Last week the research department at LifeWay released the results for the 2018 SBC Annual Church Profile Data. Unfortunately, the data and change is not good. This will make 12 consecutive years of losses in membership, churches, and baptisms (in some statistics it could go back 20 years as the decline has slowly eaten away in our convention). This is not shocking news to me because I have always been fascinated by statistics and the stories they tell. I recognize that statistics can often be shaded to tell a story that fits a particular groups narrative. In this case, I find no such good news no matter who is trying to spin it. Straight up...if the people of God don’t wake up soon we are facing absolute and total irrelevance. While I believe and have EVERY HOPE in the GOSPEL and the one who embodies it JESUS, and while I believe that the church of Jesus and its mission WILL PREVAIL (read the GOSPELS and the last chapter of the NT, Christ WON over sin and death and ultimately the battle), there is not a lot of good news on the immediate condition of His church or His mission.

That all being stated, it makes the challenge I placed before our churches at the Fall meeting of 2018 for each church to re-commit themselves to the GREAT COMMISSION and seek to engage those lost and far from God all around our churches and communities. I challenged our churches to baptize 10,000 NEW DISCIPLES over the next 10 years (#10K4NKBA)! Each local church pastor has been sent a goal to reach that is based on each church’s history. If you want to know what the goal for your church is, feel free to contact us at the NKBA and we will share that information with you, but I hope your pastors have already done so.

To me, this all comes down to OBEDIENCE. Are we willing to be obedient to Christ and His Command? Are we willing to live under His Lordship? Do we REALLY BELIEVE that the Bible is the Word of God? If so, why aren’t we obedient to the absolute clarity of the call to “Love one another” and to “Make Disciples?”

In five years as your DOM and in 42+ plus years of ministry experience in the local church I see many churches operating with an insider mentality, one of scarcity, not abundance, and overwhelmingly decisions are being made because of COMFORT (personal preferences), CONVENIENCE (don’t ask me to do something I’m uncomfortable with even IF the Bible DOES say so), and CONTROL (I WANT WHAT I WANT! PERIOD!) The legend Pastor, Warren Wiersbe said, “Sometimes God’s greatest judgment is to give us what we want.” I believe this is why the church is in the situation that it is in America. We have followed the same path that Christians in Europe did and we have a very similar result...to a great extent MANY CHURCHES ARE DEAD AND DYING (NOT the churches that are walking in OBEDIENCE, but the ones who are walking in DISOBEDIENCE)!

Pastor Michael Catt at Sherwood Baptist Church in Georgia said, “This trend will continue and the downward spiral will increase IF WE DON’T REPENT and cry out for God to revive His church. Our dependence on “programs” have gotten us in this mess. PRAYER IS THE KEY TO GET US OUT OF IT!”

AMEN...SO BE IT! My prayer his that whatever it takes to get our attention, I pray God will do it. We have little margin to work with...people are dying and going to Hell while many of our churches and leaders act as if they do not care. Can I say it any more clearly?REPENT...PRAY...OBEY! There is NO OTHER WAY! WAKE UP SLEEPING CHURCH! FOLLOW JESUS!

Your Lead Follower,

JIM

 "I didn't see it coming..." Which is what I hear SO MANY people say as their church declines (and a record number close) over many years because these things tricked them into believing their church was OK. So they did not need to make any changes:

1) The church has money. (Money in the bank has nothing to do with congregational health. In fact, it often points to sickness, even to the point of death. What are we going to do with it? Take it with us?) 

2) Members still had their friends in the church. (This is called a HOLY HUDDLE)

3) Guests still came to the church. (BUT they never came back)

4) Mission giving was still good. (If a church is no longer reaching anyone in the community who is lost and far from God, you simply can't continue to live)

5) Meetings were well attended. (Same people come and nothing is accomplished).

I am deeply concerned for churches that are in denial about their present situation and circumstance. It’s no time to blame culture or anyone else, but the time to get on your knees, cry out to God, and REPENT of not doing the mission that Jesus gave to the local church (Make Disciples/Seek and to save that which was lost).

Read Thom Rainer's book "Autopsy of a Deceased Church" It is sobering. Five years ago that book was published and it is a surgical view of the situation faced by thousands of churches across the country and more than a few right here in our Jerusalem. It is better for a church to recognize and acknowledge decline and decay and DO SOMETHING, than to pretend that everything is going to be ok if we just keep the doors open. THAT is NO WAY to do the mission of Christ.

I read a book within the past few years that I am re-reading now (much like Rainer’s Autopsy) entitled, Change (Your Church) or Die by Josh Hunt. One thing that I am becoming increasingly convinced of is that in many of our churches, PEOPLE FEAR CHANGE MORE THAN THEY FEAR HELL. Not necessarily their own eternity (they believe they are saved and safe), but to make any changes in the church to keep people out of Hell is not relevant or personal to them, so they just don’t care. They weigh their personal preferences over the eternity of those who are lost.

Change is constant. That is a fact. The only unchanging aspect of the Christian life is God Himself, His Word, and His mission. (Hebrews 13:8, Matthew 28:18-20, Luke 19:10) Your church is perfectly tuned to get the results you are now getting. If you keep doing what you have been doing, you will keep getting what you have been getting. PERIOD…

Life is a series of choices. Churches die because of decisions people IN those churches make. I am praying constantly and crying out to God that churches recognize their situations, REPENT and RETURN TO THE MISSION…RETURN TO THEIR FIRST LOVE…and let God change us and His church to reach those who are lost and far from Him.

Your Lead Follower,

JIM 

For 42 years I have been studying the local church and have served at every level from rural Eastern Kentucky, to church plants in Kentucky and Missouri, to inner city Lexington, KY, to suburban churches. The smallest had 20-30 in attendance and some 1500+. I am celebrating my FIFTH year as the Lead Follower of the 75 churches in the NKBA. It is my great joy to serve Christ & our churches. I find myself being very reflective and want to share some things that I have found to be true, no matter the size of the church:

1)  The church will NEVER have more depth than its LEADERS. (Read II Timothy 2:2).  Leaders must model for people and equip them to do the work of ministry (Ephesians 4:11-13).

2)  To stop reaching more people is to become shallow. Unless I’ve been reading it wrong all these years there is no “opt out” clause in The Great Commission (to make disciples). But we cannot forget that includes EVANGELISM. The Great Commission NEVER instructed us to disciple the same people within the same programs in the same ways over and over again. Discipleship by definition must begin with EVANGELISM. If the same people year after year are in the same study and nothing changes (the church or the people), to me THAT IS SHALLOW. As I read the New Testament I can’t help but see stories filled with miracles, life change, and reaching people.  That is what our churches should look like today…FULL OF LIFE!

3)  Maturity is difficult to measure. I stand confidently on God’s Word and His Standards. Simultaneously I do not want to make God’s Word simply a pharisaic list of to do’s, then maturity becomes works oriented. I think our “scorecard” for measuring maturity of disciples would begin with basic disciplines of Prayer, Reading and Studying God’s Word for wisdom and application, regular attendance in corporate worship, serving Christ as His hands, feet, and voice where He has placed us. Add in the Fruits of the Spirit (Love, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, and Self-Control) and practicing generosity in every way.  It is about LIFE CHANGE! As Christ has loved us and given us His grace, mercy, forgiveness with abundant and eternal life, He has chosen to work through people like you and me (WHAT WAS HE THINKING?) to see this work continue. What we celebrate, we replicate. Let’s find ways to measure our growth as disciples and use it to help us become more effective.

SO, there is no opt out…the Great Commission still stands. God, in His sovereignty has chosen to partner with us in this mission. I often hear it said, “The church has a mission.” I think it may be better stated, “The mission has a church”…a people, who God has entrusted with the GREATEST NEWS EVER that continues to change lives! May we ACTIVELY JOIN JESUS in HIS MISSION to our Jerusalem, Northern KY, and to the ends of the world! We are better together!

A few months ago I heard the legendary Dr. Elmer Towns of Liberty University/Theological Seminary talk about a word that I have come to love…the word exponential. I love it because it teaches us not just disciple-making, but how to grow disciple-makers who produce more disciple-makers. But the secret is not just principles . . . growing churches need an entire makeover . . . Isn’t that called revival?  We need workable methods, powerful prayer, faith to move mountains and bold exponential evangelism in 2019!

Here is how your church can grow exponentially. 

· Exponential VISION                                          

· Exponential PRAYER

· Exponential EVANGELISM

· Exponential TEACHING

· Exponential WORSHIP

· All this energy led to exponential BOLDNESS

When we get people praying for exponential growth . . . revival will come!  That’s why I want to URGE you as churches and as a people to join the NKBA in 40 Days of Prayer for SPIRITUAL AWAKENING in NKY. We will have a Facebook page (Praying for NKY) that will provide daily devotionals and will promote our Spiritual Awakening Conference, March 8-9, 2019 at Main Street Baptist Church in Alexandria with Dennis Pethers.

Dennis is the Founder and International Pioneer of The Rooftop Movement www.therooftop.org Dennis became a disciple of Jesus having been an atheist.  Following his decision to follow Christ, Dennis trained at Spurgeon’s College and then pastored a ‘missional community’ on the edge of London.  For most of His ministry Dennis has been engaged in evangelism and disciple-making.  Between 1993 and 2014, Dennis founded and led ‘Viz-A-Viz Ministries’ an organization that reached tens of thousands of people in the UK who are beyond the walls of the church.  In 2014, Dennis founded The Rooftop Ministries, a global movement that is encouraging and equipping churches to join Jesus in His mission by making disciples among people who are beyond the walls of the church. This is a great hope I have for our NKBA churches!

 My prayer for the NEW YEAR?

Let’s ask God to give us exponential faith to move mountains – Mark 11:22-24

Let’s pray for exponential vision to revitalize our churches. 

Let’s start doing what Jesus promised, “Let’s change the world.”

I look forward to all that God has in store for us in 2019!

It is a joy to serve our churches! Merry Christmas and remember, OUR BEST DAYS ARE AHEAD!

Following Him,

JIM

Thanks to Ed Stetzer for this article on the LOST. I couldn’t improve upon it. Read and pray.

It’s fascinating that a lot of Christians don’t seem to like non-Christians, often referred to as the lost or the unchurched. Often we want to keep away from messy people—perhaps missing the obvious that we are messy as well. Let me ask you…Who’s on Your Friends List?

It’s interesting that after coming to Christ and growing in knowledge, we often distance ourselves from former friends. We seem to have less time for the hurting and struggling. We’ve found the thing that meets the need in our lives, but keep our distance from those who need the very thing we’ve found. I don’t think this separation is intentional, but it happens, and in the end, our intentions don’t matter. Jesus lived differently.

One of the common criticisms Jesus faced was that he spent too much time with sinners. How many of us could be accused of spending too much time with the unwelcomed and unappreciated? No one better understood the importance of spiritual maturity, scriptural knowledge, a robust prayer life and positive influences than Jesus. But he also knew these things were not for his personal benefit, but need to be shared with the lost. The Christian life is not about safety and comfort, but rather about finding yourself in a dangerous place of vulnerable compassion.

Many Christians have grown up in a Christian home. That is their reality and they forget there’s a hurting world out there. We drive through it on the way to school, work and church, but we don’t come to terms with the vast brokenness surrounding us. Hurting people sometimes make their way into our pews and, by grace and through faith, respond to the good news of salvation. But too often, the only connections Christians have with broken people are made outside of church.

The true test of our maturity is not measured in how much we leave behind, but how much we love. Jesus talks about his ministry in two ways; to save and to serve. In Luke 4:18, he says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me.” He goes on to talk about preaching the good news to the poor and the captive. In fact, this type of ministry was a sign that he was the Messiah. Throughout Scripture we see the work of Christ among the widows, the blind, the broken—whoever had a need. Jesus came to save. In Luke 19:10 he says he came to seek and save the lost. And the same Jesus who came to serve and to save then says to us in John 20:21, “As the Father has sent me, I also send you.”

We have been sent by Jesus to join him in his mission. We are to serve others in his name, and we are to share the good news of salvation so that people might trust in Jesus’ work on the cross—his death in our place, for our sin.

Serving and saving were marks of Christ’s life on earth. They should be marks of his people as well. But to do that, we must engage the broken and hurting people around us.

That’s hard. But a church without the broken is a broken church.

How does your church engage the hurting? What have you done in your own life to avoid insulating yourself from brokenness around you? We need to be engaged in our neighborhoods and looking for ways to BLESS them!

B: Begin in Prayer

L: Listen to the Hurts/Hangups/Habits of your neighbors and LISTEN TO GOD

E: Engage with them (Coffee, conversation, or even better, a MEAL)

S: SERVE Strategically (Look for ways to serve and help your neighbors to build the relationships that provide open doors to Gospel conversations)

S: SHARE YOUR STORY! Use the ReachKY.Today tool and train people to share the story of their faith and life change! The world belongs to storytellers and we have the GREATEST STORY OF ALL TIME!

The NKBA recorded 468 baptisms this past year. In 2019 I am making a 10- year challenge to baptize 10,000 through the ministry of our churches (#10K4NKA). GOD IS AT WORK. WE SIMPLY NEED TO JOIN HIM IN OUR COMMUNITIES AS HE IS CHANGING LIVES!

It is a blessing to be your lead follower!

JIM

Over 30 years ago I choose to become a Southern Baptist after growing up in the Methodist Church. One of the reasons I chose to become Southern Baptist is the identification as “A people of the Book.” In theological studies “hermeneutics” is a fifty-cent word that means how we read, interpret, and study the Bible. Southern Baptist’s have typically approached scripture from what Dr. Chuck Kelley, President of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary calls a “Great Commission hermeneutic.” I dedicate this post (and use Dr. Kelley’s words) in preparation to Dr. Kelley coming to NKY to speak at the fall meeting on November 5 at Piner Baptist Church. Dr. Kelley will be speaking at the evening service at 7:00 PM. You WILL NOT WANT TO MISS IT!

The Bible IS what it says it is…”God-breathed” (2 Timothy 3:16). God used human beings to record the words, and each writer reflects his own style and approach. The result is a Bible that is “truth without any mixture of error” (Baptist Faith & Message).

As the revelation of God, the Bible has an authority that is absolute. What the Bible teaches believers to do must be done. Response to its message is required! As “a people of the Book” Southern Baptists are expressing a commitment to seek to understand and to do what God has revealed in His Word. Where there is clear understanding of what God desires, there MUST be a response of OBEDIENCE!

As I see it, the Bible has a focal point in the relationship between God and His creation and the redemption of His creation. Joseph suffered at the hands of his brothers, but as a result God put him in a position to deliver his family and the people of Egypt in a time of famine. Judges is filled with stories of people like Gideon, Samson, Deborah, and others whom God called and used to deliver and redeem the Hebrew people in time of oppression. David, a shepherd, delivered the children of Israel during a war with the Philistines. Boaz acted as a “kinsman redeemer” for Ruth, delivering her from a life of poverty. Esther, a Hebrew woman, was raised to a position of influence, and acted at great person risk to save the lives of her people. Jonah warned people of their jeopardy and urged them to repent The story of God’s eagerness to forgive and Jonah’s reluctance to bear His message to an obviously sinful people vividly illustrates the priority of evangelism that God insists His people accept. Whatever the attitude of His people, the Lord is committed to the task of redeeming His fallen and sinful creation.

The purpose of the church, as Southern Baptists understand it, is to evangelize and disciple the world (DISCIPLEISM, as Dr. Kelley refers to it…check last months newsletter article). A resolution passed at the 1918 SBC that illustrates this imperative: “We must not forget that the main and primary task of all of our agencies, preachers, churches…all is to press a saving gospel to the hearts of men in heaven’s power. We must remember we are fighting this war for freedom to win men to Christ. The winning of the war is a means to the greater end of winning the whole world to Jesus Christ.” Author C. S. Lewis also wrote “The Church exists for nothing else but to draw men to Christ…if they are not doing that, everything else is a waste of time.”

We are at a crucial time in our nation and our local communities. Many churches are declining and record numbers are closing because they are being disobedient to the Word, the authority and mission given in the Scriptures. The greatest mission field in the world exists in America in our neighborhoods (where between 68-85% of all who live are unchurched).

What the Bible teaches believers to do must be done. Where there is clear understanding of what God desires, there MUST be a response of OBEDIENCE! Response to its message is required! “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10)…Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey all the commands I have given you (Matthew 28:19-20)…The Lord is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (II Peter 3:9).

Join with all our NKBA churches as we come together on November 5 to work toward the accomplishment of our mission together, celebrate what God is doing, and looking forward to see God “FUEL THE FIRE” for clarity and action of HIS mission to us, in us and through us! We are BETTER TOGETHER!!

Your Lead Follower,
JIM

Thank you again Northern Kentucky Baptist Association for the opportunity to be your Lead Follower. I continue to be burdened in our region for the LOST. I must sound like a broken record to many of you, but I wake up and go to sleep knowing that an overwhelming majority of people who live in our region (OUR JERUSALEM) are lost and far from God and heading toward an eternity in Hell if not for the saving grace of Jesus! Somewhere between 68-85% of our area is UNCHURCHED, meaning that they are not connected to a GOSPEL preaching church (according to the North American Mission Board of the SBC).

The NKBA exists to help each of our churches to accomplish our Jesus mission (to reach the lost…make disciples who make disciples). It causes me to ask, why are our baptism numbers so low in our area….in Kentucky….across the United States? I believe one key reason is that followers of Christ are simply not evangelizing…which is simply, proclaiming/explaining the Gospel of Jesus and HIS saving grace, given as a gift, provided through Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. Each of us as followers of Jesus have a story to tell. We are NOT telling that story well or as often as is absolutely necessary.

 Here are a few other reasons that I have gleaned from Dr. Chuck Lawless:

1. Too many people simply don’t know what “evangelism” is. Mission trips, etc…are important ministries but they are NOT evangelism unless the Gospel of Jesus is proclaimed (I like to add in WORD AND DEED)!

2. Church members aren’t convinced about lostness. Ask around you in your Sunday School class or your family and see if you don’t find folks who believe that good people might go to heaven apart from a relationship to Christ. Folks who believe that way see no need to do evangelism.

3. Some churches have provided no evangelism training. I am still surprised of the number of churches who have no intentional, strategic plan in place to help Christ followers do evangelism. Having NO PLAN is NO PLAN! (See future events)

4. FEAR halts our efforts. Whether it is fear of rejection…or being asked questions we can’t answer…I am convinced these fears are more perceived than real…but to many perception is reality.

5. We’ve GOTTEN OVER our salvation. When Jesus becomes routine to us, when our passion settles into mediocrity-we don’t readily tell others about Him.

6. PASTORS AREN’T TAKING THE LEAD IN EVANGELISM. It is imperative that the men of God step up and model and teach people HOW TO SHARE CHRIST and regularly PRACTICE IT and provide regular training. (See future opportunities in upcoming events)

7. We don’t know many lost people anyway. I have challenged all the churches across the NKBA that I have spoken in that if you can’t name FIVE lost people that you are regularly engaged with sharing  Christ then you need to make some new friends! Get outside your church cocoon! Get outside your comfort zone! If we simply spend all our time hanging out with other Christians, we’re not likely to do evangelism.

8. WE DON’T CARE ABOUT NON-BELIEVERS. I don’t think we can avoid this possibility. IF we TRULY BELIEVE that people need a saving relationship with Jesus, but we keep that message to ourselves, how can we conclude otherwise?

LIKE our Facebook pages: NKBA Northern KY Baptist Association AND PRAYING FOR NKY. Join us in prayer for the lost and the needs of our community.

I will do all I can as your Lead Follower to provide resources, tools, and opportunities for pastors, leaders, all church members in all our churches to receive equipping to confidently SHARE JESUS with a lost and dying world.

Again, it is my great joy to serve Christ and our churches.

Your Lead Follower,
JIM

With Easter upon us, my mind has been drawn to the question that I am so often asked, “What causes some churches to grow and others NOT?” There are a lot of different ways to approach that, but ultimately, I find the basic distinction is a loss of mission…churches are designed and designated by the Savior to “seek and to save that which is lost”…to “make disciples.” The local church is one of the only missions on the planet that exists for the sake of its non-members. I believe churches have forgotten why they exist.

The truth is, there is a “gravitational pull inside almost every church to sacrifice the church’s mission by catering to the church’s members” writes Pastor/Author Carey Nieuwhof. As a pastor, you can’t ignore the needs of your members, but all of Scripture indicates clearly to us that the BEST way to become spiritually mature is to stop focusing on YOUR needs and begin focusing on CHRIST and OTHERS! My friend L.D. Campbell, minister of the First Church of Christ in Burlington, Kentucky once remarked to a woman who complained she wasn’t being fed, “It’s time to take off the bib and put on an apron!”

Simply put, churches have become more focused on INSIDERS than OUTSIDERS. How can you tell? Here are a few suggestions that Nieuwhof gives:

1) LONG announcements. If they are longer than 3 minutes, then you are probably geared more to insiders than you realize.

2) Trying to get everyone to do everything. Practically speaking most people can only do one or two things beyond regular attendance, Bible Study, and giving. If you want most people in your church to do nothing, keep suggesting they do everything.

3) SAVED SEATS. Nothing says church is for insiders quite as loudly as “you can’t sit in my seat.”

4) INSIDER SPEAK I find that Christians often have a language all their own….If somebody has to learn code to join your church, you likely won’t have many people joining your church. We need to consider OUTSIDERS and talk clearly and talk the same way at church we do on Monday at the office, or while shopping at Kroger. Our challenge INSIDE the church is to REDUCE the human barriers that keep people from Jesus, not to erect new ones. Being weird doesn’t mean you’re being faithful. It just means you’re being weird.

5) MUSIC that lacks GUTS. Every generation has a heart song. Sometimes it is style, but often it is more substance and genuine passion. In an attempt to please everyone in a church many church leaders please no one and the outside world is left with the impression that we simply don’t care about them.  

     My hope is that we just stop and consider some of these elements. Not to argue, but to genuinely reflect, is our language, our music, our surroundings reflective of the “WELCOME HOME” that God wants people to feel and sense? WE need to be doing everything within our power to make sure that from the way we keep our grounds, to the signs we put out, to the way people are greeted, to the elements and language of our services to help people find their way back to God. THAT is what really matters, not our preferences.

Following Him,

Jim

At age 57, I DO repeat myself now and again…;) But as we are in the midst of 40 Days of Prayer for NKY (January 24-March 5). A daily devotional/prayer guide is available on our website for each of the 40 Days: www.nkbaptist.org  These are also on our Facebook page (Northern Kentucky Baptists) as well as a newly created page 40 Days of Prayer for NKY. We also have a limited number of prayer guides for spiritual awakening published by the Kentucky Baptist Convention available through the NKBA office. Simply call Lori to set them aside for you to pick up.

We will celebrate an Association wide Spiritual Awakening Conference on Friday and Saturday night, March 2-3, at 7 PM at Burlington Baptist Church. Sam Schmidt, Lead Pastor at Edgewood Baptist Church in Nicholasville, KY and one of the bright young leaders in the Southern Baptist Convention will be our guest speaker. We will have GREAT music and testimonies about what God is doing around the NKBA. Please plan to attend! This period will culminate in our Spring NKBA Executive Board meeting on Monday, March 7 at 7 PM at First Baptist Church Highland Heights. During the day we will hold a Pastors Round Table at FBC Highland Heights from 10-2 with Pastor James Welch, Lead Pastor at Harbor Community Church in New Orleans, LA, one of our strategic partners. James is a gifted speaker and God is using he and his church to reach those who are lost and far from God in one of THE most difficult cities in the world (New Orleans is 94% unchurched)! Mark these dates on your calendar and plan to attend!

I thought this article I wrote in a previous year would be worth repeating as it strikes the tone I want to set as your Lead Follower during this 40 Days of Prayer for Spiritual Awakening in our region/nation.

Dr. Ronnie Floyd has written, “There is no great movement of God that has ever occurred that does not begin with the extraordinary prayer of God’s people. The time is now for us to come together before God in clear agreement, visible union, and in extraordinary prayer for the next Great Awakening and for the world to be reached for Christ.” 

“…and my people, who bear my name, will humble themselves, pray and seek my face, and turn from their evil ways, then will I hear from heaven, forgive their sin and will heal their land.” II Chronicles 7:14 (CSB) We need to plead with God for spiritual revival personally, revival in the church, and the next Great Awakening in the United States. As Martyn Lloyd-Jones writes:  And in movements of the Spirit the first thing that happens and which eventually leads to a great revival is that one man or a group of men suddenly begin
to feel this burden and they feel the burden so much that they are led to do something about it (Revival: Martyn Lloyd-Jones, p. 163).

It has been over 100 years since the last great move of God occurred in our nation. It was in 1857 and 1858 that a movement of prayer led to 1 million people becoming Christ-followers from 
a population of only 30 million in our nation. This movement of prayer was begun in New York City by a layperson named Jeremiah Lanphier. After failing to minister effectively to the immigrants in his church’s neighborhood, Lanphier was moved to pray.

At noon on September 23, 1857, in the Dutch Reformed Church on Fulton Street in New York City, Jeremiah Lanphier knelt alone. Before 1 p.m. six men joined him. Within a month, 100 men joined him daily. Soon, thousands of men began to pray each day at noon around New York City. This resulted in 1 million Americans coming to Christ within a two-year span, as well as another 1 million converted to Christ in Great Britain and Ireland. The church was revived. Christians were never the same. The advance of the gospel to the nations of the world was profound. Men like David Livingstone, J. Hudson Taylor, Charles Spurgeon, D. L. Moody, and William Booth were impacted and their impact is still being felt.

While it has been over 100 years since the last great movement of God upon our nation, we cannot ignore the moments when the Lord has still moved upon our nation powerfully. For example, in the early 1970s, the Jesus Movement touched a generation, including many of our leaders today. Through this work of God, thousands came to Christ, followed by many of them being called into ministry, myself included. A team from Asbury University came to my church in Midway, KY to bear witness of a REVIVAL that began in a chapel service and lasted for weeks/months and spread across America! The greatest year of reaching and baptizing teenagers in our Southern Baptist history occurred in 1972, all due to the influence of the Jesus Movement. Sadly, we now have a generation or more of people who have never experienced anything close to a movement of God with this level of impact.

It is past time for this to change. God is ready, are we?  PLEASE JOIN ME IN 40 DAYS OF PRAYER AS WE PRAY FOR EACH CHURCH, EACH COUNTY, EACH PASTOR TO SEE PEOPLE LOST AND FAR FROM GOD COME TO THE SAVING KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST AND THAT THEY WOULD BECOME DISCIPLES THAT MAKE DISCIPLES!

Following Him,

JIM

I have been very reflective as 2017 ends and I look forward to 2018. So many crazy things have transpired in 2017 that I could never imagined happening, but they did. Some bad… others SPECTACULAR! I saw God repeatedly perform miracles in the lives of people physically, emotionally, and spiritually! No matter what happens, seeing someone go from DEATH to LIFE NEVER GETS OLD!

The constant is prayer. My friend Dan Reiland recently wrote, “There is no wrong way to pray. Perhaps the only mistake in the realm of prayer is not to pray at all.” WOW…that is simple, yet profound. In looking back over 40 years of serving Christ in the local church the one thing that I am constantly amazed by is the lack of confidence that Christ-followers have in prayer…and how to pray. I believe we adults make it a lot more complex than necessary and we need to replace that with the promise of life-changing power.

In Matthew 6:9-13 Jesus gave a famous lesson prayer…53 words long…SIMPLE…In this prayer Jesus reminds us that prayer is an invitation to experience intimate communication with God. It’s an invitation to develop your faith. It’s an invitation to change the world! Again, children get it; adults complicate it. Prayer is something anyone can do anytime.

With that in mind I am asking ALL of our NKBA churches to begin 2018 with a STRONG emphasis in prayer. I am asking every church to join together in a 40 Days of Prayer Emphasis starting January 24 going through March 4. I consistently find myself repeating II Chronicles 7:14 “If my people, who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

We have never faced the level of spiritual warfare and evil than we are seeing today. John 4:35 tells us to “Lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest.” Our churches have the greatest opportunity that we have had in a lifetime. There have never been more lost and far from God…addicted and enslaved to all kinds of things that our enemy has leveraged to drag as many lives down as possible. We have the opportunity to change the world and our communities and I believe it ONLY begins when the people of God are broken about the things that break the heart of God.

SO, I want to exhort you to PRAY BIG! Jesus prayed “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Jesus died for the whole world and His Kingdom Agenda indicates that God “is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all come to repentance.” (II Peter 3:9)

On March 2-3 the Northern Kentucky Baptist Association will gather for a Spiritual Awakening Conference at 7:00 PM at Burlington Baptist Church. I am inviting all our churches to come together to worship and to align ourselves with the heart of God to go into this harvest and see God do a new work in our lives and in our communities. We need to ask God to stir a spiritual awakening in our country from the White House to each of our doorsteps.

PRAY BIG and PRAY SPECIFIC. “The more focused and specific your prayers are, the more confidence you’ll gain when God answers. (Reiland)” Pray for people BY NAME you know who are lost and far from God. Expect to see a great harvest!

Finally, PRAY NOW and PRAY WITHOUT CEASING! We will provide resources on our website and a new Facebook event page on our 40 Days of Prayer. But, please, I plead with you, join together in this effort and let’s see what God will do in our day and time! Merry Christmas to you all! I look forward to a great 2018!

Following Him,

Jim