As Southern Baptist churches in Texas identify their “Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and ends of the earth,” SBTC Missions Director Terry Coy believes all four may be in a church’s neighborhood, workplace or school. “The ends of the earth may be next door?that may even be your connection to go around the world.”

“What changes are we going to have to make in our evangelism, missions, ministries and methods?”

Instead of focusing on all the things we need to change, Coy proposes talking about the unchanging message we have to share in the midst of a constantly changing world.

The SBTC recently launched Texas Missions Initiative (TxMI) to focus on mobilizing churches to reach Texas for Christ through creative ministries and evangelistic strategies that will result in multiplying disciples and new congregations. The missions emphasis is more fully described in the fall 2009 issue of Texas Baptist Crossroads, which arrived in mailboxes earlier this month and is available online at sbtexas.com/crossroads.

“We must consider and adopt new methodologies if we are going to reach lost people for Jesus Christ, particularly among those from other countries who are settling in Texas,” Coy told Crossroads. “The majority of Texas is lost, and that majority is not only growing in size, but also growing in complexity, diversity, and lostness.”

Featured on the pages of this special report are examples of how that creative approach is unfolding in Port Arthur and Houston, profiled by reporter Melissa Deming; Norm Miller writes about a new church-planting strategy called Project Borderlands Outreach, being launched in the highly under-evangelized city of Laredo.

Also included are reviews of two recent books that can help mission leaders get a handle on understanding the people groups that remain unreached in Texas, explaining how to reach a diverse culture and the common values they hold.

For more information on TxMI, contact the missions department toll free at 877-953-SBTC (7282) or visit sbtexas.com/missions.

Pastor Al Meredith leans against the cross podium inside the worship center of Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth. (photo by Jerry Pierce)

FORT WORTH–Just a day removed from preaching his mother’s funeral after “praying her into Heaven” with his two sisters, Al Meredith sat on a dock near his boyhood home in Michigan, watching a freighter pass by and thinking to himself: “When I get back to Fort Worth, I’m going to need time to process my grief.”

A faithful God, Meredith said, knew what Meredith couldn’t know–later that day, a tragedy awaited that would thrust the pastor and his inconspicuous, working-class church into the international spotlight and would require uncommon composure on his part to console church members, plan funerals, and speak wisdom before a host of news media that converged on the church’s campus tucked away in a transitioning neighborhood of south Fort Worth.

On Sept. 15, 1999, a troubled Larry Ashbrook passed a dozen or so Baptist churches traveling through Fort Worth and inexplicably stopped at Wedgwood, entered the church building on a Wednesday night, and shot dead seven people and injured five others before fatally shooting himself.

Looking back on the experience is partly a blur for Meredith; he marvels at what he said to the media in the dozens, maybe hundreds, of interviews he gave in the weeks following, because amid the shock he couldn’t recall details of his conversations with reporters.

“And people would say, ‘Oh, you blessed me so much on the radio’ or on ‘Larry King Live!’ or Katie Couric. And this is the truth, I said, ‘Well, tell me what I said, because I was brain dead.’ You know, because of my own grief and emotionally being numb, I was out of the picture and so I was literally a vessel that God could speak through. In fact, I’ve gone back and viewed the videotapes of all those interviews and I can’t believe it myself.”

Meredith said the grief of burying his mother earlier that week “was God’s way of anesthetizing my spirit so when all of this hit” he was able to respond.

In addition, Meredith had himself been rooted in and attempted to root Wedgwood through his 12 years of leading the church prior to the shooting in “a healthy theology of grief and tragedy.”

That perspective was evident in the worship of the church prior to the shooting, and has continued afterwards, Meredith said.

“Our services have always been positive and always been upbeat, but there is a place for ‘It Is Well with My Soul?.’ And so the music is true, it’s not phony. We don’t sing ‘Every day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before,’ because that’s not true. Even Jesus said, ‘Stand against the evil days.’ Some days are more evil than others. Jesus did promise us this?this is one of the promises we don’t think is too precious: ‘As long as you are in the world, you will have tribulation. But be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.'”

It is a necessary part of the gospel message that trials and tribulations accompany authentic discipleship, a truth that Meredith said needs preaching often in contemporary churches where the Bible’s wisdom literature often is taken as a guarantee that God will bless people by protecting them from harm or hurt.

“Those aren’t necessarily guarantees,” he said. “And the ultimate purpose for our life is not a happy and carefree life. The ultimate purpose is God wants to conform us to the image of his son. And the only effective way of doing that, unfortunately, is through trials. It’s through tribulations and heartaches and disappointments that God knocks off the rough edges of our character and conforms us to the image of Christ. And it’s a painful process. It’s not fun. But far more important than what God does for me is that I can know him, the true and the living God and have a living, vital relationship with him.”

Meredith has been able to offer comfort through the church’s experience to others who are hurting. In March, he preached the Sunday following the shooting death of Fred Winters, who was gunned down in the pulpit of First Baptist Church of Maryville, Ill.

The Maryville church’s youth pastor and his wife were two of many seminary students who called Wedgwood home during their days at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth—a group numbering hundreds around the world whom Meredith affectionately calls “Wedgies.”

The brother of the shooter planned to attend a commemorative service on Sept. 13. Wedgwood and a nearby Church of Christ congregation were able to minister to the Ashbrook family following the tragedy.

Several of the victims’ families and many friends were also planning to attend, Meredith said.

According to Old Testament tradition, churchgoers will be invited to set small white “Ebenezer” stones on a memorial to commemorate the life of each victim.

“The question is not ‘why do bad things happen to good people?’ The reality is there are no good people—there is none righteous, no not one. The real huge question is, ‘Why do good things happen to sinners like me?’ That’s the really perplexing thing,” Meredith observed.

“The verse that God gave me that first radio interview, that first morning afterwards, was Habakkuk 3:17-19,” Meredith added. “In fact, that’s the text I’m going to be using on the 10th anniversary: ‘Though the fig tree shall not blossom, though the fruit not be on the vine’—Here’s an agricultural society absolutely going down the tubes—‘yet will I rejoice in the Lord. I will join the God of my salvation.’
“And if the Lord is your source, then no matter what your circumstances you have reason to rejoice. But you have to choose to go on. And so you go on. It’s important you don’t deny your pain. And you don’t tell people you shouldn’t cry or you shouldn’t be angry. Feelings are. And nowhere in the Bible are we commanded to feel. Just don’t let your feelings determine your actions.”

Four years ago messengers gathered in Amarillo for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. It was the first time to have the annual meeting in West Texas. We are going back west. This time it is to Lubbock on Oct. 26-27. Excitement is building for one of the most unusual events SBTC has ever had.

On Tuesday night of the annual meeting, Johnny Hunt, pastor of First Baptist Church of Woodstock, Ga., and president of the Southern Baptist Convention, will bring an evangelistic message in the theater of the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center. Area churches will provide a combined choir to bring a powerful musical presentation. At the conclusion of worship an invitation will be extended for people to come to Christ. Under the same roof in the exhibit hall, Team Impact will be giving a display of physical strength and spiritual truth. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of young people will be attending. We are asking God to give us the joy of seeing many people come to Jesus. There is no greater way to close out an SBTC annual meeting than seeing people come to know Christ.

If an outpouring of God’s spirit on Lubbock is to happen, there must be intercessory prayer. Even if you are not attending the convention, you can have a part in uplifting the name of Jesus through prayer. October 7 is set as a Day of Fasting and Prayer. Please join us in asking God to show himself mighty. If you can participate in person, be on hand to distribute material at the Texas Tech-Texas A&M football game Saturday, Oct. 24. This is our Crossover Lubbock Day.

The Bible Conference starts on Sunday night at Southcrest Baptist Church. The Monday morning, lunch and afternoon sessions will be at the Civic Center. During the annual meeting, which starts Monday night, Bob Pearle and Byron McWilliams will bring messages. Other preachers, singers and persons sharing testimonies will provide a worshipful atmosphere while we take care of a little business on the side.

Remember, Tuesday night is the highlight with an outreach to those who need to know our Lord and Savior. This could be the greatest annual meeting in the history of state conventions. Plan to be a part of this incredible possibility. Pray that God will be pleased to visit us in a special way. I hope to see you in Lubbock.