TOGETHER: Peace, transformation a heart’s desire

Posted: 2/3/06

TOGETHER:

Peace, transformation a heart’s desire

In my previous column, I shared with you the first two of my soul’s desires—beginning new churches and affirming children. Here are two more heart-cries of my soul. Texas Baptists, I appeal to you that we:

Executive Director BGCT Executive Board

• Pray for God’s peace. No one can be at peace until he finds the presence of God in his soul. Every heart has a God-shaped vacuum. When people try to fill that emptiness with anything less than God, the idol they embrace leaves them disillusioned and yearning for what they do not have. Only God can fill that place God designed for himself.

Pray, too, for peace in communities and nations. Communities that have experienced disasters of flood, fire and wind over the past few months move through their pain with courage and resolve, grateful for the care of those who come to their aid. But after a while, jealousy, suspicion, cynicism, grief and loss all can begin to trouble the collective heart of the community. They need our prayers and our faithful support over a long period.

In regard to peace in the world, a recent study shows incidents and casualties of war have been trending down for 15 years. While terrorism is on the rise, armed conflict has declined from 40 incidents in 1991 to 25 in 2004. Deaths per war also have plummeted.

It is not an empty gesture to pray for peace in the hearts of men and women and in community and world affairs. We are a praying people, and God has promised to hear our prayers.

• Transform lives and communities. I was in the Beaumont area and in New Orleans this past week. Texas Baptists have sent $3 million to $4 million into those areas to help the churches help people, and we have provided hands-on ministry in a variety of ways. Now the people in these communities seek to move forward.

Pastors in Beaumont sense a kind of “post-hurricane funk” hanging in the air. People are tired of waiting for insurance adjusters to finish their work, and they’re frustrated as they realize it will take longer than they thought to get back to normal. As we prepared to pray for one another, one pastor said: “Let’s don’t pray that things will get back to normal. Pray instead for revival. Normal is not what we want.”

In New Orleans, people found refuge in the new First Baptist Church building when floodwaters forced them to flee their homes. It created a mess, but the church became a place of safety during the storm and its aftermath. The pastor told me how he had prayed after their beautiful new building was constructed that God would help them know how to connect with the neighborhood and express the love that is in their hearts for the people of New Orleans. Now, in the midst of mind-numbing loss, they have another opportunity to do something that will speak God’s love into aching hearts. They will build 40 new homes in the Upper Ninth Ward with Habitat for Humanity and, by God’s Spirit, help to transform their city.

And transformation is what we seek throughout Texas. The BGCT is deploying a staff of congregational strategists, church planters and affinity group leaders around the state. They have been charged with helping churches discover how to become increasingly transformational—making a life-changing, eternal difference in people’s lives and bringing transformational change to their communities.

Keep praying because the One who loves you wants to hear from you.

Charles Wade is executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.