“If you’re trying to get a handle like I am on – what God is calling me to do and what he is calling us to do as a convention, I believe with all my heart it is to love a lost and dying world and to show them the compassion of the Lord Jesus Christ. I’m not sure they know that we love them. I’m not sure at all. Where I come from, they’re not going to come to my church unless I get out there and take them by the hand and demonstrate the love of Christ and show them that Jesus died for them, too. And that’s the bottom line.”
– David Cox, co-pastor, First Baptist Church, Daytona Beach, Fla.
“We can’t do it by ourselves. We must be filled – filled by the Holy Spirit, led by the Holy Spirit, empowered by the Holy Spirit. Everyone, not just the preacher, not just the evangelist, but everyone who names the name of Jesus Christ can win others to Christ.”
– Fred Luter, pastor, Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, New Orleans
“What is God doing? Well, he seeks to save the world. And what does he want done? He wants you and me to personalize that and take it very seriously, and take that gospel across the street and around the world. I can surrender all I want to in my mind. I can say I have a focus on lost people and I have a focus on the gospel, and say I’m not going to be thrown off track by this standard or that standard. But ultimately it comes down to a personal choice: Will I do it?”
– Gene Mims, pastor, Judson Baptist Church, Nashville
“You can tell an awful lot about a man’s heart by what he does, not by what he says. You can tell an awful lot about the mission of a church by what it does, not by what it says. You can tell an awful lot about a denomination’s heart by what it does, not by what it says. – We can argue our positions and differences until Jesus comes back. Or we can lock arms, lock our resources together and go out and start winning people.
“If you want fish, then fish. We’re not aquarium keepers. We’re deep-sea fishermen. That’s our family business. We’re supposed to be out in the deep, dangerous waters, and we’re to risk it all – our lives, our church bank accounts, our reputations, our egos – because it is a fact: If you’re not fishing, you’re not following.”
– James Walker, pastor, Biltmore Baptist Church, Arden, N.C.
Excerpts from addresses by “Points of Challenge” speakers during the SBC annual meeting in Greensboro, N.C.