Pray for both Pastor Jon and Pastor Thom this week! Pastor Jon is at the SBC in Indianapolis - after attending church and the Pastor's Conference on Sunday, Jon and Becky took a day off Monday. Today, the actual Convention starts today - Here are some important things that will be voted on:1. A resolution on church membership - SBC churches list about 16 or 17 million on our church rolls. Less than half of that (some say closer to 1/4 of that) actually attend church. Probably the most distinctive thing about Baptists is that we believe in "regenerate church membership" meaning that members are made up of only those who are baptized believers. The disparity between the numbers on our lists and those who attend reveal that most of the folks on our rolls at least are not acting like believers by loving and attending church. The resolution will basically ask the churches in the SBC to do something about this - we already have some things in the workings with our new Church Covenant - soon you will be hearing about these things!
2. A new SBC president - I cannot remember a time when we had 6 candidates for president! It will be interesting to be a part of this historic vote.
3. A motion to rescind recent restrictions issued by the IMB on missionaries dealing with theology (speaking in tongues) and practice (baptism practices abroad). Several years ago the IMB trustees made a new policy restricting certain kinds of baptisms and restricting mission work to those missionaries who do not believe in speaking in tongues. Since many churches are open to these things there has been quite a move to rescind those restrictions.
FALLS CREEK
Pray also for Thom and all the other volunteers as they are with our students at Falls Creek this week. Pray that God will move in our students - that they will hear the gospel of Christ! Take time to pray that some of our students will repent and trust in Christ this week!
