People Sharing Jesus

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

After a great time of revival and training, I am eager to get back into the fields.  Even during our revival, God was drawing people unto himself that did not attend and yet sought out my counsel and witness.  These are amazing days.  We have hundreds of visits to make in the remaining weeks before Easter Sunday.  It has always been my hope that we could complete 10,000 visits by then.  Our young people will be challenged by Autumn and Jordan to do some visits during one day of Spring Break.  We will be looking for a special time to mobilize a SWAT team to help us speed up the process.  In case you are wondering, this SWAT team stands for Spiritual Weapons and Tactics.  It is a joy to share the Lord.  Psalm 126:5-6.

Dan Wooldridge

   What does an event like we had this week accomplish?  Lives are deeply affected and changed.  People enter the Kingdom of God.  These things alone would be worth the effort and time.  There is also, however, that intangible reality that we call momentum.  We have all seen it in sports.  A game is moving along toward what seems like and inevitable victory for one team or the other.  Suddenly, something happens.  One teams emotions rise and the other team holds on for dear life.  Everything is suddenly up for grabs and new possibilities present themselves.  Things that would never have been expected are within reach.  We call it momentum.  A real revival can be a game changer.  A church can gather momentum.  Things that look impossible can begin to look easy.  Where you were trudging uphill against the wind, you now seem to be running downhill with the wind at your back.   Do you want a biblical example of what I am talking about?  The resurrection of Jesus Christ was the ultimate game changer.  It looked as if the world system had won again, but and empty tomb and a risen Lord changed everything.  In the realm of the Spirit that is still the source of all the momentum for what God is bringing to pass.  God always wins in the end!

      Dan Wooldridge

Today may well be the single most important event at Crestview Baptist Georgetown in her almost fifty years of history.  At 9:00 AM we will begin a day of focus upon sharing Jesus Christ to all kinds of people in all kinds of ways.  Our senior choir will fill the loft for the first general session.  Dr. David Dykes of Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler Texas will speak in that session.  David Dykes is one of the finest pastors in the Southern Baptist Convention.  He will lead a breakout session following that assembly as will a number of other leaders from around our state.  These sessions are designed to address the different types of people and programs that help us reach people.  In the afternoon Dr. Gary Dyer of First Baptist Church in Midland, Texas will speak.  Gary is one of the most gifted pastors that I know.  He is a soul winning pastor, strong leader, outstanding pianist and singer, composer of music, and the list goes on.  He too will lead small group sessions. There will be other breakout sessions available.  Leaders from the surrounding area have been invited.  Tonight we will have two services simultaneously.  In our gymn there will be a Spanish language service led by Dr. Roland Lopez.  He is known throughout the U. S.  In the Sanctuary we will have our final service with Jon Randles.  Our music will be provided in the afternoon session and evening session by the Justin Cofield band.  They are one of the most sought after youth and young adult music groups in the state.  The evening session is for all ages, but has a special focus on students and young adults.  What a day at Crestview!  Expect great things from God!

Dan Wooldridge