O ur theme for 2009 is, “The
Church: Moving from Good
to Great—Making Evangelism
an Imperative.” This is the
third year of our five-year themethrust.
I was encouraged this past
year to see the number of members
who made radical changes to their
lifestyle through spiritual renewal.
We made some great strides individually
and as a faith community
in our effort to move from good to
great. What a joy it is for me to
watch the spiritual growth in our
members.
“Being confident of this very
thing, that he which hath begun a
good work in you will perform it
until the day of Jesus Christ”
(Phil. 1:6). As a community, we are
all still becoming—God is not finished
with us yet! Like Paul, we
have not attained or reached perfection,
but, “I press toward the
mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil.
3:14). There is no need to start a
new initiative if we have not sufficiently
fulfilled and explored the
current matter at hand. The primary
emphasis this year will be making
evangelism an imperative.
All ministry presidents should evaluate
their activities, and where necessary
make adjustments to ensure
that we keep the main thing—
winning the world for Christ—the
main thing!
The words of Charles Dickens, in
his book, A Tale of Two Cities, “It
was the best of times, it was the
worst of times,” speak to our current
situation as African Americans
and as a church. In January, we
experienced a life defining moment
when Sen. Barack Obama was
sworn in as the nation’s first Black
president. We recently had two
Black head coaches in the Super
Bowl; the Republican National
Committee now has its first Black
man as its chairman; the Attorney
General of the United States is a
Black man, and the list goes on. In
theory at least, the color barriers
have been shattered. By God’s
grace, the door of opportunity is
now wide open. How do we ensure
that our young people are prepared
to take advantage of these unparalleled
favorable times?
These are the best of times, but
they are also the worst of times.
Never before has our country been
faced with so many dire challenges.
We are fighting two wars; our country
is on the verge of an economic
tsunami; unemployment is at an all
time high; the stock market in free
fall; there is a threat of either a
recession or a depression or both;
people are losing their homes by the
thousands; there is a rapid growth
in religious pluralism, and we find
ourselves and our government
entangled with the complicated
social issues of the day.
Is there no balm in Gilead? The
church can no longer outsource its
mandate to win the world for
Christ. In the midst of these bad circumstances,
we are called to touch
our families, our community and
the world with the transforming
love of Christ. All around us people
are hurting. Even those who may
be financially sound are spiritually
empty. The hymn by Oatman says,
“Oh! The world is hungry for the
Living Bread, Lift the Savior up for
them to see; Trust Him, and do not
doubt the words that He said, ‘I’ll
draw all men unto Me.”
With great anticipation I look forward
to the rest of 2009! I believe
that our greatest days are ahead!
Like the children of Israel, we now
stand on the east side of the Jordon
River. Canaan and the Promised
Land are in sight, but standing
between us are the Jordan River
and Jericho. Will we march on to
our destiny or languish in shattered
and unfilled dreams? Let us trust
in the leadership and guidance of
our God for He has never failed us
yet. He who calls us also enables us
to make the journey He has set
before us!
With the help of the Lord, we
can!
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