December 2012

®

David Lee (above) announces his retirement ...................3 Connect 2012 meets at Global Mission Church................6 We can’t stop, say Connect 2012 speakers .................10

Newsjournal of the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware • www.baptistlifeonline.org

December 2012

VOLUME 97 ISSUE 6/ December 2012

FeaturesREMNANT LIVING IN A STRANGE LAND p. 3BCM/D’S David Lee, who announced his upcoming July 31 retirement, shares his message at the 177th annual meeting of the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware.

CONNECT 2012 p. 6This year’s annual meeting at Global Mission Church included the largest number of language church members ever represented at the BCM/D annual meeting.

PASTOR AT HEART, KEVIN EZELL LEADS THE NORTH AMERICAN MISSION BOARD p.12Connect keynote speaker and NAMB President Kevin Ezell shared the urgency of not “stopping” to share the gospel.

RICHARD LOGSDON RETIRES p. 13Congratulations to Richard Logsdon, director of missions at the Potomac Baptist Association, who will retire effective Dec. 31.

PerspectivesDAVID LEE p. 3

BOB SIMPSON p. 4

ROBERT ANDERSON p. 4

GAYLA PARKER p. 13

p. 12

This edition of BaptistLIFE focuses on Connect 2012, the annual meeting of the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware, held Nov. 11-13 at Global Mission Church in Silver Spring, Md.

ON THE COVER:Ken Stalls prays for David Lee, BCM/D’s executive director.

CONTENTSp. 3

p. 6

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David Lee retiring July 2013By Bob Simpson

In his address to the 177th Annual Meeting of church messengers

at Global Mission Church, Silver Spring, Md., Dr. David H. Lee announced his plans to retire as the Executive Director of the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware effective July 31, 2013.

Lee, 62, told the messengers during the Monday evening session that “I have lived a blessed

life. God changed my life at age 15. At age 16 I said, ‘Yes,’ to God’s call to preach. At age 20 God gave me a life and ministry partner. I would not be where I am today without my wife. Sherry and I will celebrate 42 years of marriage in December. God blessed us with two godly sons who with their wives faithfully serve Jesus, and four wonderful grandchildren who are the apple of Grandaddy’s and Mimi’s eyes.”

Lee continued, “I have been given the privilege of standing in the pulpit to preach the word of God and be called pastor by some of God’s most special people. All of life and ministry have not always been easy, but God has always been faithful. My journey with you has been a tremendous blessing. You are a blessing. Sherry and I

love you. It has been such a privilege to serve you. I was given specific tasks by God when I came to serve you. I am convinced that assignment has been completed. I am at peace in announcing it to you tonight, because I want to allow the leaders to have ample time for a search process for your next leader. We cannot afford to lose focus on our mission. Together we will pray and seek God’s direction. Thank you for the privilege and opportunity to serve you.”

Upon his retirement, Lee will have completed 19 years of service to the Convention, the last 13 of which was as the Executive Director. A native of North Carolina, Lee has pastored since 1994 in Mississippi and Maryland. Prior to joining the staff of BCM/D Lee, pastored Faith Baptist Church in Glen Burnie, Md.

In May, 2000, Lee was the unanimous choice of the General Mission Board to succeed Charles Barnes, who was retiring at the time. Lee’s tenure has been marked by a strong emphasis on missions and church planting, building relationships among pastors, and helping existing churches become healthier and more Great Commission focused. Lee and his wife, Sherry, have together championed the support of ministers, their wives, and their families through numerous intentional initiatives and ministry events.

Lee earned a Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (NOBTS). He was honored in 2008 with the Distinguished Alumnus Award by NOBTS. He is also a graduate of William Carey College, where he was named Distinguished Alumnus of the Year in 2005.

December 2012

David LeeBCM/D Executive Director

Page 3

Dr. David Lee’s message to the 177th Annual Meeting of the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware

I remember a few years back how excited I was when Maryland/Delaware Baptists entered into a missions partnership with the Baptist Union of Scotland. It

provided us an opportunity to engage in international missions in a place where language would not be a barrier and where travel was more convenient and affordable. I also believed we could have a kingdom impact despite our limited resources.

A few of our constituents opposed the partnership stating that there were other areas of our world where the need was greater. They were correct in their assessment. Scotland’s population of lostness could not compare to that of many Asian, African, Middle Eastern, or even Eastern European nations of the world.

But there were other key reasons why I felt this to be the place and the time. The International Mission Board was closing down operations there. IMB’s new strategy tar-geted larger people groups and deeper pockets of lostness. In Scotland we could fill an important gap and help meet a need for them.

I also believed that the church in Scotland previewed where the church in America was headed. I recall a very telling conversation with one of the pastors there. “Our biggest challenge,” he said, “is that the church in Scotland is viewed by the culture as irrelevant.” No one opposed or persecuted them; they just ignored them. In fact, many of the church buildings had either been sold for restaurants or museums or retail venues. The majority who were still open on Sunday housed a handful of mainly senior adults.

I believed we were headed in that direction. My hope was that the partnership would be a wake-up call for us to get serious about our mission before we, too, were viewed as having lost our saltiness and our light to such a degree that the culture around us deemed us irrelevant.

I am still concerned that we are losing our relevance, but no longer believe irrelevance to be our final destina-tion. Of more concern to me is that we are moving quickly from irrelevance to a world that is hostile to the church and to the message of the cross.

I have lived long enough to witness a series of major shifts in our culture and in the church. In my early years of ministry I experienced the last chapters of an era where those bearing the name of Jesus were

Remnant living in a strange land

(Continued on page 5)

December 2012

Sometimes it’s good to just stop, sit down, and take a moment

to reflect. Life is fascinating the way it evolves over time. Often the perfect will of God is best seen in retrospect. Upon graduating from high school in Maryland and head-ing for Oklahoma Baptist University, I spent the next 19 years ministering to churches in Oklahoma, Virginia, and Florida. In 1988, Lorraine and I returned to our native Maryland and I was called as the Worship Pastor at Faith

Baptist, Glen Burnie, to serve with their recently arrived pastor and wife from Mississippi named David and Sherry Lee. God really blessed us in those days. We began what I’m sure David would agree was a journey of “mutual ad-miration.” Little did either of us know then that, in a short decade later, God would allow both of us to continue our ministries together at the Baptist Convention of Mary-land/Delaware. We were both voted into our positions at BCM/D during the same GMB meeting in May 2000.

While the number 13 is not considered a lucky number by most, for me these past 13 years working with

David has not only been lucky, but also joyous. He has been a great mentor and boss to me. He has willingly shared ministry with me (and all the other guys that have served with us on the Executive Team) in ways that other leaders might not have chosen to do. I will always be grate-ful for that.

We have worked together, laughed together, prayed together, cried together and watched as God has been at work in and through BCM/D churches.

We have often struggled to find agreement on important matters such as “Ravens” vs. “Redskins” and “NASCAR” vs. “Too boring to watch.” We have agreed on the Orioles and golf !

The journey of life will most certainly bring other changes for each of us. This particular one is bitter sweet. As David retires this coming July, I wish only the best for David and Sherry. I know that this particular change is hard for them and all of us. But I also know that God’s timing is always perfect.

The Lee’s (and my wife, Lorraine) will probably laugh when I say, “This reminds me of a song!” The words I keep hearing in my spirit are: “He gives and takes away. He gives and takes away. My heart will choose to say, ‘Lord…blessed be Your name!’”

The really good news is that for God’s forever family, of which we as believers are all a part, changes here in this life are only temporary. We have this time to love our friends and all of eternity, too!

My friend, David LeePERSPECTIVE BY BOB SIMPSON

Bob SimpsonBCM/D Associate Executive Director/Chief Operating

Officer and Editor of BaptistLIFE

Page 4

It’s all about JesusPERSPECTIVE BY ROBERT ANDERSON

Seasons Greetings! As your new BCM/D president, it will be my high honor to share some thoughts with you monthly in BaptistLIFE, and I hope they

will be a source of encouragement to all. Christmas is my favorite holiday with all of its wonderful music, sumptu-ous food and bright colors. And like everyone else I enjoy the giving and receiving of gifts, but in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, let us not forget the greatest significance of it all, namely, the glorious coming of the Lord Jesus to die for our sins that we might have a way back to the Father. In fact, Matthew stated succinctly, “She (Mary) will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21).

One of my favorite gospel preachers, Dr. Robert G. Lee, tells the story of a famous songwriter who loved the Lord deeply. He wrote a song that had a beautiful romantic tune and a great gospel message, and he was offered a lot of money if he would substitute the word

‘love’ for ‘Jesus’. The com-poser strongly replied, “If you leave out Jesus, you have left out everything.” This Christmas, let’s make sure we do not substitute or leave out JESUS, because it is all about Him! In fact, it is a wonder-ful time to share this good news with others that the Savior has come to redeem us from sin and condemnation.

I truly covet your prayers as I endeavor to represent Maryland/Dela-ware Southern Baptists with honor, integrity and love. If I can be of any help to you just let me know. Have a wonderful holiday season, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Robert AndersonBCM/D President and

Pastor of Colonial Baptist Church, Randallstown, Md.

highly respected. I lived in areas where a person could not get elected to public office with-out showing evidence that he or she was a member of a local church. Pastors in those areas looked forward to elec-tion years because church attendance increased as aspiring politicians came back to church with their families as part of their campaign strategies.

I also lived through the hippy era where every institution was called into question including the church. “Antidisestablishmentarianism” became a household word. (That’s probably an exaggeration!). The local pastor and lo-cal church still enjoyed a certain degree of influence and respect, but you could see both eroding.

To me, the Church Growth Move-ment came as a shot of adrenalin for the church. I had high hopes that the church was finally getting it. Attention shifted to those who were outside the church. On the heels of that came the emphasis on the missional church. I am a big fan of that strategy based upon viewing our ministry areas like missionaries assessing a mission field.

Despite these most recent movements I have seen what I would call a “creeping irrelevance.” The vote of evangelical Christians for a time was sought as a power-ful political force. At least politicians cared what we were thinking. I think we could agree that the 2012 election in our local area helps us know that evangelical Christians and the Word of God are no longer the final word on moral and culture issues for those who are making the rules.

I see us though moving past the “island of irrelevance” headed to the shores of a world perhaps similar to the First Century. Religious folks in the Rome-occupied world of the Middle East experienced a certain degree of personal and even religious freedom as long as they colored within Roman lines. Moving outside those lines resulted in severe persecution. Yet, despite that backdrop, those early follow-ers of Christ still “turned their world upside down” with the gospel.

I believe that what we will soon face will more resemble “Daniel’s World,” than it will resemble the First Century world. In the First Century, it still felt like home to those early disciples. It was familiar territory. I am concerned that we may not be far from living in a strange land that we will no longer recognize. We may be about to experience “Daniel World,” an exile of sorts, where our freedoms will be limited. Following Christ will have a price tag. In fact, there will be a lions’ den or a fiery furnace for those who really take discipleship seriously. The fact that during this past election one of our pastors was made a media spectacle, faced threatening and harassing calls, and had to hire additional security for his church services all because he quoted the Word of God in a public meeting, should send shock waves to all of us and awaken us to the

strange new world to which we are headed.In such worlds God declared through the Old Testa-

ment prophets that he would preserve a “remnant.” You may have heard terms like “resort living,” or “condo-living” or “city-living.” We need to investigate “remnant living” in

a strange and unfamiliar land, because I believe that is where we are ultimate-ly headed.

The story of Daniel and his friends helps us understand how we can be salt and light in that kind of world. Invaders not only set up shop in conquered regions; they also tended to exile the best of the population. By taking the best of their captors away, they enhanced their work force. Taking away the best and brightest from their homeland also minimized the threat of potential leaders who may rally the people in rebellion. Daniel and his friends were in exile. God’s promise to those exiled was that

a remnant would survive, be blessed, be a blessing, and ultimately be delivered to their real home.

I am convinced that we need to begin now making preparation for what lies before us. I want to stir your thinking. If we are to be remnant leaders in this new and strange world, what can we do to advance God’s kingdom? Let’s start the conversation here.• Wemustmakerealdisciples.• Wemustteachourfellowbelieversthatfollow-ship

comes with a price. • Wemustconstantlyremindourbrothersandsisters

that our citizenship is somewhere else. • WemustbuildGalatians6:2churchesthathelp

disciples bear their burdens rather than add burdens to them due to our dysfunction.

• WemustconcentrateonbuildingthekingdomofGod, rather than building our individual kingdoms.

• Wemustadaptourbasicstrategyforsharingthegos-pel. Time for gospel sharing will come when people see that we are real, sold out, and willing to pay a price for what we believe.

• Weshouldconstantlyremindourpeopleaboutthepower of God. Ministry in “Remnant World” will be hard. It will be costly. It will be discouraging at times. But when you add the power of God to “change people” and to “change things” to the formula, it ought to excite us about the mission before us.

• Wemuststayascloseaspossibletootherswhoarepart of the remnant. More than ever we will need to do this together. I hope I am wrong. I hope what I see never comes

to pass. It is hard, however, to ignore the signs. Therefore, I challenge all of us to begin now preparing for remnant living in a strange land.

For the complete transcript of David Lee’s message, go to www.baptistlifeonline.org.

Page 5December 2012

Remnant living in a strange land(Continued from page 3)

Page 6 December 2012

CONNECT 2012: WE CAN’T STOP177th Annual Meeting of theBaptist Convention of MD/DE

By Sharon MagerBCM/D Correspondent

SILVER SPRING, Md.—The Baptist Convention of Maryland/Dela-ware kicked off its annual meeting on an historic day—Nov. 11, Veterans Day. The meeting also became historic for BCM/D. Following his annual address, BCM/D Executive Director David Lee surprised messengers by announcing his retirement effective July 31, 2013. The news brought many to tears, but Lee encouraged listeners, saying he is “at peace” with the decision.

“We Can’t Stop” was the theme for the 177th annual meet-ing at Global Mission Church, Silver Spring. It was based on Acts 4 and the account of Peter and John before the Sanhedrin and their response to being ordered to refrain from speaking or teaching in the name of Jesus. “But Peter and John replied,

‘Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be

the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have

seen and heard’” (Acts 4:19-20). Two hundred sixty messen-

gers and 96 visitors attended and included the largest number of

language church members ever

represented at the BCM/D annual meeting.

Messengers elected Robert

Anderson, pastor of Colonial Baptist Church, as BCM/D president and re-elect-

ed Ron Smith, pastor of First Baptist Church, Havre de Grace, as first vice president and

Andrew Bell, pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church, as second vice-president.

In addition, messengers made a Bylaw change and voted to reaffirm the biblical definition of marriage.

In addition to the business/worship ses-

sions, messengers could choose from a variety of brunches and breakout sessions throughout the meeting. A highlight of the event was an international dinner featuring American, Chinese, Haitian, Hispanic, Korean and Nep-alese foods. These church members spent days preparing for the event. Leftovers were sent to a local mission.

Sunday Night BCM/D President Ken Stalls officially

called the meeting to order, welcoming mes-sengers and guests.

The Global Mission Church worship center was packed as Shani Carter, worship director of Grace Life Church, Baltimore, and the church’s praise team led the opening music. In addition, groups from Burmese, Chinese, Haitian, Kenyan, Korean and Nep-alese churches shared hymns and praise music in their native languages.

Robert Kim, BCM/D Asian church planting missionary, told messengers that BCM/D hosts two language ministry events each year: a Palm Sunday music festival and a concert of prayer in the fall.

Kevin Ezell, president of the North American Mission Board, spoke on the theme, “We Can’t Stop Speaking.”

“We can’t stop speaking about what the gospel can do and how it can radically change someone’s life,” Ezell told messengers and guests.

Dave Burt, LifeWay consultant, presented Ken Stalls with a Bible from LifeWay.

Messengers watched a “God Sightings” video featuring South End Baptist Church and their ministry with the “Convoy of Hope” in Frederick. The videos shown throughout the

meeting were sent in by churches in response to a request to submit “God sightings” in their areas of ministry.

Monday afternoon session A praise team comprised of BCM/D

worship leaders through-

Andrew Bell, Robert Anderson, and Ron Smith

(Continued on page 7)

Page 7December 2012

out the convention led worship singing, “Come Thou Fount,” “All Because of Jesus,” and “Hear Us From Heaven.”

Vaughn Walker, senior pastor of First Gethsemane Baptist Church, Louisville, Ky., spoke on “We Can’t Stop Serving,” and shared a sermon titled, “A Compelling De-sire,” based on Luke 18:35-19:26.

“What motivates a person to serve God, and not only to begin, but to get to a place where we say, ‘We can’t stop praising his name?’” Walker asked.

He gave three reasons: When we see others enthusiastically serving, when we see others who are unlikely candidates who are enthusiastically serving the Lord, and when we comprehend the urgency that God has placed on us to serve because the Lord is coming back.

Monday Evening Global Mission Church’s praise team

led in congregational singing with “Amaz-ing Grace” and “Nothing But the Blood” to begin the Monday evening session.

Dennis Kim, pastor of Global Mission Church, speaking on the theme, “We Can’t Stop Praying,” told messengers, “All the days I’ve been here in America I praise the Lord for you.

“Korean Christians learned to pray from Western missionaries,” Kim said. At Global Mission Church, prayer is a priority. Kim said prayer warriors are praying at 5:30 in the morning Monday through Saturday. God has and is blessing Global Mission Church, which now has eight services.

In the first election of officers, messen-gers unanimously elected Robert Ander-son, pastor of Colonial Baptist Church, as BCM/D president. Anderson has served as pastor of Colonial Baptist Church for 17 years. He has also served with the BCM/D

General Mission Board, with the Baltimore Baptist Association and on the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee pursuing racial reconciliation.

Following a video presentation introduc-ing Embrace Silver Spring, Michael Mattar, pastor of Hope Fellowship Church, Sterling, Va., told messengers, “Ninety-three percent of the people are lost. The only way to reach them is to get on our knees and ask what God is calling us to do. I come here to challenge all of us to shed tears for the lostness in Silver Spring, as we work together to start churches,

as we work together as a convention and as associations, to plant and strengthen churches.”

Concert pianist and Riva Trace Church Worship Pastor Bill Bloomquist played “Shall We Gather at the River” on the piano for the offertory.

The offering will be used to support Embrace Silver Spring.

Mary Ann Bloomquist, a member of Riva Trace Church, Davidsonville, sang a special presentation of “Bless-ings,” prior to the executive director’s address.

Executive Director’s Address David Lee, presenting the

Executive Director’s address, spoke of “Remnant Living.” Lee read Daniel 1:1-21 and 3:1-30.

He referred to the account of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Lee warned messengers that the church may indeed be moving towards a world similar to the first century where Christians may be facing lions’ dens or fiery furnaces.

Lee said he’s seen the church transition from being highly respected, to the hippy era where all institutions were under the microscope. He’s seen the church growth and missional church movements, but despite those upswings, Lee said he’s seen a creeping irrelevance and even a move to a world similar to the first century.

“I am concerned that we may not be far from living in a strange land that we will no longer recog-nize. We may be about to experience ‘Daniel World,’ an exile of sorts,

where our freedoms will be limited. Fol-lowing Christ will have a price tag.

“It’s so critical that you and I join hands and hearts to-gether. And we’re going to need leaders to step up and keep it together. Because what is in front of us is going to require the very best in all of us,” Lee said. (For more, see Lee’s transcript, beginning on page 3.)

David Lee’s retirement announce-ment and testimony

“I’ve lived a blessed life,” Lee shared. “God changed my life at age 15. He came into my life and it has (Continued on page 8)

Page 8 December 2012

made all the differ-ence in the world.”

Lee said he has been given the privi-lege of standing in many pulpits preach-ing the gospel and in many of those places be called pastor.

“My life in ministry has not always been easy; but I can stand here and tell you, God has always been faithful.

“It has been such a privilege to serve you and to serve with you. When I came here, I was given specif-ic tasks by God. I’m convinced that that assignment has been completed. I am at peace in announcing to you that I am retir-ing as executive director of this wonderful convention, effective July 31, 2013. I also am con-vinced that God uses the platoon system. We are at a good place as a state convention of churches, but I believe it is time for me to step aside and for someone else to assume this role.

The next leader will have a different gift mix to serve you as

a new chapter begins in the life of this convention. I announce it tonight because I want to allow

the leaders to have ample time to begin a search process for your next leader. Together we will pray and

seek God’s direction, but the one thing we cannot do is stop speaking

about what we have heard and stop serving

in the name of Jesus and stop praying and

stop loving and stop pursuing those who so

desperately need to hear the gospel. “I want to thank you, it has been a

privilege and opportunity to serve you. I want to say thank you to our staff. There is no better staff anywhere in the Southern

Baptist Convention. I think you’ve wit-nessed that even at this meeting. Sherry and

I want to let you know we love you so very

much. What a privilege that God has given to us to walk in places that are absolutely beyond imagination.

“We’ll do this together. I am at peace. I hope you’ll be at peace and I hope we’ll join our hearts together as we look forward to what God is going to do next.”

Tuesday Morning Del Morgan, worship pastor of The

Church at Covenant Park, Columbia, Md., opened the well-attended final session of the meeting with a heartily sung “Holy, Holy, Holy” and “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing.”

Ken Stalls presented the annual President’s Address. Stalls’ sermon was titled “Do you have the holy ‘can’t help its?’” Stalls said in counseling situations, many people with a variety of disor-ders will say, ‘I knew I shouldn’t have done it, but I just can’t help it.’ Why can’t we have some holy ‘can’t help its?’”

“...Hear the word of God and indeed refuse to stop talking about Jesus

Christ tell others and just watch our world and see what happens,” Stalls said.

Stalls read from Acts. 4:1-20. When told to stop speaking in the name of Jesus, Peter and John reply, “As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard” (Acts 1:20). “That’s the holy ‘can’t help it,’” Stalls said.

Business Session Messengers approved a change to the

BCM/D Bylaws—an addition to Article II—Committees and Their Duties. The ad-dition allows the president, in the event of a

vacancy between annual meetings, to “appoint members to fill that vacancy as an interim until approval at the next Annual Meeting. This would apply to all BCM/D committees.

They also unanimously approved a $6.1 million BCM/D budget and a $1.9 million Skycroft Conference Center budget.

Messengers unanimously re-elected Ron

CONNECT 2012: WE CAN’T STOP

Sherry and David Lee

(Continued on page 9)

(Continued from page 7)

Smith, pastor of First Baptist Church, Havre de Grace, as first vice-president and Andrew Bell as second vice-president.

Harold Phillips, senior pastor of Pleasant View Baptist Church, Port Deposit, Md., introduced a statement to reaffirm the 2011 resolution on traditional marriage, which messengers ap-proved.

There were no nominations for the positions of recording secretary and as-sistant recording secretary; there-fore, based on the constitutional amendment passed earlier in the business sessions, the new president will appoint officers to fulfill the vacancies.

David Lee welcomed new pastors and staff to the convention and recognized BCM/D staff celebrating milestones. Lee recognized ministry assistants, Gail Noda and Donna Shiflett. Noda has served the conven-tion for 15 years and Shiflett for ten years.

Debbie Marini, interim executive direc-tor, reported for Baptist Family & Children’s Services. Marini told about Safe Families, a movement of hundreds of families, with the support of their churches, to provide bibli-cal Christian hospitality to families going through crisis situations. Marini showed a video testimony of the Donnellan family who became part of Safe Families and how the ex-perience blessed them and those around them.

Cathy Donnellan spoke after the video and urged messengers to “step outside of your comfort zone.”

John Schoff, representing The Bap-tist Foundation, presented a check for $137,882.54 to David Lee for the BCM/D to use for starting and strengthening churches. Funds were derived from interest on loans provided to churches.

Gayla Parker, BCM/D Women’s Mis-sionary Union (WMU) executive director and Darline Ballou, WMU president, shared the WMU presentation. Following a video about “Breathless,” the annual women’s conference, Ballou said the WMU has a new tagline “Missions for Life.”

Parker shared a story about 12-year old who attended girls’ camp. The girl began asking questions about being a Christian and

when Parker began talking with her, she found that the girl did not know who Jesus was and she had never seen a Bible in “real life.” Parker shared Christ with the young

girl, who asked Jesus to come into her life.

“We can’t stop sharing,” Parker said.

Phil Res-pass, minister of worship and music, Friendship Baptist Church, Sykesville, Md., led the final time of congrega-

tional singing, with “Holy is the Lord,” “The Stand,” and “Standing on the Promises.”

Chuck Lawless, dean of graduate studies for Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, spoke on the theme, “We Can’t Stop Pursuing,” and shared a message titled, “The Anonym-ity of Pursuit.”

Lawless read John the Baptist’s comments in Mark 1:7, “After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.”

“When’s the last time you were so amazed by Jesus, that you stopped wherever you are in your spiritual journey? I don’t care how long you’ve served the church. You just had to stop and say—who is this? See, when we don’t have those moments, we lose our wonder.

“It’s one of the reasons God puts us in the boat that’s going into the storm. It’s in the storm we find out just how mighty the Son of God is.”

The meeting concluded with a vid-eo presentation titled “We Can’t Stop,” showing BCM/D pastors, staff and lay leaders ministering throughout Maryland and Delaware. Each ministered in their own area, then put the “pieces” together to show how we must work together and we can’t stop.

Next year’s annual meeting will be Nov. 10-12, 2013, at Ogletown Baptist Church, Newark, Del.

Page 9December 2012

By Shannon BakerBCM/D National Correspondent

… SPEAKING

Kevin Ezell, president of the North American Mission Board, noted how complacent Ameri-cans have become

because there are so many churches. In Mississippi, in the most churched state in North America, there is one Southern Baptist church for every 1,385 people. In Maryland, there is one Southern Baptist church for every 10,800 people;

in Delaware, one for every 27,000 people. Ezell said, “We’ve become very spoiled, and it’s time we must become

very aggressive, and we cannot stop speaking about what the gospel does and can do; and

how it can radically change someone’s life.”

Pointing to Acts 20, which Ezell calls a resignation letter from the Apostle Paul, Ezell explained how Paul, going to certain death in Jerusalem, was passionate about

being obedient no matter the cost. Paul summed it up this way, “It’s not about me. It’s about the mes-sage, the ‘task of testifying to God’s

grace,’” Ezell noted. Ezell shared about his recent

experience in Cuba where the govern-ment forced church groups to start

new groups in an effort to dilute their power. The opposite occurred, similarly

to what happened in Acts 8, when the church scattered in persecution, but

preached the gospel everywhere they went.

“Think about it! God used a Com-munist leader to start a church-planting

movement!” Ezell said. “God has called us to understand that it is not about us.”

He concluded, “We really can’t stop speak-ing—even if it is inconvenient. We can’t. He’s told us to complete the task He’s given us: the task of testifying to the Gospel of God’s grace.”

… SERVING

Vaughn Walker, se-nior pastor of First Geth-semane Baptist Church, Louisville, Ky., shared three reasons people are motivated to serve.

First, we are moti-vated to serve when we see others enthusiasti-cally serving. “There ought to be a joy in your heart to have the opportunity to serve… and it becomes contagious,” he said. Secondly, we are motivated when we see others who are unlikely candidates who are enthusiastically serving. The third reason is that we must understand the urgency God has placed on us to serve because He is coming back.

Drawing from Luke 18-19, Walker shared how the tax collector, Zacchaeus, was an enthusiastic server. “What would make a man with money, power and prestige want to serve?” he asked, surmising what drew his interest was the healing and subsequent service of the once-blind Bartimaeus in the preceding chapter.

“You see, when you get enthusiastic about your service to God, it has a way of rubbing off on other people,” he said. “Some of you have been saved because you experienced the enthusiasm and passion of someone else, who

had an encounter with the Lord, begin to serve and follow the Lord, and that is what drew you in to your salvation and your service.”

… PRAYING

Dennis Kim, senior pastor of Global Mission Church, who hosted this

year’s meeting, shared about missionary Robert Jermain Thomas, who was the first Protestant martyr in Korea. Against advice, the man returned to Korea in 1866 as an interpreter on the American trading ship, the General

Page 10 December 2012

Connect 2012 Speakers: We Can’t Stop...

Kevin EzellVaughn Walker

Dennis Kim

(Continued on page 11)

Sherman. Hostilities broke out, the ship was set on fire, and Thomas dived into the river, where angry civilians were waiting for him. The missionary tried to share his Chinese Bible, bowing in the sand and praying that those about to kill him would someday be-come Christians. Later, Chun-Gwon Park, Thomas’ executioner, was said to have read the Bible, become a Christian and planted a new church.

“I believe God answered the prayer of Robert Jermain Thomas,” Kim said. “We Korean Christians learned how to pray from Western missionaries. We follow the examples of their prayer. We received Bibles from them. And we came to know how Jesus prayed through them.”

Kim shared how his church members pray Monday through Saturday at 5:30 a.m., and on Sundays, they worship in five Korean and three English services “because Jesus is our Lord and because your ancestors spread the gospel through Far East Asia, including Korea.”

The church has intercessory prayer rooms where members spend one hour a week—day, evening or middle of the night—because they believe Matthew 7:7, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (NIV).

“We can’t stop praying because there are many people who need our prayers,” Kim said.

… PURSUING

Ken Stalls, senior pastor of South End Baptist Church, Frederick, Md., and outgoing BCM/D president, shared about what happens when the church breaks silence. He said the world around us is not hearing enough about

Jesus and His resurrection. “Right now, it happens so seldom, we

think it is abnormal. We should never think that! It is certainly normal in the eyes of God when His people obtain boldness from Him and speak out with all the power that He gives us.”

Pointing to Acts 4, Stalls said, “Teaching and preaching in the name of Jesus flew in the face of the Jewish population and was a real threat to the status quo of their day.” It’s no different today, he said, pointing to the removal of the Ten Commandments from

places and prayer from public schools, and the denial of Christian symbols (like the Nativity at Christmastime). In essence, the atheistic world is saying to Christians, “You can no longer speak in the name of Jesus Christ,” he said.

Like Peter and John, Christians must continue speaking in the face of opposition. “It is not politically correct. But it is biblically correct and divinely correct,” he said. “That great provoca-tion of when they were willing to stand up for God allowed them to

experience great power. I believe that’s what the church needs today.”

In a message en-titled, “The Anonymity of Pursuit,”

Chuck Lawless, dean of graduate studies at Southeastern Baptist Seminary, recalled the story of the woman, who had a discharge of blood for 12 years. She had “heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his gar-ment,” and was healed (Mark 5:27 ESV).

Lawless referred to preced-ing chapters, which tell the stories of Jesus’ ministry, which the wom-an likely had heard. At every stage, several—John the Baptist, God the Father who spoke at Je-sus’ baptism, and even demons, who confessed Jesus as the “Son of God” before being cast out—reported on who Jesus is.

Jesus “very clearly tells us to tell, but we don’t,” Lawless said, conjecturing that “we are not amazed enough” to tell others. “Because when Jesus rocks your world, you just can’t keep Him to yourself,” he said. “It may well be that we must pursue God again.”

Lawless continued, “If [the woman] heard the reports, what can we assume? That somebody said something about Jesus… Whoever this person was matters in this story because whoever this person was did what God calls all of us to do: Be amazed by Jesus and go tell [His] story.”

Page 11December 2012

Ken Stalls

Chuck Lawless

Page 12 December 2012

By Shannon BakerBCM/D National Correspondent

ALPHARETTA, Ga.—Kevin Ezell’s first pastorate was at Hilltop Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, where he received his “first and only unanimous vote…seven to nothing” to be pastor. But it really wasn’t his only unani-mous vote.

Years later, in 2010, after serving in three churches and several denomi-national appoint-ments, Ezell was the unanimous choice of a seven-person search committee who recommended him as North American Mission Board president.

Elected to the post on Sept. 14, 2010, Ezell now pro-vides strategic vision, direc-tion and leadership as NAMB

works with state partners in helping Southern Baptists to reach North America through

evangelism and evangelistic church planting.

“I see the potential NAMB has if its energies and resources are focused in the right direction,”

Ezell said, at his election. “I am looking forward to being able to give a very clear vision for it. You

rarely have the opportunity to have this big of a Kingdom impact.”

Two years later, Ezell still is excited about the potential Kingdom

impact at NAMB, having already refocused the organization through

Send North America, a coordinated national strategy to help move church-

es and individuals into all regions of North America to reach new people through starting new churches.

The effort focuses on five regions and 30 cities, which represent each region’s largest population centers, where

organizers expect to see a gospel influence radiate out of the cities and impact the rest of the region.

Prior to his nomination at NAMB, Ezell served faithfully for 14 years as senior pastor of Highview Baptist Church in

Louisville, Ky., where the church experienced substantial growth both in attendance and in the number of campuses.

A pastor at heart, Ezell admits the transi-tion to being NAMB president has not been easy on him.

“It was very difficult,” he confessed in an interview with BaptistLIFE. “I really do prefer

to pastor. I really enjoy being with people, but in this position, I am very isolated from people.”

Ezell noted he spends a lot of his time preaching, “in and out” of places, but

misses the excitement of “walking people down a path in their spiritual journeys.”

“A lot of guys pastor so they can preach, but I preached so I could pastor,” Ezell shared, noting his ultimate goal wasn’t to be an entity head.

Nonetheless, the role lines up with his life scripture: “However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace” (Acts 20:24 NIV).

He’s encouraged, because he senses people understand where NAMB is now headed, and it is a much better environment than what he faced in his first two years, which had him traveling a lot and handling difficult challenges in realigning the organization to its new focus.

So far, NAMB’s budget for church plant-ing, which used to consume 28 percent of the overall budget now consumes 45 percent of it. He’s also “thinned the staff out,” from 360 to142 people, so as to be “light, nimble and able” to spend the money necessary to fund more church planting catalyst missionaries throughout North America. Many churches are catching the vision.

Even so, Ezell is quick to say he needs to find more balance in his work so as not to miss time with his family. He and his wife, Lynette, have three biological children, Anna, Shelly, Taylor, and three adopted children, John Michael (from the Philippines), Libby (from China) and Micah Lyn (from Ethiopia).

“Every time we watch the Olympics, we all win,” he said.

Pastor at heart, Ezell leads NAMB

Page 13

WMU meeting: Just one generation...

December 2012

By Gayla ParkerBCM/D WMU Executive Director

SILVER SPRING, Md.—“Without missions education for children, we are just one generation away of having no missionar-ies,” said Connie Dixon, WMU Executive Director of New Mexico at the WMU MD/DE Annual Meeting. That statement took my breath away. With all the changes in church culture missions education is often neglected. It is easy to get lost in the immedi-ate needs making anything more seem impossible. “The Israelites felt the same way when they faced the Red Sea with the Egyptian army at their heels. We may not be Moses but God is still God and HE still parts the waters making a way!” Connie said. A reminder to me that God is a God of purpose. He places a call in our hearts to dif-ferent places at different times. And then He parts the waters and makes a way. For me this annual meeting will be my

last as God has placed a new call in my heart. My husband, Freddy, has been called to serve as pastor of Lifeway Church in Little Rock, Ark. As his wife, my call is to follow him and serve as the pastor’s wife at Lifeway. For my readers over these last 6 ½

years, I have truly been humbled by your faithfulness to read these articles. It has always been my prayer that God would use them to encour-age, inspire and challenge. I have seen God do exceedingly

more than I could ever have imagined. I am indeed blessed more than I deserve. MD/DE will always hold a special place in my heart, and you will always be in my prayers. Thank you for the privilege of serving with you.

Richard Logsdon to retire, Dec. 31HUGHESVILLE, Md. —Potomac

Baptist Association (PBA) Director of Mis-sions (DOM) Dr. Richard Logsdon will retire effective Dec. 31. Logsdon has served as DOM for 21 years and in overall ministry for 40. The PBA had 20 churches when he began and now has 36.

Reflecting on the past two decades, Logsdon said some of the highlights of his ministry have been seeing church plants begin, grow and flourish. The PBA has planted churches in Southern Maryland and in Mexico.

Logsdon said he’s also pleased to see the ethnic diversity in the area reflected throughout the association. In addition to Anglo churches, PBA now has active Korean, Spanish and African American congregations.

Churches have also become much more active in disaster relief under Logsdon’s leader-ship. He spearheaded relief efforts during Hurricane Irene and after a devastating tornado destroyed many businesses in La Plata.

Logsdon’s wife, Freda, has actively sup-ported Richard in ministry through the years

and has an ongoing ministry to ministers’ wives.

“I’ve been privileged to serve with outstanding pastors, churches and members. It has

been wonderful to be part of what God has done here,” Logsdon said.

Once officially retired, Logsdon said he and Freda will continue to be actively involved in min-istry, helping as needed.

“We’re not moving. Our home is here,” he said. Logs-don began ministering in 1973

as associate pastor of Capitol Hill Metropolitan Church in Washington, D.C., followed by serving as pastor of First Baptist Church, Upper Marlboro for 15 years.

“All of our ministry since seminary has been in the Washington area,” he said. “Our roots are deep here.”

There will be a reception for the Logsdons at Hughesville Baptist Church on Jan. 13 from 2:00-4:00pm.

--By Sharon Mager

Page 14 December 2012

CONNECT 2012 TRAININGConnect 2012 offered several training opportunities through brunches and breakout sessions held during this year’s annual meeting at Global Mission Church on Nov. 12. Included were first row: (left to right): Jeff Simpson, Mike McQuitty, Vaughn Walker, Kerry Hinton, James Jeffries; second row: Randy Millwood, Jason Brown, Jen Carignan, Dan Hammer, Dennis Gray, Tammy Lashey; third row: Bill Archer, Michael Mattar, Chuck Lawless, Bill Emeott; fourth row: David Jackson, Richard Ross, Bryan Arnett, Lee Coate and Jonathan Lee.

Page 15December 2012

December 2012 - February 2013 BCM/D Events (www.bcmd.org/calendar or 800-466-5290 + ext. below)

DECEMBER ___________________2-9 Week of Prayer for International Missions (x218)7-9 reBOOT@Skycroft Conference Center for Grades 6-12 (800-

536-6759 x110)12-13 Elevate! Church Planters’ Conference, BMRC (x222)24-Jan1 BMRC closed for Christmas

JANUARY ___________________2 BMRC reopens4 Church Planter Orientation, BMRC, 9am-3pm (x222)4-6 reBOOT@Skycroft Conference Center for Grades 6-12 (800-

536-6759 x110)2, 19 ESL Training for new teachers, First Laurel, 9am-5pm (x226)14 Weekday Education Directors Network, BMRC, 10am-2pm

(x218)20 Sanctity of Life Sunday21 BMRC Closed - Martin Luther King Day29 Ministers Tax Seminar, BMRC, 9am-1pm (x207)

FEBRUARY ___________________2 Kids’ Ministry Conference, The Church at Covenant Park,

9:30am-2:30pm (x218)5 BCMD Tour for Language Pastors, BMRC, 6-9pm (x222)8-9 Leadership Lab for student leaders, Skycroft Conference Center (800-536-6759)10 Racial Reconciliation Sunday11-17 Focus on WMU (x218)23 VBS Expo/Celebration, The Church at Severn Run, 9:30am-2pm

(x218)24 The Baptist Foundation of Maryland/Delaware Sunday25-26 Soul of the Servant Retreat: Spiritual Leadership, Skycroft

Conference Center (x217)

MINISTRY ASSISTANT— FBC Rockville is looking for a

capable ministry assistant to help with add-ministry work for the church and our building team. For more information or to apply, please contact Joel Gilbert at (301) 279-2400 x3 or joel@firstbaptistrockville.org.

DIRECTOR OF RECREATION— Redland Baptist Church in

Rockville, Md., is searching for a part-time (20 hrs/week) Director of Recreation Ministry. Our goal is to spread the gospel by reaching out to our community through recreation. Interested applicants can request information regarding job description and closing date by emailing personnel@redlandbaptist.org.

FREE ORGAN— First Baptist Church, Essex, has a

Hammond organ available for free. For more information call the church office, (410) 686-8499.

FREE ORGAN— Baldwin Compact Chapel Organ.

Please call (410) 598-0645 or email cah61982@aol.com.

POSITION WANTED—If your church family is ready

for a seminary student with a gospel mind, an evangelical heart, a strong administrative background with business education, who is willing to follow pastoral leadership in an administrative position or Christian education, please call or email: (207) 570-9873 or gliddeneg4@gmail.com.

MAIL, E-MAIL OR FAX YOUR AD: Deadlines are the first day of each

month for the following month’s issue. Classified advertising is 75 cents per word ($18.00 minimum) for BCM/D churches and church members; 85 cents per word ($20.00 minimum) for non-profit organizations; and 95 cents per word ($25.00 minimum) for commercial organizations. Word count does not include words with two letters or less. Contact us for display ad pricing. Acceptance of advertising does not constitute an endorsement of any advertiser’s products or services.

CLASSIFIEDS

INTERESTED IN TAKING A SEMINARY CLASS, BUT CONCERNED THAT THE COST OR TIME

REQUIRED IS TOO GREAT A SACRIFICE? Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) is now opening up its extension classes to anyone interested in taking them.

The classes are taught at the Baptist Mission Re-source Center in Columbia by SBTS pro-fessors and offered free of charge to anyone who wants to audit them. Prior registration is required.

Baptist Mission Resource Center • Columbia, MD

SPRING 2013Session 1: Jan. 25-Feb. 16Leadership & Family Ministry

Session 2: Mar. 1-Mar. 23Intro to MissiologySession 3: April 8-May 4Biblical Hermeneutics

For more information: contact Ken White 443-745-2904 or pastorken@comcast.net or go to:

www.sbts.edu/extension/centers/columbia-md/

Fridays7:00-9:30pm•Saturdays8:30am-4:30pm

Columbia Extension Center

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Since 1865, BaptistLIFE has been publishing the Good News about God’s work in our multi-state convention and beyond. A trusted and established newsjournal, BaptistLIFE has a rich tradition as a great source of relevant news, information, ideas and

encouragement among Maryland and Delaware Baptists and is now expanding in the virtual world as well. Be a part of our tradition. Visit online at BaptistLIFEonline.org and subscribe to our weekly digests and/or daily RSS feeds.

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