THE FOLLOWING IS A BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF THE MESSAGE BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE ILLINOIS BAPTIST STATE ASSOCIATION AND ROCHESTER FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH PASTOR KEVIN CAROTHERS AT THE FIRST SPRINGFIELD ILLINOIS MEETING OF BUSINESS MEN IN CHRIST. DUE TO A MAJOR MIDWESTERN ICE STORM, MANY MEN WERE UNABLE TO JOIN THE FEW OF US WHO COULD. THIS OUTLINE, FROM TODAY’S MESSAGE AT THE CITYWIDE CHRISTIAN MEN’S BREAKFAST, SHOULD SPUR US TO GET THE YEAR OFF RIGHT IN OUR COMMUNITIES:

KEYNOTE SPEAKER: PASTOR KEVIN CAROTHERS (seen here)

SCRIPTURE EXPOUNDED: JEREMIAH 29: 1-11; GENESIS 19:10-30; 2 Peter 2:7

THREE MAJOR POINTS FROM JEREMIAH 29:1-11:

1. BE VISIBLE IN THE CULTURE (Verses 5-6)
2. PRAY FOR THE CITY/REGION & CULTURE AROUND US (Verses 7-8)
3. FOCUS ON GOD’S VISION (Verse 11)

In a fallen corrupt culture, how do we as Christian men, as the Church and community of Christ live in and influence this world around us, so they can see God in us? God’s Word – the Bible, gave us the exact formula for Christian Living in a Culture gone sideways. The gist of Pastor Kevin’s message is that we can make it if we just have the “long view of things like God” does. From the passage above, we see exactly what occurred.

God had punished His people Israelites and sent then into 70 years of exile in Babylon. But He also told them to “DO LIFE”! This is a great lesson for those who want to just give the culture and community over to the pagans, by withdrawing completely and letting them drive our surroundings even deeper into the sewer. To this God says a LOUD “NO”!

God says in verses 5 and 6 to “build houses….live in them…grow food…get married and have children and families”. God says live like I told told you. He is saying the same today for us to have jobs, work with people, let your child play in the youth symphony or the football team; raise Godly families. But live like Christ!

God also says to while we are “doing life NOW”, pray! What a concept! We MUST pray not just for our city, state, province, country and our leaders, but we pray for the culture around us so our homes and churches do not become mini- Babylons. We do this, even WHILE living in Babylon!  But the wonderful thing about our awesome God, Who allows His elect to live in modern day Babylons like those in Jeremiah 29, is that He has a plan all along! We all know the great verse on t shirts, mugs and bumper stickers from Jeremiah 29:11….but Jesus Himself summarizes it all when He says “He who perseveres to the end will be saved/preserved/delivered safely/kept well..” (Matthew 24:13 “sōthēsetai”).

This exhortation from Pastor Kevin this morning, has a really deadly caveat when we look at the example of Lot. Read Genesis 19:10-30 and see how reluctant he was to LEAVE SODOM!! Lot is called a righteous man in 2 Peter 2:7 but he was a greedy man (chose the best land when his uncle Abraham offered) and apparently had too much connection with the culture of Sodom of all places. This is as if (my words) Billy Graham were to pal around with Madonna and those types….contradictions galore. We have to guard against this, my friends. it is possible for Christians to fall prey to sin like Lot, but it is better to not do this thing.  The new year was kicked off in the right spirit by this great Pastor and men’s leader, as the men present and those who will read this, resolve to do exactly as God says in Jeremiah 29:1-11!

– Bernie Lutchman (Business Men In Christ, President)

What if we had more time in a day to git ‘er done, would we?
What if we had one more dime in the parking meter, would we have gotten that parking ticket?
What if we had one more mime on the street corner in July, would we welcome the sound of jackhammers?
What if?

What if we had filled up the tank on the way to work, right before Sheik Abdul sneezed and gas shot up 45 cents a gallon?
What if we had just been cussed out by a guy named Frank, but still gave the cashier a credit card-sized tract which looked like a “Facebook” logo with a Friend Request that reminded her “What a Friend we have in Jesus”?
What if we had just gotten that one last prayer in for uncle Joe, who was in Hospice Care but thinks he was good enough to get into Heaven because he never killed anyone….well except for that bridge he blew up in Viet Nam…and the er…secret mission to Cambodia…???!!!
What if?

You get the point!
Life is sometimes a series of missed opportunities. It happens to everyone at the most crucial moment. How many times have we said “aw man…I should have said…..” or “why didn’t I mention……” or “if I get the chance to tell….I will….” ad nauseum!

2011, THE YEAR THAT’S NO MORE:
This past year was no different. Looking back on what ain’t no more, we see:
– Blizzard on Groundhog Day (February 2, 2011) which shut down the Midwest and took the life of a 55 year old friend of mine, who went shovelling two feet of snow with a bad heart.
– Tidal Wave shown live on worldwide TV in March….as many of us watched in horror as thousands died lost forever to eternity in a split second, because they did not know the One True God.
– A monster mile-wide tornado took out Tuscaloosa, Alabama  in April which they still have not recovered from.
– A similar set of violent tornadoes almost completely destroyed Joplin, Mo, about 6 hours from where we live. But unlike the other natural disasters, we were able to mobilize truckloads of food, water, clothing and money to help love on these dear people, who lost everything except their Hope!
– The St. Louis Cardinals, hot on the heels of one of the biggest Christian Days at the Ball Park in August, win the 2011 Baseball World Series in some of the best baseball ever played.
– Yet we had spectacles of spoiled rich kids armed with Apple iPads, iPhones and more electronics you can shake a stick at, “OCCUPYING” every major city in America, causing havoc, lost of income and disease by living in 1960’s styled communes…complete with illicit sex and violence!

But then we had the Tim Tebow phenomenon!

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