The election of a Florence minister as president and a series of messages aimed at emphasizing the benefits of “preaching Jesus” highlighted the annual South Carolina Baptist Pastor’s Conference held Nov. 14 at Trinity Baptist Church in Cayce.
Bill Curtis, pastor of one of the convention’s younger congregations, Cornerstone Baptist Church, established in 2002, was elected by acclamation to lead the pastor’s organization in 2006. Other 2006 officers, also elected by acclamation, are Danny Burnley, pastor of West Gantt First Baptist Church, Greenville, vice president; and Hans Wunch, pastor of Doctor’s Creek Baptist Church, Walterboro, re-elected secretary-treasurer.
Tom Tucker, senior pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Rock Hill, presided at the conference, whose lineup of speakers included three from South Carolina and another with ties to the Palmetto State.
The conference theme centered on the priority of “preaching Jesus,” declaring that it would “build character, build churches, build churches and build Christlikeness.”
Randall Jones, who a day earlier had retired as pastor of Langston Baptist Church, Conway, told the group in the opening session, “Where the word of God is being preached, God is saving souls.”
Jones described the role of preacher as a “divinely-appointed office,” adding, “I am so thankful that God looked down and said to me, ‘I want you to preach the gospel.'”
The former Conway pastor continued, “The grandest thing in the world is to say that God called me and I have a word for you today.”
He advised the pastors, “Don’t get too set on yourselves, just preach the word.”
Jones said “churches are in trouble” today with many pastors leaving their pulpits due at times to “over-expectations and underachievement.”
The need now, Jones pointed out, is “a zeal for souls and to win as many as possible.” He called on the ministers to “preach for a verdict,” to win souls and see lives changed. Preaching the gospel, he said, is “an irrevocable commission and an imperishable command.”
David Gallamore, pastor of Rock Springs Baptist Church in Easley, declared that the church is to be “God’s tool to touch a lost and dying world,” further characterizing it as “a mighty army marching together.”
The Easley pastor emphasized that all churches ? whether viewed as small or large ? “need a fresh touch of the Holy Spirit of God to move us where we ought to be.”
Gallamore underscored the “pre-eminence” of the Bible in churches, saying, “When people come to church, they want to hear what the Bible has to say. We need more of the word of God in our day than ever before.”
Preaching the Bible, he said, is the “central” to all the church does.
He pointed to the book of Nehemiah in which there was a “longing for the word of God,” and asked his audience, “Do you have an appetite for the word of God?”
Joe Youngblood of Revival and Missions International, Aiken, said it is time for the church, and the pastor as well, to be “salt and light.”
He said the life of the pastor “must be an expression of the enthronement of Jesus Christ,” adding “the people in the pews are a reflection of the pastor in the pulpit.”
The Aiken minister told how the death of his son just over a year ago plunged his family into “the deepest, darkest water,” but it also produced a “brokenness” that helped “release the life of Christ” in their lives.
“Christ is manifested in the life of the believer, he lives his life in us,” Youngblood said. “We are trophies of God’s grace and represent the triumph of God’s grace,” he said.
Youngblood added, “When the life of Christ is manifested in his children, revival will be the result.”
His message included a word of wisdom and encouragement for pastors and others during dark days. “Rarely does God take you out of difficulties,” he said. “Instead, he takes you through them.”
Mike Whitson, pastor of First Baptist Church in Indian Trail, N.C., graduated from North Greenville and Furman universities as well as Erskine Seminary, and he served as pastor in South Carolina.
Preaching from Galatians, he reminded the pastors that, even after salvation, “the old nature is still in you, but you’re not in it. Temptation is still there.”
Believers can be “caught off guard” by sin, he said, adding, “And if you haven’t fallen already, it’s only because of God’s grace.” He warned against “playing with sin” because “it eventually will overcome you.”
Whitson said the church has the opportunity and duty to “help somebody overcome by sin” rather than “putting them on a shelf, dropping them like a hot potato, or ignoring them in the hope that they will go away.”
“God has given us the ministry of reconciliation and restoration,” he said, explaining that the word restoration in Galatians conjures up the image of mending a net or setting a broken bone to make the net or person useful again.
The 2005 South Carolina Pastor’s Conference was dedicated “to all of the preachers who have preached Jesus in season and out of season.”