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As we hunt for stories to fill the Texan each month, we are driven by our main mandate: tell the stories of what God is doing in the churches of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.
Sometimes we do that by reporting about how God is moving at a church. Sometimes we tell stories about the individuals who make up the body of Christ. Still other times we stumble on a story where God uses a squirrel to impact His kingdom (more on that in a minute).
As we say goodbye to 2024 and anticipate what God will do in 2025, here are some of our favorite stories from this past year:
Lobs for the Lord (April 2024)
God can use anything to reach people—including the burgeoning sport of pickleball. Jane Rodgers, one of our longtime Texan contributors, found out several churches across Texas are leveraging the sport’s popularity to build community and share the gospel. She specifically profiled the outreaches of two churches: Coggin Avenue Baptist Church in Brownwood and First Baptist Church Dallas. A couple of weeks after our article published, Fox News picked up on the story and broadcast a pair of interviews featuring the gospel pickleball outreaches happening at those same churches—amplifying the message of Christ and a pretty unique way to tell others about Him.
Making an eternity of difference a world away (May 2024)
Earlier this year, Bruno Molina, the SBTC’s language evangelism associate, received news that our 1Cross app had been used to share the gospel with someone in India. In response, the person who heard the gospel made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ. The app contains brief gospel presentations in more than 70 languages—including one in English. If you don’t know about the 1Cross app, you’re missing out on what may prove to be an incredibly useful tool in helping you and others in your congregation share the gospel.Â
‘God is going to heal her’ (June 2024)
Correspondent Arlene Sanabria’s account of the near-death experience of Irma Ramos, wife of longtime SBTC pastor Marcos Ramos, compellingly uses dialogue to take the reader directly into some of the harrowing moments experienced by the family—from Irma’s fall and subsequent head injury to the hospital where doctors questioned her ability to fully recover. It’s a story of bold faith and a family that stubbornly clung to the belief that Jesus would restore Irma to health.Â
Salvations, squirrels & stability (September 2024)
How can you not like a salvation story that includes a wild squirrel running amok through a church? First Baptist Church in Timpson has seen God move in some amazing ways, not the least of which happened when the pastor, W. Dee Daniel, shared the gospel with a man dispatched to the church to catch the aforementioned crazed squirrel. That man decided to follow Jesus that day. The next week, that man’s son accepted Christ. Two weeks later, his daughter followed suit. Somewhere, Ray Stevens is smiling. If you know, you know …
