Reforming Students

Being a reformed baptist…

10. Makes me a more careful reader of my Bible.

9. Makes me more consistent and fervent in my prayers.

8. Makes me a more confident preacher.

7. Makes me more patient with non-believers and skeptics, and more consistent in confronting sin and legalism with believers.

6. Makes me more loving and gracious in my relationships.

I understand that believers are going through a process of sanctification, and non-believers and blinded to the realities of Christ. Therefore, I am more loving and gracious in all my relationships because I understand that God is doing a sovereign work in each person, on different levels. This comes by understanding that a person does not rise to godliness through intellectual ascent or human exertion, rather godliness is only obtained through the work of God. Additionally, when understanding God’s electing work in salvation, I better understand my relationship with my wife and the depth of the biblical command that I am to love her as Christ loved the Church (Ephesians 5:25). I see my marriage as a representation of the unifying relationship between the bride (the Church) and the bridegroom (Jesus). Therefore, as I am drawn deeper into a relationship with Jesus, I am also drawn deeper into love for my wife, family, friends, and brothers and sisters in Christ. Love, then, is not seen as a duty, but is given to me as a gift from God as my delight.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John 13:34).

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12).

“Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor” (Romans 12:10).

Being a reformed baptist…

10. Makes me a more careful reader of my Bible.

9. Makes me more consistent and fervent in my prayers.

8. Makes me a more confident preacher.

7. Makes me more patient with non-believers and skeptics, and more consistent in confronting sin and legalism with believers.

Reformed theology places a major emphasis on the depravity and futility of man. It is absolute, and something that is overcome only by the sovereign work of God. Since I have this understanding, I am more aware of the blindness of non-believers, and see their condition as damning and helpless outside of Christ. In fact, I believe that a complete understanding of the Bible as it concerns mankind must be built on an understanding of total depravity, for it it’s not, God is not sovereign, and we are somehow good, which is in direct contradiction with Scripture. Knowing this condition gives me great patience when pleading with sinners to see the great realities of Christ — It is foolishness to them, and I understand that God must change their hearts to see Him as all-glorious and all-satisfying. This gives me a heart to plead and pray and walk alongside sinners day in and day out in the joy of knowing that God will call His children to himself and they will be saved.

Believers have new hearts – they are new creatures (2 Cor. 5:17) – and are expected to live as such. Believers are still fixed on sin, but are in the process of sanctification. It is the responsibility of fellow believers to lovingly confront sin, directing each other toward holiness. Additionally, the sinful nature of man often leads a believer to become legalistic. In an attempt to live up to the standard before us, we can sometimes create rules of law that don’t exist as commands in the Scriptures. Good intentions to glorify God can often become overbearing and unbiblical. This was an area that Jesus confronted often in his dealings with the most religious people of his day, namely the Pharisees and Sadducees. Christians ought to lovingly help one another remain on the course, striving for the finish line together.

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:44).

“He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, lest they see with their eyes, and understand with their heart, and turn, and I would heal them” (John 12:40).

“the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Cor. 4:4).

“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one” (Romans 3:10a-12).

Being a reformed baptist…

10. Makes me a more careful reader of my Bible.

9. Makes me more consistent and fervent in my prayers.

8. Makes me a more confident preacher.

I know that what and how I preach is not the determining factor in whether or not hearts are going to be changed, sanctification is going to be accomplished, or holiness is going to be sought after. God is sovereign, and the Holy Spirit does this work, even through the foolishness of preaching. Yet at the same time, the great doctrines of reformed theology create a zealous heart within me that bursts forth in passionate preaching for God’s glory, and for the help and exhortation of His people. When I know that God will do a work that I cannot control, I feel completely free to express the fullness of the gospel in all its depths and riches. May God bless the preaching of His word.

“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).

Being a Reformed Baptist…
10. Makes me a more careful reader of my Bible.

9. Makes me more consistent and fervent in my prayers.

Reformed theology gives me a foundation that includes a steadfast understanding that God is all-powerful, faithful, just, and willing to answer our prayers: “Whatever you ask in prayer you will receive if you have faith” (Matthew 21:22). My understanding that God is completely sovereign in all things gives me confidence as I pray, knowing that God will do all things for His glory, and my good. Many people have noted that all people are reformed when they pray, and this is certainly a very valid point. We pray for God to heal, change hearts and minds, stop wars, feed the hungry, give peace to missionaries, etc. If God were a god that simply reacted to what creation does, as opposed to causing all things to come to pass, there would be no need for prayer. But the fact that God commands prayer, and answers prayer according to His good and perfect will, makes me want to pray more and to pray more fervently. God is able to do all things, and is faithful to fulfill his promises.

I just finished teaching a lengthy series in my college Sunday school class on the primary reformed doctrines that are often disagreed with, as well as many of the distinctive aspects of the reformed church. I ended yesterday with a “top 10 list” of what being a reformed baptist does to my faith, understanding, and relationship with Christ and what I hope it does for all people who understand and embrace the biblical doctrines of orthodox Christianity. I want to share my top 10 list here, and will address each of them in separate posts.

Being a reformed baptist…

10. Makes me a more careful reader of my Bible.

Reformed theology emphasizes the authority and sufficiency of Scripture, thus making me a more careful reader of my Bible. This comes with an understanding that every question regarding the nature and character of God can only be answered through a careful, in-depth reading of the Bible. The Bible also makes very clear who I am as a man, and how insignificant I am when compared to God. This gives me many reasons to read very carefully. “All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever” (Isaiah 40:6-8).

Additionally, many of the issues that people raise against reformed theology are based on misinterpretations of specific Scriptural nuances. There are passages throughout Scripture that, without proper exegesis and careful reading, can be interpreted to mean something completely different than what is intended by the text. Individual words are very important and can change meaning, therefore a student of the Bible should always be very careful in their reading. In my experience, arguments that are raised in an attempt to refute reformed doctrine are based on sloppy reading.

“Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.”

~Psalm 119:97

I don’t like TV. I never really have. Nevertheless, having a television creates one more opportunity to waste time, so Felicia and I decided to take action. So now our TV, VCR, DVD player, and Playstation are all in the closet, and they aren’t coming out for at least 1 year. My guess is that by then, we’ll love not having it so much that we just continue on without it.

We only had a few channels. I watched TBN every once and a while to see what was new in the health, wealth, and prosperity wolves, and caught some local news here and there. Whenever it was on, we were either watching a movie (too much time spent on that), or playing Guitar Hero (I’m really good, but again, too much time wasted). I’m not heartbroken. In fact, I have great joy in the matter.

The silence is beautiful. I anticipate a lot more reading around the house.

“TV still reigns as the great life-waster. The main problem with TV is not how much smut is available, though that is a problem. Just the ads are enough to sow fertile seeds of greed and lust, no matter what program you’re watching. The greater problem is banality. A mind fed daily on TV diminishes. Your mind was made to know and love God. Its facility for this great calling is ruined by excessive TV. The content is so trivial and so shallow that the capacity of the mind to think worthy thoughts withers, and the capacity of the heart to feel deep emotions shrivels.”

~ John Piper (Don’t Waste Your Life, 120)

Steve Wright is the author of the book ReThink. After reading the book very carefully, I am one of the most enthusiastic supporters of what Steve has written. Through his book, as well as in personal conversations, Steve has been a great encouragement to me, letting me know that I’m certainly in good company when it comes to reforming student ministry. He is a great worker for the Kingdom, and I am blessed to have the opportunity to learn from Steve’s wisdom and experience in student ministry. He has worked tirelessly in his pursuit to reconnect parents with their children in primary discipleship roles, and has encouraged the Church to reconsider their unbiblical practices when it comes to how student ministry is done. While Steve certainly is a proponent of student ministries, he (like many of us) sees a great disconnect from what God commands compared to the models and methods that many local congregations have adapted to.

I had the great privilege of interviewing Steve regarding ReThink the book, the upcoming conference, as well as his experience in as a pastor in student ministry.

*********

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Originally from Gainesville, Georgia, I met my wife of 19 years while attending Carson Newman College. When I graduated, I took with me the girl of my dreams, three seasons of All-American wrestling honors plus a National Championship title, and a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ. A wrestling teammate modeled Christ and the Gospel for me and taught me to understand the Lordship of Christ in a believer’s life. I have never been the same.

It is my great honor to love Christ and serve His church. I have worked in student ministry for over 20 years, with the past nine of those years here in Raleigh, NC, at Providence Baptist.

Tina and I have three incredible children: Sara, William and Tyler. All three are in my student ministry today.

What motivated you to write ReThink, and how long have the ideas in the book been “brewing”?

reThink has been working me over for close to twelve years. I started seeing friends whom I respected begin to leave the ministry, their marriages struggling and ministry- effectiveness dwindling. As I met with men much older than myself, there didn’t appear to be great soul rest their personal lives. I couldn’t accept the fact that my wife would grow to hate the church (Christ’s Bride) and that my children would “obviously” suffer from their father being a pastor. Something had to be wrong!

This unrest in my heart drove me to ask tough questions. There were times I wanted to throw in the towel, weary of the consumer mentality of church where, no matter what we offered, it was never enough. I saw the ineffectiveness of the current model of student ministry and it troubled me to the core.

The question that kept me awake night after night was pointed: What does God’s word have to say about ministry to students?

Give us a short synopsis of what the book is about.

Theology. As strange as this may sound coming from a student pastor, reThink is about theology.

The book is the result of an insider’s quest for theology that would serve as a foundation to produce “lasting fruit.” When we set out on the quest, we said, “Let’s dig into God’s word for answers, and for once let’s quit playing games and admit that the results of the traditional model of student ministry are not acceptable.”

In reThink we look at the two institutions that God has given to us for spiritual formation: the family and the church. Many guys today graduate from our seminaries without even a basic biblical understanding of the first institution, the family. If we do not understand God’s purpose for the family, then how can we equip it and partner with it in ministry?

I felt early in ministry that I understood the second institution, the church. Now I confess that the church growth movement shaded my perspective greatly. Unfortunately, I was trained that my greatest worth to the church was simply to get more attendees. I received praise when my ministry grew larger, but sadly, few of those students were true disciples.

What do you think the most common view is regarding the relationship between student ministries and parents? Why?

We talk a good game, for sure. Every ministry talks about this great concept of “Partnering with Parents.” Tragically the extent of this partnership is a once-a-year meeting where student pastors lay out their plans for the next 12 months to a group of adults that they have never met. Most student pastors couldn’t tell you three quarters of the parents’ names, but they are “partners.”

There several contributors to this common, but unhealthy, ministry model.

First is the student pastor’s young age. Young pastors are intimidated by parental expectations, whether real or perceived, making the notion of asking parents for help in ministry unthinkable. (Fear)

Second is the machinery that is already in place. Student pastors often find themselves running something that was created a long time before they arrived on the scene. To admit that what the ministry has been doing for some time isn’t effective is tough for some churches and pastors. (Pride)

Third is the consumer-driven demand for entertainment. When a guy starts to back away from the student ministry entertainment business, church members complain. We all like the bright lights, the big show and the Christian celebs. A ministry that is driven by prayer, Bible study and service to the church doesn’t appear quiet as “FUN.” Isn’t that our calling? Make it fun so more will come. (Poor Theology)

I love fun. Fun is, well, fun, but now I refuse to build my ministry on it.

On pg. 53 you wrote, “Student ministry in many cases has become the local YMCA or teen amusement park; students check in and out, but mostly out. After all, once they have experienced years of fun-and-games, all-you-can-eat, no-responsibility, free-from-parents amusement, then we have helped train their appetites for pleasure to find more alluring fulfillment in the adult world.” What are the allurements that you are speaking of specifically, and how are they affecting the 21^st century Church?

The “allurements” are anything that attempts to add to the Gospel. Jesus said, “Deny yourself daily and follow me.” Is all the stuff we are doing making true disciples of Christ?

Here is a one word answer for the most alluring thing of all: self. Daily I wrestle with my ego and my will. It’s pride. When we teach parents and students that the church exists for them exclusively, we are building a greater consumer mentality. Self takes center-stage, not Christ. But the church exists to glorify Christ, to make much of Him.

We are finding today that our efforts to move youth from program to program to program leave them empty upon graduation. Many of our students leave the faith. Are we presenting the true Gospel to our young people when we try to attract them to programs rather than the Christ? Are our students burning with a passion for Christ when they graduate from student ministry? Are they eagerly serving God’s church?

You make a great point in the book that “busier is better” is certainly not the case because it takes away from the time that teenagers are able to spend with their families, being discipled by their parents. What do you think has been the major influence behind the “bigger is better” and “busier is better” ministry model?

David Wells says, “If you and I begin with the purpose to get more rather than glorifying Christ then we will entertain every imaginable idea- whether it is biblical or not”. Our churches are busier today, our pastors are busier today, and our families are busier today. We have more resources, more money, bigger churches, more pastors, more programs and more options. We also have more divorces and more students abandoning their faith, and we are reaching fewer people for Christ.

If we believe that reflecting the world’s efforts and baptizing their ideas will work at reaching a generation, we are in big trouble. God’s word is God’s word. It is living and active and profitable for all things. Always has been. Always will be. When we start tweaking the message to make it culturally attractive, we are in danger of losing the power of its truth altogether.

I really don’t want my events to look like the latest Christian version of an MTV show. I meet weekly with 8^th grade boys at my house for discipleship. We worship, we read God’s word and then we all get on our knees together and pray. There is no show or gimmick that brings these boys back each week. But they are tremendous Christ-followers.

I know that you hear from a lot of different student pastors in all areas of the country. What is the most common thing you hear from them regarding the struggles they have in student ministry? What encouragement can you offer them?

I received an email from a guy this week who said that after 16 years of ministry, he is struggling with throwing in the towel. My first encouragement to these guys is that I will be praying for them. Second, I ask them about their ministry to their own families; and third, I encourage them to dig deeply into God’s word. Not for a sermon or Bible study to prepare a message for others, but really to dig in until the hear Him speaking to them, personally.

Many of the guys I speak with feel they are left out on an island with little support. They feel they were hired to do a job but never mentored and equipped for this ministry. My heart breaks when senior pastors call me looking for another student pastor and comment that they can’t keep a student pastor today because they leave every two years. “That’s just the way it is today.” Trust me, it isn’t always the senior pastor’s fault when a student pastor leaves, but I know that Paul knew he had a great responsibility with young Timothy.

If the church is going to keep hiring guys so young to lead their students, then we must address the need for a mentor in the young man’s life. I would also encourage churches to reflect more on 1 Tim 3: 1-7. I was a pastor at an early age and I was not prepared, trained or “proven” and neither did I meet the 1 Tim qualifications.

When you first moved toward a ministry paradigm that included more parental involvement, what surprised you most about the response of the congregation you were serving?

Our biggest surprise was God’s incredible favor. The more we took small steps, the more clear the direction became. The vast majority in our family of faith embraced their God-given responsibility and were eager to be equipped.

You mention in the book that your church hosts several different seminars, training events, discussions, etc. for parents regarding their ministry to their own children. What are some of the things you do in those gatherings and how effective have they been?

Every ministry event we have has a parent component. We seek to resource, train or involve parents with everything we do. For example, during our discipleship weekend in the fall (Metamorphosis), we ask our parents to stay after registration for time of equipping by one of the other pastors in our church. We make sure they have copies of the schedule for the weekend and invite them to join us for the large group sessions. When we are at summer camp (Impact), we offer parent prayer meetings (Impact@home) during the week in homes throughout Raleigh. When our students meet at church on Wednesday nights once a month, we offer a Parent Refuge for prayer and Bible study.

More importantly, every ministry in our church seeks to build and equip the family. This isn’t just one person’s job. Education ministry teaches parenting classes on Sunday mornings. Women’s Ministry hosts mother-daughter events, such as a fashion show where moms and their girls learn biblical truths about modesty. Men’s ministry opens Bible studies and outings to fathers and their teen sons. Those are just a few examples.

What do you believe is your primary purpose as a pastor to students?

Simple. My primary purpose is to honor God and make much of Him.

What about teenagers who have parents who are non-believers? What do you think the church’s role is in their lives?

Great question. It’s one that burdened not only our staff, but also our volunteer workers. The amazing thing that has happened for us is that our parent-partners have not only engaged more in discipling their own children, but their mentoring mentality has spilled over to the students who come from non-believing families.

We want to identify as early as possible those students whose parents aren’t believers, don’t attend church, or choose not to accept their God-given role as primary disciplers. Remember that we aren’t called to develop lifelong youth group attendees. Instead, we strive to prepare all of our students for life beyond high school. The majority of these students will grow up, marry and have children. What will their marriages look like? What will parenting look like for them? What spiritual role will these students have in their children’s lives?

Obviously the best training ground would be their own homes, if they honored Christ. When this isn’t the case, we seek to provide mentors who model the practical side of what it means to follow Christ. Many of our Refinery leaders and host homes exemplify this biblical framework for our students.

What is the motivation behind the ReThink conference?

Churches eager to begin the transition to a “Integrated Discipleship Model” have been contacting us weekly for guidance. I desire to meet with each of these church leaders individually, but there is simply no way to do so. Our pastoral team decided to invite all those who are beginning this transition to come to Providence for a day of training and encouragement. We wanted each ministry represented to see that they are not alone in this endeavor.

We invited Randy Stinson to join us for the evening. Randy serves as President of CBMW and also as Dean of the School of Leadership and Church Growth at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He grew up near Tampa Bay, Florida, and studied at the University of South Florida (B.A.). After sensing God’s call into the ministry, he went on to earn degrees from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (M.Div.) and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (Th.M. and Ph.D.). For ten years he was a local church pastor, and served for seven years as Executive Director of CBMW. As President, Randy draws on his extensive academic and pastoral experience in giving vision and speaking on behalf of this organization.

We are humbled to have participants from 16 different states registered already. We decided to offer this event “free of charge” so pastors would see our desire to encourage. We live in a day in which everything seems to be for sale. The pastors on our team are pulling together a wealth of resources to give away during the conference.

What are you most excited about for the ReThink Conference?

I enjoy connecting with the guys who have been struggling with the same issues that I have struggled with. Hearing their stories inspires me and gives me great hope for the church.

Is there still room, and what can we do to get the word out?

There is still room. The biggest contribution people can make at this point is to email their friends or blog about this event. Because the event is free, we have no budget for marketing. The best thing to send is the link to the www.rethinkconference08.com website, where details and registration information are posted.

What other things do you have in the works for the student ministry community?

The other thing I am working on is a blog to encourage parents and churches daily in their true partnership of making disciples. www.lastingdivergence.com. This site is only two weeks old, but we have had a ton of visits as parents and pastors are spreading the word. By the way, this is FREE as well.

We really need bloggers to help get the word out about this site by adding the link to their blogrolls.

How can we be praying for you?

Please pray that God will give me a greater desire to know His revealed truth so that I might represent His grace well, first to my family and then to others.

*********

Read:: ReThink

Sign-up:: ReThink 2008

Visit:: Lasting Divergence

I had a wonderful time at the Band of Bloggers (audio available here) and Together for the Gospel conference last week. The fellowship was sweet as I had the opportunity to travel with my fellow Ephesus Church Pastor Steve Thomas. I also spent a lot of time with Mike Hall and Don Elbourne. I talked with Timmy Brister for a while, and had an opportunity to thank Christian Uberblogger Tim Challies for his well written contribution to my library, “The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment.” The preaching, as expected, was phenomenal on many levels. Take the time to download and listen to every message from the T4G website. I highly recommend Thabiti Anyabwile and John Piper if you can only get to 2 right now. Of course, I was very excited to receive many new books for free as well as purchase a few more from the huge bookstore. Those things are dangerous!

This week I am in Moline, Illinois for the Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America General Assembly. This is my first year of being in an ARBCA church, and the afternoon I’ve spent with the brother pastors here has already been wonderful. My traveling partner and brother pastor Moses Toole has been introducing me to many other ARBCA pastors. The schedule leaves open some free time, so hopefully I’ll be able to get a few more posts up this week.

Until next time, Soli deo Gloria!

I’m leaving Savannah tomorrow morning at 6am to join 5000 of my closest friends for the Together for the Gospel conference. I will also be attending the Band of Bloggers, and am very much looking forward to linking up with old friends, new friends, and friends that I’ve never met in person! I will be traveling with Steve Thomas, another pastor from Ephesus Church, and am grateful for the time I will have with him. Together for the Gospel is a conference that I’ve been excited about since I listened to the audio from 2006. This years line-up will include Mark Dever, John Piper, RC Sproul, Ligon Duncun, Al Mohler, CJ Mahaney, John MacArthur, and Thabiti Anyabwile. I have benefited greatly from the preaching and writing of each of these men.

I won’t be live-blogging the conference since almost every other blogger that gets 1000 times more traffic than I do will be! I will provide updates though, and look forward to hearing what everyone thinks. My goal for tomorrow is to link up with Mike Hall, Timmy Brister, Joe Thorn, Matt Wireman, and Don Elbourne — there will be several others as well, I’m sure.

If you think about it, please pray for our travel tomorrow, as well as our time at the conference. I am hoping to come home with a renewed sense of vision and joy for ministry, a great satisfaction and zeal in Christ, and a hope in what he can and will accomplish through sinners like me.

Oh yeah — we get tons of free books at T4G too — it really doesn’t get any better!

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life has released a series of new statistics on the religious landscape of America:

• Close to half (44 percent) of all Americans have changed religions or denominations at least once in their lifetimes.

• Protestants now make up just 51 percent of the population, though the total Christian population remains as high as 78 percent.

• Some 16 percent of American adults describe themselves as religiously “unaffiliated,” more than twice the percentage who say they had no religious upbringing.

• In addition to contributing to religious diversity, immigration also augments the country’s church rolls, as 46 percent of foreign-born adults claim Catholic identity and 24 percent claim Protestant identity.

Another stinging indictment against the oh-so-common entertainment-driven, void of parental involvement and discipleship student ministry of the last 4 decades… With stats like this, it doesn’t take a lot of effort to convince others that something has to change. Student ministry needs a makeover in America, or it will only get worse.

(HT: The Bored-Again Christian)