GPS - And We’re Not Talking About Technological Devices
By Ken James
June 2009
In February of this year, I sent a brochure and a letter to every pastor/church in our convention introducing the evangelism initiative of Southern Baptists that will carry us through the year, 2020. It is known as GPS – God’s Plan for Sharing. In this and in subsequent articles I want to share the “nuts and bolts” of an emphasis that has the potential to unite Southern Baptists in an evangelistic thrust that will see many people born into the Kingdom of God.
I want to take this opportunity to repeat some of the things that I wrote in the above-mentioned letter. I provided answers to three questions that I felt would be posed by pastors and their congregations. They were as follows:
HOW DID ALL OF THIS COME ABOUT?
In 2006, State Evangelism Directors, Seminary Professors of Evangelism, the Evangelism Team of the North American Mission Board, and many others, challenged each other to seek the Lord’s direction for a comprehensive strategy to engage the churches of the Southern Baptist Convention in an extended period of intensive intentional evangelism in their respective communities.
IS THIS ANOTHER DENOMINATIONAL PROGRAM WE ARE BEING ASKED TO ADOPT?
No. It is a joint commitment between partners. The North American Mission Board (NAMB) and the State Conventions are committing their energy and resources to assist churches in Praying, Engaging, Sowing and Harvesting.
WHAT IS THE TIMELINE FOR GPS?
2009 – Year of Commitment and Preparation
2010 – 2020 – Every Believer Sharing…Every Person Hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
2010 – God’s Plan for Sharing (GPS) will be Across America, more specifically for us, Across Kansas-Nebraska.
Every two years of the decade (2010—2010) NAMB and the State Conventions will produce resources for a new GPS emphasis to be easily and inexpensively shared with the churches.
I have assembled a GPS Team for KNCSB. The team had its first meeting on May 14, to begin work on the God-sized task of strategizing and implementing the emphasis for 2010. The team members are Tim Boyd, Nate Butler, Randy Caddell, Jay Dess, Joanna Cowel, Bob Mills, and Jon Sapp. The team’s first task is to inform and enlist the participation of our churches, and to develop a strategy for media purchases for the 2010 Across Kansas-Nebraska Campaign. Please pray for this team.
In a nutshell, the 2010 emphasis involves a media saturation that complements materials that churches will be encouraged to deliver to homes in their communities inviting folks to Easter Sunday services. Pastors will be encouraged to share an evangelistic message on Easter Sunday with expectations of an ingathering of lost people to place their faith in Christ as Lord and Savior.
More particulars of GPS will be shared in future articles. In my February letter I wrote that some of the saddest words ever spoken are, “I wish we had.” On the other hand, some of the most positive words uttered are, “I’m glad we did.” The first set of words refer to lost opportunity…the second, to realized fortune. I hope that our churches will grasp the opportunity provided by GPS to be able to say, “We’re glad we did.”
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