He spoke that night with all the pathos and logic he was famous for, and his sermon helped sway the outcome of the next day’s meeting that ended in the election of Charles Stanley as Convention President. Although the CR lasted over a decade, there were a few seminal moments that shaped its direction and his sermon that night was one of those moments. WA Criswell’s, “Whether We Live or Die,” was a key moment in the life of the Conservative Resurgence of the Southern Baptist Convention in that it illustrated the present from the past, gave an imperative for the present, and a promise for the future.

I don’t doubt that there are more than a few who will read this were in Dallas that year. Everyone I’ve ever spoken to that was there said it was a sermon they will never forget. Even decades after the fact the video is still powerful and moving.

By this time in his life Criswell had been preaching for 58 years in total and had preached many times at the Pastors Conference of the SBC. Nevertheless, Criswell stated that he had never been more meticulous in the preparation of a sermon than this one. Criswell was known for his clear preaching, and his sermon “Whether We Live or Die” was simple and easy to follow. The message covered the pattern of death for a congregation and used the example of CH Spurgeon and the Downgrade Controversy as an example. Next, he explained the pattern of death for an institution, using the advent of critical theory and higher criticism in the life of the Baptist Theological Seminary in Chicago to illustrate his points. His third point covered the pattern of death for a preacher and used the story of CH Toy as an example. Lastly, Criswell showed a way to avoid death and decline by staying true to God’s word and taking the gospel of Christ to the nations.

Criswell doesn’t just give bad examples though. The closing paragraphs of his sermon remind his hearers that there is hope for those who are willing to stand firm on the Word of God. There are forces that seek to have us stray from God’s Word. It will be a battle to stay committed to the truth of God and Jesus Christ, and a battle to take that truth to the nations. The battle belongs to the one who is willing to take it, to put their hand to the sword and stand for the truth of God’s word. Criswell promises his hearers that the fight will be hard, but it will be worth it. Someday we will see the mission Christ gave at the Mount of Olives fulfilled. The promise is not from a wise and persuasive preacher, but from Christ himself.

Criswell’s sermon archives demonstrate the breadth and width of his skill as a preacher. But this is one of his greatest, and it came at an important time in the SBC. Take the time to watch or read it below.

Whether we live or die lies in the imponderables of Almighty God. Will God not judge atheistic, communistic Russia? Will He not also judge secularistic, heathenistic, humanistic, materialistic America? What is the difference at the judgment bar of Christ between a God-denying Russian communist atheist and a God-denying American liberal humanist? Can God judge Sodom, and Gomorrah, and Nineveh, and Babylon, and not judge Moscow, and Peking, and San Francisco, and Dallas?

Our mission frontiers run down every street and village, through every house, home, and classroom. The whole globe today is small, compact, and shrunken. We see, hear, watch, read, follow what happens moment by moment around the world. The interdependence and the interlinking of all mankind is an actual modern fact. We all ride this planet together. Our nation is one in a dependent family of nations. Romans 14:7 avows, “For none of us lives to himself, and not one of us dieth to himself.”

As Baptist churches, and as a Baptist people, we need each other. One segment of our community cannot do our work, our task, alone. Our strength lies in a common determination and a common dedication. One church can build a Sunday school, but a Sunday school movement must be launched by an association of churches through a Sunday school board. One church can send a missionary, but a vast missionary movement must be engineered by a denomination of churches through a foreign mission board. One church can have a revival, but a revival movement must be prayed for, and prayed down, and lifted up by a community of churches through an evangelistic director.

In reflecting on Criswell’s sermon 35 years later, there are still many lessons for us today. Some of the names could be changed to reflect current trends and the sermon be preached again today. Criswell couldn’t imagine how linked our world is today. He called it small, compact, and shrunken, but he would be amazed to see how much smaller it has become. This means that every church’s chance to impact the nations is even greater.

Criswell also used the death of institutions in the past to warn the SBC about their own future.

An institution can be like a great tree which in times past withstood the rain, and the wind, and the storm, and the lightning, but finally fell because the heart had rotted out. Insects, termites destroyed the great monarch of the woods. This is the unspeakably tragic thing that happens to many of our Christian institutions, and eventually threatens them all. They are delivered to secularism and infidelity, not because of a bitter frontal attack from without, but because of a slow, gradual permeation of the rot and curse of unbelief from within.

His warning about the danger of internal rot still holds true today. Internal rot often comes from the place you least expect it. This means that no matter what side you find yourself on current SBC events, we all need to check our own hearts. Criswell’s warning means that we all must continually work to bring to stoke the fire of the gospel in our hearts. The illustrations Criswell uses are proof that everyone is capable of straying from the gospel, no matter how close we find ourselves to God today.

As it relates to institutions and churches, Criswell states that we need each other. The SBC in 1985 was focused on who was out, and who was in, much in the same way it is today. Some of the same labels and insults are used as they were then. But Criswell’s point remains the same. “Our strength lies in a common determination and a common dedication.” The strength of the SBC is not that we all believe exactly the same way, but in that we all share the common goal of taking the gospel to the nations. The future of our denomination is in the hands of God as he said. But our future as a denomination also lies in our willingness to overcome and differences and put the gospel above all else.

Read or watch the full sermon at the Criswell Sermon Archive.

How often are our lives like that? There are times we can see clearly everything around us and know it’s going to happen, but they’re also many times it feels like we’re just on the road alone at night. But if we can see the light in front of us, then it becomes our guide to make it there. Often in life we are just trying to make it to the next bit of light. The light doesn’t illuminate everything we want to see, but it gives us assurance that God is there with us.

The light could be as simple as our Bible reading in the morning, or weekly church attendance, or a word from a friend. The light gives us hope and reminds us that we are going in the right direction, and gives us strength to keep going.

Many people are in need of light while on their dark road of life. Who will you offer light in the darkness to today? Offer a kind word, share a Bible verse, give someone a hug at church. By God’s grace we can be a light in their darkness, pointing them to the one light that never fades: the presence of God in our hearts

This is a sign of the tree that has looked dead for so long but still has life in it. It’s a beautiful reminder that we should never judge things by their appearances. If it’s true about trees and plants, how much more so about those made in the image of God?

I love springtime when everything blooms, but I love the moments right before spring too. It reminds us that God is working in those moments even when we don’t see it. You might be tempted to give up on someone or some thing in your life, but we should remember that God is always working.

God is working in the lives of people even when we can’t see the fruit right now. But if you look closely, you might see a bud. And that bud is a promise of life to come.

I knew that road like the back of my hand. I know which houses had friendly animals in which did not, and which intersections were busy. I knew if I pedaled fast I could get a little air on the dip in the road, and that when I got to the school I was getting close. I knew that road so well because I walked it and rode my bike. There are somethings you can only see by going slow. When I started driving and going by it faster, I didn’t see all that I did before.

Most of us travel quickly where ever we are going. We are focused on the destination not the journey and want to get there as quick as we can. We can be this way in our walk with God too. We know we need to read our bible, pray, and whatever else is on our spiritual list for the day. But often in our rush to get through them we miss the most important part.

The most important part of course is spending time with Jesus. For a Christian, our end destination of heaven is important. But our daily journey with Christ is important too. We should not take anytime we spend with Christ for granted. I encourage you this week to take your time with Christ slow. Don’t drive quickly through your Bible reading, learn to walk slowly across the pages. It’s difficult to do this because the whole world wants us to hurry up. But if you work at it you can learn to take your time to look around you and see what God is doing.

This week, take it slow. Especially in your walk with God. Look around for something you haven’t seen before. Learn those roads of the spiritual disciplines like the back of your hand. Don’t be in a hurry when you get to spend time with Jesus. Walk. Look around. Smell the roses. Enjoy the journey. More than anything, learn to love spending time with Jesus. You won’t regret it.

Born in Huntsville, TX and then moving to Lufkin when still an infant, Cauthen grew up in Texas and was always ready to speak hs mind. His older brother told the story that when they were young they visited the Methodist church in nearby Nacogdoches, TX. After observing a “sprinkling” the young boy, who the family called Bake, stood up on his pew and said “That’s not the way that Jesus was baptized!”

He had felt a call to ministry at the age of 8 and soon ordered his life around that prospect. In 1926 he graduated from Lufkin High School at age 16 and as class president. He planned to commute each day to Stephen F. Austin College in Nacogdoches and begin to prepare himself for ministry. As the Lord led him though, he prepared for ministry while doing ministry himself. While still 16 years old, at only five feet ten inches and 110 pounds his biography records, he filled the pulpit at Providence Church. The following Wednesday they invited him back, and to his surprise after the service they called the church to business meeting and called him as pastor. Two weeks later, a week shy of his 17th birthday, the wife of the oldest deacon passed away and young Bake preached his first funeral message. He quickly found himself in the throes of pastoral ministry as he also pursued his education.

His older brother also told the story of when baptizing new believers in the river, and a man named Red Conditt came down. The future county sheriff towered over the young Cauthen and weighed more than twice he did. Cauthen showed no hesitation and and proceeded to baptize the man. His method, however, might have been questionable. His brother said that “What Bake did was climb on a man and sink him, and then let him get out the best way he could.” The young preachers reputation spread in the community and surrounding areas.

He graduated from Stephen F. Austin and earned a masters degree from Baylor. While there he first met Eloise Glass, a daughter of missionary parents who would later became Cauthen’s wife. After earning a Masters and Doctoral degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Baker and Eloise journeyed to Richmond for appointment by the Foreign Mission Board as missionaries to China. In 1939, Dr. Cauthen and Eloise went to China as missionaries, not long before the country fell to the Japanese. It was a difficult time to be a missionary in Asia. Both of his children became very ill and his wife too, facing polio, fever, and more They faced famine, disease, and often had to flee to crowded mountain caves during Japanese air strikes.

The family returned home when Cauthen became the Secretary for the Orient in 1945. When FMB Executive Director and President MT Rankin passed away suddenly in 1953, Cauthen was the obvious choice to become the Board’s next leader.

While President of the FMB, Cauthen led the mission organization to unprecedented growth. The biography of his life titled Cauthen as the “A Man for All Nations,” and Advance was the key word of his ministry. The obituary of his life that ran in newspapers across the country recorded that

Under Cauthen’s leadership, the number of Southern Baptist missionaries increased from 908 to nearly 3,000, and the number of countries in which they served grew from 32 to 95. Mission financing increased from $6.7 million in 1954 to $76.7 million in 1979.

Cauthen urgently preached the need for more missionaries everywhere he went. The board members of the FMB increasing heard the story from new missionaries that they had surrendered to the field while hearing Dr. Cauthen preach. They heard him at the convention, at Ridgecrest, at their church during Lottie Moon emphasis, at an evangelism conference, associational meetings, summer camps, chapels at Baptist colleges, and anywhere they would have him. You can listen to one such message he gave at Falls Creek Baptist Assembly in OK in 1969.

Cauthen served as leader of the Foreign Mission Board through one of it’s greatest periods of growth in it’s history. Before his retirement in 1979 he led in a program called “Bold Mission Thrust,” a 25-year plan for sharing the message of Jesus Christ with all the people of the world by the year 2000. After his retirement he still preached of the need for missionaries and taught at Golden Gate Seminary and later Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

He not only led in the area of missions. Upon his death Baptist Press reported that

In the late 1950’s, he courageously began to call Southern Baptists to put on “some sackcloth and ashes” regarding civil rights. Missionary work is tarnished, he said, “when any story goes out of people of any race being refused admittance into a house of worship.”

In his last sermon to the Southern Baptist Convention, he said in 1979, “Let us pray, give, go, send, preach, teach, bear witness to the lost, the hungry, the poor, the broken, the distressed, and, if need be, suffer and die that the name of Jesus Christ be made known to every human being on the face of the earth.”

Baker James Cauthen passed away at home on April 15, 1985.

Further Resources

Baker James Cauthen, A Man for All Nations

Sermon Audio, 1969

Find the sermon audio on the SBC History Podcast on iTunes or other providers.

Baptist Press release on his death (Scroll down to page 5)

As Jesus passed through the city, it was here that the tax collectors Zachheus climbed a sycamore tree to get a better view of him. Jesus called him down, went to his house, and ate with him. It scandalized many of those watching, how could Jesus offer kindness to such a man is this?

In one of Jesus's most famous parables, he talks about a man traveling down the road from Jerusalem to Jericho, which would've been somewhere beyond these hills in this picture . The traveler is beaten and robbed, and left for dead. There were religious men who passed by him, but it was the Samaritan who showed him kindness and took care of him.

Both of these New Testament stories happen in this old city. Both of them remind us of God's grace. He offers kindness to those who don't deserve it. One is just a story, but the other one actually happened, showing us that Jesus was not just about good ideas but about action.

There's undoubtedly someone in your life who needs Grace. Give it to them. They don't deserve it. They might not even appreciate it. But God has given grace and kindness to us, and so we give it to others. Some people might even demand grace from you. Give it to them anyways.

Most of us typically think of Jericho as a place where the walls came tumbling down. But the gospels remind us that it's a place of grace and mercy too. Thank goodness had mercy available to all, no matter where you are. Show people grace today, and tomorrow, and as much as you can for the rest of your life. Do for others what Christ has done for you.

The New Year's is a time lots of people think about making better choices. They're going to be healthy, save money, read the Bible,or go back to school. There's certainly nothing wrong with New Year's resolutions or attempts to do better. But the truth is it always comes to a choice. Which way are you going to go?

No where is that more evident than in the Christian life. We can have all sorts of grand schemes and plans to read our Bible through, to go to church, or whatever our resolve might be. But the fact is it's just simply a choice. Elijah told the people of Israel to "choose this day whom you will serve." Serving God is a choice that we make, but it's one that we have to make every day. Each morning we are faced with opportunities to go the other way, do things for ourselves, to take the easy way out.

Like any choice, the more we make it the easier it gets. Resolve this year to choose the ways of God and not the ways of the world. The choices in front of you every day, as clear as this picture is, but the consequences are far greater. If you make the hard choice to choose God, then the rest of your life will fall into place. God today, and tomorrow, and the day after that. The choices you make affect not only this life, but your next one too, not only yours, but the eternal life of all those around you.

It's a great privilege that the church supports me to do this work. I try to work hard and be worthy of the honor. But I also know that if you asked people who sat in the sermons what they were about, many of them would be hard pressed to remember. Maybe they’d remember big topics like going through Galatians, Psalms, or Jude, or could guess on Christmas and Easter passages. But I understand that even a week after the fact most people won't remember what the sermon was about.

Most of us would be hard-pressed to remember what we had for lunch last Sunday, but it fulfilled us for that moment. We surely couldn't remember what we had for lunch last January, but that meal we had in the moment sustained us for the day. In the same way the weekly “meal” of God Word sustains us for that moment.

God's word is greater of course, and has the power to change lives. The food we eat is quickly gone, but scripture tells us that the word of God abides forever. These words of mine will pass away, these manuscripts will be forgotten. But the word of God they contain continues to take root and grow in people's lives. It's the cumulative effect of the nourishment of God's word that makes a difference in their lives. If you want to grow close to God there's no better way than to be daily in his word, and to sit under godly teaching as often as you can. I worked hard on the sermons, and they will be forgotten, and that's OK. Because God's word lasts forever.

But Christmas is more than a feeling of course. Christmas is a fact, the truth about the incarnation of Jesus Christ, God who has come to earth to be with us. Facts don't care about our feelings, they just are what they are. And the facts of Christmas are some of the greatest truths that mankind has ever known. The Word put on flesh and dwelld among us. He comes to spread the joy and eternal life as far as the curse is found.

You might not feel like celebrating Christmas this year for all sorts of reasons. Maybe it's the weather, or maybe it's that sorrow you're still holding onto, or that loneliness, or that disappointment at the way life has turned out. The good news is the facts of Christmas are true no matter how we feel. The truth of God is not dependent on our circumstances, but on the unchanging nature and character of God.

We are not gonna have a white Christmas this year, but that's OK, because Christmas Day is still worth celebrating. The circumstances of your life might not change, but the truth of Christ's birth, life, death, and resurrection are still true. No matter what has happened in your life over the past year, there is good news for us! In the city of David there has been born to us Savior who is Christ the Lord. Immanuel, God with us. Glory To God In The Highest!

One of the most famous stories of all time is the Odyssey, Homer’s story of a man trying to make his way back home to his wife. Along the way there are cyclops and wars and battles and all sorts of crazy things. But one of the things that almost kills him is the song of the sirens. The sirens were these beautiful half women creatures who would sing their song so beautifully that sailors would bring their ships over to see them. It’s said that “They sit beside the ocean, combing their long golden hair and singing to passing sailors. But anyone who hears their song is bewitched by its sweetness, and they are drawn to that island like iron to a magnet. And their ship smashes upon rocks as sharp as spears. And those sailors join the many victims of the Sirens in a meadow filled with skeletons.”

Their song seemed sweet but only led to danger. That’s the call of the world, telling us to look in ourselves, to think about ourselves, to focus on what we want and what we can do. But at Christmas time the song of Mary calls us to something different. To think upon God, to dwell on his work, to make him larger and greater in our hearts and minds. Her song seems simple but contains the power to raise the dead, the power to break addictions, the power to restore families.

Listening to her sing won’t shipwreck your life, instead it pulls you closer to Christ. You weren’t supposed to look or listen to the sirens, their beauty was a disguise for their danger. But the song of Mary’s beauty that gives life. Listen to her as she sings about the goodness of God, about his kindness to mankind, about the salvation that is promised. This is the song we need to know, a song we need to hear, a song we need to have on repeat in our hearts and in our minds. It’s a song with a power to change mankind, a song with a power of dynamite. Ignoring the truth of this song, not making enough of Christ, means your life will be a wreck. But when you enlarge God, when you make him bigger and see him for who he is, then your life will be changed by the goodness of God.

Listen to her song today. See Christ and his glory. Join her in praise.

This was the conclusion from my sermon last Sunday as we go through the “Carols of Christmas” from the book of Luke. You can watch the whole thing here. https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1ALFN2RV2D/

When I first started to drive in high school I didn’t always have the money to fill up my 30 gallon gas tank on my van. I can’t count the number of times I sheepishly walked in the gas station to only put 2 or 3 dollars worth of gas into the car, just enough to get me to where I was going and back again. I should apologize to the cashiers that I made wait as I counted out change over the years. I was smart enough to know I needed to fill up, but the circumstances of my life didn’t allow me to get a full tank whenever I wanted to.

Now I usually fill up my car with gas when I can, but I’ll admit that my spiritual gas tank doesn’t always stay as full. Over the years as my family and ministry has grown, I need more and more fuel than before. I have found that I needed to fill up my spiritual gas tank more than ever. But I’ve also found it harder to do that. Many of the things that edify and encourage us are harder to do the busier we get, like fellowship, meals with friends, or even gathering as a church. We don’t have time for all of these things that we need to stay on full. Every person has to overcome obstacles like tragedy, suffering, or even just the busyness of life. Each of them makes it harder for us to keep our tanks full.

It would be nice if we could always fill up the tank all the way, but the circumstances you face right now might not allow that. What you need to do is find those moments throughout your day and week when you can put a few dollars in the gas tank and make it to your next stop without running out. This might be a quiet moment in the car while you drive and worship, a conversation with a good friend over the phone, or a good night with your family. When all we do is look forward to the big moments of rest like a week-long vacation, we miss the daily and hourly moments we have to rest and fill our hearts and minds with God.

Every person has those moments where you have just enough in the tank to make it through the day before you collapse and do it all over again. No one is exempt from those seasons. While it’s unavoidable to have seasons where you feel overwhelmed, we shouldn’t get so used to it that we make a habit of it. At times we might only have a few dollars to put in the tank, and it’s in those seasons every little bit helps. We need to make sure that we find the still moments in the middle of a busy day to turn our hearts and minds back towards God and fill our tanks up again. But we also need to make sure that we take the longer types of rests that push our needles all the way back to full.

Everybody would benefit from a nice long rest, but that kind is a lot harder to come by. It would be great to take two weeks vacation or a month’s sabbatical to fill all the way up. And we must make sure that we make the time to do that. But if we only wait until we can fill all the way up then we will eventually run out of gas somewhere on the road. We need to train ourselves to find rest in those small moments along the way, which will probably be different for every person. Every person has to make sure they find ways to rest in order that they can keep sharing the gospel with others and being there for their family and friends.

You never see someone ashamed to be at a gas station. In the same way you shouldn’t be ashamed of taking time to refill your tank so you can continue to lead in the place God has put you. In the middle of a crazy season you might be able to only fill up a few dollars at a time. Don’t forget to plan for those seasons when you can fill all the way up too. There’s too much at stake to let your tank run dry.

The first holiday after the death of a loved one is hard, but the next ones don’t get any easier.  The truth is we never know how many more holiday seasons we have, how many more meals we get to share, or how many more times we get to hear them tell that funny story.  The things that make the holidays so good with family are the same things that will make them hard when loved ones are gone.   

So what do we do? We can stay busy, keep going, work harder.  All of those things have some merit to them. But there are some losses you will never get over, and that’s okay.  If we live long enough, we will all experience the empty spot at the table. 

How do we move forward when there is an empty chair during the holidays? Thankfully scripture promises that Christ will never leave us.  Pray that the presence of Christ will be greater than the feeling of loss.  Loved ones leave us, and someday we will leave our loved ones behind.  But even when we leave this earth, to be absent in the body is to be present with the Lord. Pray this season for those dealing with loss that the presence of Christ would be felt. The chair might be empty at the table this year, but praise God the tomb of Christ is empty too.   

It can be that way with lots of things. We work hard for something, but we don’t know what to do afterward once we get it. This happens to the nation of Israel when they finally end their journey to the land promised to Abraham. They spent 40 years wandering in the desert, trying to get to the promised land. God used that time in the desert to shape and refine them into his people. But once they arrived in the promised land, it seemed like they forgot how to live close to God.

The stories of this in the Bible are too numerous to count. The men and women who were once close to God fell away, especially once they found success or what they had been looking for. David, Moses, Solomon, and others all wandered from God. The reasons range from strife and laziness to indulgence and pride. But scripture and our lives show this fact: living in the promised land is hard.

It’s easier to be an underdog and find the will to fight when you think you have something to prove. Every sports team that wins a title says, “Nobody believed in us,” even when they have been ranked #1 all season. There is something about the human mindset that doesn’t know what to do once we get what we worked so hard for, so we must convince ourselves that we must keep fighting or that everyone is against us.

It’s true in our spiritual life too. Right about the time we enter a consistent pattern of prayer, scripture reading, and church attendance is when it’s the easiest to fall out of the habit. The moment that things start to go well is when we expect things to go wrong. It’s always good to be prepared, of course, but if we want to live in the promised land and dwell in the place God has for us, we can do a few things to make that easier.

1. Keep the values that got you there.

It’s tempting to think that the attitude that keeps us in the promised land differs from the one that got us there, but it’s not. It’s doing the hard work of staying close to God and living as we should. A basketball player who achieves greatness through hard work and dedication can only keep that greatness through the same hard work. It’s true in the Christian life too. The way to grow close to God is through the daily disciplines of Bible study, prayer, and devotion. And the way to stay close to God is through the same methods. Many who find some level of success believe that they can now rest, and there is some truth to that.

But common sense also tells us that you cannot coast uphill. If you are coasting, you are going level at best, but more likely, you are going downhill. So keep up the hard work and values that brought you here. Israel learned total dependence on God in the desert, but when they arrived in the promised land, they soon forgot all that God had done for them. Don’t make the same mistake.

2. Find a balance between rest and work.

Anyone who has achieved great success will tell you it comes with a significant cost. Sadly sometimes that cost is family, friends, or even just enjoying life. Some people are so driven that they place their families on the altar of success. It happens to pastors, businessmen, athletes, and more. Anyone can be guilty of this. That’s why one requirement for living in the promised land is finding the balance between rest and work. But the burden of success makes us feel we must sacrifice everything to keep it.

It might seem contradictory to say that you need to continue working and that you need to rest on the next point, but that is the way life is. The even greater danger is that we lose our family and ourselves in the promised land too. This is as true today as it was in the time of Jesus. He asked, “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul?” One of the requirements for living in the promised land is enjoying our success but finding our ultimate satisfaction and rest in God.

3. Take time to enjoy what God has done.

Anyone who has achieved success on any level knows that many helped them get there. Coaches, spouses, teammates, and more are part of the process. Living in the promised land means enjoying and appreciating What others have done for you and how they helped you along the way.

Part of the rest in the promised land is understanding that even with all your hard work, you didn’t do everything. God is the one who has got you where you are today. Your work and effort were necessary, but it wasn’t the only component. Many others have worked just as hard and have not achieved the same success. That doesn’t mean they are less than those who have made it big. Many lower-level people work just as hard and make as many sacrifices but don’t see the same success for many reasons. That’s why when you enter the promised land, you must sit and remember what God has done for you. Enjoying what God has done doesn’t take anything away from what you have done, but it also puts into perspective the blessings that God has given you.

All of this is easier said than done, of course. As much work as it takes to achieve success, staying there can be just that much work or more. However, by remembering what God has done for us and not abandoning the values that got us there, we can ensure we stay close to God and don’t fall away. Just like success is a choice, so is continued success. When Israel arrived in the promised land, they thought their 40-year journey was over. But in many ways, their journey was only starting. So likewise, our journey to stay close to God is never over until we arrive in the final promised land on the other side of death. Our entrance into eternal rest has nothing to do with our hard work, family, or sacrifices. Eternal life has everything to do with Jesus Christ and his sacrifice on the cross on our behalf. Through the mercy of God, we can finally arrive in the final place, and we can rest there forever in Christ. There our work is finally finished, and we can rest knowing that we did nothing on our own to get there.

What struck me was the tools of his trade around the shop. They weren't much to look at: tongs, a hammer, a table, gloves. It's amazing that something so beautiful can be made using such simple objects. Of course it's not the tools that make the art, but the master craftsman who holds them.   

It struck me that the tools of the Christian life are not that glamorous either. Daily Bible reading, prayer, alone time with God, regular church attendance. These might seem like ordinary things, but when God uses them in our lives he can make something glorious. 

If I were to pick up those shop tools to use, I couldn't do much with them. But in the hands of the master craftsman they're able to do something extraordinary. Likewise God takes the simple tools of the Christian life and makes us into something beautiful. The artist can make beautiful glass, but it's only temporary. But when we are built up in the Christian life through God, it will last for eternity. Don't neglect the simple tools God uses to build us into the image of Christ.    

That’s the dreaded phrase at the end of every job description, but it’s there for a reason. We never know what kind of things are going to be requested of us on the job, and that’s especially true when working in the church. As a pastor, my other duties as assigned have included unclogging toilets, folding bulletins, taking people to doctors appointments, yard work, and many, many contractor tasks that I was not licensed or trained to do.

Every person has to wear a lot of “hats” in life. A man with young children has to hold down a job, take care of the house, save for his kids college, teach Sunday School, volunteer at youth camp, run the computer at church, and keep the spark in his marriage. A college student has class, a job, helps with family, and volunteers at church. A mother manages the family household, buys groceries, keeps kids healthy, does laundry, pays the bills, volunteers in the nursery and on the praise team, and has a job of her own on top of all that! Change the roles or ages of the person to grandparents, single people, or anything else, it still ends up with too much to do and too little time. We have so many roles and responsibilities it feels like we are drowning in a sea of hats. Some of those things we can’t escape, but a church can be one of the worst places about shoving more “hats” on people.

Every leader should know that part of their job is doing whatever needs to be done. As a pastor that means filling the baptistery, changing the toilet paper, fixing the Internet, or anything else that might come up. When good volunteers are at a premium like in a church, both volunteers and staff members find themselves with a plethora of “other duties as assigned.” Most church leaders have learned to be a jack of all trades, helping the church to be the best it can be. The servant’s heart of so many leaders shine through as they strive to serve and help the church carry out its mission. But when the church drowns people in a sea of hats, always asking more of them, it seems the opposite of the call of Christ.

Many people just give up some of those roles when it feels like too much. A family quits going to church, or a father walks out, a marriage grows cold, kids go uncared for. When most people feel overworked the response is to either double down and work harder or just lay some of those hats aside and quit. Quitting often leads to guilt that we let others down, and working harder often leads to resentment at how hard working and under appreciated we are.

When drowning in a sea of hats, the best way out is the same way as when struggling in the water: call for help. It’s often the last thing we do though, afraid that others might think us weak, or out of fear of letting people down. But just as no one would fault a person drowning in the ocean who yelled for help, churches and families shouldn’t blame when their people call for help either. Church leaders should always be on the lookout for those who are drowning under the weight of expectations in life, and be the first ones to offer a hand out of the rolling waves.

Just as a lifeguard watches the waves for the drowning, so should church leaders watch their waters to see who might be drowning in a sea of hats. The signs might be subtle at first: a parent who shows less joy, a volunteer going through the motions, or even just hearing and seeing a person less.

The primary way pastors and leaders can combat someone drowning in a sea of hats is the same way a lifeguard does: keep your eyes on the people. This is the primary calling of any church leader, and means we must care for and watch out for people in danger. Shepherds are not called to manage organizations, but to care for people. Caring for people means knowing someone who needs to step back in a hard season, or who has been working for a long time without a rest, or has a lot of other things going on. It might mean telling a volunteer they are doing too much, and telling them to step back. What does it profit a church to have all the volunteers in the world if they all burn out?

Church leaders should have regular and honest check-ins about life beyond church with their leaders. We should not be satisfied with a “how you doing” on Sunday morning, but spend time with people to know what’s going on in their lives. This usually happens in hallways at church, at a ball game, or over a meal. We should be proactively looking for those who need help before the situation arises, even calling people back who are going too deep, or taking on too many roles at the church.

The church has been tasked with a great work, but we can trust that God will see it through to completion. God has called us to plant and water, but He is the one who brings the increase. If you are drowning in a sea of hats, just call for help. Jesus calls all those who are weary and heavy laden to come to him, and he will give you rest today. Be honest with yourself, honest with Christ, and honest with others, and you will find the rescue that you need.

That’s how the work of Frank Leavell started for the SBC in 1922. He had been asked by the “Inter-Board Commission” to lead a new work, namely that of the formation movement of college students and young people across the South. The leaders of that commission looked to “Dr Frank” to carry out this monumental work.

Frank Leavell was one of 9(!) sons, many who were extremely influential in Baptist life. Among them was Landrum, a pioneer leader in religious education through the Sunday School Board. George was a missionary in China, Roland was President of New Orleans Seminary, and Ullin also served as a missionary. All of the sons served the church vocationally or as laymen. The ministry of Frank Leavell was found through the Baptist Young Peoples Union, which led to his founding of the Baptist Student Union.

Born in 1884, he was Baptist born and Baptist bred, serving with his parents and whole family in the local church of Oxford, MS. His father worked as Deacon, church clerk, treasurer, Sunday School Superintendent, SS teacher, and more. Frank and his brothers picked up this work ethic and love for the church.

In 1902, Leavell attended several colleges while battling health issues before graduating from the University of Mississippi in 1909. He entered Harvard Law School in 1910 and left for health reasons again, before eventually studying law on his own and passed the bar examination in Georgia. He served in several positions before accepting the position of Georgia secretary of the Baptist Young People’s Union in 1913. After marrying Martha Maria Boone in 1917 the couple had three children, Eddie Belle, Mary Martha, and Frank, Jr.

Leavell left the Georgia Baptist Convention in 1922 to accept a position as executive secretary of the Inter-Board Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, which became the Department of Student Work for the Baptist Sunday School Board.The Southern Baptist Historical Library and Archives has this to say about his work.

His leadership skills flourished and his influence spread wide as the Baptist Student Union became a driving force on college campuses. As secretary, he edited the Baptist Student magazine and other publications of the Sunday School Board and organized many large student conferences at Ridgecrest, North Carolina. He attended several Baptist World Alliance meetings in the 1930s, including the inaugural meeting of the World Youth Congress, which met in conjunction with the BWA meeting in Prague, Czechoslovakia (1931), and the BWA meeting in Berlin, Germany (1934). In the midst of travel, Leavell struggled with calls to other positions. Eight colleges, including Howard College (now Samford University) and Judson College, recruited him to serve their institutions as president. Leavell’s love for students, however, led him to turn down those positions and continue his work with the Sunday School Board. He traveled to Europe and Asia from 1936 to 1937, and attended the Second World Youth Congress in conjunction with the BWA meeting in Zurich, Switzerland. In 1937, he traveled to the same meeting at Copenhagen, Denmark, and, in 1939, to various countries in South America. Leavell attended his final meeting of the Baptist World Alliance in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1949, where he served on the executive committee.

It’s hard to summarize the life of an accomplished leader in just a few paragraphs, but Dr Frank’s love for students drove him literally all over the world to see them succeed. The principles of service that he learned at home as a child stayed with him as he led students in Baptist work across the South and eventually across the world. He said that “The best I can be is the least I can afford to be for my Master.” He was not driven by a desire to succeed but a love for Christ and a love for others.

Our churches need more leaders today like Dr Frank, who left his legacy not in marble or monuments but in the lives of the students he touched. His tireless dedication to see students in God’s service. He wrote one time that as he started his little office in Memphis with a typewriter and a desk, he prayed for “a place and a calling.” God answered those prayers beyond all that he could have asked.

Dr Frank suffered a heart attack in 1943 and passed away at his home in Nashville December 7, 1949.

One of my favorite things to read is biographies of church leaders long forgotten by history. For someone who was exceedingly influential in his day, there is little written about him today. But all of the mission work that Southern Baptists do through college work today finds it’s founding in the work of this Baptist leader. In 1997 Baptist Press wrote about the Diamond Anniversary of Baptist Student Ministry, and said that “SBC student work in 1996 resulted in 5,500 professions of faith. In addition, students gave $3.2 million to support missions, sent out 27,000 student missionaries and helped start 362 new churches or missions.” How much more have Southern Baptist students done since this article was written almost 30 years ago?

Praise God for faithful leaders long forgotten. We plant and water, but God brings the increase.

During the meeting, the great need for humanitarian aid after the war was one of the big things discussed. So many countries were ravaged from the war and bombings. Some of the European Baptists struggled to get there, and didn’t have much in the way of clothing, provisions, or anything else. What could be done to help them?

A big problem like that seems like it required a big solution. One of the attenders there was Paul Caudill, pastor of FBC Memphis, TN offered a solution, but it was a small one not a big one. He challenged every American there to empty their suitcases before their return to America, leaving every piece of clothing and provision they could to help the needy Baptists from other countries. It’s said that most of the Americans went home with empty luggage, giving what they could to help others in need.

When we are faced with big problems we often look for big solutions. But many great needs have been answered through small contributions.

This was the intro from my sermon a few weeks ago. I found it in a book on another topic, and have never read it anywhere else. So I thought I’d share it here for your benefit and now it exists on the internet somewhere!

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I knew what the problem was, and so I set out to fix it by unlocking the door. I had to try for about 20 minutes and two coat hangers before finally getting it open. I had a problem, I found a solution. But one thing I never did was pray over my locked door. My problem wasn’t spiritual, it was physical, and I could take care of it myself.

We all encounter problems, and we all seek solutions. But often we seek the wrong kind of solution to the problem that we face. In Acts 12, James the brother of John has been arrested and beheaded by Herod, and after seeing it that it pleases the Jews, he makes plans to do the same to Peter. Acts 12:5 lays out the problem, and the church’s solution.

“So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.”
Acts 12:5 (NASB)

We are not blind to our problems. It doesn’t take a keen eye to see that many churches in America are sick today, and yours might be one of them. But while we see what the problem is, we fail to see what kind of problem it is, and then seek the wrong answer. Peter being in jail could have been seen as a political problem, so the solution is to call in political favors, to pull some strings, and get him out. Someone might have seen it as a physical problem, so the physical solution is to bust him out of jail, Ocean’s Eleven style with all the apostles. But the church saw Peter being in jail about to be beheaded as a spiritual problem, and so they sought a spiritual answer through prayer.

If a church is struggling financially, is it a spiritual problem or a physical one? If a church is comfortable and doesn’t want to reach out to it’s community, is it a spiritual problem or a physical one? If a pastor or leader is is struggling because attendance is down, is it a spiritual problem or a physical one? We often think that we have the answer to all our problems, if people will just listen to us. If these are physical problems, then there are physical solutions out there to help you. Ways to raise giving, to boost attendance, ideas to stir a comfortable church can be found by the hundreds. But if these problems are spiritual ones at their heart, then God alone has the answer, and prayer must be made “fervently by the church to God.”

Use common sense. If your parking lot has weeds, pull them. If the sanctuary needs painting, paint it, don’t just pray over it. If the keys are locked inside your truck, go find a coat hanger. We would never seek spiritual solutions to physical problems. So why do seek physical answers to spiritual problems?

Ask yourself what is the root cause of your problems. Recognize that many (if not most) of the problems that plague churches and families are spiritual problems at their core. And then seek the one who has all the answers, no matter how big the problem might be.

Peter ends up out of jail in Acts 12. Neither he nor the church could seem to believe what God had done. But when we get the right solution for the right problem, even the jail doors can open with prayer.