God calls every born-again believer to Christian discipleship. That is one reason the Alabama Baptist State Convention will follow up its current year-long emphasis on evangelism — Through Every Door — with a year-long emphasis on making disciples.
Christian discipleship also is at the core of what The Alabama Baptist is about. At its Oct. 27 meeting, the board of directors of the state Baptist newspaper adopted a vision statement that declares the paper “will help empower Alabama Baptists and others to live out the biblical concepts of Christian discipleship.”
That goal does not belong to The Alabama Baptist alone. Empowering believers is the goal of local churches, of associations and conventions, of ministry and missions opportunities. The Alabama Baptist is committed to partnering with these expressions of Baptist life for the benefit of Alabama Baptists.
Although most copies of the paper go to Alabama readers, more than 6,000 copies are mailed outside Alabama every week. And readership surveys show that more than a quarter of subscribers share their copies of The Alabama Baptist with friends or neighbors.
That means the paper’s ministry reaches beyond Alabama’s borders and overcomes denominational identities. Yet, Baptists in Alabama make up more than 95 percent of the more than 112,000 weekly subscriptions. Alabama Baptists sponsor the paper and help underwrite it through the Cooperative Program. It is to Alabama Baptists that the paper is responsible and on Alabama Baptists that the paper focuses.
Obviously, the power to live out Christian discipleship comes from God alone.
He is the source of all power. Still, God uses a variety of resources to empower His children toward discipleship. The vision of The Alabama Baptist is to be one of those resources.
The phrase “live out” is an important part of the vision of the state Baptist paper. Simply providing information as head knowledge is not enough to accomplish the vision adopted by the directors. Guidance about how to apply that information must also be provided. Only when information about Christian discipleship is translated into action will the task be accomplished.
Christian discipleship involves the church. That is why the directors said the paper will help Alabama Baptists live out their discipleship in the community of faith. The directors also recognized that discipleship goes beyond the church. They committed the paper to offering Alabama Baptists help in living out discipleship in their personal lives and their professional lives.
In every major area of life, The Alabama Baptist seeks to empower its readers to live out the biblical principles of Christian discipleship.
To accomplish this vision, the directors chose four tools identified more than 50 years ago to describe the work of the state Baptist paper. The directors charged the paper to encourage and equip Alabama Baptists by providing “information, inspiration, interpretation and involvement.”
Baptists have long said that “an informed Baptist is the best Baptist.” An informed Baptist can pray in more focused ways than one who is uninformed. An informed Baptist can participate knowledgeably in making decisions about corporate Baptist life and cooperative Baptist ministries.
Knowing what God is doing through Baptists at home and around the world is inspiring. Regular reading of The Alabama Baptist expands one’s missions vision and regularly reminds us that the kingdom of God has no boundaries.
In addition to providing information and inspiration, The Alabama Baptist provides interpretation. The state Baptist paper contends for historical Baptist understandings of the Bible. Other groups describe their commitment to the Bible in terms similar to Baptists, but they do not understand its teachings as Baptists understand them. It is important that Baptists interpret the Bible in ways consistent with their Baptist heritage.
Moral and ethical issues are examined from a Baptist perspective. All of this is part of helping Alabama Baptists apply biblical principles of Christian discipleship to their personal and professional lives.
Concern brings involvement
Involvement in Baptist life is a natural consequence of regular reading of The Alabama Baptist. Whether it is participating in, praying for or providing pocketbook support to Baptist life, involvement comes only after concern. One cannot care about something until one knows about it. One cannot know about it until one is informed about it.
Study after study reached the same conclusion: Readers of the state Baptist paper participate more in Baptist life, give more to Baptist life and pray more for Baptist life than those who do not read the state Baptist paper.
Information, inspiration, interpretation, involvement — these are the tools of The Alabama Baptist. Helping empower Alabama Baptists to live out the biblical concepts of Christian discipleship is our vision. The state Baptist newspaper is a valuable resource for you and your fellow church members as you strive toward living out God’s call to Christian discipleship
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