The Baptist Testimony, Volume 55 Number 6 November and December 2009

 You can also download a PDF of the Volume 55 Number 6 November/December 2009 (1.5mb PDF; PC: Right click / MAC: Control click on the link and choose “Save As”)

​The Baptist Testimony
Volume 55 Number 6 November/December 2009
The Word Has It

“Strengthen me according to Your word,” Psalm 119:28
Ken Floyd
MARBC Executive Director

 “Thanks”

“I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.”  Ephesians 1:16

Steve Goodier, editor of “The Life Support System” newsletter, shared a story a few years ago regarding the importance of giving thanks. 

“When William Stidger taught at Boston University, he once reflected upon the great number of un-thanked people in his life. Those who had helped nurture him, inspire him or who cared enough about him to leave a lasting impression. One was a schoolteacher he’d not heard of in many years. But he remembered that she had gone out of her way to put a love of verse in him, and Will had loved poetry all his life. He wrote a letter of thanks to her. The reply he received, written in the feeble scrawl of the aged, began, ‘My dear Willie.’ He was delighted. Now over 50, bald and a professor, he didn’t think there was a person left in the world who would call him ‘Willie.’ 
​
The letter shared: ‘My dear Willie, I cannot tell you how much your note meant to me. I am in my eighties, living alone in a small room, cooking my own meals, lonely and, like the last leaf of autumn, lingering behind. You will be interested to know that I taught school for 50 years and yours is the first note of appreciation I ever received. It came on a blue-cold morning and it cheered me as nothing has in many years.’

Not prone to cry easily, Will wept over that note. She was one of the great un-thanked people from Will’s past. You know them. We all do. The teacher who made a difference. That coach we’ll never forget. The music instructor or Sunday school worker who helped us to believe in ourselves. That scout leader who cared.”  (“The Life Support System,” November 2004)

We all remember people who shaped our lives in various ways. Especially those whose influence changed us. Will Stidger found a way to show his appreciation — he wrote them letters. Who are some of the un-thanked people from your past? It may not be too late to say, “Thanks.”

This issue of the Baptist Testimony focuses upon the sacrificial ministries of many who joined together this year in “CPR Initiative” opportunities.  These “Church Partnering Relationships” have been a blessing for those involved and no doubt continue to bring glory to God.  As you read the testimonies shared in each story, will you join me in giving thanks to God for the wonderful opportunities that we have as a fellowship of churches to partner together and give glory to the Glorious Head of the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ?

And as we enter into a season of celebration in the final two months of the year, take a few moments to thank some of the special people that God has used as blessings in your life. Sharon and I just did that – thanking God for you!  Your prayer and financial support are great blessings to us as we minister with you for the glory of Christ and the edifying of His church.  Most of all, “Give thanks to the LORD Almighty, for the LORD is good; His mercy endures forever,” Jeremiah 33:11.

You have His Word on it! (KEF)