After a few months of hard work I am excited to announce the unveiling of the brand new FrederickBoulevard.com! My new friends over at Element Fusion did a fantastic job of creating a site that we envision to eventually become a significant hub of information for Frederick Boulevard. Run over, kick the tires and take it for a test drive. I hope you enjoy!

The statistics are in and prove the point that many of us have tried to make for sometime and that is that the SBC is becoming increasingly irrelevant to younger leaders. In fact, according to these stats, they appear to be leaving our convention as fast as they can get their feet under them. It is far beyond time that we simply look around and write off those leaving as if they are doing so because of their immaturity or unorthodox doctrinal positions. Too many are leaving for that to be true. Those, and other excuses like them, are merely convenient opportunities to avoid the real issues. The question we must ask now is why they are these younger pastors &/or staff people leaving and can we adjust our convention to retain them? If we do not, our convention, and worse than that the Cooperative Program, will be reduced to denominational rubble in a matter of two to three decades.

In his “Presedential Perspective” article, LifeWay President Thom Rainer asks some good questions that I think are worth considering. He writes three paragraphs in particular that I am convinced are right on target. Consider these words:

Younger leaders see a decreasing relevance in the denomination and older leaders are not adequately casting a dynamic vision. Whereas older leaders connect tradition with loyalty, younger leaders connect loyalty with purpose. They want to see tangible reasons for engaging in the denomination’s effort. The denomination desperately needs an infusion of their creativity and passion.

There is cause for concern. The lack of involvement does not bode well for the legacy of the SBC. Our denomination is more than 150 years old and the Cooperative Program is 75. A significant amount of gospel-proclaiming work has been done throughout the world in that time. God has been so gracious to bless us with each precious soul won to His glory. We really can do more together than we can do apart. How I pray younger generations can get that. How I pray older generations will teach that in edifying and encouraging ways while incorporating the best of what younger generations have to offer.

How I pray we will rise above the things that distract us for the sake of the gospel.

Rainer is absolutely right. The younger generations, of which I am a part, are not satisfied to remain loyal for the sake of remaining loyal. There must be purpose infused into our activity if we are to be seen as relevant, and even more importantly, if we are to actually be relevant.

This is not a denominational issue, however, in my opinion. No, this is a local church issue. Our denomination does nothing more than reflect the norms of our churches. If we are to fix this problem all the Executive Board decisions in the world will not advance our cause if they are cut off from local church application. We must, at the local level, say that “enough is enough”. We must ask the hard questions and be ready to absorb the hard answers if we are to change and become effective again.

Thank goodness there are still men like Rainer and Ed Stetzer in the SBC, who find the gospel important enough that they are committed to pursuing its advance, regardless of the cost that may come their way. Surprisingly enough, they even like to hang out with Acts 29 churches. Hmm, I wonder if they’re on to something?

When it comes down to it, the ultimate question that must be asked is how important the gospel is to us? Is it important enough that we can allow each other to disagree on nominal issues and work together, unified by our common agreement on the essentials of the faith or are we so concerned with “doctrinal unanimity” that we stand by arguing points of eschatological or sociological differences while our neighbors die and spend eternity separated from God?

I love songs that sing about Jesus. This week for Weekend Worship I want to highlight two songs by Jeremy Camp that do a wonderful job lifting up Jesus. The first song is “Beautiful One”. In it he introduces his band. If you want to skip forward to the song, move ahead to 1:58. After that I’ve included “Give You Glory”. I hope that they both encourage you this weekend to keep worshipping.

Well, I guess I missed it but this post, about 3 posts back, was officially my 1,000th post. That’s a whole lot of writing about nothing isn’t it?

Well, this one is hot off the presses. According to SBC Uber Blogger Timmy Brister, MicahFries.com is one of the top 5 Southern Baptist blogs. Of course, Timmy doesn’t include his own blog on the list so that would knock me out of the top 5, but I’m flattered, none-the-less.

Thanks Timmy!

I have mentioned, a time or two, the upcoming presidential election. I have yet to determine which candidate I will vote for, but have been curious, at various times, about the candidacies of a number of candidates. I find much about Mike Huckabee appealing, and yet the more research I come across the more concerned I am. My friend Colin wants me to think about Fred Thompson, but I find him to be unsettling at times as well. To be honest, in the cases of both Thompson and Huckabee, I find it hard to trust that what they say is, in fact, what they mean. I cannot, in good conscience, vote for Romney, Giuliani, Obama, Edwards or Clinton. All of this is making me start to wonder if my dad is going to get a write-in vote?

While thinking through this, my friend and fellow SBC pastor, Marty Duren, has begun a series of articles on the upcoming election. I read his article this morning and found that it resonated with me.  I would highly encourage you to read what he has to say. It’s food for thought, at a minimum. You can read it here.

Blogging will be slow for the next week or so. I won’t write as much and, according to my statcounter, you won’t read as much. I am curious, though, in this slow blogging season, if you would share with me what your favorite books of the Bible are and why?

I’ll start:

Old Testament: Isaiah

I am amazed at the greatness of God in Isaiah. Whether the prophet is talking about God’s glory or God’s mission or, the greatest message of all - the coming Messiah, there is no avoiding the greatness and majesty of God in the book. It is a captivating book to me.

New Testament: Philippians

I love the message of the gospel as seen in Philippians. Beyond that, I love the clarion call to partner with other believers to be on mission with God as we see it in Philippians. I also appreciate the no-nonsense message about following Christ as we see in places like Philippians 3:10-11.

What about you?

I read an interesting article today by Tom Ehrich in the Indianapolis Star. He writes about churches that spend more time at Christmas whining over the people who aren’t there than they do considering how they can meet people where they are and introduce them to the gospel. Now there is a significant part of the article that I’m not comfortable with, mainly allowing our worship services to be primarily consumer driven, but I think the author makes some valid points, particularly about giving people substance rather than what we perceive to be pleasing and fun. You may want to take a look at it yourself. The follow quote was my favorite from the article.

Of all the possible roles to play, we seem to have chosen the least savory. We play the uncaring innkeeper: There’s no room for you here as you actually are. We play the Roman census-taker: Do it our way, or else. We play the shepherds’ employer: Stay out there in the cold, even though light is shining not far away.

I say stop the whining, and rev up the preaching. Let’s touch their hearts, not tickle their ears with clever Advent homilies about John the Baptist. Let’s love people, not berate them for spurning our treasured offerings.