Memorize Philippians in 2011
I recently came across a great blog post with some tools to help memorize Philippians beginning on January 1, 2011. To download the tools, click here:
The Right Response to Desperate Times
I’m looking forward to preaching this coming Sunday in both morning services at First Baptist. Will try to post video and audio next week. Here’s a preview:
New Wednesday night message series…
My Recent Interview with Lifeway’s Facts & Trends Magazine
Many Thanks to Russ Rankin over at Lifeway…
Fuge Winter Camp pastor has Glorieta history
NASHVILLE, Tenn., 4/8/10 – Bryan Bailey is no stranger to LifeWay Glorieta Conference Center. Born in Abilene, Texas, Bailey moved around with his oil field family before settling in Hobbs, N.M., when he was 7 years old.
“I was at Glorieta all the time as a kid,” said Bailey. “Growing up in New Mexico, our church had a house at Glorieta, so every Sunday School Week, Music Week … if it was a week of anything … I’d be in a Centrifuge camp while the grown-ups had their meetings.”
In a story come full circle, Bailey, an evangelist and pastor to high school and college students at First Baptist Church, Odessa, Texas, has had numerous opportunities to speak to students, most recently through his role as camp pastor at Glorieta’s Fuge Winter Camp. The camp is designed as a shortened camp experience that takes place during mid-school-year holiday weeks.
Bailey shared about his approach to reaching young people with the gospel and discussed the role Centrifuge camps played in his own life.
Facts & Trends: You have the opportunity to speak at many youth revivals and Centrifuge events. How do you approach each event?
Bailey: I love speaking at events like Fuge and student revivals. I’m not your ordinary youth guy. I told my church when they hired me that I’m not a party planner or a joke teller; I’ve been called to deliver the truth in a matter-of-fact way.
As I prepare, I ask the Lord to show me the message He has for each group. I open the text and allow the Word of God to work for itself. When we meet at Winter Fuge, we open up the Word and get brutally honest. I challenge students that they can’t play around with this. They must make the decision about whether they are going to believe the Bible is true. If it is, how must we respond? It’s cut and dry.
I know my style puts me in a small category. I’m probably not going to make you laugh. At one point early in my ministry I struggled with that as I looked around and saw so many successful speakers who were funny and entertaining. I had to come to grips with what God called me to do. Kids today need adults to skip the sugarcoating and get right down to it. Kids will often thank me for getting in their faces, for being honest and not watering down the message.
F&T: How did students respond at Fuge Winter Camp?
Bailey: It’s incredible to see the Spirit of God move in the hearts of these kids. At [the December] Winter Fuge weekend, the first guy down the aisle was this big, athlete-looking guy. He had tears in his eyes as he made a decision to follow Christ. Afterwards, another student came up and thanked me. He said his friend was always resistant to the gospel. He would tell them not to shove Jesus down his throat. He had begrudgingly joined the group going to Winter Fuge and here he was the first one down. It’s not anything I said, but it’s a cool reminder to these kids that prayer for their friends works.
I give a variety of opportunities for kids to respond. It was great to see a majority of the kids at [the December session of] Winter Fuge respond in some way. At least 15 gave their lives to Christ and more than 10 made commitments to vocational service.
F&T: Besides a straight-shooting approach, what else do you see reaching students today?
Bailey: I believe God has His hand on this generation of young people in this country. The majority of revivals in the past started with teens who were crazy enough to believe God would do what He said He would do.
Kids have so much going on these days; so many distractions. If we can have one hour, I don’t want to waste that. My objective is to dive in, be true to the Word and have these kids leave with an eternal change.
Authenticity makes a huge difference. A mentor of mine told me once that a broken heart preaches better than a golden tongue. I start off different than most speakers because I get right down to the truth that I don’t have it together, but I know a God who does. I express my shortcomings, and I believe that lowers barriers kids might have.
There are so many young people today who have been burned by the church and organized religion. We’ve got to speak to them and communicate that grace is the big game changer. [Churches and ministries] often try so hard to change the packaging, thinking that by changing the externals – the building, the paint or having the latest stuff – they’ll attract this generation. It might last a while, but if you start with the heart, they’ll change from the inside out and be a changed generation.
When God gets hold of them, when they get a glimpse and realize all that He is – that He is the God of the Bible – they can’t walk out without being radically changed.
F&T: With all your speaking opportunities, what is special about returning to Glorieta for Fuge Winter Camp?
Bailey: I’ve been a part of Fuge events at Glorieta for so long, I think it’s nuts that I get to stand up on that stage as camp pastor for Winter Fuge. It’s like I grew up here. I was the kid in the seat for so many events. Then I got to serve on Fuge staff, which was a dream come true. To be asked to speak? Are you kidding me?
I even met my wife at Glorieta when we were both on Centrifuge staff in 2003. Now we’re a two-fold deal. She’s my sidekick and gets very involved in ministering and teaching during the events.
We love seeing so many lives changed on that mountain. Glorieta is a special place. Fuge camps have been around for 30 years and Glorieta for so much longer. It’ll be awesome to hear eternity’s stories about the lives that were changed on that mountain
A copy of this interview was published in the Spring 2010 edition of Facts & Trends Magazine. A link to this interview can also be found here:
I was recently given a God-sized reminder of why I believe in this generation of students. I believe with all my heart that Christianity in America will be shaped by this group of people. I’ve been working with students for the better part of ten years now, and I’m constantly reminded that this generation is hungry for the deep things of God. I’ve been told more times than I can count that the attention span of a teenager is just over 15 minutes – and as a result my communication to them should somehow fit that. I would always think, “but, they can sit through an hour long biology class or an hour long algebra class… surely they can handle the deep things of God’s Word”
From the moment I first heard the still small voice of God calling me into full-time vocational ministry, I knew that I would be different. One of my strongest convictions in student ministry is that I will refuse to build a ministry that is predicated by fun and games. Having traveled and spoken now in several states, and having worked with several summer camps, I’ve seen so many student pastors and thought to myself “how in the world did that church hire them??” Now please hear me, I’m in no way judging anyone, I’m just telling you what I see. And I’m not against fun and games. Believe, I love having fun more than anyone, but if I’m charged with helping disciple these high school students and connecting them with Jesus – then when we do get together, we have to be so strategic and intentional with the time we’ve been given.
From the moment I started traveling and speaking, and then working in the local church, I’ve been passionate about connecting students with the living Word of God. Everywhere I go I hear a few statements repeated over and over. “Bryan, just wanted to say thanks for not watering it down tonight; thanks for getting in our face, thanks for being real with us.” I can’t tell you how many different places I’ve been where I’ve students say that. I’m not your typical preacher/communicator; I’m not a joke teller; I’m not a baby-sitter; I’m not a party planner; I’m not a tour guide… I’m a student pastor. Part of being a student pastor makes me concerned for the spiritual well-being of teenagers today. But I’m continually seeing things that give me tremendous hope.
Over the last few months, I’ve been under such conviction that as a whole, most student ministries don’t do much with prayer. I’ve been personally convicted at how little I pray. I think about all the things that I want to see God do in our student ministry, and in this nation; but I’m constantly reminded that without prayer – authentic, passionate prayer – we will keep seeing what we’ve always seen, and we’ll keep going to all the various conferences looking for that “next great thing” and try to come home and copy it where we serve.
A few weeks ago, I shared with my students my heart about all of this, and wasn’t really sure how they would respond. To my surprise, the vast majority of my group raised their hand and said “absolutely this is something we need to focus on.” So last Wednesday we planned a creative prayer experience for our students. I was sharing with a few other student pastors what I was working on and I heard things like “dude, you mean to tell me you’re not going to do anything but pray?? for a whole hour? you’re crazy bro! you’ll lose em within a few minutes.”
When the students arrived, we handed each one a packet that explained everything they needed to do for the night. It explained what to do in each room, all of the scripture was on the paper they were holding (and we did this partly because you always have students that forget to bring their Bible and because we wanted them to be able to take it all home with them later that night). We had several different rooms, each with its own focus, music, lighting, etc. Each room had a time limit and the students were told when to switch and go to the next room. I was really interested in how the students would respond. I opened the night by explaining that in no way was I trying to make anyone uncomfortable, but I wanted to provide an opportunity for my HS students to connect with God. We are all so busy these days, and I have a pretty strong feeling that very few of us these days carve out consistent time to sit before God and listen for His voice.
As I walked around that night, I would stick my head in each one of the various rooms, just to see how they were following directions, etc. But one room caught my attention. One of the rooms was a room we called “silence//kneel” and in this room, the students were instructed to find a chair in the room and kneel by it and do nothing but listen. We had the lights in the room turned off, and in the center of the room we had a massive pile of tiny Christmas lights along with some music playing. I was floored to watch as the students walked in the room and got on their knees – some were even laying flat on their faces. There was something about that sight that God used to remind me that these students were hungry for the deep things of God.
I know that it has taken quite a bit of time to bring our students to this point, I don’t think I could have done that when I first arrived here at the church. But I wished you could have seen those HS students. At the end of the prayer experience, the students finished by ending up in our big room where myself and another student ministry leader served the students communion. We did communion different than what most of them were used to. We held a big loaf of bread where each student would tear a piece of it and then proceed to dip it in a large cup of juice. There was something powerful about looking a HS student in the eyes and telling each one of them “This bread represents the body of Christ – broken for you” and “This cup represents the blood of Christ – which was shed for you.” Powerful stuff that night. But what was even crazier was when students found me at lunch the next day and said “Hey Bryan, can we make that a monthly thing??” Wait a minute: High School students are asking that we have more nights solely dedicated to prayer?? I thought they only had a 15 minute attention span?? I’m telling you… there is an awakening coming in our land, and its coming through this generation of students.
I’m reminded of a passage in Matthew 17 where those first disciples were presented with a very difficult situation:
14When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. 15“Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. 16I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”
17“O unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” 18Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment.
19Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?”
20He replied, “Because you have so little faith…
The disciples were going through all the motions, doing the right things, saying the right stuff – but their faith was in their own strength, and not in Jesus Himself. I pray that a generation of Student Pastors would rise up and passionately seek to connect students with the heart of God – and not just religion. The answer to the darkness in our nation isn’t more religion; it’s not more church services; it’s not more programs – it’s Jesus. We need to be in the business of helping our people connect with God, and sometimes we have to be willing to get out of the way… One of my mentors and heroes, Dr. Roy Fish – Distinguished Prof. of Evangelism at Southwestern Baptist Seminary, would say often in talking about revivals; “It’s always darkest before the sun comes up.” Amen…
So until the sun comes up….
If you would like a copy of our interactive prayer experience, leave me a comment with your email address and I will send that to you.
Food for thought by Eugene Peterson
I recently heard a quote from Eugene Peterson that put a lot of things into perspective for me. In Peterson’s book Working the Angles: The Shape of Pastoral Integrity, he says this:
For a long time, I have been convinced that I could take a person with a high school education, give him or her a six-month trade school training, and provide a pastor who would be satisfactory to any discriminating American congregation. The curriculum would consist of four courses.
Course I: Creative Plagiarism. I would put you in touch with a wide range of excellent and inspirational talks, show you how to alter them just enough to obscure their origins, and get you a reputation for wit and wisdom.
Course II: Voice Control for Prayer and Counseling. We would develop your own distinct style of Holy Joe intonation, acquiring the skill in resonance and modulation that conveys and unmistakable aura of sanctity.
Course III: Efficient Office Management. There is nothing that parishioners admire more in their pastors than the capacity to run a tight ship administratively. If we return all phone calls within twenty-four hours, answer all the letters within a week, distributing enough carbons to key people so that they know we are on top of things, and have just the right amount of clutter on our desk—not too much, or we appear inefficient, not too little or we appear underemployed—we quickly get the reputation for efficiency that is far more important than anything that we actually do.
Course IV: Image Projection. Here we would master the half-dozen well-known and easily implemented devices that that create the impression that we are terrifically busy and widely sought after for counsel by influential people in the community. A one-week refresher course each year would introduce new phrases that would convince our parishioners that we are bold innovators on the cutting edge of the megatrends and at the same time solidly rooted in all the traditional values of our sainted ancestors.
(I have been laughing for several years over this trade school training with which I plan to make my fortune. Recently, though, the joke has backfired on me. I keep seeing advertisements for institutes and workshops all over the country that invite pastors to sign up for this exact curriculum. The advertised course offerings are not quite as honestly labeled as mine, but the content appears to be identical—a curriculum that trains pastors to satisfy the current consumer tastes in religion. I’m not laughing anymore.)
Pretty thought provoking stuff… I’ll write more about this later in the week.
Until next time sports fans…
People will never respect you for what you're ABOUT to do.
I came across this blog this morning… I was so moved by it that I thought I would share it with the three of you that regularly read this. Such a powerful reminder…
People Will Never Respect You Because Of What You’re ABOUT To Do
September 25th, 2009, Category : Deep Stuff
“My wife and I have thought about adopting for a while.”
“I’ve always wanted to write a book.”
“I think I might ask her out.”
“Yea, next time I go to a show I’ll sponsor a Compassion child.”
“You know, I’m gonna finally tell my boss to chill out and treat us with respect.”
“Dude! The church I’m planting is going to feed the homeless every Saturday morning.”
“That’s it. I’m seriously going to drop everything and become a photographer.”
These are just a few of the lines I remember from conversations I have been part of or overheard (yes, I’m a stalker) the past few weeks.
Dreams are fuel.
They fuel us to victory.
But most of the time they stay just that.
Dreams.
I lived most of my life “about” to do something.
Then one day Heather and I decided to stop living almost and start living all out.
Since that decision we have adopted our son Losiah, climbed the highest peak in North America, Jumped out of airplanes, been on a reality show, moved across the country, quit my job, signed a record deal, traveled to Uganda, co lived with 3 families, and so much more.
I honestly don’t share that to brag.
It might sound miserable to most of you.
We have had our share of suck.
If you read our blogs you know.
But we also realized that the American dream of white picket fences and a 9-5 isn’t our shtick.
And here is the harder truth.
It isn’t a lot of yours either.
You are living in the myth that stability = simply and safely existing.
Those statements up top usually end a few months later with financial, lack of time, fear, and man power excuses.
Here’s the truth.
There will NEVER be enough money, time, or help.
Heather and I spend at least one night a week looking at the checking account and crying then laughing then crying.
I could get a job at a church and play it safe.
That would not be a bad decision.
It would be a great decision.
It just would not be the RIGHT decision, right now.
Because right now God has called me to pour into the global church and when that season is over, it would be a blessing to work in the local church again.
Just not now.
And so we pray, fast, hustle, laugh, and cry.
And inside all of that, we live.
I’m willing to bet a lot of you are ready for an adventure.
So what is it?
What are you going to do this week to take that one step away from safety and towards calling?
Los
the post can also be found at: http://www.ragamuffinsoul.com/2009/09/people-will-never-respect-you-because-of-what-youre-about-to-do
Late night worship… in the 4Runner…
Was driving after a doctors appointment in Fort Worth last night, and heard this song again for the first time. Never really been a Switchfoot fan, but the more I listen to the lyrics on their new album, I think all that’s changing. Such a powerful song, and I thought I’d share it with you!
“Let Your love be strong” Switchfoot, Oh Gravity:
In this world of news, I’ve found nothing new
I’ve found nothing pure
Maybe I’m just idealistic to assume that truth
Could be fact and form
That love could be a verb
Maybe I’m just a little misinformedAs the dead moon rises, and the freeways sigh
Let the trains watch over the tides and the mist
Spinning circles in our sky’s tonight
Let the trucks roll in from Los Angeles
Maybe our stars are unanimously tired(chorus)
Let your love be strong, and I don’t care what goes down
Let your love be strong enough to weather through the thunder cloud
Fury and thunder clap like stealing the fire from your eyes
All of my world hanging on your loveLet the wars begin, let my strength wear thin
Let my fingers crack, let my whole world fall apart
Train the monkeys on my back to fight
Let it start tonight
When my world explodes, when my stars touch the ground
Falling down like broken satellitesLet your love be strong, and I don’t care what goes down
Let your love be strong enough to weather through the thunder cloud
Fury and thunder clap like stealing the fire from your sky’s
All that i am hanging on, all of my world resting on your love
Good thoughts for tonight… Missing my wife tonight. Thankful for another day to live.
“Lord, let Your will be done in me, let Your kindgom come in me, let my life be a preview of coming attractions.”
Glorieta Fuge 09 – Tuesday Night "The Faith to LET GO."
Thought Provoking Article
The Danger of Self-Diagnosis
Posted by John Mann
Many sons of the prophets have taken to pronouncing the impending doom of the Southern Baptist Convention. Pointing to falling baptismal rates, rising ages, and static churches, we have summoned the intervention of the successful to rescue the perishing and care for the dying. As the summoned practitioners meet in special session this week, the patients fight it out in the waiting room about the deliberations until we receive the prognosis and path of treatment. A possible merger of the IMB and NAMB, a possible partnership with Acts 29, or a restructuring of the Cooperative Program have all been prescribed as the solution to what ails us from the Web MD of Baptist blogdom. Not to be pedantic, but I would encourage us to look to the Great Physician for the proper diagnosis before we give the prognosis based on a self-diagnosis.
Standing before Jesus, Peter makes his confession, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus then responds with a gnomic principle, “Upon this rock, I will build my church, and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it” (Matthew 16:16, 18). I will make two presumptions. 1) We agree that the rock to which Jesus refers is Peter’s confession, and not Peter himself. 2) The existence of local churches is irreplaceably important to Christ. This leads me to deduce that, if the Southern Baptist Convention is indeed destined for the doom pronounced by the aforementioned prophets, it is not ultimately due to irrelevance, but to unfaithfulness. As the SBC stands on the brink of another time of transition, I would encourage us to remember two things.
First, let us not become so consumed with baptismal numbers that we forget that when all is said and done, baptism is not the goal, conversion is. Though baptism is our method of measurement for the effectiveness of our outreach, we must be careful that the method of measurement does not become the goal itself. In other words, if we increase baptisms without increasing conversions, we have settled for a lesser gospel, and indeed, a false gospel. A true biblical confession will involve baptism, but if we are not careful, we will separate baptism from a true confession.
The second truth we must bear in mind from this text is that the success of the futuristic, not -yet-existent universal church cannot be separated from the success of the present day local church. The activity of God is primarily seen in the local church. Not that God is dependent upon such, but God has ordained such. I pray that as we seek to return our focus to the Great Commission, that in doing so, our focus will return to the local church over and above the development of our own kingdom. Our investment to the Kingdom of God is an investment that is made in, with, and through the local church. When Jesus said His church will be built upon the rock of Peter’s confession, based on the rest of the New Testament witness, He certainly involved the building of the eternal church through the local church.
Of course, the promise of Jesus is that, given the proper confession of His people and the power of His word, the church will not be overpowered. So, need we fear the death of the Southern Baptist Convention? No, for life is a byproduct of Christ’s promise of the success of the local church built upon the confession of her members. Let us not fear the death of our beloved Convention, for upon it the Kingdom of God does not reside.
Rather, let us fear the loss of the New Testament confession of Christ as our Lord within the local churches. If we maintain the preeminence of the local church and a proper confession, our churches will flourish. If our churches flourish, our Convention will flourish. If we have healthy churches, we will have a healthy Convention. It is one thing to know the symptoms of the sickness. It is quite another to know the path to wellness. The Convention may be able to describe the symptoms, but they are incapable of producing the cure. As the Task Force deliberates today, let us pray for their focus not to be upon the programmatic and structural success of the Convention. Let us pray for their hearts to be focused upon the local churches and how they can be encouraged to maintain a healthy confession of Christ as Lord. For in Him alone is there life abundant.
http://sbctoday.com/2009/08/26/the-danger-of-self-diagnosis
