7/31/2019 June 2012 Digest

1/12

Newsjournal of Kansas and Nebraska Southern Baptists

www.baptistdigest.com

June 2012Vol. 56 No.6

Baptist

igest

First Southern Baptist Church, Great Bend, Kan., honoredDoyle and Carol Smith for their 40 years of service to thechurch April 21-22. Smith has played a prominent role inhelping KNCSB grow and mature. He played a leading role in

helping KNCSB acquire Webster Conference Center. Smithnow serves as president of the Kansas-Nebraska SouthernBaptist Foundation. Carol Smith has worked in many aspectsof church life. In recent years her focus has been on colle-giate ministry. (Read more on page 7)

Smiths Celebrate 40 Years

at FSBC, Great BendPastors Lead the Way

in Tornado Cleanup

On April 14-15, 2012 a total of 107 tornadoes touched down in Kansas and Nebraska.Ninety-seven (97) tornadoes touched down in Kansas and the Wichita area was the hard-est hit. Pastor Kenny Kelley, Hillside Baptist Church, Welilington, KS (pictured above)mans a chain saw. (See page 5)

The Oaklawn community in Wichita was hard hit by the tornadoes.

Hundreds of children across Kansas-Nebraska will attend camp this sum-mer. (turn to page 3)

Ranchers in Nebraska donated hay tocattlemen in SW Kansas. (see page 6)

Children and youth compete in theState Bible Drill and Speaker Tourna-ment at WCC. (read more on page 9)

7/31/2019 June 2012 Digest

2/12

KNCSB Life

JUNE2012

2

GUIDING PRINCIPLES:INFORM -- Regularly share information about ongoingtraining, curriculum, events, support and personnel.RESOURCE -- Serve as a resource pool for practicalideas about what is working in KS-NE congregationsand how it relates to all sizes of churches.GENERATIONAL -- Cast the widest net, providing sto-ries and information that will appeal to all generationsof Southern Baptists in NE-KS.FAMILY-FRIENDLY -- Be family-friendly with stories,regular columns and helps for families and leaders whowork with families.AGE DIVERSE -- Publish stories that address thediversity of age, ethnicity, and geographical regions ofKS-NE.MISSION-ORIENTED -- Publish stories about peopleand congregations involved in missions and regularlypublicize ministry opportunities.PART OF WIDER MISSION - Help congregationsdiscover that they are part of the larger work of theKingdom of God through their ministries.

To give local news:Local church and associational news may be submit-

ted by mail, phone, fax or e-mail.

Advertising:Advertising policy and rates are available upon

request Call 800-984-9092 or e-mail:tboyd@kncsb.org

STAFFEditor: Tim Boyd, PhD.

Associate Editor: Eva WilsonPrinting Coordinator: Derek Taylor

Robert T. Mills, D. Min.

KNCSB Executive Director

AFFILIATIONSAssociation of State Baptist PapersBaptist Communicators Association

The Baptist Digest(USPS 018-942)Vol. 56 No.6

Leadership Newsjournal for Kansas-Nebraska Southern Baptists is published

monthly12 times a year.

5410 SW 7th StreetTopeka, KS 66606-2398Phone: (785) 228-6800Toll Free: 800-984-9092

Fax: (785) 273-4992E-mail: tboyd@kncsb.org

Web site: baptistdigest.com

POSTMASTER:Periodical postage paid at Topeka, KS 66606 andadditional entries. Send address changes to: TheBaptist Digest, 5410 SW 7th Street, Topeka, KS

66606-2398.

By Georges BoujaklyKNCSB State Director of MissionsE-mail: gboujakly@kncsb.org

The Formative Power of the Community at WorshipFrom the moment of our birth, our parents and

environments shape our outer and inner lives in goodor bad ways. No one escapes the spiritual formation offamily, school, church, and other institutions because atour core we are spiritual beings. The question is: what

kind of spiritual formationdo we get? Is it good orbad? Good spiritual forma-tion results in followingJesus earnestly and faith-fully. Bad spiritual forma-tion leads to being egocen-tric, foolish in our ways,

rebellious against God, anduncaring toward others.

The worshiping commu-nity can have a tremendousopportunity to shape ourlived experience with God.Either it promotes our spir-itual growth as disciples,

or it stunts it. Small groups, one-on-one discipleshiprelationships, devotionals, workbooks, courses, Bibleschools, and the like all have their place. But without

the worshipping communitys investment in our spiri-tual formation, they are of little consequence.Lets call the kind of formation the gathered Christian

community practices, liturgical formation (a termTodd Hiesstand, pastor of The Well in Feasterville, PA,uses). Liturgy, the elements of worship we practice, hasa formative power none other can provide. Liturgicalformation, according to Hiestand, happens when thecommunity of disciples gathers and focuses its atten-tion on the story of God through the Scriptures, wor-ship, prayer and communion or the Lords Table.

First, the story of God through Scriptures shapes us

into becoming followers of Jesus. Worshippers whohave an opportunity to hear the story of God read,taught, and proclaimed every time the church gathersare inuenced by the Holy Spirit to live in the story, notas outside observers. When we constantly hear of thevariety of ways God relates to his people in Scripture(The whole counsel of God), our spirits are pliableand more apt to obey Gods will in all of lifes circum-stances.

I spent a week in spiritual retreat a few years ago

Walking With the Masterwith a community of followers of Jesus. Daily, we had aregimen of worship that included a reading of a portionof the word of God. Months later, when I reected onmy experience and the residual value, I was pleasantly

surprised to realize that the element of worship thatwas most freeing, forming, and enduring in my life wasthe hearing of the Scriptures read. The reading was notinterpreted, explained, illustrated, or tampered with inany other way. It was only read and listened to. In thatposture there was freedom to hear only from God. Arewe neglecting the living and life-giving power of theWord of God read regularly in our liturgy? Lets tellthe Whole Old, Old Story again and again until it getsunder our skin.

The issue that all of us need to deal with is the reductionand fragmentation of Gods whole story. The full story is

that of the work of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.God creates, becomes involved with creation, and is madeincarnate into time, space, and history in order to redeem andrestore the world as the garden of Gods habitation and peopleas his community of love and fellowship. In summary, here iswhat biblical worship does: It remembers Gods work in thepast, anticipates Gods rule over all creation, and actualizesboth past and future in the present to transform persons,communities, and the world. (Ancient Future Worship)

Second, the act of adoring, praising, and thankingGod (worship) shapes our understanding of ourselves,

our world, others, and God. When the communitygathers its main focus is not itself but God who shapesour minds. He is the audience we sing to, praise, givethanks to, adore, pray to, and love. We call worshippersto this and nothing less or other. We worship when wemake much of God in every element of our worship.

Worship is not about preferred song choices, word stud-ies, media, presentation, or delivery with air! EitherGod is made much of, or man. One of them I suspect isnot worship! When we make much of God in our wor-

ship, our worldview changes. We become concerned forwhat God is concerned about. We become more willingto obey and do his will by his grace.

Third, the community that prays together hears fromGod in ways that shape its life and ministry together. Ilead a Korean church as an interim pastor at the pres-ent. My time is coming to a close. The one thing I haveappreciated the most is the serious attention this churchgives to praying together. The Sunday liturgy is punc-tuated 3 or 4 times with prayer. Men and women arechosen to lead in prayer weekly. Much eort goes intothe preparation to deliver the collective cry and sigh,

worship and joy of the people to God. The eect of thison me has been formative in ways I have come to fullyappreciate and anticipate on a weekly basis. Hearingothers pray, joining in with them as they pray, voicingour own inner prayers reorients our lives to the realityof our condition, and to the presence of God in ourmidst. Can we aord to give prayer a more prominentrole in shaping our lives than we presently do in ourliturgy?

Fourth, communion or breaking bread together isformative in that it builds our solidarity, equalizes our

signicance as servants of God, and helps us relate toothers as God relates to us: Mercifully and gracefully.It makes us participants in the story of redemption andinspires us to be forgiving and loving to our neighbor inimitation of Jesus. Walking with the Master in liturgicalformation is necessary and transformative.

By Bob MillsKNCSB Executive DirectorE-mail: bmills@kncsb.org

In second Chronicles 7: 14, the Bible says, If mypeople, who are called are by my name, will humble

themselves and pray and seek my face and then turnfrom their wicked ways, then will I hear from heavenand will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

I know this is a message to Israel from God and yet,I think we need to reflect on this message and how itrelates to our country and our denomination. Perhapsit is just me, but I see something of a parallel trackingwith our national government and the relationshipsdeveloping within our national denomination. Thereseems to be something of a struggle going on relativeto states rights and national agency dictates.

What must God think? Our nation and our denomi-nation need a spiritual awakening, renewal, revival,encounter, etc. We need to see a mighty movement ofGod sweep our land. Recently, while in a meeting in

Richmond, where the state executive directors had achance to listen to my friend, Dr. Tom Elliff, and manyof the executive staff give reports from around the

world, one of my colleagues asked a question, Of thepeople groups around the world, which is possibly themost difficult to reach? Dr. Elliff responded by say-ing, secularized North Americans.

When you hear Dr. Elliffs response, what goes on inyour mind and heart?

Reaching North America is only possible throughprayer and out of that a mighty movement of Godin our land. Joshua told the children of Israel as theywere about to cross over Jordan into the promise land,Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow the Lord will doamazing things among you.Joshua 3: 5.

Join with me and humbly pray that we might seekGods face and repent of our unfaithfulness to the taskof the Great Commission.

The Thought Occurred to Me

Bob Mills

Georges Boujakly

Scan image

above to see

Baptist Digest

online.

7/31/2019 June 2012 Digest

3/12

Sharing & Strengthening

3

JUNE

2012

By Debbie CarterBible Teaching & Discipling Team

E-mail: debbiec@here2serve.org

School is out and summer activities are gettingunderway. Many children are looking forward tochildrens camp. In fact, hundreds of children acrossKansas-Nebraska will attend camp this summer. Campis usually a four or five day camp designed for 3rd6th graders to experience fun activities and learn moreabout the message of Jesus Christ.

Camp leaders guide children through studies and

activities that provide the child with a growing rela-tionship with God. The fun parts of camp onlyenhance a camp experience; the larger purpose is totouch campers lives.

Bryan Jones, Pastor at Tyler Road Baptist Church inWichita is Camp Director for Kaw Valley, Blue Stem,Kansas City Kansas, Smoky Hill, South Central and

Gods Plan for SharingHeart of Kansas Associations. For Bryan, Camp, afterVBS, is the best evangelistic tool for kids.

Last year, of 300 kids who attended camp at WebsterConference Center, 30 made professions of faith. It is

also a great place to disciple children and for them tofocus. Jones passion for camp comes out of his ownpersonal journey. It was at camp that he surrenderedfor ministry. Jones encourages pastors to be part ofcamp, because it gives the kids an opportunity to seetheir pastor in a different light.

Randy Caddell, Director of Missions for WesternKansas, also relates great experiences from childrenscamp. They have seen kids saved and others surrenderfor missions.

One former camper is now serving as a mission-

ary in Russia. The Western and Central Associationscamp has grown to 500 campers at Webster ConferenceCenter each summer. Caddell says its important tothem to involve pastors as much as possible so theycan understand the impact camp has had on their kids.

Jon Becker, Pastor at First Baptist Church ofHolcomb, KS, serves as Camp Co-Director. He sharesthat the goal is to allow kids to come to a safe place,

Fresh Ideas for Fathers Day

By Tim BoydBaptist Digest EditorE-mail: tboyd@kncsb.org

Whom have I in heaven but Thee?And besides Thee, I desire nothing on earth.

My esh and my heart may fail,But God is the strength of my heart and my portion

forever.(Psalm 73:25-26, NASB)

In recent years I have begun to observe two rather

disturbing phenomena. I have seen an increasing inva-sion of gray hair on my head. Even worse, I have notedthat what hair I have is thinning rapidly. Both phenom-ena are reminders that my body is aging and the end oflife is closer.

The increasing aches and pains are a reminder ofwhat the Psalmist mentioned above. My esh and myheart are eventually going to fail. In our nation there isa multi-billion dollar industry trying to help us con-vince ourselves that this process is really not happen-ing. Dieting, exercise regimes, and plastic surgery are allcompeting to help us stave o the inevitable.

We need to re-read these verses often to remind usof what is truly valuable. There is no way that I willstop the aging process. However, I can be sure that Godwalks with me through it all and that He will deliverme into an eternity where aging will be a thing of thepast. No matter what ailments I develop as this bodywears down, God will always be the strength of myheart and my portion forever.

One of the things that I am observing as my bodygrows older is that my relationship with Him is evenmore valuable. I desire Him in my life more than ever.I am well aware that my relationship with Him is theonly thing that I will take with me to the grave and on

into eternal life.What do you desire today? Will that desire stand the

test of time? Will that desire stand the test of eternity?

free from distractions so they can make friends andenjoy learning about Christ. They make friends withkids from other communities that will last a lifetime.Children invite their unchurched friends to come to a

cool camp resulting in life changing experiences.Eastern Nebraska Association Camp Director, Sara

Halmes, is also very passionate about camp. She cameout of a Catholic background when she began toattend camp as child. The idea of a personal relation-ship with Jesus was new to me. Camp was a big partof my own salvation experience. Eastern Nebraskauses Goodwill Camp in South Sioux City, Nebraska,for their camp experience. Getting away from theircomfort zone and the routine of everyday life givesthe children opportunities to really focus on learning

about God and what it means to have a relationshipwith Christ. Camp has a big impact on kids and thathas a big impact on me in ways I never expected. I lovecamp!

These camp directors and sponsoring associations allagree that the spiritual impact on the children is wellworth all of the planning, leadership, and expenses thatgo into childrens camp.

Along the

JourneyA Christian dad impacts his family and the world.Dad, you are vitally important. Some fresh ideas fordads:

Pray for your childn Kneel by your sleeping childs bed and pray for

him. Pray for him daily as you drive to work.n Pray aloud with your child. Pray together at bed-

time. Voice a prayer as you drive her to school. Praise

God as a family when He blesses, and take needs andcrises to Him.Pray constantly. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 HCSB

Invest time in your childs lifen Create father/child traditions: birthday breakfast

with dad, father/daughter date, father/son adventure,read Sunday funnies together, share a hobby.n Even on busy days, spend at least a few focused

minutes with your child. Take a walk, shoot baskets,go for a soda, play a board game. Listen. Comfort.Make eye contact. Speak wisdom.nMake lifetime memories with family vacations.

Yes, a backyard campout counts.n Idea: Oer to substitute in your childs Sunday

School class.Teach a youth about the way he should go; even

when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs22:6

Be your homes spiritual leadern Enthusiastically initiate family commitment to

God, His Word & His church. Read your Bible. Trulylove His church. Help your child know Jesus as per-sonal Savior.

n Verbalize your God story. Tell your child abouthow God saved you. Talk about answered prayer.Conversationally acknowledge Gods importance inyour life.n Teach Gods ways to your child constantlywhen

you sit, walk, lay or stand. (Deut. 11:18-21)n Idea: Text or write a Scripture on a note card for

your child.Tell your children about it, and let your children

tell their children, and their children the next genera-tion. Amos 1:3

Love your wifen Let your child see you show genuine aection to

mom with compliments, hugs, laughs, prayers.n Youre teaching them how to treat their future

spouse.n Idea: tell your child the story of how you fell in

love with mom.Each one of you is to love his wife as himself

Ephesians 5:33

Encourage your childn Show family aection. Laugh together. Delight

in your child. Say, I love you often. Complimentsincerely. Speak positively about him to others.n Be the parent. Your child needs a father, not

just another buddy. Your loving discipline and wiseboundaries demonstrate your love.n Idea: Hug your child for at least ten seconds

today.Fathers, dont stir up anger in your children, but

bring them up in the training and instruction of theLord. Ephesians 6:4

Serve God togethern

Help your child discover her spiritual gifts anduse them.n Set an example of joyful service to God. Find

ways to include your child, such as homebound visit,church workday, mission trip, church project.

Serve the Lord with gladness. Psalm 95:1-2

Be a man of integrity. Your child is watching yourlife to emulate it.n Idea: Tape this on your dressing mirror - I will

lead a life of integrity in my own home. Psalm 101:2

Enjoy your quiver. Psalm 127:4-5 NLT says that

Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a rewardfrom him. Childrenare like arrows in a warriorshands. How joyful is the man whose quiver is full ofthem! On average, child-rearing days encompass lessthan 1/3 of your adult years. Treasure them.

Happy Fathers Day.

2012 Diana Davis is an author, columnist andspeaker. www.keeponshining.com

Editors Note: Jon Sapp asked Debbie Carter who

serves on the Bible Teaching & Discipling Team towrite about the upcoming childrens camps, a key ele-

ment in KNCSBs evangelism strategy.

Need a small gift for dads on Fathers Day at yourchurch? Create a bookmark from this article. Down-

load it at keeponshining.com, add your church name

and logo, and laminate.

May the Heavenly Father

richly bless all of our earthly

fathers on this Fathers D ay.

7/31/2019 June 2012 Digest

4/12

Associational & State Missions Offering

JUNE

2012

4

Loren Phippen, A Passion for EvangelismBy Melissa BusbyRegional Staff Writermelissabusby@hotmail.com

Loren Phippen is known as a person with a heart for evangelism. Hes never got-ten over the mercy shown him in Christ. He rarely prays without thanking God for

saving him. He loves to share Christ with people, Glenn Davis, Director of Missionsfor the Heart of Kansas Southern Baptist Association.

Loren serves as the Director of Evangelism and Church and Community Ministriesfor the association. In the last seven years, hes led many ministries, but all of themhave the goal of reaching people with the gospel.

Phippen does not stay within the walls of the church, but hes always been oneto go to the people and use whatever tools possible to share Christ. He leads mis-sion trips to Mardi Gras and the Rose Parade. He leads evangelism teams each yearduring Wichitas Riverfest and the State Fair. He visits juvenile detention centers on aregular basis. He manages the Good Neighbor Centers around Wichita and overseesthe work at the Set Free House, which will minister to all kinds of people in need,from the homeless to those ghting addiction. His goal is to win people to Christ and

to train and give opportunities for other Southern Baptists in the Wichita area to dothe same.One unique ministry that Phippen began is the John 3:16 Horseshoe Ministry.

Phippen and other volunteers go to the State Fair and other horse shows and pass oufree horseshoes with the John 3:16 Bible verse on it. They also oer to personalize thehorseshoe with a name on the spot. While it is being personalized, volunteers takethe opportunity to explain the Bible verse and share the gospel. Phippen says lastyears State Fair was one of the highlights of his year, We had 80 volunteers passingout 4,000 horseshoes and sharing the gospel with each person that received one.

Phippen and his volunteers work at four dierent juvenile detention facilities inthe Wichita area. They get to know the youth, do Bible studies with them, counselthem, and help them make a plan for their lives when they get out.

Phippen even regularly takes the kids on shing trips. Loren says, Everything

we do is centered around showing them Gods love in a real way and we share theGospel with each one and several hundred have prayed to receive Christ. Phip-pen shared that he needs more volunteers, especially youth ministers that would beinterested in mentoring some of the young people as they transition back to regularlife. He also gives each person that makes a decision a Bible, and is always lookingfor donations to support that eort.

According to Phippen, My favorite thing about working with HOKSBA is hav-ing the opportunity to use many dierent ministries to open the door to share theGospel. He went on to say that all of his ministries have been funded through theViola Webb State Missions Oering. This oering has allowed Phippen the opportu-nity to share Christ and to train others to share Christ with literally tens of thousandsof people across the United States. Please pray for Loren Phippen and those working

with him as they continue this important work in our convention.

I tell you, openyour eyes and

look at the felds!They are ripeor harvest

Viola Webb Missions Offering

Goal $205,000

50% Funds Local Associational Missions50% Funds KNCSB Missions Efforts

Loren Phip-

pen works

with RAs

(left) and

demon-

strates the

Evangicube

(below).

7/31/2019 June 2012 Digest

5/12

Disaster Relief Ministry Responds

5

JUNE

2012

By Larry ThomasKNCSB Disaster Relief Director

lthomas@kncsb.org

On 14-15 April 2012 a total of 107 tornadoes touched down in Kansas and Nebras-ka. Ninety-seven (97) tornadoes touched down in Kansas and the Wichita area wasthe hardest hit.

The EF-3 tornado that tore through Oaklawn and southeast Wichita late Saturdaynight caused an estimated $146.3 million in damage to residences and businesses,according to an assessment released by Sedgwick County ocials.

The tornado was reported to be about a mile wide at its widest point and hadmaximum winds of 165 miles an hour, touched down at 10:21 p.m. Saturday at about79th South and South Shady Creek Circle just south of Haysville. It began movingnorth-northeast and then northeast for 13.2 miles before lifting northeast of Centraland Greenwich Road just before reaching the K-96 bypass at 10:42 p.m.

At rst light Sunday, Je Thomson, disaster relief coordinator for Central BaptistAssociation conducted a windshield survey of the disaster area in Wichita whileLloyd Stuckey, disaster relief coordinator for South Central Baptist Association, as-sessed damage west of I-35 and south of Wichita. John Lucas of the Kansas-Nebraska

Disaster Relief leadership team conducted assessment surveys in Central and NorthCentral Kansas.

Along that path, the Wichita, tornado damaged or destroyed 776 residences and86 businesses, and aected another 3,481 residences and 165 businesses, county of-cials said. Eleven homes were destroyed and another 66 homes and 11 businessessustained major damage. Another 690 residences and 60 businesses sustained minordamage. In the Pinaire Mobile Home Park, 92 mobile homes received more than 50percent damage.

During the night, Summit Church, Wichita was damaged extensively. However,church volunteers responded and cleaned up and repaired most of the major damageprior to Sunday morning services.

Three pastors, Ray Emery (Midway Baptist, Wichita), Blake Orr (Central Baptist,

Wineld), and Kenny Kelly (Hillside, Wellington) joined the teams and workedshoulder-to-shoulder with volunteers ensuring the success of the eort.Three Kansas-Nebraska association disaster relief teams responded to assist

victims of the disaster: Heart of Kansas, Central Baptist, and South Central Baptist.These associations provided equipment and teams to assist in tree cutting and debrisremoval.

Joy Turner (Pleasantview Baptist, Derby), and Gordon and Viola Herb (ImmanuelBaptist Church, Wichita) manned the help desk in the Oaklawn Community Centerdocumenting requests for assistance and comforting victims. Bill Riley (PleasantviewBaptist, Derby) of the Kansas-Nebraska Disaster Relief leadership team established ajobs dispatching/operations site and work began.

Elmo Brawley (Pleasantview Baptist, Derby) led the Heart of Kansas volunteerteam, while Je Thomson (CrossPoint, Hutchinson) led the Central Baptist team, and

Lloyd Stuckey (Central Baptist, Wineld) led the South Central team.The teams were supplemented by a rented John Deere Skid steer with grapples and

a bucket lift donated and operated by Ed Giord (Trinity Baptist, Wamego).Midway Baptist Church provided our daily pre-deployment meeting place and

prepared to support out of area/state teams if called upon. Arkansas Baptists, Okla-homa Baptists, Missouri Baptists, and Southern Baptists Texas of Convention DisasterRelief organizations oered support.

Trees were removed from homes, yards cleared of debris, blue tarp applied to roof-tops, and people prayed for. A total of 147 volunteer days were credited to Kansas-Nebraska disaster relief volunteers. Thirteen contacts (Gospel presentations) andmany people were prayed for, some twice. Praise God!

Thanks for your continued prayer for victims of the recent tornado outbreak and

also for the Kansas-Nebraska volunteers who respond.If you would like to volunteer and deploy with the Kansas-Nebraska disasterresponders, please contact Larry Thomas (316) 204-7889/lthomas@kncsb.org, JohnLucas (785) 554-9511/ jlucas@kncsb.org or your local Southern Baptist associationsdisaster relief coordinator.

If you would like to make a donation to Kansas-Nebraska Disaster Relief, makeyour check out to KNCSB and write in for Disaster Relief in the memo area. Sendyour check to KNCSB, Attn. Disaster Relief, 5410 SW 7th St, Topeka, KS 66606.

Pastors Lead the Way in Tornado CleanupPastors,

Blake Orr

(Central

Baptist,Winfield) and

Kenny Kelly

(Hillside,

Wellington),

join in the Di-

saster Relief

effort around

Wichita.

Pastor, Ray

Emery (Mid-

way Baptist,

Wichita),

works with

steer loader

David Atkins,

Midway Bap-

tist, Wichita,

leads a devo-

tional for the

Disaster Relief

workers.

The Oaklawn

community in

Wichita was

hard hit by

the tornadoes

which hit the

area on April

14-15, 2012.

Photos by

Carolyn Walker

KNCSB on mission

7/31/2019 June 2012 Digest

6/12

KNCSB on mission

JUNET2012

By Eva WilsonBaptist Digest associate editor

6

Donated Hay Came at the Right Time

John Tucker, a third-generation rancher in the Elkhart, Kan., area, delivers water to hiscattle in one of three pastures. His cow dog, Sam, is his constant companion. Tucker isactive in Hillcrest Baptist Church in Elkhart. The Elkhart area has received some rain re-cently in the midst of an extreme drought only ve inches of rain fell in 2011. Tuckerreceived a semi-trailer load of hay donated by ranchers in the Nebraska Sandhills. Con-tributions to KNCSB Disaster Relief paid for the fuel to deliver the hay.

The hay came at the righttime. It was denitely a God-send for us.

That was what ShawnDavis, a young caleman inthe Elkhart, Kan., area said of asemi-trailer load of hay donatedby ranchers in Nebraska.

In 2011, the far southwestcorner of Kansas received onlyve inches of rain. To makemaers worse, a devastating

re on Mother s Day 2011 sweptthrough the Cimarron NationalGrassland, where some ranch-ers graze their cale.

A Southern Baptist hayli provided some cruciallyneeded assistance for Davis aswell as John Tucker, a rancherwho is active in Hillcrest BaptistChurch in Elkhart.

Tom Human, director of

missions in Sandhills Associa-tion in Nebraska, organized thedelivery of the two semi-trailerloads of hay to the Elkhart area.Donations to KNCSB DisasterRelief paid for the fuel to deliverthe hay.

One load went to Davis, whohas a day job as a loan ocerfor Farm Credit of WesternOklahoma in Guymon. He runsa herd of 40 cows on the side.

The other load of hay wentto Tucker, a third-generationrancher in the Elkhart area. Hisgrandfather homesteaded in theElkhart area in the early 1900s.He works with his father, Bill,and son Jarrod, age 28.

The good Lord has blessed

this country, Tucker said. Wego right up to the wire and

something happens. We justkeep praying.Tucker experienced that for

himself in July 2011. I waswithin one week of selling myentire herd, he recalled. Afriend was unable to farm hisground, so he asked Tucker ifhe would like to run his calethere. So Tuckers herd of about230 cows dined and thrived on green tumbleweeds.

I weaned some of the big-gest calves Id ever weaned.

Both Tucker and Davisbought hay for their cows fromas far away as Missouri.

Tucker estimated that hespent $15,000 to $20,000 onhay from November 2011 tomid-April 2012. The donatedhay from Nebraska helped givesome nancial relief to both

Davis and Tucker. To top it o,their cows cleaned it up. It wasgood hay, Davis said.

Despite the dicultiesbrought on by the extremedrought, Tucker has kept hissense of humor. When he wasasked what is a good rain forhis area, he replied, Anythingthat falls out of the sky!

He said of the far southwest-ern corner of Kansas: We call

it Gods country because no onebut us and God will stay outhere.

On a more serious note,Tucker relayed a message tothe Nebraska ranchers whodonated the hay: If I can everreturn the favor, I will. Thanks

Participants in the KNCSB Glow retreat collected smallstuffed animals for the public safety and emergency de-partments in Salina, Kan. They made Scripture cards thatwere attached to the animals. Glow is the KNCSB retreatfor girls in grades 1-6 and their mothers.

a million. It was a blessing. Ithelped me through a sore spot,Ill tell you.

Southwest Kansas has receivedsome moisture recently. The area

received a foot of snow duringa winter blizzard and some rainhas fallen this spring. Pastures aregreen, and hopes were high for a

bumper wheat crop.

Kansas-Nebraska SouthernBaptists are urged to keeppraying for rain in areas of theregion that need more mois-ture.

Girls, Mothers Urged to Seek Heavenly TreasuresGirls and their mothers were

challenged during Glow 2012to seek heavenly treasures andshare the treasure of salvation.

Glow is the KNCSB retreatfor girls in grades 1-6 and theirmothers. It was held April 13-14at Webster Conference Center,

Salina, Kan. The theme versewas Luke 12:34 Your heartwill be where your treasure is.

The retreats missions em-phasis focused on Ecuador. PaiMerri, who served there forthree years, was the featuredspeaker.

She served through theInternational Mission BoardsMasters program. This pro-gram is for people age 50 and

older who can make a two- orthree-year commitment to serveoverseas.

Among Kansas-NebraskaSouthern Baptists, Merri isknown as Cheryl VanBebbersmom.

VanBebber is the pastor swife at Crossroads BaptistChurch, Riley, Kan. She also

is a childrens consultant forKansas-Nebraska Womans Mis-sionary Union and helped leadGlow 2012.

Merri told how God usedmissions testimonies at Cross-roads Baptist Church to call herto be a missionary.

Its time for you to go, avoice said to her as she listenedto one of those testimonies.

Merri was nearing retire-ment. Instead of seling into acomfortable retirement life, shesold her house and furnishings,along with her car, and followedGods call to Ecuador.

Im heading to Ecuador me, two suitcases and Jesus,she recalled.

First, she spent a year inCosta Rica for Spanish languagestudy.

In Ecuador, one of herministries was teaching Englishas a second language in orderto train interpreters for visitingmission teams.

The teams adopted villageswhere there were no churches

and where people have neverheard the Good News.

The mission teams start bystaging childrens ministries,such as Vacation Bible School.

They reach the parentsthrough the children, Merrisaid.

Next, Bible studies arestarted with the goal of startingchurches that can be led by thelocal people.

Merri challenged Glowparticipants to be missionariesin their own communities. Sheprovided supplies for the girls tomake gi bags to take home andshare with someone who doesntknow Christ as their Savior.

As for what the future holds,

Merri will not be returning toEcuador. I worked my way outof a job, which is pleasing to theLord.

A health issue cropped uprecently, so she plans to waitawhile before seeing if Godopens the door for her to returnto the international missioneld.

KNCSB on mission

7/31/2019 June 2012 Digest

7/12

KNCSB on mission

JUNE20

12

7

Smiths Celebrate 40 Years at FSBC, Great Bend

First Southern Baptist Church, Great Bend, Kan., honored Doyle and Carol Smith for their40 years of service to the church April 21-22. Smith has played a prominent role in helpingKNCSB grow and mature. He played a leading role in helping KNCSB acquire Webster Con-ference Center. Smith now serves as president of the Kansas-Nebraska Southern BaptistFoundation. Carol Smith has worked in many aspects of church life. In recent years herfocus has been on collegiate ministry. (Photo by Karol Elliott)

Carol Smith (center) was one of the many volunteers whoserved with the KNCSB disaster-relief feeding unit in Biloxi,Miss., following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. She and herhusband, Doyle, recently celebrated their 40th anniversaryat First Southern Baptist Church, Great Bend, Kan. Thechurch staged a celebration during the weekend of April21-22. (KNCSB fle photo)

By Eva WilsonBaptist Digest associate editor

Looking back on the past butfocused on the future describedthe 40th anniversary celebrationfor Doyle and Carol Smith atFirst Southern Baptist Church,Great Bend, Kan.

Church members, familyand friends gathered April 21-22 to honor the Smiths. Theirrst Sunday in Great Bend wasEaster 1972.

I have not been at the same

church for 40 years becauseevery time people leave andnew people start, the churchchanges, Smith wrote in thechurch bulletin on Sunday,April 22.

I have been the pastor ofmany churches in one location.Each of them has had theirunique challenges and peopleto meet those challenges. I have

never felt that my call to workhere was nished.Smith has played a major

role in helping the Kansas-Ne-braska Convention of SouthernBaptists grow and mature. Hehas held KNCSB elected oces,including president and vicepresident. He was a drivingforce in KNCSB acquiringWebster Conference Center.Smith was the rst WCC board

president and served in thatposition for 10 years. Smithbecame president of the Kansas-Nebraska Southern BaptistFoundation in May 2000.

Carol Smith has served inmany aspects of church life.

Collegiate ministry has beenher focus in recent years. She

sponsors Campus ChristianFellowship at Barton Commu-nity College in Great Bend. Thegroup is non-denominationalbut participates in SouthernBaptist mission eorts in suchplaces as post-Katrina NewOrleans, Greensburg, Kan. (siteof the horric tornado in May2007), southeast Texas aerHurricane Ike and Beach Reachat Padre Island, Texas.

Carol started and has coor-dinated the ministry to studentsat Barton Community College,said Jon Sapp, KNCSB direc-tor of evangelism and studentministry.

Her ministry to localstudents, internationals andathletes has been a model forworking on the community col-lege campus. Over the years she

has pulled together others inter-ested in ministry to the studentpopulation. We are grateful forher servant spirit and commit-ment to students during such acritical time in their lives.

The Smiths spent their rstfour years in Kansas servingtwo churches. Smith also waspastor of First Southern BaptistChurch in Larned, 20 milessouthwest of Great Bend.

Gayle Bilbrey, her husband,Bill, and their family movedfrom Oklahoma to Larned inMay 1968. She described hertime there in an e-mail to TheDigest:

We found the Southern

Baptist church across fromthe hospital. I was never sosurprised and disappointed inmy life. It was an old Army bar-racks with rust running down

from the screens. The sign wasvery faint, but we could barelymake out the name.

The Bilbrey family le aSouthern Baptist church inWeatherford, Okla., with twoworship services, a wonderfulpastor, GAs RAs, WMU, etc.,and came to no mans land.

But the Bilbreys joined theLarned church and threw them-

selves into keeping it going.William Bill ODell wasthe director of missions inCentral Baptist Association. Hehelped nd someone to preachat Larned or lled the pulpithimself.

Meanwhile, First SouthernBaptist Church in Great Bendhad its own set of problems.

The church enjoyed pros-perity and growth while the

oil industry was booming. Butwhen the oil industry collapsedin the late 1960s, membershipdwindled. The small group thatremained was faced with pay-ing for a new building that wasunder construction.

Ive been in this churchsince 1956, Bud Allen said.He served as the Great Bend

churchs treasurer for 50 yearsbefore his health forced him tostep down.

But both the churches atLarned and Great Bend were

greatly encouraged when theSmiths arrived in the spring of1972.

It was a smooth running sit-uation, Gayle Bilbrey recalledof the two churches sharing apastor. We were never jealousof time Doyle did not spendwith us because he spent a lot oftime preparing for coming to uswhile he was home.

Aer serving both churchesfor four years, Smith becamefull time in Great Bend. As thechurch regained its strength,Smith helped it keep an out-ward vision. The Great Bendchurch also supported and en-couraged other Southern Baptistchurches that were experiencingmany of the same diculties.

When the Smiths rst arrivedin Kansas, Doyle noticed that

many of the Southern Baptistpastors were from other states.He developed a burden tonurture Kansas-Nebraskans toserve the churches here.

I heard so many testimoniesabout pastors being called toserve at church camps, Smithwrote in his testimony in theApril 22 bulletin.

Smith never had the op-portunity to go to camp whilehe was growing up he ranthe family farm while his fatherworked in town.

When [O.K.] Websterpresented Camp Webster to us[KNCSB], I could see this wasa job to which God had calledme I was to help start theConference Center.

Webster Conference Centeris now growing and thriving.It hosts church camps whereyoung people are saved andcalled to Christian service. WCC

is also a popular meeting placefor government and corpo-rate groups as well as familyreunions.

But Smith sees an evengreater challenge ahead:growing the Kansas-NebraskaSouthern Baptist Foundation toprovide funding for the futurework of Southern Baptists in thetwo states. Smith has served asFoundation president and CEO

for 12 years.As Smith looked back on

his 40 years of service in GreatBend, he said, I think that mysituation is not unique. Godcalls all of his servants to thework that needs to be done. Weare to do it whether we want toor not. We do it until God tellsus we are nished.

KNCSB Life and Mission

7/31/2019 June 2012 Digest

8/12

KNCSB Life and Mission

JUNE

2012

8

David Simon, a former minister of education inKansas, recently received the Distinguished Leader-ship Award from the Baptist Association of Christian

Educators.Simon is minister of adult education and senior

adults at Peninsula Baptist Church in Mooresville, N.C.The award was presented during the BACE Confer-

ence at Dallas Baptist University. It reads: In recogni-tion of outstanding contributions to Southern BaptistReligious Education through church and denomina-tional service.

Simon has served as a minister of education for 32years in Wyoming, Kansas and North Carolina. He is amember of Baptist Association of Christian Educatorsand Christian Educators of North Carolina. He was amember and past president of the Christian Educatorsof Kansas-Nebraska.

He graduated from Southwest Baptist University inBolivar, Mo., and Southern Seminary in Louisville, Ky.

David is married to Denise Allen Simon. Her parentsare Bud and Betty Allen, who are 55-year members ofFirst Southern Baptist Church, Great Bend, Kan. Theyhave two daughters, Chelsea and Sarah. Chelsea isa student at Midwestern Seminary, Kansas City, Mo.Sarah is a freelance graphic artist and videographer inMooresville, N.C.

David, Chelsea and Sarah co-authored a Bible studyentitled Spring: Connecting With God, which is avail-able on Amazon.com or http://www.koshercopy.com/Spring.html

Former KNCSB Min-ister Receives Award

This is the fourth year of Meghans Challenge. Todate, God has used the ministry to provide more than20,000 pounds of food, 250 Bibles, Vacation Bible Schoolmaterials and toys for hundreds of kids, and chairs fora new church start in Nicaragua.

This year the ministry will be supporting Casa deDios in Nicaragua and the hot lunch program for theOZ Center (the Homeless Youth Resource Center) inWichita to feed homeless teens -- 100 percent of theproceeds will go directly to the ministries.

We are looking for churches to host lemonade standsand or support this ministry through Vacation Bible

School oerings.New this year is The Challenge where Meghan

is challenging childrens and youth ministries to raisefunds through End Hunger wristbands.

Meghan wants kids to know that they too can be use-ful in Gods Kingdom. Meghans Challenge will supplyand ship the wristbands. Then the childrens or youthministry will take donations of any amount for thewristbands. All they have to do is raise funds, ship thewristbands and funds received back.

Contact information is Meghans Challenge on

Facebook or meghanlovesjesus@hotmail.com.

Meghans ChallengeContinues to InspireMinistry

The Fel lowship of Baptist EducatorsCelebrate 25 Years

The Fellowship of Baptist Educators (FBE) is

celebrating their 25th anniversary during the annualmeeting to be held in Birmingham, Alabama, July 26thand 27th.

The FBE is composed of teachers and educators withan interest in volunteering to teach overseas. Opento all Baptists who have a desire to know more aboutteaching abroad, the FBE publishes a listing of variousteaching opportunities, both short and long term, in anewsletter titled EDUCOMIS.

The Fellowship was the concept of the National Fel-lowship of Baptist Men, and was formerly organizedNovember 21, 1987. As part of the structure, a groupknown as Book-Link, who were gathering and ship-ping Christian materials to international pastors withEnglish skills, came under the FBE in 1988. In 1991 apen-pal project was started under the FBE, which con-nected Chinese and American middle school students.This became known as Christian Corresponders.

Book-Link obtains its inventory of books throughdonations from church and private libraries of pastoralmaterials. These include Bibles, music materials, com-mentaries, sermon outlines, and other items a pastorcould use. A warehouse in Eubank, Kentucky, serves

as a gathering point for these items and from therethey are shipped overseas. Volunteers sort, pack, andship the materials. Operating costs are only the outlayfor postage and packing materials.

Well over a half million dollars has been spent inshipments to 70 countries since 1988. Book-Linkcovers its expenses through fundraising eorts of itsboard of directors. Further information is available bye-mailing booklinkway@windstream.net.

Christian Corresponders averaged annually 1700pairings of pen-pals until the introduction of theinternet. Now called Universal Pen Pals, the programis revamping its concept as it deals with the challengesof the worldwide internet. Church youth groups inter-ested in participating can e-mail the director, Mrs. Kel-lie Ziesemer, at universalpenpalproject@yahoo.com.

The Fellowship is made up of approximately 750members, with members throughout the United Statesand several foreign countries. There are no dues; theorganization sustains itself through donations from itsmembers. The ocers and Executive Director servewith no compensation, the donations going to thecost of publishing EDUCOMIS and the website, www.

shelby.net/~baptisteducators.The anniversary celebration will begin with a

banquet at Samford University in Birmingham onJuly 26th. This was the site of the rst meeting afterthe organization was founded. People interested inknowing more about the Fellowship or the celebrationshould contact Bob Lamb, the Executive Director, atrlamb12@carolina.rr.com or call 704-434-9392.Editors Note: Jim Keefer, First Southern Baptist Church,Lawrence, has been actively involved in The Fellow-ship of Baptist Educators. He currently serves as

President of the Fellowship.

Featured VideosAvailable to churches cooperating with KNCSBby contacting library@kncsb.org or calling either785/228-6800 or 800/984-9092. Ask for BarbaraSpicer.

Group Insights DVDBy Les Parrott and Bill Donahue

This innovative kit will help your group cultivate interactions andrelationships. The success of every small group depends on healthyconnections. This kit will help you maximize your groups experi-ence.

DVD #1:Sharing Your Group StyleGoing Deeper With Your Personal StyleYour Personal Communication Preferences

Gifted To Serve DVD/CDBy Ken Hemphill

This kit contains six 25-minute sessions on DVD/CD with workbookand leader guide. Excellent for motivating people to serve. BonusDVD: group discussion with Dr. Hemphill

DVD #1:The Uncommon Work of the SpiritCreated by the Master Designer

DVD #2:

Designed For CommunityConnecting With the Community

DVD #3:The Gifted Body Working TogetherGifted to Serve

Creation: Chance Or Choice? DVD/CDBy William B. Tolar

There are two 30-minute messages.

Creation: Chance or Choice?The Greatest Sentence Every Written

The Leaders Edge DVD/CDBy O. S. Hawkins

This kit can be used for staff meetings, retreats, and for leadershipdevelopment and recruiting. It applies to all areas of ministry withmotivation, inspiration, and personal enrichment. Each session is10 minutes.

DVD #1:Back to the Basics

Building a Team That Will EndureFrom Vision to RealityAbove All ElseWhen Confict Comes

The Be-attitudes Part 1

DVD #2:The Be-attitudes Part 2Preparation in 30Four Questions Every Leader Must AnswerMobilizing for MinistryMarketing Is Not A Dirty Word

Finding the Lost Generation

Nebraska and Kansas South-ern Baptists are commit-ted to reaching the nationsthrough the CooperativeProgram. It is at the heart ofKNCSB life.

Matthew 28:19-20 (NASB)19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizingthem in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo,I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

KNCSB Life and Mission

7/31/2019 June 2012 Digest

9/12

KNCSB Life and Mission

9

JUNE

2012

By Delores HannemanBible Drill/Youth Speakers Tournament Coordinator

delores.hanneman@sbcglobal.net

On Saturday, April 21, 26 excited children and youth representing eight churches infour associations participated in the annual State Bible Drill and Speaker Tournamentat Webster Conference Center in Salina. Over 60 children and youth participated inBible Drills and Speaker Tournaments throughout the year.

New this year was the Younger Childrens Bible Drill for children in grades 1-3with seven children from two churches qualifying for the State Drill. Of the sevenparticipants, two were perfect score (24) winners (PW) and the other ve were win-ners (W) with a score of 20 or above. Winners received a medal and all participantsreceived a certicate and a music CD. The Younger Childrens Bible Drill participantswere:

Cambridge Baptist Church, Cambridge, KS Brody Bates (W), Julia Elston (W), Cheyenne McRorey (W)

Emmanuel Chinese Baptist Church, Lenexa, KS Joseph Cheung (PW), Fisher Sun (W), Benjamin Tan (PW), Rebecca Wang

(W)

Twelve children in grades 4-6 participating in Childrens Bible Drill qualied forthe State Drill, representing seven churches and four associations. Of the twelve, twowere perfect score winners (PW), ve were winners (W) and ve were participants(P). Winners received a medal and all participants received a certicate and a musicCD. Children involved at the state level were:

First Southern Baptist Church, El Dorado, KS

Tyler Luehrs (P) Prairie Hills Southern Baptist Church, Augusta, KS Jeremy Cox (W)

Prospect Baptist Church, El Dorado, KS Kaylah Jackson (P)

Emmanuel Chinese Baptist Church, Lenexa, KS Evelyn Cheung (PW), Joseph Tan (W)

First Southern Baptist Church, Coeyville, KS Alexis Kendrix (P), Ian Palmer (P), Ethan Samples (W), Marissa Vail (PW)

First Baptist Church, Chetopa, KS Kaylea Herndon (P), Ashley Johnson (W)

Cedar Pointe Baptist Church, Wichita, KS Lydia Dugger (W)

Youth Bible Drill had four qualifying 9th12th graders in the State Drill. The rstplace winner received a scholarship for $200; second place $100; and third place $75.Scholarships may be used for nancial assistance to attend any youth function spon-sored by their church, association, state convention or the Southern Baptist Conven-tion. All participants received a certicate and a music CD. Youth involved at the

state level were:

First Southern Baptist Church, Coeyville, KS Leanne Bale (3rd place winner), Nick Noland (P)

Cedar Pointe Baptist Church, Wichita, KS Nathan Dugger (2nd place winner), Rachel Dugger (1st place winner)

Three 9th-12th graders from one church qualied for the State Speaker Tourna-ment. Scholarships of $200, $100 and $75 for use with approved youth functionswere also awarded to the winners and all received a CD. Youth at the state levelwere:

First Southern Baptist Church, El Dorado, KS Levi Brickley (3rd place winner); Jonelle Reinert (2nd place winner),

Joseph Reinert (1st place winner)

Participating children and youth did a great job and although not all were statewinners, they will all reap eternal rewards for hiding Gods Word in their hearts!For further information or assistance with Bible Drill, contact Delores Hanneman,KNCSB Bible Drill/Speaker Tournament Coordinator.

Children & Youth Compete in the State Bible Drill andSpeaker Tournament at Webster Conference Center

The youth to

the left par-

ticipated in the

Youth Speakers

Tournament.

The youth to

the left par-

ticipated in the

Youth Bible

Drill.

The children to

the right par-

ticipated in the

Childrens BibleDrill.

The children to

the right par-ticipated in the

Older Childrens

Bible Drill.

KNCSB Life and Mission

7/31/2019 June 2012 Digest

10/12

KNCSB Life and Mission

JUNE

2012

0

Campers on MissionBegin Active YearBy Eva WilsonBaptist Digest associate editorEmail: ewilson@kncsb.org

A busy year of service is now under-way for Kansas-Nebraska Campers onMission.

In April, COM volunteers poured theconcrete slab for the new cabin now un-der construction at Weir Baptist Camp,Weir, Kan. Kansas-Nebraska BaptistBuilders and Volunteer Christian Build-ers, based in Texas, worked on the cabinin May.

Kansas-Nebraska COM held itsspring rally May 4-6 at Webster Confer-ence Center, Salina, Kan. The groupheld a two-week work project at WCCafter the rally. One of the major projectsthey tackled was constructing a roof onthe bath house at the WCC swimmingpool.

Upcoming activities include:n July 18-20 -- Campers on Mission

National Rally, Rayne RV Campground,

Summer campers at Webster Conference Center, Salina, Kan., will notice the new roof on

the bath house at the swimming pool. Kansas-Nebraska Campers on Mission constructed

the roof during their May work project at WCC following their spring rally May 4-6.

Your Church May BeInwardly Focused If ...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) -- Any healthychurch must have some level of inwardfocus. Those in the church should be

discipled. Hurting members needgenuine concern and ministry. Healthyfellowship among the members is agood sign for a congregation.

But churches can lose their outwardfocus and become preoccupied withthe perceived needs and desires ofthe members. Dollars spent and timeexpended can quickly become focusedon the demands of those inside thecongregation. When that happens, thechurch has become inwardly obsessed.It is no longer a Great Commission

congregation.In my research of and consultation

with churches, I have kept a checklist ofpotential signs that a church might bemoving toward inward obsession. Nochurch is perfect; most churches willdemonstrate one or two of these signsfor a season. But the real danger comeswhen a church begins to manifest threeor more of these warning signs for anextended period.

1. Worship wars -- One or more

factions in the church want the musicjust the way they like it. Any devia-tion is met with anger and demandsfor change. The order of service must re-main constant. Certain instrumentationis required while others are prohibited.

2. Prolonged minutia meeting -- Thechurch spends an inordinate amountof time in dierent meetings. Most ofthe meetings deal with inconsequentialitems, while the Great Commission andGreat Commandment rarely are dis-cussed.

3. Facility focus -- Church facilitiesdevelop iconic status. One of the highestpriorities in the church is the protectionand preservation of rooms, furnitureand other visible parts of the churchsbuildings and grounds.

4. Program driven -- Every churchhas programs even if they dont admitit. When we start doing a ministry a

certain way, it takes on programmaticstatus. The problem is not with pro-grams. The problem develops when theprogram becomes an end instead of ameans to greater ministry.

5. Inwardly focused budget -- Adisproportionate share of the budget isused to meet the needs and comfortsof the members instead of reachingbeyond the walls of the church.

6. Inordinate demands for pastoralcare -- All church members deserve careand concern, especially in times of need

and crisis. Problems develop, however,when church members have unreason-able expectations for even minor mat-ters. Some members expect the pastoralsta to visit them regularly merelybecause they are members.

7. Attitudes of entitlement -- This is-sue could be a catch-all for many of thepoints named here. The overarching at-titude is one of demanding and havinga sense of deserving special treatment.

8. Greater concern about change

than the Gospel -- Almost any notice-able changes in the church evoke the ireof many, but such passions are lackingregarding the work of the Gospel tochange lives.

9. Anger and hostility -- Members areconsistently angry, regularly expressinghostility toward church sta and othermembers.

10. Evangelistic apathy -- Very fewmembers share their faith on a regularbasis. More are concerned about theirown needs rather than the greatest eter-nal needs of the world and communityin which they live.

by Thom S. Rainer, President of Life-Way Christian Resources of the South-

ern Baptist Convention

A Prayer of SurrenderEL CAJON, Calif. (BP) -- Christ hascalled for unconditional surrender, deathto the esh, for all who would followHim. When we become Christians, weare crucied with Christ (Romans 6:6;

Galatians 2:20). Our rebellious sin natureis forever put to death by Christs sacri-ce on the cross; yet in practical terms,the esh lusts against the Spirit, andthe Spirit against the esh; and these arecontrary to one another (Galatians 5:17).

There are still times, in other words,when we dont feel like surrender-ing. Wed rather die than give up ourindependence, our individuality and ourindecencies. But Jesus draws a rm linein the sand: Whoever does not bear hiscross and come after Me cannot be My

disciple (Luke 14:27).Jesus oers one term of surrender:

The cross you died on positionally mustbe the cross you live on personally, eachand every day. For the saints of God,surrender leads to an entirely new kindof life. In fact, we are born again to a newand living hope (John 3:3; 1 Peter 1:3).But to experience that life we have tosurrender not just once but every day.

There are numerous examples of saintsin Scripture who chose life by surrender-

ing. Think rst of Job. Though he was as-sailed with calamities greater than mostof us will ever face, a prayer of surrenderwas found frequently on his lips: TheLORD gave, and the LORD has takenaway; Blessed be the name of the LORD.In all this Job did not sin nor charge Godwith wrong (Job 1:21-22).

The truest test of whether we aresurrendered to the Lord is in times ofpersonal defeat. Pride says, Rise up andght! But the Spirit says, Surrenderand live. Job was wise enough to knowthe dierence and lived (Job 42:10-17).

Jonah might be the surrendered saintwe most readily identify with. In theend, he realized it was better to be closerto God than to himself. He was broughtto the surrender ceremony kicking andscreaming, with both heels dug intothe sand. He wanted nothing to dowith Gods terms of surrender: Go toNineveh and preach a message of judg-

ment to the Ninevites. Thank you.No, might as well have been Jonahs re-ply. He did an about face and hopped therst ship headed for Spain. Well-knownis the rest of the story.

From the belly of a great sh Jonahprayed his prayer of surrender: I willsacrice to You with the voice of thanks-giving; I will pay what I have vowed.Salvation is of the LORD (Jonah 2:9).Jonah learned it was better to surrendersooner than later. He went to Ninevehand God used him mightily.

Finally, the stakes were the largest forJesus Himself. Even as a young boy, Hesensed the need to be surrendered tothe will of His Heavenly Father (Luke2:49). And at the outset of Jesus public

ministry, the devil himself oered Christterms of surrender, which Jesus soundlyrejected (Luke 4:1-13). Jesus made it toHis last night on earth able to say, Ihave nished the work You gave Me todo (John 17:4). Yet His greatest chal-lenge came just moments after He saidthose words.

When Jesus prayed His prayer ofsurrender, Not My will, but Yours bedone (Luke 22:42), He set the pattern forsurrender for all who would follow Him

into the kingdom of heaven. Ultimately,no one who says to God, Id rather becloser to me than to You, enters thekingdom of heaven. No one goes toheaven who says to God, Not Thy will,but mine be done. The ruler of hell itselfearned his position with just such wordsas those (Isaiah 14:12-14).

How do we accept Christs terms ofsurrender, living daily on the cross? Be-gin each day with a prayer of surrender:Lord, today I surrender my life to You.I choose Your will to be done, not mine. I

want to be closer to You, God, than I amto myself. I accept Your terms for my lifetoday and purpose to live personally thecrucied life which I received position-ally through faith in Christ. I ask You togive me grace today to be a surrenderedsoldier of the cross.

Amen.by David Jeremiah, Founder and Host of

Turning Point for God

Rayne, La. Find more information athttp://purelightsolutions.

com/campersonmission/?ai1ec_event=national-rally-2012nAug. 6-10 -- Work project at Alpha

Christian Childrens Home, Perry, Kan.For more information about work proj-ects, contact Norm Marcum at gpano-marc@aol.com.nAug. 20-24 -- Work project at New

Life Baptist Church (formerly Riverside

Baptist Church), Independence, Kan.n Sept. 28-30 -- Kansas-Nebraska FallCOM Rally at Weir Baptist Camp, Weir,Kan. Work projects will be held at thecamp the weeks before and after therally.

Campers on Mission is open to allinterested Christians. You do not needto have an RV rig to participate. Formore information, contact Gary Shaw atGSHAWSSS@aol.com.

www knwomen com

7/31/2019 June 2012 Digest

11/12

www.knwomen.com

11

June2012

Who would expect to read in a leadership book the keyprinciple of eective leading is, Stop Leading? Okay, thathooked me, so I continued reading Taylor Fields book, Up-

side Down Leadership, and was blown away by his wordsto leaders. Clearly the word leader means to lead, so whywould he be telling us to stop? Fields specic instructionwas to stop leading and start following. Leaders need to befollowers rst, followers of Christ.

He goes on to tell us how, by geing the rst buon right.Do you remember your child, anxious to get on the bus fortheir rst day of school, rushing out of the house with theirshirt all crooked because they didnt get the buons lined upright? Fields reected on this by saying, When you but-ton your shirt, you must get the top buon aligned properly.Otherwise all the other buons, as you go down the line to

buon them, will be all messed up. When we talk about fol-lowing rather than leading, in some ways this is the questionwe have to answer. Am I going to have that rst buon focus on God, or focus on myown plan that I will implement? As my pastor always asks, as leaders, are we goingto let God have the last word?

Leaders need to be followers rst. Following God is crucial to being an eectiveleader. Jesus said it this way, But seek rst the kingdom of God and his righteous-ness, and all these things will be added to you. Being obedient to Gods voice isgeing the rst buon right. It is easier to obey the big, unexplainable asks of Godif we are used to following his voice in the small tasks, Taylor Fields says.

Leaders need to be obedient in the moment. We have a Biblical example to support

this in Noah. Noah has become a great money maker from childrens books featuringcutesy pictures of animals on a cute big boat oating on perfect waves, to wall paperborders and crib sheets for your nursery. But what does the Bible say about Noah?Genesis 6:9, Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time,and he walked with God. Noahs moment of obedience was huge, and scripturesays that aer God nished instructing him on what He was going to do and whatHe wanted Noah to do, Noah simply, did everything just as God commandedhim. Noah got the rst buon right.

What about you, leader? Are you a follower rst? Glance down at your shirt. Areyour buons lined up?

Shiggaion!(a song of impassioned imagination)

Mari

Get the First Button Right

Debbie EbleKNCSB Womens Leadership

Fit 4 Him Consultant

Breathing is one of thosethings we take for grantedwhen its working. We live,so we breathe. The aver-age person consumes sixquarts of air every minute.Our lungs involuntarilypull oxygen in and pushcarbon dioxide out of ourbody, and we believe thatas long as we dont smoke

they will continue to dothis job quite well ourwhole lives, right?

Not necessarily.If you or someone close to you suers with asthma

or any other respiratory disease, then you know thatbreathing isnt always as simple as it seems. There is somuch more at work than what we can see or feel.

Like other movement in your body, your breath iscontrolled by muscle and you are able to improve lung

Our Daily Breath

WWW 2012Susan HoldawayKNCSB Womens Leadership

Women 4 Him Team

Wonderful Weekend for Women 2012 will impact hundreds this fall as women fromall over Kansas and Nebraska gather at Webster Conference Center in Salina, Kansas,on September 14th & 15th. During worship, writer and speaker, Connie Cavanaugh,www.conniecavanaugh.com, will be returning as our featured speaker, leading us aswe explore our theme, Created to Do Beautiful Things. Joining Connie is recordingartist, Jami Smith, www.jamismith.com, as our leader in worship music. Our mis-ionary guest will be Beth Locke. The Life Session leaders are praying and preparing

topics that will be relevant to you.To me, theres nothing like geing together with a diverse group of women for

worship, fellowship and spiritual encouragement. Every year I am encouraged to seewhat God has planned for me. Set aside this weekend and make plans to join us.

Registration packets will arrive in churches in June. Our conference information

will also be available on our website www.KNwomen.com. Begin planning your roadtrip with your girlfriends now and discover how you are Created to Do BeautifulThings.

function by routinely taking deep, whole breaths, exer-cising the large diaphragm muscle that lays horizontalunder your lungs.

Take deep breaths intentionally several times a day.

Start with ten complete breaths in the morning and tenin the evening.

Try it now. Siing tall, or lying at, place one hand onyour belly and one hand on your chest, inhale slowlyand deeply, causing the rib cage and belly to expandand the diaphragm to push down on your internalorgans. Exhale slowly and completely, drawing yournavel toward your spine and envision the diaphragmpushing up against the boom of your lungs, expellingthe air. Try counting slowly to ve on the inhale, sevenon the exhale. Close your eyes and feel the immediate

release of tension.Deep breathing makes your lungs and blood vesselsfunction beer, helps improve the drainage of yourlymphatic system, and relieves stress by calming you.Dont neglect this, learn to breathe correctly. Breath islife giving.

The walk of a Christian is a lile bit like breathing.We tend to take our faith for granted when we thinkits working for us. We are saved, so we live free. Wego through the days taking in all of lifes blessings and

feeling like we are doing what is required if we get up,give God a nod, work hard, smile a lot, and make it tobedtime.

But what if you or someone close to you suers?

Then our faith isnt as simple as it seems. And mostdenitely there is much more at work than we can see.God is at work, strengthening our faith during times ofcrisis.

Philippians 2:13 For it is God who works in you to willand to act according to His good purpose.

My favorite denition of faith comes from Dr. JamesMacDonald of Walk in the Word, he says, Faith isbelieving God and acting upon it no maer how I feelbecause God promises a good result.

As we exercise our faith, routinely taking in the word

of God and believing Him, and nd ways to live outand share His words, then those faith muscles growstronger, we are able to bale with more vigor, and restin the peace that only God gives. Dont neglect this,learn to spend time with Jesus. Jesus is life giving.

Jude 3Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concern-

ing our common salvation, I found it necessary to write toyou exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith whichwas once for all delivered to the saints.

Connie Cavanaugh Jami Smith

www KNCSB org

7/31/2019 June 2012 Digest

12/12

www.KNCSB.org

JUNE

2012

2

What does this years Pastors Conference, leading the KNCSB Annual Meetingon Monday, October 15th, from 1:00-4:00pm, have in common with a Nebraskahomestead kid and a Kansas university student?

A high school senior, immature in his faith and under conviction of his lack ofspiritual maturity, oered a prayer (one prayer among few in his life those days).That prayer changed the direction of his life. More than three decades later, Godis still answering that prayer through the life and ministry of Brad Waggoner. Dr.Waggoner is the current Executive Vice President of LifeWay and author of TheShape of Faith to Come.

Waggoners grandfather had homesteaded north of Morrill, Nebraska. Hischildhood home was in the southwest corner of Sioux County, Nebraska, withmost of the family ranch land in Wyoming. He assumed that he would be a thirdgeneration rancher until that earnest prayer led Waggoner to Kansas State Uni-versity. Bob Anderson had begun ministry at K-State just a few years before. Andit was under Andersons inuence that a disciple-making passion was planted in

Waggoner that is still bearing fruit today.Dr. Waggoner will teach Pulling Back the Curtain on the State of the Church atthe 2012 KNCSB Pastor s Conference. In three teaching sessions, Waggoner willfocus on Bible engagement, worldview, and private devotional practices respec-tively. This continuing study will build on LifeWays latest research-based book,Transformational Discipleship: How People Really Grow. As pastors, I know wewant to answer and apply these truths for life change. Waggoner will point us tothe way.

With Nebraska roots, Kansas inuence, and a Disciple-makers heart, Dr. Wag-goner will be informative and encouraging to all in attendance October 15th.

Aaron Householder is Senior Pastor of Southview Baptist Church in Lincoln,NE, and President of the 2012 KNCSB Pastors Conference

By Marie ClarkKNCSB Bible Teaching & Discipling Team LeaderEmail: mclark@kncsb.org

Imagine thousands of believers gathered on rooftops across America in order toget a fresh vision of Gods heart for the lost! That vision can become reality on Octo-ber 1 with the upcoming National Rooftop event. The Rooftop is an opportunity for

Christians to gather on rooftops that overlook their local communities to seek Godsheart for the lost.Some churches will choose to do their own rooftop. Some associations will gather

together churches from within their own association. Some churches will team upwith other churches to do an area-wide event. Some state conventions will work tocommunicate what is taking place across their state. University and college campuseswill also be participating. There will even be those who choose to do their rooftopevent on the weekend before Oct 1 (which is ne!).

The scriptural foundation of The Rooftop is found in Acts 10 and 11, where theApostle Peter was going to a rooftop to pray. During his prayer time he saw a visionand heard the voice of God telling him not to call unclean anything that God callsclean. Peter considered Gentiles unclean, but he went to preach at the house of a

Gentile named Cornelius because he had heard the voice of God and saw the vision.As a result, the gospel broke out across the world and an international movementbegan.

Marie Clark, Bible Teaching & Discipling Team Leader for KNCSB, had the op-portunity to join many leaders from across the nation at LifeWay last December for aRooftop experience. Clark reported, Looking down on the lights of Nashville, ten ofus talked about the people and needs we observed, listened to the passage in Acts 10and 11, and prayed as we caught a vision of Gods heart for the lost. It was a movingexperience that brought unity, broken-heartedness, and resolve to those in our smallgroup.

You can visit the Rooftop website (www.lifeway.com/therooftop) for more infor-mation, to register to host a rooftop, or to download the host manual or participant

journal.

A Rooftop Prayer for Your CommunityWaggoner to Speak at Pas-

tors Conference in Salina

Av r V w wT t y u w l t li t

tt :// ti t i t. / / w l .

WCC Update

Hi li t W a ti ay 4, 1

1. User Days and Revenues are up for the year and breaking last years records.

2. WCC provides meals for Kansas National Guard fortwo weeks.

3. Progress continues on the Chapel and Main Lodge renovations.

4. A $15,000 gift provides much needed medical improvements to WCC.

5. The Board is investigating a switch from propane to natural gas.

6. A new Challenge Course element will be installed for this summer.

7. Gifts to the current $50,000 Challenge Grant surpass $20,000 to date.

8. Gifts to rebuild and expand the Disc Golf Course have funded 5 holesto date.

9. A new Master Plan was approved for the Conference Center.

10. A new Ministry Description for WCC Board Members was adopted.

11. Facility Usage and Personnel Policies were updated.

12. Budget preparations were begun for 2013.

Thank you for your continued support of this mission facility as wecontinue to reach people for Christ and train believers for the work ofthe ministry!

The WCC Staff