Asheville Mission Trip- Wrap Up

We finished another coat of mud and cleaned the floor at Christie’s house around midday on Wednesday. A group of college students came in that afternoon to move the family’s stuff back in because of approaching rain. Another group will come in soon to do another round of mud, put up trim, and hopefully paint (ideally not in that order). Part of our group headed out after lunch, made it to Jackson, TN that night and arrived in Shawnee this afternoon. Jim and Lisa stayed back in Asheville Wednesday, got west of Memphis Thursday night, and will arrive home on Friday.

The staff of Baptist on Mission thanked us and made two requests. First they asked ALL of us to pray that doors would be open to allow more work to be done. They need permits to do new building and that process has been slow in coming. Right now they have more workers than work that can be done. Once the doors open the needed work can get going. Second they asked that the people and deep needs of Western North Carolina would not be forgotten. Remember Christie and her family, remember Tom and Susan, remember Greg, remember David McDaniels, and remember all the people effected by Helene. Remember the people of FBC Asheville as they reach out to their neighbors and welcome other groups. And thank you so much for your prayer and support.

Asheville Missions Trip Day 3

Another day of good work and a lot of taping and MUD. There are pictures below including one with one of the families from FBC Asheville that fed us dinner last night. The church has been extremely hospitable and helpful. We are there are first group and they hope to host many more.

It is incredible the amount of volunteers that are here and doing daily, important work. One man named Greg (pictured below with Ken and Lisa) delivered supplies to our jobsite and lives about four hours East of Asheville. He has been volunteering for ten weeks straight returning home on the weekends. Greg thanked us for coming but I am thankful for Greg and so many North Carolinians who have reached out to help their neighbors and welcome groups like ours.

Asheville Missions Trip Day 2

Today our contact, Kristin Kirby, connected us with Tom and Susan Turner who are the directors on site for North Carolina Baptist on Mission. Baptist on Mission is exactly like our Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief, same yellow shirts and all. They are operating out of First Baptist Church of Swananoa, on of the many hard hit small towns around Asheville. Tom and Susan grew up in Swananoa and have a particular passion for the work being done. We loaded up from the church along with supplies and followed David McDaniels from NCBOM to Fairview, NC. There we met Kristy whose home was significantly damaged by the flood waters during Helene. We were joined by about six college students and a couple adult volunteers with Campus Crusade for Christ. The group quickly emptied out the contents of the basement and the five of us were left alone to get to work.

Ken Abel was very patient with the rest of us and guided the team through putting in insulation, hanging sheet rock, and taping about 2 foot up the wall in the room and attached laundry room. We got a lot done and will load up with more supplies and head back out tomorrow. As we interacted with Kristy today I was reminded that when we pray about these natural disaster and catastrophic events we are praying for real people, really effected. I saw the tired, desperate look that was so common in our community following the tornado. I was grateful to God that you have let us come and somebody let those students come and Tom and Susan have come and stayed for people just like Kristy.

Asheville Mission Trip Day 1

Our entire team arrived in Asheville today. Two of us were able to attend the morning worship service at FBC Asheville. It’s an historic church in downtown Asheville. People were excited to meet us and have us here. They have been extremely welcoming. After lunch we met up with the other three and all five of us met with our lead contact and coordinator Kristen Kirby. The church provided dinner and we have run of the whole building. We are sleeping here at the church on newly ordered cots with memory foam.

We will meet with Kristin tomorrow and head to the Baptist on Mission worksite in Swanoa/Black Mountain. This was one of the hardest hit areas during Helene and after 6 months of initial cleanup and attaining permits they are ready to start working there. FBC Asheville has been sending out teams every other week to other hard hit areas but have not been able to get to Swanoa until now. The five of us are excited to get going tomorrow and find out what needs to be done.

Our theme verse for our time is Galatians 6:9-10 “ 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10 Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

Please pray for safety, energy, and an opportunity to help.

Thanks

From L to R Kristen Kirby (FBC Asheville), Corey Fuller, Justin Dunn, Jim Vernon, Ken Abel, and Lisa Vernon

The Southern Baptist Convention Part 5

I originally posted this on Friday afternoon. After a night to think about it I have come in on Saturday morning to edit it. So if you read it on Friday I hope you will give me a little grace and reread it. No one contacted me about the first posting, I was just not completely comfortable with how it came across after I reflected on it for awhile.

With a little time to reflect and SLEEP, I wanted to write a “wrap-up” post. Denominational happenings is not the chief message that I share as pastor, but the church did allow me to go and I wanted to record my thoughts and accounts. This may not be the last blog of the summer, so stay tuned.

I had failed to mention that the so-called “Law Amendment” did not get the necessary 2/3 majority and so did not pass. That means there will not be an amendment to constitution saying that any church who has a woman serving as a “pastor” of any kind would be consider not in good fellowship with the convention. There were various reasons to have voted against this amendment, see an article here from Dr. Todd Fisher, President of Oklahoma Baptists.

My reasons were different as well and I will try to briefly outline them here, please contact me for more clarification or to discuss this or anything else further. UBC is a place where questions can be asked and I hope you will ask them being open to the example of Christ, the words of Scripture, and the work of the Holy Spirit to provide answers.

I voted against this amendment because for me the issue of women as pastors is an interpretive issue. Many will point to 1 Timothy 3:1-7 as the definitive passage on this issue and support it with a few others. Others would look at examples in Scripture and other texts and come to a different conclusion. Certainly when it comes to giftedness, the Holy Spirit is in charge of handing those out and I am not to keen on making that decision for the Spirit, only prayerfully recognizing it. At UBC we have women usinhg their gifts as deacons, Sunday school teachers, missions leaders, worship leaders and in preaching and teaching. The women who currently serve on staff have asked for the title of “director” because that goes along with their since of call and function. Our local church has affirmed their distinctions and honored their preferences.

I think the variance of interpretations is healthy and do not see this particular isssue as a first tier, uber important issue of fellowship. Furthermore, the Baptist Faith and Message is a confessional statement that we voluntarily align with and uniform acceptance does not seem to be necessary. If we come to a point that uniform acceptance is necessary it would seem to need to cover all the articles not just one. But we are not there and I would rather us not go there. Different, local Baptist churches while using the Baptist Faith and Message as a guide function according to their convictional interpretation. Some might even use a different edition of the BFM. Employees of Baptist institutions have to make their personal choice on what that institution may ask of them in this matter.

We differ with each other at UBC, and we differ with other's who support the work of the SBC and I think that’s okay. Let us rest in and on Jesus, let us preach Jesus, let us embody Jesus, and let us be Jesus, together.

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