B-101: The final chapter • 13-14 | Pat’s Playbook: Can’t we sing one hymn? • 15
Volume 109, No. 6
APRIL 27, 2015
IBSA Evangelism Conference
Revive us, O Lord
IB Insider
Decatur | “I’ve seen God move,” said Baptist evangelism specialist Joel Southerland, “but I haven’t seen a movement of God in my lifetime.” Spiritual revival and awakening— the kind of movement only God can bring—was the focus of IBSA’s New Awakening Evangelism Conference March 27-28 at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Decatur.
Will IRS insurance rule leave your church in a lurch? page 2
In case of emergency, start singing page 5
Zone team complete page 7
7 secrets of evangelistic churches page 8
NEW LIFE – Revival is transformative for God’s people, Professor Alvin Reid said at the New Awakening Conference in Decatur.
Cooperative Program report card pages 10-12 More coffeecake page 16
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IN HAITI, A TIME TO DANCE
On a recent mission trip to Haiti, Mackenzie Howell, 9, worshiped in the church she helped build after a massive earthquake. The Texas girl’s efforts connected her with Illinois Baptists working in the country. Story and photos, page 7
At a time when baptisms and worship attendance are in decline in many churches, and culture seems to be moving farther from God, the need for awakening is real. A church—the Church—cannot revive itself, speakers emphasized during the conference. But some responsibility for revival does fall on Christians—to prepare for a movement of God, to be desperate for it, and to provide a verbal witness for the hope they have in him. “Revival changes God’s people,” said Southeastern Seminary professor Alvin Reid. “When God shows up you are not the same.” Continued on page 8
Speedy relief after spring tornadoes rake across Illinois Baptist couple comforts group trapped by storm
Rochelle, Ill. | Raymond Kramer and his wife, Betty, were driving home from Rockford when it started to hail. As the icy stones got larger and came down harder, they started to look for shelter. Then, to his west, Kramer saw a funnel cloud on the ground. The funnel cloud was part of a tornado outbreak that hit Illinois April 9. It caused destruction in Rochelle, and in the small community of Fairdale, two people died and every structure was affected, many of them destroyed. The Kramers, members of Grace Fellowship in Ashton, took shelter in Grubsteakers Restaurant, where “the owner herded us through the kitchen, out the door, and we made a u-turn Continued on page 2
FIRST RESPONDERS – Betty and Raymond Kramer hug after being interviewed about taking shelter in a Rochelle restaurant’s storm cellar as a tornado rumbled above them. The Kramers comforted fellow survivors while they waited to be rescued. Submitted photo