Aug 27, 2019
In 2003, sixteen years ago, at our General Conference sessions in Newberg, OR, I was elected to serve on the General Council. In October of 2003, the General Council had a conference call and one of the pressing agenda items was to find our new Executive Director. When the slate of potential candidates was shared, my name was on the list! My first thought was this was a prank or a hazing. However, I was assured that the list was legitimate. And yet, I was still dumbfounded. Why was my name on the list? Why was I even a consideration? But, no worries, it will never get to me.
Well, I am sure you figured out the rest of the story: I started in May 2004. And yet, I still had this nagging question on my mind: “Why me, God?”
God’s answer didn’t take long. In June, the Summer Institute course on SDB History was being taught by Janet Thorngate. I decided to read the assigned materials and to sit in on the sessions. During this time, it became clear to me why God called me to this position. From the course’s reading materials, and the research, I was left with the distinct impression that we needed a people person, a communicator, an administrator, and someone with a logistics and product development background—these were all talents that God had blessed me with.
Mark Twain once wrote, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.” The day you were born is not something that you get to choose. But one of the things you do get to choose is what you will do with the talents that God gave you. Another choice is what your legacy will be: what you will be remembered for when you are gone.
President Abraham Lincoln said, “In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” For 28 years I was involved in the sporting goods business, with 21 of those in golf equipment and its development. But the last 15 years, serving the Seventh Day Baptist General Conference, have been the most rewarding and fulfilling of my entire working career!
Our denomination’s future will be decided by what we are willing to do—and how far we are willing to allow it to become! I have said many times over the past fifteen years, “Together We Can!” With God’s direction, and the Holy Spirit’s guiding hand, we can accomplish so much together…in unity…and in collaboration.
We have built trust within our ranks and have entrusted a few with the majority of the work over the years. But we, all of us here today, and those in our churches, we as a team, will move the Conference forward, on the same course, and in unity, and in harmony.
Your Conference leaders have been serving, and directing, Seventh Day Baptists faithfully for many years. Our next Executive Director, Carl Greene, will help take Seventh Day Baptists into ground-breaking areas of ministry and into new fields for the harvest. I am eager with anticipation to see where Carl will help lead us.
There are some things in your life that you don’t get to choose. YOU do get to choose what you do with the talents that God gave you! If your life’s sole focus is that of self-interest, you won’t be missed when you are gone.
The late President Ronald Reagan once said, “There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don’t care who gets the credit.”
So, find a cause greater than yourself, one that will outlive you, and pour yourself into it. Don’t just leave a will, leave a legacy that fulfills God’s will.
What’s God’s will in YOUR life? What legacy are YOU working on? How can we help YOU with your journey?
Thank you for allowing me to serve you and serve WITH you.
God Bless You All!
