Friday, September 12, 2008

National Baptist Convention

This week has been a tremendous blessing in my life! I was privileged to attend the 128th Annual Session of the National Baptist Convention USA Inc.! The theme of the Convention was "The Heavenly Vision and the Morals of the Church", taken from Proverbs 6:16-19, Micah 6:8, and Matthew 25:31-46.

I heard many expositions on this theme this past week and I came to the conclusion that the decline of the practice of morality by the church has been because of a deterioration in the proclamation of the message of the church! The practice of "watering down" the message by some to be more "seeker friendly" has crippled the morals of the church. We have more unwed mothers and divorcees than any other religious group! We must get back to sound, solid biblical preaching to change the moral climate of the church! Here's an equation for you to consider: A lack of preaching to the world, results in a lack of power in the world. In other words, when we don't preach sound sermons, we lose our ability to influence others!

Some of the major highlights for me was when Pastor Frederick Haynes gave a fitting tribute to the late Dr. C.A.W. Clark. This was concluded by the playing one of Dr. Clark's famous sermons "Is there a preacher in the house?" I was in awe seeing all of the people responding and rejoicing as we listened to the king of preachers do his thing! We were also blessed by the presence and a presentation by Michele Obama. Both parties were invited, and we thanked her for accepting the invitation.

I also contributed to Home and Foreign Missions and went to their sessions. I know that attending conventions is not popular among pastors and preacher my age, and I do understand the concern about the relevance, but I do believe in them, especially in the area of missions. These district, state, and national meetings not only offer fellowship and opportunities for exposure, but they give us an opportunity to do together what we could not do apart. NBCUSA Inc, built a new hospital in Africa! The progress of the Housing Commission in the last 19 years includes: 30 housing sites in 27 cities and 15 states totaling 1036 units representing over $150,000,000.00 in funding!

All in all, it was a blessed week!! Pray for us as we settle back in and get back to work serving this present age!

5 comments:

HALLELUJAH said...

It appears you had a very enriching time. Fellowshipping is always in order on GOD(S) TIME!!! It is fascinating to here of Michele Obama presence in the House; we as a people of color have come so far from the inception of the First Convention. GOD is truly awesome!!! May you and yours be truly Blessed in your pilgrimage.


GSJ Member

Pastor A. A. McGhee said...

My Brother,

It makes my heart glad to know that your appreciation and assessment of convention life and work has grow even stronger than before. So glad you made it home safely and look forward to sharing with you soon.

Rev.Aaron Holcombe said...

Glad to hear of the great time you had at the convention. I believe that it is important to attend these conventions. I myself enjoy the fellowship with other believers at them. I recently attended the National Free Will Baptist Convention and was blessed by it. God bless you in your continued ministry for Him.

Rev. Barney said...

I am sure it was a blessing for you to attend the session. I pray that what ever gems you gleamed from the fellowship you share with those in your local fellowship who are bi-vocational and was unable to attend. Praise God for traveling grace. I look forward to sitting down and talking with you.

Pastor Kelly B. Williams Sr. said...

Hey Pastor "Spoon"
Glad to hear you had a good time in Cincy. I was hoping to make it but was tied up with things here. God's Blessings on you!!!