Opinion

I don’t know what you were doing the week of Aug. 15, but I had a ringside seat, watching a bit of local history right before my eyes. The Medicaid 23 trial took place just a block from my church office, at the courthouse in downtown Jefferson City, Mo.

John was well known for all the right reasons. His sons Michael and Mark gave testimony that he did not dishonor the family name. But he handled himself in all that he did to honor his middle name, too — Christian. John developed the nature of Christ; he cared about people and it showed. Multi-talented, he was gifted at teaching and training, writing and counseling.

Reflecting on the recent annual gathering of the Baptist World Alliance in Vancouver, British Columbia, I was struck by two things: The deep hunger in my own life for corporate worship and the centrality of worship in our common life.

Hospitality is often identified as a spiritual gift with the emphasis on receiving or having the gift. But as much as any other gift, the biblical reference emphasizes that a person receives it from God to winsomely bless others.

Do our personal (or corporate) prayers ever include the question, “Lord, how can you use me (or us) to improve or remedy this condition or this situation?

Our church’s recent quarterly business meeting seemed routine enough (if there is such a thing as a routine business meeting). But very quietly, something historic occurred that evening.

The Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship Annual Gathering were held a little more than a week apart in June. SBCers and CBFers have much in common — like devotion to missions, evangelism and education — although they differ at points when describing and pursuing these goals. One subject that came up frequently at both meetings was racism, a concern across the nation.

The wall in my home office is covered with pictures.

Some of the pictures predate me, like the one of my wife’s grandfather’s family and the picture of my maternal grandmother. Then there are graduation pictures of my wife and me. There are pictures of our children when they were younger and recent pictures of our grandchildren.

Every picture has a story.

Every day, I walk a fine line between servant leadership and people pleasing. Some days, I get it right. Other days, I can’t even see the line.

Larry Johnson, associated with The Baptist Home of Missouri since 1984 and the Baptist ministry’s president when he retired in 2005, was remembered May 21 for putting into practice in his last days qualities that distinguished him during his vocation.