Let's see, 4,000 Baptists times $1.00 per day is $4,000 per day which only comes out to $1,460,000 per year. What? You mean that one little dollar bill I spend without even thinking about it when combined with all of the others my fellow Baptists are spending still comes to almost one and a half million dollars a year? That is unbelievable! I never would have imagined such an amount! And this amount doesn't even take into account what is indiscriminately spent on our children and grandchildren who aren't yet members of their local church.

Do you realize that for 2004 the Association approved a budget of $114,351? Through March, we have received only $22,544 from our churches. In 2003 we came up over $20,000 short, giving only $93,000 to our cooperative work. At the present rate we will again fall more than $20,000 short of our budget. What this means is that in a given year we will spend well over 15 times the amount we give to Association ministries on such things as soft drinks, coffee, candy, snacks, vanity items, etc.

What could happen if we decided to take the $1,460,000 usually wasted on useless and, for the most part, unhealthy items and applied that towards ministry? Can you imagine the mission teams we could field to efforts in Virginia and all around the world? How about what we could do as far as local church planting and evangelism? We could even offer some regular and positive outreach and development ministries directed toward our teenagers. And how could those extra dollars help us promote our ministries through media advertising and publicity? We could even employ additional help when necessary or bring in seasonal missionaries to work around the county. And where could we go with established ministries when it comes to purchasing material and bringing in special guests to help equip, motivate, and challenge us to press on and not grow weary?

We are not a poor people suffering through difficult economic times. We are a people blessed well beyond what we deserve and have so much more than we need. If you are ever tempted to think we don't have the resources at our fingertips to accomplish what God has called us to, just do a quick inventory of your home and possessions. You easily have more than most of the people on this planet could ever begin to imagine or dream about. If you doubt this, it is probably because you've never been on a mission trip to a country devastated by war, disease, natural disaster, poverty, and corruption. We have stored up more treasure on earth than any other people or generation in history, and have more sure-fire, quick, and expensive "remedies" for just about any vain problem imaginable from stained teeth to baldness. We will spend untold billions of dollars on snake oil (19th century term for worthless cures) and fads that we are convinced will guarantee our success, happiness, and long life, and while we satisfy our desires with these things tens of thousands of folks all around Bedford County are still waiting to hear what a difference Christ can make in their lives. The truth is that for all the money spent in pursuit of self and happiness our nation leads the world in suicides and psycho-analysis. Evidently great sums of money thrown at "stuff" doesn't solve life's real difficulties.

Our problem is a spiritual one that has to do with how we manage what has been entrusted to us and where we place our priorities. We prove day in and day out where our real priorities lie, because where a man's (or church's) treasure is, there you will find his heart. While we consume all of the junk that will greatly contribute to diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and obesity, and while untold millions are spent at our local churches for our personal comfort and convenience, our God task goes wanting, because when it comes to missions, evangelism, outreach, and discipleship we scratch and scrape like beggars to somehow come up with a few dollars that will barely get us over one hump, and then we are faced with more kingdom opportunities that will be abandoned for lack of money and faithful stewardship. Out of great and unsurpassed abundance we choose to allow God to work with the leftovers after we've had our over fill.

The Strawberry Baptist Association stands at the door of a great crisis. Never have there been as many needs as we face now, from both within and without the church, and we are being challenged to respond. There are only two options. We will either determine to declare by faith that the gates of hell will not prevail as we entrust our finances and selves into God's hands or we will ignore the desperate needs in our Jerusalem and beyond by choosing not to become involved in personal ministry and stewardship with our sister churches. If we choose to ignore our mission and the fields that surround us, then this Association will cease to exist as we know it today. Budgets will be cut back, ministries erased, and there will no longer be a need for an associational missionary.

Cooperative efforts over the past three years have resulted in ministry to internationals through ESL, CenterFest, area-wide youth evangelism and outreach, a new church plant, Christian concerts and music programs, leadership training, many overseas mission efforts, summer missionaries, and an Internet presence with over 3,000 visits per month. Just ahead on our dreamscape are such things as outreach projects targeting single parent families, teenagers, impoverished families, those looking for a way out of disastrous cycles of addiction, financial slavery and abuse, and deeper much more coordinated overseas mission work. Unless our churches and people step up to the task these dreams will fade away and be forgotten.

Will you consider the needs that we are facing and become personally involved? We need you to spread the word, share the call and dream. Commit to be a better steward of the wealth placed in your hands by giving up vanity or needless expenses and instead donating that money for the sharing of the message and person of Jesus Christ. Maybe you would consider going a little farther and giving up a particular cable or satellite movie channel in order to commit those dollars where they will touch a life in need, or you may be spending money each month on memberships, subscriptions, or dues to something that you really do not need or use. Examine your daily and weekly spending habits to discover how those same dollars can bring glory to God while building up His kingdom and caring for needy souls through the work of your local church and our Strawberry Association.

As a ministry reminder to the many and precious responsibilities that have been placed before us, we want to offer a free bag of Nicaraguan coffee and a ministry prayer brochure to those who contribute $25 or more to the ministries of Strawberry Baptist Association. As you enjoy a cup of this delicious imported coffee you can use the prayer brochure to remind you how to pray for specific ministries and consider how you will become personally involved in the great task to which we have been called. The gift of coffee will be for a limited time, but your gift of service will have everlasting consequences.