June 17, 2002

Messengers adopt proposal to pursue 'Kingdom growth'
___By Trennis Henderson
___Western Recorder
___ST. LOUIS--"Empowering Kingdom Growth," a long-term ministry initiative to "seek first the King and his kingdom," gained messenger approval during the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in St. Louis.
___ The ministry plan took shape in an eight-member Cooperation Task Force formed two years ago during a joint meeting of state convention executive directors and SBC agency heads. The proposal, endorsed in February by the SBC Executive Committee, expanded the initial study group to a 12-member EKG task force.
___ The plan describes EKG as "an initiative designed to call individual Southern Baptists to renew their passion for the Lord Jesus and the reign of his kingdom in their hearts, families and churches from which God can forge a spiritual movement marked by holy living, sacrificial service and global witness."
___ "How important is it for us to pursue the kingdom of God?" SBC Executive Committee President Morris Chapman asked messengers. "Kingdoms built by man shall not endure; they have no lasting heartbeat. É The only lasting kingdom is the kingdom of God."
___ Playing off the proposal's "EKG" acronym, Chapman said: "The spiritual health of our nation is declining rapidly. The heartbeat is growing faint. The patient is growing weaker."
___ Insisting that "there's an emergency in the land," he added, "Many are in spiritual refugee camps starving to death for the bread of life. God is looking for a man, a woman, a teenager after His own heart who will sacrifice self to live for Jesus' sake.
___ "EKG is not a program," Chapman said. "It's a vision. We're praying for God to transform that vision into a grassroots movement, one that will sweep our hearts clean."
___ Chapman said Southern Baptists seeking to be an effective part of EKG must ask themselves three questions: Am I a Kingdom person? If not, how can I be? If so, how shall I live?
___ "Enough of denominational competition. Enough jostling for positions," Chapman urged. He also encouraged Southern Baptists to put aside self-absorbed worship, sterile invitations, prayerlessness, worldliness, greed and pride.
___ The proposal adopted by messengers encourages "all Southern Baptists to give prayerful consideration in personal, congregational and denominational life to the challenge of seeking the King and his kingdom."
___ Convention leaders signed a five-point covenant "with each other and every willing Southern Baptist," pledging to:
___ "Make the kingdom of God the priority of our own personal lives."
___ "Dedicate the energies and resources of the ministries we lead to seeking first the King and his kingdom."
___ "Cooperate with each other and the family of Southern Baptists as we pursue kingdom principles and practices."
___ "Give ourselves to servant leadership that will assist and enable local churches in their ministry."
___ Pray that a new passion for Jesus breaks out among our people, our families and our churches from which God can forge a spiritual movement marked by holy living, sacrificial service and global witness."
___ EKG's launch comes one year after Southern Baptists concluded their 25-year "Bold Mission Thrust" ministry emphasis. That effort, which sought to share the gospel with everyone on earth by the year 2000, fell short of several key goals in such areas as baptisms, church starts and Bible study enrollment. Much of Bold Mission Thrust's momentum was sidetracked by the 20-year battle for control of the denomination.
___ SBC President James Merritt, co-chairman of the EKG task force, said a key difference between EKG and Bold Mission Thrust is that the new initiative acknowledges "
___Southern Baptists alone cannot win this world to Jesus Christ; it's an impossibility. We must join hands É with other like-minded groups."
___ "If this convention does business as usual, our best days are behind us, not ahead of us," he warned. "Our whole reason for existence as a convention is missions and evangelism. We've got to be about the business of being Kingdom-minded."
___ Noting that "we don't have set goals" to measure the success of EKG, Merritt said when Southern Baptists focus on kingdom priorities, "the results will follow."
___ EKG is based on an emphasis developed a decade ago by the South Carolina Baptist Convention. Carlisle Driggers, executive director in South Carolina, serves with Merritt as task force co-chairman.
___ Reiterating that "this is not a program," Driggers described EKG as "simply calling us to be obedient to Jesus and helping his kingdom come on earth."
___ "My hunch is many of the people in our churches are ahead of us" in pursuing kingdom ministry in such areas as volunteer missions, Driggers added. He said convention leaders "have responded to what our people already are yearning for and doing."
___

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