From the Heart of the Pastor

 It is so easy to take things for granted.  Maybe it is just me, but I have been so blessed in my life that I often assume I will always have everything I have.  I often take for granted by beautiful wife.  She is everything God created a wife to be, yet it is far too rare that I really stop and consider her love and devotion to me.  The same could be said about my children.  They are wonderful gifts from the Lord, but how often do I really appreciate how terrific they are?  I take my own health for granted.  We rarely think about breathing, until we can’t.  In fact, I have found that it is the very things that I treasure most and depend upon most that I take for granted most.  I pray God will further convict me of this, constantly bringing these things to mind so that I might praise him for them.

          Do we ever take things for granted in the church?  You could probably think of a dozen blessings from God that you have just assumed have always been there and always will be there.  I want to mention one in particular:  The Cooperative Program of Southern Baptists.  I think we take the Cooperative Program for granted.  If you are asking yourself, what is the Cooperative Program, that is clear evidence that we have not given it due attention.  The Cooperative Program is the means by which Southern Baptists all over the world are able to do kingdom work on a massive scale.  Each month we give 10% of our received money to Southern Baptist causes in Texas and throughout the world through the Cooperative Program.  In addition, at various times in the year we supplement this regular giving with special offerings.  At Easter, we give generously to North American missions through the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering.  In September, we participate in our Reach Texas campaign.  This offering supplements our cooperative program giving right here in Texas, for missions mobilization, disaster relief, and church planting.  Finally, at Christmas we give to international missions through the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering.

          Why do I say we take this for granted?  The Cooperative Program is the greatest mechanism in the history of the church for the funding of missions and other kingdom work.  I truly believe that with all my heart.  That which we take for granted, we are in danger of losing.  Let’s recommit anew to embrace this gift of cooperation God has entrusted to us.  In the process, we will be taking the gospel to the uttermost ends of the earth, even though most of us will never actually go to those places.

In Christ, 

Blain Craig

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