Barnabas File

I ran into a friend at Starbucks this morning. When I asked about his family, he told me about the work that his son and daughter-in-law are doing in Africa with an independent mission board. They are enjoying their ministry with local church leaders, but they are having to raise their own support. Remember the "old days" when we used to proclaim proudly, "Our missionaries don't have to go out and raise their own support because we have a unified program of missions giving"? My, how times have changed. You can still support missionaries through a unified program (such as Global Missions of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship), but have you noticed how many "freelance" missionaries there are out there these days? Some of these folks are part of established organizations but a number have set up their own ministries that are incorporated, have their own boards of directors, and have carved out their own missions niche. I don't necessarily see thi...

Some of you may remember the explanation of sanctification that we learned in Sunday School, Training Union, etc.--"We have been saved, we are being saved, we will be saved." Since sanctification seems to be another way of saying "converted" or "saved," this might be a helpful way to look at the previous topic from another perspective. Salvation is not just an isolated event in time, but an on-going process. In a very real sense, all who have named the name of Christ are still in the process of being saved. No matter how one first entered onto that path, the work has started, and the work of becoming more like Christ goes on from day to day. It is not finished yet; I would say that it will not be accomplished until "the day of Christ Jesus"--either His return or our leaving this life. So if we are in the process of being saved, what contributes to that process? First, worship--both private and corporate. As we come close to God and God com...

I suppose that the apostle Paul's conversion experience has become the template for many Christians--a rabid persecutor of Christians, he had a life-changing experience with the risen Christ on the road to Damasacus, and subsequently became the foremost promoter of the Gospel he had once reviled. I think we assume several things about Paul's experience, and I may unpack some of those in the future, but holding up his experience as a standard for all conversions is the one I want to look at in this posting. I had the opportunity to lead a deacons' retreat for one of our churches last Friday night. The material I was using is very good (Bill Hybels' Walk Across the Room) and , like all good evangelism training resources, explains how to tell your faith story with humility, simplicity, clarity, and brevity. The pattern goes something like this--What was your life like before you knew Christ? How did you come to the point of submitting to His leadership in your life? W...

After a meeting today at the University of the South in Sewanee, I took a few minutes to walk into the magnificent All Saints Chapel on campus and enjoy the beauty of that sacred space. It may seem odd that I enjoy such beautiful architecture. I am a pretty practical Baptist who knows that God is present everywhere, but there are several reasons that being in such a building is a blessing to my soul. First of all, a place of worship like All Saints is a testimony to the faith of men and women who loved God enough to do their best to honor God in constructing the edifice. The chapel itself (like all great places of worship) took years to complete, surely testing the patience and faith of many supporters. The stone walls and stained glass windows are a material testimony to their commitment. Another reason standing in such a place blesses me is the stillness of the building in the midst of a busy, bustling campus. It reminds me of the presence of God with us even in the busy-ness of life...

Since I no longer consider myself a Southern Baptist, you may be surprised that I would say this, but there are some Southern Baptists who really "get it"--that is, they are able to read the signs of the times and move to adapt organizations that will respond effectively to the needs of churches. One such case is Mike Day, (executive?) director of missions for the Mid-South Baptist Association in Memphis. At a symposium in Jackson, Tennessee, last month, Day made this statement: "[Southern Baptists] will proclaim [local church] autonomy as sacred and necessary, yet we behave sometimes like we require the approval of others or we behave as if we have the right to approve. It's an implied hierarchy, for sure. We won't ever admit that it exists." Now, we could get into a long discussion about how this "hierarchy" operates in Baptist life today, but my immediate response was appreciation for Day's vision. He was calling for a renewed commitme...