Understanding Proverbs
Our church started a summer study of the book of Proverbs this week. It’s one of my favorite books of the Bible. I read it every day. This book is worth a lifetime of study and reading. It’s a lot like hard candy. Takes a while to digest. Many people have suggested reading one chapter a day. With 31 chapters, you can finish the book in one month. Billy Graham suggested reading five chapters of Psalms and one chapter of Proverbs daily. He said Psalms will help you prepare to relate with God. Proverbs will help you prepare to relate to man.
Three things I love about Proverbs:
1) Wisdom Literature
Proverbs is part of a genre in scripture we call Wisdom Literature. The books of the Bible in this category are Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs. These books call us to righteousness, justice, godliness, and true worship of God, and give us tons of wise sayings to live by.
A proverb is defined as a general observation about how things are or how to live in God’s will. Wisdom literature and especially the book of Proverbs are full of wise, memorable sayings. They are worth memorizing and meditating on every day.
2) A Letter from Dad
Two words started jumping off the pages at me when reading Proverbs as an adult – “My son…” This book is a letter from a Dad to his sons. Knowing this makes it a very personal book. It can serve as an important tool in the toolbox for any parents seeking to raise wise and godly children.
3) Listening to the Wisest Wealthiest Man Who Ever Lived
What would you get if you crossed a Saudi Arabian prince, the President of the United States, Socrates, and Mickey Mouse? The wealthiest, most politically powerful, wisest, and most famous person in the world. That describes King Solomon. Proverbs and Ecclesiastes allow us to listen to this God-given wisdom as he seeks to guide his future generations and share lessons learned from a life building the greatest kingdom on earth in his time.
Unfortunately, Solomon didn’t always live wisely. He pursued pleasure, treasure, selfishness, and other things. His life serves as a parable as well as provides the wisdom of Proverbs. Get to know Solomon through 1 and 2 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes.
Follow along with Bridge Church’s trek through Proverbs this summer HERE.
“If a friend is in trouble, don’t annoy him by asking if there is anything you can do. Think up something appropriate and do it.”
—Edgar Watson Howe
The Power of Multiplication – Who’s Your One?
What would be better? To preach to 100,000 people everyday or make 1 disciple who will make another disciple who will make another disciple who will make another disciple?
What if we dropped a “1” in front or a “0” at the end?
“If God be your partner, make your plans large.” – D.L. Moody
One fun exercise to enlarge your plans is to ask, “What would we do if we wanted to drop a 1 in front or a zero on the end?”
A new church has 35 adults attending small groups. “What would we do if we wanted to put a 1 in front of that and make it 135?” or “What would we do if we wanted to drop a zero at the end and make it 350?”
Jesus stretched the disciples’ thinking in this way when 5,000 plus hungry people were gathered listening to His teaching. They pointed out the need for food and Jesus said to the disciples, “You give them something to eat.” They had two fish and five loaves at that point. Jesus basically said, “What if we put a few zeros on the end of that?” or “What if we put a five in front of that?” Jesus blessed what was provided and God gave a great increase.
Big thinking is not something I’m always guilty of. It’s easier to look at the decline around us and downgrade our plans for the church. It’s less emotionally draining to plan small and not be disappointed. But thinking big, and having great faith is a lot more fun. And bears more fruit because of obedience in the end. Think big. Plan big. Expect God to bring the increase.
Send No Man’s Land
No Man’s Land was a strip of ungoverned land between Louisiana and Texas at the time of the Louisiana Purchase. Today, it makes up Allen, Beauregard, DeSoto, Calcasieu, Natchitoches, Sabine, and Vernon Parishes. The first Baptist and Evangelical churches in Louisiana were planted in this territory in the early 1800’s. At least 40 by Joseph Willis.
How are we doing at reaching No Man’s Land today?
- 411,316 people live in these parishes today.
- 39% are Evangelicals
- 39% are None’s (164k people)
- 16% are Roman Catholic
- 4% are Mainline
- 1.5% are members of Cults or Other Religions
- At least 255k people in No Man’s Land do not have a personal relationship with Christ.
SBC/LBC Churches:
- 269 SBC/LBC Churches in No Man’s Land. 1 church for approximately every 1,500 residents.
- 5% of the population attended an SBC Church in 2023. (a little over 21k people).
- 12% are resident members of an SBC Church in 2023.
- 104 out of 269 SBC LBC Churches in No Man’s Land baptized zero in 2023.
Happenings:
- Lake Charles will continue to grow with LNG and other industry development
- Beauregard Parish is growing due to environmental migration after Hurricane Laura.
- Fort Johnson in Leesville continues to be a strategic location for military readiness with a base population around 30k.
- Church Planters, Replanters, Partners are needed to reach No Man’s Land.
Pray for these Planters, planting churches in No Man’s Land:
- Jason Nolde, Branded for Christ Cowboy Church in Leesville.
- Anthony Eaves, The Way Church in Rosepine.
- Bubba Sharpton, First North Church in DeRidder.
The 7 Realities of Experiencing God
Woke up to the news that Henry Blackaby passed away. What an incredible influence he had on a generation. His 7 Realities are so simple and profound. Worth review on this day and every day.
- God is always at work around you.
- God pursues a continuing love relationship with you that is real and personal.
- God invites you to become involved with Him in His work.
- God speaks by the Holy Spiritthrough the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church.
- God’s invitation for you to work with Him always leads you to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action.
- You must make major adjustments in your life to join God in what He is doing.
- You come to know God by experience as you obey Him and He accomplishes His work through you.
Useful Things This Week
- Mind Pumps MAPS Programs – I’ve been running MAPS Workout Programs for almost a year now. Decided to try weightlifting after giving up running due to arthritis in my feet. I’ve completed MAPS 15, MAPS Anabolic, MAPS Performance, MAPS Aesthetic, and now working through MAPS Strong. Mostly 12-week programs that change it up enough to keep it interesting. And programmed well, so there is very little soreness or joint pain. Feeling stronger.
- Bible Memory App – 2,037 straight days of using the Bible Memory App. I picked it up years ago to reboot scripture memory as a habit and it has been a great tool and companion. I now have over 2,000 verses mastered in the app. I review those scheduled for review every morning and evening. And I review those I read during my regular Bible Reading time every morning. Memorizing the word aids in witnessing, preaching, and meditating. I’ve written about how to get started with the Bible Memory App HERE. And about why and how of Scripture Memory HERE. Get a discount off the Pro Version HERE.
- Masters of the Air – Loving Spielberg’s latest WW2 series about the B-17 Bombers in Europe. New episodes every Friday.
- The Importance of Children’s and Student Ministry: 72% of Evangelicals came to faith before adulthood. We must prioritize Kids and Student Ministry. It’s not just a way to get more people in church. It’s THE way to reach the nation.
- NewChurches.com Preaching Masterclass – Starting the masterclass with our church’s Preaching Collaborative. Short vids with discussion guides. Looking forward to getting sharper in this area of my life and ministry.
What are you finding useful in life and ministry right now?
Reaching Rural Louisiana
This week we hosted Kyle Bueermann from NAMB’s Rural Replanting Team. Some great resources are available through this team. Check out: https://replanthub.com/ (register for free and gain access to an incredible library of resources). Also: https://www.namb.net/church-replanting.
The Rural Pastor Podcast with Andy Addis is really good –https://theruralpastor.com/. (Look it up wherever you get podcasts).
Rural Louisiana:
- 40 of Louisiana’s 64 Parishes are considered Rural by the Dept. of Health.
- 29% of Louisiana’s Population live in these 40 Parishes.
- 52% of our Louisiana Baptist Churches are in these 40 Parishes.
- We have 12 towns in these parishes with no SBC church.
- New churches are definitely needed in at least 3 of these parishes.
- Replanting is needed in most of them.
There are significant transitions and struggles happening for many of these churches.
- Declining Populations (45 of 64 parishes lost population over the last 10 years).
- The need for Bivocational Pastors with fewer jobs available in these areas.
- AND some are growing and stand to grow through Urban and Suburban spread, changing the culture in the area, which churches have to transition to as well.
Lots of great opportunities for meaningful ministry in Rural Louisiana. Partners, Planters, Replanters, Pastors needed.
Report: Baptisms Rebound in Louisiana
Last week Lifeway Research released a report on Baptisms and other stats across the Southern Baptist Convention. Find it HERE. How does Louisiana’s data fit into that picture?
Louisiana Baptist churches reported 8,120 baptisms in 2022. That’s a 21% increase from 2021 to 2022. And a 44% increase from 2020 to 2022. Up from 5,637. Still a long way from a high of 16,187 in 1994. A steep drop started in 2016, the last year above 10,000 baptisms in our reported history.
38% of Louisiana Baptist churches that reported in 2022 had zero baptisms. 35% baptized 1-5 people, while 10% saw six to nine baptisms. 16% reported at least 10 baptisms.
Newer churches are not as evangelistic as they once were. This is something I’ve written about before HERE. Church’s founded before 2000, averaged 7.5 baptisms per church. Those founded between 1950 and 1999, baptized 8.3 per church. Those founded from 1900 to 1949 baptized 9.2 per church. And those founded pre-1900 averaged 5.3 baptisms per church.
If you’re concerned, you can do something about low baptism numbers today! SHARE THE GOSPEL. Here is three questions and a to do list for increasing baptisms in short order:
Question: Do we have a list of potential candidates?
1. Look over our church directory and circle the names of people that I know have not been baptized or that I’m not sure have been baptized.
2. Make appointments with at least one of these each day, until everyone circled has been challenged to consider where they are in their journey toward Christ.
3. Plan a sermon on Baptism where everyone will be challenged to follow and obey Christ with the opportunity to respond.
Question: Are we making Evangelistic Contacts?
4. Pray for open doors to share the gospel.
5. Plan a time today and at least three times each week, to intentionally interact with people that are far from God.
6. Put at least three outreach events on the calendar between now and the end of the year that are sure to engage people who are far from God. Get names, pray, follow up.
Question: Are we developing an Evangelistic Culture in our Church?
7. Plan at least one evangelism training for the entire church between now and the end of the year.
8. Put on the calendar at least one monthly special prayer time for lost and unchurched people in our community.
9. Challenge our church leaders by email and in person to right down the names of five people that they know who need Christ. If they don’t know five people, challenge them to get to know five people who need Christ.
Goal-Setting in Priority Areas
Seven priority ares for goal setting in the new year:
- Devo/Prayer – Daily prayer and Bible engagement.
- Share the Gospel – Initiating and engaging in spiritual conversations that lead to sharing all or part of the gospel.
- Encourage Others – Giving others courage through words and actions.
- Strengthen the Church – Using my gifts, time, and resources to build up the people of God wherever they are gathered.
- Fight for Focus – Pursue healthy bodily habits to bring the most glory to God for the longest time possible.
- Build Lifelong Love – Be a faithful husband, father, friend.
- Give God the Glory – Recognizing that everything comes from God and is meant for his glory.
