Our 2011 Church Triumphant Conference

  

  Monday and Tuesday, October 17 & 18, we conducted our annual Church Triumphant Conference at the First Baptist Church of Bridgeport.  I believe the Lord gave us the best meeting we have ever had. While it is not the purpose of this blog to promote me or my ministry but rather to be a help to others, perhaps I may be permitted to suggest that anyone wishing to enjoy the sessions can find them free on our church website:  2fbc.com. 

  It was, by the grace of God, a great meeting. Dr. Paul Chappell delivered a very helpful session on the marks of a healthy church and preached a powerful sermon Tuesday night from Philippians 2.  It focused in on what the ministry is supposed to be.  Bro. Mike Lester gave an excellent session on the history and preservation of our King James Bible.  Other helpful, instructive, and encouraging sessions were taught by Mrs. Kathy Jackson (a ladies’ session on Tuesday morning), Bro. Benjamin Burks of Reformers Unanimous, and three of our staff members:  Bro. Scott Cowling, Bro. J. D. Howell and Bro. Aaron Wilson. 

Here are a few things that particularly encouraged me about the meeting:

• I was encouraged by the spirit of those attending. Though many of them are going through difficult times and carrying heavy burdens, the preachers and their wives who attended were happy, excited, open, and ready to be blessed.  From the moment they walked in the door, people had a sense of expectancy. They did not come to inspect or critique but rather to be helped and uplifted.
• I was encouraged by the stand of those attending.  My main message to my preacher brethren is “You can still do it, and you don’t have to compromise.”  While there were many sessions in our meeting that were designed to teach practical, Bible-based methods of reaching people with the Gospel and of helping the people God has already given us, there were those sessions that took a clear stand against compromise, for the King James Bible and against the encroachment of the world in our churches.  There was no spirit of rebellion, resistance, or argument. There was a strong agreement on the part of those who came that we need to take a firm stand for righteousness in these difficult days.
• I was encouraged by the age of those attending.  Many of us have had the experience of attending a preacher’s meeting where walkers and wheelchairs are more common than strollers and car seats. I was very pleased at the number of young preachers who came to our meeting. I would guess that the median age of our delegates was somewhere from the early to mid-thirties. While at the age of 59, I certainly appreciate those who have stayed in the ministry for a long time. I’m not about to begin disparaging that about which I am soon to become!  And yet, the older I get, the more I recognize the value of investing in the lives of young men who will carry on the work of God long after I have gone to Heaven. I was thrilled to see so many sharp, eager, sound young men at this conference.
• I was encouraged by the ministries of those attending. There is much wonderful work is being done in independent, fundamental Baptist churches. These men are winning souls, discipling converts, and building churches in their areas.
• I was encouraged by the burden of those attending. There was a desire to do something for God, an eagerness to learn how to better accomplish God’s purpose for our lives, and an open heart and spirit to receive any instruction from the Word of God that could help these pastors better advance His cause.

  I am often asked about the condition of Fundamentalism. I always answer in the affirmative! While it is true that some of the works and ministries to which we have looked for years are fading, it is equally true but far less noticed that many wonderful, strong, new works are being built.  We have some great newer colleges, some excellent books being published, and some tremendous young men of God who are building sound, separated, soulwinning, fundamental Baptist churches to the glory of God. 

  If the Calvinists seem to be getting a foothold in some of our churches, be assured, it is only temporary. Calvinists produce very few offspring. All we have to do is keep having spiritual babies and training them in the Word of God. If the contemporary church seems to attract some of our weaker members, while we should grieve over their loss, we should not be alarmed.  The contemporary church loses 96% of their young people. A frothy, feel-good message with little or no Scriptural foundation will not meet the real needs of 21^st Century Americans.  In the years to come, our fundamental Baptist churches will be winning people to Christ from those churches as we have been winning them from the mainline denominations for many years.

  Things are not perfect; much can be improved. But praise God, much is being done and I am greatly encouraged at what I see happening for the cause of Christ across the country . . . for what it’s worth.