical scenarios and questions related to the topic of gender that could take place in a local church. The points of the guide’s theological framework are: God created humanity God intentionally created humanity with physical bodies God’s good design for bodies is sexed: male and female God created men and women to complement one another The Fall affects how we see our body and sexuality God meets the refugees of transgender ideology The Church compassionately proclaims God’s design for gender and the body. Some practical scenarios addressed in the guide include: If you had a transgender woman (biological male) come to your church on a Sunday and it was obvious that this person was really a male, how would your average churchgoer respond? How should church members be coached to prepare them for this? If your children’s ministry had a child (age 7) visit who wished to be called a different name than the one they were given at birth (and dressed in accord with their preferred gender identity), and the parent also desired this, how would your children’s ministry respond to the child and parent? Would the request be followed? Why or why not? What is said to the child? What is said to the parent? A couple in your church has an adult son, age 25, who is going through a gender transition. They are heartbroken but practicing “tough love” with the child and have cut off all contact. How would you counsel them? Imagine you had an unrepentant transgender individual wish to be baptized. How would the church’s leadership respond? A teen in your church has confided in a youth minister that they are experiencing bouts of gender dysphoria. What action plan is in place to help this teenager? Leatherwood closed out the guide’s forward by offering a word of encouragements to Southern Baptists ministering in the midst of the society’s confusion surrounding gender. “It is our hope that this theological framework and the practical scenarios will start (or continue) the conversation in your churches about how to serve those broken by the sexual revolution with the hope of the Gospel,” Leatherwood said. The full guide can be found here. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Timothy Cockes is a writer in Nashville. #MARCH24

I’m guessing you have a town like Chula, Missouri, somewhere around you. With a grand total of 200 people in population, Chula has a post office, a community center, a school, and not much else. I grew up about 15 minutes away in the mega-city of Chillicothe (population 9,100). Like many other small towns across North America, Chula didn’t have a church of any kind. At one time, the town had four – three Protestant churches and a Catholic one. One of those, Chula Baptist Church, had been Southern Baptist. Built in 1896, the church had once been full. But the last few decades were tough. By the late 2010s, only three members remained. No longer able to support the church, they gave it to the Linn-Livingston Baptist Association. By the time Chula Baptist closed its doors for the last time, the town had no active churches. (See related stories here and here.) The population of Chula is roughly the same as it was 60 years ago when my dad became the pastor of Calvary Baptist Church down the road in Chillicothe, but as of 2020, the town had no local Gospel witness. Of course, Chula had believers, but they had to drive 20 to 30 minutes away to worship. That would have been the end of the story if not for Calvary Baptist. For the past five years, Calvary has invested tirelessly into this small town, particularly the local school where they’ve provided school supplies for the children and much-needed physical labor. They’ve sponsored trunk or treat activities near Halloween and set up booths during the school carnival. They’ve hosted Vacation Bible School during the summers. For the past two years, the church has led Thursday night Bible studies for children, youth and adults inside the school after a lovingly made meal. You might read all that and think that Calvary Baptist Church of Chillicothe is a sprawling megachurch with a large staff and an unlimited budget. But you’d be wrong. At 120-130 people in regular attendance, Calvary is a bit bigger than your average SBC church, yet it’s hardly a megachurch. But Pastor Jon Davis has this church sacrificing both time and treasure to plant the Gospel in Chula. In fall 2022, with the full support of the community, they started a worship service in the local K-8 school. During that time, the people of Calvary partnered with the community to clean up the old Chula Baptist Church building. Last fall, they began meeting in the building, and the consistent congregation of 25-30 people are making plans to constitute a new church soon in a town that once had no Gospel presence. Of course, Calvary Baptist didn’t do it alone. The community supported it, making the school available for weekly Bible studies and worship services. The local water company allowed the church to insert notices about church events in the water bill. The town’s biggest employer gave them water to power wash the old church building. The Linn-Livingston Baptist Association also played an integral part, providing the old Chula Baptist building and paying the insurance on it. Keith Corrick, the associational missions strategist, also trained the lay preachers who are now rotating through the pulpit of the Chula church. Chula is a unique community with a history that extends back into the 19th century. But it’s also like a hundred other small communities throughout North America without a Gospel witness. More than likely, you have one of those communities near you. I get it. You might not think you have the resources to invest in a community like Chula. But you have more to offer than you think. Calvary’s model is a great place to start. They built relationships with the community by meeting practical needs in the local school and beyond. They sent Sunday school teachers to do similar classes in Chula using the same resources from their own classrooms. They started a worship service in the community with a rotation of lay preachers and music leaders. When they couldn’t find a music leader, they played a worship video to help lead the congregation in song. Your church can do this. It’s not rocket science. You’re not alone either. Work with a few like-minded churches to do this together. Your local Southern Baptist association can help. Your North American Mission Board’s Replant Team is here to help, too. We will be producing even more resources in the near future to support you in this effort. We’d love to walk with you as you explore replanting the Gospel in a rural community near you. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mark Clifton is the senior director of replanting at the North American Mission Board. Mark has served as a pastor, church planter, church revitalizer, mission strategist, coach and mentor to young leaders. He has planted and replanted numerous churches and has also served as a national and regional leader for church planting and missions. His experience includes serving as the lead mission strategist for the Kansas/Nebraska Southern Baptist Convention, leading church planting efforts in the regions of north metro Atlanta, Georgia, serving as a church planter in Montreal, Quebec, as a Southern Baptist National Church Planting Missionary for eastern Canada, and has lead Southern Baptist church planting projects west of the Mississippi. Mark has been planting, replanting and providing strategic mission leadership since 1978. Mark and his wife, Jill, live in Kansas City, Missouri and have two sons, two daughters-in-law and three grandsons. #MARCH24

WASHINGTON (BP) – The barring of two Christians from jury duty in a trial involving a lesbian is evidence that Christians with a biblical worldview are increasingly seen as bigots, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito said after Missouri asked the High Court to review the ruling. Such treatment of Christians is what he warned of in his dissent in the Obergefell v. Hodges legalization of same-sex marriage in 2015, Alito said in “reluctantly” concurring with the court’s decision not to hear Missouri’s appeal Feb. 20. “In this case, the court below reasoned that a person who still holds traditional religious views on questions of sexual morality is presumptively unfit to serve on a jury in a case involving a party who is a lesbian” Alito wrote. “That holding exemplifies the danger that I anticipated in Obergefell v. Hodges, … namely, that Americans who do not hide their adherence to traditional religious beliefs about homosexual conduct will be ‘labeled as bigots and treated as such’ by the government.” While the High Court indicated in the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling that it should not be used to discriminate against those holding biblical views of marriage, Alito said he’s “afraid that this admonition is not being heeded by our society.” Alito had predicted in his dissent that the Obergefell v. Hodges ruling would “be used to vilify Americans who are unwilling to assent to the new orthodoxy.” The decision, which equated the denial of same-sex marriage to the denial of equal treatment for African Americans and women, “will be exploited by those who are determined to stamp out every vestige of dissent,” Alito wrote in 2015. Alito called to mind Obergefell v. Hodges after the Supreme Court declined to hear Missouri’s appeal of a court ruling that dismissed two jurors in a 2021 employment discrimination case brought by Jean Finney, a lesbian. In the original trial in the Circuit Court of Buchanan County, Finney’s attorney successfully moved to strike two Christian jurors for cause, arguing that “there’s no way” anyone who sees a gay person as a sinner “could ever fairly consider a case involving a lesbian plaintiff.” In its appeal to the High Court, Missouri challenged the state appeals court’s decision affirming the removing of the jurors for their religious beliefs. The appeals court agreed with the lower court that jurors who believed the plaintiff’s homosexuality was sinful could not be impartial in hearing the case. The Missouri Court of Appeals’ reasoning is cause for concern, Alito said. The High Court should address such rulings at an appropriate time, he said, but asserted that a state law procedural issue complicates hearing the current case. “I would vote to grant review in this case were it not for the fact that the Court of Appeals concluded that the Department of Corrections did not properly preserve an objection to dismissal of the two potential jurors and, thus, that their dismissal was reviewable under state law only for plain error,” Alito wrote. “Because this state-law question would complicate our review, I reluctantly concur in the denial of certiorari.” The free exercise of religion must be protected in courts of law, Alito said. “The judiciary, no less than the other branches of State and Federal Government, must respect people’s fundamental rights, and among these are the right to the free exercise of religion and the right to the equal protection of the laws,” he said. “When a court, a quintessential state actor, finds that a person is ineligible to serve on a jury because of his or her religious beliefs, that decision implicates fundamental rights.” ABOUT THE AUTHOR Diana Chandler is Baptist Press’ senior writer. #MARCH24

SPRINGFIELD, IL – Our Midwest churches and people are different from other regions in the US. I think that is why I love the practical nature of churches that are moving forward and accelerating Gospel movement in their community and state. Every two years twelve Midwest states come together and have a Midwest Leadership Summit. These Midwest states send their pastors and church leaders to Springfield, Illinois to hear from several great national speakers and choose from 60+ breakout sessions. They also hear testimonies from practitioners and how they are spreading the gospel message in our Midwest settings. There was such a good list of speakers and breakout group leaders that it was difficult to choose the one that inspired me the most this year. I think Trevin Wax, North American Mission Board (NAMB) VP of research and resource development and former missionary to Romania, compelled me the most. He spoke at the opening night plenary session, and I went to his breakout group the next morning called Meeting the Challenge of Discipleship in a “You Be You” Culture. The relevancy of the postmodern subject of the You Be You culture was spot on. I’m a member of Treeline Church in Ann Arbor whose focus is to reach students for Christ at the University of Michigan. They have a strong discipleship program. I’ve seen that the You Be You mindset is not just with the new generation, but it is a culture that spreads into all age groups and is even in our churches across the US. The focus is on “express individualism” which believes humans are inherently good, institutions are suspect, and external authority is rejected and internal authority is exalted. “Express individualism” allows you to be your own boss. Trevin spoke from his great depth of understanding of the culture. He had sources to back his conclusions. He looked at trends, and gave verbiage and meanings of those mantras. He pointed out openings in the culture today where Christians should step up and share the solid foundation of the Word of God, and lovingly share the Gospel with a world that is lonely and lost without Christ. A few things that caught my heart in the You Be You culture was their beliefs of: Be true to yourself is the utmost goal. Look inside for who you are, then to others, and finally up to a deity. Greatest sin is not being yourself. You must applaud others who are being themselves. There’s an explosion of pseudo-religions to choose between. We’ve moved from institutional religion to intuitional religion. It’s sad to know these all lead to loneliness. We were created to be relational, to have a relationship with God. That is the only thing that will satisfy our souls.  Trevin shared opportunities that the church has in sharing the gospel with this You Be You culture: To step into the culture and beckon people into a Kingdom much bigger than oneself. The gospel pushes us out of center and puts God where He belongs. The gospel invites people into a bigger world of adventure, to expand their horizons to a Kingdom that is everlasting. The gospel is a more exciting non-conformity! To not conform would be NOT listening to yourself or expressing yourself. Jesus says to deny yourself and follow Him. Some of the phrases that have crept into our churches from the You Be You culture are: You are enough. Follow your dreams. You do you. Trevin suggested that we can recognize that we’re affected by self-expression by staying connected to the Global Church, going on mission trips, and being around international Christians and churches. See how they pray, share, and testify of following God while denying themselves for the sake of others. We know that the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges any way of life that says, Me first! I found myself grieving for this culture that thinks they have nowhere to lay their sin-guilt (the cross). Their first commandment is to be yourself and the second is like it, affirm your neighbor’s self-expression. Thank God that He knows us. He knows us even better than we know ourselves. God, help us be open to sharing your foundation of truth in this pervasive culture that is slipping away from coming to see You as the Authority, Creator, and our only Salvation and Guide in life. The 2024 Midwest Leadership Summit video recordings of the sessions are at https://vimeo.com/showcase/10932605.  Trevin Wax’s plenary session video is at https://vimeo.com/showcase/10932605/video/905845827 ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jamie Lynn works at the Baptist State Convention of Michigan. She's a member at Treeline Church in Ann Arbor (new church start that is focusing on university students). It's her joy to mentor several young women. Jamie loves spending time with her husband Tony, her three kids and spouses, and nine grandchildren. #FEBRUARY24

MONROE – It’s the month of February where our thoughts tend to focus on hearts and love and all things chocolate. However, as the most Hallmark of holidays approaches (Valentine’s Day), I would like you to consider one of the often overlooked ways that Christians are to show love for God and for one another. God’s word commands us to show hospitality. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. Romans 12:13 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. 1 Peter 4:8-9 As a young pastor’s wife in rural Iowa many years ago, I was challenged and encouraged by the book The Hospitality Commands by Alexander Strauch. It had a profound effect on the way I perceived and practiced loving God and others. One of the key takeaways is that hospitality promotes loving Christian community. Hospitality is an identifying mark of the Christian life! In our fast paced, individualist society it is easy to put aside the Biblical command to practice hospitality. We live in a time that fosters isolation along with increasingly demanding work and family schedules. We are also bombarded by endless entertainment options and online diversions that distract us from deep and meaningful relationships. Hospitality is hard. It takes work and time and sacrifice. Hospitality is not always convenient. For some, hospitality can be downright scary. Rosaria Butterfield offers some challenging counsel in her book, The Gospel Comes with a House Key. She writes, “Knowing your personality and your sensitivities does not excuse you from ministry. It means that you need to prepare for it differently than others might.” In other words, despite our objections, we have no excuses. So,  how do we practically start showing hospitality in love for God and others? Here are some steps that help me practice hospitality: Make a plan and start slowly. You do not have to fill every evening with people in your home.Pick a regular time and make a commitment. It might be once a month or once a week for your family. For our family, Sunday at noon works great. Keep a running list of people that you can encourage with your offer of hospitality. You should not always invite the same group of friends. Consider including the lonely and hurting and unchurched. Make a list of simple and inexpensive meals. You do not have to break the bank to be hospitable. We do a baked potato bar, much to the dismay of my children, almost every single week. It helps me know what to prepare each Saturday evening and it fits in with most dietary restrictions. Focus on people and not presentation. You do not need to have a gourmet meal or an immaculate house. Our goal is to show the love of Christ, not to try and be in the pages of House Beautiful. Pray for yourself and your guests. Hospitality provides us with a wonderful opportunity to spread the gospel. In this season of love, let us not forget that hospitality is a very tangible way we are commanded to show our affection for God and others. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kristie Anderson is a wife, mom and homeschooler. She is a native of Kentucky, but has called Iowa, East Asia, and Michigan her home. She loves Jesus, hanging out with her husband, reading aloud to her kids, and drinking good coffee. #FEBRUARY24

SPRINGFIELD, IL – Church leaders from the central states engaged 12,000 hours of training, teaching, and worship at the three-day Midwest Leadership Summit meeting in Springfield January 23-25. In multiple plenary sessions led by national SBC speakers and church planting practitioners, and in 80 breakout sessions, almost 1,000 leaders shared and received equipping for ministry in their unique Midwest settings. The biennial event brings together nine Baptist conventions covering 12 states. It is sponsored by Lifeway, Guidestone, the North American Mission Board, and Woman’s Missionary Union. In day two of the gathering, Vance Pitman, president of NAMB’s Send Network, encouraged pastors, “The size of the church does not determine the significance of the church. The size of the mission determines the significance of the church.” Noting it might be controversial, Pitman said, “Church planting is not the goal. The church that you are planting one day is going to die. All the churches that were planted in the New Testament are all dead and gone….But the kingdom of God is alive and well.” Then where does the local church fit in? To introduce people to Jesus, disciple them, and launch them into serving him. “We’ve made the local church the goal,” said Pitman. “We’re doing it wrong. The church is a tool for establishing the kingdom of Jesus.” Pitman said, “The church being born isn’t the finish line of God’s activity. It’s the starting line.” Church planter Aaron Taylor from Columbus, Ohio, said their congregation, Living Hope Baptist Church, runs 120 on a “banner day,” but is impacting its city in a big way. The church started a free furniture store, Finding Hope Center, three years ago with virtually no inventory or funds, only God’s calling. When space across from the church opened up, Taylor asked the landlord to give the church 30 days. “It was going to cost $25,000 to pay rent for a whole year,” he said. “We did not raise $25,000. God did it in 22 days, and we raised $31,000.” A year later Taylor received a call about connecting with a friend who had a storage unit with some furniture he wanted to give away. “We pulled up and it was the Midwest Distribution center for La-Z-Boy Furniture, and we found out the director of that facility loved Jesus a whole lot,” Taylor said. They were given permission take as much scratch and dent furniture as they wanted. Over the course of the last few years, the church has given away over in $700,000 in furniture and shared the gospel with 350 families. “We’re living in the middle of a miracle,” Taylor said. Healthy pastors The Guidestone leaders addressed pastoral health in a luncheon the financial institution sponsored. President Hance Dilbeck picked up a theme he introduced at the IBSA Annual Meeting in November—pastoral self-care. “If God is calling you to oversee the flock, you’ve got to oversee yourself,” he said, citing 1 Timothy 4:16. Paul tells Timothy to guard the self and the doctrine. More pastors fail at the issue of the self than the doctrine, Dilbeck said. “If we mess up in these two areas, it’s all going down the tubes—if we get the doctrine wrong, or we don’t pay attention to ourselves,” he said. The Summit was scheduled to conclude with one more breakout slot and a final worship and teaching session on Thursday. ABOUT THE AUTHORS Lisa Misner and Eric Reed are writers for the Illinois Baptist, newsjournal of the Illinois Baptist State Association. #FEBRUARY24

BRENTWOOD, TN – For many churches, dates for Vacation Bible School (VBS) are among the first placed on the church calendar each year. Churches give VBS high priority because pastors recognize VBS as one of the most important evangelistic events for the entire church year. In some churches, a volunteer serves as the VBS director. Other churches may have a children’s ministry staff person who’s responsible for coordinating VBS. For some churches, especially single-staff churches, the pastor may wear the hat of VBS director. When a VBS director is wearing multiple hats, it is not uncommon for earlier events on the calendar to quickly push VBS planning to the back burner. Preparation with a purpose But preparing for Vacation Bible School can be compared to preparing for a trip. When I go on a trip for five days, I don’t just throw a toothbrush and some clothes in a bag and head to parts unknown. When planning a vacation, I sometimes spend months learning as much as I can about my destination. As a result, I can make lists of items I need to pack to enable me and those traveling with me to have the best experience possible. Similar to planning for a destination vacation, planning must take high priority when preparing to guide children and families on an exciting journey during VBS. The destination for some may be accepting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. For those who are already Christians, the destination may be growing in their daily walk with Christ. When a church recognizes the potential for eternal impact, VBS planning may become the most important planning of the church year. I often hear, “There is no tired like VBS tired.” Let’s face it. VBS is hard work! But it’s worth it. VBS is the one week of the year with the potential to mobilize the entire church to reach the community with the gospel. At the same time, churches are providing a unique discipleship experience for individual children and volunteers. Equipping leaders for VBS Enlisting volunteers early in the year and providing teaching resources are important parts of VBS preparation. In order to be successful, volunteers need to receive more than a leader guide. Volunteers need training. While most churches schedule VBS during the summer months, the planning and training process should begin much earlier. Thousands of leaders attend Lifeway VBS Previews in January each year. State conventions and associations schedule training sessions as early as February. Training is an important part of seeing people come to Christ through VBS. Lifeway VBS statistics show that for every person trained for VBS, we see 1.1 salvations. Awareness of those statistics motivates me to see every VBS leader trained to share the gospel. Training VBS leaders includes more than Bible study leaders. Music, crafts, recreation, missions, and even snack leaders need to be trained to share the gospel during VBS. Recreation and snacks are areas where kids often let their guards down and are more open to conversations. I have heard testimonies of recreation and snack leaders who had an opportunity to lead a child to Christ. A trained leader will be more confident in having gospel conversations with children, parents, and grandparents. Enlistment and training are key elements of preparing for a successful VBS, but there is so much more. Every April and May, multiple people ask me: “Are you getting ready to start working on VBS?” People are often surprised to learn I work on VBS all year long. While some breathe a sigh of relief when the last decoration comes down, some of the most important work is just beginning. Personal follow-up with prospects and individuals who have made decisions needs to start right away. How to equip your VBS director By now, you may be thinking “VBS is months away and we are already behind. How can we map out a strategy for VBS without getting overwhelmed?” Lifeway prepares a VBS Administrative Guide each year to help in planning a successful VBS. The VBS 2024 Administrative Guide presents a six-step strategy to guide churches in VBS planning. Know your purpose and theme. Start planning. Enlist and train your workers. Promote and publicize. Register participants. Continue the connection. Each step has tips and tools to help you accomplish that particular step. One of my favorite tools for helping VBS directors is the planning calendar provided in step two. The calendar is a checklist of tasks that need to be completed before, during, and after VBS. The list is divided into months leading up to VBS, helping VBS directors track their progress as they move toward VBS week. The calendar begins with tasks to be completed as early as six to nine months before VBS and gradually adds additional tasks. This planning process helps directors avoid feeling overwhelmed by attempting to do multiple tasks within a few weeks before VBS begins. Lifeway’s VBS Directors Club is another great resource. The VBS Directors Club gives access to recruiting and enlistment tools, downloads for exclusive themed clip art, training presentations, a downloadable VBS planning timeline, and more. Keep the main thing the main thing In the midst of everything that must be done before VBS, it is easy to forget the purpose of VBS. The VBS director may have gathered all the items on the supply list. Teachers may have cut and sorted all the items in their leader pack. Worship leaders may have learned the motions to every song. Craft leaders may have organized every item possible for a project. But a leader who has not studied information on sharing the plan of salvation is not ready. Always remember that the main purpose of VBS should be to reach lost people for Christ. You can have lots of fun with a theme and share all kinds of stories from the Bible. But remember to keep the main thing the main thing—helping unsaved children, students, and adults come to an understanding of their need for a Savior. When you have made your lists and checked them multiple times, what else do you need to do? Be intentional about informing leaders about how your church plans to handle decisions during VBS. Help leaders know it is not their job to save people. They may not see results from their efforts right away. Their role is to share the good news of Jesus prayerfully, carefully, and lovingly. Encourage leaders to leave the rest to God. Consider having a commissioning service on the Sunday before VBS begins. Pray with leaders, thanking God for the privilege of sharing His love with future generations. Ask God to bless the preparation of each leader and to give them opportunities to share with children, students, and their families. If you find yourself questioning how you can justify months of planning for one week out of the church year, remind yourself of the main purpose of VBS. VBS is worth it! ABOUT THE AUTHOR Vicki Hulsey has served as a childhood specialist for the Tennessee Mission Board for 19 years. Previously, she served on church staff in the areas of preschool, children, students, family and education ministries. #FEBRUARY24

PLYMOUTH – It has been said of my homeland that, “this is where God sat down and made the rest of the world.”  One glimpse of the West Texas countryside will reveal the reason for this statement. It is a barren, flat and desolate place that is home to only the heartiest of desert dwellers. Hundreds of years before the white man settled this region only jackrabbits, lizards, coyotes and a few brave, but very skinny Native Americans inhabited it. Sagebrush, cactus, mesquite, and sand covered the surface of this wilderness along with a few sprigs of buffalo grass. When the pioneers were making their way to the West coast and happened upon this land, they made a very wise decision. They kept moving. No riches to be seen, but plenty of pain and suffering abounded. Later, a few brave cowmen decided to make a go of ranching in this “God forsaken land” and for the most part did fairly well. Of course, it took five acres to graze one cow, but there was plenty to go around. With the advent of the automobile and the insatiable need for petroleum, the search was on for new sources of oil. It just so happened that this dry and desolate desert became a true diamond in the rough. Beneath its unforgiving and harsh surface lay billions of barrels of the finest crude oil known to man. West Texas Crude is considered the benchmark for all other petroleum that is extracted from the coursing veins of our terrestrial ball. Some people have the mistaken idea that it really doesn’t matter where one might drill for oil in West Texas. They think that all that is necessary is to punch a hole through the earth’s crust in the middle of this desert region and oil will automatically come gushing forth. Many have operated under such a mistaken notion and have lost fortunes poking holes in these shifting sands. There is a great deal more to drilling for oil than just surveying the surface for a likely spot and setting up a rig. It is far too expensive a venture to risk drilling into some dark unknown hole. To know where to drill is far more important than the drilling itself. When I was a young man and still living in Texas, this process of knowing where to drill was determined by a group of men known affectionately as “doodle-buggers.” Doodle-buggers are men who operate seismographic equipment that maps and records the strata and substance of the subsurface formations. This is accomplished by creating shock waves with big hydraulic “thumpers” that are carried in large all-terrain vehicles. These “thumpers” pound the ground with enormous force, thus sending shock waves racing downward through the earth. Special seismographic instruments then record the returning shock waves as they are bounced back to the surface by the varying strata they encounter. A sonogram or “sound picture” is recorded, and then a knowledgeable geologist can read and interpret them, thus determining where the likelihood of oil deposits were to be found. Hundreds of thousands of miles of land are mapped before the first drill bit is placed in the ground. When man first looked upon the flat desert lands of West Texas, he determined that it was worthless and undesirable. But when a closer observation was made of what lay below the surface, they came to the realization that this was, and is indeed, a valuable and precious place. What lies beneath is where the real worth resides. God tells us that man is in many ways like this desert region. That which we see on the surface of man is not that which determines the true worth of an individual, but what lies deep beneath the exterior is where a man’s value is to be found. The foundation upon which the whole man stands or falls, is discovered deep within the heart of an individual and not by his outward appearance. If we desire to know the true worth and character of an individual, we cannot determine this by looking only at the outward appearance. We must know and see the foundation upon which one’s life is built. The clothes one wears or the physical features one possesses has little or nothing to do with who that person is. What lies below the surface is the deciding factor. You and I have a difficult time seeing past the outward appearance of men, but God does not. In fact, He tells us in I Samuel 16:7 “But the LORD said unto Samuel, look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD sees not as man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” I can just imagine what many of those early settlers thought after they passed up all that sand only to later find out that wealth beyond belief lay just below the surface. “If I had just known. I would have…….?” When it comes to people, God does know. Shouldn’t we ask Him what He thinks of an individual before we pass judgment on them? There could be a world of riches lying just below the surface. If you don’t believe me, just ask a “Doodle-bugger.” ABOUT THE AUTHOR Tim Patterson is Executive Director/Treasurer of the Baptist State Convention of Michigan. Elected unanimously in May of 2015, Patterson formerly served for 9 years as pastor of Hillcrest Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla. He also served as trustee chair and national mobilizer for the North American Mission Board. #FEBRUARY24

PLYMOUTH – I am in my ninth year working for the Send Network as the Send Network Director in Michigan. Three years ago, I invited Matt Thompson to join the team as a church planting catalyst. Early during our partnership in the ministry, I saw the discipline, the spiritual gifts, and the dedication in Thompson that convinced me that I had found someone in whom I could invest extra time allowing him to see “behind the curtain” so that he could hopefully, one day increase his platform of service with the Send Network. Others saw the progress Thompson made these past three years adding value to the Send Network, locally, regionally, and nationally. I am happy to say the day of recognition arrived for Thompson; and the timely expansion of his assignment as Lead Church Planting Catalyst, creates space for me to devote my time and energy on two important areas in Michigan. My Changes The two vital areas where I will redirect my efforts are . . . 1. Language/Ethnic Work – I will cultivate relationships, coach towards multiplication, and catalyze movement in language/ethnic church planting throughout Michigan. When called upon in the Midwest region, I will serve as a resource person in eleven other states. 2. Michigan Baptist Churches – I will assist BSCM churches in the application of the North American Mission Board’s pipelines for training, leadership development, and multiplication. These processes are convenient, flexible, and robust. In order to recall how I will continue to serve Michigan Baptists you can use two titles to remember my newest direction. I am the “Send Network Director” in Michigan, and I am the “Language/Ethnic Church Planting Catalyst” in Michigan. Thompson’s Changes Matt Thompson’s new title is “Lead Church Planting Catalyst” in Michigan meaning he will serve as the main point person for leading all things Send Network in Michigan. Send Network Movement – Matt will lead the Send Network Michigan staff in continuing the mission, vision, values, and strategy seeing that we continue as a family of “churches planting churches everywhere for everyone.” He will be the first point of contact. Pathway Guide – Thompson and the team will help each potential planters and partnering churches move forward on their respective pathways: Potential planters will advance from assessment, to orientation, to training, to coaching, to care. Partnering churches will advance from cooperating, to supporting, to sending, to multiplying, to movement churches. Regardless of our new or additional titles, Thompson, the team, and I, with our unending passion to effectively serve the pastors/planters and members of our churches are here for you. Why Change? Some of you may be asking, “Why make these changes?” The answer is easy, “We see the Lord accelerating Gospel movement among the language/ethnic groups in Michigan. We are convinced this is the perfect time to increase the impact of the Kingdom of God in Michigan, the nation, and the world. Observing those advances, we must put more time into language/ethnic groups and longtime established churches in the state.” Jesus Christ’s invitation to make the journey out of a sinful, human, broken existence into the Kingdom of God is streamed for everyone to see on the big 360o screen we call the Book of Acts. In Acts 1:3 author Luke, summarizes what Jesus Christ did during the forty days in between his resurrection from the cave to his ascension through the clouds to the Father’s right hand in heaven. Luke writes, “During the forty days after he suffered and died, he appeared to the apostles from time to time, and he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. And he talked to them about the Kingdom of God,” (italics added for emphasis). Using your device or your paper edition of the Bible, flip to the last written chapter of the Book of Acts to see the final two verses. Acts 28:30-31 says, “For the next two years, Paul lived in Rome at his own expense. He welcomed all who visited him, boldly proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ. And no one tried to stop him,” (italics added for emphasis). Like any epic, memorable film, overcoming conflict to accomplish a mission is the highlight of the opening and ending of the gripping story! We see this in Acts 1 to the final verses of Acts 28. The Book of Acts displays the heroic effort of thirty-two years of the early church continuing Jesus Christ’s mission to help others see, hear, and experience the Kingdom of God. Luke 17:20-21 records an interaction between community leaders who were spiritually blind, deaf, and dumb with Jesus Christ prior to his death, burial, resurrection, and ascension. The text says, “One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?” Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs. You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you,” (italics added for emphasis). “The Kingdom of God is already among you,” are some of the most hopeful and inspiring words. We believe we are approaching a new threshold in Michigan where we can see the Lord’s Kingdom expand and impact the world . . . but that expansion of the Kingdom requires change. Let’s Talk About Change Matt Thompson and I are available to discuss and explain these changes with anyone, so that we are all striving for the same Kingdom expansion. Call one or both of us for a visit: Tony Lynn, (734) 770-0608 and/or Matt Thompson (616) 202-8707. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Dr. Tony L. Lynn is the State Director of Missions for the Baptist State Convention of Michigan. Before coming on staff at the BSCM, Tony served as lead pastor for more than six years at Crosspoint Church in Monroe, Michigan. He and his wife, Jamie, also served with the International Mission Board in Africa and in Europe. #FEBRUARY24