Rankin announces retirement

9/16/2009

By Michael Logan

Jacksonville, Fla. (BP)—IMB President Jerry Rankin announced today he will retire July 31, 2010, ending a 17-year tenure marked by sweeping organizational changes and a steady personal calling.

“Everything I have done has been driven by an unequivocal sense of a call to missions, to make my life count and to make the greatest impact possible on reaching a lost world for Jesus Christ,” Rankin said.

Rankin told IMB (International Mission Board) trustees during his report at their Sept. 15-16 meeting in Jacksonville, Fla., that his presidency should not be judged for the accomplishments of the organization under his leadership but for how the organization is poised for the future.

“For the second time in my tenure we are implementing a radical paradigm shift in organization and strategy,” he said. “This is not because of past failure and ineffectiveness but a vision of the changes needed to ensure relevance and effectiveness in the future.”

Such sentiments are consistent to Rankin’s approach in leading the 163-year-old organization. Early in his administration Rankin began placing a greater emphasis on the work remaining in world evangelization rather than on what had been accomplished.

“It’s not … our size or annual statistical report that should drive us,” he said. “We need to be driven by a vision to bring all peoples to a saving faith in Christ and what it takes to get there.”

Yet there has always been a need to track progress. When Rankin took over leadership of the IMB in 1993, the Southern Baptist mission organization saw nearly 4,000 missionaries help start more than 2,000 churches in 142 countries. Last year more than 5,500 IMB missionaries helped plant nearly 27,000 churches and engage 101 new people groups for a total of 1,190 engaged people groups.

The move from tracking countries to focusing on people groups reveals another area where Rankin worked to change the IMB. Country counts faded during the past 10 years as the organization shifted to finding the best ways to engage new people groups and population centers.

“I think moving us to a people group focus helped us learn to innovate,” he said. “But probably the most radical innovation of all has been the process of moving us to a mobilization perspective.”

Such a shift has not been easy. He has pursued it almost his entire tenure.

“To mobilize and involve churches and Southern Baptists rather than our doing missions on behalf of Southern Baptists is an innovation that we have been pursuing for the past 12 years. The whole mobilization perspective is where we are going. That’s the hope of the future of missions,” he concluded.

Rankin has not always been so confident of the future. He was surprised and overwhelmed when a 15-member trustee search committee asked him to become the IMB’s next leader in 1993.

“I felt so inadequate to the task. And I certainly didn’t come with a vision of ‘Here’s my agenda. Here’s how we are going to reach the whole world.’ But it was one of, ‘OK, Lord, I’m your servant. I’m available. What do you want to do through the IMB?’”

Rankin and his wife, the former Bobbye Simmons, were appointed missionaries to Indonesia in June 1970. They studied language in Bandung, Indonesia, and he served as a general evangelist in two other Indonesian locations.

Rankin also consulted in evangelism and church growth in India, served as associate to the area director for South and Southeast Asia, and then as administrator for mission work in India. He became area director for Southern Asia and the Pacific where he oversaw the work of 480 missionaries in 15 countries.

“I never anticipated that I would move beyond a niche where God had called us to serve as missionaries in Indonesia,” Rankin said.

“It made no sense for a field missionary who had been overseas for 23 years,” Rankin told the trustees, “to be selected over others who were far more qualified and at a peak of controversy regarding control of leadership roles among Southern Baptist Convention entities.

“I had not even attended a Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting until the year prior to my election.

“I reluctantly accepted the role (as president), not out of any desire for status or reputation and certainly not for a denominational administration role, but only to make the greatest impact on reaching a lost world that my life could make. The motivation for accepting this was only that same missionary call that carried us to Indonesia.”

Rankin said that he sees that same sense of call uniting the organization’s leadership teams as well as in the emerging young leaders within the IMB’s staff and missionary force. He said the same spirit of unity rests within the current body of trustees.

“Never in my experience have we had a board of trustees so unified, supportive and sensitive to the spiritual nature of our task,” he said in his report.

Rankin said this common vision is vital as the organization moves into the next phase of its history.

“We have always been a missionary-sending agency with unlimited capacity to send and support the missionaries being called out of our Southern Baptist churches. That is no longer the case as appointments are being restricted and strategies must be changed to more effectively deploy and utilize limited numbers of personnel.

“The next president must deal with economic realities that will not permit us to presume upon unlimited financial resources as we have in the past. Southern Baptists are at a point of crisis in deciding whether to continue a bureaucratic legacy, supporting a comprehensive plethora of ministries and programs, or focus resources on fulfilling the Great Commission.”

Rankin added that the IMB stands on the verge of unprecedented opportunities to complete the task of engaging every nation, people and language with the Gospel.

“We need a leader who can identify with the next generation, one who has credibility to mobilize Southern Baptists, creative vision to implement new strategies and faith to provide the spiritual leadership that will keep us aligned with the mission of a sovereign God.”

-30-


Michael Logan writes for IMB.

Rankin's report to IMB trustees

9/16/2009

Jerry Rankin

While my life is one driven by vision and a constant focus on the future and what could be, when I pause to reflect on the past I realize life’s journey is marked by a sequence of transitions. From high school to college, from college to seminary, from seminary to church ministry and missionary appointment, each change and location is a transition that indelibly marks one’s life with both accomplishments and opportunities for growth. In my own experience these steps were each characterized by challenges, new and enlarged responsibilities, and a deeper resolve to more dedicated service. Each successive role was accompanied by a sense of inadequacy for the task, a greater awareness of the need for God’s strength and guidance, and a renewed devotion to prayer and seeking Him.

Every change was preceded by what I have come to characterize as God stirring my nest. Like the eagle stirring the nest to disrupt the comfort and security of the young eaglets when it is time for them to fly on their own, there has been an inevitable stirring in my heart and life. You know the feeling that precedes a new job offer, the call to a new church or a change of direction vocationally. Sometimes it is a sense of a task or ministry being accomplished, perhaps a changing family situation or a vision for greater significance. Whatever the circumstance, and however God chooses to speak and reveal His will, there is a sense of rightness and divine timing that confirms the change and new direction.

Bobbye and I found that unmistakable when it was time for us to move toward missionary appointment in 1970. The call had come earlier in life. We had been diligent to get the educational preparation needed and were obedient as God led us to gain valuable experience in youth ministry, student work and the pastorate. After nine years in our church planting assignment in Indonesia, the stirring came at the point of moving into a field administrative role, relocating to Bangkok and later to Singapore. Our leadership and influence was later expanded into India and South Asia, and then after 23 years we reluctantly recognized that God was managing the sequence of events that brought me into this role as president of the Foreign Mission Board.

I think all of us would understand and agree that a convicting sense of God’s will and what He would have us to do isn’t always consistent with our personal desires nor is the timing necessarily convenient in terms of personal preferences. But obedience and the willingness to trust God is an exciting pilgrimage of faith as we face the future confident He is leading and His hand is upon us with a providential knowledge of the future.

With these comments and observations, it should come as no surprise to the discerning listener that I am leading to an announcement some have anticipated, others want to deny and defer, and some may celebrate, but one that we all know is inevitable. With conflicting emotions that are running rampant but with absolute confidence this decision comes from God, whom I have always aspired to follow and serve faithfully, the time has come for me to reveal my plans for retirement, effective July 31, 2010.

It will have been 40 years since Bobbye and I were appointed as missionaries. I will have had the privilege of leading the International Mission Board for 17 years, the second longest tenure of any president in the last century. I will be 68 years old and am confident that God has a significant role of ministry and influence for me in the years to come, but I believe the appropriate time has come for a new, younger generation of leadership to guide our global mission efforts into the future.

This final year will enable me to oversee our new structure and organization, to help bring stability to the radical changes being implemented and prepare our staff and missionary personnel for the transition to a new president. I have shared these plans with our chairman, Paul Chitwood, in anticipation a search committee will be appointed and a successor identified before my tenure lapses next summer. It would be my desire that there be a time of overlap and transition with the new president so that a change could be implemented without disruption and loss of momentum.

For those of you who know me, you can be assured that this comes from prolonged and intensive times of prayer and fasting in seeking confirmation of God’s will in this decision as in others throughout my life. Knowing the eventuality of this time was inevitable, it was only a matter of discerning God’s timing. I clearly recognize the danger and debilitating impact on an organization to hold on to a leadership role too long. But neither would I dare lay aside this responsibility prematurely out of preference for my own plans and desires contrary to God’s permission. There have been times when I would have readily relinquished this role and walked away to return to the mission field or a less burdensome responsibility. In times of criticism, misunderstanding and personal attack, I thought, “I don’t have to put up with this.” But inevitably there would come that still, small voice saying, “Yes, you do!” In this role I have discovered God’s faithfulness, experienced the depth of His grace and had the incredible privilege of having an overview of His providence at work around the world.

I do not have any specific plans to announce at this time, but I am confident that retirement with the IMB will not mean a cessation of activity and involvement in serving God for many years into the future. He has blessed us with health, energy and vision, and we anticipate being used in a number of significant roles as we are released to pursue opportunities for speaking, writing, ministry and mission involvement. So why step down at this time? Why not stay on a few years longer? I am confident I have your support and could well do that, except for the fact God has indicated that this is the appropriate time, and we dare not forfeit the future that He has prepared for the IMB and for us in the next stage of life.

Also, while not being factors precipitating this decision, there are a number of trends that confirm it is an appropriate time for new leadership to take the IMB into the next phase of its long and distinguished history. We have always been a missionary-sending agency with unlimited capacity to send and support the missionaries being called out of our Southern Baptist churches. That is no longer the case as appointments are being restricted and strategies must be changed to more effectively deploy and utilize limited numbers of personnel. The next president must deal with economic realities that will not permit us to presume upon unlimited financial resources as we have in the past. Southern Baptists are at a point of crisis in deciding whether to continue a bureaucratic legacy, supporting a comprehensive plethora of ministries and programs, or focus resources on fulfilling the Great Commission. We have already initiated significant efforts in mobilizing church partners in the task of overseas missions, but we are at a crucial stage at which it is imperative that we become a different type of organization — a denominational entity that is not doing missions on behalf of Southern Baptists but is essentially serving and facilitating churches in taking responsibility for the task. But especially, it should be recognized that we stand on the verge of unprecedented opportunities to complete the task of engaging every nation, people and language with the Gospel. We need a leader who can identify with the next generation, one who has credibility to mobilize Southern Baptists, creative vision to implement new strategies and faith to provide the spiritual leadership that will keep us aligned with the mission of a sovereign God.

This is a role and responsibility for which I never aspired and accepted with great reluctance 16 years ago only because it was evident it was of God. It made no sense for a field missionary who had been overseas for 23 years to be selected over others who were far more qualified and at a peak of controversy regarding control of leadership roles among Southern Baptist Convention entities. I had not even attended a Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting until the year prior to my election.

This is not a time to reflect on the factors God used to bring me to this position. Neither is it the appropriate time to review my tenure, acknowledge the many failures and note a few accomplishments. There will be occasions for that later, but there are a couple of relevant perspectives worthy of mentioning at this time.

I quickly gained an increasing appreciation for my predecessors and realized whatever God chose to do in my tenure of leadership was due to the vision and effectiveness of those who have gone before. This realization brought into focus the reality that the mark of my leadership would not be measured by what was accomplished by the IMB during my years as president, but by what the organization was positioned to do in the future. For the second time in my tenure we are implementing a radical paradigm shift in organization and strategy. This is not because of past failure and ineffectiveness but a vision of the changes needed to ensure relevance and effectiveness in the future. I look forward to continuing to lead this transition over the next 10 months to help assure that things are on track and we remain positioned to focus on an unprecedented impact on lostness and global advance in a rapidly changing world and uncertain denominational future.

It has always been my desire to step down from this role in the midst of God’s blessings and while the IMB was riding a wave of effectiveness rather than under a cloud of controversy and discouragement. I could enumerate the many times of being confronted by my own inadequacy and failure. I learned that obedience always must pre-empt personal desires and convenience. Faithfulness does not come without sacrifice. It would be easy to claim some degree of credit and take pride in the growth the IMB has experienced and the global impact we have made, but it has been my desire that no one will be able to identify anything Jerry Rankin has done. It will simply be recognized that I had the privilege of filling a necessary role and bearing a title when God chose to work among us!

Books on management say that one mark of successful leadership is nurturing a successor. Unfortunately, I don’t have that prerogative. However, we have in place a stable and extraordinarily capable executive leadership team along with a vast network of new, younger leaders throughout our staff and around the world devoted to carrying out our mission. Never in my experience have we had a board of trustees so unified, supportive and sensitive to the spiritual nature of our task. You own the vision and share a passionate devotion to the success of our mission task. I want our staff, missionaries and Southern Baptist constituency to be assured that you can be trusted and deserve their prayers as you seek the heart and mind of God in choosing the one to serve and lead the IMB into the future.

It is going to be difficult and emotional to express at this time and over the coming months the appreciation I feel for our leadership team, our staff and missionaries serving around the world. When I walk through our offices and pass staff in the corridors, I am conscious of feeling a deep love and respect for each one. I am constantly reminded, without exception, of their commitment to our mission. I have been blessed by their support and confidence in me and enriched by their love and devotion to the Lord. Those who stand beside me in positions of executive leadership are the ones who have done the work and made possible that for which I get credit. The transparency in our relationships and the example of their lives have shaped and influenced who I am today.

Sixteen years ago I was often reminded by our trustees and others that I would never have been considered for this role were it not for Bobbye. No one would question the fact that I would not have survived had it not been for her love and support. The hours she spends in intercessory prayer and tactful, sensitive admonishment — you husbands know what I mean — have kept me anchored in the Lord. It hasn’t been easy for her to share the burden, endure the criticisms that inevitably accompany a leadership role and tolerate the intense travel schedules, incessant program responsibilities and times of separation. But she would affirm with me that the blessings, the gratification and reward have been worth it all.

I would not presume to equate my devotion to the Lord and passion for His mission with the Apostle Paul nor with that of Lottie Moon, who adopted Paul’s testimony in Acts 20:24 as her life verse, but it expresses what we want to communicate on the occasion of this announcement.
“I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, in order that I may finish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the Gospel of the grace of God.” I do not consider the course of my life and God’s purpose complete, but at this stage of the journey it is time to press forward in the calling of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Lift Up Thine Eyes

Living above the Line

“Lift Up Thine Eyes”





2 Cor. 4:18 (ESV) As we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

This verse contains two absolute truths. One truth talks about things that are seen and temporary, the other talks about things that are unseen and are eternal. A line exists between the two. Above the line is the unseen and eternal; below the line is the seen and temporary.

ETERNAL
Unseen
______________________________

Seen
Temporary

Now just for the sake of explanation, there really is not a physical line; these two realms coexist. The unseen and the eternal are going on in the midst of the seen and temporary. As Christians, we have the privilege of living an unseen and eternal life in the midst of this seen and temporary world. But, because we think in concepts, it helps to separate these two realities with the line to understand them better.

As 2 Cor. 4:18 indicates, the realm above the line is invisible and eternal. It is changeless and timeless. It is the realm of spirit and of God’s absolutes. It is the realm of ultimate reality, of the uncreated, of completeness and wholeness, it is where things are finished and settled. The eternal realm can be illustrated by the word “now.” It is the realm of I AM, where things simply “are.”
The realm below the line is visible and temporary. We call it the natural realm. The Apostle Paul called it “this age.” It is the created realm of matter, of substances and appearances. It has a beginning and an end. It is the realm of past, present, and future:… birth, life, and death are here, …. sowing, growing, and reaping are here. It is the realm of activity, process, and need. It is a realm where we often say, I want to grow in Christ.” It is a realm in which we see both good and evil. …Where as the unseen and eternal realm is the realm of “I AM,” the seen and the temporary is the realm of “I am becoming.”

Spirit “I AM” Ultimate Reality
Wholeness ETERNAL Changeless
Complete Unseen Timeless

_______________________________________________________________


In Progress Seen Time-based
Need Temporary Changing
Matter “I am becoming” Appearances


Now, hear me, I’m not talking about a belief in which one realm, the realm of spirit, is pure and all important, and the other realm, the physical, is un-clean and unimportant, or even unreal. Both realms are crucially important to God, because He made both of them. The seen and temporary is a true realm and is important. We live in the seen and temporary realm. But, we are simply acknowledging what Paul says, that there are two realms, and that one is greater than the other. And we, as Christians are to focus on the eternal realm.

Many Scriptures illustrate the difference between the two realms. When Moses asked God His name Ex 3:14, God replied, “I AM WHO I AM”. He told Moses to tell the Hebrews that “I AM” had sent him. God’s very name indicates the changeless, timeless, eternal, present-tense nature of His being. Jesus used the same language to refer to Himself: John 8:58 “I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” The writer of Hebrews said Heb13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Our God is the unseen, eternal, timeless, changeless One.

At the appointed time, however, I AM came down below the line and entered the seen and temporary realm that HE had created. And John 1:14 says “The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us... . The changeless, timeless One became a seen and temporary man. As a man, Jesus experienced all that we experience below the line, except sin. He had a past, a present, and a future. He experienced growth both as a child, (Luke 2:40) and as an adult (Heb 5:8). He had needs just like us.

In a very similar way, we as God’s children live both above the line and below the line. The verse that best illustrated this is Hebrews 10:14: For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. God has already perfected those of us who are in Christ. We are complete in Him Col 2:10. We are His righteousness 2 Cor 5:21. We are Holy, and blameless and beyond reproach. Co 1:22.

These are all already true of us above the line, in the unseen and eternal realm, in God’s Kingdom, in our spirit. These are the eternal, unchanging truths of our identity as new creatures, as sons and daughters whom God has birthed John 3:3-6.

Below the line, however, in the seen and temporary realm, we are in the process of being sanctified. We have needs. Our emotions fluctuate. Our behavior changes. And through it all we experience growth.

We live in both realms but what is important, is where-our-eyes–are-focused!

Now this distinction between the two realms is vital to us for three reasons.

First, in the here and now, God has designed His Kingdom to work by faith. God could have placed the eternal in the visible realm. His eternal kingdom would then be plainly seen. But if He had done that, there would not be any faith. Everything would, in fact, be exactly as it appears to be, and faith would be pointless.

But the whole universe operates on faith. We in particular, were designed to operate by faith. We have the privilege of looking through the seen and temporary to the unseen and eternal. … By the Spirit of God, living in us, Christ in the man, we discern what, from God’s perspective, is taking place in the seen and temporary around us.

That is how Jesus lived. He saw the seen and temporary around him, but when the man stretched out his withered hand, Jesus did not see the withered hand as ultimate. When the people brought Jesus five loaves and two fish, He did not see them as insufficient. When they took him to the dead girl, He did not see death as ultimate. In each case Jesus saw beyond the outward appearance to what His Father was doing. He lived in another Kingdom. He lived in another realm. And He invites you and me to do the same.

Your cancer, your heart disease, your handicap, is not what is ultimate in the eyes of Jesus. Your current financial situation is not what is ultimate in the eyes of Jesus. Even your death, is not what is ultimate in the eyes of Jesus. And it does not have to be for you ether. It is all a matter of where your eyes are fixed my friends. This life is a vapor. What is real is above the line in the eternal realm. God wants you to lift up your eyes beyond what’s here and now, look up Christian, look to the Heavens, cast your eyes upon Jesus.

Second, the distinction is important because it enables us to understand our true identity in Christ.

As Christians, our failures, sins, and shortcomings---all things below the line, are realities, and constantly confront us. They are right in our face. Unless we understand that our true identity lies above the line in our spirit (which is the identity God gave us when we were reborn, our new birth), unless we understand that our true identity lies above the line in our spirit we will draw our identity from our below the line performance, whether good or bad. Our focus will be on trying to clean up our act and to look good enough for God to accept.

That is where most Christians are living: (and it makes me want to scream out, just what Jesus did, He said tear it down and in three days I will rebuild it. They did and He did. If my getting a bull dozer and tearing down this building would help you understand this I would) Christians are trying to become something they already are. We have it backwards.

See, in God’s system, in the seen realm we become because in the unseen realm we already are. In the eternal realm we are ether eternally lost or eternally saved, and we cannot live in the seen world differently that we are in the eternal realm. Christians are saved but they are still living as though they need saving.

As we know and rest in the unseen and eternal truth, God manifests that truth in the visible realm. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. In the unseen and eternal realm, God has already perfected us. ….In the seen and temporary realm, God is bringing that perfection, or completion, into view.

That is why we can say we are a complete and a new creation while simultaneously, in the seen and temporary realm, a process is going on. From God’s point of view, in the unseen and eternal realm, we are a finished product. At the same time, in the seen and temporary, He is continuing to work the truth deeper into us and He is continuing to conform us to His image.

Third, the distinction between the two realms is important because God has designed us so that we can find fulfillment only in the unseen and eternal realm.

The seen and temporary realm offers many pleasures that God has provided, but none of them ultimately satisfy. That is why Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me will not hunger, and he who believes in me will never thirst John 6:35. Hear me; there is not anything below the line, no matter how beautiful, no matter how touching, no matter how true, that equals true Life. And we only find true Life above the line, in God. He and He alone is Life!

God has created each of us with a thirst that only He can quench. The French philosopher, Pascal, called it a God-shaped vacuum in our hearts that only He can fill. Or as the early church father Augustine said, “Our souls are restless until they find their rest in thee.” Man is forever seeking. To whatever degree we do not know the unseen and eternal realm; we seek answers in the seen and temporary. We look for eternal answers among temporary things. But we discover again and again that they cannot and never will provide them.

We are programmed for failure if we are looking for ultimate answers in a non-ultimate realm, a realm that is partial, fragmented, and incomplete. We end up worshipping the creation rather than the creator. We can do that as Christians too. I’m not talking about just houses and cars and boats and jewelry; we worship buildings and music and clothes and heat and air and soft pews. The ultimate answer is a Person …Jesus Christ. It is part of God’s program to make us dissatisfied with what the temporary realm offers, that’s why so many people do nothing but complain, they think they know what they want but what they need is Jesus, and more of Jesus. God’s makes us dissatisfied with what the temporary realm offers so that we will seek Life in Him.

What kind of life; a life of faith, it is our true identity, and fulfillment in life is all based in the unseen and eternal realm. Our problem is that we cannot see that realm or learn of it through our own observations, or experiments, or experiences. Presently, right this moment God’s unseen and eternal kingdom is within us, …but we can only understand the things of that realm if God reveals it to us. Look at 2 Cor 2: 14,10,12 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. But 10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God.

We are completely dependent on the Holy Spirit to be our teacher.

To whatever degree the Holy Spirit of God has revealed to us the unseen and eternal realm, we live in it. So, to whatever degree we do not understand by revelation the unseen and eternal realm of God’s kingdom, we are locked into living in the seen and temporary realm. And, to whatever extent you greave and quench the revelation of God’s Holy Spirit of the eternal realm you condemn yourself to life in this realm of the here and now, below the line.

God makes known to us the eternal, unseen, spiritual realities of His own domain by revelation. He breaks through into our consciousness and reveals eternal truths not discernable in the realm of appearance. And we respond when we close our physical eyes and open up our hearts eye and say “Oh God, I see!” …I was blind God, but now I see, I see You God, I see You Jesus, I see heaven coming down and this realm is passing away, I see the Holy City God, coming down from You, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. I hear Your voice saying Your dwelling place is among man. You dwell in them, and they are Your people, You God, our true God, are with us. You want to wipe away our tears; You want us to see God that death is no more, there is for Your children no more mourning, no more pain for us if we will lift up our eyes. That which is below the line has all passed away. ….Thank You God!

And what has happened? … Revelation has met with faith on our part, and when revelation encounters faith, it produces an inner knowing. …. Unfortunately for us this happens to us progressively. Some seek it, some give up, some think what they received on the day they received Christ is all there is to be had in this life.

One of our first revelations is that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of the World. The natural man does not know that. He cannot know it, even if he hears it over and over. Only the Holy Spirit can reveal to him the reality of Jesus Christ. If this has yet to happen to you, you are lost. You are a captive, a prisoner of the temporary realm, below the line.

Once then we place our faith in Christ, the next revelation is that our sins are forgiven. That is an unseen and eternal truth. Nothing in the seen and temporary tells us that. The Holy Spirit reveals it. As is my testimony, I lived primarily on that revelation for 27 years. But thank God He continued and still continues to reveal unseen and eternal truths to me that expanded that basic spiritual understanding. And at the age of 37 I came to understand the truth I share with you today, the life of unspeakable joy.

As Christians, we live below the line, but we are not a below the line people. We are of God’s Kingdom. But we live in a realm of temporary appearance that differs from what Gods sees in the unseen and eternal. Spiritual Growth is a process of replacing temporary appearances with eternal reality, and then living it out. See, once one knows inner life, the Life of the Spirit; one cannot help but live it.

Generally speaking, except for brief excursions, we are almost always constantly living out what we believe. We cannot escape it. We do not do anything but what we believe. So, the more we understand the unseen and eternal realm we will live it, and as we live it, we become less and less oriented toward the seen and temporary. It exercises less control over us.

Paul in Romans Chapter 6 tells us that we died to sin and are free from it. That is an unseen and eternal truth, about which I will say more another time. Sin no longer has any power over us. But if we do not know that unseen and eternal truth, sin still exercises power over us. That is because we are caught in the trap of trying to become something we already are: what is that, we are free from sin.

We will never know abundant life until the unseen and eternal realm is home to us in our everyday experience. Until then, we will be living according to appearances, and appearances will never lead us deeper into the life of God. Only faith will. God wants to bring us to the point where we say, “I live by what God says about things in my life, …situations, people, and even myself. Then we see what He sees, that situations are not as they appear to be,… but that God’s absolutes are operating in the realm of appearance. We are at rest then in the unseen and eternal realm, and we experience His fullness within us.

In our daily lives as Christians,… the most important thing we can know from the unseen and eternal realm is that we and God are one, we are in union. That sounds heretical, but it is exactly what the Bible says: 1 Cor. 6:17 But he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.

God has permanently joined Himself to your spirit. Your spirit and He are one. The two then operate as one spirit. When we begin to know and live out of that truth, all the promises of the New Testament Covenant, suddenly become real. We realize that there really truly is no more separation. No more God up there and us down here. We stop trying to get closer to God. We stop asking, How do I reach God. Give me a program, give me a plan, and give me a way.

Instead, we live out of what is already true. We live in union. God and we are one. In the seen and temporary, He operates as us. And we rest in Him.

Where you live and where your eyes are can easily be determined by your understanding of my next statement, ….Every one of us who has received Christ is complete in Christ (Colossians2:10). We are already Holy Col 3:12. There is nothing else to be done.

As we see that, we will live it, and God will make what is true in the unseen and eternal, above the line, a seen and temporary experience here below the line.

Living Above The Line Intro

Colossians 1:27, 3:4,11 says When Christ who is your life appears then you also will appear with him in glory; Christ in you, the hope of Glory. (In fact Christ in us is our only hope of eternal Glory), for here there is not Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, slave or free, but Christ is all, and in all.

The union of the believer to Christ is a topic I never truly understood as a Christian until I was older. It is a topic we as Baptist are a bit afraid of. When we begin to talk about matters of the spirit some Baptist get very uptight.

Galatians 2:20 says It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. No other verse captures the truth of the indwelling Christ, living in us, through us, as us, so well.

Jesus Christ living in us and through us, as us, is the only hope we have of experiencing the Glory God intends for our lives. I want everyone; I want to help everyone, to enter into Christ’s fullness in their life.

Now there is a flip side to “the hope of Glory,” Yes, Christ in us is our only hope of experiencing God’s glory ourselves. But we must understand that it is also the way that God has chosen to eternally manifest His glory. By living His life in and through a host of sons and daughters God has chosen to eternally manifest His glory. I want to begin this emphasis with a discussion of not the Glory we receive from God, but the glory He receives through us.

If we do not begin from God’s point of view, we end up with man at the center. That is true even in the way we approach the Word of God. For instance we often begin our study of the Bible with the fall of man into sin. We then perceive that after mans fall the entire Bible is a chronicle of God’s redemption of man. That is true, it is. It can appear however and is often preached, that God’s ultimate purpose is the rescue of man. So the whole matter focuses on us.

But if we just back up, and begin as the Bible does with before the foundation of the world, before Gen. 1:1, we start from another point of view. We start with the question: what is God’s intent? Galileo and Copernicus discovered that the earth was not the center of the universe, or at least not our little solar system. The Sun is. My dear friends IM here to remind you today we are not the center of the universe. The Bible says the Son is. (And I don’t mean the Sun.)

But, it is very easy to live as if we are the center of the universe. We would not ever say it, or even think it consciously, but it is easy to live as if God is here for us. That sort of teaching has in fact become very popular the past few years. That God is here to bless you that we ought to be wealthy and prosperous. We are due it, we are owed success, owed getting ahead. That God must respond to our faith. God has obligated Himself to bless us if we just do the right things. All of which means we are the center of the universe.

But if we start before the foundation of the world, we discover that God has a plan, a plan conceived before time began. Paul revealed God’s plan I think most clearly in the first chapter of his letter to the Ephesians. Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, (Is it God’s intent to bless us? Yes, that is an absolute fact. In fact, He has already blessed us with every possible blessing in the heavenly realm.) V.4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world God had a purpose for us before the foundation of the world. (He chose us for that purpose. that we should be holy and blameless before him.) In love V. 5 he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, (Gods plan involved having many sons and daughters who would be holy and blameless in His sight. Through the subjection of the Son to the cross, God intended to bring many children into glory. Why? Paul continued), … according to the purpose of his will, V. 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

And just to make sure we do not miss the point, he repeated it six verses later: V. 12 so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. And again two verses later V. 14 the Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

See here, we exist for the praise of His glory. God works all things according to the council of His will, v.11, to accomplish that purpose. And what exactly is it that glorifies God? What has He set out to accomplish from before the foundation of the world? V. 8-10 he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

Gods Plan

God’s plan was to bring into being many sons and daughter whom He would indwell; through whom He would live and manifest Himself; and in and through whom Christ would reign supreme. We Christians are the beneficiaries of that plan. God, in His love and grace, has made us a part of His plan. But…we are not the center of it; Jesus is. We are participants in the plan, participants whom God loves and cherishes, and nourishes, as a husband does his bride. (Eph 5:25-32)

We are God’s inheritance. We tend to focus on what we inherit in Christ. We are God’s inheritance: V.18 having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

His inheritance is His body—the Body of Christ—accomplishing His purpose. And though the Bible records mans fall, that disaster has not done one thing to delay or change God’s purpose. His intention was always to have a vast family of sons and daughters. The fall did not deter that plan. God incorporates our redemption into that plan, but the plans goal is still the same. We are here for the praise of His glory. Romans 11:36 says this so well, for from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

From-Everything comes from God.
Through – By means of God.
To—The ultimate end is unto God. Not Him unto us, but us unto Him.

Everything we need to know for experiencing God’s abundant life is found in the cross of Christ. We look at the cross and see what God did for us there. I praise God for this truth. That was Christ’s work on our behalf.
Even more than that though, the cross was God’s work on His own behalf. Through the cross God accomplished what He needed to fulfill His own eternal purposes, so that all things might be summed up in Christ.

Christ in us, the Hope of Glory is primarily His glory. Christ lives in us to manifest His life through us, but His plan encompasses more than just that. He is working toward His own ends, and we are the vessels through which He works. We are the visible manifestation of what God is doing, with Himself as the ultimate goal, what is it, that God may be all in all. (1 Cor. 15:28)

That is why the Father wants us to be filled up to the fullness of God. And that is what this emphasis, Living above the Line is all about; our being filled to all the fullness of God, to the praise of His Glory

God Of This City /Mexico

A rare opportunity...missed?

Giving shortfall risks Southern Baptists' opportunity to re-engage closed country

8/20/2009

By Don Graham

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--A rare opportunity to place missionaries in a highly restricted Central Asian country may soon slip through Southern Baptists’ fingers due to a serious shortfall in missions giving.

The country — which can’t be named without risking missionaries’ chances of obtaining a visa — is home to more than several million people, mostly Muslim. Only about 2,000 are believed to be evangelical Christians.

Shane and Melanie Johnson* were on track to become the first Southern Baptist personnel to serve inside the country in nearly a decade. But now that plan is in jeopardy.

On July 10, the Johnsons received word from IMB (International Mission Board) that their missionary appointment had been put on hold.

“It hurts,” Melanie said. “It’s really sad that in times of crisis [giving to] the church and charities is the first thing to go.”

“We want to go to one of those places on the map of lostness that’s totally black, where there is nobody there,” Shane said. “We know the Bible is clear about the Great Commission. We are to make sure that someone from every tribe, tongue and nation bows before the throne of God and praises His name.”

The Johnsons are among 69 long-term missionary candidates who are being delayed because of a lack of funds to send them to the field. That’s in addition to an estimated 350 short-term candidates who also are on hold.

In May IMB announced it would severely limit the number of missionaries sent in 2009 due to reduced giving through the Cooperative Program and a $29 million dollar shortfall in the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. More than half of IMB’s annual budget comes from the Lottie Moon offering, 100 percent of which is used to send and sustain more than 5,600 Southern Baptist missionaries serving overseas.

The goal for the 2008 offering (which funds the 2009 budget) was $170 million, but only $141 million was received, $9 million less than last year.

But even if there were no shortfall, getting the Johnsons inside that Central Asian country won’t be easy.

Southern Baptist missionaries began spreading the Gospel there for the first time in 1993 following the collapse of the Soviet Union. But by the year 2000 all missionaries had been asked to leave. That left behind 500 new Christians and a young church struggling to survive under intense persecution.

Since that time missionaries have been painstakingly training and discipling national believers by flying them in and out of the country. Though that strategy has seen success, it’s also slow, cumbersome and expensive, which is why IMB wants personnel living in country again.

WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY

Kris Plummer* leads Southern Baptists’ efforts to spread the Gospel in this area of Central Asia, including the country where the Johnsons want to serve. Once inside, he said their goal will be to lay the groundwork for IMB to re-establish a presence there.

Before they were delayed, the Johnsons planned to arrive in early 2010. But due to the financial shortfall, that isn’t likely to happen until that summer— at least a six-month delay. Plummer said the longer they wait, the risk is the situation may change.

“Right now we have a window of opportunity to try and place them in [the country],” he explained. “But we don’t know how long that window’s going to be open. … We’re ready to take advantage of this opportunity, but if this delay stretches out too long the window may close on us.

“It’s a disappointment because we’ve been trying to get back into [this country] for so long. … When we got the word the Johnsons were delayed, it’s just one more barrier to cross. And it’s a barrier that really shouldn’t be there.

“It’s not a question of Southern Baptists having money — even in this financial crisis Southern Baptists have money,” concluded Plummer. “It’s more of a question of what’s their priority for spending that money.”

Maybe even rarer than the window to enter the country, Plummer said, are missionaries willing to pioneer the work there — alone.

“Like most things in Central Asia, you never know until you try, and even when things look very wide open they can slam shut very quickly,” he said. “The glorious thing is we’ve got somebody like the Johnsons who are willing to try. Those kind of people don’t come around every day, and I want to take advantage of their heart and desire.”

PERSONAL HARDSHIP

Besides risking their chance to enter the country, the Johnsons say the delay is also causing them significant personal hardships as well.

They’ve both just graduated from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C., and were planning to transition straight to the mission field. But now, without jobs, they’ll have to live with Melanie’s family in order to save money.

“Because of the delay we’ve rescheduled our whole plan for the next eight or nine months,” Shane said. “It was tough to come to terms with but it’s water under the bridge at this point.”

Adding to their stress is the impact the delay will have on their growing family. Midway through the application process the Johnsons found out they were pregnant with their first child. They were counting on IMB salary and medical benefits by the time the baby arrived, but the delay makes that impossible. They have some health insurance available through GuideStone Financial Resources, but the rest will have to come from Medicaid and their savings.

“The bottom line is that God has always provided for us,” Shane said. “We’re not in debt at all; we’ve made it through seminary … He’s going to take care of us just like He always has.”

TRUE COST OF DELAY

The greatest impact from the delay, the Johnsons said, will be on the peoples of Central Asia that God has asked them to serve.

“We’ll never know what the time we missed overseas might have resulted in as far as yields for the Gospel,” Shane said. “Even one believer can multiply exponentially and have a tremendous impact for the Gospel. … That’s the true cost [of the financial shortfall], and we’ll never really know what that is.”

*Names changed.

Don Graham is a writer for IMB.

It truly is a time for humility and thanks.

FIRST PERSON: A time for humility and thanks

8/6/2009

By David Steverson

RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--Times like this call for humility and thanks.

While individuals, families and churches across the country are struggling with the realities of an economic downturn, we at IMB (International Mission Board) are struggling, too.

We are dealing with the sobering reality of a shortfall in last year’s Lottie Moon offering — we did not make our $170 million goal. When the final total of $141 million was counted, it fell $9 million short of what we received each of the past two years.

This has a profound effect on the work of Southern Baptist missionaries overseas. Every dollar from the offering goes to support their efforts — none is ever used for administration or promotion.

Also, the Cooperative Program funds from which we derive the rest of their support have been down from last year. Imagine sitting in my chair, as IMB treasurer, and looking at these numbers and knowing what they are telling us.

We’ve had to take drastic measures. We’re not sending the number of missionaries to the field we normally do. It means that some who are called, gifted and ready cannot go. We have canceled or scaled back short-term missionary programs knowing the results from some present work will not be realized.

Once again, imagine sitting in our last board meeting and watching our president and the chairman of our board openly weep when the motion was presented to curtail appointments.

The money is simply not there.

In such times it is easy to embrace the darker side. The economy still stutters. Many of our fellow Southern Baptists are out of work and struggling. A sense of recovery feels lost in an uncertain future. The dollar is struggling around the world, which also has a tremendous effect on our budget.

But with all of the negative, I prefer to look at the brighter side.

In one of the worst economies in decades, Southern Baptists gave the third largest Lottie Moon offering in our history. The Cooperative Program remains one of the best tools anywhere to support missions at all levels. Even in hard times, Southern Baptists continue to produce more people who are called and committed to going onto international mission fields than we have yet found ways to fund. Most importantly, God is still on His throne and remains in control of all we do.

It’s a wonderful challenge to have.

Our funding is less, but on the grand scale of things … not that much less. When I look across America’s corporate landscape we look pretty good.

And then there is the larger body of the church. The special offering taken at the Pastors’ Conference during the annual Southern Baptist Convention in Louisville, the $100,000 gift from Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, the reports of additional offerings — large and small — from churches of all sizes across the convention and the prayers and concerns expressed by so many speak well of our health as part of the body of Christ.

I am humbled by the care and concern of many and their willingness to dig deep rather than turn their backs when the well is shallow. I give thanks for who we are as this people called Southern Baptists and what the Lord has given me the great privilege of being a part of.

There is much to celebrate.

If there are concerns, it is for the long view. It is wonderful that we are willing to give to send folks to the field now. But the December Lottie Moon offering comes again soon. The question is: Will we continue to sustain them so they will be there next year, the year after that … 10 years from now?

Each dollar we receive will be used to further the cause of Christ in other lands. But these funds must be from the deeper dig and not at the expense of other kingdom enterprises.

State and associational mission offerings and the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions cannot be sacrificed or we are merely shuffling resources from one hand to another. While we at IMB are focused on the uttermost ends of the earth, we can’t ignore our Jerusalem, our Judea and Samaria. All parts of the body must be cared for.

Thank you, Southern Baptists, for being a people committed to the cause of Christ both here and around the world.

It truly is a time for humility and thanks.

David Steverson is IMB treasurer and vice president for finance. Before coming to Richmond, Va., he and his wife, Judy, served as missionaries for six years in Southeast Asia where he was business manager and treasurer.