It wasn’t yet the Fourth of July, but a group of Southern Baptists celebrated America with a patriotic, flag-flying worship service June 10 at the America’s Center in St. Louis.
“We will persevere, not because of our airmen and soldiers fighting, … but because we have a country that is turning back to God and turning to prayer,” exclaimed Lt. Col. Oliver North to participants in the 2002 Southern Baptist Pastors Conference. North was the featured speaker at the closing session of the June 9–10 event held in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) annual meeting.
As flags flew, patriotic songs rang out from a 200-voice choir, and cheers streamed from the crowd. The host of Baptists attending the patriotic event stood to their feet in celebration of their country. Tears streamed from faces as the audience viewed a video of America’s armed forces fighting in past wars. Participants joined in singing the anthems of each branch of the U.S. military.
Patriotic salute
The salute climaxed as an oversized American flag was lowered from the rafters, soldiers rappelled from above the crowd and a small fireworks show brightly blazed.
In the afterglow of this patriotic salute, North addressed conference participants. He was one of several speakers, pastors and evangelists taking part in the two-day meeting focused on the theme “Lest We Forget,” based on Proverbs 22:28.
Among conference speakers were Southern Baptist pastors Fred Luter, Jack Graham, Jerry Vines and Mac Brunson, as well as Kentucky pastor Kevin Cosby, Florida Baptist Convention executive John Sullivan and evangelists Junior Hill of Hartselle and Jay Strack. They were joined by musical guests Janet Paschal, Charles Billingsley and others.
During the conference business session, Brunson, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, was elected president of the 2003 Pastors Conference.
Hill described many churches operating today as “itching ear churches.” Taking his description from 2 Timothy 4:1, Hill said these churches will not tolerate nor endure sound preaching of the Word of God. “Itching ear churches” peel back the gospel and have little resemblance to New Testament churches, he said. “They have grace without guilt,” he said. But “grace without guilt is no grace at all.”
Hill, who has preached for 50 years and served as an evangelist for 35 years, said, “Unless man knows he is a sinner, then the grace is meaningless.”
North’s address took messengers back to Sept. 11, the day America was changed forever. He said he, too, was aboard an airliner on that tragic morning. Like many, he turned to prayer and asked God to look upon America.
Now, more than 200 days later, North told the audience they should not be fearful of terrorism, because the United States is in good hands.
Speaking of a recent visit to Kandahar, Afghanistan, North told the Baptist pastors that God is at work among the troops fighting in the Middle East.
Many of the troops are taking part in prayer times and seeking the counsel of chaplains, he reported.
“I pray this nation will be the godly nation it is intended to be,” North said. “There is no other place on this planet with the opportunities we have, … and it deserves our prayer.”
Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, spoke on the “call of the pastor.”
He recalled his own calling into the ministry as a teen visiting a camp near Fort Worth and declared: “God is calling us to a call of greatness. God is calling us to be great under His glory.
“Faith is an incredible adventure,” Graham said. “It is something we get to do. We get to live the legacy of great people. Life and ministry are not a dress rehearsal. We get one chance to build a legacy for the generations to come.”
Luter, pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church of New Orleans, said pastors “need to walk worthy of their calling. To be called by God is like no other job.
“A Holy God called a sinner saved by grace. God didn’t call me because I was so good or obedient. That’s not why God called us; he called us in spite of the fact,” he said.
In order to walk worthy of the call, Luter said, pastors must have been convicted of their sins, converted through the blood of Jesus and committed to the call of God.
Sullivan, Strack, Cosby and Ken Davis of Nashville addressed the topic “Lest We Forget the Children.”
Prior to his address, Sullivan, executive director of the Florida Baptist Convention, presented conference President Whitten a $10,000 gift. This donation will be added to the event’s offering that will aid the Southern Baptist Pastors Retirement Fund through the Annuity Board. Sullivan reported that O.S. Hawkins, Annuity Board president, will match the Florida Baptist Convention’s donation.
The next generation
Sullivan told the audience that Moses and Aaron informed Pharaoh of their plans to take their families and children with them when they left Egypt. Like Moses, parents today must pass the truths of God onto the next generation, he said.
Cosby, pastor of St. Stephen Baptist Church of Louisville, Ky., reminded conference participants that children are a blessing from God. He said the church must support children like Jesus who “called a little one unto Himself and set him in His midst.”
Strack said the church must “establish a home field advantage,” if it hopes to reach children for Christ. Every child, he said, needs a model, a monitor, a mentor and a motivator.
Vines, pastor of First Church of Jacksonville, Fla., cited Judges 17 where the Levite priest, Jonathan, surrendered his ministry in exchange for silver, a suit and a meal ticket. Like some preachers, he had a price and put monetary value on his ministry, Vines said.
Americans today often hear that all religions are the same, he noted. “They would have us to believe that Islam is just as good as Christianity, but Christianity is founded by the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. Islam is founded by Mohammed, a demon-possessed pedophile who had 12 wives — and his last was a 9-year-old girl.”
(Baptist Editors’ News Network)
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