Thank you again for the moments and days you prayed for us this past year. God has worked among us and now we are coming together in love for the sake of the Gospel. June 15 was not the end, but just the beginning. Please share with your church the challenges that are relevant to our churches. In fact, a PDF can be downloaded here and you can print these challenges for your people as an insert on an upcoming Sunday. For our SBC entities and state conventions, we hope you are praying through the challenges relevant to you. The link to the five minute video of the GCR Highlights on June 15 is: http://vimeo.com/13371234.

Finally, we need to pray for our SBC entities and their trustees that have to work through the actions of the convention that were taken on June 15. Additionally, please pray for our new President, Bryant Wright, and I hope you will visit his website at pray4sbc.com. We have much to do, so let’s get it done for the glory of God. We must be busy about presenting the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every person in the world and making disciples of all the nations.

1,000 Thank Yous For Praying For Us,

As the GCR presentation is made on Tuesday at 2:45 p.m. (EST) and the messengers have an opportunity to discuss and determine the destination of the seven recommendations of the GCR Task Force, we are trusting God for His will to be done.  We believe Southern Baptists desire greatly to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every person in the world and make disciples of all the nations. Wouldn’t it be great if in our time of sharing about Christ’s Commission to our church, His Spirit just fell upon us and we were all enveloped in His presence? From that point and place, we will experience a Great Commission Resurgence.

As we enter these final hours would you remember to pray for our seven points of prayer?  Please use this guide in these final hours:

SEVEN POINTS OF PRAYER for the GREAT COMMISSION RESURGENCE Task Force and the 2010 Southern Baptist Convention

On Tuesday, June 15, from 2:45 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. (EST), the Southern Baptist Convention will make its decision on the report and recommendations of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force.

In order to prepare for this spiritually, we are inviting you to agree with us in prayer over the following “Seven Points of Prayer.”  Please begin praying with us daily all the way through June 16.  Thanks for your faithfulness.

Prayer Point #1:  Pray for the power of the Holy Spirit to be poured out upon us during our time of hearing, discussing, and determining our actions towards this report and recommendations.

Prayer Point #2:  Pray that the messengers of the convention will lay aside all personal and preferential agendas and embrace the will and purpose of God as they hear the formal report and recommendations of the GCR Task Force.

Prayer Point #3:  Pray for the GCR Task Force to make their presentation in the power of the Holy Spirit and to be able to answer any questions and concerns of the messengers, resulting in honor being brought to Jesus Christ.

Prayer Point #4:  Pray for Dr. Johnny Hunt and his presidential message to the Southern Baptist Convention on June 15^th at 11:10 a.m. (EST) and for God to use him among us powerfully.

Prayer Point #5:  Pray for Dr. Ronnie Floyd and his presentation to the Southern Baptist Convention at 2:45 p.m. (EST) as the Chairman of the GCR Task Force and for God to use him among us powerfully.

Prayer Point #6:  Pray for a genuine spiritual revival and awakening to be experienced by the people of God, resulting in a mighty move of God and the resurgence of the Great Commission through each of our lives and churches.

Prayer Point #7:  Pray for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Glory of God to extend to all the nations and people groups of the world.

Pray daily:  “May they all be one as You, Father, are in Me and I am in You.  May they also be one in Us, so the world may believe You sent Me.” (John 17:21)
Please pray through these personally and gather in groups to pray.  May we come together in love for the sake of the Gospel.  May the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Glory of God be extended to the nations.

1000 Thank Yous for Praying.

Praise

We need to praise the Lord for the number of people who have met Christ and the number of churches that exist in the southern part of the United States. It is incredible that we have millions of Christ-followers engaged in our churches. We do not need to bemoan this, but praise the Lord for it.

It does not matter if they have small attendances or large attendances, whether they sing hymns or choruses, or dress casually or formally. Any emphasis on those things takes away from the God-sized work God has done in the southern part of the United States. It is humbling to know that many of us have been a part of this movement.

Above all, this work is a glory to our Savior. It is also a commendation to the thousands of our churches in the south. As well, it is a tribute to our state conventions that assist churches located in the southern part of the United States.

Reality

We are faced with a grim reality that not only is there lostness in the southern part of North America, but there is a high proportion of lostness outside the southern states. Unreached and underserved regions abound in North America.

Terry Robertson, Executive Director of the Baptist Convention of New York, informed me that in his assigned territory alone where 28 million people dwell, 27 million of them are in need of experiencing new life in Christ. This staggering number is more than the total population in the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Missouri. In 2008, this convention had only 343 churches with a resident membership of 11,931 people.

This story could be repeated over and over again by each leader of our state conventions outside the south. We could talk about San Francisco, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas, Chicago, Montreal, Ontario, Boston, and the list could continue. We could talk about underserved regions like Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana, and that list could go on and on.

However, the story is the same. North America is lost spiritually and something must be done about it.

Access

Due to the great work of our Lord and His people, much of the south has access to the Gospel. Obviously, there are many places in the south that are filled with vast lostness like Miami, New Orleans, Austin, and yes, that list could continue. Lostness does exist in the south; however, access to the Gospel is more probable due to the number of churches present already.

Does this mean that people in the south are less lost than people outside the south? Does this mean we do not need to plant more churches in the south? Absolutely not! Lostness is lostness regardless of where it is, and church planting movements need to occur regardless of geographical location.

The GCR Task Force believes we must create greater access to the Gospel where two-thirds of the population exists in North America. The churches and conventions in the south can work to reach the south with great intensity and intentionality. While they are doing that, we pray they will mobilize and help finance a missional movement to the two-thirds of the North American population. We believe the churches in the south will desire greatly to not only reach their region or state, but the regions of North America where lostness abounds.

Strategic Partnerships

In our final report, we call upon the North American Mission Board to penetrate lostness in partnership with state conventions located in the most unreached and underserved populations of North America. The North American Mission Board can do little to nothing on its own. It needs partners in the Gospel with churches and state conventions. We must work together.

We see these strategic partnerships being integrated. This means that the strategy would be determined through collaboration of all the partners whether they be local churches, local associations, or state conventions. Surely the people who are “the boots on the ground” will have a much better understanding of contextualization than even a missiologist who works in Alpharetta, Georgia. Together they can strategize to penetrate lostness through all kinds of evangelistic strategies and church planting.

We see these strategic partnerships committed to pushing back on lostness. We believe Southern Baptists finance the work of our mission boards because they want to see our churches present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every person in the world and make disciples of all the nations.

We see these strategic partnerships mobilizing and funding both jointly funded and directly funded missionaries. How they are financed is the role of the North American Mission Board, but the GCR Task Force wants our missionaries assigned and committed to one goal – penetrating the lostness of North America.

Who Wins?

When the Gospel goes where the Gospel has never been before, it is a win. Anyone connected to that kind of movement wins.

The churches in the south win because they join on mission to not only reach their own region, but North America and the world. The conventions in the south win because they have the privilege to ask the churches to step up like never before to penetrate not only the lostness of their state, but lostness across North America and the world. Will there be sacrifice? Yes, but that sacrifice is minimized when you are able to be a part of something that is much bigger than you. The reward will be huge here and in eternity.

The churches and state conventions outside of the south win. If the GCR recommendations are adopted, more resources are on the way to help reach those regions and states for Christ. If your church or association or state convention is about reaching lost people and planting Gospel churches, help is on the way!

The biggest winners will be the people who are transformed by the power of Jesus Christ. The biggest winners will be the regions in North America where Gospel churches are planted and then those new Gospel churches plant even more Gospel churches…

Help is on the way!

Orlando is coming into view. With just days until Southern Baptists gather in Orlando, the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force is eager to present our report to the Southern Baptist Convention.

We have been encouraged along the way by the prayers, interest, and support invested by thousands of faithful and visionary Southern Baptists. We were given an incredible charge by the Convention as it met last year in Louisville. The overwhelming vote to establish the Task Force sent a clear signal that Southern Baptists desire greater faithfulness to the Great Commission.

Every word of our report is written with that singular goal in mind. The Task Force was not assigned the task of reviewing the entire work of the Convention and all of its entities. Instead, we concentrated on the areas of work where we felt the most significant and direct Great Commission gains could be found.

Along the way, we were greatly assisted by countless Southern Baptist leaders, pastors, and laypersons. We have been enriched by the opportunity to meet with Southern Baptists on the front lines of ministry and missions, especially those involved in church planting and international missions.

We are thankful for the thousands of Southern Baptists who have been involved in discussing our work and our report. We have learned from all.

Now, as we head toward Orlando, we ask Southern Baptists to enter into a serious time of prayer. Let us pray that messengers to our Convention will be guided by the Holy Spirit, united with a common commitment to Christ, and energized by excitement for the Great Commission. May the nations of the world be on our hearts, and may the commitment of future generations be on our minds as we meet in Orlando.

The Great Commission Resurgence Task Force believes that our seven recommendations form a unified vision that will chart our future together. Therefore, it is our desire to see the recommendations discussed and acted upon together, not separately. However, this will ultimately be determined by the messengers of the convention. We will wholeheartedly support their decision.

We expect an energetic discussion of our report on the floor of the Southern Baptist Convention, but we also hope for a bold embrace of our report. Our greatest hope is to see Southern Baptists leave Orlando with a bolder commitment, a greater excitement, and a clearer vision for Great Commission faithfulness. May God guide us all as we head for Orlando and the important work of the 2010 Southern Baptist Convention.

Let’s Get the Facts On The Table

Fact #1: The Cooperative Program is affirmed and highlighted nine times in this section and communicated overall as being our central and preferred conduit of Great Commission funding.

Fact #2: Bold challenges are provided in this component related to the Cooperative Program such as, “call upon Southern Baptists to give as never before and support the Cooperative Program as never before.” More challenges to our churches and state conventions about the Cooperative Program are given in the final section of our report called “Challenges.”

Fact #3: Eight of the twenty-three members of our Task Force are employed by Southern Baptist related entities, from local associations to state conventions to national convention entities. There is absolutely no way any one of these people would ever entertain being a part of demeaning or attacking or dismantling the Cooperative Program. By the way, neither would the rest of us.

Fact #4: Great Commission Giving does NOT add another type of giving.

Fact #5: Great Commission Giving is a simple change to the Annual Church Profile Report that on last year’s report was called “Total Mission Expenditures.”

Fact #6: Great Commission Giving tightens the reporting that exists presently. The current method is to report whatever designated mission gifts are given, even if those gifts do not go to Southern Baptist mission causes. Southern Baptist mission gifts should be those that apply to Southern Baptist causes only. This proposal will provide an avenue for reporting designated mission gifts that are given to Southern Baptist causes only and would include gifts given to the causes of the Southern Baptist Convention, state conventions and associations.

Fact #7: We are asking you to adopt the following recommendation:

That the messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting in Orlando, Florida, June 15-16, 2010, request the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention to consider recommending to the Southern Baptist Convention the adoption of the language and structure of Great Commission Giving as described in this report in order to enhance and celebrate the Cooperative Program and the generous support of Southern Baptists channeled through their churches. We further request that the boards of trustees of the International Mission Board and North American Mission Board, in consultation with the Woman’s Missionary Union, consider the adoption of the Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong offering goals as outlined in this report.

Can You Not Support This Recommendation?

This recommendation, which is the third recommendation in our report, is all you will be voting on related to Great Commission Giving. It provides an additional year for this to be studied by the Executive Committee of our Convention. This recommendation reflects upon the report when we call upon Southern Baptists to adopt goals of giving no less than $200 million annually through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions and $100 million annually through the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions by 2015.

Do you have any idea what we could do around the world and here in North America in pushing back on lostness if this recommendation is adopted and Southern Baptist churches step up to the call? We believe our churches will step up to follow and finance a compelling vision that calls us to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every person in the world and to make disciples of all the nations.

What Could This Look Like On The Annual Church Profile?

LifeWay Christian Resources has the responsibility of determining the Annual Church Profile. Our churches are requested to complete the Annual Church Profile. In this profile, there is a section where financial data is requested from our churches.

Dr. Thom Rainer, President of LifeWay, has informed us that they are studying the format for the Annual Church Profile. He and I have been in several conversations about this. He is ready to lead LifeWay in whatever needs to be done concerning the Annual Church Profile.

If the Southern Baptist Convention affirms recommendation three in our report, we are suggesting the Annual Church Profile could reflect what we are calling Great Commission Giving. How? I want to show you how we suggest it could look to reflect our priority of the Cooperative Program and Great Commission Giving in comparison to what was on last year’s Annual Church Profile. We are suggesting that we should place the Cooperative Program as our financial priority. Please see what we are suggesting for the future if this recommendation is adopted in comparison to what exists presently.

Suggested Annual Church Profile

1. Cooperative Program
2. Lottie Moon Offering for International Missions
3. Annie Armstrong Offering for North American Missions
4. SBC Designated Mission Gifts (Local Associations, State Conventions, and National Entities)
5. Total Great Commission Giving (Please add #1 through #4.)
6. Undesignated Receipts
7. Designated Receipts
8. Total Receipts (Please add #6 and #7.)

Present Annual Church Profile

• Total Receipts
• Undesignated
• Designated
• Total Mission Expenditures
• Cooperative Program
• Annie Armstrong
• Lottie Moon
• Congregational Debt
• Value of Congregational Debt

As you see, our proposal emphasizes the Cooperative Program and puts the Southern Baptist Convention in a stronger position to penetrate lostness. It is critical that all communication accurately portrays our proposal to insure each messenger is well informed and educated about it. The future of the Southern Baptist Convention is unlimited if we continue to work together to fulfill the Great Commission.

What is really at stake? What is really at stake is the eternal destiny of billions of people who do not know Jesus as Lord and Savior, most of whom have limited or absolutely no access to God’s message of forgiveness and hope about Him.

Revival is the manifested presence of God in our lives. I believe we have a passion to see Him bring a mighty awakening to our land. We cannot minimize this need among us. It is only through God alone that we will ever experience this kind of movement of the Holy Spirit in our generation.

As I have talked to countless pastors, denominational leaders, and laypeople over the course of this past year, each one is quick to say that we must have a mighty move of God among us. There is a growing desperation for this movement to occur.

The Great Commission Resurgence Task Force is very convinced that spiritual revival is the ultimate answer to the challenges we face today. In our Progress Report, we gave a clear call for spiritual revival, yet it seems to have gotten lost or unintentionally ignored in the midst of all the discussion. In our Final Report that will be released on May 3rd, this call will move the challenge into some specific steps of action.

While we position ourselves spiritually and prayerfully pursue Jesus about it, we must at the same time take action to fulfill the Great Commission now. We will see a mighty move of God occur when we risk it all to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every person in the world and make disciples of all the nations. Nothing will ignite this spiritual revival and serve as a catalyst to it occurring anymore than obedience to fulfilling the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. Now is the time for all of us to act on the Great Commission. We must be willing to risk it all for Jesus’ message to go throughout America and the world.

This next great movement of God we are praying for will look something like the following:

If My people, which are called by My name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways; then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)

Since 2 Chronicles 7:14 is clear, we know the next great move of God will not occur where pride, prayerlessness, distractedness, and an unrepentant heart exists. If these serve as our choices for the way we do life and ministry, then nothing will change anywhere in life and ministry.

This is not what any of us desire. We want to see and be a part of a generation-shaping movement of God that looks like 2 Chronicles 7:14. Let’s heed the call of the Holy Spirit personally and call our churches to do the same collectively.

While we can position ourselves to experience spiritual revival, we need to remember that spiritual revival is a sovereign act of God towards His people. Therefore, may 2010 be when the mercy drops from our Sovereign Lord and falls upon us.

Would you stop at this moment and pray these words right now:

“Oh Lord, let revival begin in me today. Let it begin in my church today. Let it begin in our Southern Baptist Convention today. Let us experience a generation-shaping movement of God. Give us the desire, the power, and the resources to take the Gospel to places where the Gospel has never been before in America and across the entire world. Give us a genuine movement of the Spirit that leads to seeing a Great Commission Resurgence in our generation. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

We had a great time of honest and substantial conversation about our common concerns and, even more importantly, our common commitment to the Great Commission. These were serious men who met together in a great spirit. We talked honestly, heard each other, and made some real progress.

I am tremendously encouraged by the passions and vision of these men, and they were extremely helpful to us in clarifying our aims and moving to a set of recommendations that will get us to Orlando together. We spent most of our time talking about the issues that have been of greatest concern and interest to the state conventions. These guys believe in their state conventions and their work for the Great Commission, and we do too. They want to see the world reached for Christ, as we do too. On that common ground we made real progress.

When I presented the interim report of our task force back in February, I said that we wanted to hear from Southern Baptists as we worked toward our final report. I meant what I said, and I am so thankful to the many Southern Baptists who are helping us think and work through these crucial issues.  These state convention leaders were generous with their time and so honest in their thoughts. We are determined to get to Orlando together in a way that unifies Southern Baptists and propels us toward greater faithfulness at every level of our Baptist work.

I tried to bring together representative state leaders from various regions of the country and representative members of the GCR Task Force to foster this important conversation. In addition to President Johnny Hunt, participants included:

GCR Task Force Members
Dr. Ronnie Floyd, Chairman of the GCR Task Force
Dr. David Dockery
Dr. Jim Richards
Dr. Ted Traylor
Dr. Robert White
Dr. Ken Whitten
Dr. Albert Mohler

Executive Directors
Dr. Rick Lance, Alabama
Dr. John Sullivan, Florida
Dr. Anthony Jordan, Oklahoma
Dr. Bill Crews, Northwest Baptist Convention
Dr. Stephen Davis, Indiana
Dr. Jim Futral, Mississippi
Dr. David Hankins, Louisiana
Dr. Terry Robertson, New York

It’s time to answer the call. The GCR is an incredible vision.  Thousands of Southern Baptists can rally behind our missional vision that expresses a desire to “present the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every person in the world and to make disciples of all the nations.”  However, if we don’t answer the call, the GCR will only go so far.  Take the proposed changes for The North American Mission Board.  What an incredible vision it is to see that 50% of their budget from now on (if accepted and acted upon) will go directly to church planting.  But what is the vision worth if there are not capable, passionate young pastors ready to answer the call to reach the cities and under-served regions of our country?  The same is true for the proposed changes to the International Mission Board.  If there aren’t young pastors and families willing to forsake all for the cause of Christ in missions, who cares that the IMB may get an extra 1% of all SBC CP dollars  and the freedom to reach unreached people groups in the United States?  In other words, the GCR needs you.  The movement will soon die without young pastors who will take the torch of the Gospel and run to the darkest places of this earth.  It’s time for you and your family to answer the call.

It’s time to get involved. Our convention is structured in such a way that the people who show up are the people who get a say.  If we want to influence where our money goes, ensure our entities are fulfilling the Great Commission, and have a say in other details, then we have to show up and get involved.  Come to the convention in Orlando.  Bring 10 messengers from your church.  Vote for the GCR for the sake of the nations.  Call your state convention, NAMB, or the IMB and talk about ways they can assist your church in fulfilling the Gospel mission.

It’s time to drop the cynicism. The time of sideline coaching has passed. You may say, “Well I don’t like the way things are.”  Then do something about it.  “Well I hate politics.”  Then don’t be political.  The negativity and cynicism are not helpful or needed.  The GCR is nothing about denominational politics and it’s certainly not about keeping things status quo.  This is a movement bringing change.  I’ve described last year’s convention to people in this way.  There were no long arguments about issues that weren’t important.  It was as if the majority of the convention said, “Forget all this.  Let’s go for the Gospel,” and the GCR motion was overwhelmingly approved and the movement spread.

It’s time to risk it all. David Platt said something to the effect of “Let’s risk it all” in his message to the SBC last June.  This is really a message for young pastors and all pastors in general related to the GCR.  Is the Great Commission Resurgence really worth the risk?  Is it really worth spending money to be involved with various meetings and events of the SBC?  Is it really worth our time to discuss complex issues within our denomination to try to make us more effective?  The answer is yes.  The answer is not yes because of the Great Commission Resurgence movement.  The answer is yes because I believe the Southern Baptist Convention is the most capable force for missions and the Gospel in the world.  More than anything the answer is yes because the Gospel is worth it all.  It’s worth the money, it’s worth the inconvenience, it’s worth the time, it’s worth our most valiant efforts.  Let’s risk all this for the cause of the Gospel going forth and the nations being brought to Jesus.  What if God used a group like us to finish the task?  That’s worth the risk.