UACP Vision Tour

One of the things that I enjoy the most about serving as the Evangelism Director in our local association (The Savannah River Baptist Association) is the opportunity to work with some of the most passionate and godly folks around, and the last several weeks have been no exception. On a recent Thursday, Larry Leming (the SRBA Mission Ministries Director) and I traveled to Atlanta and participated in a vision tour of the ministries being facilitated by Urban Atlanta Church Planting.

The purpose of our trip was to explore opportunities to work with UACP in furtherance of our goals of assisting SRBA churches in developing their own strategic partnerships, providing missions opportunities to SRBA churches with no mission partnerships, and ultimately enabling our churches to carry out the Great Commission through an Acts 1:8 strategy. There are several benefits to these partnerships, both apparent and less apparent. The most obvious benefit is the potential Kingdom impact of reaching an urban center such as Atlanta for Christ. Some of the less obvious benefits are the opportunities for the members of our churches to gain ministry experience in reaching people in an urban context, the opportunity for us to strengthen existing relationships between and within our existing churches, and to forge new relationships.

Urban Atlanta Church Planting is a cooperative effort of Southern Baptists to intentionally plant healthy, reproducing congregations inside Atlanta’s perimeter. UACP is focused on beginning intentionally missionary congregations among the all people groups living in the apartments, condos, and single family housing communities inside of the I-285 perimeter (ITP), intentionally reaching unchurched and lost people.

We began our trip by meeting Jim Haskell, the Executive Director and Lead Strategist for UACP (a native of Hardeeville, SC and son of J.W. Haskell, former pastor of FBC Hardeeville and Maye River Baptist Church). We met Jim at the MARTA Station in northern Atlanta, where he explained the basics of getting around in Atlanta.

We then travelled to Jim’s home where he presented the “big picture” vision of UACP. Jim also explained the present conditions inside of the perimeter and where God had already been working though UACP in Atlanta. Jim informed us that approximately 877,000 people live inside of the perimeter (ITP) and that it is estimated that over 525,000 of those people are unchurched or have no religious affiliation. We also learned that 41% of the population ITP lives in rented housing and typically 95% of those living in multi-housing/apartments/condos do not attend church. 

Another interesting fact that we learned was that only 28% of the total households ITP have children. This is presents an interesting situation because Baptists are traditionally more effective at and geared toward reaching married couples and households with children. Another interesting figure we learned is that 68% of the people living ITP are single and 15% are single parents.

In regards to the traditional churches that are located ITP, many members do not live in their church neighborhoods, do not reflect the “people groups” living in their church neighborhoods, do not impact their church neighborhoods, do not penetrate the lostness in their neighborhoods, and do not know or relate to those persons who make the decisions that affect the neighborhood. As a result, many ITP Baptist churches are dying, declining, or just holding their own. 92 of 160 Atlanta Baptist churches have closed or moved outside the perimeter since 1960.

In response to this staggering situation UACP has focused intentionally reaching unchurched and lost people by beginning intentionally missionary congregations in these people’s communities. In an effort to accomplish their mission and to attempt to penetrate the lostness of urban Atlanta UACP has endeavored to plant at least 50 churches with traditional organizational structures, begin at least 50 cell and or house churches, begin at least 100 Bible study/fellowship groups, and conduct at least 200 significant servant evangelism/acts of kindness events by 2014.

After hearing about the overall vision of UACP we were introduced to Bill Murray (not that one), who is working to establish communities of faith within Atlanta's "apartment nation," those 41% of the population who live in multi-housing/apartments/condos. Bill told us that one of the unique things about his ministry to these communities is that the residents are often moving from one apartment complex to another. The transient nature of this apartment culture presents both a challenge and an opportunity. The challenge is that one only has a limited time to reach these people and then disciple them. On the other hand, the opportunity is in the fact that when a person has been sufficiently discipled they will reproduce this community of faith at their next apartment complex. Bill’s goal is to saturate his current apartment community with believers, disciples, small groups, and cell churches, all of which would be reproducing themselves; and second, to saturate apartment communities across Atlanta with an expanding network of similar communities of faith. There are opportunities to partner with Bill in prayer, and for groups of four to six to join in prayerwalking and serving through community events, such as pancake breakfasts.

Our next stop was First Baptist Church of Chattahoochee on Atlanta’s Upper Westside, where we met with Cameron Ford. Cameron caught us up on how they are reaching folks for Christ through the Upper Westside Mission, a church plant of FBC Chattahoochee. Upper Westside Mission seeks to reach the people of three specific neighborhoods (Riverside, Vinings on Chattahoochee, and Whittier Mill Village) with the gospel through the formation of small groups meeting in homes. There is much work to be done due to the fact that Upper Westside Mission is still in its very early stages of development. The vision for Upper Westside Mission is to have two or three healthy, growing groups meeting weekly in each neighborhood and to bring the groups together monthly or quarterly for a worship celebration service. As Upper Westside Mission gains momentum there are many opportunities for partners to come alongside with, such as community service projects and backyard bible clubs/VBS for the children.

Once we had a grasp on the basics of Upper Westside Mission, we moved on to the Sandy Springs area of Atlanta. There we met with Deane Johnson who is leading Sandy Springs Community Church, which is focusing on strengthening families in the area by serving in the local elementary schools and hospitals, providing support groups for marriages and parenting, and providing an after-school program to help students with their schoolwork. Many of the parents in the community don’t speak English natively or don't speak English at all, so serving their children is one way of helping meet the needs of these people. Sandy Springs Community Church is presently meeting about twice a month in an ESL school and is growing rapidly. There are many prospective partnerships that could be undertaken to support the ministry of Sandy Springs Community Church in their area.

The last place that we stopped before heading back to the MARTA station was Washington Road Neighborhood Church where we met Jimmie Jordan. Jimmie and Washington Road Neighborhood Church have a passion for reaching the destitute people in their neighborhood, the East Point community, which like so many communities today is plagued by crime and drugs. Washington Road Church would like to one day be able to minister to all of the needs of the people in their community by helping to provide food, clothing, and education for those in need. Jimmie has a passion to reach the young men of the community, and to show them that they can change their lives through the power of Christ. His wife, Amelia, has a heart for young girls and women, and her ministry is focused on teaching these young ladies life skills, such as cooking. In an area plagued by crime and drugs, Washington Road Neighborhood Church seeks to be a light pointing the hurting to Jesus Christ. There are countless opportunities for partnering with Jimmie and Washington Road Neighborhood Church including prayer, community service events, and neighborhood outreach.

Of all the things that I took away from our time in Atlanta, the most impressive was the great lostness in the city and the fact that traditional ways of “doing” church have been unsuccessful in reaching these people. Our common model of church culture is not relevant to these people, but the gospel of Jesus Christ is. The Great Commission of our Lord calls us to go to the people and make disciples of them, not for us to call the people to ourselves. We don’t need a new model or method, but a resurgence of an old one. That method is the method that was given to us by the example of the Lord Jesus Christ, living incarnationally in our communities and spending every day focused on reach people with the gospel. I can assure you that Jim and the rest of the folks at UACP are doing just that and my prayer is that we all will partner with them for the greatest Kingdom impact, both in Atlanta and here in Beaufort and Jasper Counties.

For more information on how SRBA churches can partner with Urban Atlanta Church Planters please contact Larry Leming, the SRBA Missions Ministries Director, at (843) 726-8924 or via e-mail at larryleming@savannahriverbaptist.org. You can also visit the UACP website at http://www.urbanatlantachurchplanting.com.

Marriage and Divorce

            The Bible teaches that marriage is given to us by God as a picture of the relationship between Christ and the Church. As a result of the purpose of marriage God has given us certain requirements and limitations to marriage. The Bible teaches us that God intended a marriage to be a lifelong covenant relationship between a man and a woman (Genesis 2:24). God also has taught us that His people are not to marry outsiders. This is seen in the Old Testament in God’s instruction to the nation of Israel to not intermarry with Gentiles (Deuteronomy 7:3) and in the New Testament in Paul’s exhortation for Christians not to be bound to unbelievers in 2 Corinthians 6.

            The Bible considers a person married when a man and woman have first purposed within their hearts to make a binding and lasting covenant, and then made this inward conviction public by professing to be married. This differs from the current popular understanding in that today’s culture rejects any form of absolute truth and teaches that two people can consider themselves married by whatever standard they choose to apply.

            The point at which the Bible teaches a person is married is very important because of the bible’s teaching on Divorce. God is firmly against divorce. This can be seen in the conversation between Jesus and the Pharisees recorded in Matthew 19. Jesus clearly taught that no one should ever separate the marriage relationship. When the Pharisees asked Jesus about Moses teachings on granting a certificate of divorce Jesus responded that it was out of the hardness of man’s heart that God allowed for this to be so. While there are biblical reasons for divorce (e.g. sexual immorality) it has never been God’s intention for a marriage to end in divorce and hence divorce should be avoided at all costs. This is in stark contrast to the manner in which today’s humanist culture looks upon divorce. With the exaltation of the individual desire over God’s truth and the good of society divorce has become a question of current personal preference; when a man’s tastes change so does his wife.

            It is often argued that if God were incessantly against divorce He would have expressly prohibited it in the Bible. The Bible does indeed provide for circumstances that allow for divorce. In Matthew 19 Jesus teaches that a man may divorce his wife in the event of sexual immorality on her part. However, it appears that this is not the perfect situation as the Lord would desire it to be, but an allowance made again due to the hardness of man’s heart. In the same manner that monogamy is taught in the Old Testament (Genesis 2), but God allows polygamy to continue. Another example of God the difference between what God wills and what God allows is that God wills that all men come to the saving knowledge of Christ, but God allows some to reject Christ and suffer the eternal penalty of their decision.

            The decision to divorce one’s spouse carries with it great social and spiritual consequences. The most significant is the spiritual consequence that comes with rebelling against what God teaches is his will. Along with that the social impact of divorce cannot be ignored, especially where there are children involved. Divorce erodes the foundation of the family, and when a child is involved creates a situation where the child grows up with limited access to either their father or mother. This leads to significant other problems for the child and predisposes them to other negative behavior. God’s truth must be kept as the standard and not man’s own desires and whims. Man, in his own power, lacks the ability to do anything that will in itself please God.[1]

            If a person has had a divorce, there must be a way for reconciliation. Many people have taught that if one is divorced they should never remarry. This idea goes against the whole of the biblical teaching of redemption. There is no sin that is unredeemable and there is nothing that a follower of Christ can do that disqualifies them from participating in God’s glory. If someone chooses divorce, they have chosen poorly and against God’s will for their life. However, God has pardoned us from the eternal consequence of our sin nature, the same nature that leads some to have a divorce.

            This Bible is clear, God despises divorce and once a man and woman are joined together in one flesh they should not be separated but by death. But God does not hate the divorced person, and He is able to work though their life for His glory as well. 

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[1]Wayne A. Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. (Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994), 497.

The Destiny of the Unsaved

            One topic that often debated is the destiny of those who choose not to follow Christ. There are three predominate theories regarding the destiny of the unsaved; eternal punishment, annihilationism, and universalism. Those who subscribe to the theory of eternal punishment hold that the sin of those who die without the benefit the grace of God through faith in Christ will be punished perpetually in a place of constant torment (hell) without end.[1] The annihilationist position suggests that hell is a form of instantaneous destruction or cessation of existence of the souls of the unsaved dead.[2]  In contrast to both eternal punishment and annihilation, the universalist holds that the efficiency of Christ’s atoning sacrifice is not limited and therefore all people will eventually be reconciled to God.[3]

            Of these three theories, the biblical evidence wholly points to the theory of eternal punishment. The Bible clearly teaches that all have sinned against God (Rom. 3:23; Is. 64:6), that no sin will go unpunished, and that the punishment for sin is death (Dan. 12:2; Matt 10:15; John 5:28-29; Rom. 6:23). The Bible also teaches that this death is not the cessation of existence, but endless torment and separation from God:

          The duration of this punishment is sometime expressed in the New Testament by the use of aiōn or one of its derivatives (Matt. 18:8; 25:41; 46:2; 2 Thess. 1:9). Aiōn means “old age,” and it was used of the never ending “age to come,” which gave rise to the adjective aiōnion the meaning “eternal,” everlasting.” These words are used of “the King eternal” (1 Tim. 1:17), of “the eternal God” (Rom. 16:26), and when Glory is ascribed to God “forever” (Rom. 11:36), and God is blessed “forever” (2 Cor. 11:31). The concept of endless duration could not be more strongly conveyed; the use of these expressions for the eternity of God shows conclusively that they do not mean limited duration. It is important that the same adjective is used of eternal punishment as of eternal life (Matt. 25:46 has both). The punishment is just as eternal as the life. One is no more limited that the other.[4]

Jesus Himself taught that hell is a place “where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched” (Mark 9:48 ESV). Based on the clearly articulated teaching of Scripture, one is confronted with the eternal nature of the punishment for sin.

            There are several arguments commonly made against the doctrine of eternal punishment. The annihilationist argues that only God is immortal (1 Tim 1:17; 6:16) and that immortality is a special gift connected with redemption in Jesus Christ (Rom. 2:7; 1 Cor. 15:53-54; 2 Tim. 1:10).[5]  However, the overall biblical witness is that mankind was created as an eternal being in God’s own image (Gen. 1:27) and that physical death entered the world as a result of the curse of sin (Gen. 3:19). An argument against the doctrine of eternal punishment that is shared by both the annihilationist and the universalist is that eternal punishment is contrary to God’s love as revealed in Scripture. With respect to this argument, the same difficulty in reconciling God’s love with eternal punishment would seem to be present in reconciling God’s love with the idea of divine punishment at all, and, conversely if (as Scripture abundantly testifies) it is consistent for God to punish the wicked for a certain length of time after the last judgment, then there seems to be no necessary reason why it would be inconsistent of God to inflict the same punishment for an unending period of time.[6] If God is just then sin cannot go without punishment (Pro. 11:21). Another argument is that eternal punishment for temporal sins is unfairly severe. This argument wrongly assumes that man knows the extent of the evil done when sinners rebel against God.[7]  The punishment for rebellion increases proportionally as the position of the one rebelled against increases. To rebel against one with a small amount of authority would result in a proportionally small punishment, but to rebel against one with great authority results is a proportionally great punishment. The rebellion has not changed, just the position of the one rebelled against. Using this logic if one were to rebel against one with eternal and unsurpassed authority, the punishment for said rebellion would be proportionally eternal and unsurpassed. Such is the case in rebellion against God, who possesses all authority.

            God created hell, a real place where real people will spend a real eternity.[8]  If we are to be obedient to the greatest commandments (Matt 22:37-39), we must join with Jesus is his mission to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10) and we must love our neighbor enough to not allow them to spend an eternity in a place of torment without the opportunity to make an informed choice. As one better understands hell, they will have a deeper burden for lost loved ones. A full awareness of hell would lead one to make every effort to present the gospel to the lost.[9]

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[1] L.L. Morris, “Eternal Punishment,” in Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (Baker Reference Library) 2nd ed., ed. Walter Elwell (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2001), 395.

[2] Elmer L. Townes, Theology for Today (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing, 2002), 838.

[3] J.R. Root, “Universalism,” in Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (Baker Reference Library) 2nd ed., ed. Walter Elwell (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2001), 1232.

[4] L.L. Morris, “Eternal Punishment,” in Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (Baker Reference Library) 2nd ed., ed. Walter Elwell (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2001), 395.

[5]R. Nicole, “Annihilationism,” in Evangelical Dictionary of Theology (Baker Reference Library) 2nd ed., ed. Walter Elwell (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Academic, 2001), 64.

[6] Wayne A. Grudem, Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine. (Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994), 1151.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Elmer L. Towns Concise Bible Doctrines (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2006), 415.

[9] Ibid., 416.

The Problem of Evil (Theodicy)

            The problem of evil is best summed up by asking the question, “Why would a just and holy God allow bad things to happen to his people?” In order to begin to understand why evil exists, one must have a correct understanding of the relationship between God and evil. The most common incorrect view of the relationship between God and evil is that introduced to the church by the Gnostics, Marcionites, and Manicheans. This view can be described as the dualistic view and it holds that evil continually exists in either an eternal substance or person that God cannot destroy.[1] This view denies the supremacy of God because if there can be only one supreme being. There are other views that diverge from the biblical teachings on God and evil, such as Leibnitz theory of privation, the sensuous theory, and sin a pride, natural life, or selfishness[2]; while the dualistic view is the most common, all of the divergent views solve the problem of evil by yielding belief in some of the attributes of God.

            Another important part of understanding the problem of evil is to understand what evil is and what its causes in the world are. Evil is generally accepted to be defined as the intention of causing harm or destruction while threatening or deliberately violating morality. Another aspect that must be included in any definition of evil must address what has been described as natural evil; that is anything which causes pain or distress and is not caused by human intention. The root cause of any evil in the world is the curse that came upon the world as a result of Adam’s sin the in garden (Gen. 3:14-19). As a result of sin entering creation we must now all deal with a sin nature that has affected all of us (Rom. 6:23).

            Evil can be divided into two distinct categories, natural and moral, each of which presents their own religious and philosophical problems. These two categories, although distinct, are not separate. Natural evil is anything which produces pain, distress, loss or calamity, or which in any way disturbs the peace, impairs the happiness, or destroys the perfection of natural beings.[3]  The problem of natural evil can be illustrated by the example of the destruction that occurred when Hurricane Katrina struck the gulf cost. The problem presents its self in the question, “If God is all-powerful and all-loving, how can God allow this catastrophic event to happen?” Moral evil on the other hand is any deviation of a moral agent from the rules of conduct prescribed to him by God, or by legitimate human authority; or it is any violation of the plain principles of justice and rectitude.[4] An example would be the pastor who engages is a sexual relationship outside of his marriage. Moral evil presents its own problem in that the existence of a free moral agent who is able to exercise his free will in opposition to God’s moral law seems to contradict the idea that God is all-powerful.

            This thought process leads into the roles in which internal consistency and perception of God play in the solution to the problem of evil. Many atheists will use the questions that arise from the problem of evil as an argument against the existence of God. The crucial question is not whether or not a theological position contradicts another theistic system or even whether it contradicts the atheist’s views, but whether it contradicts itself.[5] If the theological system is internally consistent then it may be incorrect, but cannot be deemed invalid for inconsistency with another position. Most incorrect understandings of the problem of evil arise from a misunderstanding of the attributes of God. For instance if someone perceives that God is a puppet  master who inflicts pain and destruction on his own accord and only for his own amusement, they very well may adopt a fatalistic view of the problem of evil, not unlike that of the Romans and Greeks.

            If one does not adopt a fatalistic philosophy of the problem of evil and believes what the Bible says about God’s omniscience, omnipotence, and love; the question remains, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” The answer is simple, there are no good people. Romans 6:23 teaches us that all have sinned and fallen short of God’s perfect standard. This sinful nature has subjected all of us to the presence of evil within our lives. Some may object by questioning if mankind is personally responsible for the sins transmitted from Adam, but my answer is that God, in his sovereignty, has appointed Adam as our representative and Adam sinned on our behalf. The good news is that God has also appointed Christ as our representative and He has been punished on our behalf.

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[1] Elmer L. Townes, Theology for Today (Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing, 2002), 510.

[2] Ibid., 512.

[3] Noah Webster, ed., American Dictionary of the English Language, 1828 facsimile ed., (Chesapeake: Foundation for American Christian Education, 1967), Evil.

[4] Ibid.

[5] J.S. Feinberg, “Problem of Evil” in Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, 2nd ed.