Greenville: Being Salt In A Town of Change

I have been living with my family in Greenville, South Carolina for the past twenty nine months after many years away.  Downtown is a great place to catch a variety of hustling and bustling activities.  There is never a failure of good places to go out to eat.  Art galleries, museums and plays are easily accessible.  There are great parks around the county and we are short drives from many others.  Finding some good live music is always easy.  Places that were run down and frightening when I was a kid in town are now hip and cool places to go.  Greenville is a place that has completely remade itself.

Heck, just a few weeks ago, my bride and I rode up to the brand new Trailblazer Park in Travelers Rest and experienced something I thought impossible just a few years ago--a jazz concert.

Things are dramatically different in this rising Southern town.  Just the other day, I read in my father's AARP magazine that Greenville is one of the nation's small cities to live in.

I've also recognized a few other realities.  Church life in Greenville has changed.  Several newer churches have exploded with impact.  North Hills Community, Grace and New Spring all have significant gatherings every Sunday.  The church has exploded with several new church plants that are meeting all over the county.  On an expedition on Thursday, I spotted a fairly new cowboy church in the Southern part of the county.

However, just as there are several new churches that are exploding, many long-standing established churches are declining and dying.  Areas within Greenville county have experienced a doubling in population since 2000.  One might think that this increase of population would be revealed in even modest growth among churches.  This simply is not true among churches.  There are congregations situated in areas with exploding populations, yet several churches have steadily lost ground over the past fifteen years.  One church family I know well is in an area that had a 40% population increase from 2000 - 2012.  This church had a net gain of 0 in that same time period.  Neighboring churches had similar experiences of either holding steady or declining.

I think what is striking about the reality of population growth and church decline is the changes in cultural attitudes in Greenville.  When you think of South Carolina as a whole, the state holds many traditional and conservative ideas.  With that in mind, I can't help but remember a recent visit to the downtown area with my family.  Throughout the evening, I noticed several homosexual couples.  It would be hard for me to imagine these couples being so out in the open twenty years ago. When looking at a few local magazines that cover the cultural events in town, there are several pictures displayed that I believe would not be present here in town when I was growing up.  These experiences have certainly provided me with opportunities to talk with my kids about biblical teachings on marriage and relationships.

All of this leads me to ask, what does it mean to be salt and light to my neighbors in Greenville?  I want to bear witness to the Good News of Jesus.  The Gospel is true.  The church is God's means for making disciples.  Some churches are flourishing.  Many, many more churches are dying.  Culture is drastically shifting.  The reality of the fields being white unto harvest is just as real as it ever was.  Honestly, I don't want to just "preach to the choir" on how things are changing.  I want to engage the people I see in the town which I live.  I want my children to see and live in the power of God to bring new life to people that are far from Him.

--Rodney Bradford

Pray for Your Pastor: Keeping the Gospel First

It is Sunday.  Your Pastor will stand before the congregation for what will be one of the most important moments in the week for your church--he will teach the Bible.  He has met with the Lord during the week in prayer and study and meditation and writing.  He will stand and preach the truth as it has been shown by the Holy Spirit and seek to encourage the Lord's disciples to faithfully apply it.  It is a beautiful thing when your pastor faithfully proclaims the Gospel of Christ and the congregation faithfully hears and lives it.

It is Sunday.  Your pastors is tempted to forget.  Why?  Well...maybe he is thinking, "What will the people think about my sermon?  Will they think it is good?"  Well...maybe someone will start complaining to him about SOMETHING.  Well...maybe the computer guy didn't get the email and none of his visuals or Scripture references have been uploaded into power point.  Well...maybe one of his kids will be sick and throwing up and running a high fever.  Well...maybe his wife is mad.  Well...maybe his worship leader is mad.  Well...maybe the chairman of the deacons is mad.  Always a numerous amount of temptations from keeping the main thing the main thing.

What is the main thing?

Paul told the Corinthians.  "Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you--unless you believed in vain.  For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received:  that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures..."  (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)

Paul says the gospel is first importance.

*Pray that your pastor will remember the Gospel is of first importance.  

*Pray that all ministry will flow from the truth of Christ's death, burial and resurrection.

*Pray for you pastor, that in light of frustrations and distractions, that his heart, head and hands will be encouraged by the truth of the Gospel of Jesus.  Pray for him to be filled with joy because of the Gospel.

-Rodney Bradford

Pray for Your Pastors: His Purity

When I was a kid, all a Sunday School teacher or pastor had to do when mentioning King David and two images would immediately come to mind:  killing Goliath and cheating with Bathsheba.  Giant killing is great.  Adultery, not so much.

Nothing can be more devastating to a local congregation than the moral failure of a pastor.  Hurt.  Disappointment.  Embarrassment.  All are part of the roller coaster of emotions that a church experiences when their pastor engages in sexual sin that becomes public.

What would it mean for your church to experience the moral failure of your pastor?

David's confession of sin in Psalm 51 give you important insights in how to intercede on behalf of your pastor's sexual purity.

Psalm 51:5  "Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me."

Your pastor is a sinner.  It is not his performance or morality that make him right with God.  Like any other sinner, he needs salvation that comes by grace alone.  None of us should ever be tricked in believing that our pastor is "super" spiritual.  He must battle sin like any other believer.

Psalm 51:6  "Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart."

Because your pastor is a sinner, he can be tempted to rune from the truth that God desires.  In fact, just like any other believer, he needs the Holy Spirit to lead him in truth.  He needs the benefit of other godly men to help him walk in purity.

So how to pray for your pastor in this area?

Matthew 5:8  "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."

*Pray for your pastor(s) to be honest about his sinful struggles.  Pray that he would be surrounded by other godly men where he can be honest in confession and receive encouragement in his battle for purity.

*Pray your pastor(s) would desire to live in truth and have teachable hearts.

*Pray for your pastor(s) to be pure in heart and for God to bless your pastor(s) with a keen awareness of His presence.

-Rodney Bradford

Pray for Your Pastors, One

I've been thinking about praying for my pastors the past few weeks.  Yeah, I have been praying for them.  Yet, I've been, as I said, thinking about how to pray for my pastors.  

From my perch, the congregation of which I am a part is served by three incredibly gifted and godly men.  Men that care deeply about the Gospel of Jesus.  Men that are striving to love their wives and father their children well.  Men that are concerned with the right preaching and teaching of God's Word.  Men that care about the believers of our church passionately pursuing Christ.  Men that desire our church to live in honest community with one another.  Men that work to see the giftedness of the church used for effective ministry.  Men that desire to be a part of planting more Gospel-centered churches.  Men who want to be faithful.  Men who are currently shepherding our church through a huge transitory time.

So how do I, a man that sits under their leadership, pray for them?

How do you pray for your pastor(s)?

The easy and the hard of it is that we need to be specific--as the Bible teaches us--in how we pray for those that Shepherd us.  Yes, we want them to be "blessed" by our God.  As well, we want to pray for them the things that are absolutely central to what it means to pastor.

Here's the rub--WILL YOU PRAY CONSISTENTLY AND IN AN ON-GOING WAY FOR YOUR PASTOR(S)?  One of the greatest gifts that you can give to your pastor(s) is your diligent prayer for them.  You can make it a consistent practice to pray for your pastor(s) every Thursday morning.  You can decide to gather with two or three other people on Sunday morning, before gathering with the church family, at Starbucks to pray for your pastor(s).  Don't wait or expect someone else to pray for your pastor(s).  You pray for your pastor(s) and invite some others to do the same.

So what to specifically pray for your pastor(s)?  Let me suggest these based on...

Colossians 4:2-4
"Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.  At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison--that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak."

*Pray for God to open doors for your pastor(s) to clearly speak the word of God and the mystery of Jesus Christ.

*Pray for God to strengthen your pastor(s) to proclaim Christ in light of struggle and persecution.

-Rodney Bradford

DYAF: Dr. Al Mohler Preaching

Do yourself a favor.  Recently heard this sermon, which Dr. Al Mohler preached at Atlanta's Church of the Apostles.  Are We Also Blind?  John 9:1-41 See it here.

DYAF: The Infamous Stringdusters singing a train song...in a subway!

When I first went to Southern Seminary, in Louisville, I was introduced to this bluegrass group.  Somehow, these guys took a style of music that I did not particularly like and made it very approachable and cool!  Do yourself a favor and check out this great song--My Destination--recorded in a New York City Subway.

You can see it and hear it here.

DYAF: Alistair Begg preaching on "Personal Life of the Preacher"

Begg preached this sermon at the 2009 Preach the Word Conference.  If you are a pastor, you do well to pay careful attention to this excellent exposition.  If you are a lay person, you do well to listen and commit to pray fervently for your pastor(s).

You can give it a listen here.