This past weekend was a challenging schedule for me. With our Shiloh Football Team playing in Little Rock, we drove to Little Rock and enjoyed our time there.  What did we enjoy the most?   Winning the state championship 56-20. Congratulations to our Shiloh team, both coaches and players.

Since the game was an evening game, we got home on Sunday morning about 1:20 a.m. and got to sleep about 2:00 a.m. The challenge from there was getting up the next morning.  While we had a Christmas music presentation on Sunday morning at Springdale, I preached at our Pinnacle Hills location.

Following that, I rushed home, ate a quick bite, and prepared to return for two more Christmas musical presentations at our Springdale location. The Lord provided me the strength to move through the day and the entire weekend.  Thanks Lord!

I am grateful for the wonderful Christmas presentation of our Springdale Choir and Orchestra under the leadership of Kim Noblitt and Chris Emert. Thanks to all of you for a wonderful, worshipful presentation.  I am most grateful to each of you, believe in you, and love you.  There is no time of the year like Christmas!

What a schedule!

The Shiloh Football Team is playing for the 4A State Championship on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. in War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Arkansas. The joy of our private school is to be able to compete in all sports with public schools. In Arkansas there is not a private and a public league, but one league where they compete against one another. We are most grateful for this opportunity.

Shiloh will be competing in the State Championship Game for the 4th year in a row. Three years ago we won the championship game, two years ago we lost it in overtime, and last year we won the state championship. It is a privilege to play for the state championship a 4th year in a row. We are grateful for our administration, coaching staff, and team. Their commitment of training champions for Christ is a blessed opportunity.

If you cannot come to Little Rock to support our team, please listen on the radio live on FM 99.5 or watch the game on the Internet at www.shilohsaints.org. Again, kick-off is at 6:30 p.m. Pray for our coaching staff and team. I realize that many of our people have their children in other schools in our region and we love to support them when given the privilege. In fact, we recognized on Sunday morning the Har-Ber High School team for winning the state championship last Saturday in their classification.

Finally, I will be here on Sunday morning and look forward to a great day in the Lord. I hope you are present at one of our four morning services and also attend one of our afternoon or evening special Christmas programs on our Springdale campus.

Have a blessed weekend and we will see you Sunday.

Date: Sunday, December 13th
Time: 3:00 and 6:00 PM
Location: First Baptist Church of Springdale (Click for directions)

A Christmas Worship Experience at the First Baptist Church of Springdale! Children, students, and special characters will bring excitement to you and your family as they join forces with 150 voices and a 30-piece orchestra. Two performance times makes this a great opportunity to invite others to enjoy the true spirit of this blessed season. Free admission.

Daniel 10 records the story of Daniel going on a 21-day journey of prayer and fasting before the Lord. It is an amazing read and I would encourage you to read the entire chapter. God did amazing things as a result of his humility before God.

I have felt for several months that 2010 will be a pivotal and strategic year for us individually, as a church, and yes, even as a nation. Desperate times call for desperate measures. As early as late spring and the early summer of 2009, I felt there would be a need in 2010 for us to call our church to a major time of being before God.

Please read carefully and peer into my heart today. I am asking us as a church, and you as a Christ-follower connected with our church, to set aside a 21-day period of time to get serious before the Lord. We are setting the dates of Sunday, January 3, beginning at sundown until sundown on Sunday, January 24, for this corporate time before God in prayer and some level of fasting. I realize that scheduled events or other matters may not permit you to join us the entire time. This is not some hard-core, legalistic challenge we are placing upon you. You can come in and out of those 21 days as you believe you must or you can create your own 21 days early in 2010, but just seek the Lord about joining us at whatever level possible on this spiritual journey.

This 21-day Spiritual Journey will involve a time of prayer and fasting, with many of our people consuming only water, juice, and broth. It may involve fasting from one meal a day, or for others, having just one meal a day. It could involve a daily meal of only vegetables and not any meat at all. For others, it may not involve a food fast at all, but perhaps a time of fasting from social networking on the Internet, from television, or from whatever you believe is a true sacrifice for you. The list of possibilities is endless, and in December we are going to share these with you.

Additionally, let me be more than clear—any sacrifice is not to be made in and of itself for selfish reasons. The purpose is to spend that extra time before the Lord, making special petitions to Him regarding things you are concerned about.

We are going to lead you to make a special Spirit-led prayer list that you can use in this 21-day period of time. We will lead you to pray for “7” matters before the Lord. Three of these will be personal matters, three we will give you related to our church, and one other one you will create under God’s leadership about our church. Therefore, begin right now to get before God about these things. As we begin seeking Him about those three things for our church, you begin to seek Him about those three personal things He may want you to come before Him about seriously.

Prayer and fasting is God’s gateway to spiritual breakthroughs. We want to see the floodgates of God’s power and Spirit be upon us in 2010. We want you to join us “at whatever level God leads you” in this 21-day journey.

Most weeks in January and February, I will be doing a series from the Old Testament book of Joel. God put this on my heart last summer, and I have waited until this moment in 2010 to do it. Friends, God is up to something. We must prepare. The time is now. Even now, we must rise up in a new way as God’s people.

You will begin to hear about this more throughout the entire month of December. Just begin to see how God is speaking to you about your role in this 21-day journey. More to come on this soon.

Last night at our Pinnacle Hills Campus, we experienced the blessing of worship. Under the leadership of Josh Stanbery, along with the choir and band, we experienced a powerful night of dynamic worship and praise. The house was almost full on a Sunday night with at least a couple of thousand people on campus, even on a rainy cold night. However, in that room, our hearts were moved towards Jesus Christ. Thank God for the blessing of worship.

Centered in worship is Jesus, our Lord, and His Word, what we call the Bible. If we evaluate what we experienced last night, it was all Jesus and was based upon the Word of God. Scripture upon Scripture was quoted and read, Jesus lifted up again and again. Praise God for a Bible-based, Jesus-exalting Christmas night of worship.

As we look towards next Sunday, let me invite you to worship on both of our campuses next Sunday morning. We offer four choices of worship services. Additionally, we will offer two Christmas programs that afternoon and evening, one at 3:00 p.m. and another at 6:00 p.m. Those programs will be on our Springdale Campus.

May this week be a week of true worship: Bible-based and Jesus-centered!

Let’s exalt Jesus this week.

What an incredible week it has been. Last Sunday was a holiday Sunday, which always makes church different. It was a blessed day as we dedicated many parents and new babies to the Lord. Following those moments, I concluded a series on Romans 8.

Following all of our Sunday morning services, I rushed home, packed, and headed to the airport to get to Atlanta for our Great Commission Resurgence Task Force meetings. After arriving on Sunday night and beginning final preparations for those meetings on Monday morning, we met as a group for 10 hours on Monday and an additional 6 hours on Tuesday before we dismissed. Following those moments, I entered into another meeting on some other GCR matters.

Mid-afternoon on Tuesday, I entered the airport to fly to Orlando for a gathering for pastors. I spoke to them late last Tuesday night about the Great Commission, listened to them, and answered their questions. After getting back to the room after midnight, I attempted to rest for a few hours.

Yesterday morning, I went to catch a flight home. I was supposed to arrive home by noon, but arrived home at 6:00 p.m. Oh my, what a long day. It took about twelve hours to get home due to weather and delays in Atlanta. Of course, I took every opportunity to deal with church matters in my time at the airport. I had plenty of time, no doubt!

Last night I had to spend time catching up and today, the day is very full. We have a great Summit lined up today and 700 people who will be here. Beyond that, we have much to do. So pray for us.

This Sunday will be a great day ALL day. You will be blessed. Plan to join us as well on Sunday night at Pinnacle Hills for a great night of Christmas music and worship. I will see you Sunday.

Let’s make it count!

Take a look at this article from bpnews.net. (source)

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GCR Task Force making ‘enormous progress,’ chairman Floyd says

Posted on Dec 1, 2009 | by Mark Kelly ATLANTA (BP)–The Great Commission Resurgence Task Force made excellent progress in its Nov. 30-Dec. 1 meeting in Atlanta and plans to present a substantial report during the February meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee in Nashville, Tenn., task force chairman Ronnie Floyd said.

“We made great, enormous progress today,” Floyd told Baptist Press after adjourning the meeting, which was held in the Renaissance Hotel near Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport. “We’re wrestling; we’re going through it. But the group has been great. Yesterday and today we ended with tremendous oneness, tremendous togetherness.”

The 23-member task force heard reports from North American Mission Board leadership; Ed Stetzer, director of LifeWay Research; and Morris H. Chapman, president of the SBC Executive Committee, Floyd said. The NAMB updates came from trustee chairman Tim Patterson; interim president Richard Harris; and Ted Traylor, chairman of the board’s presidential search committee and GCR task force member.

That report was followed later in the day by Stetzer’s presentation, which focused on church planting in North America. Stetzer had been co-chairman of a 24-member task force appointed by NAMB’s then-president, Geoff Hammond, to “take a fresh look at how Southern Baptists should look at the Great Commission in times such as these” but that group dissolved after Hammond’s resignation Aug. 11. After Stetzer completed the report, task force members discussed issues related to NAMB until they adjourned just before 11 p.m. Monday.

The Tuesday morning session opened with an address from the Executive Committee’s Chapman, Floyd said.

“Dr. Chapman spoke to us about the status of the Executive Committee, what was on his heart, and then talked to us about some future thoughts about the SBC,” Floyd explained. “Then we had a question and answer time with him. The rest of our day was talking about how to reach North America, the role of some of our denominational entities in that. We talked some, obviously, about the Executive Committee because Dr. Chapman had given us a report about the Executive Committee.”

Chapman announced Sept. 21 that he will retire Sept. 30, 2010, after 18 years in the position.

Task force members engaged in “a lot of open dialogue” during their meeting, Floyd said.

“It was lively but never in the wrong spirit, by any means,” Floyd said. “It’s all about passion. There’s passion about touching this nation. We want to reach North America for Christ; we want to see the world come to Christ. We believe God has given us the commission — to our churches — and our convention’s role is to come alongside our churches to help them fulfill the Great Commission that was given to the churches. We want to see our convention serve our churches in a greater capacity, to help them do the commission Jesus has given them.”

The issues before the task force are serious but not a matter of “good versus bad,” Floyd added.

“We’re wrestling through issues. These are not easy issues,” he said. “I’m not sure there are any that are bad versus good, but good versus what’s best to accomplish the vision of presenting the Gospel to every person in the world and making disciples of all the nations.

“We’ve been asked and charged by the Southern Baptist Convention to find ways, to bring recommendations concerning how we can more faithfully and effectively fulfill the Great Commission together as Southern Baptists,” Floyd added. “That’s what our heart is, to try to do that together.”

Floyd said the task force has notified Chapman’s office that they intend to present a substantial report to the Feb. 22-23 Executive Committee meeting in Nashville.

“We’re pretty committed that’s when we’re going to have our coming-out party,” Floyd said. “Will we be bringing a once and for all final report? … No, I don’t think we’re going to be able to get there at that point. Our goal would be to get what I would call the body of the report — the things that would require cooperation and understanding of why we are doing what we want to do and this is what we want to do and how do we get there.”

Prior to that February meeting, the task force plans to work on its report through a process of conference calls and e-mails, in addition to a Jan. 26-28 meeting at the Hotel Contessa in San Antonio, Texas, Floyd said. “And we may have to do something after that,” he added.

Floyd expressed particular gratitude for the 5,800 people who have visited pray4gcr.com to register their intention to pray daily for the work of the task force.

“I want to thank all the people who have prayed for us,” he said. I’ve gotten loads of e-mails from people saying, ‘Praying for you.’ We’re really appreciative.”

The task force also was grieving with member Frank Page, whose 32-year-old daughter, Melissa Page Strange, died Nov. 27, Floyd said.

“We were deeply concerned for Frank Page and his family. Our hearts are broken over that,” Floyd said. “The whole GCR team is really grieving with him, praying with him, trying to stay in touch with him. We started off our meeting praying for their family because it started just moments after the funeral had concluded.”

Page attended the Dec. 1 task force session, following the Nov. 30 funeral at First Baptist Church in Taylors, S.C., where Page was pastor until being named as vice president of the evangelization group at the North American Mission Board.
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Mark Kelly is an assistant editor with Baptist Press.

On Monday and Tuesday of this week, our Great Commission Resurgence Task Force is meeting in Atlanta, Georgia. This meeting is one of the most critical meetings to this point in our process. We are no longer just gathering the needed information, but we are now making critical decisions. Therefore, we need your prayer support more than ever before.

Our meeting is beginning today at 1:00 p.m. and will conclude on Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. Last week we had a conference call together. We were ministered to by three great men of God – Henry Blackaby, Avery Willis, and T. W. Hunt. It was our desire to spend some time together listening to testimonies of what God is doing in America and around the world. Additionally, we wanted these men of God to pray for us. Our time together with them was insightful and encouraging.

Our GCR Task Force is praying for our fellow-member, Dr. Frank Page, and his wife, Dayle, in the loss of their 32-year-old daughter, Melissa. We cannot imagine the depths of their loss, but we are grieving with them and praying for them. Please join our task force in praying for them. We commit them to our Sovereign God who is the only One able to sustain them at this time.

Our GCR Task Force is also praying for Dr. Johnny Hunt, President of the Southern Baptist Convention, as he moves towards making decisions regarding his recent diagnosis of having prostate cancer. Dr. Hunt is seeking much medical counsel in the month of December and will probably have surgery in early January. Please pray for him to know God’s will, but ultimately for God to heal him.

Finally, please know we are working very diligently. We are progressing in our process and hopeful that God is going to unite us around a compelling vision for the future. Therefore, I appeal to each of you, please spend some time praying for us in a special way on Monday and Tuesday. Gather others to pray for us. Involve the prayer ministries of your church to pray for us. Our heart is to present the gospel of Jesus Christ to every person in the world and make disciples of all the nations. Please pray for us to know and see how God wants us to do this as a convention of churches.

Dr. Ronnie W. Floyd, Chairman
Great Commission Resurgence Task Force of the Southern Baptist Convention

This past Thursday, Beckham Grant Floyd was born into our family as the son of Nick and Meredith. He was 8lbs 7oz and 21 and one-half inches long. He is one big guy, a “little man,” but one great baby. We are so blessed to have this gift from God in our lives.

It is hard to believe that Jeana and I have four grandchildren, age four and down. Wow! Plus we have another child on the way. What an amazing and blessed life. The children add life to our years, and we are just absolutely blessed.

I hope you enjoy the pictures of Beckham. Pray for him to change the world for Jesus Christ.

Detail: an individual feature, fact, or item; item by item, the particulars of something. The handling of details is so important to life, family, business, and future. Usually to the level of insuring the details are cared for is the level of success or progress of someone or something.

I remember hearing one Super Bowl winning coach say, “Championships are in the details.” Without question, he is right. The way we determine to handle the “little things of life” will determine how high we climb or how far we go.

Yes, most would say, “I don’t like details,” and without question, they will wear you out at times. Yet, one cannot escape the reality of life – details have to receive our attention. A simple nod towards them is not enough. They have to be handled, cared for, and valued in your life, family, business, and future. Not paying attention to them does not make them go away. If we ignore them, then be assured, the devil will get in the details.

By no means am I an expert in this field, but these things I know:

Value the details in your life or else your life may lose some value.