A Church Plant called Calvary Goldsmith

Westside Baptist Church has before it an opportunity to join other Southern Baptist Churches in a project spearheaded by the North America Mission Board. On Sunday morning, October 19th, we will vote as a church family on whether we believe God is calling us to walk through that door of opportunity.

As we seek greater clarity on this matter, I have made two short videos and will again make the full Exploratory Team's presentation available.

If you only choose to watch one video, PLEASE watch this first one. In it, I explain that this is a step of faith but I also explain exactly what that faith-step looks like. You can view it by clicking here or watch it here...



So, as described in this video, the motion that the church will vote "yes" or "no" on is as follows:

"Westside Baptist Church will enter into a family partnership with Calvary Goldsmith. The partnership will consist of enlisting prayer warriors, sending teams to do ministry projects and a love offering. This partnership between our two congregations will be reviewed annually."

In the second video, I explain how engaging in ministry outside our walls actually benefits us. You can view it by clicking here or watch it here...



Yep, you heard me right. I believe that a great way to give Murray and Calloway County residents 'new eyes' to see the needs of our community and the heart and hands to do something about it, we need to do missions somewhere else. When we come back, we'll see our home differently. Just ask the folks who have gone on mission trips.

The third video is the full presentation of the Exploratory Team. You can view it by clicking here. (I could not embed it on this site.)

Finally, if you would like to read how this opportunity was birthed in my heart, you can do so by clicking here.

Sermon (video): God's Pattern for Revival (Isaiah 6:1-8)

So your spiritual life has grown stale? It's been awhile since your time in the Bible has really been fun? It's been far too long since you've actually enjoyed praying? You feel unable to overcome the temptations in your life? And you sense that there's GOT to be more to the Christian life than what you're experiencing?

This sermon shows the relevance of Isaiah 6:1-8 as the answer to how we get right with God. It is the pattern that God has used through the centuries to bring individuals and groups back to Him. It's how we get our joy and effectiveness back.

Click here to view the sermon.

Sermon (video): Maintaining our First Love (Revelation 2:1-7)

Did you know that it is quite possible that Jesus could remove His hand of blessing from a church even if it was 1) theologically correct, 2) busy in ministry, and 3) enduring persecution for their faith? It is in Revelation 2:1-7 that we realize just how important it is to maintain our first love for Jesus. If we don't, nothing else really matters. This sermon delves into why it is so important to fan into flame a passion for Jesus.

This sermon was preached at Westside Baptist Church in Murray, Kentucky on April 28, 2013. The occasion was "Call Sunday", the day that the pastoral candidate, Matt Ellis, preached for Westside. At the conclusion of the service, the congregation voted to call him as their pastor with a 99.5% vote.

To view the worship service in its entirety, click here.

Are we Christians or just nice people?

Dani working in the Love Kitchen in Knoxville, TN

I watched Secret Millionaire on Sunday and loved it! I commend Dani Johnson for doing the show and the testimony she gave in a recent Christianity Today article. However, there is a troubling thought that I was left with after I watched the show. Let me give one more illustration before I elaborate on it.

A few of us from First Baptist experienced the joy of serving as we went to Ecuador last summer and worked in an orphanage. Some of the children in that orphanage were neglected, diseased, etc. and virtually all of them were pitiful. Our team focused on building them a new facility, teaching them art, and generally finding tangible ways to care for them. They were fortunate enough to have Casa de Fe in the city of Shell, Ecuador that would take them in and not only care for them but love them to Jesus. However, I had a troubling thought as I left that mission trip, too.

The troubling thought? Regarding the Secret Millionaire, it is that one week after Dani Johnson lovingly provided for the needs of some deserving recipients and doing it in the name of Jesus, someone else will do the same thing for their own purposes. They may not be a Christian at all and yet they will do exactly what Dani did. The question? What makes Dani's act of kindness in Jesus’ name distinctly “Christian” if the next guy will do the same thing?

Regarding our ministry trip to Ecuador, I struggled with the fact that while we were serving the Lord by working at the construction site, we were surrounded by men and women who were lost and had spent the same amount of money as us to go to Ecuador and do the same thing. What made our acts of ministry distinctly “Christian” if it was being mimicked by those who had rejected Christ?

Now, let me backtrack and clarify a bit. Dani's actions on Secret Millionaire were inspiring and in my estimation “Christian,” especially when you read Christianity Today’s article and come to understand what ABC edited out. I also believe the ministry project our church has in Ecuador is distinctly "Christian" in that we are doing what God has called us to do and are being His hands and feet. My point is that Christians must be intentional in our acts of service. They must not focus simply on temporal needs but on Kingdom objectives. If not, we will find ourselves doing the same thing alongside those who are lost and fail to show them how Jesus makes us different from them.

This is my problem with much of what has encompassed the Christian culture today. We’re doing service projects that meet needs like the Lord would have us but we are failing to make our actions distinctly "Christian." This is simply a repackaging of the “social gospel” that strives to meet the physical and legitimate needs of the hurting and oppressed while failing to do so for a greater purpose … the furtherance of the Kingdom of God. If an act of service is not done for this purpose, it is simply not “Christian.” A kind act? Yes. A necessary act? Yes. A Christian act? No.

Jesus was not indifferent to this matter. He continually called His followers away from the world so that they would be distinctly different. A follower of Christ should be fairly easy to detect even in a lost world that is going through a phase of service-oriented projects that leave tears in your eyes as the hour program comes to a close. I’ll conclude with one such reference:

Luke 6:27-36  "But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them. If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”

Should we continue to engage in acts of kindness? Of course! But be intentional about how it can be done in a way that makes it “Christian.”