“It was the first time I really saw myself,” said Powers, who, at the time, weighed 348 pounds. He was motivated to change his lifestyle as he preached to his congregation about the sins that can separate us from God. Powers said he realized the last person people want to listen to is someone who isn’t trying to overcome their own struggles.

On December 8, 2008, he started changing his diet, cutting out fried foods and eating six or seven small, healthy snacks a day. Three weeks later and 29 pounds lighter, he started an exercise program. One year since then, he’s lost 178 pounds, a little more than half his starting weight. 

“I’d been on a diet for probably 20 years; what really made this time different was the determination to change,” said Powers, who likens his commitment to diet and exercise to his daily decision to live his life for Christ.

His story offers inspiration to many who currently are trying to stay true to their New Year’s resolutions to lose weight. Obesity impacts more than 72 million adults in the United States, including one in four adults in Illinois, according to the Center for Disease Control.

Chad Ozee, pastor of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Carlinville, lost 225 pounds in just over a year. After evaluating several weight loss methods, Ozee and his wife Rachel underwent gastric bypass surgery in late 2008. Now, after a combined total of 370 pounds lost, the couple is unrecognizable to some people who have known them for years.

Their church prayed for the Ozees before, during and after surgery, and has continued to support them and their two children as they undergo substantial changes in their lifestyle. For example, the team in charge of Wednesday night dinners at Emmanuel provides special desserts for the Ozees, whose post-surgery diet doesn’t allow them to eat sugar.

“People in ministry get the idea that we’re supposed to be able to handle things on our own, but we need to realize that it’s OK to ask for help from a spouse, from people in the church, or from a doctor or exercise program,” Ozee said. “We could not have done this without the support of our church.”

The spiritual side of weight loss is something more and more people are beginning to understand, said Becky Bergner, who leads a First Place 4 Health group at First Baptist Church in Petersburg. First Place, which started as a ministry of First Baptist Church in Houston, Tex., looks at weight loss as more than just a physical change. Through studying the Bible, memorizing Scripture, and praying for one another, participants are encouraged to put Christ in the “first place” position in their lives.

“It’s amazing that I’ve been a Christian as long as I have, and I’ve never thought of how important it is in my service to Christ that I be physically fit,” said Lee Ann Montgomery, who now leads a First Place group at First Baptist Church in Fairfield. “In order to serve Christ at my best, I need to be at my best physically, spiritually and emotionally.”

Powers said his experience has given him plenty of opportunities to share the spiritual implications of weight loss. At the gym, he talks to employees and fellow exercisers who have tracked his progress and want to know how he’s stayed so disciplined.

Soon after he started working out at a gym in nearby Decatur, a personal trainer named John who had heard his story offered to work with him five days a week, for free, as long as Powers agreed to help him answer some spiritual questions he had. For nearly a year, John has brought his questions to Powers, who goes home, studies up on the topic, and comes back with an answer from Scripture.

“The opportunity for me to share my faith has multiplied exponentially,” he said. “Every day, someone different is coming to me saying, ‘What made you want to lose this weight?’ Then I can share with them about my walk with Christ.”

Both Powers and Ozee are using their stories to help others struggling with weight loss. The most important tip he can offer, Ozee said, is to remember Who ultimately provides the motivation for change.

“Regardless of what tool you use, or how much weight you want to lose, the only way you’ll find strength to do it is in Christ.”

Contact Adam Powers at pastoradamfbc@att.net, or Chad Ozee at pastorchad@ ebccarlinville.org. For more information about First Place 4 Health, or to find a group in your area, go to firstplace4 health.com.

The conferences were designed as a result of a survey of pastors and directors of missions, which found many were unable to attend two and three-day training conferences due to the time and expense the conferences required.

The conferences were well-received with more than 1,600 Illinois Baptists attending.  This year, the conferences have a new name, Churches of Strength Super Saturday Seminars.  They will also feature all new curriculums, noted Dale Davenport, the conferences’ coordinator and director of IBSA Education and Leadership. “We will not repeat anything we did last year,” he said.

The three-hour seminars will be held in nine regions of the state situated so every IBSA church will have a conference taking place within an hour and half drive from their location.  

All pastors, church ministry staff and lay leaders are invited to attend the seminars in their areas. “The seminars will include transformative teaching and living through all that we do,” said Davenport. “We want to see life change taking place under the leadership of the Holy Spirit and to help facilitate this within churches and the lives of believers.”

As their name suggests, each of the free seminars will be held on a Saturday beginning with a continental breakfast at 8:30 a.m. followed by three concentrated hours of conference time from nine until noon.

All seminars will include training in music and worship; evangelism and discipleship; leadership; church health; student and family ministry; and education (Sunday School).  Some will also feature missions awareness, church planting, missions for women, stewardship and prayer ministry training.

The first Super Saturday Seminar of 2010 will be held on February 27 at Chatham Baptist Church in Chatham.

Seminar information and schedules will be mailed to churches in each region in advance of the event.  Information will also be available online at IBSA.org or by calling Cathy Waters at (217) 391-3124 or e-mailing cathywaters@IBSA.org.

February 27 Central- Chatham Baptist, Chatham

May 22 East Central - Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist, Urbana

June 5 Hispanic - Iglesia Bautista Cortland, Chicago

June 5 Metro Peoria - Woodland Baptist, Peoria

June 19 North - Larkin Avenue Baptist, Elgin

August 14 Deep South - Third Baptist, Marion

August 28 Chicagoland - Broadview Missionary Baptist, Broadview

September 11 Gateway/Metro East - O’Fallon First Baptist, O’Fallon

September 25 Mid South - Pleasant Hill Baptist, Mt. Vernon

Ken and Annette Steward, who adopted Jake in November 2008, joined his birth parents and birth grandparents for a birthday party at Angels’ Cove Maternity Center in Mt. Vernon. The setting was perfect, since Angels’ Cove is where the Stewards first met Jake’s birth mother.

As a young married couple, the Stewards talked about adoption but always thought they’d have biological children. When their doctor ruled out that possibility, they prayed about other options. In 2007, Doug Devore, executive director for Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services (BCHFS), spoke at their church, First Baptist Church in Bethalto.

“We said, ‘This is it,’ and we stopped looking elsewhere,” Ken said.

Assured that God was leading them to adopt through Baptist Children’s Home, the Stewards’ moved forward in the process, attending orientation sessions and creating a scrapbook about their family. In May, they were contacted by Angels’ Cove, the maternity care arm of BCHFS, where mothers-to-be are provided with a safe place to live and biblical counseling related to their options. Birth mothers at Angels’ Cove who are considering adoption can look at the scrapbooks created by potential adoptive parents and choose a “forever family” for their child.

The Stewards met with a birth mother several times, and were prepared to bring a child home in the summer of 2008, but just before she had the baby, the mother decided not to place the child for adoption.

Disappointed and frustrated, the couple tried to discern what God was teaching them by allowing them to get so close to an adoption, only to have it fall apart at the last minute. Needing a break, the Stewards took a spur-of-the-moment vacation, where Ken said God began to heal their deep hurt, and reminded them of His Sovereignty.

“We were able to lay our desires at his feet,” Ken said. “He showed us that it was OK to be ready for those things, but that He was going to bring it about in His timing.”

A few months later, Angels’ Cove contacted the Stewards when a birth mother chose them after seeing their scrapbook. The couple met with her and her family several times, and moved forward in the process, admittedly more cautiously than before. Even when the birth parents allowed the Stewards to be present for an ultrasound, where they heard Jake’s heartbeat for the first time, Annette said she and Ken held fast to what God had taught them, that He was in control of their family.

Jacob Michael, named together by his biological parents and the Stewards, was born on November 18, 2008. Three days later, his birth mother released her rights to Ken and Annette, and the Stewards were finally able to celebrate with their family and friends, who provided enough formula and diapers to last for months.

“If all our plans had turned out perfectly, we wouldn’t have Jake,” Annette said. “God has given us this amazing testimony.”

Their adoption experience is just one example of how crisis pregnancy and maternity centers like Angels’ Cove save lives by educating mothers and providing options.  

“Our main focus is for our girls at Angels’ Cove to know who Jesus is, and for us to provide an alternative to abortion,” said director Regina Thompson. Angels’ Cove can house up to eight women at a time, and also provides short-term foster care for children. Through their adoption program, they license couples to adopt children from Angels’ Cove, and complete home studies for couples who want to adopt internationally.

Explaining the gift of adoption, and drawing parallels to Christ’s love, is one of the key principles the Stewards want to teach Jake as he gets older. They can also share with him about how God works all things together for good, even when His ways are difficult to understand.

“When we think about where we were five years ago, when we wanted a family, we thought we knew what that would look like. This is totally different, but so much sweeter,” said Annette. “God knew He had Jake for us. We couldn’t have gotten him any other way.”

For more information about Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services, including Angels’ Cove Maternity Center, go to bchfs.com. To learn how to help a crisis pregnancy center in your area, and to download Sanctity of Human Life materials, go to namb.net/pregnancy.

I’ve been looking into that rearview mirror a lot the past few days, preparing a year-end report for the IBSA Board of Directors.  I’ve found, for instance, that in 2009, a full 92 percent of IBSA churches completed an Annual Church Profile, up from 83 percent in 2006 and even the 90 percent of last year.  Thank you, pastors and church clerks, for giving us a more and more complete picture of what’s happening in IBSA churches!

At IBSA, we also have financial reports to evaluate, and the various records we keep of how many leaders were trained, how many churches were started, how many events were planned, how much communication has been delivered, and more.  You can’t always measure spiritual progress with numbers, but neglecting to measure at all usually leads to ignorance and ineffectiveness.  So we work hard, evaluate and improve what we can, and, trust God’s grace to make up the difference.  

One measurement some of our staff watches daily, and I try to watch at least weekly, is the report of giving from IBSA churches, especially through the Cooperative Program.  Throughout the year, that report gave me cause for at least mild concern.  2008’s total CP giving was slightly below our record high year of 2007, and throughout 2009 the weekly comparison ran behind 2008 by one to two percent.  Of course, 2009 was a challenging economic year, but I couldn’t help wonder if we were looking at a downward trend.  

Many of us are off for the holidays between Christmas and New Year’s Day, and I went home thinking we would end 2009 one percent below 2008 in CP giving. When we returned from the holidays, we closed out the final deposit from year-end gifts, and waited for the report to come out one last time for 2009.  I felt a little like Joel Hanrahan.

I know what you’re probably thinking.  Joel Hanrahan?  Who is he and what does he have to do with CP giving in Illinois?

Joel Hanrahan has been on my mind since last summer.  He was a pitcher for the Washington Nationals who was traded mid-season to the Pittsburgh Pirates. However, before being traded, he was the “pitcher of record” in a May 5th game with the Houston Astros that was halted by rain in the bottom of the 11th inning with the score tied at 10.  

By the time the rescheduled game resumed on July 9, Hanrahan was one of seven former Nationals who were no longer on the Washington roster.  Yet when the Nationals pulled out the 11-10 win in less than seven minutes, Hanrahan was immediately awarded the victory.

That’s why I say I felt a little like Joel Hanrahan as I waited for year-end Cooperative Program giving total to be recorded.  I’d already been thinking about him as a symbol of Christian faithfulness.  There’s a sense in which we all finish our part of the game and move on without experiencing the ultimate victory.  Yet our hope in Christ assures us that one day, even after our best “efforts” are over, His grace will indeed make up the difference, and deliver the final triumph.  

2009 was over for those of us who had gone home for the holidays.  Every indication was that we would gather in about one percent less than the previous year for our cooperative missions work. But the grace that leads cooperating churches to give, more than made up the difference.  The 2009 total for CP giving not only finished 1.1 percent higher than 2008, but also $21,000 or .3 percent higher than 2007, making 2009 the largest CP year ever for Illinois Baptists!

Thank you Illinois Baptists, and praise be to our Lord, for such sacrificial missions giving during such a bleak economic year. We can look out the windshield of 2010 with hope and optimism because our glance at the 2009 rearview mirror shows us such faithful cooperation.

Contact Nate Adams at outbind://23-000000000D93738BCF83D411BB5000508B8B07E20700C0DF0283CF83D411BB5000508B8B07E20000000050DD000076C78464656239438E5CEDC18F29D13F00509992FD200000/NateAdams@IBSA.org.

1.  James lives in Dhaka, Bangladesh among the Bengali people, the largest unreached people group in the world.  Thousands of rickshaws roam the congested streets maneuvering to make their next 10 taka (12 cents).  Immediately after arriving, we entered an apartment building but were told to sing softly since our Christian hosts did not want to be evicted by their Muslim landlord.  

I sat on the floor next to a young Muslim convert, and felt that I was like Phillip riding with an Ethiopian who was gloriously converted.  God told Phillip “Arise and go to a desert road.” (Acts 8:26)  Surely Phillip misunderstood.  Who would Phillip find on a desert road?  He found a religious man reading a religious text, but he did not know God.  If you sat on a bus or plane next to a man reading a Bible, wouldn’t you assume he is a believer?  Phillip obeyed, and the Ethiopian came to understand the scripture he held in his hands. That day, he not only went on his way rejoicing, but no doubt was also the first to carry the gospel to the continent of Africa.

2.  Luckson ministers to the Meetei people in several villages in northeast Bangladesh nestled between tea plantations and rice fields.  His kind, gentle nature seemed so contrary to the severe hostile persecution that he has endured.  The people are Hindu with no tolerance for anything but Hindu, so they have threatened Luckson repeatedly.  Recently they banned him from even entering their villages, because they do not want to see their people convert to Christianity.

I felt I was like Ananias who was spared persecution himself and who was privileged to lay hands on Saul who was gloriously saved and was now a preacher among his own persecuted people.  The Lord said to Ananias “Arise and go to a street called Straight.” (Acts 9:11)  Had the Lord not intercepted Paul’s journey to Damascus, Ananias could have been his next victim.  Ananias was being sent to minister to the chief Christian persecutor, and he didn’t want to go.  Saul was a religious man who knew his religious text well, but did not know God.  Ananias was reluctant just like we might be if the Lord were to tell us to go and minister to a religious persecutor.

3.  Sundar serves in Hyderabad, India, a city of three million people whose streets are filled with vendors, bicycles, cars, buses, cows, and dogs freely roaming the streets.  The air is filled with carbon monoxide fumes, curry spices, and the noise of Hindus banging sticks trying to get their gods’ attention.  Sundar’s people are the Telegu.  His church meets on the roof of a member’s home.  A number of the members were from his extended family.

I felt like Peter going downstairs to meet with Cornelius and his household who were all ears and eager to hear the Word of the Lord.  The Lord said to Peter “Arise and go downstairs.” (Acts 10:20)  It was downstairs where his own vision and Cornelius’ vision intersected, and Peter learned God was orchestrating a divine intersection between himself and Cornelius.   God chooses to work through His people who go to others with the message that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.

Henry Martyn, missionary to India and Persia in the early 1800’s, said “The spirit of Christ is the spirit of missions. The nearer we get to Him, the more intensely missionary we become.”  The mark of a great church is not its seating capacity, but its sending capacity.  Will you be a Phillip, an Ananias, or a Peter and go to the desert road, the street called Straight, or just downstairs?

John Baker is a former missionary to Africa who now serves as director of missions for Nine Mile Baptist Association.  Contact him at domninemile@yahoo.com.

All Southern Baptist church employees are encouraged to participate in the survey of pay and benefits of ministers and other staff, which can be accessed through April 30 at LifeWay.com/compensationsurvey.

Utilizing the survey data, church administrators, personnel and finance committees and minister search teams can compare their own church's salary and benefits with similar churches across the country.

“The more complete salary data collected, the more useful the salary information will be,” said Sylvan Knobloch, IBSA director of Church Health Development Ministries. “When pastors and ministry staff complete the survey, they are helping themselves, and other ministers to receive adequate compensation by providing church leaders, who desire to provide adequate compensation, with necessary information to make sound decisions.”

Answers to the survey are kept confidential and are not reported individually. The survey takes, on average, less than 10 minutes to complete. In addition to salary and benefit information, participants in the survey will need to have their church’s average weekly worship or Bible study attendance, resident membership and annual budget.

Results will be released in June.

IBSA’s Pat Pajak will lead some of the workshops which are intended to assist church leaders in discovering, developing and producing high performing ministry teams.

“The workshops are not designed for a single pastor or staff member,” said Pajak, IBSA Church Strengthening Team associate executive director. “They are for a church to send its staff, leadership team, deacon body or entire department to work together – learning the principles and practices needed to build a Powerful Ministry Team.

“BPMT training feature hands-on learning tools, multimedia presentations and interactive exercises that stimulate learning and application,” Pajak explained. “Participants are taught the six characteristics of God honoring teams: common purpose, clear roles, accepted leadership, effective processes, solid relationships and excellent communication.”

Each workshop will begin on Friday evening and last two and half hours, continuing Saturday for six and a half hours.

“The investment of your team’s time will be well worth it,” Pajak said. “It may be the best leadership training you can take your team through in 2010.”

The workshops cost $20 per participant including a workbook, continental breakfast, lunch and snacks.

Building Powerful Ministry Teams was developed by the North American Mission Board’s Next Level Leadership Network, which trains and certifies all workshop leaders.

For more information call Cathy Waters at (217) 391-3124, e-mail cathywaters@IBSA.org or visit IBSA.org.

Building Power Ministry Teams Training schedule

February 19-20 . . . . . . . . . Island City Baptist, Wilmington

March 12-13 . . . . . . . . . . . . Heartland Baptist, Alton

March 19-20 . . . . . . . . . . . Hillcrest Baptist, Country Club Hills

April 30-May 1. . . . . . . . . . Metro East Baptist Association Office, Swansea

May 14-15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . First Baptist, Marion

September 17-18 . . . . . . . . First Baptist, Machesney Park

October 8-9 . . . . . . . . . . . Roland Manor Baptist, Washington

October 22-23 . . . . . . . . . First Baptist, Rochester