I value history and this video is a good reminder that if you don’t know history you might be embarrassed at some point.

Scarves.  The Russians thought it was hilarious that I had never worn a scarf before this trip.  Texans never really need scarves.  I am big on the scarf and even wore it today in this “cold” Houston weather.  There is something about keeping the neck warm that keeps the whole body warm.  I heart scarves.

Tea.  I loved teatime in England largely because it forced everyone to stop and visit, great community happened over tea.  The Russians also love hot tea.  I know it is pretty effeminate, but I have a bunch of tea options in my desk now.  Feel free to join me for teatime!

Ok, now the real takeaways.  First is a more intentional, earnest, and confident prayer life.  This was one of my primary goals in 2011, and I was given vision for it after Saint Petersburg.  The Russian Christians pray and I mean pray.  They pray before long trips like we do, but also before short car trips (maybe that says more about travel in Russia ).  I typically close my sermons in prayer and said such to conclude my sermon at Central Church.  To my surprise, people started shouting prayers from the congregation!  I looked at my interpreter confused about what to do.  It was powerful to see people kneeling in the aisles boldly lifting up their praise and supplications to the Lord.

Finally, is a renewed vision for holistic ministry, especially church planting.  Close to 3% of Russia is addicted to drugs or alcohol!  This reality has led the Russian Baptist to start Rehab Centers.  They have gone from a handful of centers to nearly 200 in five years!  Now these men are becoming pastors and starting an exciting church planting movement.  One day I asked Pavel if they are only starting churches with rehab guys or with other men as well.  He was confused by the question.  They are Christians so of course they are starting churches and doing so with other men.  I felt embarrassed because my church hasn’t reproduced it self in a least 30 years!  I long to be part of a group of men whose hearts are knit together with the same vision to reach the lost.

As I reflect upon the last two years, I am most thankful for the men I am around.  I have never worked this closely with older men in there 50’s, 60’s, and even 70’s.  I love these older guys.  They have graciously accepted me, supported me, loved me, and even respected me.  They have also raised all my standards of holiness and professionalism (in a good way).  I am even thankful for the few times when they have called me out, because most of those instances have been very merciful and constructive.

I am also deeply blessed to have worked with guys who are my peers.  I came to quickly love Seth, Erik, Ken, and Colin and my love and respect for these men has only grown stronger in two years.  I finally finished Dr. Haykin’s profound sermon on friendship.  I consider it one of the great joys of my life to be developing lasting friendships with these men in ministry.  God has truly knit our hearts.

I love the men of Bethel.

Russia is a special country with a proud and great history.  The Church in Russia has a unique power that was solidified in a special way under the persecution of the Soviet Union.  I tear up recalling the stories of teachers mocking their Baptist pupils, and government officials taking away Christian children from their parents, and pastors being torn from their families and churches and tossed into jail for years.  This suffering created a dependence upon God and an understanding of the power of the gospel that few in the West understand.

Upon the fall of the Soviet Union a revival took place in Russia.  Most of the believers we met were converted in the years between 1990 and 1993.  The Church before the fall was about preservation, now Russia’s Church is about expansion.  After the fall, a large portion of the Russian Baptists immigrated to countries like Germany and the United States.  As a result, many leaders in the Baptist Union feel they are in a rebuilding process.

I am thankful for the historical study I have done the past couple of years on the British Baptists of the 17^th Century.  I keep comparing these Russian brothers to that period of church history as a movement began, expanded, and solidified.  In the Leningrad region we are seeing churches planted and physical needs being meet.  I only wish there was an avenue for the West to hear the stories of this movement and be influenced by these courageous and thoughtful leaders.   I also wish theological education was more readily available as it is in the United States.  Finally, I pray for another revival in Russia, like the one they experienced in the early 1990’s.

Beginning Wednesday afternoon the students in the class preached to their classmates.  I am impressed with their exegetical skill as well as their love for and the understanding of the Word.  These are faithful brothers.  Thursday night after class the Central Church kindly bought Bryan and I traditional Russia hats as gratitude for our week of service.  Bryan wanted a nice rabbit fur one and I wanted to go to a military store and get one with a Communist pin on it (yes I know, a major tourist move).

Ok, first really funny experience; the “holy kiss.” 2 Corinthians 13:12 says that we should greet our brothers with a holy kiss.  American Christians often giggle at this verse imagining a bunch of men kissing each other.  I have often heard stories of this custom in other regions of the world.  One of those places is Russia?!  As I sat with a number of pastors at Central Church an older gentlemen came in the room.  Everyone rose out of love and respect.  I could tell by his demeanor that he was a warm and loving man.  Pastor Victor introduced me and he smiled and began to move it.  Oh yeah, did I mention that he had a beard?  Sadly I can report that it was a scratchy beard.  Yes he moved in for the kiss on the lips.  I did not want to be rude, but at the last split second my Texas homophobia kicked in and I slightly dodged getting the kiss on the corner of my mouth rather than a full on smack.  I use the word smack because this brother made a funny smacking sound.  Everyone in the room loved this wise older brother and it was truly an honor to be greeted so warmly by him; but my cultural background made the whole experience funny and memorable.  I am ready to get home and kiss my bride.

Second funny experience, the “KGB laugh.” Each morning different men picked us up in their cars from our hotel.  On Sunday a young guy picked us up.  I hadn’t had a chance to meet him yet, so I didn’t know him from Adam.  Bryan has been to Russia four times and enjoyed trying to engage people with his expanding Russian vocabulary.  He started in with his greeting and our driver thought Bryan knew more Russian than he really did.  He dove into a series of questions.  Bryan responded with a confused shrug of the shoulders.  Our driver connected the dots and started into what became in my mind, the “KGB laugh.”  For some reason the laugh communicated to me, “ha, ha the Americans don’t know that I am really KGB and they don’t know that I am really taking them to headquarters.”  To my relief we never made it to headquarters but were delivered safely to the Central Church.  The young man is named Andre and he is a convert through a Rehab Center and now a preacher in a new church plant.  He has a joyful demeanor and a gregarious laugh.  He became one of my favorite people as the week wore on.  On Tuesday I felt like I knew him well enough to share what was going on in my mind the previous Sunday.  Everyone roared and continued to chuckle every time Andre broke out into his “KGB laugh.”

Embedded are pics I took Sunday night.  St. Pete is considered the most beautiful city in Russia.  Peter the Great defeated the Swedish in 1703 on the site of the city then set about building a beautiful and modern European city.  The Hermitage is one of the largest art museums in the world, rivaling both the Louvre and the British Museum.  Unfortunately we don’t have the time to tour the numerous buildings that make up the museum.  Strange, but I would rather tour the Baptist Union’s rehab centers then the Hermitage?!  I found Saint Isaac’s Cathedral particularly stunning.  I don’t want to over do it here, but St. Pete rivals the beauty of Paris.  Peter-the-Great’s vision to make this into a beautiful European city has been realized.

Saint Isaac's Cathedral

Peter-the-Great

Hermitage

These pastors have not been to seminary and many have only been Christians for a few years, but are leading an exciting church planting movement. Many of these men were saved (they say “repented”) when they went to a Baptist Union rehab center. The emerging great pastors in Russia are former felons and drug addicts!

As I type I am sitting behind a man my age who walks with a limp because he was shot in prison after organizing a riot. The prison doctors concluded he would not walk again thus the authorities felt he would no longer be a threat and made plans to release him. As he lay on his prison hospital bed, members of the local Baptist church came and witnessed to him. He repented, and this former riot leader became a leader in the church. Currently he oversees the rehab centers in the Leningrad region, strategically leads a ministry to AIDS victims, and is the primary pastor of a church plant that grew from 25 people to 55 people last year. I am in the presence of greatness and am tasked to teach this man?!

Since arriving I have felt a lot of awkwardness but the first day of class was a joy. The men are excited to learn and engage in the content of the lessons. Even though we don’t speak the same language we share a love for the Lord and are enjoying each other. I am learning priceless lessons from these brothers.

Central Baptist Church in St. Petersburg

It was a joy to attend Central Baptist Church yesterday.  Pastor Victor was even gracious enough to allow me to preach.  Russian churches typically last a couple of hours and have 2 to 3 sermons each week.  Since they have so many sermons they require more preachers.  They have a bullpen of guys to call upon which enables them to train many more leaders than American churches.  This plethora of leaders is why I am here.  We are training some of these men in Bible, theology, and how to improve their preaching and hermeneutical skills.  This emerging crop of leaders is who will be tasked to plant more churches.  One simply cultural difference, 3 sermons in Russia versus 1 sermon in America, has resulted in the Russians being much more effective than Americans in producing preaching disciples.

Yesterday I preached on John 1:14.  I used the Incarnation of Jesus to encourage my Russian brothers and sisters to be missionaries like Jesus, especially by loving the unlovely.  I tend to open and close my sermons in prayer.  To my delight the Russian believers are pray in a powerful fashion.  I concluded my sermon and announced I would like to close in prayer.  They immediately rose, Russians always stand in reverence to pray, and then voices from the congregation began crying out to God!  I did not expect the congregation to pray.  I looked to my interpreter for instruction and he advised me to let them finish before I close with my prayer.  Later in the service I could hear the desperate prayers of a women.  My translator stopped translating as he and many others were moved to tears by her pleas to God.  Russian Christians know the power of God and seek Him for their needs.

Pastor Victor the Senior Pastor of Central Church

I have resolved this year to pray with more passion and frequency and my Russian brothers and sisters have given me new vision for how to approach our loving and powerful God.

Two "Slahvah Bogu" stories

“Slahvah Bogu” means “Praise God” in Russian.  This translation is on the list of “Common Russian Phrases” in the Slavic Gospel Association’s travel manual.  At first glance I thought it was amusing and nice that it was included on the list, but today I found out that it is truly a “Common Russian Phrase” at least amongst the Russian Baptists.

We visited a Rehab Center about 140 kilometers from St. Petersburg.  The center is filled with a beautiful combination of genuinely broken people and powerfully healed people.  As we toured the facility hearing testimonies of God’s grace and power, each story ended with the person saying, “Slahvah Bogu.”  Then in unison everyone listening would respond, “Slavah Bogu!”

I love hearing Russians say “Slahvah Bogu” and am impressed that I need a “Slahvah Bogu” spirituality.  Am I telling the stories of God’s grace?  Am I constantly thankful and amazed and full of praise?

One young lady said today that she came to the Rehab Center and learned that she was a sin addict!  That is so powerful because our problems are not rooted in psychology or sociology but in our spiritual condition.  The Russian Baptists know the power of the gospel to the point that they are building a church planting movement made up of former drug addicts!

The Russian Centers also drew my heart back to the Denton Freedom House run by my new brother-in-law Corey Adams.  I deeply love Corey and Kara and enjoy nothing more than sitting back and listening to their stories of gospel transformation taking place daily in Denton, Texas.

I appreciate your prayers from yesterday, we worked out our problems with Skype and thus I was able to see my children and pray with them before bedtime.

I was able to preach in the chapel service today and am humbled by the opportunity to preach at Central Baptist Church in St. Petersburg tomorrow.  Please pray that I would simply hide behind the Word and that the Spirit would melt hard hearts through my preaching.