May 18, 2011
Greetings dear brothers,
I am writing to you one more time, perhaps the last, before the SBC convention. I know that much of the agenda and decisions have already been made, and simply it is a matter of presentation before the body.
But in prayer time this morning I was led to cry out to God for you, as our leaders. Can I simply say to you, I love Southern Baptists. I have always loved these, that are my brothers and sisters in Christ. I thank God with what we have seen in our life time by and through Southern Baptists. But there is much on the horizon that is unclear and somewhat troubling to me.
I have been a pastor and preached in Southern Baptists churches for 25 years. I was 18 years old when I started. I am the son of a Southern Baptist pastor. I grew up in, as a teenager hearing the arguments and sharp words between Pre-millennialism and A-millennialism in the 1970’s. I saw and listened to the great debates over the Word of God in the 1980’s and into the 1990’s. Now we see the divisive factors of Satan trying to shred the body again through theology of Calvinism vs. Arminianism; through worship styles; through plans and promotions of our agendas. To me, there is an answer that we must embrace. You as leaders must promote it. It is humility exercised and practiced before the brethren.
Old Duncan Campbell, who led the great Hebrides Revival once preached this humility by saying, ‘Brethren, you got to put pride in your pocket. Oh, that we would learn that lesson of putting pride in our pocket.’ We have much to answer for. We have much to give an account over. Would it not be best to take time to humble ourselves on our knees during those days and humble ourselves before God and seek for His Divine favor for His kingdom? Does He not stand ready to answer and meet us with grace, mercy and Divine power? He is not willing more to answer than we are to ask? Absolutely to all this.
‘Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He will not hear.’
This verse in Isaiah 59:1,2, should remind us that as a denomination, there is really only one time to conduct such a confession time - it is at the convention. During the Solemn Assembly call for January of this year, roughly only 7 % participated. Only 1 seminary out of 6. Our denominational pride should not blind us to brag on our numbers.
How often I have heard and seen it printed that we boast of having 17 million members. What? Where are they? Estimates again tell us that only 5 million are gathered together on Sunday morning; 1 million on Sunday night; and less than 500,00 out of 17,000,000 on Wednesday night. Would we even have 7,000 for prayer meetings? Does the population people brag that 300,000 babies were born last year, but never show that 270,000 died? Isn’t a half truth a whole lie? These are things that we need to own up to and confess. We need a time of pouring ourselves out to Him for His cleansing and forgiveness. How pleased He would be with such drawing unto Him. ‘Draw nigh unto Me, and I will draw nigh unto you.’
TW Hunt, my father in the faith for prayer, always reminds me that God always has His remnant. Those days in the 1980’s when he along with Avery Willis and Henry Blackaby strove to make this a spiritual denomination for the glory of God. Now you all are in those places of leadership. ‘For such a time as this God has put you where you are.’ It is for His glory to be sought after. We have many that cry out, ‘Rend the heavens and come down’; and God fires back to us, ‘Rend your hearts, then I will rend the heavens.’
I will not cease praying for you all, specifically, pointedly, personally and for the fullness of the Spirit to cover and keep you in His service. I will not cease praying for my brethren in the Southern Baptists convention - the seminaries; the agencies and their heads; our mission workers; state conventions/associations and local pastors and laborers. Oh, how we need God in our midst. Why pass up this opportunity to seek God’s face together during these days? Do you know how many pastors and churches are struggling? Do you know how much sin is in our midst? Do you know how many have gone astray?
Is it not time to seek the Lord?
With all the destruction in our nation and around the world, do we not see that time is short and the work is tremendous upon our shoulders? I know you see this. We cannot do this without Him! I hate humanistic talking of ‘I‘ and ‘me‘ and ‘we‘ with no reference to God or upon God. Some of you have used these humanistic pronouns in your discussions with no reference to God. I know you know this truth, please be careful in your speech. ‘Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord.’ He must do it through yielded and surrendered vessels. Holy vessels. ‘Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? He that has clean hands and a pure heart.‘ May we make time during the days of the convention to corporately cleanse our hands and purify our hearts through the power of the blood of Christ and anointing of the Holy Spirit in fire to purge us from self, sin and the world and its ways.
May you reconsider a time to seek and call upon the Lord during these days. May we rejoice in knowing that He is able to do abundantly above all that we ask or think.
“All the way my Savior leads me; What have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt His tender mercy, Who through life has been my guide?
Heavenly peace, Divinest comfort, Her by faith in Him to dwell!
For I know whatever befall me, Jesus doeth all things well;
For I know whatever befall me, Jesus doeth all things well.”
‘I give myself unto prayer’ for you
Until,
Dan Biser
Rdbiser@live.com
http://dbiser.blogspot.com
http://www.brokenbeforethethrone.com
http://danbiser.blogspot.com
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