Don WiltonGreetings to you, my brothers and sisters in Christ. I trust you are doing well. You are loved and prayed for by so many people. Thank you for your faithfulness to our Savior and Lord as we serve Him together in our beautiful state and around the world.
I continue to be grateful for the opportunity to serve as your president this year. It is truly remarkable to see and watch all God is doing in and through our work for Him as South Carolina Baptists.
My frequent trips down to our convention building in Columbia have thoroughly warmed my heart. Not only has God given us a magnificent building made of brick and mortar, but He has filled that place up with the most dedicated and precious group of men and ladies one could ever imagine.
At a recent worship service I was privileged to participate in, one could sense the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in that place.
During my travels to many churches and crusades around the world, I have come to appreciate the fact that the Holy Spirit can only operate when there is a willing and contrite heart open to receive a fresh word from our Savior. The presence of unconfessed sin, mingled with a refusal to submit to the Lord’s presence, always quenches the work of the Spirit. We can all bear testimony to this in our own congregations.
Remember, the church is both “gathered” and “scattered.” In terms of South Carolina, the convention presents a picture of the former, while our individual congregations represent the latter.
Together, as South Carolina Baptists, we can accomplish great things in missions and evangelism through our unified cooperative giving, through our prayers and through our joint participation in the many opportunities to serve our Savior and our fellow man.
I really hope you will join me and all our fellow South Carolinians for our State Evangelism Conference Feb. 27 and 28 at Trinity Baptist Church in Cayce. It will be time very well spent, and the fellowship is out of this world.
Wilton is pastor of First Baptist Church, Spartanburg, and president of the South Carolina Baptist Convention.