Mountain Day 2011

A few weeks ago, I made the annual trip to my Alma Mater, Berry College, to celebrate Martha Berry's birthday and spend time with friends. The event, also known as Mountain Day, is the weekend celebration of our founder's birthday. The main events on Friday include a friendly competition between the dorms on campus and a talent show that evening.

Saturday is the most exciting day! We begin with convocation in the morning, and then go to the Mountain Campus for a picnic and the Grand March. This year, the convocation service was held in Frost Chapel on Mountain Campus instead of the College Chapel on Main Campus. It was an effort to help with traffic for the picnic, and I believe it worked very well.

The picnic offered a great time of reminiscing with fellow alumni and former mentors as well. It was exciting to see President Briggs, Whit Whitaker, Garland Vance, Chris Stricklen, Jason Peterson, Randy and Kathryn Nobles, Diane Clonts, Angie Reynolds, and the list could go on. My appreciation goes out to these listed and all of the individuals that impacted my life during my time at Berry College.

I want to encourage you to take advantage of the location where God has placed you. God will provide you with the people to assist with your spiritual walk. Talk to the people you know who are following God. Ask them questions and listen to their wisdom. I would not be the man I am today without Godly parents and a support base of Christians, who desired to see me grow in my walk with God.

No Soul Left Behind

No Soul Left Behind is an evangelism program at Southwestern Seminary that sends students and faculty members into the immediate community surrounding the campus. The goal of the program is to share the Gospel with every person within one mile radius of the Seminary. I recently had the opportunity to go into the community with one of my former professors and a friend.

We were pressed for time, but there were only five homes to visit on our list. When we arrived at the third home, a man met us at the door. We asked him if he went to church anywhere, and he said that he goes to the local Catholic church. However, he had not been there in quite a while. We continued to talk with him and shared the Gospel. The Holy Spirit was truly moving within his heart because he accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior. The Holy Spirit used the three of us as the instruments to share the Gospel with this man.

The next step will be to follow up and connect him with a local church. No Soul Left Behind is designed to do just that. This is just one story among many that have been occurring recently at Southwestern. God is bringing true revival to Fort Worth. My prayer is that we see revival all over the world. I believe God has something special in store for all of us that will be unimaginable. Remember that we have a powerful message to proclaim, we have a commandment to go, and the Holy Spirit will speak through us.

Remembering September 11, 2001

I find it hard to believe that ten years have passed since the tragic events occurred on September 11, 2001. I was just entering my teenage years and was an eighth-grade student at Dade Middle School. I remember the events of that morning like it was yesterday. I remember noticing that it was a beautiful day outside, mainly because of the cold front that had moved in, and there was not a cloud in the sky.

After 1st period was complete, rumors began to spread about an attack on the United States. I thought the rumors were indeed rumors, and it would be impossible for someone or some group to attack the US. However, I knew something was wrong when I asked our librarian if our country had been attacked. She did not say anything, but the expression on her face said that something was wrong.

I remember watching the footage on television in my Georgia History class. We had a substitute teacher that day, who encouraged us to to do work instead of watching the news. Some of us attempted to do that, but we were more concerned about the events taking place in New York City.

Someone once told me that the memory of September 11 would be similar to the memory of the assassination of John F. Kennedy within the minds of Americans. As I am now 10 years older, I understand how the events on that day cannot be forgotten. We lost many Americans that day, but I believe they would want us to continue to move forward. I am thankful for a day of remembrance for those who lost their lives.

May we never forget that God is in control of this world, even when we do not understand why certain events occur. We do not know the time or the hour when God will take us out of this world, and I pray that you know Him personally today. May God bless you and may God bless the United States of America!

A Lesson from Jeremiah

"If I say, 'I will not mention him, or speak any more in His name,' there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot." -Jeremiah 20:9

As I was continuing my study through the book of Jeremiah this week, God spoke to me through the above verse. Jeremiah was called by God to prophesy to the Children of Israel. His purpose from God was to tell the people that they need to repent from turning their backs on God and worshiping idols. If they refused to repent, God was going to send judgment upon them from Babylon.

Jeremiah continued to speak to the people exactly what God had instructed him to say. However, the people become frustrated with Jeremiah, and he is arrested at the beginning of chapter 20 by Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer. After this, Jeremiah is frustrated with the people and the situation, but he remembers that God has placed a fire within his bones to tell the people that they need to repent. Jeremiah has to tell the people or else he grows weary even though they reject him and do not want to hear it.

If you read through the book of Jeremiah, you see the dialogue between Jeremiah and God. You begin to understand the connection of the prophet to God. If Jeremiah refused to commune with God, he would not have been the prophet that is found within scripture. He probably would not have been mentioned or been mentioned negatively for not following God.

In order for us to follow God, we have to know where He is leading. How do we know this? We spend time in His Word each day and pray to Him. While we do this, we tell others about Jesus Christ. If we are true Christians, we should have the same burning desire within our hearts to tell others about Christ. Now, Jeremiah's calling was to the people of God, the Children of Israel. Our calling is to go forth and make disciples (Matthew 28:19).

We should make disciples through the sharing of Christ and the conversion of sinners. The question I leave with you today is very important. Do you have a burning fire within your bones to tell others about Jesus Christ and to disciple them? If the answer is no, pray to God and ask for Him to give you that desire. There may be something in your life that needs to change. Seek God through His Word and prayer, and reach out to those in your local church.

Southwestern Seminary - First Year

It is hard to imagine that I have completed a full year of graduate work at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. I can remember renting the U-Haul in Chattanooga and making the long drive out to Fort Worth, TX with my family for the first time. I have decided to recap the first year as quickly as possible. If you would more details about any of the events that occurred, please let me know.

• Co-leader for a Challenge Group at Birchman Baptist Church. Challenge Groups are focused discipleship groups where the members challenge one another to spend more time in God's Word and to share the Gospel.
• Completed two Elementary Greek classes. I have now started my New Testament Greek classes.
  
• Preached my first revival at Eternal Life Baptist Church in Mooresville, IN.
• Preached two sermons during our Wednesday night worship time at Birchman over the summer. (One lost soul came to know Christ. Thanks be to God!)
  
• Performed two weddings during the summer.
• Joined the Birchman Choir.
• Assisted Birchman with the implementation of our new church wide discipleship process, BoldCourse. Feel free to check out www.boldcourse.org.
• Started a prayer time on Sunday morning. The name of which is "Awaken." Also, I now manage all of our prayer times on Sunday morning.

The above is only a brief recap from my first year. I ask that you continue to pray for me as I serve God in Texas. I will do my best to update this blog regularly. I will post an update when I have updated the blog on Facebook, as well as on Twitter (@chadrowell).