LANNYFAULKNER.COM

For anyone who knows me, the fact that one of my all-time favorite songs begins with the words, “Off we go…” is no surprise.

So, here I am, three days from my 72nd birthday (can’t get my head around that) and it is time again for me to say, “Off we go!

This time, I am off on a new adventure as the “Transition Pastor” of Summit Fellowship in Decatur, Illinois. After doing a Church Health and Growth Evaluation for this congregation last year, the Pastor Search Team asked me if I would consider coming to lead them through the process that I had outlined.

Believing it to be the LORD’s will, I said yes. This will be a multi-year effort involving rebranding, (we are now calling ourselves “Summit Fellowship” and refocusing, (our new focus is “Let’s Start Over Together” since there are tens of thousands of people in our beloved City who need to start over in their relationship with God, their marriages, their families, and their careers; and, restructuring the congregation to a biblical leadership structure.

We plan to try 25 or so things and if a few of them work, I will likely write a book!

In my work with Central Association, I was able to help a few churches a little, whereas in the role of Transition Pastor at Summit Fellowship I trust that I will have much more impact for the Kingdom and for the members of this one congregation.

So, a plan is in place… my sermon schedule is set for the next three years (as the LORD allows) the hard work is beginning… so… OFF WE GO!

A Pastor Out To Pasture

“The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.” Psalm 16:6 (ESV)

I do not remember who said it, but a single sentence haunted me for a few years as I was considering and praying about the idea of retiring from my position as Pastor-Teacher at the First Baptist Church in Atwood, Illinois. To my best recollection the sentence was, “Don’t let your fear of retiring keep some qualified younger man from having a place to serve; God will take care of you.”

Ouch.

The main problem for me was that serving Jesus at the First Baptist Church of Atwood was the most wonderful experience of my ministry. My thirteen years there were not the most productive years of my ministry, but they were certainly the most joyful.

It may be typical that the most “productive” years of my ministry were also among the most difficult. But that was a different church and a story for another day.

Thankfully, the last years of my ministry at Atwood were very productive and due to the blessings of God, our church led our Association in baptisms the last three years I served there. One of the most amazing things was that after thirteen years there the Church was almost “twice as large” and, it was “half as old.”

Our average Sunday Morning attendance had gone from the 80’s to the 140’s and the average age of those attending weekly had gone from 61 to 29.

And those are just the numbers. No one in ministry has ever been more loved and appreciated by a church than my beloved Atwoodites loved and appreciated me and my wife Lin, which, of course, made the decision to retire all the more difficult.

I decided in 2017 that, as the LORD allowed, I would retire on July 31^st of 2020 which would be two weeks to the day after my 70^th birthday. In July of 2018, I informed our Elders of my decision and in July of 2019 I informed the church. One of the key reasons that I gave the church a full year’s notice was my desire that we would have our new pastor selected, called, and in place by the Sunday following my retirement.

By the grace of God, we did.

Being “a pastor out to pasture” is an old joke and I have heard it many times over the years. Funny thing; it was much more humorous when we were speaking about someone else! That is exactly the picture that I had in my mind over the last three or four years at Atwood.

So, what is the work of a pastor out to pasture? I think a primary thing is to encourage other pastors who are still actively serving in a local church. Personally, I think my first priority is to encourage the wonderful young pastor whom the LORD sent to serve us at Atwood FBC!

Over the years, I have heard pastors comment that things were hard in their ministry because they were following the “hero pastor” who preceded them. I am thankful beyond words to realize that I preceded the “hero pastor” of our Church.

Almost every pastor I know and have known honestly strives to be their best but it is a simple reality that some men are more gifted than other men and the LORD uses some men in ways that he does not use others.

Our beloved pastor, Woody White, is certainly one of the most gifted and able men – especially young men – that I have had the joy to know in my over forty years of ministry! He is really bright, well-educated, and a gifted expository preacher.

God has blessed him with his wife Brittany who is every bit as bright as he and is fully committed to Woody and to the ministry of our church. Pastor and Brittany are gifts of God to me and our church for which I am very thankful!

Seven weeks after my retirement from Atwood FBC, Central Baptist Association of Decatur, Illinois, whom I served for sixteen years prior to going to Atwood, called me to serve them again, this time in a part-time capacity as their Associational Mission Strategist which allows me to continue to serve Jesus by serving HIS people and to carry out my passion for serving pastors as I have opportunity.

Thank YOU, LORD!

Sunday, January 10^th, 2021

“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.”

– 1^st John 5:13 (ESV)

The Southern Baptist January Bible Study (JBS) has long been a blessing to me. For over thirty years, I have done a verse-by-verse exposition of the JBS Study almost every year.

For most of those years, I attended the Illinois Baptist JBS Pastors’ retreat at Camp Streator and I had the privilege of teaching the study there on three or four occasions.

This year, the JBS Study is “The Epistles of John.” This has made the study even more special for me since the LORD used 1^st John 5:13 to bring me to faith on Saturday, November 6^th, 1982.

Special. Really Special.

As the LORD allows, this evening (1/10) and on Sunday, 1/24 I will again teach the January Bible Study at the First Baptist Church of Lovington from 6 to 8pm.

This evening, (1/10) as the LORD allows, I plan to teach an Introduction and 1^st John 1 before a short break and then Chapters 2 and 3 after the break.

On 1/24, as the LORD allows, I plan to teach 1^st John Chapters 4 and 5 before a short break and then 2^nd and 3^rd John after the break.

Also, I have been invited to teach 1^st John 3 at Oreana Baptist Church at 6pm on Sunday, January 17^th as part of the annual CBA-wide January Bible Study.

I will appreciate your prayers for these meetings and I want you to know that if you are not having Sunday PM Services at your Church, I would love for you to attend any of these meetings that you can!

The CBA January Bible Study will also feature Dale Granda teaching 1^st John 2 this evening (1/10) at Emmanuel Baptist beginning at 6pm; Keith Schmutzler will teach 1^st John 4 at Emmanuel Baptist beginning at 6pm on January 24^th; and Dr. Scott Andrews teaching 1^st John 5 at Oreana Baptist beginning at 6pm on January 31^st.

These CBA-wide services will be live-streamed on the Church’s Facebook Page if you prefer to watch from home!

My favorite verse says, “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4)

While every Bible verse is certainly a blessing, I think you will find that 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd John will be a special blessing to you and your family!

THE WEEK IN REVIEW – September 28^th through October 4^th

This past week, the LORD has again blessed me with good health, safe travels, and another wonderful week!

With the LORD’s help, I have been able to continue my healthier eating plan and to walk 2 miles per day 6 days per week.

This past week, I enjoyed an opportunity to visit with friends on Staff at Tabernacle and to meet the new Worship Pastor, Chris Gregg. That was his first day on the job!

Please pray for Chris and his wife, Abi, as they go through the process of getting settled in Decatur.

Wednesday was the latest of my twice-monthly meetings with my Pastor. It was a joy (as always) to visit with him, read and study together with him, and to pray with him.

Sunday, October 4^th, I had intended to visit the First Baptist Church of Casey where the LORD has allowed me to lead more revival meetings and conferences than at any other single Church, and to visit after Church with my dear friends Tom and Linda Marsh. Tom served as Pastor of that Church for over 25 years!

When I checked in with Tom to see if this was a good day to visit with them, he told me that he was going to be preaching that morning at the Mullen Baptist Church in Montrose, Illinois; which is another Church in Cumberland County where I had the pleasure of leading a revival.

So… I had the joy of seeing the friends at Mullen (including seeing the stunningly beautiful new Sanctuary they built a few years ago) and hearing Brother Tom preach on the Second Coming of Christ!

After Church, I enjoyed lunch with Tom and Linda at their home in Casey and I absolutely loved spending time catching up with how they and their sons are doing.

Of course, I took the longest and most rural possible routes back to Decatur and really enjoyed the fall scenery.

Sunday evening, I enjoyed watching the video of the worship service at my Church and to hear my Pastor’s sermon from Philippians!

All-in-all, another wonderful week!

Thank YOU, LORD!!!

I want to repeat my special prayer request from last week:

As the LORD allows, at their Annual Meeting this coming Saturday, October 10^th, the Central Baptist Association in Decatur will vote on the recommendation of the Leadership Team to call me to serve as their Associational Mission Strategist on a part-time basis.

I previously served CBA for 16 years before I left to serve at Atwood. Please pray that the LORD will make HIS will clear to the Association.

As in all things, my one desire is to do HIS will as HE allows me to serve HIS people in whatever way I can.

Thank you for your continuing prayers.

This past week, the LORD has again blessed me with good health, safe travels, and another wonderful week!

With the LORD’s help, I have been able to continue my healthier eating plan and to walk 2 miles per day 6 days per week.

I was able to enjoy a couple of drives this past week including a lovely drive after Church last Sunday.

I was blessed again this week to have brunch at my home with my daughter Becky who manages an apartment complex nearby. As the LORD allows, we will continue to do this once per week.

As I continue to visit the Churches where some of my dear friends serve, last Sunday I attended and really enjoyed the morning worship service at the East Harrison Street Church of God in Charleston.

Pastor Curt Weaver is a long-time and much-admired friend!

I first met Curt about 20 years ago when he was serving as the Youth Pastor at the First Baptist in Casey, IL. The LORD allowed me to do multiple revivals and conferences at that wonderful Church and getting to know Curt was a blessing!

During one of the revivals, he and Music Evangelist Bill Allen wrote a Rap Song about me… (I still love them anyway!)

Some years ago, Pastor Curt went back to the Harrison Street Church during a difficult time in their life and he has led them to become a strong and happy Church!

While I was serving Central Baptist Association, Pastor Curt invited me to lead a Revival for their Church. Until their work situation led them to move to Decatur, Brian and Melodie Keown led the worship team there!

Sunday afternoon, I was able to watch the video of the worship service at my Church and to hear Pastor Woody’s sermon from Philippians 2.

I have a vitally important prayer request this week…

As the LORD allows, at their Annual Meeting on Saturday, October 10^th, the Central Baptist Association in Decatur will vote on the recommendation of the Leadership Team to call me to serve them as their Associational Mission Strategist on a part-time basis.

I previously served CBA for 16 years before I came to Atwood. Please pray that the LORD will make HIS will clear to the Association.

As in all things, my one desire is to do HIS will as HE allows me to serve HIS people in whatever way I can.

Thank you for your prayers.

This past week, the LORD has again blessed me with good health, safe travels, and another wonderful week!

With the LORD’s help, I have been able to continue my healthier eating plan and to walk 2 miles per day 6 days per week.

I took two fairly short drives this past week and really enjoyed the day. Best of all, the crops are beginning to be harvested which means payday for the Farmers and great views for my drives.

I enjoyed my weekly lunch with my Daughter Becky and on Saturday several of our family met at her house to celebrate Austin’s 17^th Birthday.

17! Can Austin really be 17?

Austin is an excellent student and he is currently attending both Cerro Gordo High School and Richland Community College where he is scheduled to receive his Associate Degree the same weekend as he receives his High School Diploma!

The LORD’s Day was wonderful!

You know… the reality is that if you have two Churches one will inevitably be better than the other. They may both be very good Churches, but no two Churches are exactly the same so one will inevitable be better than the other.

Well… as of June of 2020, Southern Baptists currently have 47,530 Churches.

No doubt many of these are truly great Churches.

But, logically, among all of these Churches, there has to be one that is the very best of all of them.

AND LAST SUNDAY I WAS ABLE TO BE IN THAT CHURCH!

I have really missed being at First Baptist Atwood and it was a joy to worship IN PERSON with my Church; to see these dear friends; to experience the worship service; and, to hear my Pastor’s sermon from Philippians 2:5-11.

I have enjoyed visiting Churches where friends of mine are serving, Churches where I have had the opportunity to lead revivals and/or conferences, and one of the three Churches that First Baptist Atwood helped to plant.

I will visit a few more of those Churches over the next three or four weeks, but I am looking forward to every opportunity to worship with and in my beloved Church!

As the LORD allows, I hope to be able to visit all of our Central Baptist Association Churches a time or two in the coming year.

I dearly appreciate your prayers for me and my family. My son Tim and his wife Roxane just purchased a new house five miles North of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin!

Looking forward to another blessed and happy week ahead…

This past week, the LORD has again blessed me with good health, safe travels, and another wonderful week!

With the LORD’s help, I have been able to continue my healthier eating plan and to walk 2 miles per day 6 days per week.

Friday, September 11^th was the 22^nd Wedding Anniversary of my son Tim and his wife, Roxane!

I know it is hard to believe but I actually changed my schedule this past week… I went for a drive on Thursday instead of Friday!

And what a drive!

I drove to East Peoria to take a few photos of the Richland Baptist Church where I was privileged to lead a revival several years ago. (This Church is also special to me because it was planted about 60 years ago by my dear friend and mentor, Tom Miller!)

While I have previously always driven to that area by coming to the Illinois River on I-74, I figured that because of the location of the Church on Springfield Road in East Peoria that there should have been a way to get there from the south on a “country road” avoiding the Interstate.

Indeed, there is! Taking the first County Road west of I-39 off Illinois 136, that County Road becomes Springfield Road and is the very street on which the Church is located.

What a lovely and fun drive!

On the way back, taking Illinois 10 south off of 136, I took Lower Salt Creek Road south at Tehran, Illinois… and once again enjoyed one of the loveliest drives in Central Illinois.

That tiny County Road has some of the most breath-taking views in our area. I HIGHLY recommend you take that when you have the opportunity.

On Friday, I enjoyed my weekly brunch with my daughter Becky!

On Sunday, I drove to Urbana to worship with the Redeemer Church which is one of the three Churches that FBC Atwood helped to plant while I served there.

At least, that is what I thought.

The members of Redeemer Church recently did a “restart” of the Church led by a Church in Edwardsville, Illinois, and they have called a new Pastor!

The Church, which is still meeting in the same location – the former facility of Urbana First Baptist Church at the intersection of West Illinois and Race streets – is now called “New City Church.”

To say that I was blessed by the service would be a tremendous understatement!

There appeared to be 60 or so in attendance who were mostly younger adults including several families with small children. There were obviously some U of I students.

The Praise Team provided excellent worship music and the hymns were theologically sound and very well done.

The new Pastor is Nick Volkening, and his expository application of Matthew 5:13-16 was “spot on.”

They wisely practiced social distancing and I think that everyone there had their masks on. I was warmly greeted by the Pastor and two other members and by a U of I student who was there for his first time.

Of course, I went for a bit of a drive “through the country” on the way home and soon after getting home I had the joy of watching the video of the Worship Service at FBC Atwood.

The Music and Preaching were great as always… and I really, really, really enjoyed the testimony time which included a testimony by a first-time visitor!

All-in-all, this was a happy and blessed week!

I deeply appreciate your continuing prayers for me.

This past week, the LORD has again blessed me with good health, safe travels, and another wonderful week!

With the LORD’s help, I have been able to continue my healthier eating plan and to walk 2 miles per day 6 days per week.

I have lost 33 pounds since early March and seem to have “leveled off” over the past two weeks. Again, what I have done is to not eat any restaurant food at all, eat lots of salads, and I have cut out donuts and most snack foods in addition to walking two miles per day almost every day.

I call this my “don’t be stupid” diet!

I continue my trek through the New Testament and today, (9/8) I read Galatians.

I am also enjoying more prayer time for my family and friends than before, and all-in-all, I feel better than I have in a long time.

Last Wednesday, I met with Pastor at Church for a couple of hours and talked about the ministry of “coaching.”

I took two fairly long drives this past week with the longest being to Bishop Hill northwest of Galva, Illinois.

On the other trip, while I was walking around in the Steenburgen Cemetery near Mt. Pulaski, (Pastor Clyde Shreve is buried there) I found two graves of Revolutionary War Veterans and the grave of an Indian War Veteran!

Last Sunday, I had planned to visit a Church in the Springfield area, but learned that they are meeting outside; and at Church time, it was thunder storming and raining, so I watched services at FBC Atwood “live” and was really blessed!

As the LORD allows, this coming LORD’s Day, I plan to visit one of the three churches that Atwood First helped to plant over the past ten years and see how they are doing. (The last time I checked, they have more people coming to worship than FBC Atwood!)

I had a wonderful surprise yesterday! Reverend Frank Marshall called me to let me know he saw in the Illinois Baptist that I had retired and he wanted to let me know he was thinking of and praying for me!

Today, September 8^th, 2020, marks the 1^st Anniversary of the passing of my dear friend Dr. Dennis Shaw.

Please pray for Kathy and their family as you think of them this week.

This past week, the LORD has again blessed me with good health, safe travels, and another wonderful week!

With the LORD’s help, I have been able to continue my healthier eating plan and to walk 2 miles per day 6 days per week.

Last Wednesday, Pastor Woody and I drove around the Atwood area to make visits. We were able to visit with Charlotte Eagan and her son, Ron, and Charlotte’s friend Dale.

We spoke to Sue Curry and Craig Chapman on the phone but were not able to visit with them at their homes.

I did quite a bit of driving this past week including a trip to Galesburg to visit Dr. Lewis Woods and his wife Dorothy. Lewis is the Pastor of Calvary Baptist Church and he is the President of Illinois Baptist College that has groups at Antioch Baptist in Decatur and in the Quad-Cities area.

My long-time friend Dr. Tom Rains from Quincy was able to meet with me and Dr. and Mrs. Woods also!

On Sunday, I visited with Pastor Mike Wilder, his sister Dawn, (who is a former NAMB Missionary) and the folk at First Baptist Church in Tuscola, Illinois!

THE WEEK IN REVIEW – August 17^th through 23^rd

This past week, the LORD has again blessed me with good health, safe travels, and another wonderful week!

With the LORD’s help, I have been able to continue my healthier eating plan and to walk 2 miles per day 6 days per week.

This has indeed been a blessed and happy week. I have done a lot of driving this week – even for me.

On Friday, I drove to far southeastern Illinois JUST TO SEE SOME TOWNS.

This is a new thing for me, I usually go to photograph a church or see some particular thing. When I do that I usually drive TO the site and then drive BACK from the site.

I really enjoyed looking around these towns and will likely do more of that in the near future.

On Saturday, I drove north to Mendota, Illinois (about half-way between Lake Geneva, Wisconsin and Decatur) and met with my son Tim and his family from Wisconsin, and my daughter Becky and her family drove up also so we had a picnic lunch and spent about three hours together at Lake Mendota Park.

Of course, on the way home I drove through the Country and saw some lovely country and some small towns I know about but had not visited.

This morning (Sunday, 8/23) I was able to worship at the First Baptist Church of Sullivan where my long-time friend Mark Bjornbak serves as the Pastor.

Gary Bryant is working with them there developing their Audio-Visual ministry. It was great to see Gary today.

I am relaxing a bit this afternoon and will watch the video of  today’s worship service from First Baptist Atwood later this afternoon.

All-in-all, another wonderful week!

Thank YOU, LORD!