ABAing

 The choir and memorials committee each brought powerful presentations, and we were reminded of the great losses our association has faced this year. On a personal note, a friend and mentor, Brother Bobby Bryant Sr., passed away last night a few hours after the memorials report. Please keep his family in prayer.  Here are my notes from Brother Danny Jones' powerful sermon. Brother Danny Jones To All the Earth 1 Chronicles 16:23-36 Luke 19:40 – There must be a proclamation of the Lord. If we – His people – hold our peace, then the very rocks will cry out. Have we, as His people, held our peace? There have been more archeological discoveries in the past two decades than in all of history before – the rocks are crying out, are we? There are ABA churches in about ¼ of the nations of the Earth, but our commission is to share Christ with all the Earth. Solomon’s prayer was not just for his people to sing God’s praise, but for all the Earth to praise the Lord. 1.    ...

Articles of Agreement Amending the Articles of Agreement (the basic bylaws of the ABA) requires a two stage process. First, the changes to the policy must be approved by 2/3 of the messengers present at the meeting. Then, each church must be given a ballot to mail in or a chance to vote at the next meeting in Spokane, WA. 2/3 of the churches represented at the average of the last three meetings must vote "yes" for the amendments to pass: it is not 2/3 of ballots turned in, so not turning in a vote is a "no."  The amendments as approved were mostly adjustments to terminology, but there were two substantial changes. First, the music director, director of meeting arrangements, parliamentarian, and assistant parliamentarian were added as officers. They were not included historically because they were appointed officers, but now they are elected and adding them to the officers matches our practice better. Second, the article on the missionary service trust (Article X, wh...

Youth Camp Report In Bogg Spring's history, there have been approximately 325k campers and 21k professions of faith. Brother Curtis announced that next year will be his final year as the director of Bogg Springs. He received a standing ovation for his faithful service and godly witness. The camp trustees were reelected without opposition.  Pine Springs has made numerous facility improvements: adding a rock wall, zip line, and gelly ball. Brother Ricky Lee was not able to be present at the meeting but continues to provide excellent leadership to PSBC.  Chaplaincy Report Last year, there were 3 ABA-endorsed military chaplains. By August, there will be 6. The chaplaincy commission would benefit from about $10,000 a year in offerings to expand its important work.  The chaplaincy commission was reelected without opposition. Brother John Saunders passed away and was removed from the list. National Youth Meeting Report The report was adopted. Bylaws were proposed which will be t...

Missions Business The missions committee report was adopted without comment or opposition. In the report of Brother Roger Stewart, Secretary-Treasurer (I guess it will be Secretary/Treasurer by the time you read this!), we recognized the loss of Brethren Abel Dimatulac (missionary in the Philippines), Tim Simons (Interstate missionary), Darrell Overton (former missionary to Bolivia), and Victor Guzman (long-time missionary in Mexico and member of the Standing Missionary Committee). On a personal note, I visited with Brother Tim Simons several times and was impressed by his servant's heart and godly spirit.  Brother Stewart reports that this year there have been 5256 professions of faith, 635 baptisms and 12 churches organized. The Thanksgiving Mission Offering was just over $325k, creating a total surplus for this year of $95.5k. Next year, if things remain on track, the total offerings received through the Thanksgiving Mission Offering since its inception in 1995 will cross $6 mil...

Obviously, little business is conducted on Tuesday evening, but here are my notes from Brother Micah Carter's excellent sermon: I was greatly blessed by it and so I didn't take notes quite fast enough to think that my outline matches his. Brother Eddie Sutton was recognized and received several standing ovations in gratitude for his 35 years of service.  James 5:7-11 | Micah Carter Are you suffering? Are you struggling? That is the challenge that James’ audience faced. 1.)     Patient Endurance a.        James 5:7-8 b.        What he calls them to is patience                                                            ...

President Eric Sutton brought a powerful message on the billions of people who are without the gospel and laid out a vision for reaching them. Brother Terry Parrish presented the suggested revisions of the Missions Policy and the Articles of Agreement. I have written previously about the proposed changes to the Missions Policy. The resolution to amend the Articles of Agreement must be voted on by churches and addressed by letter next year. Like the missions policy, the proposed changes to the Articles of Agreement are mostly clarifications and improvements of the terminology (the business manager is renamed CEO, the "Treasurer" is renamed "Secretary/Treasurer," and "sovereignty" of churches is replaced by "autonomy"). The substantial changes are (1) adding to article III a possibility for a virtual meeting if necessary, where each church is given one vote, (2) several roles given to the missionary committee are specified to apply to the standing...