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FENTON, MI – Shar and I sat across the table from our youngest son Jon and his fiancé Bonnie. They were in their second year of college and we were glad to see them. Jon caught us completely off guard a few weeks earlier when he told us that he was getting an apartment. Between classes, work and time with Bonnie, we only caught glimpses of him coming and going. I was seriously not ready for him to move out. We helped him move, but as we left him at his apartment there was a loneliness in me that's hard to describe. As we drove away I realized I wasn't ready to be an empty nester. I should have been. We had been through a similar situation when our oldest son, Christian, moved out. He was in college and engaged to Brooke. He bought a house and rented rooms to his buddies until just before he married Brooke. The rehearsal was emotionally draining. I could hardly say a word without crying. I blubbered through the whole evening. It was so bad I wondered if I could make it through the ceremony - so did everyone else. With God's help, I pulled myself together and the ceremony was beautiful. Now we were sitting across from Jon and Bonnie. They dated through much of high school and Bonnie was already a part of our lives. I could hardly believe what Jon was saying. He had just moved out in May, gotten engaged in June, and now he was telling us that they were getting married in August. I thought we were just going to have dinner! I sat there with a blank look on my face as I tried to process it all. My head was spinning. I'm so grateful for my wife. Shar responded with incredible joy at the news. Her response pulled me out of my shock, and helped me respond with the support I had deep in my heart for them. I was honored when they asked me to perform the wedding ceremony. Two and a half decades of our lives had been wrapped up in parenting. We struggled for a while with infertility and a miscarriage of our first child, but God blessed us with two incredible boys. Now we were entering a new phase of life as our youngest son moved out and got married. We were living the reality of God's plan: "For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh" (Genesis 2:24). It's been ten years since Jon and Bonnie were married and 12 for Christian and Brooke. Tears of gratitude rolled down my cheeks several times as I thought about these events. It was hard to see them leave home, but we watched two men follow God's plan and two parents' prayers for strength, guidance, and wisdom answered. God was going to take me through another growing season in my life. What felt like loss at the time ushered us into a new phase of life. God was taking us to a new place where He would teach us new truths and help us experience joys we never imagined. We didn't lose two sons. We gained two daughters. Brooke is a totally devoted mother and doing an incredible job raising our grandchildren. I couldn't be more proud of the father Christian has become. Our eight-year-old granddaughter, Iris, just had her first dance recital. Her six-year-old brother, Ethan, gave her a bouquet of flowers. Bonnie is in Cambodia for two weeks working with the underprivileged, and Jon just helped the company he works for through a successful merger. As for the empty nest......if I had only known! ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mike Durbin is the State Evangelism Director for the Baptist State Convention of Michigan. Before joining the state convention staff, Mike served as Church Planting Catalyst and Director of Missions in Metro Detroit since 2007. He also has served as a pastor and bi-vocational pastor in Michigan, as well as International Missionary to Brazil. #JUNE17

ROSCOMMON, MI – One hour into our canoe trip and I was beginning to think maybe marriage was a bad idea. No, we were not married yet but we were engaged. How could I marry someone who obviously had no idea how to paddle a canoe, keep us out of the bushes, or just keep balanced. Needless to say our conversation (arguing) and sarcastic remarks did not bring out the best in each other. I was a big selfish jerk, she was a frustrating human being, and we were supposed to be having fun! Two hours later and still in the canoe we couldn't go in a straight line or keep off the shallows, but we were laughing and cracking jokes in the rain. It turned out to be one the best memories we share now as a married couple of twenty-two years. Yes, I can still be a jerk, and yes, I now realize she is perfect (she will probably read this article). The point is we worked it out. We were stuck in a canoe. Working it out, and working together was the only way we could reach our destination. Together we were still a mess, we weren't going to win any canoe races, but together we could survive and finish the trip and amazingly love each other even more than we did before. My wife and I have discovered that if we choose to let problems and circumstances pull us apart, they will. If we choose to lean on each other, we become stronger and closer as husband and wife. Of course, frustration, blame, selfishness and "strong" discussion still happens from time to time, but humility and forgiveness brings us and keeps us together. In our relationship with Christ, we make the same choice. We can choose to back away and blame Him, or with humility and by asking forgiveness, we can lean into Him and discover a strength and depth of relationship like we have never known. The more we learn to trust Christ in the canoe trips of life, the easier it is as a couple to do the same. We have decided that being stuck in the canoe is okay as long as Jesus is in it too! ABOUT THE AUTHOR Michael Schatz, State Director of Spiritual Enrichments and Retreats since March 1, 2017 when he moved from the Tulsa, Oklahoma area. He and his wife Jackie have 3 children, Julia, Noah, and Emily. #JUNE17

BURTON, MI – Being a “good mother,” the title we as moms hope to achieve is a whole lot easier said than done. It doesn’t just happen. My first year as a mother I felt mostly unprepared and inadequate to the task. To be honest, this still is a struggle for me from time to time. I had believed that I had a pretty decent grasp on the expectations of motherhood. I read the books and went to the classes, but this small yet potent gift of life still threw me curveballs every day. Not only this, but I also felt pressure from all directions about how this should be a “natural thing”, but natural doesn't equal easy. And then the questions come especially for those who serve as the spouses of church leaders. On my first Mother's Day, I was asked what it meant to me to be a mother. Hmm? In one word,sacrifice. It's probably not the usual expected response, but it's a very real one. I began to realize that I couldn't be all things and do all things, or at least all the “expected things.” It was time to prioritize for my child(ren) or present the best acceptable image. I'm not a high maintenance person to begin with, but I still had some areas that needed to be scaled back. I placed a lot of weight on what others thought of me and my reputation (hmm… what’s a people pleaser, again?). But now here was this first baby (followed later by three more beauties) that did not always follow a schedule, and did not like to sleep in their crib. Added to this, the often disapproving looks would fall on my wee free spirit child(ren). I began receiving more advice and even more parenting books on how I could do and be better. As these children became the fiery strong-willed toddler, the quiet but rugged bam-bam, the care-free dancer, or the play-filled rascal, I have had much of my walls peeled back exposing my soft spots. There have been many days I felt under attack for the actions of these little created beings. These children are who they were meant to be, not a blank slate to fill in what I wanted. Though God has charged me to guide, teach, and disciple them, I am reminded that it is God who has uniquely designed each of them in my womb (Psalm 139) and He has uniquely designed me (Ephesians 2:10) to parent them. God has a plan to better both the child and the mom. Where you are not enough, God gives the extra measure. At the end of it all, we will stand before the all-knowing, all-powerful, always-present God and give an account of how we invested in His treasures. There will be no mother-in-law, Pinterest mom, or well-meaning older woman standing there for approval. Just the gracious King saying “well done” to His faithful followers. Seek wise counsel to be the sacrificial parent, but do not forget who is the wisest of Counselors. He is with you, child of God we call… mothers. ABOUT THE OTHER Melinda Taylor is a wife, a mother of 4, a homeschool teacher and a registered nurse in Flint, MI. She attends Eastgate Baptist Church in Burton, MI where she leads the Awana ministry. #MAY17

FENTON, MI – As far back as I can remember, I wanted to be a mom when I grew up. That was my dream job--my plan. However...... life doesn't always work out the way we plan it. Proverbs 16:9 says, "The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." Mike and I married while in college. Our plan was to wait until he finished seminary before having children. Everything was going according to plan until...... Mike's 9 year-old brother came to stay the summer with us. After making some plans of his own, he approached us. "You know, I should go to school here. You'd be like my mom and dad. We could be a family." That's all it took for me. I tried so hard to be his mom, but I couldn't. He already had one and it wasn't me. Sometime later, we decided we were "ready" to begin our family. Months went by and nothing happened. It never occurred to me that I might not be able to have children. "What if God doesn't give me any?" What if He wanted me to give all my motherly love to Mike's little brother? The reality of Sara, Hannah, and Elizabeth of ancient days became more real to me than ever. For the first time, I got a glimpse of what it's like to be barren. Then, it finally happened! My folks came to visit and brought me all kinds of maternity clothes. But I miscarried. God showed the agony over loss of life before even holding your baby. Too quickly afterward, we conceived again. I was afraid I would not be able to carry this baby and would lose yet another. It wasn't until the 4th month we told people. Three weeks early, our 9 lb. son, Christian, was born. The doctor said, "It's a boy!", I shouted, "Praise God it's a boy!" Two years later, our son, Jonathan, was born, weighing in at 10 lbs, 9 oz. Like so many American couples, we were done after two. It wasn't until years later it occurred to me: we never even asked our Heavenly Father about it. We just made our own plans. God gave us two beautiful daughter-in-laws: Brooke and Bonnie. Our family wouldn't be complete without them. Honestly, we couldn't have hand-picked them better. Being a mother-in-law is a whole different experience. For me, it's a joy. A few years ago, Brooke's mom passed into eternity. She'd been ill most of Brooke's life, but no one expected she would die so young. I will never be her mother, but now my role has an even deeper meaning for both of us. Grandchildren are one of God's best ideas. It's not just because you get to spoil them and send them home. (That is wonderful, though). The impossible task of being the "perfect parent" is no longer a burden. Through the years, we grow more patient. Priorities change. We're not in such a hurry all the time. When I'm with our grandchildren, I could let the rest of the world pass by. Grandma love is a very special, unexplainable love. My mother is 84 years old. I don't know how much longer I will have her. She's a widow, she's slowing down, and needs help sometimes. "I hate to keep asking you to do stuff," she says. My repeated response is, "I'm sure we're not even yet, for all my diapers you changed." As my mom enjoyed living her dream of being a mom, I, too, have been blessed by how God made me and the privilege of loving on them, their spouses and now grandchildren. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Shar Durbin has served alongside her husband, Mike, in ministry in Kentucky, Michigan, Brazil, then back home in Michigan. #MAY17

FENTON, MI – Motherhood is very rewarding, but it can also be very demanding. Scripture shares that Eve was the first example of a mother. Poor Eve had many firsts! She was the first to encounter Satan, the first to be tempted, and worst of all she was the first to sin. Because of her sin, she was also the first woman to go through a painful childbirth all by herself. No doctor, no one coaching her on correct breathing techniques and definitely nothing for the pain. But, the rewards were great. She had her precious son in her arms to raise into the man of God he was intended to become. Then came son number two. She experienced all the pain as before as well as the great reward in the end of holding another precious son in her arms. We are not exactly sure how many children Eve had, but Genesis does tell us she had other children. You have to give this first mother some credit in rearing her children. She didn't have any examples or books to read on how to cope with a newborn that cries all night, or how to handle temper tantrums, little girls that cry over everything (and I mean everything), or how to deal with hormonal teenagers. No, she had to learn on her own. In spite of all the hardships and demands children can bring at times, I'm sure Eve had wonderful moments with all her children, as well. But we can never forget, Eve was also the first mother to suffer heartache from her children. What heart terror just knowing that one of your sons had became so angry with his brother that he had killed him. Eve had the heartbreak of burying her firstborn son, but also the heartbreak of understanding the dreadful impact sin has on one's life. She lost both sons that day. Scripture doesn't give us much insight into her life, but it had to be difficult for her to bear. In contrast, our 4-year-old granddaughter, Kailyn, was visiting at Christmas one year when we were making our annual Christmas traditional birthday cake for Jesus. When someone would come around she would announce, "Christmas is Jesus' birthday and we're going to make Him a cake." Then she got very thoughtful and proclaimed, "But He is up in the sky and cannot come down to eat the cake, so we have to eat it." We do receive many blessings because of Jesus and some of them are as sweet as birthday cake. One of my sweetest blessings God has given me in this life is being the mother of my two sons and the grandmother of my six beautiful granddaughters. One of those joyous times came when the next to the oldest granddaughter, Sarah, was five years old. She was at my house spending the night, as she did on many occasions, and was doing one of her favorite things that she loved to do at my house, which was swim in my very large garden tub with her sister. On this one occasion, she had pulled the stopper to let the water run down the drain, so I picked up her sister to dry her off and get her something to eat. I could hear Sarah playing in the now waterless bathtub so I believed all was harmless. I kept checking on her, but didn't want to stop her fun as she was laughing, rolling around in the bottom of the tub and sliding down the back of the tub, as if she were having the time of her life. When she called me to come get her out I wondered then why she didn't just get out on her own like she always did. I quickly found out why she couldn't get out on her own. When I went to lift her out of the tub she slid right through my hands. She was one great big slime ball! You see, I had left the "Body" Baby Oil on the edge of the tub and she was just beginning to read. She looked at me when she saw the look on my face and quickly said, "It says body, so I used it for my body" and was so pleased with herself. Yes, it was for the body, but not half a bottle at one time. Do you know baby oil does not wash out? I washed her hair three times in dawn dishwashing soap and she still went to church the next day with very oily hair. It took over a week for the baby oil to wear off. So we may not be going through a lot of "firsts" like Eve, but we are mothers who experience the same up and down emotions, feelings, childbirth, motherhood, child rearing, and then even becoming grandmothers as Eve did. We may not be the first mother, but in our "mothering", who is first in our lives? When we keep Christ first in our lives, that's when we can become the mother he intended us to become. When we keep Christ first in our lives, then we are able to deal with the temptations that come our way. When we keep Christ first, He will give us the strength to become the best mothers we were meant to be. When we keep Christ first, then we can rest in Him when we go through the worst heartache we have ever experienced. My question for you, “Is Christ first in your life?” ABOUT THE AUTHOR Sabrina Patterson, wife, mother, grandmother, Bible teacher, and conference leader. Genuine lover of the Lord. Born and raised in Jal, New Mexico. She lived all her married life in Texas and Florida. She is the wife of Pastor Tim Patterson, Executive Director of the Baptist State Director of Michigan. #MAY17

The Baptist State Convention of Michigan wants to hear about your mission trip, so they have designed a simple three question survey at BSCM.org/survey. The survey can be completed in less than one minute, but will help the BSCM serve Michigan Baptists with resources and future mission opportunities. BSCM staff are looking forward to your helpful feedback. #MAY17

BESSEMER, MI – As a pastor, I encourage people to visit the churches in their area because different families and people have different personalities, and the churches in communities will appeal to different people for different reasons. As the leader of our family, when we move to a new area, we conduct internet searches and list a number of churches in our area we would like to visit before selecting a church to join. This can be a long process as we would not settle for one visit, but would make multiple visits to churches so we would have more than just a snapshot of their services. We wanted to make an informed decision. Of course, if we found a church during our shopping we liked, we stopped shopping. There is no need to keep shopping when a fit is found. Hang a shingle and become active in the church. As Paul wrote in Ephesians 4: 1-6, there is one Spirit and one body, so get active and begin lifting others, growing in faith, and lifting the whole body. It is important to become active with the church as each believer has a role within the church. So many have forgotten they belong to something bigger than themselves in the church, instead focusing on themselves while shorting the rest of the body. Like I said, I support shopping after a move because options exist. But once a fit is identified, make the relationship with the body personal. The problem occurs when people find a church, but elect not to get involved. What I witness happening with people that do not get involved is a problem of shallow faith. Not only is the faith shallow, it frequently also comes with an extra dose of judgment on others. The church hopper frequently recognizes the hopping tendency in their practices without seeing they might be the problem. The hopper is not shopping for a church to get active in, the hopper is looking for their next reason to leave, and that reason is you or me, but seldom them. Maybe someone is wearing something they do not like, or the church does not play enough hymns, or the church plays too many hymns. The problem is not the church, even when the church has problems; the real issue is the hopper thinks the church exists to please them, instead of glorifying God. This is a terribly sinful way to avoid fellowship and membership in a body. Instead of getting active, bearing one another’s burdens, and being part of something bigger than themselves (Gal 6: 1-10), the hopper leaves for greener pastures. The church hopper finds reasons to leave, and before long, discovers they have exhausted every church in the community. What the church hopper is missing is the only reason to stay in any church. God took mercy on man and sent Jesus to die in our place. We could not earn or buy our way into heaven and eternal life, so God opened the door through the work of Jesus. In response, we sinfully put ourselves as the reason for the church and ignore the lesson of the nine lepers that did not return to glorify God and worship Jesus (Luke 17: 11-19). One out of ten recognized the mercy of God in his restoration and went to the source. The others focused on themselves, ritual cleanliness, and went in search of a human priest. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Ian Minielly is pastor of Catalyst Baptist Church located in Bessemer, MI. He is also a NAMB/BSCM Church Planter to “the farthest northwest reaches of Michigan.” #MAY17

FENTON, MI – As a pastor, when I would attend a meeting with other pastors, the conversation would always find its way to the subject of preaching. Without fail, the question would arise, “Do you know of any good resources and or commentaries for….?” Together we would pool our knowledge and try to compile a helpful list. I just received a copy of Dr. David Allen's book, Preaching Tools, published by Seminary Hill Press. It does an admirable job of listing the best commentaries and preaching resources for every book of the Bible. He has prepared the lists with the theologically conservative expository preacher in mind. What he does that is truly helpful is to compile them for each book under three different categories: • Exegetical Commentaries. • Expository Commentaries. • Devotional Commentaries. • And in some cases, Special Studies. A brief one or two sentence description is provided, along with the author, title, publisher and date. It is my opinion that this book is a must for the library of every preacher and student of the Word. I wholeheartedly recommend Preaching Tools to you. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Tim Patterson is Executive Director/Treasurer of the Baptist State Convention of Michigan. Elected unanimously in May of 2015, Patterson formerly served for 9 years as pastor of Hillcrest Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fla. He also served as trustee chair and national mobilizer for the North American Mission Board. #MAY17

BATTLE CREEK, MI – When my husband, Roy, and I married thirteen years ago, being a pastor’s wife was not on my radar. Our plan was for Roy to finish up his PhD and become a college professor. That, however, was not God’s plan for us, and after five years of marriage my husband submitted to his calling to be in ministry. That meant that me, with all my doubts, fears, opinions, and insecurities would stand alongside my husband with a new title of pastor’s wife, and that caused me much uncertainty. So what is it about the title “pastor’s wife” that caused me, and probably many others, so much doubt and anxiety? I never used to worry or think twice about what people would think, but suddenly my life would be viewed under the microscope with the title of “pastor’s wife”. For example, would others question my motives for working fulltime outside the home? For sending my kids to public school instead of homeschooling? Those concerns (and many more) flooded my mind. I felt that there had been a whole new set of expectations thrust upon me, and I had no idea how to live up to it all. In the days and weeks that followed, I prayed and began to explore what God’s expectations were for me in this new role. Again and again, He revealed to me three simple expectations. Love Jesus. Love your husband. Love His church. Love Jesus - The first and most important expectation is to love Jesus. In Deuteronomy 6:5 we are told to love the Lord with all our heart, soul, and might, meaning that we are to love God with all that we are and all that we have. Our love for Jesus must be the priority, above our families, above our jobs, above our to-do lists. Only when we love Jesus most completely, can we love others most honestly. Love your husband - As pastors, our husbands are on the spiritual frontlines every single day and they need us to fight for them, not against them. The enemy would love to see a minister of the gospel proclaiming God’s word crumble. We need to love our husbands in a way that encourages, strengthens, and enables them to stand strong. Respect their calling to ministry and support them as they meet the needs of the church, even during those days and weeks when it means we must sacrifice some of our wants. As a wife you know your husband better than anyone else. Love him in a way that points Him towards Christ so that he may be empowered to live out the calling as a Pastor from the Lord. Love His church - Meeting this expectation can be tough. For so many pastor’s wives, the church has been a source of judgment and pain. There are many demands and sacrifices that a pastor’s wife must make for the church and it can be easy to allow those hard things to get in the way of seeing the church for what it is - the beautifully broken tool that God ordained to use to serve, edify, encourage, and evangelize to a bruised and broken world. So, love His church for what God created it to be. Find joy in being with His people. Forgive those who cause strife and pain, and remember no offense that has been committed against you is more severe than the offense we committed against Jesus that resulted in Him being nailed to the cross. Meeting expectations is not always easy but we can always meet God’s expectations through His love and grace. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Aryn and her family live in Tekonsha, MI and her husband, Roy, is the Senior Pastor at Faith Baptist Church in Battle Creek, MI. She is a mother a three, special education teacher in a small public school, and the women’s ministry director at Faith Baptist. #MAY17

FLINT, MI – Dennis Nunn recently presented his “Every Believer a Witness” training for pastors. This training was developed by Nunn. It includes a Bible study in which he compares Old Testament Evangelism with New Testament Evangelism. In the Old Testament, God instructed the Israelites to construct a Tabernacle, which was later replaced by the Temple. Both of these structures had an outer court where the priests offered the sacrifices. Only the priests could enter the Holy Place inside the Tabernacle/Temple, and only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies, and then only once a year to make atonement for the sins of the people. In the Old Testament, worshippers were expected to come to the Tabernacle/Temple to worship God and offer sacrifices. The only Old Testament exception to “come and worship" was when Jonah was sent to Nineveh to tell them of God's pending judgment. When Jesus came on the scene, the basic method of evangelism was still "come and see." “Nathanael said to him, 'Can anything good come out of Nazareth?' Philip said to him, 'Come and see.'” (John 1:46) This began to shift when Jesus sent His disciples out: “These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: 'Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.'” (Matthew 10:5–6) Jesus went to the cross and died for our sins. After He rose from the dead, and before He ascended to heaven, Jesus changed the "come and see" evangelism emphasis to the “go and tell" emphasis that we see in the Great Commission (Mt. 28:19-20). Following His resurrection and ascension, we don't see an emphasis on church members inviting people to come to Jerusalem, or to come to a gathering of believers in order to hear the gospel. Rather, we see the believers going and telling the good news. “Jesus said to them again, 'Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.'” (John 20:21) It seems today the primary focus of many churches is more like the Old Testament "come and see" approach to evangelism rather than the "go and tell" emphasis we see in the various Great Commission passages. Dennis Nunn points out that a "come and see" evangelism emphasis has several problems and negative consequences. 1. It's not biblical – there is not a single verse in the entire New Testament that instructs us to invite lost people to church. Instead we are to go and be witnesses. 2. The Greek word ekklesia (church) is a compound word that literally means "called out ones." Church gatherings are for those whom God has called out of the world (Christians) to come for worship and instruction in God's word. If the message heard at church is always evangelistic, then believers may not be receiving the "meat" of the word, which will be reflected in their maturity and lack of ministry involvement. 3. "Come and see" is not a very effective evangelism method. Most of us know from experience that inviting people to church doesn't produce a significant response. Unless the Holy Spirit is already drawing a person, most unsaved don't want to go to church. 4. "Come and see" is going to become even less effective as the lost increasingly reject as being hateful, intolerant and bigoted the biblical principles embraced by Christians and churches . While not all Christians are called to be evangelists, we are all called to be witnesses. Dennis Nunn has developed Every Believer a Witness to make sharing our faith easy, fun and effective for all Christians. Consider having an Every Believer a Witness emphasis in your church, and contact me for more information. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jim Marcus is the Director of Missions for the Genesee Baptist Association located in Flint, MI. #MAY17

JACKSON, MI – Over the last few years, there has been much discussion on whether we need associations or state conventions? There are as many opinions on this subject as there are many people involved in the discussion. I would like to share my opinion of this subject. Let me give you some background that will help you know from which I speak. In 2002, I was invited to Springfield, Illinois to a meeting of Executive Directors, State Staff, and Directors of Missions. We were given an assignment to do a timeline of mileposts in our Christian journey and include the names of the individuals who had greatly impacted our lives. We were to write a paragraph from this to define our life’s purpose. I soon discovered many of the people who had impacted my life the most were my Director of Missions- C.T. Edmondson Jr. in Wise, Virginia, Charles MacGruder and Ed Copeland in Columbus, Ohio and Richard Rogers in Michigan. After struggling and praying that afternoon in the hotel where I was staying, God showed me that I was to become a Director of Missions and work with Pastors, wives and families in the ministry. Since June 2003, I have served the Pastors’ families and churches of the Central and Lendale Baptist Associations. I have walked with them through personal struggles in the churches, personal lives, and death of family members as well as rejoicing with them in the victories in their personal situations, ministries and churches. Throughout my ministry, local associations and state conventions have assisted me in my own ministry. In Virginia, the state convention supported me with a $300.00 a month state assistance to help my family serve in a small church. They later, granted the first loan ever in their history, to build a parsonage for the Pastor and family. In Ohio, they helped with a scholarship to attend preacher’s school and provided many training opportunities for our church and assisted us in starting a new mission/church plant and truck stop ministry. In Michigan, our associations and churches have received funds from Frances Brown State Missions offering, The Baptist Foundation monies, Evangelism grants and mission/pastoral support to accomplish much in advancing God’s Kingdom. In this past year, the greatest partnership has been in prayer ministry for my health and family. I have seen what partnering together can do as we pray, give, and serve together. As associations, we have partnered with ministries in Argentina, Costa Rica, Ukraine, and Bulgaria. We have helped 3 of the churches in the Upper Peninsula with various needs of money, outreach, and supplies. We spent time in Oscoda at Fresh Start Fellowship helping with the building by providing workers, building materials, and paint. We could not have done what God has led us to do without all the partners, churches, Pastors, BSCM, other Director of Missions, and NAMB. So from my years of experience I can without hesitation state I have seen the investment of associations on the local church and ministry. Associations are more important today, than ever. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Chuck Turner is the Director of Missions for Central and Lendale Baptist Associations. He is the husband of Debbie, father of 4, grandfather of 10, and great grandpa of 4. #MAY17

FLINT, MI – At our Annual Meeting last fall we celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Genesee Baptist Association. I have served as Director of Missions of the GBA since February of 1999, which means I have led the GBA for more than 18 years. A lot has happened in our world and our denomination since 1999. Even more has happened since 1957 when the GBA came into existence. While various people in Michigan tell us that the GBA is one of the strongest Baptist Associations in Michigan, I find no great encouragement in that. While we may be healthier than many other associations, we are in a slow decline rather than experiencing vibrancy as an association -- which, by the way, is also the condition of nearly 90% of SBC churches. As I considered the condition of the GBA, I was burdened by the fact that as an association we were still structured and operating in basically the same way we had for the majority of our 60 year existence. While that has enabled us to maintain a measure of strength, compared with many other associations, it will not enable us to be effective in the future, nor even that effective in the present. So I recommended to the messengers to the GBA Annual Meeting that we empower our moderator to appoint a group of pastors who would look at our past, and our present, to determine where we have been, and where we are currently. Then they will look toward the future to determine where we need to be if we are going to be relevant to our pastors and churches, and effective for them as an association in the coming years. A group of five pastors, plus the moderator and me, are meeting every other week to work through this process with the hope that we will have a recommendation to bring to the messengers at the 61st Annual Meeting of the GBA this fall. The recommendation will likely include a revised mission statement that will guide what we do and how we are structured as an association. If approved, it will also guide the development of our annual associational budget, as well as result in a new structure that will have fewer, but more effective, empowered ministry teams rather than the committees we now have. When the Genesee Baptist Association was started, the founders wanted to see new churches started in order to reach and disciple the lost population of mid-Michigan, which was growing as many moved here to work in the auto-industry. The desire of our founders was on target, and they were highly effective in their efforts. The structure of the association was typical and effective for that time. But the world has moved on, time has passed, and gradually our focus shifted more to maintenance of the existing churches through resourcing and strengthening efforts. However, those efforts are seldom sought and implemented by churches which are content with maintaining their existing programs and buildings. I don't think that maintenance brings as much glory to God as does new life, especially if our maintenance only slows the decline of our churches and associations. My desire is to see the churches of the Genesee Baptist Association healthy, growing, and relevant to the culture that surrounds us today. Just as churches need to be relevant to the culture surrounding them, our associations need to be relevant to our churches and pastors today and tomorrow. This is why GBA leaders are working so hard to re-dream the dream that brought us into existence more than 60 years ago. Stay tuned for more details! ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jim Marcus is a native Michigander. He has served as a church planter, in church revitalization, as a Church Planting Catalyst, and in associational missions in Michigan since 1988. #MAY17