From Tim Counts (grandson)

My Grandpa, Cordell Baker, entered Heaven yesterday morning. He served Jesus in full time ministry for 42 years. I am thankful for the example that he and my Grandma are to Melanie and I. His love for Christ was just as alive when he was fighting cancer and Parkinson's--this picture is from a video testimony of how he came to know Christ as his Savior on one of his last Sundays at church.

Years ago he wrote an outreach book, "A New Look at the Everlasting Gospel," and he told about a little boy who sat on an old-fashioned train running between two Western cities. It was hot, dusty, and uncomfortable. "A motherly old lady, leaning forward, asked sympathetically, 'Aren't you tired of the long ride, dear, and the dust and heat?' The lad looked up brightly and replied, 'Yes, ma'am, a little. But I don't mind it much because my father is going to meet me when I get to the end of it.'"

Grandpa continued in the book: "Through the ages, the hope of Heaven and being met by our Lord has encouraged and gladdened the hearts of millions of His people. It has been a brace against untold hardships, a comfort in extreme suffering and a light in the darkness of the chamber of death. The hope of Heaven is the goal of the gospel. When a person trusts in Christ, salvation comes to him in this life. This includes forgiveness of sins and the gift of eternal life. But the goal of the gospel is to pass into the presence of God and to be with Him for eternity."

Thank you Grandpa, for helping me look into God's Word and put my hope in the Christ of the gospel even now. Your legacy inspires, encourages, and challenges me as a pastor, husband, and father.