Baptist

Vol. 56 No.6

www.baptistdigest.com

igest

Newsjournal of Kansas and Nebraska Southern Baptists

June 2012

Smiths Celebrate 40 Years at FSBC, Great Bend

Pastors Lead the Way in Tornado Cleanup

First Southern Baptist Church, Great Bend, Kan., honored Doyle and Carol Smith for their 40 years of service to the church April 21-22. Smith has played a prominent role in helping KNCSB grow and mature. He played a leading role in helping KNCSB acquire Webster Conference Center. Smith now serves as president of the Kansas-Nebraska Southern Baptist Foundation. Carol Smith has worked in many aspects of church life. In recent years her focus has been on collegiate ministry. (Read more on page 7)

On April 14-15, 2012 a total of 107 tornadoes touched down in Kansas and Nebraska. Ninety-seven (97) tornadoes touched down in Kansas and the Wichita area was the hardest hit. Pastor Kenny Kelley, Hillside Baptist Church, Welilington, KS (pictured above) mans a chain saw. (See page 5)

Hundreds of children across KansasNebraska will attend camp this summer. (turn to page 3) Ranchers in Nebraska donated hay to cattlemen in SW Kansas. (see page 6) Children and youth compete in the State Bible Drill and Speaker Tournament at WCC. (read more on page 9)

The Oaklawn community in Wichita was hard hit by the tornadoes.

The Thought Occurred to Me

By Bob Mills
KNCSB Executive Director E-mail: [email protected]

KNCSB Life

In second Chronicles 7: 14, the Bible says, If my people, who are called are by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and then turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. I know this is a message to Israel from God and yet, I think we need to reflect on this message and how it relates to our country and our denomination. Perhaps it is just me, but I see something of a parallel tracking with our national government and the relationships developing within our national denomination. There seems to be something of a struggle going on relative to states rights and national agency dictates. What must God think? Our nation and our denomination need a spiritual awakening, renewal, revival, encounter, etc. We need to see a mighty movement of God sweep our land. Recently, while in a meeting in

By Georges Boujakly

Walking With the Master

with a community of followers of Jesus. Daily, we had a regimen of worship that included a reading of a portion of the word of God. Months later, when I reflected on my experience and the residual value, I was pleasantly surprised to realize that the element of worship that was most freeing, forming, and enduring in my life was the hearing of the Scriptures read. The reading was not interpreted, explained, illustrated, or tampered with in any other way. It was only read and listened to. In that posture there was freedom to hear only from God. Are we neglecting the living and life-giving power of the Word of God read regularly in our liturgy? Lets tell the Whole Old, Old Story again and again until it gets under our skin. The issue that all of us need to deal with is the reduction and fragmentation of Gods whole story. The full story is that of the work of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God creates, becomes involved with creation, and is made incarnate into time, space, and history in order to redeem and restore the world as the garden of Gods habitation and people as his community of love and fellowship. In summary, here is what biblical worship does: It remembers Gods work in the past, anticipates Gods rule over all creation, and actualizes both past and future in the present to transform persons, communities, and the world. (Ancient Future Worship) Second, the act of adoring, praising, and thanking God (worship) shapes our understanding of ourselves, our world, others, and God. When the community gathers its main focus is not itself but God who shapes our minds. He is the audience we sing to, praise, give thanks to, adore, pray to, and love. We call worshippers to this and nothing less or other. We worship when we make much of God in every element of our worship.
(USPS 018-942) Vol. 56 No.6 Leadership Newsjournal for KansasNebraska Southern Baptists is published monthly 12 times a year. 5410 SW 7th Street Topeka, KS 66606-2398 Phone: (785) 228-6800 Toll Free: 800-984-9092 Fax: (785) 273-4992 E-mail: [email protected] Web site: baptistdigest.com
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Richmond, where the state executive directors had a chance to listen to my friend, Dr. Tom Elliff, and many of the executive staff give reports from around the world, one of my colleagues asked a question, Of the people groups around the world, which is possibly the most difficult to reach? Dr. Elliff responded by saying, secularized North Americans. When you hear Dr. Elliffs response, what goes on in your mind and heart? Reaching North America is only possible through prayer and out of that a mighty movement of God in our land. Joshua told the children of Israel as they were about to cross over Jordan into the promise land, Consecrate yourselves for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you. Joshua 3: 5. Join with me and humbly pray that we might seek Gods face and repent of our unfaithfulness to the task of the Great Commission.

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Bob Mills

The Formative Power of the Community at Worship From the moment of our birth, our parents and environments shape our outer and inner lives in good or bad ways. No one escapes the spiritual formation of family, school, church, and other institutions because at our core we are spiritual beings. The question is: what kind of spiritual formation do we get? Is it good or bad? Good spiritual formation results in following Jesus earnestly and faithfully. Bad spiritual formation leads to being egocentric, foolish in our ways, rebellious against God, and uncaring toward others. The worshiping community can have a tremendous opportunity to shape our lived experience with God. Either it promotes our spirGeorges Boujakly itual growth as disciples, or it stunts it. Small groups, one-on-one discipleship relationships, devotionals, workbooks, courses, Bible schools, and the like all have their place. But without the worshipping communitys investment in our spiritual formation, they are of little consequence. Lets call the kind of formation the gathered Christian community practices, liturgical formation (a term Todd Hiesstand, pastor of The Well in Feasterville, PA, uses). Liturgy, the elements of worship we practice, has a formative power none other can provide. Liturgical formation, according to Hiestand, happens when the community of disciples gathers and focuses its attention on the story of God through the Scriptures, worship, prayer and communion or the Lords Table. First, the story of God through Scriptures shapes us into becoming followers of Jesus. Worshippers who have an opportunity to hear the story of God read, taught, and proclaimed every time the church gathers are influenced by the Holy Spirit to live in the story, not as outside observers. When we constantly hear of the variety of ways God relates to his people in Scripture (The whole counsel of God), our spirits are pliable and more apt to obey Gods will in all of lifes circumstances. I spent a week in spiritual retreat a few years ago

KNCSB State Director of Missions E-mail: [email protected]

Worship is not about preferred song choices, word studies, media, presentation, or delivery with flair! Either God is made much of, or man. One of them I suspect is not worship! When we make much of God in our worship, our worldview changes. We become concerned for what God is concerned about. We become more willing to obey and do his will by his grace. Third, the community that prays together hears from God in ways that shape its life and ministry together. I lead a Korean church as an interim pastor at the present. My time is coming to a close. The one thing I have appreciated the most is the serious attention this church gives to praying together. The Sunday liturgy is punctuated 3 or 4 times with prayer. Men and women are chosen to lead in prayer weekly. Much effort goes into the preparation to deliver the collective cry and sigh, worship and joy of the people to God. The effect of this on me has been formative in ways I have come to fully appreciate and anticipate on a weekly basis. Hearing others pray, joining in with them as they pray, voicing our own inner prayers reorients our lives to the reality of our condition, and to the presence of God in our midst. Can we afford to give prayer a more prominent role in shaping our lives than we presently do in our liturgy? Fourth, communion or breaking bread together is formative in that it builds our solidarity, equalizes our significance as servants of God, and helps us relate to others as God relates to us: Mercifully and gracefully. It makes us participants in the story of redemption and inspires us to be forgiving and loving to our neighbor in imitation of Jesus. Walking with the Master in liturgical formation is necessary and transformative.
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The Baptist Digest

POSTMASTER:

INFORM -- Regularly share information about ongoing training, curriculum, events, support and personnel. RESOURCE -- Serve as a resource pool for practical ideas about what is working in KS-NE congregations and how it relates to all sizes of churches. GENERATIONAL -- Cast the widest net, providing stories and information that will appeal to all generations of Southern Baptists in NE-KS. FAMILY-FRIENDLY -- Be family-friendly with stories, regular columns and helps for families and leaders who work with families. AGE DIVERSE -- Publish stories that address the diversity of age, ethnicity, and geographical regions of KS-NE. MISSION-ORIENTED -- Publish stories about people and congregations involved in missions and regularly publicize ministry opportunities. PART OF WIDER MISSION - Help congregations discover that they are part of the larger work of the Kingdom of God through their ministries.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES:

To give local news:

Advertising:

JUNE 2012

Editor: Tim Boyd, PhD. Associate Editor: Eva Wilson Printing Coordinator: Derek Taylor KNCSB Executive Director
AFFILIATIONS Association of State Baptist Papers Baptist Communicators Association

STAFF

Robert T. Mills, D. Min.

Gods Plan for Sharing

Editors Note: Jon Sapp asked Debbie Carter who serves on the Bible Teaching & Discipling Team to write about the upcoming childrens camps, a key element in KNCSBs evangelism strategy.
By Debbie Carter
Bible Teaching & Discipling Team E-mail: [email protected]

Sharing & Strengthening

Heart of Kansas Associations. For Bryan, Camp, after VBS, is the best evangelistic tool for kids. Last year, of 300 kids who attended camp at Webster Conference Center, 30 made professions of faith. It is also a great place to disciple children and for them to focus. Jones passion for camp comes out of his own personal journey. It was at camp that he surrendered for ministry. Jones encourages pastors to be part of camp, because it gives the kids an opportunity to see their pastor in a different light. Randy Caddell, Director of Missions for Western Kansas, also relates great experiences from childrens camp. They have seen kids saved and others surrender for missions. One former camper is now serving as a missionary in Russia. The Western and Central Associations camp has grown to 500 campers at Webster Conference Center each summer. Caddell says its important to them to involve pastors as much as possible so they can understand the impact camp has had on their kids. Jon Becker, Pastor at First Baptist Church of Holcomb, KS, serves as Camp Co-Director. He shares that the goal is to allow kids to come to a safe place, free from distractions so they can make friends and enjoy learning about Christ. They make friends with kids from other communities that will last a lifetime. Children invite their unchurched friends to come to a cool camp resulting in life changing experiences. Eastern Nebraska Association Camp Director, Sara Halmes, is also very passionate about camp. She came out of a Catholic background when she began to attend camp as child. The idea of a personal relationship with Jesus was new to me. Camp was a big part of my own salvation experience. Eastern Nebraska uses Goodwill Camp in South Sioux City, Nebraska, for their camp experience. Getting away from their comfort zone and the routine of everyday life gives the children opportunities to really focus on learning about God and what it means to have a relationship with Christ. Camp has a big impact on kids and that has a big impact on me in ways I never expected. I love camp! These camp directors and sponsoring associations all agree that the spiritual impact on the children is well worth all of the planning, leadership, and expenses that go into childrens camp.

School is out and summer activities are getting underway. Many children are looking forward to childrens camp. In fact, hundreds of children across Kansas-Nebraska will attend camp this summer. Camp is usually a four or five day camp designed for 3rd 6th graders to experience fun activities and learn more about the message of Jesus Christ. Camp leaders guide children through studies and activities that provide the child with a growing relationship with God. The fun parts of camp only enhance a camp experience; the larger purpose is to touch campers lives. Bryan Jones, Pastor at Tyler Road Baptist Church in Wichita is Camp Director for Kaw Valley, Blue Stem, Kansas City Kansas, Smoky Hill, South Central and

Along the Journey

By Tim Boyd
Baptist Digest Editor E-mail: [email protected]

Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And besides Thee, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Psalm 73:25-26, NASB) In recent years I have begun to observe two rather disturbing phenomena. I have seen an increasing invasion of gray hair on my head. Even worse, I have noted that what hair I have is thinning rapidly. Both phenomena are reminders that my body is aging and the end of life is closer. The increasing aches and pains are a reminder of what the Psalmist mentioned above. My flesh and my heart are eventually going to fail. In our nation there is a multi-billion dollar industry trying to help us convince ourselves that this process is really not happening. Dieting, exercise regimes, and plastic surgery are all competing to help us stave off the inevitable. We need to re-read these verses often to remind us of what is truly valuable. There is no way that I will stop the aging process. However, I can be sure that God walks with me through it all and that He will deliver me into an eternity where aging will be a thing of the past. No matter what ailments I develop as this body wears down, God will always be the strength of my heart and my portion forever. One of the things that I am observing as my body grows older is that my relationship with Him is even more valuable. I desire Him in my life more than ever. I am well aware that my relationship with Him is the only thing that I will take with me to the grave and on into eternal life. What do you desire today? Will that desire stand the test of time? Will that desire stand the test of eternity?

Need a small gift for dads on Fathers Day at your church? Create a bookmark from this article. Download it at keeponshining.com, add your church name and logo, and laminate. A Christian dad impacts his family and the world. Dad, you are vitally important. Some fresh ideas for dads: Pray for your child n Kneel by your sleeping childs bed and pray for him. Pray for him daily as you drive to work. n Pray aloud with your child. Pray together at bedtime. Voice a prayer as you drive her to school. Praise God as a family when He blesses, and take needs and crises to Him. Pray constantly. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 HCSB

Fresh Ideas for Fathers Day

Love your wife n Let your child see you show genuine affection to mom with compliments, hugs, laughs, prayers. n Youre teaching them how to treat their future spouse. n Idea: tell your child the story of how you fell in love with mom. Each one of you is to love his wife as himself Ephesians 5:33 Encourage your child n Show family affection. Laugh together. Delight in your child. Say, I love you often. Compliment sincerely. Speak positively about him to others. n Be the parent. Your child needs a father, not just another buddy. Your loving discipline and wise boundaries demonstrate your love. n Idea: Hug your child for at least ten seconds today. Fathers, dont stir up anger in your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Ephesians 6:4 Serve God together n Help your child discover her spiritual gifts and use them. n Set an example of joyful service to God. Find ways to include your child, such as homebound visit, church workday, mission trip, church project. Serve the Lord with gladness. Psalm 95:1-2 Be a man of integrity. Your child is watching your life to emulate it. n Idea: Tape this on your dressing mirror - I will lead a life of integrity in my own home. Psalm 101:2 Enjoy your quiver. Psalm 127:4-5 NLT says that Children are a gift from the Lord; they are a reward from him. Childrenare like arrows in a warriors hands. How joyful is the man whose quiver is full of them! On average, child-rearing days encompass less than 1/3 of your adult years. Treasure them. Happy Fathers Day. 2012 Diana Davis is an author, columnist and speaker. www.keeponshining.com

Invest time in your childs life n Create father/child traditions: birthday breakfast with dad, father/daughter date, father/son adventure, read Sunday funnies together, share a hobby. n Even on busy days, spend at least a few focused minutes with your child. Take a walk, shoot baskets, go for a soda, play a board game. Listen. Comfort. Make eye contact. Speak wisdom. n Make lifetime memories with family vacations. Yes, a backyard campout counts. n Idea: Offer to substitute in your childs Sunday School class. Teach a youth about the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6 Be your homes spiritual leader n Enthusiastically initiate family commitment to God, His Word & His church. Read your Bible. Truly love His church. Help your child know Jesus as personal Savior. n Verbalize your God story. Tell your child about how God saved you. Talk about answered prayer. Conversationally acknowledge Gods importance in your life. n Teach Gods ways to your child constantlywhen you sit, walk, lay or stand. (Deut. 11:18-21) n Idea: Text or write a Scripture on a note card for your child. Tell your children about it, and let your children tell their children, and their children the next generation. Amos 1:3

JUNE 2012

May the Heavenly Father richly bless all of our earthly fathers on this Fathers Day.

Associational & State Missions Offering

Loren Phippen, A Passion for Evangelism

By Melissa Busby
Regional Staff Writer [email protected]

Loren Phippen works with RAs (left) and demonstrates the Evangicube (below).

Loren Phippen is known as a person with a heart for evangelism. Hes never gotten over the mercy shown him in Christ. He rarely prays without thanking God for saving him. He loves to share Christ with people, Glenn Davis, Director of Missions for the Heart of Kansas Southern Baptist Association. Loren serves as the Director of Evangelism and Church and Community Ministries for the association. In the last seven years, hes led many ministries, but all of them have the goal of reaching people with the gospel. Phippen does not stay within the walls of the church, but hes always been one to go to the people and use whatever tools possible to share Christ. He leads mission trips to Mardi Gras and the Rose Parade. He leads evangelism teams each year during Wichitas Riverfest and the State Fair. He visits juvenile detention centers on a regular basis. He manages the Good Neighbor Centers around Wichita and oversees the work at the Set Free House, which will minister to all kinds of people in need, from the homeless to those fighting addiction. His goal is to win people to Christ and to train and give opportunities for other Southern Baptists in the Wichita area to do the same. One unique ministry that Phippen began is the John 3:16 Horseshoe Ministry. Phippen and other volunteers go to the State Fair and other horse shows and pass out free horseshoes with the John 3:16 Bible verse on it. They also offer to personalize the horseshoe with a name on the spot. While it is being personalized, volunteers take the opportunity to explain the Bible verse and share the gospel. Phippen says last years State Fair was one of the highlights of his year, We had 80 volunteers passing out 4,000 horseshoes and sharing the gospel with each person that received one. Phippen and his volunteers work at four different juvenile detention facilities in the Wichita area. They get to know the youth, do Bible studies with them, counsel them, and help them make a plan for their lives when they get out. Phippen even regularly takes the kids on fishing trips. Loren says, Everything we do is centered around showing them Gods love in a real way and we share the Gospel with each one and several hundred have prayed to receive Christ. Phippen shared that he needs more volunteers, especially youth ministers that would be interested in mentoring some of the young people as they transition back to regular life. He also gives each person that makes a decision a Bible, and is always looking for donations to support that effort. According to Phippen, My favorite thing about working with HOKSBA is having the opportunity to use many different ministries to open the door to share the Gospel. He went on to say that all of his ministries have been funded through the Viola Webb State Missions Offering. This offering has allowed Phippen the opportunity to share Christ and to train others to share Christ with literally tens of thousands of people across the United States. Please pray for Loren Phippen and those working with him as they continue this important work in our convention.

I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest

JUNE 2012

Viola Webb Missions Offering Goal $205,000

50% Funds Local Associational Missions 50% Funds KNCSB Missions Efforts

Pastors Lead the Way in Tornado Cleanup

By Larry Thomas Pastors, Blake Orr (Central Baptist, Winfield) and Kenny Kelly (Hillside, Wellington), join in the Disaster Relief effort around Wichita.
KNCSB Disaster Relief Director [email protected]

Disaster Relief Ministry Responds

Pastor, Ray Emery (Midway Baptist, Wichita), works with steer loader

David Atkins, Midway Baptist, Wichita, leads a devotional for the Disaster Relief workers.

On 14-15 April 2012 a total of 107 tornadoes touched down in Kansas and Nebraska. Ninety-seven (97) tornadoes touched down in Kansas and the Wichita area was the hardest hit. The EF-3 tornado that tore through Oaklawn and southeast Wichita late Saturday night caused an estimated $146.3 million in damage to residences and businesses, according to an assessment released by Sedgwick County officials. The tornado was reported to be about a mile wide at its widest point and had maximum winds of 165 miles an hour, touched down at 10:21 p.m. Saturday at about 79th South and South Shady Creek Circle just south of Haysville. It began moving north-northeast and then northeast for 13.2 miles before lifting northeast of Central and Greenwich Road just before reaching the K-96 bypass at 10:42 p.m. At first light Sunday, Jeff Thomson, disaster relief coordinator for Central Baptist Association conducted a windshield survey of the disaster area in Wichita while Lloyd Stuckey, disaster relief coordinator for South Central Baptist Association, assessed damage west of I-35 and south of Wichita. John Lucas of the Kansas-Nebraska Disaster Relief leadership team conducted assessment surveys in Central and North Central Kansas. Along that path, the Wichita, tornado damaged or destroyed 776 residences and 86 businesses, and affected another 3,481 residences and 165 businesses, county officials said. Eleven homes were destroyed and another 66 homes and 11 businesses sustained major damage. Another 690 residences and 60 businesses sustained minor damage. In the Pinaire Mobile Home Park, 92 mobile homes received more than 50 percent damage. During the night, Summit Church, Wichita was damaged extensively. However, church volunteers responded and cleaned up and repaired most of the major damage prior to Sunday morning services. Three pastors, Ray Emery (Midway Baptist, Wichita), Blake Orr (Central Baptist, Winfield), and Kenny Kelly (Hillside, Wellington) joined the teams and worked shoulder-to-shoulder with volunteers ensuring the success of the effort. Three Kansas-Nebraska association disaster relief teams responded to assist victims of the disaster: Heart of Kansas, Central Baptist, and South Central Baptist. These associations provided equipment and teams to assist in tree cutting and debris removal. Joy Turner (Pleasantview Baptist, Derby), and Gordon and Viola Herb (Immanuel Baptist Church, Wichita) manned the help desk in the Oaklawn Community Center documenting requests for assistance and comforting victims. Bill Riley (Pleasantview Baptist, Derby) of the Kansas-Nebraska Disaster Relief leadership team established a jobs dispatching/operations site and work began. Elmo Brawley (Pleasantview Baptist, Derby) led the Heart of Kansas volunteer team, while Jeff Thomson (CrossPoint, Hutchinson) led the Central Baptist team, and Lloyd Stuckey (Central Baptist, Winfield) led the South Central team. The teams were supplemented by a rented John Deere Skid steer with grapples and a bucket lift donated and operated by Ed Gifford (Trinity Baptist, Wamego). Midway Baptist Church provided our daily pre-deployment meeting place and prepared to support out of area/state teams if called upon. Arkansas Baptists, Oklahoma Baptists, Missouri Baptists, and Southern Baptists Texas of Convention Disaster Relief organizations offered support. Trees were removed from homes, yards cleared of debris, blue tarp applied to rooftops, and people prayed for. A total of 147 volunteer days were credited to KansasNebraska disaster relief volunteers. Thirteen contacts (Gospel presentations) and many people were prayed for, some twice. Praise God! Thanks for your continued prayer for victims of the recent tornado outbreak and also for the Kansas-Nebraska volunteers who respond. If you would like to volunteer and deploy with the Kansas-Nebraska disaster responders, please contact Larry Thomas (316) 204-7889/[email protected], John Lucas (785) 554-9511/ [email protected] or your local Southern Baptist associations disaster relief coordinator. If you would like to make a donation to Kansas-Nebraska Disaster Relief, make your check out to KNCSB and write in for Disaster Relief in the memo area. Send your check to KNCSB, Attn. Disaster Relief, 5410 SW 7th St, Topeka, KS 66606.

The Oaklawn community in Wichita was hard hit by the tornadoes which hit the area on April 14-15, 2012. Photos by Carolyn Walker

JUNE 2012

Donated Hay Came at the Right Time

By Eva Wilson
Baptist Digest associate editor

KNCSB on mission

The hay came at the right time. It was definitely a Godsend for us. That was what Shawn Davis, a young cattleman in the Elkhart, Kan., area said of a semi-trailer load of hay donated by ranchers in Nebraska. In 2011, the far southwest corner of Kansas received only five inches of rain. To make matters worse, a devastating fire on Mothers Day 2011 swept through the Cimarron National Grassland, where some ranchers graze their cattle. A Southern Baptist hay lift provided some crucially needed assistance for Davis as well as John Tucker, a rancher who is active in Hillcrest Baptist Church in Elkhart. Tom Huffman, director of missions in Sandhills Association in Nebraska, organized the delivery of the two semi-trailer loads of hay to the Elkhart area. Donations to KNCSB Disaster Relief paid for the fuel to deliver the hay. One load went to Davis, who has a day job as a loan officer for Farm Credit of Western Oklahoma in Guymon. He runs a herd of 40 cows on the side. The other load of hay went to Tucker, a third-generation rancher in the Elkhart area. His grandfather homesteaded in the Elkhart area in the early 1900s. He works with his father, Bill, and son Jarrod, age 28. The good Lord has blessed

this country, Tucker said. We go right up to the wire and something happens. We just keep praying. Tucker experienced that for himself in July 2011. I was within one week of selling my entire herd, he recalled. A friend was unable to farm his ground, so he asked Tucker if he would like to run his cattle there. So Tuckers herd of about 230 cows dined and thrived on green tumbleweeds. I weaned some of the biggest calves Id ever weaned. Both Tucker and Davis bought hay for their cows from as far away as Missouri. Tucker estimated that he spent $15,000 to $20,000 on hay from November 2011 to mid-April 2012. The donated hay from Nebraska helped give some financial relief to both Davis and Tucker. To top it off, their cows cleaned it up. It was good hay, Davis said. Despite the difficulties brought on by the extreme drought, Tucker has kept his sense of humor. When he was asked what is a good rain for his area, he replied, Anything that falls out of the sky! He said of the far southwestern corner of Kansas: We call it Gods country because no one but us and God will stay out here. On a more serious note, Tucker relayed a message to the Nebraska ranchers who donated the hay: If I can ever return the favor, I will. Thanks

John Tucker, a third-generation rancher in the Elkhart, Kan., area, delivers water to his cattle in one of three pastures. His cow dog, Sam, is his constant companion. Tucker is active in Hillcrest Baptist Church in Elkhart. The Elkhart area has received some rain recently in the midst of an extreme drought only five inches of rain fell in 2011. Tucker received a semi-trailer load of hay donated by ranchers in the Nebraska Sandhills. Contributions to KNCSB Disaster Relief paid for the fuel to deliver the hay.
a million. It was a blessing. It helped me through a sore spot, Ill tell you. Southwest Kansas has received some moisture recently. The area received a foot of snow during a winter blizzard and some rain has fallen this spring. Pastures are green, and hopes were high for a bumper wheat crop. Kansas-Nebraska Southern Baptists are urged to keep praying for rain in areas of the region that need more moisture.

Girls, Mothers Urged to Seek Heavenly Treasures

Girls and their mothers were challenged during Glow 2012 to seek heavenly treasures and share the treasure of salvation. Glow is the KNCSB retreat for girls in grades 1-6 and their mothers. It was held April 13-14 at Webster Conference Center, Salina, Kan. The theme verse was Luke 12:34 Your heart will be where your treasure is. The retreats missions emphasis focused on Ecuador. Patti Merritt, who served there for three years, was the featured speaker. She served through the International Mission Boards Masters program. This program is for people age 50 and older who can make a two- or three-year commitment to serve overseas. Among Kansas-Nebraska Southern Baptists, Merritt is known as Cheryl VanBebbers mom. VanBebber is the pastors wife at Crossroads Baptist Church, Riley, Kan. She also is a childrens consultant for Kansas-Nebraska Womans Missionary Union and helped lead Glow 2012. Merritt told how God used missions testimonies at Crossroads Baptist Church to call her to be a missionary. Its time for you to go, a voice said to her as she listened to one of those testimonies. Merritt was nearing retirement. Instead of settling into a comfortable retirement life, she sold her house and furnishings, along with her car, and followed Gods call to Ecuador. Im heading to Ecuador me, two suitcases and Jesus, she recalled. First, she spent a year in Costa Rica for Spanish language study. In Ecuador, one of her ministries was teaching English as a second language in order to train interpreters for visiting mission teams. The teams adopted villages where there were no churches

Participants in the KNCSB Glow retreat collected small stuffed animals for the public safety and emergency departments in Salina, Kan. They made Scripture cards that were attached to the animals. Glow is the KNCSB retreat for girls in grades 1-6 and their mothers.

and where people have never heard the Good News. The mission teams start by staging childrens ministries, such as Vacation Bible School. They reach the parents through the children, Merritt said. Next, Bible studies are started with the goal of starting churches that can be led by the local people. Merritt challenged Glow participants to be missionaries in their own communities. She provided supplies for the girls to make gift bags to take home and share with someone who doesnt know Christ as their Savior. As for what the future holds, Merritt will not be returning to Ecuador. I worked my way out of a job, which is pleasing to the Lord. A health issue cropped up recently, so she plans to wait awhile before seeing if God opens the door for her to return to the international mission field.

JUNET 2012

Smiths Celebrate 40 Years at FSBC, Great Bend

By Eva Wilson
Baptist Digest associate editor

KNCSB on mission

Looking back on the past but focused on the future described the 40th anniversary celebration for Doyle and Carol Smith at First Southern Baptist Church, Great Bend, Kan. Church members, family and friends gathered April 2122 to honor the Smiths. Their first Sunday in Great Bend was Easter 1972. I have not been at the same church for 40 years because every time people leave and new people start, the church changes, Smith wrote in the church bulletin on Sunday, April 22. I have been the pastor of many churches in one location. Each of them has had their unique challenges and people to meet those challenges. I have never felt that my call to work here was finished. Smith has played a major role in helping the Kansas-Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists grow and mature. He has held KNCSB elected offices, including president and vice president. He was a driving force in KNCSB acquiring Webster Conference Center. Smith was the first WCC board president and served in that position for 10 years. Smith became president of the KansasNebraska Southern Baptist Foundation in May 2000. Carol Smith has served in many aspects of church life.

Collegiate ministry has been her focus in recent years. She sponsors Campus Christian Fellowship at Barton Community College in Great Bend. The group is non-denominational but participates in Southern Baptist mission efforts in such places as post-Katrina New Orleans, Greensburg, Kan. (site of the horrific tornado in May 2007), southeast Texas after Hurricane Ike and Beach Reach at Padre Island, Texas. Carol started and has coordinated the ministry to students at Barton Community College, said Jon Sapp, KNCSB director of evangelism and student ministry. Her ministry to local students, internationals and athletes has been a model for working on the community college campus. Over the years she has pulled together others interested in ministry to the student population. We are grateful for her servant spirit and commitment to students during such a critical time in their lives. The Smiths spent their first four years in Kansas serving two churches. Smith also was pastor of First Southern Baptist Church in Larned, 20 miles southwest of Great Bend. Gayle Bilbrey, her husband, Bill, and their family moved from Oklahoma to Larned in May 1968. She described her time there in an e-mail to The Digest: We found the Southern

First Southern Baptist Church, Great Bend, Kan., honored Doyle and Carol Smith for their 40 years of service to the church April 21-22. Smith has played a prominent role in helping KNCSB grow and mature. He played a leading role in helping KNCSB acquire Webster Conference Center. Smith now serves as president of the Kansas-Nebraska Southern Baptist Foundation. Carol Smith has worked in many aspects of church life. In recent years her focus has been on collegiate ministry. (Photo by Karol Elliott) Baptist church across from the hospital. I was never so surprised and disappointed in my life. It was an old Army barracks with rust running down from the screens. The sign was very faint, but we could barely make out the name. The Bilbrey family left a Southern Baptist church in Weatherford, Okla., with two worship services, a wonderful pastor, GAs RAs, WMU, etc., and came to no mans land. But the Bilbreys joined the Larned church and threw themselves into keeping it going. William Bill ODell was the director of missions in Central Baptist Association. He helped find someone to preach at Larned or filled the pulpit himself. Meanwhile, First Southern Baptist Church in Great Bend had its own set of problems. The church enjoyed prosperity and growth while the oil industry was booming. But when the oil industry collapsed in the late 1960s, membership dwindled. The small group that remained was faced with paying for a new building that was under construction. Ive been in this church since 1956, Bud Allen said. He served as the Great Bend churchs treasurer for 50 years before his health forced him to step down. But both the churches at Larned and Great Bend were greatly encouraged when the Smiths arrived in the spring of 1972. It was a smooth running situation, Gayle Bilbrey recalled of the two churches sharing a pastor. We were never jealous of time Doyle did not spend with us because he spent a lot of time preparing for coming to us while he was home. After serving both churches for four years, Smith became full time in Great Bend. As the church regained its strength, Smith helped it keep an outward vision. The Great Bend church also supported and encouraged other Southern Baptist churches that were experiencing many of the same difficulties. When the Smiths first arrived in Kansas, Doyle noticed that many of the Southern Baptist pastors were from other states. He developed a burden to nurture Kansas-Nebraskans to serve the churches here. I heard so many testimonies about pastors being called to serve at church camps, Smith wrote in his testimony in the April 22 bulletin. Smith never had the opportunity to go to camp while he was growing up he ran the family farm while his father worked in town. When [O.K.] Webster presented Camp Webster to us [KNCSB], I could see this was a job to which God had called me I was to help start the Conference Center. Webster Conference Center is now growing and thriving. It hosts church camps where young people are saved and called to Christian service. WCC is also a popular meeting place for government and corporate groups as well as family reunions. But Smith sees an even greater challenge ahead: growing the Kansas-Nebraska Southern Baptist Foundation to provide funding for the future work of Southern Baptists in the two states. Smith has served as Foundation president and CEO for 12 years. As Smith looked back on his 40 years of service in Great Bend, he said, I think that my situation is not unique. God calls all of his servants to the work that needs to be done. We are to do it whether we want to or not. We do it until God tells us we are finished.

JUNE 2012

Carol Smith (center) was one of the many volunteers who served with the KNCSB disaster-relief feeding unit in Biloxi, Miss., following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. She and her husband, Doyle, recently celebrated their 40th anniversary at First Southern Baptist Church, Great Bend, Kan. The church staged a celebration during the weekend of April 21-22. (KNCSB file photo)

KNCSB Life and Mission

Former KNCSB Min- T h e F e l l o w s h i p o f ister Receives Award B a p t i s t E d u c a t o r s
David Simon, a former minister of education in Kansas, recently received the Distinguished Leadership Award from the Baptist Association of Christian Educators. Simon is minister of adult education and senior adults at Peninsula Baptist Church in Mooresville, N.C. The award was presented during the BACE Conference at Dallas Baptist University. It reads: In recognition of outstanding contributions to Southern Baptist Religious Education through church and denominational service. Simon has served as a minister of education for 32 years in Wyoming, Kansas and North Carolina. He is a member of Baptist Association of Christian Educators and Christian Educators of North Carolina. He was a member and past president of the Christian Educators of Kansas-Nebraska. He graduated from Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo., and Southern Seminary in Louisville, Ky. David is married to Denise Allen Simon. Her parents are Bud and Betty Allen, who are 55-year members of First Southern Baptist Church, Great Bend, Kan. They have two daughters, Chelsea and Sarah. Chelsea is a student at Midwestern Seminary, Kansas City, Mo. Sarah is a freelance graphic artist and videographer in Mooresville, N.C. David, Chelsea and Sarah co-authored a Bible study entitled Spring: Connecting With God, which is available on Amazon.com or http://www.koshercopy.com/ Spring.html

Featured Videos
Available to churches cooperating with KNCSB by contacting [email protected] or calling either 785/228-6800 or 800/984-9092. Ask for Barbara Spicer. Group Insights DVD By Les Parrott and Bill Donahue This innovative kit will help your group cultivate interactions and relationships. The success of every small group depends on healthy connections. This kit will help you maximize your groups experience. DVD #1: Sharing Your Group Style Going Deeper With Your Personal Style Your Personal Communication Preferences Gifted To Serve DVD/CD By Ken Hemphill This kit contains six 25-minute sessions on DVD/CD with workbook and leader guide. Excellent for motivating people to serve. Bonus DVD: group discussion with Dr. Hemphill DVD #1: The Uncommon Work of the Spirit Created by the Master Designer DVD #2: Designed For Community Connecting With the Community DVD #3: The Gifted Body Working Together Gifted to Serve Creation: Chance Or Choice? DVD/CD By William B. Tolar There are two 30-minute messages. Creation: Chance or Choice? The Greatest Sentence Every Written The Leaders Edge DVD/CD By O. S. Hawkins This kit can be used for staff meetings, retreats, and for leadership development and recruiting. It applies to all areas of ministry with motivation, inspiration, and personal enrichment. Each session is 10 minutes. DVD #1: Back to the Basics Building a Team That Will Endure From Vision to Reality Above All Else When Conflict Comes The Be-attitudes Part 1 DVD #2: The Be-attitudes Part 2 Preparation in 30 Four Questions Every Leader Must Answer Mobilizing for Ministry Marketing Is Not A Dirty Word Finding the Lost Generation

Meghans Challenge Continues to Inspire Ministry

This is the fourth year of Meghans Challenge. To date, God has used the ministry to provide more than 20,000 pounds of food, 250 Bibles, Vacation Bible School materials and toys for hundreds of kids, and chairs for a new church start in Nicaragua. This year the ministry will be supporting Casa de Dios in Nicaragua and the hot lunch program for the OZ Center (the Homeless Youth Resource Center) in Wichita to feed homeless teens -- 100 percent of the proceeds will go directly to the ministries. We are looking for churches to host lemonade stands and or support this ministry through Vacation Bible School offerings. New this year is The Challenge where Meghan is challenging childrens and youth ministries to raise funds through End Hunger wristbands. Meghan wants kids to know that they too can be useful in Gods Kingdom. Meghans Challenge will supply and ship the wristbands. Then the childrens or youth ministry will take donations of any amount for the wristbands. All they have to do is raise funds, ship the wristbands and funds received back. Contact information is Meghans Challenge on Facebook or [email protected].

The Fellowship of Baptist Educators (FBE) is celebrating their 25th anniversary during the annual meeting to be held in Birmingham, Alabama, July 26th and 27th. The FBE is composed of teachers and educators with an interest in volunteering to teach overseas. Open to all Baptists who have a desire to know more about teaching abroad, the FBE publishes a listing of various teaching opportunities, both short and long term, in a newsletter titled EDUCOMIS. The Fellowship was the concept of the National Fellowship of Baptist Men, and was formerly organized November 21, 1987. As part of the structure, a group known as Book-Link, who were gathering and shipping Christian materials to international pastors with English skills, came under the FBE in 1988. In 1991 a pen-pal project was started under the FBE, which connected Chinese and American middle school students. This became known as Christian Corresponders. Book-Link obtains its inventory of books through donations from church and private libraries of pastoral materials. These include Bibles, music materials, commentaries, sermon outlines, and other items a pastor could use. A warehouse in Eubank, Kentucky, serves as a gathering point for these items and from there they are shipped overseas. Volunteers sort, pack, and ship the materials. Operating costs are only the outlay for postage and packing materials. Well over a half million dollars has been spent in shipments to 70 countries since 1988. Book-Link covers its expenses through fundraising efforts of its board of directors. Further information is available by e-mailing [email protected]. Christian Corresponders averaged annually 1700 pairings of pen-pals until the introduction of the internet. Now called Universal Pen Pals, the program is revamping its concept as it deals with the challenges of the worldwide internet. Church youth groups interested in participating can e-mail the director, Mrs. Kellie Ziesemer, at [email protected]. The Fellowship is made up of approximately 750 members, with members throughout the United States and several foreign countries. There are no dues; the organization sustains itself through donations from its members. The officers and Executive Director serve with no compensation, the donations going to the cost of publishing EDUCOMIS and the website, www. shelby.net/~baptisteducators. The anniversary celebration will begin with a banquet at Samford University in Birmingham on July 26th. This was the site of the first meeting after the organization was founded. People interested in knowing more about the Fellowship or the celebration should contact Bob Lamb, the Executive Director, at [email protected] or call 704-434-9392.

Celebrate 25 Years

Editors Note: Jim Keefer, First Southern Baptist Church, Lawrence, has been actively involved in The Fellowship of Baptist Educators. He currently serves as President of the Fellowship.

JUNE 2012

Nebraska and Kansas Southern Baptists are committed to reaching the nations through the Cooperative Program. It is at the heart of 8 KNCSB life.

Matthew 28:19-20 (NASB) 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Children & Youth Compete in the State Bible Drill and Speaker Tournament at Webster Conference Center
By Delores Hanneman
Bible Drill/Youth Speakers Tournament Coordinator [email protected]

KNCSB Life and Mission

The youth to the left participated in the Youth Bible Drill.

On Saturday, April 21, 26 excited children and youth representing eight churches in four associations participated in the annual State Bible Drill and Speaker Tournament at Webster Conference Center in Salina. Over 60 children and youth participated in Bible Drills and Speaker Tournaments throughout the year. New this year was the Younger Childrens Bible Drill for children in grades 1-3 with seven children from two churches qualifying for the State Drill. Of the seven participants, two were perfect score (24) winners (PW) and the other five were winners (W) with a score of 20 or above. Winners received a medal and all participants received a certificate and a music CD. The Younger Childrens Bible Drill participants were: Cambridge Baptist Church, Cambridge, KS Brody Bates (W), Julia Elston (W), Cheyenne McRorey (W) Emmanuel Chinese Baptist Church, Lenexa, KS Joseph Cheung (PW), Fisher Sun (W), Benjamin Tan (PW), Rebecca Wang (W) Twelve children in grades 4-6 participating in Childrens Bible Drill qualified for the State Drill, representing seven churches and four associations. Of the twelve, two were perfect score winners (PW), five were winners (W) and five were participants (P). Winners received a medal and all participants received a certificate and a music CD. Children involved at the state level were: First Southern Baptist Church, El Dorado, KS Tyler Luehrs (P) Prairie Hills Southern Baptist Church, Augusta, KS Jeremy Cox (W) Prospect Baptist Church, El Dorado, KS Kaylah Jackson (P) Emmanuel Chinese Baptist Church, Lenexa, KS Evelyn Cheung (PW), Joseph Tan (W) First Southern Baptist Church, Coffeyville, KS Alexis Kendrix (P), Ian Palmer (P), Ethan Samples (W), Marissa Vail (PW) First Baptist Church, Chetopa, KS Kaylea Herndon (P), Ashley Johnson (W)

The children to the right participated in the Childrens Bible Drill.

The youth to the left participated in the Youth Speakers Tournament.

Cedar Pointe Baptist Church, Wichita, KS Lydia Dugger (W) Youth Bible Drill had four qualifying 9th12th graders in the State Drill. The first place winner received a scholarship for $200; second place $100; and third place $75. Scholarships may be used for financial assistance to attend any youth function sponsored by their church, association, state convention or the Southern Baptist Convention. All participants received a certificate and a music CD. Youth involved at the state level were: First Southern Baptist Church, Coffeyville, KS Leanne Bale (3rd place winner), Nick Noland (P) Cedar Pointe Baptist Church, Wichita, KS Nathan Dugger (2nd place winner), Rachel Dugger (1st place winner) Three 9th-12th graders from one church qualified for the State Speaker Tournament. Scholarships of $200, $100 and $75 for use with approved youth functions were also awarded to the winners and all received a CD. Youth at the state level were: First Southern Baptist Church, El Dorado, KS Levi Brickley (3rd place winner); Jonelle Reinert (2nd place winner), Joseph Reinert (1st place winner) Participating children and youth did a great job and although not all were state winners, they will all reap eternal rewards for hiding Gods Word in their hearts! For further information or assistance with Bible Drill, contact Delores Hanneman, KNCSB Bible Drill/Speaker Tournament Coordinator.

The children to the right participated in the Older Childrens Bible Drill.

JUNE 2012

KNCSB Life and Mission Your Church May Be A Prayer of Surrender Inwardly Focused If ...
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) -- Any healthy church must have some level of inward focus. Those in the church should be discipled. Hurting members need genuine concern and ministry. Healthy fellowship among the members is a good sign for a congregation. But churches can lose their outward focus and become preoccupied with the perceived needs and desires of the members. Dollars spent and time expended can quickly become focused on the demands of those inside the congregation. When that happens, the church has become inwardly obsessed. It is no longer a Great Commission congregation. In my research of and consultation with churches, I have kept a checklist of potential signs that a church might be moving toward inward obsession. No church is perfect; most churches will demonstrate one or two of these signs for a season. But the real danger comes when a church begins to manifest three or more of these warning signs for an extended period. 1. Worship wars -- One or more factions in the church want the music just the way they like it. Any deviation is met with anger and demands for change. The order of service must remain constant. Certain instrumentation is required while others are prohibited. 2. Prolonged minutia meeting -- The church spends an inordinate amount of time in different meetings. Most of the meetings deal with inconsequential items, while the Great Commission and Great Commandment rarely are discussed. 3. Facility focus -- Church facilities develop iconic status. One of the highest priorities in the church is the protection and preservation of rooms, furniture and other visible parts of the churchs buildings and grounds. 4. Program driven -- Every church has programs even if they dont admit it. When we start doing a ministry a certain way, it takes on programmatic status. The problem is not with programs. The problem develops when the program becomes an end instead of a means to greater ministry. 5. Inwardly focused budget -- A disproportionate share of the budget is used to meet the needs and comforts of the members instead of reaching beyond the walls of the church. 6. Inordinate demands for pastoral care -- All church members deserve care and concern, especially in times of need and crisis. Problems develop, however, when church members have unreasonable expectations for even minor matters. Some members expect the pastoral staff to visit them regularly merely because they are members. 7. Attitudes of entitlement -- This issue could be a catch-all for many of the points named here. The overarching attitude is one of demanding and having a sense of deserving special treatment. 8. Greater concern about change than the Gospel -- Almost any noticeable changes in the church evoke the ire of many, but such passions are lacking regarding the work of the Gospel to change lives. 9. Anger and hostility -- Members are consistently angry, regularly expressing hostility toward church staff and other members. 10. Evangelistic apathy -- Very few members share their faith on a regular basis. More are concerned about their own needs rather than the greatest eternal needs of the world and community in which they live. EL CAJON, Calif. (BP) -- Christ has called for unconditional surrender, death to the flesh, for all who would follow Him. When we become Christians, we are crucified with Christ (Romans 6:6; Galatians 2:20). Our rebellious sin nature is forever put to death by Christs sacrifice on the cross; yet in practical terms, the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another (Galatians 5:17). There are still times, in other words, when we dont feel like surrendering. Wed rather die than give up our independence, our individuality and our indecencies. But Jesus draws a firm line in the sand: Whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple (Luke 14:27). Jesus offers one term of surrender: The cross you died on positionally must be the cross you live on personally, each and every day. For the saints of God, surrender leads to an entirely new kind of life. In fact, we are born again to a new and living hope (John 3:3; 1 Peter 1:3). But to experience that life we have to surrender not just once but every day. There are numerous examples of saints in Scripture who chose life by surrendering. Think first of Job. Though he was assailed with calamities greater than most of us will ever face, a prayer of surrender was found frequently on his lips: The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD. In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong (Job 1:21-22). The truest test of whether we are surrendered to the Lord is in times of personal defeat. Pride says, Rise up and fight! But the Spirit says, Surrender and live. Job was wise enough to know the difference and lived (Job 42:10-17). Jonah might be the surrendered saint we most readily identify with. In the end, he realized it was better to be closer to God than to himself. He was brought to the surrender ceremony kicking and screaming, with both heels dug into the sand. He wanted nothing to do with Gods terms of surrender: Go to Nineveh and preach a message of judg-

Campers on Mission Begin Active Year

By Eva Wilson

by Thom S. Rainer, President of LifeWay Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention

ment to the Ninevites. Thank you. No, might as well have been Jonahs reply. He did an about face and hopped the first ship headed for Spain. Well-known is the rest of the story. From the belly of a great fish Jonah prayed his prayer of surrender: I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay what I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD (Jonah 2:9). Jonah learned it was better to surrender sooner than later. He went to Nineveh and God used him mightily. Finally, the stakes were the largest for Jesus Himself. Even as a young boy, He sensed the need to be surrendered to the will of His Heavenly Father (Luke 2:49). And at the outset of Jesus public ministry, the devil himself offered Christ terms of surrender, which Jesus soundly rejected (Luke 4:1-13). Jesus made it to His last night on earth able to say, I have finished the work You gave Me to do (John 17:4). Yet His greatest challenge came just moments after He said those words. When Jesus prayed His prayer of surrender, Not My will, but Yours be done (Luke 22:42), He set the pattern for surrender for all who would follow Him into the kingdom of heaven. Ultimately, no one who says to God, Id rather be closer to me than to You, enters the kingdom of heaven. No one goes to heaven who says to God, Not Thy will, but mine be done. The ruler of hell itself earned his position with just such words as those (Isaiah 14:12-14). How do we accept Christs terms of surrender, living daily on the cross? Begin each day with a prayer of surrender: Lord, today I surrender my life to You. I choose Your will to be done, not mine. I want to be closer to You, God, than I am to myself. I accept Your terms for my life today and purpose to live personally the crucified life which I received positionally through faith in Christ. I ask You to give me grace today to be a surrendered soldier of the cross. Amen. by David Jeremiah, Founder and Host of Turning Point for God

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A busy year of service is now underway for Kansas-Nebraska Campers on Mission. In April, COM volunteers poured the concrete slab for the new cabin now under construction at Weir Baptist Camp, Weir, Kan. Kansas-Nebraska Baptist Builders and Volunteer Christian Builders, based in Texas, worked on the cabin in May. Kansas-Nebraska COM held its spring rally May 4-6 at Webster Conference Center, Salina, Kan. The group held a two-week work project at WCC after the rally. One of the major projects they tackled was constructing a roof on the bath house at the WCC swimming pool. Upcoming activities include: n July 18-20 -- Campers on Mission National Rally, Rayne RV Campground,

Baptist Digest associate editor Email: [email protected]

Rayne, La. Find more information at http://purelightsolutions. com/campersonmission/?ai1ec_ event=national-rally-2012 n Aug. 6-10 -- Work project at Alpha Christian Childrens Home, Perry, Kan. For more information about work projects, contact Norm Marcum at [email protected]. n Aug. 20-24 -- Work project at New Life Baptist Church (formerly Riverside Baptist Church), Independence, Kan. n Sept. 28-30 -- Kansas-Nebraska Fall COM Rally at Weir Baptist Camp, Weir, Kan. Work projects will be held at the camp the weeks before and after the rally. Campers on Mission is open to all interested Christians. You do not need to have an RV rig to participate. For more information, contact Gary Shaw at [email protected].

JUNE 2012

Summer campers at Webster Conference Center, Salina, Kan., will notice the new roof on the bath house at the swimming pool. Kansas-Nebraska Campers on Mission constructed the roof during their May work project at WCC following their spring rally May 4-6.

www.knwomen.com

Get the First Button Right

Who would expect to read in a leadership book the key principle of effective leading is, Stop Leading? Okay, that hooked me, so I continued reading Taylor Fields book, Upside Down Leadership, and was blown away by his words to leaders. Clearly the word leader means to lead, so why would he be telling us to stop? Fields specific instruction was to stop leading and start following. Leaders need to be followers first, followers of Christ. He goes on to tell us how, by getting the first button right. Do you remember your child, anxious to get on the bus for their first day of school, rushing out of the house with their shirt all crooked because they didnt get the buttons lined up right? Fields reflected on this by saying, When you button your shirt, you must get the top button aligned properly. Otherwise all the other buttons, as you go down the line to button them, will be all messed up. When we talk about following rather than leading, in some ways this is the question we have to answer. Am I going to have that first button focus on God, or focus on my own plan that I will implement? As my pastor always asks, as leaders, are we going to let God have the last word? Leaders need to be followers first. Following God is crucial to being an effective leader. Jesus said it this way, But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Being obedient to Gods voice is getting the first button right. It is easier to obey the big, unexplainable asks of God if we are used to following his voice in the small tasks, Taylor Fields says. Leaders need to be obedient in the moment. We have a Biblical example to support this in Noah. Noah has become a great money maker from childrens books featuring cutesy pictures of animals on a cute big boat floating on perfect waves, to wall paper borders and crib sheets for your nursery. But what does the Bible say about Noah? Genesis 6:9, Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God. Noahs moment of obedience was huge, and scripture says that after God finished instructing him on what He was going to do and what He wanted Noah to do, Noah simply, did everything just as God commanded him. Noah got the first button right. What about you, leader? Are you a follower first? Glance down at your shirt. Are your buttons lined up?

Connie Cavanaugh

Susan Holdaway
Women 4 Him Team

WWW 2012

Jami Smith

KNCSB Womens Leadership

Wonderful Weekend for Women 2012 will impact hundreds this fall as women from all over Kansas and Nebraska gather at Webster Conference Center in Salina, Kansas, on September 14th & 15th. During worship, writer and speaker, Connie Cavanaugh, www.conniecavanaugh.com, will be returning as our featured speaker, leading us as we explore our theme, Created to Do Beautiful Things. Joining Connie is recording artist, Jami Smith, www.jamismith.com, as our leader in worship music. Our missionary guest will be Beth Locke. The Life Session leaders are praying and preparing topics that will be relevant to you. To me, theres nothing like getting together with a diverse group of women for worship, fellowship and spiritual encouragement. Every year I am encouraged to see what God has planned for me. Set aside this weekend and make plans to join us. Registration packets will arrive in churches in June. Our conference information will also be available on our website www.KNwomen.com. Begin planning your road trip with your girlfriends now and discover how you are Created to Do Beautiful Things.

Shiggaion! Mari

(a song of impassioned imagination)

Our Daily Breath

Debbie Eble
KNCSB Womens Leadership Fit 4 Him Consultant

Breathing is one of those things we take for granted when its working. We live, so we breathe. The average person consumes six quarts of air every minute. Our lungs involuntarily pull oxygen in and push carbon dioxide out of our body, and we believe that as long as we dont smoke they will continue to do this job quite well our whole lives, right? Not necessarily. If you or someone close to you suffers with asthma or any other respiratory disease, then you know that breathing isnt always as simple as it seems. There is so much more at work than what we can see or feel. Like other movement in your body, your breath is controlled by muscle and you are able to improve lung

function by routinely taking deep, whole breaths, exercising the large diaphragm muscle that lays horizontal under your lungs. Take deep breaths intentionally several times a day. Start with ten complete breaths in the morning and ten in the evening. Try it now. Sitting tall, or lying flat, place one hand on your belly and one hand on your chest, inhale slowly and deeply, causing the rib cage and belly to expand and the diaphragm to push down on your internal organs. Exhale slowly and completely, drawing your navel toward your spine and envision the diaphragm pushing up against the bottom of your lungs, expelling the air. Try counting slowly to five on the inhale, seven on the exhale. Close your eyes and feel the immediate release of tension. Deep breathing makes your lungs and blood vessels function better, helps improve the drainage of your lymphatic system, and relieves stress by calming you. Dont neglect this, learn to breathe correctly. Breath is life giving. The walk of a Christian is a little bit like breathing. We tend to take our faith for granted when we think its working for us. We are saved, so we live free. We go through the days taking in all of lifes blessings and

feeling like we are doing what is required if we get up, give God a nod, work hard, smile a lot, and make it to bedtime. But what if you or someone close to you suffers? Then our faith isnt as simple as it seems. And most definitely there is much more at work than we can see. God is at work, strengthening our faith during times of crisis. Philippians 2:13 For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose. My favorite definition of faith comes from Dr. James MacDonald of Walk in the Word, he says, Faith is believing God and acting upon it no matter how I feel because God promises a good result. As we exercise our faith, routinely taking in the word of God and believing Him, and find ways to live out and share His words, then those faith muscles grow stronger, we are able to battle with more vigor, and rest in the peace that only God gives. Dont neglect this, learn to spend time with Jesus. Jesus is life giving. Jude 3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.

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June 2012

www.KNCSB.org
Waggoner to Speak at Pas- A Rooftop Prayer for Your Community tors Conference in Salina
By Marie Clark
KNCSB Bible Teaching & Discipling Team Leader Email: [email protected]

What does this years Pastors Conference, leading the KNCSB Annual Meeting on Monday, October 15th, from 1:00-4:00pm, have in common with a Nebraska homestead kid and a Kansas university student? A high school senior, immature in his faith and under conviction of his lack of spiritual maturity, offered a prayer (one prayer among few in his life those days). That prayer changed the direction of his life. More than three decades later, God is still answering that prayer through the life and ministry of Brad Waggoner. Dr. Waggoner is the current Executive Vice President of LifeWay and author of The Shape of Faith to Come. Waggoners grandfather had homesteaded north of Morrill, Nebraska. His childhood home was in the southwest corner of Sioux County, Nebraska, with most of the family ranch land in Wyoming. He assumed that he would be a third generation rancher until that earnest prayer led Waggoner to Kansas State University. Bob Anderson had begun ministry at K-State just a few years before. And it was under Andersons influence that a disciple-making passion was planted in Waggoner that is still bearing fruit today. Dr. Waggoner will teach Pulling Back the Curtain on the State of the Church at the 2012 KNCSB Pastors Conference. In three teaching sessions, Waggoner will focus on Bible engagement, worldview, and private devotional practices respectively. This continuing study will build on LifeWays latest research-based book, Transformational Discipleship: How People Really Grow. As pastors, I know we want to answer and apply these truths for life change. Waggoner will point us to the way. With Nebraska roots, Kansas influence, and a Disciple-makers heart, Dr. Waggoner will be informative and encouraging to all in attendance October 15th.

Aaron Householder is Senior Pastor of Southview Baptist Church in Lincoln, NE, and President of the 2012 KNCSB Pastors Conference

Imagine thousands of believers gathered on rooftops across America in order to get a fresh vision of Gods heart for the lost! That vision can become reality on October 1 with the upcoming National Rooftop event. The Rooftop is an opportunity for Christians to gather on rooftops that overlook their local communities to seek Gods heart for the lost. Some churches will choose to do their own rooftop. Some associations will gather together churches from within their own association. Some churches will team up with other churches to do an area-wide event. Some state conventions will work to communicate what is taking place across their state. University and college campuses will also be participating. There will even be those who choose to do their rooftop event on the weekend before Oct 1 (which is fine!). The scriptural foundation of The Rooftop is found in Acts 10 and 11, where the Apostle Peter was going to a rooftop to pray. During his prayer time he saw a vision and heard the voice of God telling him not to call unclean anything that God calls clean. Peter considered Gentiles unclean, but he went to preach at the house of a Gentile named Cornelius because he had heard the voice of God and saw the vision. As a result, the gospel broke out across the world and an international movement began. Marie Clark, Bible Teaching & Discipling Team Leader for KNCSB, had the opportunity to join many leaders from across the nation at LifeWay last December for a Rooftop experience. Clark reported, Looking down on the lights of Nashville, ten of us talked about the people and needs we observed, listened to the passage in Acts 10 and 11, and prayed as we caught a vision of Gods heart for the lost. It was a moving experience that brought unity, broken-heartedness, and resolve to those in our small group. You can visit the Rooftop website (www.lifeway.com/therooftop) for more information, to register to host a rooftop, or to download the host manual or participant journal. To get your download or to read online, go to http://baptistdigest.com/bd/download.

Digest Available for Online Viewing and Download

WCC Update
Highlights of WCC Board Meeting on May 4, 2012 1. User Days and Revenues are up for the year and break ing last years records. 2. WCC provides meals for Kansas National Guard for two weeks. 3. Progress continues on the Chapel and Main Lodge renovations. 4. A $15,000 gift provides much needed medical improvements to WCC. 5. The Board is investigating a switch from propane to natural gas. 6. A new Challenge Course element will be installed for this summer. 7. Gifts to the current $50,000 Challenge Grant surpass $20,000 to date. 8. Gifts to rebuild and expand the Disc Golf Course have funded 5 holes to date. 9. A new Master Plan was approved for the Conference Center. 10. A new Ministry Description for WCC Board Members was adopted. 11. Facility Usage and Personnel Policies were updated. 12. Budget preparations were begun for 2013. Thank you for your continued support of this mission facility as we continue to reach people for Christ and train believers for the work of the ministry! The WCC Staff

HEARTS ON FIRE 201 BRANSON MO 2

YOUTH CONFERENCE

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