I am in Louisville, Kentucky. I am preaching at the 137th Annual Session of the Central District Baptist Association. Pastor Bernard Crayton, of the Little Flock Baptist Church, is the moderator. And Pastor Gregory F. Smith and the Hill Street Baptist Church are the hosts. The meeting began on Sunday night and ends tonight with the moderator’s address. I brought the closing message during the preaching conference yesterday afternoon. And I also brought the message during the youth session last night. I have one more message to preach, this afternoon, during the Women’s department session. Though no one really knows me or knows of me at this meeting, I have been treated with such kindness. And my messages have been received attentively and warmly. I praise God for this privilege and pray that the messages will bear much fruit to the glory of God.

I was really honored to have Dr. Walter Malone present as I preached yesterday. He is the pastor of the great Canaan Christian Church. I had the wonderful privilege of preaching for Dr. Malone several months ago. And he was so kind to me. I was encouraged to have him present. I also had the opportunity to meet Dr. T. Vaughn Walker, who pastors the First Gethsemane Baptist Church here in Louisville. He is also the first and only tenured African American professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary here in Louisville (Dr. R. Albert Mohler, president). I heard him speak at the beginning of the year at an SBC evangelism conference an Anaheim. The story of his church really blessed me at a critical time. I also learned that his congregation was featured in a Tom Rainier’s book, Breakout Churches. I just started that book last weekend. And I was really honored to meet him yesterday. And I was very honored to have him sit in on my two messages yesterday.