People Sharing Jesus

Since I wrote about the need for life long learning, I think it would be good to write about some things that I am learning in 2010.

1. The problem in our churches is a leadership problem.  People have not changed as much as I thought they had.  What we desperately need is for a new generation of leaders to rise up.  Please do not think I am talking about the church that I serve to the exclusion of others.  I have many opportunities to visit and dialogue with other churches.  Selecting, equipping, and delegating to leaders is the key to progress.  None of us can do it all.  Pastor’s who are focused on the Lord and faithful to their tasks still can see the power of the Spirit to draw people to Jesus.

2. Prayer is more powerful than I had known.  Having preached and taught about prayer since 1972, I am learning that there are breakthroughs happening around me that I can only attribute to prayer.

3.The information age is amazing.  Never has so much information been so readily available.  It seems tragic to me that in such an age people have time to “twitter”.

4.The harvest is plenteous.  I am making more contacts than at any other time in my life, and I am astounded at the openness which I am finding.  The stress of these times may be opening a new door of opportunity for witness and ministry.

5.The most important investments we make are in the lives of people, beginning with those of our own family.  As I think of my wife, my children, and my grandchildren, I see that every moment I have given to them is of incredible worth.  God’s blessings to me from my family are amazing.  Time invested with them is time well spent.  In fact, giving people your time is always of great worth.  Of course, I mean by this that we should give in a manner that is true to the Lord we serve. Material things are pale in comparison to the radiant faces of those in whose lives we have made a difference.

Dan Wooldridge

One of the most insightful comments I ever heard was when someone was spoken of as having twenty years of experience in ministry.  A person standing to one side, commented, “No, they have one year’s experience twenty times.”  As hard as that might be to hear, it is amazingly true.  People as a rule do not want to try new things.  They do not want to read new books or listen to new ideas.  Hardly anyone is immune to this reality.  Growth by its very nature requires change.  As a pastor, I must hasten to insist that some things must never change.  The unchanging truths of God’s Word must be held to tenaciously.  The ways we teach, minister, connect, engage, disciple, evangelize, worship, and generally carry on the work of God can go through many changes.  Established churches should be changed like a ship turning at sea.  There are not sudden turns only gradual adjustments.  Care must be given to explain the reasons for the necessity for change.  There must be a willingness to drop things that have ceased to be effective.  We must not just do things because we do them, if you understand what I mean.  We also must not be guilty of not doing things just because we don’t do them.  I was once a guest in revival in a traditional church where myself and the pastor sat on the platform during the service.  We were singing hymns and I began to sing with gusto.  The pastor turned to me and said, “We don’t sing.”  I replied, ” We don’t?  What do we do?” He said, “We read our bibles.”  It was a long week.  There are churches that have dug in and refused to try things that would be very effective simply because they have decided in advance that it just isn’t their way of doing ministry.

In your personal life, you too can be guilty of doing the same thing year after year.  I dare you to journal your activities for one day.  Note what you did each hour.  Then consider things you always wanted to do or meant to do, but never had the time.  You simply must realize that you have just as much time as the greatest movers and shakers who ever lived on this planet.  What they have in common is that they mastered their time and kept working on their game.  Go thou and do likewise.

Dan Wooldridge

I have always been a little cautious about listening to NDE testimonies.  That is “Near Death Experiences”.  I made an exception by inviting Don Piper to Crestview some time back.  The crowds were amazing which came to hear his story.  I was able to personally interview him and ask him some questions about his own understanding of what happened to him.  His visions were real.  He had no other explanation for them except that he walked on the edge of eternity for a time. (90 minutes)  One fact that he shared with me was that his left arm was severed in the accident and that bleeding to death was almost certain given the amount of time and the seriousness of his injury.  At any rate he lived and uses his story to encourage people to find a “new normal” beyond great experiences of pain and loss.

I think I need to explain why I am reluctant to focus on NDE testimonies.  My authority for the hereafter is the Word of God.  I do not and I will not base my beliefs about eternity on someone’s testimony of having died and returned.  The one who truly died and returned is my Savior, Jesus Christ.  His resurrection was from the full experience of death and not a NDE.  Such testimonies are interesting and can lend some support to the fact that people are more than flesh and blood.  People also have a spiritual nature.  They exist beyond the body.  J. P. Moreland has written on this subject in several articles and journals.  He is a true intellectual who has documented evidence of life beyond or outside of the body.

Concerning Dr. Maurice Rawlings, he was the personal physician to President Eisenhower.  He was a respected cardiologist.  I had heard his name, but had not known his credentials until this year.  Rawlings was an athiest until 1979.  In 1979 he was attending to a heart patient who died while being treated.  He revived the patient and was confronted by a terrified man whose hair stood on end.  The patient pleaded that he not be allowed to pass away again.  He cried out “I am in hell!”  Rawlings became a Christian shortly thereafter.  He was absolutely convinced that the message of Scripture is accurate and that there is judgement for the unprepared beyond death.  He then began to document other similar experiences.  He noted that unlike the positive experiences, those with negative experiences were not so inclined to talk.  Those who did talk had undergone a profound change in their lives.  There are videos on the internet of those testimonies.  If you view them, just remember that Maurice Rawlings was a doctor not a preacher.  He was highly educated.  He walked in the highest circles of power and influence.  Maurice Rawlings passed away in Chattanooga, Tennessee on January 5th, 2010.  He leaves behind several books and movies showing his research.  You should check them out.

Dan Wooldridge

When I began to pastor churches in 1972, we called missionaries “foreign missionaries”.   “Foreign” meant more than just far away.  It meant virtually unknown, inscrutable.  Most church members had never even considered going to any of the countries where our guest speakers lived and served.  That was then.  Today the world is on our doorstep.  On the street where I live there is a neighbor from Asia and a neighbor from the Middle East.  All over Georgetown, I constantly meet people from all over the world.  In Austin this reality is even more pronounced.

Crestview now has a Karen mission which is made up of people from Burma.  We have just become co-sponsors of an Indian mission in Cedar Park.  Our partner is The Fellowship of Canyon Creek which is a part of Williamson Baptist Association.  We continue to be heavily involved in the nation of Asia.  We have two members of Crestview living and serving in two different countries in Asia.  The names should not be shared since missions in Asia is not officially sanctioned.  Three former members are career missionaries in Asia and actually went out from this church to answer their original call to world missions.  They began in Canada,  went to the Middle East and served for a time, worked on networking in Waco while working at Baylor, and now are in Asia and are the sponsors of one of our two church members in Asia.  Our congregation is involved through financial support in each of these areas.  We continue to develop our strong connection with Romania.  The visit of Paul Negrut on the evening of February 14th was of great significance.  He sought us out and wanted to be our guest.  Paul is one of the best known men in Europe and is without doubt one of the best known preachers in the world.  A good illustration of this is the fact that when Shannon, Chase, and I went to Australia in 1998 we visited a Romanian church in Sydney.  The pastor’s name was Ovidiu.  It was the strongest church out of the seven where I was privileged to visit and preach.  When I met Paul Negrut for the first time, I discovered that Ovidiu was a long time friend and colleague of his.  The Christian family is so huge.  The sun never sets on those who know and love Jesus Christ. The world is on our Doorstep.  Isn’t it time to open that door and say hello in His name.

Dan Wooldridge

I just responded to an email from Europe about the need for vitality and unity in a church there.  I want to write this brief word to any who desire spiritual unity in their lives or in their churches. 

Jesus prayed earnestly in John 17 that we might have unity.  Unity is found in the presence of the Lord.  Some churches who would insist that they gather in the name of the Lord and in the presence of the Lord do not have unity.  Why?  One possibility is an inadequate understanding of the Christian walk.  There is however another possibility.  God has allowed me to lead churches of various sizes for thirty eight years.  In all of those years, I have enjoyed an unusual unity in the churches which I have served.  To be sure, from time to time there have been disagreements that had to be worked out, but we always were carried back to a special oneness by the Spirit of God.  Let me share with you what I believe has made that possible.  With all my might, I have insisted that we keep the main thing the main thing.  In fact I like to say it this way.  “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”  So what is the main thing?  The church must do what Jesus did.  What did Jesus do you my ask?  In Luke 19:10 Jesus said, “The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”  That is what we must do.  Some might argue that Jesus met the needs of the sick and dying, fed hungry people, challenged injustices, and any one of many other things.  A careful reading of the gospels reveals that all of those things were peripheral to the purpose he stated in Luke 19:10.  Churches that focus on reaching out to the unreached can find unity in a purpose larger than themselves.  This reaching out convinces them that without supernatural power they will fail.  It drives them to prayer.  It forces them to be creative.  It leads them to devise a strategy.  It is better to reach out and reach no one than to sit down and do nothing.  God’s promise is that if you abide and obey you will abound. (John 15:5 -10) 

Now for a parable;  A group of fisherman went out on a lake and fished all day.  They caught nothing.  They argued about where to fish and how to fish.  They argued about which lake they should have fished in.  They camped out that night and tried again the next day.  They caught many fish.  They did not argue at all.  When fisherman don’t fish they fight.  Jesus said, “Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men.”  When we are not fishing, we are not following.

    Has it ever occurred to you that Jesus followed the Great Commission with the words, “and lo I am with you always, even to the end of the world?”  He is never more with us than when we are on mission with him in the world.  Where Jesus is, unity thrives.

Dan Wooldridge

Word just came to me that BO Baker has gone to be with the Lord.  BO Baker, so named because his initials were B. O., was a wonderful evangelistic pastor.  He and his brother, Dick Baker, did some of the finest work in evangelism that I have ever seen.  Once when I was pastor in Kingsville, Texas.  Dr. Baker asked me where I would like to serve in the future.  I told him that I could not imagine being called to one of the large churches in Texas.  I said that I had not had a good opportunity to gain a doctor’s degree largely because I had chosen to go to South Texas which had no schools granting upper level theological degrees.  He thought about that and told me that not every church would allow that to be a determining factor.  He said that there were still churches that understood that only God can make a minister.  Education is good, but the anointing of God is more important.  He prayed with me and encouraged me.  He also blessed FBC Kingsville with a great week of revival.

Just Before BO left, he gave me a book.  It was one he had written.  Dr. Baker wrote quite a few.  Inside the book he wrote these words, “Keep your head high and your knees bent.  You are just the kind of pastor our churches so desperately need.”  Those words went deep into my soul.  Please know that I do not feel worthy of such high praise from such a wonderful man, but I long to be what BO Baker thought he saw.  What did he mean?  Let me see if I can identify the qualities.

Humility - We who pastor are servants of God and servants of his people.  We are to be approachable and available.  We are not above work.  We are not CEOs.  We are servants.

Passion - We who pastor need to be on fire for God.

Personal Evangelists - If we won’t share the gospel in the neighborhood we have no right to share it from the pulpit.

Focused on Christ - He is the hope of the world.  We must keep our eyes on Him.

Men of the Word - Our messages must reveal a firm and faithful grasp of Scripture.

Leadership - Pastors must be men of vision who communicate a God given plan.

Loving - People never care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Of course there is more, these are just a few things that I think BO had in mind.  I think this because he modeled these characteristics and many more.  I wept as I remembered the loving encouragement he showed me when I labored in obscurity in South Texas.  Farewell my mentor and friend.  I will see you on the other side.

Dan Wooldridge

As we continue to seek to make 10,000 visits in and around Georgetown, I am increasingly aware of a need that simply must be met.  We need prayer support.  I am writing this blog for the members of Crestview Baptist Church and the friends in the community who read it.  Would you pray for open doors for us?  Last Monday night as I visited, I felt the most unusual source of spiritual power at work.  Doors were open that I would never have expected to be open.  I could identify in people’s faces that they were genuinely blessed by the visits that Shannon and I were making.  As I was meditating on this, I checked my email to find that Pat Anderson, the chairman of our prayer committee had pledged to spend an hour and a half in our prayer chapel praying for us while we visited.  I am sure there were others, but I am equally sure that what I experienced was God moving through prayer.  The end result of this experience is that I am asking for a renewed commitment to fervent prayer for this great task.  Pray for the students who will get involved during Spring Break and for the people they will visit.  Pray for neighborhoods as you drive through them knowing that if someone hasn’t been there already, someone will be.  Pray for God to call people into this adventure of faith as the days grow longer with the coming of Spring.  Pray for people to come to our Lord Jesus Christ.  Pray believing.  Pray expectantly.  Pray passionately.  Pray!

Dan Wooldridge

I was at a gathering in Arlington, Texas on Tuesday and I had the opportunity to hear Cindy Winters share her story of triumphant faith in the face of tragedy.  Fred Winters, her husband, was shot and killed by a lone gunman at his church in Marysville,  Illinois.  Cindy was on her way to a second service at the church when she saw the firetrucks and ambulances and knew that something had happened.  To her horror she would learn that her husband had been fatally shot.  Fred was a part of the Southern Baptist family of churches.  He was an outstanding pastor doing a wonderful ministry.  He was a greatly loved pastor and leader.

Instead of falling into depression and bitterness, Cindy Winters turned more deeply to her faith.  She and her daughters held tightly to their belief that Fred was in heaven.  They worked their way back to a joyful faith.  Cindy said she had often heard people say in the face of unspeakable tragedy that Jesus was sufficient.  She asserted in her closing remarks that come what may Jesus is enough for us.  He is sufficient.  I must say it was one of the most powerful testimonies I have heard in years.  In a day when many say they no longer have faith because of the suffering and evil that is in the world,  I saw and heard a woman who has taken a painful tragedy and turned it into an opportunity to magnify Christ.  When tragedy comes, those most affected have a choice to make.  They can either groan endlessly in their sorrow or glorify Christ.  Cindy Winters has chosen the latter.  In the words of Jesus, “Your joy no man can take away from you.” (John 16:22)

Dan Wooldridge

Many people in the Western World are skeptical about the Christian faith.  In fact they are skeptical about all things supernatural.  The United States is showing a growing disconnect with the faith that has been so instrumental to the blessings that God has poured out upon this land.  What evidence is there that God is real.

Let me recommend some books in case you have not read them.

Beyond Opinion - Edited by Ravi Zacharias;  I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Athiest - Norm Geisler

Can Man Live Without God? - Ravi Zacharias  The Case for Christ, The Case for Faith, The Case for the Creator by Lee Stroebel

Once when I recommended these and others to someone close to me, he said “Where are the other opinions?”  I told him that many other opinions are stated in these books and then answered.  Finding scholarly work that is well thought out and has been written by athiests, agnostics, or skeptics is really hard to do.  Most of them bring up the same tired arguments that have been answered a thousand ways.  The direction of scientific study has actually been making unbelief harder as we learn things such as:  The world has a beginning.  DNA is packed with information that exceeds the finest computer technology that man has produced.  Living cells are incredibly complex machine-like structures with intricate design and interdependent facets of operation.  In other words, living cells reveal a masterful design.

There is one other bit of evidence that is hard to refute.  Jesus Christ changes lives.  When I look out upon my congregation each week, I am looking into the faces of an army of people who have been transformed by the touch of Christ.  They are people of joy and hope.  Some have overcome tragedy.  Some have overcome addictions.  Some have overcome heartbreak.  Some have overcome bitterness.  They were not helped by medication or therapy.  They were touched and changed by Jesus.  He is still with us by His Spirit.  Changing lives is what He does.

Dan Wooldridge

Dr. Paul Negrut is one of the most famous men in Europe.  He is one of the best known preachers in the world. He is the pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Oradea and the Chancellor of Emmanuel Baptist University.  Dr. Negrut weathered the days of Communism in Romania and rose to great influence when the Iron Curtain came down.  He was offered a job with the new Democratic government in a free Romania, but turned it down believing that serving the Lord was a higher calling.  I agreee completely.  Emmanuel University and the Emmanuel Baptist Church in Oradea are known throughout Europe.  Emmanuel is the largest Evangelical church in Europe.  The university trains people from all over Romania and many other parts of the world.  They teach a variety of subjects in a passionately Christian environment.  Stan Ray, one of our members who has served there in various missions endeavors, has recently involved Baylor University in partnering with them to develop an agricultural program.  We have made numerous trips to Romania to share the gospel in various parts of the country.  In recent years these trips have been led by Greg Knight.  In every case, graduates of Emmanuel have played a key role in assisting us to serve within the country.  Several of our members have lectured at Emmanuel.  I have been privileged to preach at the Emmanuel Baptist Church on two occasions.  I also have lectured at the university.  Our choir has sung at the church, the university, and in numerous churches around Oradea.  So as you can see our contact with Romania and Emmanuel is extensive.  Paul is like family to many of us.

DR. PAUL NEGRUT IS MAKING A SURPRISE VISIT TO OUR EVENING SERVICES ON FEBRUARY 14TH.  HE WILL BE BRINGING THE MESSAGE.  PASS THE WORD.  IF YOU LIVE WITHIN DRIVING DISTANCE YOU OUGHT TO COME AND MEET HIM.  HE IS LIKE THE BILLY GRAHAM OF EASTERN EUROPE.

Dan Wooldridge