ECON speakers preach, plead for, soul-winning!

By Brian Blackwell, Message Staff Writer

RUSTON – Gevan Spinney said he believes God wants to do something in Louisiana and he urged every Louisiana Baptist church to be a part of the Harvest, which could be the largest joint evangelistic effort ever in the state.

GEVAN SPINNEY

“At least pray God would send his revival through the state of Louisiana,” urged Louisiana Baptist Convention Spinney said during the 2017 Louisiana Baptist Evangelism Conference (ECON) at Temple Baptist Church in Ruston, held Jan. 23-24. “We are praying for the next two years God will flood our state with the Holy Spirit.”

Preaching from Mark 15:21, Spinney, pastor of First Baptist Church, Haughton, encouraged everyone to be a cross bearer in the example of Simon, who carried the cross for Jesus.

“It’s impossible for you and I to take up the cross of Christ with our hands’ full,” he said. “What is it you and I need to deny ourselves? What is it we need to let go of in our schedule to pick up the cross?”

In order to reach the state for Christ for the next two years and beyond, Spinney said pastors will need to train their people to share the Gospel and love the lost.

“We’ve got to go where the broken people are,” Spinney said. “We’ve got to see what He saw. We’ve got to feel what He felt. And church we’ve got to do what He did. The life, the hope, the peace and the power of Jesus Christ – that’s what broken people need.”

BILL BRITT

Evangelist Bill Britt believes a way to show Christ-like love today is to do as He did – show compassion for the lost.

By following Jesus’ example, believers can then win them into the kingdom.

“We’re not going to win our world for Christ and get a burden for the lost by sitting in our offices or sitting in our committee meetings and the fellowship hall,” said Britt, a native of Haughton and president of Compel Outreach International in Wylie, Texas. “But what we’re going to have to do is get off our seat, onto our feet, out in the street, to get a burden of Christ.”

Referencing Matthew 9, Britt said Jesus’ compassion in this biblical passage is shown through a vision of the shepherd, value of the sheep and the voice of the Savior. If Louisiana Baptists are to see a harvest, they must embrace the culture, love them and see them like Jesus does, he said.

“To be compassionate does not mean just to feel sorry for or pity someone,” he said. “It means to literally get under the burden and feel what they’re feeling.”

Moreover, he said soul-winning is the fix most congregations need.

“There is nothing that will excite your church more and bring revival and bring joy to your congregation than men and women, boys and girls, walking down that aisle, professing Christ as their Lord and Savior, because somebody’s been out in the marketplace sharing the Gospel,” he said. “And to see them baptized – that’ll bring joy back to your fellowship.”

DENNIS WATSON

Dennis Waston, pastor of Celebration Church in Metairie, addressed the question, “Why am I here?”

Something pastors may ask when the mission gets difficult.

Watson used his own experience with the devastation of Katrina to make his point.

During weekend services in 2017, average worship attendance has been above 6,200 on its multiple campuses — compared to 2,051 the Sunday before Katrina made landfall.

“Some problems may be designed by the devil to discourage you and defeat you, but they’re allowed by the Lord to develop you,” Watson said. “And when you get things right, He’ll begin to deliver you and enable you to fulfill the great purposes and plans He has for your life.

“There can be no victories in our lives and there can be no victories in our ministry if there are no battles to be won,” he continued. “For God’s great work to be accomplished in our lives, our homes, our ministries, we’ve got to overcome great obstacles by God’s power and God’s provision.

those great problems that you’re facing.”

“If we can get our focus off of our problems, look at the Lord and see what He is doing and join Him in what He is doing, I’m telling you those walls and those problems and those problem people will come falling down,” he said. “And the Lord will enable us to accomplish the great mission and vision He has entrusted to us.”

GARY FROST

In today’s culture, immorality is rampant, with disregard to traditional values and principles. Yet, despite how dark things might seem, Christians should take heart for the opportunities ahead.

“This is an opportunity for the light to shine even brighter than it has shown before in America,” said Frost, national

Pointing to the text in Joshua 6, Watson said pastors may face their own Jericho today, and the key to overcoming what seem like towering obstacles is “getting alone with the Lord, getting direction from the Lord, for your life and ministry and church,” he said. “The Lord already knows how to conquer acilitator of prayer and compassion initiatives for Mission America Coalition in Palm Desert, Calif.

Basing his message on Jeremiah 29:11-14, Frost said the passage offers seven principles to be hopeful: God never forsakes his people; God controls our captivities; God’s setbacks are God’s set ups; God’s people reveal God’s presence; God despises false hope; God keeps his promises; and, God answers the prayers of the faithful.

He said that God is calling His children to search for Him with all their hearts and pray on a regular basis for their nation.

“God answers those who are living holy lives,” he said. “Holiness is not a denomination. Holiness is a way of living.”

PHIL WALDREP

At first glance, readers might view Romans 16 as more salutation than substance, Phil Waldrep said. But the evangelist said those many names of women and slaves – people who could do little for Paul – still were important to the apostle.

“People loved Paul,” Waldrep said during his message, “because Paul loved people.

“People love people who love people,” he said. “Or put another way, people love churches who love people.”

Waldrep, founder and president of Phil Waldrep Ministries in Decatur, Ala. said love has three characteristics: It appreciates people for who they are and not what they can do for them; acknowledges people; and, affirms people. The real test of an evangelistic church is whether they love people who cannot do anything for them, he said.

“If you will love the people nobody wants, God will give you the people everybody wants,” he said.

K MARSHALL WILLIAMS

Every soul in every home needs a Savior, K. Marshall Williams declared, in his first of two messages; and, it is every Christian’s duty to show compassion and let others that Jesus cares for them.

Williams, pastor of Nazarene Baptist Church in Philadelphia, Pa., citing Matthew 9:35, said, “Many are lost and there are few trying to find Him.

“He says the harvest is truly plenteous,” he continued. “In other words, there is no shortage of sinners.”

In the fight for souls, Christians have three enemies – the world, the flesh and the devil, he said. In this battle, winning those souls is laborious, but he charged the crowd to toil to the point of exhaustion.

“The Christian life is not a lifestyle, he charged. “It’s a way of life. Everywhere you go you represent Him. You’re an ambassador for Him.”

In his second message, Williams said in today’s culture, an increasing number of people do not fear God. They lack a reverential awe of the Creator of the world, and no longer call sin, “sin.”

“We’re living in a day where Satan’s greatest trick is Isaiah 5:20, where he calls good evil and evil good,” Williams said. “He’s talking about things we always knew were sin. Now he’s saying it’s alright, putting light for darkness and darkness for light.”

Williams believes too many churches are plateauing or dying because members live no differently than the world.

“We need to do less talking and more living so they can see our good works and glorify our Daddy in Heaven,” he said. “There’s only one reason why we’re here – it’s to make our Daddy look good.”

VANCE PITMAN

To move forward with plans for revival, Louisiana Baptists should look back to the early church, Vance Pitman offered during the last session of the 2017 Evangelism Conference.

Pitman, pastor of Hope Church in Las Vegas, Nev., said for a possible movement of God to take place in the state, Louisiana Baptists must become desperate for Him.

Those who became Christians in the weeks and months following the resurrection of Jesus had a faith that produced obedience, had a passion that produced unity, had a desperation that produced prayer and had a spirit that produced power, he explained, calling for Louisiana Baptists to set aside focused times of prayer.

“God does not need us,” Pitman said. “We need God. But in his infinite, eternal, sovereign plan, God has established He will move in response to the prayers of His people.”

Following the time of prayer at the altar, Louisiana Baptists Evangelism Director Wayne Jenkins said what happened during the session is part of a movement that already has begun to grow in the state. If 700 churches agree to pray for every home and share the Gospel with every person in the state, it would be the highest number of Louisiana Baptist churches ever to band together for such a purpose.

“What would our state look like if it were a prayed-for state?” Jenkins said. “I pray that you would make a commitment to get involved.

“The Gospel is only good news if they hear it in time,” he said. “So let’s get it to them.”

With that, Pitman said he sensed the need to allow anyone willing to pray for and share Christ with every home in the state to come forward and make that commitment now.

Dozens walked to the front and Pitman led an extended time of prayer for them.

“It’s a massive goal – every home, every person,” Pitman said, noting the challenge involved.

But he also said the God of Heaven who moved in the early church more than 2,000 years ago is the same God who is on the move today. “I can’t imagine a church not wanting to be a part of that.”