Monday, January 22, 2007

Dr. Page Addresses Missouri Baptists


It was our distinct honor and pleasure to have Dr. Frank Page speak at the Monday afternoon session of the Missouri Baptist Convention State Evangelism Conference held at Ridgecrest Baptist Church in Springfield, Missouri. Dr. Page jokingly referred to a remark made about him by a friend who said, "You're not part of the Who's Who Among Southern Baptists, you're part of the Who's He?"
Well, perhaps to a degree Dr. Page is correct in that before being elected President of the SBC not many people knew of him nationally; however, make no mistake, he is proving himself to be God's man for the SBC at this time. His message consisted of one simple driving agenda, preach Christ, anytime, anywhere to anyone. He challenged Missouri Baptists and Southern Baptists alike to get beyond the petty bickering (my words, not his) and focus upon the furtherance of the Gospel.
He challenged us from 2 Kings 7 not to be motivated to share the good news as the lepers were, just from fear of consequence or guilt, but from love for God. He reiterated the need for the church to be uncompromising in its adherence to the total truthfulness, trustworthiness, sufficiency and relevance of the Scriptures. At the same time he challenged the church to recognize that apart from engaging the culture through Biblical methodology, this generation is lost.
I, for one, certainly appreciate the leadership he is showing at a very crucial time in our nation's life. He shared that he has received numerous phone calls from presidential candidates desiring to meet with him in an effort to gain either a direct or an indirect endorsement from the President of the SBC. One such candidate actually came to see him, Rudi Giuliani. They visited for two hours and Dr. page shared with Rudi the simple plan of salvation. Please keep Rudi in your prayers as he did not at that point accept Christ, but the hope is still there.
I'm so glad that we have a leader who is an example in personal witnessing. It is a challenge to me as a pastor to seize every opportunity. Dr. Page may or may not win a re-election in San Antonio this June, but I am convinced that just as God picked His man for this year, He will again pick His man for this coming year. Let us pray for whoever our president is/will be, that God grants him wisdom, discernment and a sensitivity to the leadership of the Holy Spirit.
I'm reminded of the latter half of a statement Jesus made, "for apart from me, you can do nothing."

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Tom,

I was glad to hear your very positive report on Frank Page. Did he happen to mention his e-mail address or a blog site by which he could be contacted?

Tom Willoughby said...

Tim, I would say that the easiest way of getting a message to him would be through his church e-mail which is pastor@taylorsfbc.org. As you can imagine, he is extremely busy these days, but I am very impressed at the priority he places upon being approachable.