NEW BOOK REVIEWS

State Missionary Rick Lance is executive director of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions.

Other Recent Blog Entries:

VBS a GPS Strategy
Friday, February 5, 2010
The reason I am emphasizing VBS now is obvious. It needs to be an intentional act of training for VBS leaders. VBS is one way to share Christ in this Decade to make a Difference before us.

Helping the Haitians
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Long after the news spotlight has shifted elsewhere and many relief agencies have departed, the yellow shirts of Alabama Baptists and other Southern Baptists will be on the ground working in recovery, restoration and rebuilding.

Abbreviated Leadership Lessons
Monday, December 28, 2009
ALong after the news spotlight has shifted elsewhere and many relief agencies have departed, the yellow shirts of Alabama Baptists and other Southern Baptists will be on the ground working in recovery, restoration and rebuilding.

An Amen Christmas
Friday, December 18, 2009
Being called a "yes man" is not a compliment. Being described as "God's yes people" is the highest and greatest compliment we could ever receive. Let's have an Amen Christmas!

A Great Commission Convention Meeting
Friday, November 19, 2009
Thanks to all who contributed to the annual gathering and to those who came as messengers and guests. I am grateful to be an Alabama Baptist. We are on mission with the Great Commission.

Major Otis Corbitt Reports for Duty!
Friday, November 11, 2009
Now Otis goes as a missionary through the military. His role is different, but his calling is the same. He is called to be on mission with the Great Commission!

Happy Birthday, Billy!
Friday, November 6, 2009
Reminiscently, the last time I saw Billy Graham in person was during his last crusade in New York City. Frail and fragile, the famous evangelist made his way to the podium to preach during every service of his final evangelistic crusade.

Rick Lance's blog

February 2010

Praying Over Feet

Most Baptists do not believe that foot washing is an ordinance. Yet it is a biblical concept. The vivid description of Jesus washing the feet of His disciples is one of the best depictions of servanthood anyone can imagine. The scene must have shocked Peter and the other disciples, but this did not stop Jesus from taking a towel and washing the feet of these ordinary men who had become His followers.

Recently, Bobby Welch, former president of the SBC, led a brief devotional for a meeting of executive directors from state conventions all over North America. This veteran pastoral/missions leader read the words of Scripture, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news." Then he challenged us to group together in twos and pray over each other's feet.

My prayer partner was Bob White, executive director of our neighbor state convention in Georgia. I kneeled down and placed my hands over his feet (shoes) and asked the Lord to use the influence of Bob White to continue to "bring the good news" to people. When I concluded, Bob then kneeled down and prayed a similar prayer over my feet.

Afterward, Bob and I spontaneously hugged each other in an act of Christian love. Few times in my life has such a simple act meant so much to me. I was moved to tears, and I glanced around the room and I saw so many Christian leaders kneeling down and praying for each other. I wish I had taken a picture of the scene. Well, in one way I did take a picture. It was a mental one, tucked away in the archives of meaningful moments in my ministry.

We may not believe that foot washing is an ordinance, but we do believe in praying for each other. When you pray over the feet of Christian leaders, you are making a commitment to pray for these brothers more than just at that particular moment. For years to come, Bob White will be uppermost in my prayers. I am praying that his feet will become even more beautiful in "bringing the good news" to others.

Thank you, Bobby Welch, for helping me, and I am sure many others, to learn to pray in this profoundly simple way for my brothers in the ministry. This moment is etched in my memory for the rest of my life. I now have an even more special bonding with my friend, Bob White. May his ministry be blessed as his "beautiful feet" are used to serve the Lord.

VBS a GPS Strategy

God's Plan for Sharing is a decade-long strategic emphasis on the part of Southern Baptists. Across Alabama is the first phase of this crucial effort of reaching people for Christ. Across Alabama points to a celebration of harvest on Easter Sunday. I look forward to participating in one of these Easter celebrations at Heritage Baptist Church in Montgomery.

Beyond Easter, there is another tremendous opportunity to reach people in a time-tested and practically proven way. It is Vacation Bible School. Alabama Baptists lead the SBC in VBS outreach efforts. More than 10,000 leaders were trained for VBS ministry assignments last year in our state. Approximately 250,000 people were enrolled in VBS. Literally thousands of decisions for Christ were made during the hundreds of VBS experiences in Alabama Baptist churches.

Personally my own conversion experience was related to a Vacation Bible School when ,as a young child, I heard the Gospel message and responded publicly the following Sunday. For this reason and many others, I am an advocate for VBS. I wish every church would somehow participate in hosting a VBS. Smaller churches can unite their efforts and share leadership and combine their energies to reach people during VBS.

VBS can be a missions experience too. Churches can commission leaders to go across the state and assist other churches in effectively providing a healthy VBS experience. VBS is an "Acts 1:8, Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the ends of the earth"-kind of strategy which is the very essence of GPS, God's Plan for Sharing!

The reason I am emphasizing VBS now is obvious. It needs to be an intentional act of training for VBS leaders. VBS is one way to share Christ in this Decade to make a Difference before us. May this be our best VBS year ever for Alabama Baptists and all Southern Baptists.

(For important information about VBS, please contact State Missionary James Blakeney at 1-800-264-1225, ext. 286, or jblakeney@alsbom.org.)

January 2010

Helping the Haitians

Breaking news out of Haiti breaks our hearts. The images of unimaginable suffering continue to be seen on television and via the Internet. The earthquake of 7.0 on the Richter scale has shaken the emotional foundation of the world.

For Alabama Baptists and other concerned Christians, the question is what we can do to help the Haitians? Perhaps the best way to begin to answer that thoughtful question is to consider both short-term and long-term strategies.

At present, we need to bathe the situation in prayer. The hurting people of Haiti need our prayers. As Oswald Chambers once said, "Do not pray for a greater work. Prayer is the greater work." Indeed, there is no greater work for Christian believers than the ministry of praying.

Obviously, we desire to do something in addition to praying for the people. Giving through constructive and proven channels is another way to aid the masses of people in this nation ravaged by earth-shaking destruction.

For more than 15 years, our sister state convention in Florida has working and ministering in Haiti through a vital and strong missions partnership effort. In addition, the connection of Haiti to Florida is a natural one, due to the number of Haitians living in the Sunshine State.

On behalf of Alabama Baptists, your State Board of Missions has already sent an initial check of $50,000 to the Florida Baptist Convention. More, much more, is needed and Alabama Baptists will respond to this devastating situation as we have during the aftermath of the storms and other tragedies of the past.

Contributions designated for disaster relief may be made by check or by credit card. To donate, go online to http://www.alsbom.org/haiti. As donations are received, we forward them on behalf of Alabama Baptists to the Florida Baptist Convention for use on the ground in Haiti. The partnership with Florida Baptists and the North American Mission Board ensures your donations will be used both effectively and efficiently.

The long-term strategy is much more involved. When the green light is given to us, Alabama Baptists will respond with trained disaster relief personnel to be sent to Haiti. Long after the news spotlight has shifted elsewhere and many relief agencies have departed, the yellow shirts of Alabama Baptists and other Southern Baptists will be on the ground working in recovery, restoration and rebuilding.

More than four years after Hurricane Katrina, Alabama Baptists are still working in the hard hit areas of New Orleans and the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The same will most likely be true in Haiti. Some of the hardest work comes after the days, weeks and months following such a traumatic disaster.

Our disaster relief strategist, State Missionary Mel Johnson, will be working alongside many other similar leaders in the days to come. Their efforts will be to maximize every dollar and human resource possible in helping the Haitians through this difficult time.

As we view the riveting images of human suffering, we grow impatient, wanting to do something for hurting people affected by the devastation. Short-term and long-term strategies involve intercessory praying, intentional giving and in some instances, individuals going to Haiti. The short-term strategy is now unfolding. In the near future, it will blend into the long-term strategy.

Thanks, Alabama Baptists, for your praying, giving and going. Remember, disaster relief is a vital part of our one mission, the Great Commission. These efforts are financially undergirded by our one program, the Cooperative Program. Together we make a difference for Christ in a world of hurting people including our Haitian friends.