Admittedly, the call was disappointing: another local church pastor, frustrated by the news about our national partners and the Aug. 15 Department of Justice subpoena of the SBC. We are all disappointed that a zealous federal entity has breached the protocol of religious liberty and, in the least, created a public relations nightmare for our cooperative mission work.

For 25 years, Team Yeats (Sharon and I) sat at the Recording Secretary’s desk to record the proceedings of the Southern Baptist Annual Meeting. We both agree, it’s been an honor to serve and to work with some of Southern Baptists’ finest servants.

“I can honestly proclaim that my dad’s life – his kindness, his integrity, his ‘fix it’ capabilities, and his words are the indelible testimony to a great father.”

Memorial Day was first called “Decoration Day,” the first national day of decorating the graves of those men and women who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our personal and religious freedom.

“Resurrection Day is the celebration of hope in Christ. ... Fear be gone. Let the invincible hope of Jesus triumph!”

For church leaders, the function that perhaps brings the greatest value to both the minister and the local church is the work of the MBC Leader Care Network operating within the Developing Leaders Group.