Don WiltonI write this short letter to you with so much joy in my heart. I returned home recently from a trip to Africa with a heightened sense of gratitude to our Heavenly Father and a renewed sense of gratitude for every faithful member of our more than 2,000 Baptist churches in South Carolina.
Perhaps you might want to stop and think about the overabundance of God’s blessings, which He pours out on all of us – and then, to live in such a beautiful corner of God’s vineyard on top of it all!
My involvement with our incredible South Carolina Baptist Convention office, and my opportunity to interact with so many of our Baptist churches as your president, has already left me in awe of God’s graciousness to us.
Just think about it – did you know we started 47 new churches last year? Did you know we baptized a record number of new believers?
Did you know our convention is practically debt-free? Did you know we have the finest convention staff team imaginable in Columbia, under the wonderful leadership of Carlisle Driggers? They are faithful, loyal and precious servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. The convention office is a happy, happening place!
By the way, do you want to see people come to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord? Do you want to see your church grow? Think no further than yourself. Take what we pride ourselves on by reputation throughout the world: Southern hospitality! Become in the church exactly what we have become to the rest of the world. It is more effective than any program. It is more significant than any joint resolution.
As an individual person who loves the Lord Jesus Christ, step aside from yourself. Shake every hand, welcome every person and invite every visitor. Sit with them, eat with them, talk to them, and love them. Let your precious spirit out of the box, and watch what God will do.
Keep up the good work and present yourself in God’s house, with your Bibles in hand.