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Greetings! I would like to invite every church in our association to be represented by attendance or official letter at the 63rd annual meeting of the BMA of America. The meeting is scheduled for April 16-18, 2012 at the Jackson Convention Complex in Jackson, Mississippi.

The theme for the meeting, “Until the End,” is based upon Hebrews 6:11 (we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end). The theme will focus on the challenge to make a long term impact through our departments as an association and our ministries as local churches and individuals.

Every action Jesus took, every message He shared, every miracle He performed, and every day of His life revolved around His desire to make an eternal impact on all those with whom He came in contact. He raised up disciples and challenged them to do likewise. The writer of Hebrews has challenged us to do the same, and it is my prayer for our association that we will follow Jesus’ example.

Monday evening’s session will focus on the meeting’s theme. Tuesday morning will provide meeting opportunities for auxiliaries, departmental and agency boards and the Pastors’ and Laymen’s Conference. The highlight of Tuesday night’s service will be the annual message by George Reddin. Business will be held on Tuesday afternoon and also Wednesday morning and afternoon. The annual meeting will climax with the Missions Department report and commissioning service on Wednesday night.

Remember that proposed constitutional amendments must be submitted in writing to the clerks of the association no later than February 1. I ask you to please pray for a meeting that honors our Savior.

Surely you didn’t think that I would actually suggest you gain a bunch of weight as a goal for 2012! I am writing about growing larger in a spiritual sense. Every Christian should have a burning desire to grow larger, deeper, purer, higher than ever before in their walk with the Lord. While the desire may be there, the ability to carry it out is another story. There is this thing called “finding the time” that keeps slipping away. How fast do your days go? Does it seem that the weeks and months just fly by? Yet, we must carve out each day, some time to spend with God, our Father, and Jesus, our Savior and the Holy Spirit, our comforter. There is another problem to growing in our faith. It is our personalities. It is who we are as a person. On the one hand, there are a small minority of people who are driven and laziness isn’t in their vocabulary. However, this extreme drive can also be detrimental. Often times these people are perfectionist, workaholics, or obsessive/compulsive people who do things out of a need to feel adequate and accepted. This causes you to do your bible study not out of a deep abiding love for Christ, but just one more item to check off on your daily push to do every thing just right. Your Bible study then becomes a routine and a ritual, rather than life-changing. You find acceptance of yourself by doing things on time and just right. This helps your self-esteem and makes you feel better about yourself. Performing task to make yourself more acceptable is impossible when it comes to God. If you have Christ in your heart, you cannot be anymore acceptable than you already are. No completion of tasks can change that fact. God loves and accepts you forever in Christ. Then there is a majority of humans that fall into the lazy category. None of us like to think of ourselves as lazy, but it is a common human condition. When you combine this with a lack of burning passion for the things of Christ; you get people who don’t truly grow in faith. We like the pleasures of the world. We like to relax when we are not at work or doing chores. I’m just not motivated like I should be. If these people do grow, it is at a snail’s pace. How could you explode in spiritual growth in 2012?

1. Repent of your tendency towards laziness or obsessive drive. Ask God to give you a burning desire from the Holy Spirit to “want” to pray and study His word. Literally ask for this specifically in prayer. But have the “desire” be from Him, and not of your flesh.
2. Make it a habit. Once you get into the habit of doing a bible study and personal prayer time; it becomes part of your daily routine. A daily routine doesn’t have to be uninspiring. It just makes it easier to accomplish. We humans are creatures of habit. When we get ready in the morning, or at night or during the day,if we don’t make God part of our habit; then the whole day goes by and you wake up the next day and say, “ oh man I didn’t do my Bible study.” Doing a prolonged time of prayer, seeking God’s face, should be as common as eating breakfast, combing your hair, or drinking your favorite beverage when you get up. Once it becomes a habit, it then becomes strange when you don’t do it. A huge step towards growing is to make prayer and Bible study a habit.
3. Be realistic. I hear people all the time tell me they are going to start setting their alarm an hour earlier, and get up in the wee hours of the morning for their personal growth time. 99% of the time, this will never last. You have to create this habit of devotion time that is reasonable and realistic with your life style. There are some people who actually wake up at 5:00 a.m. and can do a quiet time before anyone else in the house gets up. If that is your personality bend, “a morning person,” then go for it. But if you like to linger when the alarm goes off, don’t attempt to do spiritual growth at an hour that is not your cup of tea. You will only grit your teeth for a month or two and then get out of the habit. Carve out a time and place that works for you and stick to it. If you have kids, then they need to be made to understand that you are not to be disturbed during this time. Invariably there may be an interruption with small kids, and just go with it. But it shouldn’t be that you are always interrupted by them, and don’t get to do it. It is awesome for them to learn that you respect your time alone with God. It teaches them a valuable lesson for their own future spiritual growth.
4. Refuse to feel guilty if you miss a day. It happens. You don’t skip a day without prayer. I mean you may just miss occasionally your private time. It’s okay. Just quickly re-establish the habit.
5. If you can’t do this consistently, check your heart. You may have a heart problem. Our King not only commands us to do this, but how could you stand in His presence and not want to do this? If nothing else, let Jesus do heart surgery on you in 2012.
   Afterall, He is the great physician.

By Travis Plumlee director of Family Ark Ministries

Rick Russell, LifeWord’s Chief Programming Officer, received the following note the first week of January. It is a great reminder of our mission and calling. To read more stories of changed lives, visit www.lifeword.org.

“Last month we had a very interesting visitor who traveled for twenty hours to come and meet us. He is a listener of the Kannada LifeWord program. It was interesting to know that he came to know Christ as his personal savior through the broadcast. This man traveled all the way by himself and was completely blind. He came wanting to meet us just to let us know how thankful he was for the program. He only spent a couple of hours with us and then headed straight back to where he was from. It was a very touching time for all of us who met him. In a country like India where our system neglects the physically challenged, it was such a joy to see his own just to come and thank the ministry. Let us all continue to work together so that we can reach out to many more like this young man who needed a savior.”

Prashant Prakash, Producer
– Kannada broadcast, India

Can real life and the Bible mix? Can real wisdom be found in the common, everyday events when viewed through the scriptures? Retired BMAA Pastor James Barr believes so! The former Senior Pastor of Calvary Baptist Church brings together the wisdom found in the scriptures with real life challenges in his newly released book, For His Glory: A  Kaleidoscope of Wisdom.

Compiling a series of personal memoirs, historical facts, and biblical biographies, Pastor Barr presents the reader with practical and useful views that will enrich his or her life. Short, pointed and positive, For His Glory: A Kaleidoscope of Wisdom, is a collection of inspirational thoughts presented in an easy and enjoyable manner. Like looking through a kaleidoscope, the beauty of God’s wisdom and glory come to life for today’s reader. Although deep biblical truths are shared, they are shared within an often amusing common sense manner from which all ages can benefit. Currently Pastor Barr’s book is only offered online.

James (Jim) Barr has a total of almost forty years in the ministry serving as Pastor, and Missionary. Brother Barr also conducts both short and extensive fun workshops on Finding God’s Wisdom for Your Life for churches, bookstores, auxiliary church groups, and clubs. He may be contacted by email at: pastorbarr@hotmail.com or by phone (812) 325-0158. To purchase the book and find more information concerning author Barr and his book is also available at www.amazon.com/author/jamesbarr or through the author’s website net153.com

For His Glory: A Kaleidoscope of Wisdom by James Barr

by Dennis Baker, President, BMA of Missouri Brotherhood Auxiliary

Ephesians 3:1-13

Paul’s letter to the church of Ephesus demonstrates that the purpose of the Lord’s New Testament Church was the inclusion of all nationalities in the proclaiming of God’s eternal plan of redemption to all of humanity. Paul’s personal testimony concerning his role in God’s mission of sharing the unsearchable riches of Christ with the Gentiles exposes some important principals relating to servant leadership.

1. Servant leadership focuses on God’s plan. V 2,”Dispensation of the grace of God,” denotes an arrangement or plan. Paul states the he “was made a minister, according to the grace of God, V7.” Paul was not selected by his own choosing but was entrusted to proclaim the Gospel to the Gentiles. Paul viewed his calling as a privilege and sacred trust. Paul was divinely appointed by God, his apostleship was nothing less than the result of the working of God.
2. Servant leadership involves stewardship. Paul’s stewardship of grace has particular reference to the inclusion of all people groups in God’s mystery of redemption. The inclusion of all nationalities into the “family of God” and the Lord’s New Testament church was revealed in the Old Testament, but what was not foreseen in Old Testament times was the fact that God’s promised blessings would incorporate the Jewish and Gentile believers on the common ground of Divine Grace. God’s favor is not to be enjoyed as a private luxury but shared with others.
3. Servant leadership has a purpose, V. 8. “Unsearchable riches of Christ,” reveals a missionary purpose. It refers to the boundless resources of Christ for meeting the needs of sinful humanity, V. 9. “Make all men see” has reference to a theological purpose. God’s intention has always been to offer redemption to all nationalities, but for all practical purposes that intention lay unrevealed until the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ was revealed to the world.

Since the letter was written to the church of Ephesus these principals have application not only to ministers but every member of the Lord’s New Testament church. Servant leadership involves your role in God’s mission, of sharing the unsearchable riches of Christ. Remember it is nothing less than the working of God. Servant leadership involves stewardship. God’s favor is not to be enjoyed as a private luxury but shared with others. Servant leadership has a missionary and theological purpose.

It is encouraging to know that God has a role for each of us in His Divine Master Plan. There are no second-class citizens in God’s kingdom. We are all equals.

published in January 2012 issue of the Missouri Missionary Baptist Paper