I have returned home after a crazy week of travel, conference activities, and more travel at the end. Living on an island always adds an extra wrinkle to my travel plans, but never extra convenience.
Nonetheless, the 103rd meeting of the Foundations Baptist Fellowship International, held at Tri-City Baptist Church in Westminster, Colorado was well worth any of the inconveniences of travel we experienced.
Our theme this year was Developing Leadership in the Local Church. In keeping with this theme, we enjoyed the ministry of teams of young people from five of the colleges and universities in our circles. The young people provided special music for each service, joining together as a combined choir for the concluding service. Besides singing for us, I noticed they were involved with behind the scenes work around the church during the conference as well as involved with some of the kids in attendance. They weren’t on vacation, they were serving.
Kevin Schaal, our president, said this in the conference booklet:
These young people on the teams representing the various educational institutions are the ministry leaders of the next generation. They are extremely important to us and the cause of biblical fundamentalism.
I must agree. The ministry of the young people was one of the highlights of the week for me. As they sang in the combined choir in the last service, I thought about what they represented. Each of our colleges are in a kind of friendly competition with one another, each offers a unique approach to ministry, each one is vital to furthering the work of the Lord for the days ahead. When we were in school, we had a very narrow focus about our own school. Once we got out into the ministry, we saw how God used (and is still using!) graduates from multiple schools to further his kingdom and biblical fundamentalism. It was great to see this combined effort for the glory of God.
Dr. Will Senn was our host pastor. He and the team of people at Tri-City Baptist Church did everything they could to make the conference a success and make us all feel welcome.
The theme of Developing Leadership was expressed by pastor Senn this way, “Called to Summit.” Here is how he put it in the conference booklet:
On April 30, 1985, Richard Bass became the first climber to reach the “Seven Summits,” the highest peaks on all seven continents. Very few men since have climbed the highest mountain on each of the seven continents. It is an imposing list: Aconcagua in South America, Everest in Asia, McKinley in North America, Kilimanjaro in Africa, Elbrus in Europe, Vinson in Antarctica and Kosciusko in Australia. What an amazing accomplishment to summit these behemoths, but for what purpose?
We are excited to host this year's FBFI conference and we have great purpose, to help in equipping the next generation for leadership in the local church. We are going to look at the “Seven Summits” in the gospels which focus on essential truths that need to be imparted to the next generation of church leaders. Each summit has a central theological, practical point to be grasped that needs to be transmitted to the next generation for effective “leadership in the local church.” Our seven general sessions will highlight some unique mentoring/mentor relationships and preaching on the “Seven Summits.”
In keeping with this theme, we heard Dr. Bruce McAllister preach a gospel message as he considered the importance of Mount Calvary in the gospels.
Pastor Roland Kassales gave a tremendous message on The Sermon on the Mount, presenting our Lord as a Spirit-filled man, guiding men and women like us, in need of the Spirit in our lives.
Pastor Stephen Van Gelderen preached on the Mount of Transfiguration, leading us to consider how that euphoric moment on the mountain top contrasted with our neediness and incompetence as the Lord interacted at the foot of the mountain with his disciples who were unable to heal a demon-possessed boy. We, too, need to depend on the Lord for our ministry.
Pastor Kristopher Schaal gave us a message on The Mount of Temptation, considering the ordeal our Lord went though in the wilderness, and the temptation Satan presented to him “on a high mountain.” As our Lord did, we must trust God for daily provision, for any recognition or credit for our ministries, and for any success we may have as we serve him.
Pastor Caleb Phelps preached a stirring message on The Mountains of the Gadarenes, where the Lord healed a demon-possessed man and allowed his tormenters to afflict a nearby heard of pigs. Pastor Phelps showed how demons oppose the Lord’s work by leading people to destructive behaviour, to exert self-will against Christ, and to destroy lives as a means of attacking God, the creator of all.
Pastor Nathan Steadman considered the Mount of Ascension, looking at Acts 1.1-11, where he challenged us again with the Great Commission and bringing the Gospel to our needy generation.
Finally, Dr. Will Senn closed our meeting by taking us to the Mount of Olives and reminded us of the importance of the Second Coming and the plan God has for Israel in the end times.
The audio for these messages will come out in due course. You can watch them on the Tri-City Baptist Church live-stream page where they are currently archived.
The whole feel of the conference is more than merely listening to the audio of the messages, good as they were. There were various workshops provided, but more importantly tremendous fellowship to be had as those of us able to attend interacted with one another, met old friends, and made new ones. God blessed our time together.
I hope you can join us next year, when we will gather in Watertown, Wisconsin, on the campus of Maranatha Baptist University June 9-11, 2025.
Don Johnson is the pastor of Grace Baptist Church of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada.
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