Hello, Texas Baptists. A couple of weekends ago, I had the unique privilege of performing a wedding ceremony for a young man and young lady in Dripping Springs. What made it unique was the fact 33 years ago I performed the wedding ceremony for this young lady’s parents. And it’s the second of their daughters for whom I was given this privilege. There are some things in the ministry that are wearisome and troubling. However, the good things far outweigh the bad, and this was one of those good things.
David HardageWhile in Dripping Springs for the wedding, I had the opportunity to stop by First Baptist Church , where Craig Curry is the pastor. He and several men from his church were having a grilling contest on Saturday at noon. As I examined the grills, I especially was intrigued by the dish known as “Bacon Explosion.” It was a fun visit.
Your Baptist Building staff recently hosted the directors of missions from our five largest associations—Union (Houston), Dallas, San Antonio, Tarrant (Fort Worth) and Austin. It was a good day of listening, learning and planning for the future. It is my prayer that more and more Texas Baptists will understand and embrace the practice and power of cooperation.
Kathleen and I enjoyed spending Easter Sunday morning with First Baptist Church of Huntsville. I served as their interim pastor a few years ago, and they find themselves in the pastor-search process again. We love the church and were blessed wonderfully by a great Easter celebration.
I want to thank our Texas Baptist evangelism staff, especially Frank Palos, for another spectacular Congreso . This year, Congreso was held at the Extraco Events Center in Waco, and several thousand Hispanic students and their church leaders attended. It was a time of spiritual inspiration, training and evangelism. These kinds of life-changing opportunities are only possible because of people like you and churches like yours! Therefore, on behalf of all those whose were positively and powerfully impacted, I say, “Thank you.”
Speaking of positive and powerful events, let me also thank our Baptist Student Ministry staff, led by Bruce McGowan, for another wonderful week of Beach Reach. More than 700 of your Texas Baptist Student Ministry students were on South Padre Island during spring break sharing the gospel, meeting the needs of college students and presenting the best of Christian grace, love and mercy. This is just another example of what Texas Baptists do when we pull together.
Finally, continuing with the theme of pulling together, let me ask you to prayerfully consider joining in on the Mother’s Day Texas Baptist Hunger Offering. The goal is a bold one: One Day—One Million Dollars ! The hunger needs of many in our state are drastic and, therefore, so should our response be. Please be the leader in your church who makes sure that somehow, some way on Mother’s Day a special offering is received to help us alleviate some of the hunger problems some of our fellow Texans face. Thank you!
David Hardage is executive director of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board.
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