EDITOR'S NOTE: This week's Part One coverage includes the following speakers: Paige Patterson, Sal Sberna, Ken Whitten, and Tim Patterson. Part Two coverage, Nov. 27, will include speakers: Lewis C. Lampley, Daniel L. Akin, Bob Reccord, Craig Conner, and Jeff Crook.

TAMPA (FBW)-Ten speakers at the Florida Baptist Pastors' Conference in Tampa Nov. 9-10 spoke to nearly 1,600 participants on a wide-range of issues related to purity-while Dorothy Patterson, wife of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary president Paige Patterson, addressed women in a special break-out luncheon session Nov. 10.

Hosted by Idlewild Baptist Church, the luncheon, a first during the Pastors' Conference, featuring Dorothy Patterson, was held during the morning session of the conference and spilled over into lunch. LifeWay Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention hosted a lunchtime barbeque for those not attending the women's luncheon.

Michael Schatz, minister of music at First Baptist Church of Glen St. Mary, led worship during the conference. He was joined by 24/7, an evangelical band based in Glen St. Mary, and StrikeForce, a choral group from The Baptist College of Florida, led by Don Odom, professor of music.

During a brief business session, conferees also elected the following officers for 2004: President, William "Willy" Rice, Hillcrest Baptist Church, Pensacola; president-elect, Hal Kitchings, First Baptist Church, Eustis; first vice-president, Alan Floyd, First Baptist Church, Middleburg; and second vice-president, Jeremy Moore, Northside Baptist Church, Panama City.

Speaking on the "Power of Purity," conference leaders spoke on purity in the pulpit, in the pastor and in the pew - using the text of Romans 12:1-2: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

A pastor's purity

Delivering the first message, Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a past president of the Southern Baptist Convention, told the story of Zorah and Menoah and their son Samson from Judges 13.

The barren couple had all but given up on having a child when Zorah began to be visited by an angel of the Lord, Patterson said. The angel told Zorah she would give birth to the One who would deliver all of Israel.

"What if God gave you a guaranteed baby?" Patterson asked the conference participants, and you wouldn't have to hope he wouldn't be a murderer, a thief, or may "bring sorrow to your heart."

Describing the couple's son Samson, Patterson said the Spirit of the Lord began to "move" on him and he was known as a capable and strong Nazarene - like many of the young men and women with whom Patterson has worked with for the past 30 years.

"What a wonderful life of promise this is," said Patterson. "I see creatures like this all the time. [Y]et 10 years later I read in the newspaper they've cratered out and taken a church down. You read about it every day.

"Samson turned to a cardinal life of pleasure," Patterson continued. He married outside of his faith, he entered into an adulterous relationship, and he discarded his parents' influence.

"Preacher, you know that ... is the only line of demarcation between a God-blessed lifetime of ministry and a total wipe out somewhere down the line," Patterson said of Samson's behavior. "Samson forgot one simple truth - we are called to please God, not ourselves."

Of Samson's lure into sin - Patterson said Samson "established a pattern" of pleasing himself.

"Preacher, you better get your thought life in hand and keep your heart diligent. For out of it are the issues of life," he warned.

Pointing out that out of the heart comes adultery and murder, Patterson said age doesn't matter when it comes to temptation - that it doesn't end when one gets older. He also warned pastors to not counsel women in their offices alone, whatever the circumstances.

If pastors find themselves in that inappropriate situation, they should be willing to act drastically to avoid any impropriety.

"I don't care if the office is on the third floor," said Patterson. "Dive out of the window."

Patterson also suggested if a pastor has a problem with pornography on the computer, he should "take an axe and chop [the computer] into a million pieces."

Referring to independent Baptists, Patterson said their idea of "secondary separation" was a good one. "I believe we made a terrible mistake," he said. "They were into secondary separation and we are into total accommodation.

"Be careful what you come to accommodate," Patterson said. "The day has come when we say everything that happens in the church of God must honor God and not just the senses."

Telling the stories of Peter Abelard, a highly respected twelfth century scholar who had an affair with and impregnated a young woman; and of Polycarp, a second century pastor of the church of Smyrna, who refused to declare, "Caesar is Lord," Patterson said the contrast is striking.

"Preacher, you will finish one way or the other," said Patterson. "In the shame of Peter Abelard, or else ... in the triumph like Polycarp, the Bishop of Smyrna.

"Do it God's way. Please Him, don't please yourself," Patterson concluded.

Restoring passion in a pastor's life

Sal Sberna, pastor, Metropolitan Baptist Church, Houston, Texas, used the text of 1 King 19 to tell the story of Elijah's success after first fearing to follow the Lord's command in turning Israel back to the Lord.

Describing Elijah eventually as a "passionate, strong leader," Sberna said he could have given in to fear, but chose instead to ignore his critics and face the task that was his.

Sberna said Elijah could be described as physically exhausted-something Sberna said he has experienced himself.

Relating a story about being a "Type A person with ADD," Sberna said he was "so physically and emotionally exhausted," he didn't want to "face anybody any longer."

Emotionally spent, with his soul "a little ragged around the edges," Sberna said he went to the leaders in his church and suggested he needed a break. "I need at least a month off," he said he told the chairman of the deacons.

After two months off, Sberna said he went back to the church with a renewed sense of "clarity."

"I have heard from God. I have passion in my life," he said. "There are people out there that have an agenda for you.

"Stay on God's agenda," Sberna concluded. "Restore your passion. Get away and find out what it means once again to hear the voice of God."

Pursuing purity in the pulpit

A man of God both belongs to God and behaves like God, said Ken Whitten, pastor, Idlewild Baptist Church, Tampa, drawing from the account of Elijah in 1 Kings 17.

Listing various other titles people have used to describe pastors, like "communicators, motivators, teachers, coaches," Whitten said the biblical term is most appropriate.

"God still says there's something about you and I, that we are men of God," said Whitten.

Three words which Whitten said are synonymous with men of God are: Credibility, authority and integrity.

A man's credibility is evidenced by his intimacy with God and his compassion with people, he said.

"When you pat a kid's head, you are patting a mama's heart," Whitten pointed out. "God has called us as men of God to bring boys and girls back to life."

Authority is evident when a man of God is consistent, insistent and persistent in his prayer life, said Whitten.

"Moses said, 'God, you can't destroy Israel," Whitten reminded conferees. "That is being insistent."

Finally, integrity is an integral part of being a man of God and integrity is obvious through a man of God's truthfulness and trustworthiness.

"Reputation is what you are in the light, character is what you are in the dark," Whitten remembered one preacher saying.

"May God give us a generation of godly men, holy men of God that are truthful and prayerful and faithful," he concluded.

Staying the course

Tim Patterson, pastor of First Baptist Church of Glen St. Mary and president of the Florida Baptist State Convention Pastors' Conference, delivered a message in place of Jay Dennis, pastor of The Church at the Mall, after Dennis was placed on vocal rest by his doctor.

"Guys, we are in a race, the race of our lives," Patterson said, referring to 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 to speak on "Finishing Strong."

Drawing an illustration from a trip to Africa, Patterson said he watched a cheetah chase an antelope across the grassy field. The antelope darted left and right, and the cheetah closed in on the chase, Patterson recalled. Then, all of a sudden, "the cheetah stopped."

Despite the cheetah's superior skills, "his heart was too small and couldn't keep up the run," Patterson said. "If you don't have a heart big enough and a passion strong enough to sustain you on the run, you will not finish well. We must develop our heart!"

Finishing strong requires several factors, Patterson said. Among them is a "steadfast determination." Citing the determination of Derek Redmond in the Barcelona Olympics as he was leading in the race, Patterson said Redmond was hobbled by a hamstring that left him flat on his face. Out of the stands bounded his dad who quickly ran to his son's side. Patterson recalled Redmond picked himself off the ground, and with the help of his father, finished the race. Patterson said the applause for Redmond was louder than for that of the victor.

Second, Patterson said "self denial" is needed. "God has called us to a higher standard" and if God is to be "glorified" by their actions, believers must deny self and run for God, Patterson asserted.

Believers face "strict discipline" if they are to finish strong, Patterson said. The goal should be to finish "approved" and "not disqualified" when the race is finished, he added.

Finally, quoting from 2 Timothy 4:6-8, Patterson encouraged listeners to be "successful disciples" who must be "ready for the finish. This is accomplished only through faithfulness to God," he said.