Where are the preacher boys? It seems there are not enough to fill the empty classrooms of Bible Institutes in different parts of the country. The question is being raised: "Is God still calling men into the ministry?" And the answer is "of course He is". Others answer it this way, "God is calling but men are not answering". That may be true to some lesser degree as it has always been.
Perhaps another question should be asked: "Where are the preacher boys going?" Going? Yes, if God is calling men to preach and some are answering, and our Institute classrooms are depleting, then where are they going to get their training for ministry? They are going to other schools of training. Many of them will not come back.
And yet another question is begged: "Why are the preacher boys going?" Many answers could be offered here. Maybe your answer is the right one.
My observation is that it will require a larger vision to capture the hearts of young men than what they are receiving if we are going to keep them. Spiritual motivation and inspiration to the highest degree is critical to developing the man of God in order that he might strive for his God given vision for ministry. We have emphasized the "letter of the law" and diminished the power of the Spirit all too often.
It is also my observation that the single most motivating factor for a young man of God is the amount of personal soulwinning experience he receives. Wherever there is genuine spiritual excitement it is because there is active soulwinning and new churches being started. It is like a magnet that pulls hard on the soul of the man of God. It stirs the soul of all of us when these wonderful things occur. And is it happening, yes! But where? Wherever some of these young men of God are going!
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8 comments:
I'll make an honest confession. I grew up, and am still actively a part of (Education Minister) an ABA church (Longview MBC). After a year of college, God called me into ministry. I wrestled multiple times with the issue of going to an ABA school, but ultimatly decided against it for several reasons. For me going to an ABA school would have been nothing more than a power play to gain a "preaching spot". While I do not rule it out for in the future, I think a lot would have to change in our institutions for me to go. Sadly, not going has left me disconnected in many ways from the ABA and I currently have my toes dipped in many circles. But this is the lot of many my age as well, no longer content with denominational structures, working across "borders" of classic divisions between Christians. I think the cross-over effect runs deeper than just an ABA thing, but is characterizing many younger leaders.
I pastor the Missionary Baptist Church of Merced in Ca. Michael's confession is a growing confession of many. Alot of people are feeling like there is a choice. One you can stay in our work, go to our schools, be connected, and fight the idea to be accepted they have to continue doing ministry in ways that don't work and sometimes with churches that don't seem to care. The talk of the lost but no action. The talk of using the best way of reaching them but if you really try you are branded as a person who just wants to be like those "evangelicals".
Two you can go to other than our schools, be involved with people that are serious about the lost and ministry, be challenged and not feel like you are held back, and sacrifice some doctrinal truth.
I have been told many things but this seems to be the just of it. Kind of like alot of people in our work feel like they are backed into a corner. Choose absolute truth, as in our doctrinal statement, or make some sacrifice in truth and be able to do the Great Commision and the Great Commandments.
I know that alot of brothers are not going to like this but I can only say what I see and hear from the ones that have left or are thinking about it.
There are wonderful tools to be used in planting chruches that do not violate scriptural principles. I have been a part of the ABA for 25+ years, I have attended one of your schools and hold to the doctrinal statements. I however always have to feel apologetic for introducing tools for church planting that gets away from the way we have done it all these years. We are falling behind in growth, we are not making the dent in the crowd of the lost that we should and it is becasue we take too long to build churches. I have offered a tools for building churches, it is effective (used here in Canada for more than 5 years), it is cost effective and it involves people. But it is new and I have beend told by those that claim to want to build churches that they are not interested. One of the problems is that the new work is self-supporting from almost the first day so the sponsoring church has less "power". I hope that we will put our minds and our hearts together, stop guarding the ABA traditions and begin to build new churches, effectively and efficently.
Sean Goodinig
God is still calling, people are aswering but the ABA mentality is to do it thier way. Look at the bulliten board for churches in search of a Pastor. If you don't have the proper ABA credentials you need not apply (in many cases). If you are trained by your Pastor in the local church the way it was done in the Bible you are not "qualified", but if you have a degree from an ABA school trained by many different teachers who in many cases aren't in harmony on doctrine you are qualified. The ABA is a wonderful tool for fellowship and to help missions but too many of God's people think ABA first. I believe we are in the last days. Does God want the young preachers to spend those days in pursuit of a degree to be considered qualified in the eyes of man? Or is he to be serving in his local church, training under his pastor, doing the work that God has qualified him for? God calls men to preach! Not sit in the pew, not go to school to compete for the best position, but to preach.
A question, and answers can be sent to st_clair993@hotmail.com, can churches in a city set up outreach programs as one corporate entity simply serving differnt markets of the city, can we expand that to a state? Example, McDonalds advertises as a corporate entity, but it serves its customers as individual stores each representiong the company to the local customer. Sometimes some of our churches are too small to mount an effective marketing campaign, so wht if we were able to band together as an entity for the purpose of expansion and advertising, yet serve the "customer" as individual entities as in the case pf frranchise stores. I know this example may offend some, and I apologise, I simply want to know if we can expand what we have with more co-operation and be abel to market the "Good News" more aggressively.
Sean Gooding
We don't expect young people to be mature enough to date the homeliest person they can find just because they should be more interested in inner beauty. But that is what we do with our young preachers. It's time our seminaries put on a little make-up and made themselves a little more appealing to young preachers!
I speak from my own experience as a pastor. One day I woke up at 39 years old after having fallen ill to realise that I had nothing. I had devoted my life to the church cause and loved it but the return did not match the investment of me that I made. Somoe whould say that maybe I was in it for the money, brothers no one gets in to ministry in the ABA for the money. I had no home to call my own, I had no retirement plan, no anything. I began to think that an oragnisation as bigh as the ABA could surely have been able to set up a pension fund with the amount of churches we have, but I found out that the issue of sovereignty over rode that idea. I had to come to the realisation that I had to take care of these things, so I could no longer rely solely on a salary from a church to do this. I had to make room in my time for making provision for myself. Even in the OT the Levites received a portion fo the sacrifices, but they also had to land in each tribe to till and make a living for themselves and leave a heritage for their families. The NT apostles all appeared to be dual income men, Paul a a tent maker, others were fishermen and they provided for themselves as was needed. Most young men today see the financial reports of their churches and know that most churches really can't or won't pay a man what he is worth for the work and the scarifice he and his family makes. Very few are willing to work 2 full time jobs to make the money of one, and also the cost to the family as he is away a lot more.
Sean Gooding
I am 53 years old and God called in August of 2007. I attend Michigan Missionary Baptist Seminary in South Haven Michigan. God is still calling men to his ministry. There are a lot of young men here. I am looking for a church, but in God's time frame, not mine. I belong to ABA church and have for over 25 years. When the time is right the Lord will lead me and all others on the field in his ministry.
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