♦N 18, 2021
Montgomery Baptists will Proclaim the “Gospel Above All” by:
Meeting Human Need While Planting Gospel Seed; Revitalizing, Planting & Replanting Churches; Calling Out the Called
Have You Forgotten to Say, “Thank You?”
Mary and I make it a habit to meet my sister and
brother-in-love in Columbus, Georgia once a month
for dinner. They come from Macon and we travel
from Montgomery. Except for Eastern Time issues
(Mary and I lose an hour traveling to Georgia), it is a
good halfway spot for both of us.
Last weekend, the four of us met for Mexican and
fellowship. Bill and I watched the ball game while
the wives talked, but that is another story. Inevitably,
Neal Hughes Kim and I (twins one year apart) will always bring up
Director of Missions
our parents in table conversations. Mom and Dad
have been in heaven a long time (Dad, 1976; Mom, 1984). We miss them,
and somehow when we get together, that shows.
Kim and I bored Bill and Mary as we reminisced about how our family
always sat down for a meal together for at least breakfast and dinner every
day while growing up. Kim and I were coached from diapers to say the
following before we left the table, “May I be excused, please?” and after
being excused, “Thank you, Mom, for the wonderful meal you prepared.”
It was inexcusable to leave the table without the polite passage of those two
phrases. Mom was a great cook, but I had a hard time expressing my thanks
when she made liver and onions. Nonetheless, that was my ticket to exit the
table, so one does what one must do. Saying “thank you” was always a
core value in the Hughes family.
In Luke 17:11-19, Jesus healed ten men from the dreaded disease of
leprosy. Unfortunately, only one remembered his manners, and he was a
Samaritan. The foreigner came back and threw himself at Jesus’ feet,
praising God and thanking the Lord for his healing. Now, roll the film
forward with me to 2021. As you approach Thanksgiving, will you
remember your manners and give thanks to the Lord? Or will you be like
the nine cleansed lepers and have other urgent matters for the day? Which is
more important to you: The turkey dinner? The NFL football game where
Detroit loses again? The playing with the children and grandchildren? Or is
it humbly gathering around the table as a family, placing your figurative self
at the altar of Christ, and giving thanks, saying, “Thank you, Lord, for
Montgomery Baptist Association • 20 Interstate Park Dr. • Montgomery, Alabama 36109 • 334-271-6227 • www.mgmbaptists.org
This publication is made possible by your churches’ contributions to Associational Missions.
saving my soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me whole. Thank you, Lord,
for giving to me, your great salvation so rich and free.”
Of late, my heart has been full of the deepest of gratitude for our MBA
family. I am reminded of:
• The best staff in the whole wide world! Your MBA team works hard.
They are committed to our MBA core values. They love the Lord and
each other and labor to serve each of our MBA churches. Thank you,
dear friends, for the privilege to labor alongside you for kingdom good.
• The best association in the whole wide world! Our recent annual
homecoming was a gift from heaven to Southern Baptists in the River
Region. Many spoke of the presence of the Lord in ways they had never
experienced before. Thank you, dear pastors and churches, for the
privilege to labor alongside you for kingdom good.
• The best state convention in the whole wide world! Alabama Baptists
gathered in Huntsville this week. It was awe-inspiring to see and hear
the many things happening through Christ-followers in our great state.
You may not be aware, but Alabama Baptists are the top givers in the
nation to the Cooperative Program as well as Lottie Moon and Annie
Armstrong. Thank you, state partners, for the privilege to labor
alongside you for kingdom good.
Of course, one should never forget those closest to you… your family. I am
blessed, and very much so, with such a loving wife in Mary, five children in
Chris, Laura, Grant, Laurie, and Patrick, and one beautiful granddaughter
named Gianna. Thank you, Hughes family, for loving your husband, dad,
and Poppy.
Church, may we never forget our Savior for all He has done for us at
Calvary. With the deepest of gratitude and as cleansed sinners, let us throw
ourselves at the feet of Jesus and thank Him. Perhaps the Lord will have
mercy on us “foreigners” and say, “Rise and go, your faith has made you
well.”
Together We Can!
Neal
 ♦N 18, 2021
Montgomery Baptists will prioritize the gospel above all by doing the following:
Meet human need while planting gospel seed;
Evangelize the River Region while planting and replanting churches;
Discover, develop, and deploy disciples of Christ to be missionaries across the street and around the world

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Montgomery Baptist Association • 20 Interstate Park Dr. • Montgomery, Alabama 36109 • 334-271-6227 • www.mgmbaptists.org
This publication is made possible by your churches’ contributions to Associational Missions.