?We believe that this new title accurately describes the kind of leadership needed in our current situation?a leader who facilitates decision making and encourages the Executive Team and other staff members to keep up the good work they are already doing,? stated IBSA Board Chairman Jerry Day. ?The Advisory Committee is committed to doing everything we can to keep staff morale high during the interim period. To show the importance of that idea, we decided to recommend a resolution to the Board. This resolution (see the box on the left) was wholeheartedly approved.?

 Weedman will serve as liaison between the Advisory Committee and the Executive Team, which includes Dennis Dawson, Bob Dickerson, Ron Hale, Jack Shelby and Larry Toller. He will lead Executive Team meetings and will encourage the Executive Team to continue the work they have been doing under the previous Executive Director. In addition, he will guide and enable the Executive Team to be ?the face of IBSA,? proactively working among the constituents of IBSA promoting the work of the Association. Weedman will also perform duties that would normally be the responsibility of the Executive Director, while working within prescribed limitations for interim leadership.

 Weedman has served through IBSA in various capacities for nearly 24 years. He and his wife, Judy, have one adult daughter, Jenny, who lives in Edwardsville.

 Board members also elected an Executive Director Search Committee.  Committee members are: Randy Davis, director of missions, Saline Baptist Association; Stephen Diehl, pastor, Garden Hills Baptist, Champaign; Jerry Ford, pastor, Third Baptist, Marion; Hector Gonzales, member, Westview Baptist, Swansea; Roger Marshall, pastor, First Baptist, Effingham; Nancy Moran, member, Bartlett Baptist, Bartlett; and James Rahtjen, pastor, Glenfield Baptist, Glen Ellyn.  Susan Osborn, member, Woodland Baptist, Peoria and Al Riddley, pastor, Suburban Baptist, Granite City will serve as alternates.  Board Chairman, Jerry Day; Board Vice Chairman, Randy Mullinax; and Board Secretary, Beth Rosenbush will serve as ex officio committee members.

After gathering early in the morning, the assembled women scattered with several walking across the street from Park Avenue Baptist Church, the site of the annual meeting, to the church?s food pantry.

?We serve 90 to 110 families every third Thursday,? said Irene Green, a church member and food pantry volunteer.  ?We served 108 families last Thursday.?

Women attending the annual meeting were asked to bring canned goods to donate to the food pantry.  Those participating in the project sorted the canned goods on long tables.  In addition to donations like these, the food pantry receives donations from church members, Bread of Life, Kroger?s, Aldi?s and other programs.  According to Don Bigham, chair of the food pantry committee, they are working on joining the Central Illinois Food Bank.

After they finished sorting the food, Bigham led the women in prayer, praying that the people receiving the food will understand it is a gift from God.

Meanwhile, another group of women were in the church basement participating in a prayer tea for Muslim women.  As they entered the room, they were greeted with a traditional kiss and ceremonial washing of hands.  The reason for performing the rituals, Donna Brewer, a state WMU leader, told the women was because, ?We want you to have a feel for what they [Muslim women] go through.? 

Dawn Phillips, WMU president, led the women through prayer positions based on Old Testament Scriptures and still used by Muslims today, they prayed for all Muslims, people who work with Muslims and Muslim women in general.  ?We?re so grateful God loves the women of the Muslim world,? Brewer said.

That afternoon, the annual meeting sessions began.  ?Listen to your sisters who have been following Christ,? Phillips, exhorted as various women from Illinois came to the stage to share about their mission trips to Paris, Greece, Canada and throughout the United States. 

The list of speakers included International Mission Board missionary, Barbara Singerman, who shared her family?s harrowing experience when gunmen home invaded their West Africa home on Dec. 8, 2000.  The day their home was invaded was also the day they were featured in the guide for the Lottie Moon Week of Prayer for Internationals Missions.  She told of her experience with the power of prayer.

 Barbara and her husband, Jeff, were downstairs when two of their children raced in to say they had just seen armed men in the courtyard.  Then, they heard the sound of their backdoor being broke down.  The men quickly herded most of the family into the dining room.  Jeff was taken to another room.  She said her daughter begin praying ?God save us from these men,? when they slapped her and told her to quit talking. When that happened, her oldest son lunged toward the intruders and was knocked to the ground.  The intruders threatened to kill him if he moved. 

 Separated from the family, they expected Jeff to be killed.  Instead, the intruders demanded he give them the keys to their vehicle.  The family members were all locked in a room while the armed men began stuffing the family?s belongings into the vehicle.  Once it was full, the men drove away.  Soon, the family was as able to escape from the locked room and summon help.

Miraculously, none of the family members were bloodied or bruised.  ?We are alive today because of your prayers,? the missionary told the 415 women listening.

 Several other missionaries and local chaplains shared about their experiences while serving God and urged to women to follow their own calls from God.  Jefferson County Jail chaplain, Tina Staples, told them, ?If God calls you to do something, don?t let anyone tell you can?t.?  Later, Jefferson County Sheriff?s chaplain and pastor of Camp Ground Baptist Church, Mt. Vernon, asked the women, ?If you hear His [God?s] calling and you say no, can He be Lord??

 Near the end of the meeting, Ruth Laurie, longtime WMU volunteer, teacher, trainer and leader, was awarded the third annual WMU Legacy Award.  In business matters, Dawn Phillips was re-elected WMU President, while seventeen other women from across Illinois were elected to serve in key leadership positions.

The event included the Christian band, Gretchen; BMX bike stunt riders, Chaos on Wheels and illusionist, Brock Gill.  Hinting at what lay ahead, Gill was introduced by a speaker who said, ?Some of you are sitting out there thinking there?s got to be more to life.  Brock?s got the answers!?

After entertaining the audience with several illusions, Gill grew serious.  ?The reason that we do what we do, is because everyone you?ve seen on stage have had their lives changed.  We want to talk to you about the ultimate free gift.?  Gill then challenged the teens to experience the ultimate in freedom ? the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

?Just believing in God, so what?? he said. ?The first 15 years of my life I lived lost.  I lived in bondage. ? He changed me.  He sent me in the other direction.  I was completely different.  My life was going one direction and when Jesus took control my attitude changed.

?I?m here to tell you the same thing can happen in your life and it can happen tonight.?

He told the youth that they could only serve one master. ?Who is your master?? he asked them.  ?As real as God is, as real as Jesus is, so is Satan.  He wants to ruin your life.?

Gill illustrated life with Satan as master in an on-stage performance.  Disappearing back stage, Gill came back dressed in a long, black, hooded robe.  White and black make-up divided his face down the middle. With eerie music and smoke bellowing in the background, he portrayed the puppet master, Satan.  His portrayal showed how Satan can take control of a youth?s life.  As the puppet master, Gill manipulated his puppet (his assistant) to smoke, drink and inject drugs.  Then, he gloated over her unhappiness.  When she finally took a seat in a throne-like chair in despair, he covered her with a large cloth. Lifting the cloth, she was gone.

After going backstage to change, Gill appeared again. ?Is Jesus the Lord of your life or do you live for yourself?? he asked.

After Gill gave the invitation, nearly three fourths of the gym became empty.  Several students made decisions of recommitment, while others made decisions of salvation.

At total of 2,200 people attended the three-night event where 364 decisions were made, including 146 for salvation and 166 recommitments.

Decisions are more easily made when you believe you have the mind of Christ or the will of God in a situation.  Last Sunday, I heard Charles Stanley state seven ways you can know the will of God:

1. Is it a decision consistent with the word of God?  Psalm 119:4
2. Is this a wise decision considering the long-term consequences?
3. Can I honestly ask God to help me carry out this decision?
4. Do I have genuine peace about this decision?  Colossians 3:15
5. Does this decision fit who I am as a child of God?
6. Does decision fit God?s overall plan for my life?
7. Will this decision honor God?

For Pam and me, the recent changes in our lives have been difficult at best.  Transition is hard, but change is downright tough.  Many, including ourselves, have wondered why God would call us away after such a brief time in Illinois.  Some have been bewildered, while a few have communicated more extreme emotions.  Change is a difficult fact of life.

We have learned so much while serving as your Executive Director.

1. We have learned the need is great everywhere and often the need is greatest where there are the fewest working the harvest.
2. We have learned that often the most Godly toil in virtual obscurity, unnoticed, unappreciated and almost always underpaid.
3. We have learned that new churches of various types must be started.
4. We have learned that the sole purpose of the denomination is to serve the local church.
5. We have learned that cooperation is our only hope to reach a lost and unrepentant world.
6. We have learned that the Sovereign God is full of grace to all while giving us the responsibility to live in obedience.
7. We have learned that the constituents of Illinois Baptist State Association have shown overwhelming support to us.  For that we are most appreciative and grateful.

The times, they are changing.

The bright hope for the Illinois Baptist State Association is in a God who has a plan for our state?s millions of lost people.  The Illinois Baptist State Association has a superior governance system.  The Illinois Baptist State Association has a Board of Directors committed to excellence.  The Illinois Baptist State Association has a staff committed to serving Christ for His Kingdom?s sake.  The Illinois Baptist State Association has officers who go the second mile to pursue God?s best.  The Illinois Baptist State Association will flourish as she remembers her role of being a servant to the churches.

I hope you will always remember ? wherever you go, whatever you do ? say a good word for Jesus!

While the KJV was my preference for many years, about ten years ago I switched [to another translation]. While I respect the KJV, and still find myself quoting from it and using it for much of my studies, I realized that too often the KJV language was confusing to people who have no Bible or church background. I could see that 17th century English was not communicating with a generation that desperately needed to hear and understand the truth. 

 As I continued to preach from the KJV, I found myself intentionally using more modern terms to make the scriptures more relevant. For instance, where the KJV uses "Thy," I replaced it with "Your," "Thee" became "You,"  "Hath" became "has," and so on. This did not minimize the text or change the message of the Gospel, but did make the text understandable.

 Then, one day, I happened on to a NKJV and was pleased to find that what I had been doing was in print. Since I have been using the NKJV, many have asked what version it is, and have purchased a copy of their own. To me, the NKJV modernizes the Scripture without losing the KJV effect. It's the best of both worlds.

 Two years ago our church needed to purchase new pew Bibles and we chose NKJV. I am convinced some translations cater more to the reader than they hold true to the original thought. Not so with the NKJV. It's enjoyable, because it is modern. It is accurate because it is the Word of God. It is my choice for preaching the inerrant, infallible, life-changing Word of Holy God. 

In the early afternoon of May 5, a student apartment building began to burn near the ISU campus. Before the fire could be contained, 85 students would be affected, many loosing all their possessions in the blaze.  No one was injured.

 With smoke visible from all sides of the campus, BCM students and campus ministers went to the scene to offer their assistance.  ?As I approached the apartment I asked the Lord to give me wisdom of what to say to the students,? said Serena Butler, BCM director at Illinois State. ?I walked up to a couple of girls and asked if they were residents. They told me that they were not current residents, but had the apartment rented for the summer.  Now they didn?t know where they would be living. 

 ?I approached two male students and asked if they were residents.  They told me that they were, but they were lucky. They were on the floor least affected by the fire. They probably would only have water and smoke damage.  I told them who I was and asked if there was anything I could do to help.  They pointed me in the direction of a group of about 20 students huddled together.  I walked over to the group.  I soon found out that they had all lost everything.  What do you say to people as you stand beside them and watch as their home burns? I told them that there was no way I could understand what they were going through, but promised we would do whatever we could to help them during this time.?

 Keeping her word, Butler went to the apartment leasing office to find out how the BCM could be of assistance. ?Everyone in the office was going crazy answering phone calls and dealing with a line of students wondering what was going to happen, but I managed to get the attention of one man behind the counter.  I told him who I was and that we wanted to help.  He told me anything we could do would be great,? said Butler. 

 That afternoon, she began making phone calls to local churches and the Illinois Baptist State Association office soliciting financial assistance for the victims of the fire. That evening, at the ISU BCM weekly worship meeting, students took up an offering and volunteered their time to help out in the days that followed.  One BCM student went back to her dorm that night and went room-to-room collecting money to give to the students affected by the fire.  These donations were added to monies given by IBSA and local churches to provide gift cards for the students.

 Throughout the weekend, BCM students made phone calls, met with the students, and delivered the gift cards.  Many of the students expressed tremendous appreciation for the cards and could not believe that their fellow students would take the time and energy to reach out to them, especially the weekend before final exams. 

 A few days later, Butler received a card from the family of one of the victims.  The card read:

 Our family would like to thank you for the caring support you gave to the young adults that were involved in the May 5 apartment fire.

 They endured stress and hardship from the tragedy, but they also learned a life long lesson in how a community came together to share with them the act of giving.  Our son said he will never forget that.

An example of the wrong use of numbers is found in I Chronicles 21:1: ?Now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel.? David?s reason was entirely self-seeking. So the use of numbers can become, as Peter Wagner says, ?Numerolatry.? As in the verse mentioned above, it can be a tool of Satan.

            Numbers can also be a great blessing to the work of God. It was God, not the devil, who commanded Moses to number the population of Israel. We are told about this in the Bible in a book that bears the very title ?Numbers? (Numbers 1:1-2).

            On several occasions Jesus used numbers to teach vital truths. Evidently the shepherd had meticulously counted his sheep, or he wouldn?t have known that he had 100 sheep and how many of these were in or out of the fold. Jesus used sheep as a metaphor for people, and stressed that numbers are important.

            The Savior also spoke of grain. He apparently thought it was important for the farmer to know whether his yield would be 30, 60 or 100 times the amount of seeds planted. He connected this with his laboring force harvesting people.

            Jesus talked about fish. He knew it was necessary for fishermen to count their catch. When He helped His disciples fish in the Sea of Tiberius, they caught 153 fish (John 21:11). I assume that was better than if they had pulled in 20 or 55. Jesus promised, ?I will make you fishers of men? (Matt. 4:19). Presumably it is better to win 153 persons to the Lord than 152. The more, the better.

            When someone asks me about my family, I don?t reply, ?Oh, numbers aren?t important.? No, I proudly tell about my four children and eleven grandchildren. My life would be greatly diminished without either of them. Each one is vitally significant.

            God certainly has no aversion to keeping records. He keeps up-to-date count on how many sparrows there are, and how many hairs each one of us has on our head

(Luke12: 6-7).

            Richard B. Wilkie says, ?Ignorance of statistics is ultimately a cheap cop-out for not caring whether an organization lives or dies. Statistics represent people, and any enterprise that ignores essential data travels the road to oblivion.?

Actually, he does have a problem with Christianity, and with any true believer of any faith, for to believe in a doctrine just is to believe that it is right and the alternatives are wrong. And that?s where the ?sense of superiority? resides, in the object of faith, namely Christ, not in the brilliance of the believer.                  

His phrase, ?on the simple basis of their choice of religion,? is telling. There is nothing simple about a choice of religion. It is the most momentous thing a person can do.

 The very form of his opening shot is weak. Substitute a cause he favors, and the ?logic? falters. He wouldn?t stand for its use as follows: 

?I don?t have an issue with abolitionism.  I do have an issue with abolitionists who possess an inviolable sense of superiority over all slave-holders on the simple basis of their choice of views about slavery.?

 He continues, ?I demand that Campus Crusade for Christ change the name of their group. While I find their agenda positive and completely well-intentioned, the name of their group is offensive. Using the word ?crusade? as if it signified some honorable, self-sacrificing struggle for the good of humanity is simply wrong.? 

There is much cachet in being wounded, victimized and affronted today. Many letters to the editor begin with ?I was appalled? or ?I?ve never been so offended.? Remember the story of the princess and the pea? They weren?t sure she was a real princess, so they put a single garden pea under her mattresses at night. When she awoke, she had a backache, proving that she was indeed royalty, identifiable by her great sensitivity. Today, everybody wants to be a princess. And in our litigious society, we?ve learned to speak for of demands than entreaties.  

If it?s wrong to use ?crusade? for honorable causes, someone needs to tell the many people who use it to describe efforts against such blights as cancer, Internet spam, and Communism and efforts for such desiderata democracy, justice and custody rights. The word is common -- and decent -- parlance.

 ?The Crusades were bloody wars of aggression, mainly against Muslims. Their accomplishment was the widespread killing of non-Christians and occupation of their homelands. A consideration of the motives behind the various crusades is not necessary to see that using the word ?crusade? in a religious context is wildly inappropriate when naming a student group.? 

When you doubt the strength of your case, you?re inclined to lean on inflammatory and unnecessary adjectives, such as ?wildly.? He needs to let facts and logic rather than needless modifiers do the shouting. 

In this case, his poor grasp of the facts did the shouting instead. The Crusades were certainly a morally-mixed bag, but to cast Jerusalem as Muslim ?homeland? in which these innocent followers of Mohammed happened to reside is misleading.

 And if we?re to be fussy about centuries-old word origins, what?s next? -- ?It was wildly inappropriate of Campus Crusade to schedule their meeting for Thursday, a day that honors Thor, a false god whose devotees once sacked the English coastal communities.? 

?I would not describe myself as a person of faith. I don?t have a religious agenda. However, I would hope that in today?s society and particularly in this uniquely privileged society we have here at Northwestern we avoid evil and hypocrisy as much as possible. I assume that CCC?s use of ?crusade? was a perfectly innocent and not ill-intentioned. However, I hope I have made it obvious in this letter that using this word casts evil historical events in an undeserved positive light.? 

Actually, he is a person of faith with a religious agenda, in that ?religion? is, by definition, the overarching convictions to which one binds himself (cf. ?ligature?). It seems likely a faith in relativism, well-described in Allen Bloom?s ?The Closing of the American Mind.?  ?Tolerance? is its highest good, and ?intolerance? its greatest evil, unless, it is intolerance of the alleged intolerant, namely religious conservatives. Pursuit of the relativist/multiculturalist agenda is relentless, as they attempt to ride exclusive truth claims to ground. 

?For those who find this proposition overzealous, please consider what you might say if a Muslim group formed under the name ?Campus Jihad for Allah.? I hope that none of us at NU would have trouble in seeing the error in that, and I hope you see the error in CCC?s choice of nomenclature.? 

This attempt at ?moral equivalency,? an argument form so popular among relativists, falls short of persuasive. The Crusades were nearly 1,000 years ago; jihad is now, whether in the form of The International Islamic Front for the Jihad Against Jews and Crusaders (Bin Laden?s group), Lasker Jihad (which has killed 10,000 Christians in Indonesia), Harakat ul-Jihad-i-Islami (at war in Kashmir), Egyptian Islamic Jihad (which killed president Anwar Sadat), Yemeni Islamic Jihad (which killed three Southern Baptist Missionaries), Palestinian Islamic Jihad (whose handiwork is the carnage from exploded Israeli buses) and the genocidal ruling party in Sudan, whose cry has been ?Jihad, Victory and Martyrdom? (cf.http://www.danielpipes.org/).?  

But one objects, ?Why put an unnecessary stumbling block in front of an unbeliever? Wouldn?t it be a simple thing to change the name, avoiding offense??  Of course, another name is possible, but a huge word of caution is in order. Once one enters upon the road of appeasement, it is all too easy to travel too far. Christ himself is an offense of the first order, as is his bride, the Church. And if one believes that tender unbelievers stand ready to grasp Christ if only his bumbling followers would be more sensitive, some work in biblical, theological anthropology is in order.

 Of course, the Bible counsels kindness and thoughtfulness in speech, but this cannot mean the headlong pursuit of the world?s approbation. Give up one offense, and they?ll find another, for the problem is not with the choice of expression, but with the choice of the King of Kings.