He may own the rare title of pastor to famed evangelist Billy Graham, but Don Wilton, pastor of First Baptist Church, Spartanburg, S.C., says his ministry is simply simple.
“I just want to be one person telling one person about Jesus, one beggar telling another beggar where to find the food,” said Wilton, who headlined the Monday night session of the Feb. 28–March 1 State Evangelism Conference at Gardendale First Baptist Church.
“I find myself back at the beginning of my ministry when I was called. … God was so real to me. … when [He] told me to get up and go, I just simply got up and went,” he said.
Preaching from Judges 7 where the Lord tells Israel it has too many men to be delivered from the Midianites, Wilton said, “We’ve become a consumer nation.
“We’ve got it so mixed up in our theological circumstances,” he said. “We put the emphasis on what God does for me.”
But God said the number of men had to be reduced “in order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her. … Only a handful actually went into battle.”
“There’s not a single person here tonight that God needs,” Wilton told the crowd. “People need the Lord.
“We’ve got to be honest with one another that we are losing the battle,” he noted. “With all of our incredible blessings, when it comes to the things of God, this nation is no longer a Christian nation who fears the God Jehovah.”
Wilton said God has been dealing with him and his own preoccupation with preaching.
“God took me back to that place where I stood just a sinner desperate to know God … and He began to call me out again,” he said. “I went to my church and said, ‘Let’s just tell people about Jesus.’”
And so they did, simple and straight up what it means to identify with the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The result?
“I stood in the baptistry for two hours and baptized 137 people [in one] night,” Wilton said. “The power of God came down upon that place that night. It was so beautiful and refreshing and uncomplicated.
“For two hours [our church members] cheered and worshipped and thanked God,” he said.
And from that experience, “I’ve made a decision to stop running around like a chicken with its head cut off, putting up signs, begging people to sign up,” Wilton said. “I went to my [church] and shared early this year that it’s as simple as two (questions).
- “Would you share the gospel with one person a month?”
- “If you cannot tell someone about Jesus, would you invite them to come to church on Sunday and we’ll tell them about Jesus?”
Also preaching during the evangelism conference was Nelson Price, pastor emeritus of Roswell Street Baptist Church, Marietta, Ga., who agreed with Wilton’s emphasis on simply sharing the gospel.
Preaching from John 16, Price said, “We make this matter of witnessing too complicated. It’s simple. Those of you who know tell those of you who don’t know.
“You have reason, with great joy and holy boldness, to share the message. … Let’s get back in the field,” he said. And remember that the church is the Lord’s, not any person’s, Price noted.
“Don’t ever get the feeling it’s your church,” he said. “We are simply the stewards of it, and He wants to use us.”
Price also warned of three things:
- The devil knows the church is a living organism, but the church is also an organization made up of committees, leaders and structure, he said. “The devil likes to come along and get everyone to put the emphasis on the organization, to neglect the organism aspect.”
- The devil wants to confuse people with what the ministry is supposed to be and will try to divide the church into individuals and their own ideas, Price said. “Don’t let them get their eyes on one another. [Christ] is the only thing that unites your church.”
- The devil will try to make pastors bitter with their congregations, he said. “Don’t ever try to fight an opponent with the weapons of the opponent, like bitterness, hostility, hatred. [The enemy] will defeat you every time.”
Robert Smith, professor of preaching at Samford University’s Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, said while Satan’s work is not fun to experience, “you ought to be grateful there are vultures in your life and ministries.”
“Generally the symbol of evil means Satan sees some potential in your life and ministry and he wants to swoop down and stop it,” he said. “I thank God for the vultures, it is a sign that God is up to something in ministry.”
Preaching on the “dry bones” in Ezekiel 37:1–14, Smith focused on “the God who makes the impossible possible.”
Detailing the redemptive salvation story, Smith said the teachings on the doctrine of sin are softening.
“All of us have sinned and come short of the glory of God,” he said. “We need to recapture a biblical doctrine of sin.
“Christ came to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. … We need to preach a gospel where people see their sin,” Smith explained. And the best way to do that is to see God.
By seeing His holiness, “I see my sinfulness,” he said.
Just like the bones are “very dry … and dead” in verse 11, “the people we preach to … are biologically dead … until they abide in Christ,” Smith said. “Works cannot save us. We are saved by faith and grace alone, but they are never alone, they are always accompanied by works.”
Smith urged pastors to never assume everyone in their congregations are saved.
“There must always be an evangelistic thread in our presentation,” he said. “Tell the story every time you preach.”
He also reminded pastors they will never know everything about the Bible.
“We know this text,” he said, pointing to his Bible. “We’ve heard it and taught it and preached it. … The greatest obstacle of the knowledge of the Bible is the knowledge of the Bible, what we think we know.
“You don’t ever get the Bible,” Smith said. “The Bible gets you.”
And for those who are saved but are “bound up and limited,” he said they need to loosen up. “Something has to happen to us in worship not looking like you’ve been baptized in vinegar or are chewing on concrete,” Smith said. “I’m not talking about crazy stuff, just thinking about what Jesus has done for you.
“You can’t come here without a smile on your face and activity in your body,” he said. “There ought not be more joy at the ball field than in the church. … Be inspired to let go.
“It’s time to get up, lift up your hands, lift up your voice and give Him praise because He’s the God who makes the impossible possible.”
Kevin Hamm, senior pastor of Gardendale First, also preached on opening one’s self up to worshiping the Lord.
Preaching from Luke 7, he explained four characteristics of attracting God’s presence in worship:
1. “We must be desperate for God.”
In Luke 7:36–38, a woman, desperate for forgiveness, took all of her sins and her expensive perfume to a dinner Jesus was attending, even though she had not been invited, Hamm said, noting she just had to see Him.
“We don’t need more Oprah; we need more Jesus,” he said.
2. “We must ignore criticism.”
The Pharisee who was hosting the dinner thought if Jesus knew who was touching Him — a sinner, maybe even a prostitute — He would leave, Hamm said, noting [the Pharisee] ridiculed the woman who had nothing and gave all. He compared him to today’s choir member, deacon, usher or Sunday School teacher.
“No wonder our churches are drying up,” Hamm said.
3. “We must remember God’s forgiveness.”
Jesus taught the Pharisee about forgiveness, Hamm explained.
“When I get worn out, I just think back to what Jesus Christ has done for me. I just think back to the great gift of His forgiveness,” he said.
4. “We must give God our very best.”
Luke 7:44–47 deals with emotions, Hamm said, pointing to the woman weeping at Jesus’ feet.
“When you’re in the presence of God, you[‘ve] gotta feel something,” he said. “Jesus isn’t dead. He is alive!
“Worship is about giving, not getting. … Worship is not about us. It’s about Him,” Hamm said. “We’ve been trying to do the work of God without the presence of God.”
Jay Wolf, senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Montgomery, entered the pulpit with a fishing rod and reel and used Luke 5 to encourage pastors to go fishing with Jesus.
“You don’t catch a fish with your bait in the boat,” said Wolf, adding that pastors have to be intentional about evangelism and the hope is that church members will follow the example.
First you have to connect with nonbelievers.
“My greatest connecting tool is my telephone,” Wolf said, noting he can make 30 phone calls in the time it would take to make one visit. “On Saturday, I call everybody who visited (the church) last week. I don’t have to find their house, get through security or navigate dogs.”
Pastors also have to be consistent and creative in sharing Christ.
The combination of these three aspects of “fishing” — connectivity, consistency and creativity — releases God’s power in a congregation, Wolf said.
He can testify to that — his 181-year-old church is “on fire for the Lord.”
“Last year, we had the largest growth in our history,” Wolf said.
So “what are you doing to reach people?” he asked.
Evangelist Bob Pitman, of Muscle Shoals, preached from John 20:19–23, in which Jesus breathed the Holy Spirit into His disciples.
“We have been commissioned by God and selected by His Son to go forth and share the beautiful message,” he said. “I don’t care what your theology is on evangelism. If you don’t have a passion for souls, you need a fresh breath of Jesus on your life.”
A fresh breath from Jesus might be needed:
- if you have lost the sense of God’s presence.
When Jesus comes into your life, He never leaves, Pitman said. But sometimes you can lose the sense of His presence just as David did in Psalm 51 or Job in Job 23.
- if you have become gripped by a spirit of fear.
“You can live in fear,” he said. “Just because God does not ever give a spirit of fear doesn’t mean it doesn’t still come.”
- if you are not experiencing God’s peace.
“This is the most restless world I have seen. It’s in our churches, blaming and fighting and criticizing,” Pitman said. “God has something better for us than that.”
He noted that God said, “Peace be unto you,” twice in John 20:19–23.
- if you have lost your joy.
“People lose their joy when they forget where their joy came from,” Pitman said.
In John 20:20, Jesus showed His disciples His hands and His side and then they were glad.
“It is in the reality of what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross that our joy abides,” he noted.
- if you have lost your passion for lost souls.
After all, Jesus came to seek and save the lost, Pitman reminded attendees.
Preaching from 1 Kings, Reginald Calvert, pastor of New Jerusalem Baptist Church, Bessemer, focused on God’s provision in the good and bad times.
Israel had turned away from God to worship other gods, Calvert said.
“We have a God who is sovereign in all His ways, and these people believe God is not enough, as if He needs help.”
Also preaching were Steve Gaines, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church, Cordova, Tenn.; James Merritt, senior pastor of Cross Pointe Church, Duluth, Ga. (see story, page 3); and Jerry Pipes of Jerry Pipes Ministries. (Donna Wright contributed)
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