Experience the Cooperative Program
Experience the Cooperative Program
October 6, 2006 - Experience the Cooperative Program
by Dr. David Tolliver
October 6, 2006
Jesus, the Master teacher/preacher, used the natural to illustrate the supernatural when He said, "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but you cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes . . ." Jesus used the wind to illustrate the presence of the Spirit of God in the lives of believers.
And who, after-all, can see the Spirit of God. Certainly, we can sense the presence of God in our hearts and lives. And we can see and tabulate the affects and the effect of the Spirit of God in our lives, in the life of our churches, even in the world in which we live. We cannot see the wind as it blows. Debris blowing in the wind can be seen. But the wind itself cannot be seen. In a tornado, all kinds of trash and debris, sometimes bicycles and cars, even animals or people can be blown past us––and we can see them flying through the air. But we cannot see the wind that is holding them up and moving them swiftly across the landscape. Jesus’ point is well made in John 3:8. While you cannot see the Spirit of God, you can clearly see the results of the Spirit of God.
There is another, similar phenomenon. It is a similar, spiritual phenomenon commonly called the Cooperative Program of missions. This genius plan for funding worldwide missions and ministry was the Holy Spirit inspired brainchild of Southern Baptists. In 1925, Southern Baptists adopted the Cooperative Program as the funding mechanism that, for more than 80 years, has provided the financial foundation of national and international missions. A lot of change has come to the world and to our denomination in those 80 years. Southern Baptists have seen various agencies and institutions come and go---the Brotherhood Commission, the Stewardship Commission, the Radio and Television, all were much needed and vital agencies in their time. But now they are outdated and the work of those institutions is being done in other ways by other agencies. The Christian Life Commission, the Home Mission Board, and the Foreign Mission Board continue to undergo major changes. Even Southern Baptist churches worship and minister in a variety of ways. The one constant in Southern Baptist and in Missouri Baptist life is the Cooperative Program of Missions.
Still, describing the Cooperative Program has proved to be difficult task. The Cooperative Program is not something that you can see, hear, smell, or touch. Like the wind, you can feel it. But it’s very difficult to explain. It’s not something you can view in the lens of your camera. Nor can you hold it in your hand or put it away for the night. The Cooperative Program, like the wind, is not something you can see. But it is something you can sense when you experience it. Like the wind, you cannot see the Cooperative Program. But you can see the results of it.
For instance:
- More than 10,500 missionaries worldwide---5,100 NAMB missionaries and 5,400 IMB missionaries... all supported through the SBC Cooperative Program of missions
- 6 world class seminaries---currently training in excess of 15,000 future missionaries and other ministers of the Gospel
- 950,000 new believers in 2005 through the ministries of SBC Cooperative Program ministries
- And, so much more right here in the Show-Me state
It’s easy to see the affects and the effect of the Cooperative Program of Missions. And now, Missouri Baptists are about to have the ultimate Cooperative Program experience! On Tuesday night, October 31, 2006, Missouri will have the high honor and rare privilege to experience an International Mission Board commissioning service. More than 80 brand new foreign missionaries will be commissioned to fulfill their God given assignment to go to the ". . .end of the earth" with the Gospel. The president of the International Mission Board, Dr. Jerry Rankin, himself a lifelong foreign missionary, will be with us in Cape Girardeau delivering the charge to the missionaries and to Missouri Baptists. There will be a "Flags of the World" ceremony, a missionary march into the service, and a challenge to each of us to go to “. . .Jerusalem, all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I guarantee, just as the wind blows in the trees, the wind of the Holy Spirit will fill the Show-Me Center that night. You will experience the presence and the power of the Spirit of God---and, perhaps for the first time, actually see the Cooperative Program in action I wouldn’t miss it for the world---for the world is waiting for you to spread the Gospel!
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