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

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A Sincere and Respectful Call for A Great Commandment Renewal
Thursday, June 24, 2010
As I have said earlier, I will do my best not to let disagreements define our relationships. I am praying that The Great Commandment Renewal will begin in me!

VBS Is a Blessing!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
As a pastor, I always felt that VBS was to be a major commitment on my part. I wanted to be in town, involved and engaged in the efforts of impacting the lives of children, youth and adults. It was not a chore for me, but rather it was a joy!

Taking the 'Stew' Out of Stewardship
Thursday, May 27, 2010
At first, I thought I had hurt his feelings. I mean this was a serious project, and maybe I was being a little too cute for my own good.

March 2009

From the Hall of Atheism to the House of Grace

How can an auditorium once devoted to atheistic lectures during the old Soviet Union become transformed into a place of worship? First, you must have the fall of the Soviet form of totalitarian government, after more than 70 years of dominance. Then there comes a birth of religious freedom which follows the period of oppression. This new climate of change offers a fresh opportunity for Christians to worship openly and freely.

Recently, while making a missions trip to western Ukraine, I saw the evidence of this transformation first hand. In Rivne, Ukraine, there is a famous meeting hall once used by the Communist leaders for lectures on atheism and teaching other ideological aspects of Communism. This hall is now a place of worship for the fast-growing Grace Church. Grace is only seven years old, and it is a fellowship capably led by a young pastor named Andry. The church has already birthed three other congregations, one just a month ago. This, the newest of the daughter churches, now has approximately 150 worshipers.

On my birthday, March 29, I had the privilege of preaching at the Grace Church. It was their time change Sunday and my second one to experience in one month's time. Despite the loss of an hour's sleep, the congregation was most attentive. As I preached, I couldn't help but think that this was a miracle indeed. A hall of atheism had become a house of worship for the One and True God that the Communist system sought to discredit and eradicate from society.

On the flight home, I read Russian Resurrection, a book which chronicles the evangelical movement in Russia and Ukraine, as well as other former Soviet satellite nations. Reading this work was an informative experience for me, and it verified what I had witnessed personally – namely the fact that during the atheistic regime of Communism the evangelical church continued to flourish. Yes there was persecution and, yes, there were the infamous gulags, where Christians and other so called dissidents were held as prisoners, but this did not stop the sharing of the Gospel with the people of the towns, villages, cities and rural areas.

Near the Hungarian border there are Baptist churches ministering to Hungarian-speaking people who have migrated back to their native Trans-Carpathian region. This language group could be easily ignored because the territory is remote from the heart of Ukraine and the country which speaks their language.

However, there are young pastors there among the people sharing the gospel. One such couple is Pastor Daniel and his wife Lona. They have started a church in a small village in a building which has been slowly renovated for worship. They live in a tiny apartment-like area adjacent to the church. Lona reaches out to the ladies in the village through a quilting ministry, and Daniel effectively preaches the gospel.

During one recent worship service, Daniel preached to a standing room only crowd in the tiny church. Of the more than 60 in attendance, 30 people expressed faith in Christ in that worship service. When the weather becomes warmer, these individuals will be baptized outdoors in a makeshift swimming pool designed to be a baptistry. This kind of public demonstration of faith in Christ would have been very rare in the days of Communism.

I left Ukraine, following my fourth or fifth missions trip with a renewed sense of appreciation and respect for our fellow Christians in that part of the world. We have much to learn from these beautiful and precious people who served the Lord so effectively in times of need and suffering. In general, they do not have much materialistically, but they do have a contagious zeal for the Lord and His ministry in our world. They have experienced a miracle of change, that is freedom to worship, and they understand very well that our God can take adversity and make it an advantage. In other words, a hall of atheism can become a house of grace.

I Still Believe in Cowboys!

Like many boys in my generation, there was a time in my early childhood when I longed to be a cowboy. The cowboys on television and in the movies seemed to live heroic kind of lives, which intrigued me beyond description. I have never lost that sense of infatuation with the cowboys of today and yesteryear.

I must confess that I still love a good Western motion picture. Robert Duvall, John Wayne and Clint Eastwood are some of my favorite stars in this genre of movies. Also, I love to read Western novels like the ones Louie L'Amour popularized. He was a genius in making a simple story a good, refreshing read. His books always had some moral teaching to the story line.

Recently, I had a new experience as I met with the pastor of The Cowboy Church of Marshall County. About three years ago, Todd Mitchell acted on a vision to reach some of the hard-to-reach people in his general community. All of these individuals had an outdoors kind of lifestyle in common, and today 300 of them are active in this new church start. Some of them work on farms, and some own farms. Some work with cattle on small ranches in the area. Others are bikers and rodeo workers. There are families who come together and individual come alone to church, but culturally they have a lot in common.

Something more important they have in common is Christ. Christ is Lord of The Cowboy Church, as He is in every New Testament church of believers. This young and unique church is well led by Todd Mitchell, and it has been supported in healthy ways by the sponsoring church, Bethany Baptist in Horton. The Marshall Baptist Association has proven to be a huge supporter. The Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions (SBOM) as well as the North American Mission Board (NAMB) are also committed partners in this effective endeavor of reaching people for Christ.

At the SBOM, we have a saying, which reflects something of our strategy in planting churches. We say, "We need all kinds of churches so that we can reach all kinds of people." We believe that is a statement true to the Bible, and it is practical in nature. The strategy involves people in local settings, churches, who have a vision to reach people. Usually, a church will bless the vision of the person or persons hoping to start a new church tasked to reach a cultural group not impacted with the gospel. At the point the local association, the SBOM and NAMB come to the table to bring assistance. This is a model of true partnership, representing the local church, the SBOM and NAMB.

The Cowboy Church is an example of the strategy Alabama Baptists have at work across our state. It is a distinctive local church, which now plans to launch several more cowboy churches in other areas in the northeast part of the state. They meet in a building which once was a feed store. The main facility, the former feed store, is the worship center and some of other smaller buildings serve as preschool and children's Sunday School space.

I have met several of the new converts who now come to The Cowboy Church. They have very touching and moving testimonies. One man drove up in the church parking lot and, as he got out of his truck, he said, "I need some help." Todd, the pastor, came up to him and began to share the Gospel with him. After a few minutes of chatting, this cowboy took his hat off and bowed down in the parking lot and prayed to receive Christ.

This man is an excellent example of the kind of convert being reached through the ministries of The Cowboy Church. As I travel the state, stories like this one warm my heart and encourage me to think about the strategic efforts we are making across Alabama. Church planting is an integral part of our one mission, the Great Commission. I pray that the new churches will join many of the already established churches in promoting the one program we have: the Cooperative Program.

Yes, we have many ministries in Alabama Baptist life, and one of the vitally important ones is church planting or church starts. In the future, we will need unique kinds of churches reaching people cross-culturally and with strategic focus on ones who are hard to reach. This is the Great Commission at its best in the 21st century!