The Most Important Room at Emmanuel

All of us know that "the church" is not an institution or a building, but a people called out by God's grace to reflect the image of Christ in this world. I am thankful that God has His people in every nation, every tongue, every tribe of earth, not to mention people in every denomination, every assembly and every institution who names Christ as Lord. For the past eighteen years God has allowed me to be a part of a wonderful group of Christians at Emmanuel Baptist Church, Enid, Oklahoma. Being a pastor necessitates regular contact and ministry with these members through hospital visits, small groups, counseling sessions, funerals, weddings, etc..., but the pastors of Emmanuel do something very intentional that goes beyond regular pastoral ministry.

Every Tuesday morning we gather in the room pictured here and we pray for our members. There is a roster of 4,598 names of people who have an affiliation with Emmanuel. Each week I will assign ministry contacts to individual pastors, ranging in number from as few as four to as many as fifteen, depending on the pastor's schedule that week. I make sure no pastor has more ministry assignments than I. Our job is to personally visit with our assigned members that week and find out how things are going for them and their family members in every facet of their lives, particularly spiritually. We let them know up front that the following Tuesday the staff will be praying for them, and our task is to find out how we can more be specific in our prayers on their behalf.


The pastors know that nothing can be brought up during a prayer time that has not already been discussed with the person for whom we are praying. Too often, we Christians use "prayer request" time as an opportunity to talk about others and say things we would not say to them personally. Our pastoral rule is that our prayer times will only encompass those things which we have already discussed with our members. This precludes gossip. We also require each pastor to write down a report with the results his ministry contact, a copy of which will be attached to our member's profile. It's our desire, for instance, to follow through with our members in the months to come, covering those areas of prayer concerns from previous months to see how the Lord has graciously provided in their time of need. In addition, within a year's time, we will have completed our member ministry and will be starting over again. The reports provide a record of the previous contact.

Our support staff joins us for these hour and a half prayer and ministry times every Tuesday morning (8:30 to 10:00 am). It is absolutely amazing the amount of effective ministry that take places when we pastors see ourselves as spiritual shepherds and not spiritual overlords. The Chief Shepherd tells us that He knows His sheep by name, and it is my desire that every undershepherd at Emmanuel know every member, attender and prospect of Emmanuel by name--to know them with the same kind of loving, merciful knowledge that Jesus has for His people. These ministry and prayer times each Tuesday, the culmination of intentional ministry to approximately 75 to 100 family units by our pastoral staff during the previous week, makes this room the most important room at Emmanuel.

In His Grace,


Wade Burleson

Expect Revival in the Midst of Difficult Times

I recently received an email from Rick Warren, describing what seems to be genuine revival taking place at Saddleback Community Church in California. Saddleback baptized over 1,200 new adult believers in April. 2,600 people joined Saddleback on a single day this year, signing membership covenants which require active service. 50,334 people worshipped at one of 46 separate Easter services offered by Saddleback and 45% of those people were under 39 years of age. Rick went on to talk about how the church is being used by God to minister to the community through meeting the needs of the poor and offering hundreds of thousands of volunteer service hours. That's neat. When I read the email I paused and thanked God for the revival He's sending to Saddleback. We rejoiced over what God was doing in Saddleback during our Wednesday night corporate prayer time. We get REALLY excited when God begins blessing our sister churches, wherever they may be located, and whoever may be leading them.

In a much smaller fashion, but in a similar spirit, God seems to be sending revival to Emmanuel. Two weeks ago we baptized twenty-five people during our Sunday night fellowship at the lake, and we have many more awaiting baptism. Each convert shared with our church family an incredible testimony of God's transforming grace. We are seeing a number of lives transformed through new ministries like Celebrate Recovery. Our youth pastor said we had more youth in the Sunday morning corporate worship this past Sunday than he can ever remember. We have young couples coming to Christ, older couples having their marriages restored, and there is truly a sense of God in all three of our morning corporate worship services. There is not a day that goes by that someone doesn't stop me and tell me how their Core Group (or their small group at Emmanuel) has impacted their lives. I think Rick Warren may be right when he wrote, "history often demonstrates the fact that difficult times are fertile ground for spiritual awakenings."

Our staff at Emmanuel deserves a great deal of credit, including Dan Heath, Executive Pastor/Worship; John Stam, Missions Pastor; Cameron Moles, Discipleship Pastor; Kevin Choate, Single Pastor; Ted Kuschel, Media and Senior Adults Pastor; Andy Wilkins; Next Generation Pastor (Youth and College); Adam Weatherford, Jr. High Pastor; Paula Minx, Children's Pastor; Jared McClellan, REFUGE Pastor and Associate Worship Pastor, and a host of support staff and volunteers.

Today, though, I would like to highlight Jared McClellan. Jared is in charge of our REFUGE worship service, an 11:00 a.m. worship service that is attracting a number of unchurched people. The contemporary music, the casual feel, and the small groups that launch out of the REFUGE worship service is making an impact on a part of our community that we have never before reached. Jared is a missionary kid, growing up in Guatamela. His father, Dr. Mark McClellan, is formerly missions professor at Boyce College (a branch of Southern Seminary), but is now Vice-President at Oklahoma Baptist University. Jared is a particularly gifted worship leader, and on REFUGE's my space page, there are a number of orginal songs that Jared and his band have written and led others to sing during worship in REFUGE.

I'd like to invite you to listen to one of my favorite REFUGE songs, one written and sung by Jared, entitled How Can This Be. Simply listen by clicking on the MUSIC button halfway down the REFUGE my space page. Also, if you from Enid or the surrounding area, let me encourage you to sign up to be a "friend" of REFUGE. God is blessing here at Emmanuel and we'd like to invite you to join us Sunday for corporate worship.

In His Grace,

Wade

Dennis Jernigan and Winter Live Broadcasting

Emmanuel Baptist Church in Enid, Oklahoma has a host of wonderful families who compose our church fellowship. One such family, the Winters, own some of the largest cattle sale barns in this part of the United States.

Mark Winter has branched out from selling cattle for Winter Livestock via live auctions over the internet to also broadcasting church worship services - LIVE - via the internet. Emmanuel recently switched to Winter Live, and our worship services are now broadcast live at 11:00 a.m. Central Time every Sunday. This past Sunday, August 17, we were led in worship by nationally acclaimed worship/leader, songwriter Dennis Jernigan.

I would encourage you to watch Emmanuel's worship service from this past Sunday. You will need to enter your name and email address to create an account to watch the service, but we do not send you anything from our church, nor do we share you email address with anyone else, it is just the way we can know the number of people who are watching our broadcast. Once you create your account, you may watch any of the services, including archived worship services. I would encourage those of you who are pastors or staff members who are looking for an opportunity to broadcast your worship services over the internet, to log into our service and pay close attention to the large size of the Winter Live viewer, the quality of the broadcast, and the multiple opportunities afforded your members who are unable to participate in your worship service on the campus, but can stay in contact with you and your church ministries via the internet.

Mark Winter told me today that his company can help get any church, no matter the size, started in broadcasting their worship services. Though our church has some television quality cameras, Mark says internet broadcasting can be done with just one $400 video camera purchased by the church. His company provides all the equipment needed to broadcast over the internet, and the costs are extraordinarily low. For more information, contact Mark Winter at their offices (620) 225-4159 or after hours (5:00 p.m. Central) at (620) 408-8998.

Some Suggestions from Emmanuel's Net Friends

We are in the process of unveiling new ministry and worship opportunities at Emmanuel for Sundays and Wednesdays beginning September 2, 2007. Without going into all the details, one of the most signficant changes will be switching to three 'live' services on Sunday morning 8:30; 9:45; and 11:00 a.m. instead of just two (currently our third service uses remote telecast of the message). The 11:00 a.m. service, beginning September 2, 2007, will be broadcast live at 11:00 on the internet via 3:16 Networks. 3:16 Networks began as a joint venture with The North American Mission Board and is now the leading provider for internet broadcast streaming for Christian ministries. 3:16 Networks will broadcast our worship service live , and will also archive all previous worship services on our website. 3:16 Ministries will produce podcasts of the weekly sermons, and our church members will be able to receive vidego weekly devotionals and ministry updates from our staff via their email. Alan Riley, the director of web operations for 3:16 Networks, is a wonderful businessman with many years of service as a worship leader in Southern Baptist Churches. I have been very impressed with the 3:16's incredible technological infrastructure, their employees desires for real Christian ministry, and their vision for internet broadcasting to spread the gospel message around the world.

One of the advantages of entering live broadcasting is the ability to broadcast not only worship services, but funerals (at the request of families), weddings (again, if requested by family - so that Great Grandma who can't make it to the ceremony can watch it on a computer) and other church wide events via the internet. We plan to broadcast 'live' the Sam Storm's Conference in October, with guest worship leader Daniel Brymer, and we would encourage you to join us for the conference on your computer at home. 3:16 Networks is the same company that broadcast the Southern Baptist Convention in San Antonio, and has had the live broadcast of our convention for the last few years.

This is where we could use a little help from our net friends. Dr. Cyril Kumar, Emmanuel's missionary to Bangalore, India, and now on staff here at Emmanuel while obtaining his Master's of Divinity degree at Southern Seminary, is implementing some of the technological advances we need to make in order to move our church into a new and broader phase of ministry at Emmanuel. Dr. Kumar has been working on our internet site and has so far proposed changing our home page from this -- to -- this design which will offically launch on September 2, 2007 (the scroll links are not yet operational).

Here is where you can help Dr. Kumar and our staff with some of the design work on our site by making a few comments that relate to the following questions.

(1). Have you ever watched a regularly scheduled worship service of another church via the internet (either live or archived)?
(2). Would you watch 'live' a Bible conference, revival service, or special event of interest to you if it were offered via 'live,' real time video streaming through our church's web site?
(3). When you go to a church's web site, what is it that you look for first?
(4). Do you have any specific suggestions on making a web site more user friendly?
(5). If you were a member of a church that provided the ability to real time 'live' broadcast weddings or funerals so that anyone, anywhere, could watch the service or ceremony, would you take advantage of that ministry opportunity for you and your family?

Feel free to answer any or all of the questions, or give us comments that aren't even related to the questions above. We would be interested in your thoughts. Sometimes the best nuggets of advice come from people not affiliated with our church. This post will remain up until late Tuesday night when I will post from Richmond, Virginia regarding the first day's plenary business session of the International Mission Board trustee meeting, which will be held next Monday through Wednesdsay, July 16-18, 2007, in Richmond, Virginia.


In His Grace,

Wade Burleson

Commentary on Easter Sunday Worship Services

Yesterday was a great day at Emmanuel. We had five Easter Sunday morning services and had 3,000 in worship for the first time ever. The exciting part is that we were able to reach many people in our city with the gospel of Christ for the very first time.

I told my wife that there are things I like about Easter worship services and things I dislike. One of the things I did enjoy this year is that our staff was very creative and pro-active in the ways we reached out to unchurched people in our community. It takes a tremendous amount of effort and energy to do what we did, including . . .

(1). Filming and showing a three minute clip of the life story of a local dentist who was saved from a life of 'partying and doing all the things he shouldn't be doing' (his words) to a life committed to Jesus Christ.

(2). Adjusting the times and format of our worship services to accomodate five morning services including three blended services in the auditorium at 8:00, 9:30 and 11:00, and two contemporary services at 9:30 and 11:00 a.m.

(3). Using newly designed community wide mailouts and special Sunday worship programs that were created to communicate both the gospel of Christ and the mission and purpose of our church to those unfamiliar with both.

(4). Hosting guest receptions for all visitors after each service and providing for them additional materials that further explain the gospel (a book by John Piper) and the specific ministries of our church.

(5). Never forgetting that what it takes to get people to church is what it usually takes to keep them in church. Therefore, our staff does the very best job possible to make sure the expositional teaching of God's Word and the praise and worship times, both choral and corporate, are the MAIN emphasis every Sunday. All power points, special presentations and worship events are designed to emphasize either the teaching of God's word or the strengthening of one's personal worship and walk with Christ. Thankfully, Easter Sunday is no different from any other Sunday at Emmanuel in these two areas.

I would particularly like your comments about your Easter services, from both pastors and laymen, and ask you to offer any ideas or suggestions that you have that we might be able to implement in the future. Of course, we would also be interested in those things you don't like regarding Easter since sometimes that in our lives we dislike the most are exactly the things that teach us our best lessons.

Blessings to all,

In His Grace,

Wade Burleson

P.S. Thanks to Tyson Wynn of FBC Strang, Oklahoma for the cartoon!

Communication From Saddam's Former Palace

Solomon says the day of one's birth and the day of one's death are both appointed by God. I am grateful for God's providence in appointing my birth to occur in the latter portion of the 20th Century. In the last two decades the world has grown smaller - just as if it were shot with a magic shrink gun. News in Ecuador reaches Enid instantly. Today's action of Iran's dictator in releasing 15 British captured sailors is known by our church staff as soon as, if not before, the staff of the CIA in Washington knows it. Information has become a global commodity and America is the marketplace. The internet has shrunk the world to a tiny size for the average American.

I received the following email today from a member of the United States armed forces stationed in Iraq. For security purposes and personal reasons the name of the writer will not be revealed.

Pastor Wade,

You will not remember me, since I do not recall any interaction with you beyond a few handshakes on Sunday mornings. However, I attended Emmanuel Baptist while I was a student pilot at Vance in 2000-2001, and I never had the opportunity to show my appreciation for your dedication to the church and unflinching exposition of the Bible.

My wife (who also attended pilot training at Vance) and I have fond memories of Enid -- in part because we met there at the "Grace Place" (a ministry of Emmanuel), and because of the church family we came to know and love in Enid.

Presently I am serving a year-long tour in Baghdad. Yesterday I bumped into another pilot in Saddam's old palace who also attended Emmanuel (isn't God great!), but who I had not seen since I left Enid. He mentioned your blog to me, and so I wanted to take the opportunity to say "thank you".

I grew under your preaching, and I appreciate the exaltation of God's grace you brought underpinned by his great sovereignty. I know that God is calling me to preach and teach, and I have been mentored by your labor to faithfully expose God's word. May God bless you, your family, and Emmanuel. I will look forward to reading your blog.

Blessings,

A US Air Force Pilot

Daniel once stood in the Babylonian palace as he defended the one true God before King Nebuchadnezzar. Saddam once lived in the Babylonian palace before 'He who hold's the heart of the king in his hand,' saw fit to remove him. I may have never been to the king's palace in Babylon, but at least Grace and Truth To You has made it.

It's a great time to be alive.

In His Grace,

Wade

Southern Baptist People Are What Make Our Convention Great

Yesterday was another great day at the finest Southern Baptist Church in Oklahoma, the Emmanuel Baptist Church of Enid. The worship was wonderful, and though it is spring break, the people turned out for Bible study and worship at all three of our morning services. We are looking forward to Easter when we have five morning worship services: 8:00, 9:30 and 11:00 a.m with simultaneous REFUGE worship services at 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. as well. Our goal is to have over three thousand in worship on Easter Sunday, and we believe we may have many more than that actually come. We are continuing our exposition of Genesis on Sunday morning and we are currently studying Genesis 20, a series entitled Divine Intervention: Overcoming Addictions and Strongholds. The response to the series has been phenomenal. Emmanuel is a wonderful church to pastor.

My appreciation for the people of Christ within our convention continues to grow outside the walls of our own church because of friends I have made through the blog world. Last night Rachelle and I had the pleasure of stopping in Conway, Arkansas and sharing a meal with Alyce and Mackey Faulkner of Little Rock, Arkansas. This Southern Baptist couple have been blog friends for several months, but last evening was the first opportunity Rachelle and I had to have the pleasure of meeting the Faulkners.

As we enjoyed wonderful meal, the Faulkners freely shared with us their support for missions through their local church, their mutual desire to make our convention more kingdom oriented, and their love for everything associated with Christ. Both Rachelle and I were reminded of why we love the Southern Baptist Convention as we listened to the Faulkners-- it is the people of our convention.

The Faulkners warm, down home hospitality, engaging personalities, and genuine humility are characteristic of the people we love at Emmanuel, and we are beginning to realize, it is also characterizes the majority of Southern Baptists around the nation. For those of you who enjoy good Christian blogs, Alyce's The Miracle of Mercy is a must read. Macky does not blog himself, but like Rachelle does for me, Mackey gives Alyce behind the scenes wisdom, balance and perspective. Alyce also confirmed to Rachelle and me that you really can tell a great deal about a person by the blog he or she keeps. Alyce's charm, insight, and passion are seen as much in person as they are on her blog. Thanks, Faulkners, for a great evening.

Rachelle and I arrived in Memphis around 12:30 a.m. this morning. I will be meeting with various missionaries throughout the day, enjoy dinner with the trustees at Mid-America Seminary this evening, and participate in the closed door forum meeting of all trustees tonight.

I'll blog about reflections on today late this evening.

In His Grace,

Wade

A Fifteen Year Honeymoon for this Pastor's Family

Emmanuel Baptist Church, Enid, Oklahoma
Sunday, March 2, 1992 - Sunday, March 4, 2007

Fifteen years ago today, the first Sunday of March, Rachelle and I began our ministry at the greatest Southern Baptist Church in Oklahoma. When we came our oldest child was in kindergarden and our youngest child had not yet been born. Now, fifteen years later our oldest is at Baylor in Waco and our youngest is in junior high. Our children will forever call Enid home.

I am reminded that in the old days pastors would often stay with their congregations for life. Spurgeon was at the Metropolitan Tabernacle for nearly four decades. John Gill was at Horsleydown for over fifty years. Benjamin Keach pastored his church for over fifty years as well. These 18th and 19th century English Baptist pastors are excellent models for those of us who are surrounded by modern examples of two year average pastorates in the United States.

The advantage of staying with a congregation for a long period of time is that you get to know families. You marry their children, you bury their parents. You are with God's people in both their good times and their bad times. You see people saved and you stay around long enough to see them lead others to Christ. You develop deep relationships that go beyond the surface. In fact, I am hard pressed to come up with any negatives for a long tenure of a pastor.

Of course, for a fifteen year ministry to feel like it is a continuing honeymoon, the people of the church have to be like those at Emmanuel The kindness, support and generosity of Emmanuelites to the Burleson family will never be forgotten nor able to be repaid. We carry our debt with gratitude, for as the Apostle Paul states, 'Owe no man anything save love.' The Burlesons make no bones about the fact we are in the deep debt of love to the people of Emmanuel.

I pray you have a wonderful Lord's day today. I know we will as we thank God for Emmanuel.

In His Grace,

Wade

Emmanuel Enid's First Internet Bible Conference

This Sunday at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Enid, Oklahoma, my father - Paul Burleson - will begin a weeklong Bible Conference entitled "What I Wish I Had Known Forty Years Ago." I asked him several months ago to prepare this special series for our church, and I wanted him to particularly focus on those significant, life transforming spiritual truths God has shown him during his fifty years of pastoral ministry. What he shares will challenge your traditional way of thinking, but it will also warm your heart. We invite you to join us.

Many of you know my father by reputation. He is a graduate of Southwestern Seminary and has pastored Southern Baptist churches in Texas and Oklahoma these past five decades. There are now literally thousands of pastors across the United States who were discipled by him while they in seminary and attending Southcliff Baptist Church, just a few miles from Southwestern. He continues to travel the country as an intinerant teacher, and is known by Southern Baptists nationwide.

During this coming week I will post the the sermons that Paul Burleson will preach at Emmanuel during our January 7-10 Bible Conference. Joel Engle will be leading the worship, and we may also post a couple of special worship times during the course of the week. I will follow this posting schedule regarding the messages:

Monday -- What I Believed Then (1967)

Tuesday -- I Believe In The New Covenant

Wednesday -- I Know Who Is The Boss

Thursday -- I Know Where The Truth Is

Friday -- What I Believed Then And Still Do

I hope you take the time to listen to each message and let us know what you think. The comment section will be open for our questions or observations about each message. My father has made a journey from a very strict Fundamentalist who focused on the performance and failures of others, to a very grace oriented, relational Christian who allows God to do His unique work in others --- according to His timetable. He has never lost his conservative belief in the authority and sufficiency of the Word of God, but the transformation that has occurred in his Christian life and in his views of what really is important in one's Christian understanding is remarkable. I have the sneaking suspiciion that much of what he says in this Bible Conference can be a help to all of us who affiliate with the Southern Baptist Convention in this day and age.

Tune In Sunday Night at 11:00 p.m. Central Time for Monday's post of the message delivered Sunday morning at Emmanuel Baptist Church.

In His Grace,

Wade Burleson