About a week ago, members of our staff returned from a Southeast Asia vision tour. They met with International Mission Board missionaries and spent time in villages with local believers. They also explored opportunities for North Carolina Baptists to engage this area of the world with the gospel, which is home to more than 340 unreached, unengaged people groups.

Some college students spend the summer break enjoying a little down time after working hard all year to meet the grueling demands of the academic school year, and they certainly deserve this time off during the summer.   However, students participating in the Baptist State Convention’s summer missions program will use their summer for something special as they share the gospel locally, nationally and around the world.

About two years ago the Barna Group released a research study that concluded only about four percent of Americans tithe. To know that only such a small percentage of believers tithe not only disappoints my heart, but also greatly concerns me.   Our Lord provides us with financial resources so that we may better serve and glorify Him.

When their daughter Kenzie was just three weeks old, Eddie and Tracy Martin learned that she had a rare form of Down Syndrome. On that same day, the Martins were told their daughter needed heart surgery, and she needed it immediately.   I can only imagine the worry and sleepless nights these parents must have experienced.

Mission and vision clarification are essential in organizations of every size. Unless North Carolina Baptists understand and embrace the mission and vision of this Convention there is little motivation for them to support the future direction of this Convention’s ministry and missionary endeavors.

In his booklet “Awaken,” Chris Schofield tells how a prayer movement began in New York City in 1857 when one person began praying that God would bring people together to pray. On the first day of prayer one man knelt alone to pray, even though he had encouraged people to join him through distributing hundreds of handbills entitled “How often shall we pray?” However, his pleas to God were eventually rewarded because he persisted.

With each passing year that the Lord privileges me to serve Him, my appreciation, understanding and amazement of all that I observe God doing continues to increase. As I look toward next month and my seven-year anniversary of serving as your executive director-treasurer [of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina], I am filled with gratitude to God for the tremendous blessing of serving N.

In Acts 8:26-31 we read about a divine encounter that leads to a spiritual rebirth in Jesus Christ. In this text we read that God sent Philip to meet an Ethiopian eunuch. When Philip met the eunuch he was reading from the prophet Isaiah. He wanted to know more about God, but he needed someone to help him understand the truths of scripture.

Later this year, in November, Billy Graham will celebrate his 95th birthday.   The Lord has used Rev. Graham to proclaim the message of our Savior’s cross throughout much of the world. I have always been encouraged by his humility and his unwavering commitment to share the gospel.

Several years ago the Barna Group conducted a research study to help determine some of the challenges that evangelicals experience regarding their spiritual growth.   One of the findings especially caught my attention: Of those surveyed, four out of five born again Christians believed that spiritual maturity is “trying hard to follow the rules.

Most of you are familiar with the “Seven Pillars for Ministry” that serve as core values to help our state convention stay focused on its mission of assisting North Carolina Baptist churches. One of these core values is “reaching North Carolina’s international community.

For many people the New Year is a time for a fresh start – a time to resolve to do things differently than the year before. Although we usually begin the New Year with great expectations we often, after a short time, find ourselves already behind in our commitments and resolutions.

Did you notice how quickly the stores and shopping malls began to decorate and get ready for Christmas?   They want to get customers “in the mood” for gift shopping. People are excited to start the Christmas season. I greatly enjoy this special time of the year, including the decorations and festivities.

In 2009, I was privileged to preach and promote the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering in First Baptist Church of Charlottesville, Va. , where Lottie was baptized as a young girl. Lottie was small in stature (4 feet, 3 inches), but powerful in her witness for Christ because she spent time in prayer.

Thanksgiving is a special time to celebrate and give thanks for all God has done in our lives and for His Kingdom. I have much to be thankful for, such as my family and friends. But above all, I am thankful to God for salvation and for calling me His child. There is no greater gift, no greater blessing, in this world than living in the joy of knowing Christ Jesus my Savior.