Missouri Baptist Convention = done!

We just got back home from a great 3 days at the Missouri Baptist Convention held at 1st Baptist Church in Raytown, MO. The highlights of the week were plenty. I'd like to mention a few starting with the reelection of a godly group of officers; Jamie Hitt, Mitch Jackson, John Marshall & Bruce McCoy. I'm thankful for the leadership of this team over the past year and look forward to the next year as well. Beyond that I was particularly grateful to see a resolution passed affirming that we will pray for the work of the Great Commission Resurgence Task Force. I'm thankful for our commitment to the work of the task force. Of course interacting with the employees of the Missouri Baptist Convention is always a pleasure. I'm thankful for the good men and women that work for the MBC. I am also grateful for the fantastic job Doug Richey and the other officers did putting this year's Pastor's Conference together. Finally, I am grateful for the alternate giving plan endorsed by the MBC. For those of us who share biblical opposition to the ongoing legal action of the MBC, this allows us to continue to faithfully engage in the life of the convention while remaining faithful to our conscience before the Lord. On a personal note, preaching the Convention Sermon was an incredible privilege and one which weighed heavy on my heart but turned out to be more enjoyable than I ever imagined. I love preaching, would prefer to preach than even go to Six Flags :-), and I'm thankful for the privilege of sharing God's Word with others. Video of the message is currently being uploaded and should be available online within the next few days. I'll post it soon. I'm praying that God will use this message to ignite in our hearts a passion for Gospel partnership, through our diversity, for the sake of God's Kingdom.

Another exciting development, and until a couple days ago an unexpected one, was that I was elected as an officer of the MBC Pastor's Conference on Monday. I had never even thought about the possibility until last Friday when I received a phone call asking if I would allow my name to be placed in nomination. After 24 hours to pray through it, Tracy and I agreed it would be a good idea and I was blessed to have Dr. John Marshall nominate me. Since nobody else was nominated, the convention gets stuck with me! ;-) Being elected means I will serve a 3 year term. Next year I will serve as Treasurer, the year after as President-Elect and finally in 2012 I will serve as President.

There were a number of issues that I found to be disappointing, but to be honest they were far outweighed by the good news coming from this convention and so I think I'll leave those thoughts unpublished! ;-) I'd much prefer to highlight the encouraging developments of the week.

So all things considered, this was an incredibly encouraging convention to me. I'm thankful for what occurred this week and I'm looking forward to seeing how God may shape our convention for the future!