I know, I know, it’s just the middle of the summer. Hardly time to begin thinking about football, right? Well that is unless you happen to be a rabid fan. I love Fantasy Football and have had my own league for a number of years now. This past year was the lone exception as I joined a friend’s league. This year, however, I’m setting up a league again and I’m looking for people who want to play. I’ve invited 12 other people to play and since it is a 20 team league, I’m looking for 7 people who are interested in joining. If you are interested, please contact me using the contact form here on the site and let me know. I’ll send you an invitation and we’ll get ready for the season.

Today continued to be a good day in Indy. The general consensus among those I spoke to was that this was the best convention they had attended in quite some time. Between the unity of the convention and the direction of our leadership I am heartened and encouraged. Today was particularly encouraging as we passed Tom Ascol, Malcom Yarnell and Bart Barber’s resolution on Regenerate Church Membership. It’s about time.

Today was also fantastic because I got to spend the afternoon (which is free time at the convention) with my wife. During that time I ate at Chik-Fil-A twice and we went on a boat ride down the Indy Canal which was a blast. I’m telling you, my wife and two meals at Chik-Fil-A makes for a killer afternoon.

I also spent a bit of time this morning speaking with Jim Hardwicke, who many of you will know as the former pastor of Frederick Boulevard. It was encouraging to hear from him about what God was doing in his life and to share with him the exciting things happening at Frederick!

Speaking of Frederick Boulevard, I was encouraged yesterday to learn that our church was recognized as one of the top 500 givers to the Cooperative Program in the entire SBC! If you know me well you know that I love the CP. It is incredibly encouraging to once again be reminded of the missions heart and faithful commitment of our people at Frederick Boulevard. It’s a lot of fun to be Frederick’s pastor.

The convention highlight of the day, however, was the IMB report tonight. Tracy and I cried as we listened and watched Dr. Rankin and the other members of the IMB family remind us of the greatness of our task, the greatness of our missions sending agency and most importantly, the greatness of our God. It was a wonderful way to end the convention. I am going to attempt to get a copy of the dvd from this evening to show it to our folks at Frederick Boulevard on a Sunday evening in a few weeks.

Well, I am going to sign off now. I’d love to write more and I may in a few days. Now, however, I need to go to bed. I’ve got to be up in 7 hours when we’ll jump in our van and drive to Wilmington, NC for my brother’s wedding. Ugh.

I promised that I wouldn’t be live blogging, nor blogging much at the convention, and that has held true. This convention has proved to be the busiest yet for me. I have been swamped with meetings. There are a number of people I’ve wanted to spend time with but simply haven’t been able to due to time constraints.  Nevertheless, I have thoroughly enjoyed this annual meeting.

The voting today was interesting, particularly in relation to the presidential election. Although the candidate that I favored, Avery Willis, did not win, I am encouraged to see that Dr. Johnny Hunt was elected particularly because Dr. Hunt has affirmed that he is opposed to the guideline changes at the IMB. It will be good to see a president continue to help oppose those extra-biblical policies. I also think this election, at least in part, reminded us of the power of the nomination speech. Ted Traylor, in my opinion, was far beyond the rest of the nominators in terms of quality and passion regarding his nomination speech. It was reflected, at least in part, by the vote total, in my opinion.

This day also had it’s goofy moments, as all conventions do. The strangest one, I think, for me anyway was hearing the Gaither Vocal Band sing that they were somewhere between Jesus and John Wayne. Hmmmmmm?

This convention has been good for me to be reminded of some of the tremendous statesmen that we are blessed with. Men like David Dockery, Jeff Iorg, Jerry Rankin and Danny Akin, among so many others, gives me great encouragement about our denomination. Spending time with younger guys as well has encouraged me. Guys like Nathan Finn, Doug Baker and Ed Stetzer (who’s not really as young as the rest of us but who thinks he is:-) ) and so many others prove that our convention has incredibly gifted people coming up to take the mantel of leadership in our convention and I am excited to see it. Guys like these are phenomenally intelligent, but are even more so passionate about Christ. They give me great excitement about SBC life to come.

Tomorrow should be a good day as we see what happens when the Resolution Committee reports out there resolutions as well as the IMB report which will be given tomorrow night.

I also should add that I have been contacted today via phone, email and text message by so many of you wanting updates on the convention and I’m sorry I haven’t replied to most of you yet. I just simply don’t have time. Hopefully I will have some more time in the next few days. Additionally it has come to my attention that this site is not showing up correctly in some internet browsers. I apologize for that. I don’t have time right now to fix what’s wrong, but I’ll attempt to work on that once I get back home. Please bear with me until then.

I am currently sitting in my hotel room relaxing after a long day here in Indy. Tracy and I made it here last night much quicker than we anticipated and thankfully missed all of the flooding that has covered Indiana just south of Indy.

Today was a busy day, but an enjoyable one. I spent a good bit of this morning meeting with some great folks. I had the opportunity to sit down with Ed Stetzer for a while and discuss his new book. A two part interview will be posted first thing in the morning. Make sure that you don’t miss that. I also spent a bit of time this afternoon with Avery Willis. The more I get to know him the more I am impressed with his genuine humility. During our conversation he couldn’t stop speaking about the need for our convention to experience revival. We need a President like that. Meeting Nathan Finn face to face was a great treat. I’m looking forward to spending a bit more time with him over the next day or two.

After all of this I had the great privilege of being a part of the Committee on Committee meeting. Serving on that committee has been a highlight of the convention for me. I’m excited about our report that comes out on Wednesday morning. In addition, after the committee meeting, Tracy and I were privileged to enjoy a dinner with the IMB. We got to listen to Dr. Rankin as well as a few other missionaries and wonderful, visionary pastor J.D. Greear. My passion for missions was only stirred to greater depths as I listened to them communicate about what God is doing around the world.

With that I think I’ll sign off for the night. It’s been a long day and tomorrow comes early. By the way, don’t forget to check Alan Cross’ blog during the day as he should be posting updates throughout the day. In addition I hear that Ed Stetzer’s going to be twittering again tomorrow so you should run by their as well and try to keep up with what’s going on at his site. We start the business sessions tomorrow so be sure to try and keep up. Between the business session and the presidential election it should be a fun-filled day!

Ok, so I know that I said I probably would not be posting again before Indy. Well, I wasn’t planning to until I received an email this afternoon from Dr. Nathan Finn who shared with me about a new site that he is contributing to, along with 4 other professors from Southeastern Seminary including the president, Dr. Danny Akin, found at BetweenTheTimes.com. Nathan, while speaking about the blog says, “We will be posting on a variety of topics, including theology, culture, mission, the SBC, and book reviews.”

To see Nathan continue his good work in writing is always encouraging but to see him joined by a number of able minded professors is particularly encouraging. I look forward to reading what is written there and I hope that you will take a few moments to do the same thing. I’m also looking forward to seeing one of our seminary presidents taking on blogging. It should be fun to watch.

You can connect with the new blog by clicking [here].

This should probably be my last post before heading to Indianapolis. I’m backed up with work to do and I’ve got a wedding to perform this weekend so I don’t think I’ll have time to write anymore. I wanted to write a quick note and mention a couple of things to look for while I’m gone to the convention.

• First, I will not be live blogging. I’m not planning to take my laptop into the convention hall this year which will be a first compared to the past couple of years. I will, however, be in communication during the convention with my good friend, Alan Cross. Alan can’t be in Indy this year but will have access to his computer. If anything important pops up, I will let Alan know and he will get the word out asap. Be sure to bookmark his site and be prepared to check his updates out.
• Although I won’t be live blogging, I’ll try to provide a nightly update on the convention. I am often very busy during this week so I’m not promising anything. I know, however, that it is pretty typical for my site traffic to triple during convention week so I know many of you are looking for info. I’ll do the best I can to provide it.
• I’m privileged to be a part of Ed Stetzer and Philip Nation’s blog tour to promote their new book, “Compelled by Love“. As part of that I will be posting a two part interview on Tuesday during the convention. Part 1 will feature a written interview which we did this week. Part 2, however, will feature an audio interview with Ed that we’ll be recording Monday morning in Indy. Be sure to watch for that. The book is fantastic and Stetzer and Nation help provide some excellent resources.
• Thankfully our church has been very generous in their commitment to missions giving through the Lottie Moon and Annie Armstrong offerings and as a result Tracy and I have been invited to a dinner with the IMB and then a luncheon with NAMB. I’m looking forward to spending that time with the great missions thinkers in our convention.
• Ok, this one is kind of goofy, but I figured I’d have some fun this year and mix everybody up. I think I’m going to sport a suit every day of the convention. After my jeans and shirts over the past two years, I thought that would be a fun change of pace.

Dr. Joel Rainey has written a new book, Planting Churches in the Real World, that is a fantastic find if you are planting a church of thinking of planting a church. What’s more, if you are in a traditional church I am convinced that much of the material in the book can be helpful to you as well. Rainey has helped plant over 30 churches and is currently the Director of the Mid-Maryland Baptist Association outside of Washington D.C.

I first began to read some of Rainey’s writings over the past few years online through various blogs and found his writing to be very thoughtful as well as insightful. This past February, however, I finally had the privilege of meeting Joel in person and found him to be even more enjoyable in person than he is online. Joel forwarded a copy of this book to read through and review.

What makes this book particularly unique is that Rainey makes no attempt to mislead planters by highlighting the exciting, but statistically rare, church plant which skyrockets in attendance right from the beginning. Instead he considers what is the vast majority of church plants, that being plants that grow slowly, yet consistently, but who will probably never grow to “supersize” church status. What also sets this book apart is that it is extremely practical. Rather than give abstract, ethereal wisdom or advice, Rainey sticks to practical wisdom supported by real life experience which lends itself to simple application on the part of the church planter.

If you are a church planter, or a wannabe church planter, I would really encourage you to spend the few dollars and pick up this book. It’s simple, easy to read, practical advice from someone who has been there and done it when it comes to church planting and I think it could be priceless for your ministry.

You can purchase a copy using the links found by clicking here.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Church planting is not for the easily discouraged. The average new church is less than 100 attenders after four years, but most conference speakers and book writers tell stories of hundreds after the first year– a reality few church planters experience. Rainey paints a picture of reality, including both the difficulties involved in starting a new church, and the evidence that planting a church is worth enduring those difficulties. If you are a planter drunk with vision, this will sober you up. But, it is more than that. It also shows that church plants make a difference whether they are thousands or dozens after the first year. I’ve known Joel for years, and he tells the stories from his own journey– telling lessons he learned the hard way. It’s real world church planting and it is worth your time.
Dr. Ed Stetzer, author of Planting Missional Churches. Director of Research, Lifeway Christian Resources, Nashville, TN

“Dr. Rainey amuses the reader with countless stories of life on the field. His “lessons learned” approach to the book serves as a clear warning for future church planters: “The Kingdom of Heaven is near you, but this won’t be easy!”
Dr. Jack Allen, Director, The Day Center for Church Planting. New Orleans, LA

“Candid, winsome, thoroughly biblical, keenly missional, and sensibly linked to the real world. Don’t be fooled. The weightiness of this little book is inversely proportional to its size, and its wise counsel will help point a safe way through the tangle of neglected assumptions, misguided strategies, ill-founded hopes, and unintentional blunders that accosts the unwary planter on the way to church. Well done!”
B. Spencer Haygood, Senior Pastor, Orange Hill Baptist Church. Marietta, GA

“Born in the ward of real world experience, Planting Churches in the Real World is theologically sound, theoretically tenable, and practically accessible. During a time when starting a church can be faddish, Rainey’s work is a dose of both Biblical wisdom and common sense that will stop many would-be church planters before a frustrating failure, and direct many others onward toward biblical success.”
Marty Duren, co-author of Journeys: Transitioning Churches to Relevance. Lead Pastor, New Bethany Church. Buford, GA

“Reality bites, as the saying goes. Yet in the age of incredible lostness in America, we must see church planting for what it is . . . a way to spread Gospel influence to every, man, woman and child. High birth weight churches, although fun and influential for the Kingdom, are not the norm, nor are they the answer. Joel Rainey has captured the reality and yet the incredible potential of church planting. New churches running less than 100 are key players in the Kingdom. Small does not have to mean ineffective. Small groups of missionary Christians are critical to our mission and our future. Way to go!
Dr. Dino Senesi. Church Planting Movement Leader, Columbia, SC

8 years ago today I stood at an altar and exchanged vows with the woman of my dreams. Today we get to celebrate 8 years of marriage together. When we stood at the altar and said “I do” at Beulah Baptist Church in Dothan, AL I am positive that Tracy had no idea what she was getting into. All I knew was that I was the most blessed guy in the world. As today is a celebration day, I spent a bit of time reflecting on the past 8 years and I have come to the conclusion that I would be a wreck if it was not for my godly wife. She has been my encourager and helpmate on occasions when I deserved neither. She has been my critic and has provided accountability when I did not want, but certainly needed, both. She continues to amaze me with her love for the Lord, her passion for being a Mommy and her incredible love for me. I was the most blessed guy in the world 8 years ago today and I am even more blessed today than I was then.

Tracy, I love you and I am so thankful for 8 years with you and I cannot wait for another 50 or 60 more.