A LOOK BACK

2006 was a year that began with change. 2oo5 closed with three big events. Our second grandchild, Samuel, was born the day after Thanksgiving. Shauna and Ben Pilgreen live in Tuscaloosa, Alabama where Ben is College Minister at Calvary Baptist Church. Their oldest Elijah is three.

In December, Natalie returned from Russia where she served the International Mission Board as a Journeyman doing Sports Evangelism. She now lives in Louisville, KY where she is in her first year at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary studying missiology.

Katie, our youngest, married Matthew Srickland on New Years Eve of 2005. They live in Gainesville, GA where she teaches 2nd grade at Lyman Hall Elementary School. Matthew is a computer programmer for a company in Duluth, GA

After 26 years in the pastorate I resigned as Senior Pastor of Central Baptist Church in Americus on January 7. I have accepted the position of Ministry Resource Consultant with the Georgia Baptist Convention. My office is in Albany and we will be moving to the area in the near future.

God is good. He is forever faithful. Praise be to God for His goodness.

Lottie Has a Blog

Can you believe it? Lottie Moon has a blog. Yep, you can log on to "lottielives.blogspot.com." Check it out and learn more about the life and heart of one of Southern Baptists greatest heroes.

Thankful To Be A Southern Baptist

I have always belonged to a Southern Baptist Church. There has never been a time when I have wanted to be anything else. We are not a perfect people by any stretch of the imagination. However, like all believers we are being perfected.

We are at that time of year when we are receiving our mission offering for International Missions. We do the same in the spring for North American Missions and in the fall for State Missions.

The offering we are taking during this season was named after one of our most storied missionaries Charlotte Diggs "Lottie" Moon. Miss Moon served in China for over 39 years. She didn't just serve as a missionary, she identified with the people and gave her life in service to her Lord. She only came home when her health prevented her from staying and died on Christmas Eve on board ship bound for the states.

She has become something of a legend to us. But in her time Lottie was anything but an untouchable hero. In fact, she was like today's missionaries. She was a hard-working, deep-loving Southern Baptist who labored tirelessly so her people group could know Jesus.

Over the next weeks children will give their pennies and adults their dollars. Some churches will reach toward a goal of several hundreds of dollars while larger ones will set goals well into the thousands. Last year almost 138 million dollars was given toward a goal of 150 million.

A long time ago before I was even a thought in my parent's mind God gave Southern Baptist leaders a vision for a vehicle through which we could do missions and evangelism around the world and at home. They were convicted that we could do so much more together than we could do on our own.

In 1925 the Cooperative Program was born. Through this cooperative stewardship vehicle, Southern Baptists pool their monies in order to fund mission and evangelistic causes.

I have never been a part of a church that did not give to the Cooperative program. I never interd to be a part of one either. It is not the only way, it may not be the best way, but it is the best I have seen and until someone comes up with a better plan it's the one for me. Dr. J. Robert White, Executive Secretary Treasurer of the Georgia Baptist Convention says, "If there were no Cooperative Program we would have to invent something just like it in order to accomplish our mission."

Notherbeau

Notherbeau is a name that I gave to my grandmother years ago because I could not say "mother." I am told that one day I was calling out "beau" (mother) and my mother responded. I was really trying to get my grandmother's attention so I said "notherbeau" (or my other mother).

In those days daycare was at our grandparents house. Those were cool times. Whether playing catch with my granddaddy or going to Mr. Roper's store or fishing, it was a trip. Those were the days my friend.

Notherbeau went home to be with the Lord on Monday, November 13, 2006. She was ready. She had been emotionally ready for about 4 years. She had been spiritually ready ever since she was saved.

Most of the family was there as we watched her slip into glory. The Bible says, "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on...that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow them." (Rev. 14:13)

She never learned to drive. My dad was the only one that would even venture to teach her. He said that she put the car in the ditch one time to many and he said he had had enough. I don't exactly know how we will get around in heaven, but I feel pretty confident that she will have no trouble now.

She was a Sunday School teacher that loved the Lord, loved the Bible and loved her class. She visited, called and served faithfully at Walker Baptist Church in Monroe, Georgia as long as her body would allow.

She was a prayer warrior. Many times we would visit her and as we walked into the room we would catch her praying. Such was the case in mid-October when Phyllis and I took our youngest grandson Samuel to see her. She held him and talked to him.

Good-bye Notherbeau. Our loss is heaven's gain.