By Sharon Mager

BALTIMORE, Md. – During a recent whirlwind, two-day visit to Baltimore, Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) president, Johnny Hunt, told Baltimore church planters, “if Christians don’t reach the cities, we won’t reach America.”

Hunt came to Baltimore to see first-hand the work of “Embrace Baltimore,” one of the SBC’s “Strategic Focus Cities” initiatives – a cooperative effort by the Baltimore Association, the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware (BCM/D) and the North American Mission Board to foster evangelism and church planting.

During his two days in Baltimore, Hunt, pastor of First Church, Woodstock, Ga., toured the city, met with church planters and directors of missions, preached a one-night revival service at a local African-American church, and dined with Embrace Baltimore and BCM/D staff and Baltimore pastors and their wives.

“Time is short and we must engage the culture now,” Hunt told the group. “I desire to lead First Church-Woodstock and influence other churches to become engaged in your great city. I’ll be challenging my church’s missions staff to really seek to be engaged at a level where we could really make a difference.”

Hunt spent much of his time in Baltimore with church planters, listening as the young men described their visions. Hunt also toured the neighborhoods the planters want to reach for Christ.

“Dr. Hunt was very encouraging,” said Tally Wilgis, lead pastor of Captivate Church in Towson, Md. Captivate Church is a new plant Wilgis plans to launch in September. “He’s the real deal.  When you talk to Dr. Hunt, he’s not pretentious. He’s a pastor’s pastor.”

Joel Rainey, Mid-Maryland director of missions, called Hunt’s message and tone “refreshing.”

“While he stands unapologetically on the authority of Scripture, he made it clear to our guys in the field that he is not interested in narrowing the parameters of cooperation. His responses to questions from church planters were candid, transparent and full of passion regarding the future of the Southern Baptist Convention,” Rainey said.

Rainey said Hunt also made it clear to young church planting leaders that “walking away” because they sometimes disagree is not the way to generate the kind of change they want to see.

“He knows there’s tough terrain within the denomination and he responded frankly to the questions we asked him,” said Aaron Pankey, pastor of Infinity Church in Laurel, Md. Pankey plans to launch a second church in Baltimore in September.

Pankey said he asked Hunt about recent articles in USA Today and The Christian Science Monitor about the predicted collapse – by secular media – of the evangelical church in the next 10 years.

“Dr. Hunt’s response was that the word ‘evangelize’ means spreading the good news and as long as the church continues to share the good news, there is no threat to the evangelical church dying. He said church planters are a cause of celebration,” Pankey said.

“We are Christ’s church,” Hunt told the group. “As long as there is a prophet proclaiming Christ, there will be evangelical Christianity. Don’t buy into the surveys and polls out there, but just be faithful to what God has called us to. As church planters, you are the future of Christianity in our country.”

Hunt preached a one-night revival at one of Baltimore’s leading African-American congregations, Colonial Church. Preaching from I Kings 17, Hunt told listeners the place Christians must be is in God’s “there” – the place God tells you to be. Hunt explained “there” is the place of God’s purpose, a place of God’s power and a place of dependence (on God).

“I’ve heard young seminary students say, ‘I tell you one thing, I’m not going to an established Baptist church and fight through all that tradition. I’m going to start a church.’”

“That’s not your call!” Hunt said. “You don’t make the decision as to where you are going. We’re reporting for duty. Last time I checked, He’s Lord. I surrender. He gives the orders and I need to serve exactly where He sends me.

“Men wonder why they never feel God’s power or see any evidence of His working and it’s because they’re out of His purpose and not in His will. Sometimes, the place of power and dependency is a place of dryness. Some who go through difficult times are right smack dab in the will of God,” said Hunt.

Fellow Southern Baptist pastors joining Hunt in Baltimore for the two-day “Capture the Vision” tour were Ken Lassiter and Jim Law, First Church, Woodstock, Ga.; Keith Kluthe, First Church, Danville, Ark.; Bill Morgan and George McRae, First Church-Concord, Knoxville, Tenn.; Jim Locke and Brian Barlow, Hillcrest Church, Pensacola, Fla.; Brian Foster, Burnt Hickory Church, Powder Springs, Ga.; Cliff Smith, First Church, Daytona Beach, Fla.; Chuck Tanner and Ken McCoy, Baptist Church, Chattanooga, Tenn.; and Patricia Marder, Calvary Church, Clearwater, Fla.

Embrace Baltimore offers “Capture the Vision” tours designed to give attendees the overall vision and needs of Embrace Baltimore, and how their churches can participate  Upcoming “Capture the Vision” tours in Baltimore are May 18-20, July 20-22, Aug. 17-19, Sept. 14-16 and Oct. 12-14. For more information, contact Jaimee Lafave, Embrace Baltimore director of mobilization, at jlafave@embracebaltimore.com.

Sharon Mager is the Baptist Convention of Maryland/Delaware’s staff correspondent for BaptistLIFE.

By Sharon Mager, BCM/D Correspondent

RANDALLSTOWN, Md.—Johnny Hunt, president of the Southern Baptist Convention and pastor of First Church of Woodstock, Ga., flew into Baltimore last month to see and hear first hand about the excitement and growth God is bringing to Baltimore through Embrace Baltimore, a Strategic Focus City Effort of the North American Mission Board. He invited other pastors and missions leaders from churches in the Bible belt area to join him and to consider partnering with new church plants. Hunt also, as SBC president and as a fellow pastor seeking to reap and sow, spent much of his time challenging and encouraging pastors and leaders.

Hunt had a whirlwind of a schedule. In two days he was escorted by Embrace Baltimore staff on a tour of the city and surrounding areas, met with church planters and directors of missions, had dinner with Embrace Baltimore and BCM/D staff and Baltimore pastors and their wives, preached a “one night revival” service at Colonial Church and met with the African American Advisory council.

SBC President Johnny Hunt enjoys chitlins at an Embrace Baltimore meeting

At the Mar. 31 banquet hosted and catered by Colonial Church, Hunt was relaxed and friendly. He joked about coming north to hear southern gospel and to be offered “chitlins.”

A worship service following the banquet was a climax to Hunt’s visit. During the service the church’s choir, a special by Jacqueline Anderson and Alease Ferguson and special music guests LU Praise, from Liberty University, Lynchburg, Va., had plenty of worshipers on their feet swaying and clapping.

In a time of special greetings before Hunt spoke, David Lee, BCM/D executive director, said to the SBC president, “We are praying for the moment revival breaks out and it’s okay if it begins with what you have to say to us tonight.”

BCM/D President Byron Day said Hunt’s visit was like a general encouraging the troops.

Bob Mackey, Embrace Baltimore executive director, recognized planters, pastors and their wives and said without them the SBC and all of its agencies would not exist.

Mackey echoed Lee’s sentiment, desiring revival. “I don’t care where it breaks out. If it breaks out here, we want to be part of it, if it breaks out somewhere else, we want it to come here, too.”

African American Fellowship president, Bernard Fuller, said to Hunt, “We are excited because we know you’re an Acts 1:8 pastor. We are excited to be in this position for such a time as this. We’re excited for what God is doing for Embrace Baltimore.”

Troy Bush, Embrace Baltimore’s director of church starting, introduced the SBC president. “One of things we’re delighted to introduce you for Dr. Hunt, is not just that evangelism is a topic you like to preach on it’s what you live,” Bush said.

Hunt preached on I Kings 17, about God sending Elijah to the brook of Cherith and then to the widow of Zarephath. He told listeners the place Christians must be is in God’s “there,” where God tells you to be.
Hunt said he’s heard young seminary students say things like: “I tell you one thing I’m not going to an established Baptist church and fight through all that tradition. I’m going to start a church.”

“That’s not your call!” Hunt said. “You don’t make the decision as to where you are going. And if you do God help you when you need a raven. We’re reporting to duty. Last time I checked He’s Lord. I surrender. He gives the orders and I need to serve exactly where He sends me.”

“There” is a place of God’s purpose and a place of God’s power and the place of power is a place of dependence. At the brook, the ravens brought Elijah bread and meat in the morning and evening and he drank from the brook.

“I am of a personal conviction that the miracle of the ravens would not have occurred anywhere but there. To enjoy God’s provision a prophet must be in a place of assignment. It’s not left to Elijah to choose his hiding place; He must submit to God’s choice.

“Men wonder why they never feel God’s power or see any evidence of His working and it’s because they’re out of His purpose not in His will. We say what power Elijah had but he had no power in himself. He was simply there in the place of power.”

Sometimes the place of power and dependency is a place of dryness, Hunt continued. “Some who went through difficult times were right smack dab in the will of God.”

Elijah’s brook dried up even though he was in place of God’s power. God takes most of us through a dry brook. Dryness can be a place of solitude and growth. Hunt said when he experiences that “dryness” he gets up earlier and spends more time reading scripture and praying and digging deeper.

God’s “there” is place of God’s provision. Where God guides, God provides.

Hunt said the Bible makes it clear that when God calls you somewhere he goes ahead and makes all the arrangements.

“God commanded the widow to be at her place to feed Elijah before he went,” Hunt said. We don’t need to work things out before we go, he said. We just have to be “there.”

Hunt said when we get to heaven some people may ask, “God, why didn’t you come through for me?” Hunt said God might respond, “I did. I sent it right where you were supposed to be. It showed up and you weren’t there.”

“Are you there?” Hunt asked. “Isn’t it amazing that God can use a brook, birds and a poor widow to sustain an obedient preacher? When Elijah got to Serapath, they were picking up sticks when he left they were raising the dead.

“I don’t know about you but I don’t want to spend my life picking up sticks.”

Hunt closed in prayer, “Thank you in Jesus’ name for the way you show yourself strong, not just to the Elijahs of yesteryear but to the Elijahs today. The question is often asked, ‘Where are the Elijahs today?’ and Lord Jesus, we believe there’s a good number of them in this room…help them to realize nothing is more important than being ‘there’…”