Author: Jayson Larson

Tapping into the real power behind pastoral ministry

There are many ways to fail as a pastor. In the last few years alone, we’ve witnessed moral failure, theological error, and cultural accommodation destroy the ministries of men like us. However, one insidious failure that is often overlooked is prayerlessness.

While most pastors are good at remaining vigilant against temptation and guarding their theology, many frequently neglect prayer. A recent Lifeway Research study found that nearly 75% of pastors say they need to invest more time to become consistent in prayer.

The New Testament, however, knows nothing of prayerless spiritual leaders. Consider that Jesus prayed for His disciples and all those who would be joined to Him by faith (John 17:17–21). In the early days of the church, the apostles refused to allow worthwhile ministry needs to shift their focus from “prayer and the ministry of the Word” (Acts 6:4). Paul told the Romans that he “unceasingly” mentioned them in his prayers (Romans 1:9-10), as he did the Ephesians (Ephesians 1:16) and Philippians (Philippians 1:3–4).

Jesus and the apostles consistently express their dependence on the work of God to build the church through prayer. Derek Prime and Alistair Begg argue in their book, On Being a Pastor: Understanding Our Calling and Work, that prayer is the “principal and main work” of pastoral ministry since it is the first way we exercise care for our people and the foundation of an effective teaching ministry.

Brothers, when we can do ministry without prayer, we are in dangerous territory, unanchored to our biblical calling, guilty of prideful self-sufficiency, and on the way toward a fall. But God is gracious in forgiving us of our prayerlessness and gives us a guide for prayer in His Word.

I have found the following prayers from Paul’s letters particularly helpful in cultivating humility and dependence on God for my ministry. Each prayer challenges the belief at the root of prayerlessness—namely, that I can fulfill my calling without God’s help.

We should pray for unity among our people (Romans 15:5-6)

Because conflict is a normal part of church life, many pastors have grown adept at navigating it with careful and loving leadership. However, the unity that glorifies God is a work of His Spirit (Ephesians 4:3). Therefore, we should pray for God’s blessing of unity and harmony among our people.

We should pray that our people would have insight into spiritual truth (Ephesians 1:15–20)

While we should never neglect the faithful preaching and teaching of God’s Word to His people, we know their spiritual insight must come from the illuminating work of God’s Spirit. As we prepare our sermons and lessons, we should pray that our people receive spiritual benefit from what they hear and ask God to bless their personal time spent in the Word.

We should pray for the sanctification and perseverance of our people (Colossians 1:9–14)

Though we’d like to think our sermons are weighty enough to equip our people for faithfulness throughout the week and that our advice can give them victory over sin, we are poor replacements for the Holy Spirit, whose work is to sanctify them. We should ask the Spirit to continue the good work He began in them and strengthen them to live godly and fruitful lives.

We should pray that God would glorify Himself through our people (2 Thessalonians 1:11–12)

God has entrusted the people in our churches to us for a season, but we should never forget they belong to Him. Their lives, therefore, are not merely reflections of our ministries but of the God who saved them by His grace. We should pray that God works in them to glorify the name of Jesus.

We should thank God for our people (Philippians 1:2–7; 1 Thessalonians 1:1–3)

Finally, as we lift our people up to the Lord in prayer, we should consistently thank Him for the privilege of shepherding them and for their partnership in the gospel. Our church members are created by God, redeemed by Jesus, and indwelt by the Spirit. Every conversation and interaction we have with them is a gift!

None of us is as consistent in prayer as he would like, but we owe it to ourselves, our people, and to God to persist and grow in this essential task. The fruitfulness of our ministries depends on it. Let us, therefore, recover the biblical and historical commitment to pray for the people we lead, and let’s watch as God hears our prayers and answers them for His glory.

SBTC executive board hears reports on networks, church planting, and more

HORSESHOE BAY—There is power in connecting.

That was a key message Spencer Plumlee, elder and senior pastor of First Baptist Church Mansfield, delivered to the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention executive board April 23 during its quarterly meeting. Plumlee was speaking about the SBTC’s Young Pastors Network (YPN), for which he serves as a consultant.

YPN is a networking and leadership development initiative offered by the SBTC for pastors 40 years old and younger. Several years ago, YPN was reorganized around three priorities, according to Plumlee: to encourage pastors with resources to help them grow in their calling; to empower them to have a voice in the future of the convention; and to connect them to lifelong ministry relationships and partnerships.

“What has made this network thrive is deep brotherhood and connections,” Plumlee said. “As we look to the future, let me encourage whatever networks we launch to have relationships at their heart. The SBTC is strategically positioned to convene—that is, to pull leaders together in these kind of meaningful connections. Networks are an amazing way to accomplish this.”

One of the ways YPN connects its members is through cohorts. Participating YPN pastors are placed in groups of five to 10, with each group being led by an experienced mentor. Cohorts meet several times over a two-year period to discuss current issues related to pastoral ministry, to connect and speak into each other’s lives, and to hold each other accountable. Plumlee said 80 pastors have participated in a cohort to date.

“What’s happening in the Young Pastors Network is a true brotherhood,” said Joe Lightner, SBTC’s associate executive director. “ … It’s something we want every pastor to experience in some way in our convention.”

Send Network SBTC:

‘It’s been a great season’

The SBTC’s mission focus is to mobilize churches to multiply disciple-making movements in Texas and around the world. The Well Community Church in San Marcos is a great illustration of that.

Pastor Chris Millar gave testimony to the board about the vital role the SBTC has played in his journey from church member to church planter to leading The Well to become a church-planting church. That journey included getting connected to SBTC leaders through the annual collegiate Roundup event, connecting with SBTC pastors in college towns who encouraged and mentored him, and training that equipped him with the tools and training needed to reach people in San Marcos.

Now in its fourth year, The Well has baptized 60 people.

“I remember all the support that took place, all the relationships I had through the SBTC,” Millar said. “It was really as though there was this extended family of churches and people that said, ‘Chris, we’re going to come carry you.’ And the Lord really did carry us through that season.”

Julio Arriola, director of Send Network SBTC, said the SBTC’s partnership with the North American Mission Board is yielding a growing number of church plants like The Well across Texas each year—the result of God blessing faithful prayer and the convention’s unwavering commitment to “discover, develop, and deploy” pastors to launch new congregations.

Even so, there’s much more work to be done.

“It’s been a great season,” Arriola said. “The harvest is plentiful. Even though we’re seeing an increase in church planters, we need more laborers.”

Said SBTC Executive Director Nathan Lorick: “Not only are we seeing an increase in [churches planted], but we’re seeing momentum in planting. We’re seeing the energy of what God’s doing.”

Going to multiple services? It’s about timing and trust

As I sat down with a young pastor in our region recently, he shared with me the latest challenge at his church.

It was growing.

I believe growing people grow a church, so I was elated when he shared this news with me. But that wasn’t exactly how this brother was feeling. He was distraught.

Being in his first pastorate, this pastor was happy his church was growing. But he loved the feel and experience of being in one service, and he knew growth in corporate worship would cause his elders to consider adding an additional worship service. He was concerned how adding a second service would affect the unity of the church, as well as the impact multiple worship services would have on recruiting volunteers.

I reminded my pastor friend that unity is driven by consistently declaring the gospel, clarity of vision, and a trust in the Holy Spirit—and not necessarily by having everyone in one room together—and that offering an additional service would not only provide more opportunities for others to serve, but no longer force them to choose between attending the worship service or volunteering.

As we sat there and I considered what this brother was sharing with me, I asked him this: “Do you care more about your preferences for the church or the mission of the church?” My point was that if he wanted to continue to reach more people, he was going to have to create space for more people, and one of the ways to do that was with multiple worship services.

Here are two things to think about when implementing multiple worship services:

Timing matters

Consider when it would be best to add a new worship service. I would suggest choosing a natural break in the church calendar, like the beginning of a school year or the new year. Typically, these are the seasons average attendance increases, which might help you gain momentum to grow each service.

When thinking about the schedule of your services, there are several options to consider. One option is to have two services on Sunday morning with Sunday school or groups meeting during both hours. If your Sunday school program is strong, it might be good to adopt this model so that as your groups grow, you have the appropriate space to accommodate everyone.

Another option is to have two services with Sunday school or groups meeting during the hour in-between. If you have families with young children and want to ensure church members are “seeing” each other, this is wonderful. The constraint will depend upon your facilities, which will over time become an issue, Lord willing!

A third option is to add a second service on a Saturday night or Sunday evening, or at an alternative venue at the same location. This can be a good option if your church is full of commuters or people in need of a variety of options, but it may not work in most settings.

Whatever you choose, don’t forget to consider what is most optimal for guests and what kind of programs need to be offered during each time slot. If you have a strong children’s ministry program, for example, consider scheduling your services when families are most likely to attend. Timing matters, so choose wisely.

Trust the process

When you are making the decision to move to multiple services, go in knowing there will be a significant amount of work, including coordinating with staff, volunteers, stakeholders within the church, and ensuring those outside the church know of the changes. You’ll need to think through all the logistics: times of service, worship service format (different styles, lighting, arrangement), parking, greeters, ushers—the list of things to consider feels endless.

But you need to trust the process. This will be a significant stressor and strain on your resources, staff, volunteers, and even your people. You’ll hear positive and negative about the switch. Therefore, it’s important to have a plan to address these concerns and help each person feel heard. The church must ensure others feel heard so you can maintain unity.

Trusting the process will allow you to absorb the common objection and fear of not knowing everyone anymore. But the reality is, when a church grows beyond 120 people, it is difficult for anyone to know everyone. By trusting the process, you can help church members remember that the mission is the Great Commission—sharing the gospel and making disciples—not keeping the church a small, close-knit community.

Moving from one service to two is a major decision for any church regardless of size. Nobody has it down perfect. It is indeed an exciting time of transition and a great opportunity to reach more people who are far from God to become followers of Jesus.

Awakening National Prayer Conference seeks to convey information, spark transformation in churches across U.S.

FORT WORTH—The question was as sharp as it was simple.

“When you die,” Steve Gaines asked, “what do you hope to do in heaven?”

Gaines, senior pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, Tenn., told the crowd gathered at the Awakening National Prayer Conference on the campus of Southwestern Seminary on April 18 that he looks forward to seeing a number of people in heaven. Jesus, of course. His father, mother, and brother. Historical saints from the Old and New Testaments, ranging from Joseph to Joshua to John.

Amidst that shuffle of faithful faces and well-known names, Gaines said he will be looking for someone whose name he doesn’t know, a “little Baptist lady” that made his voice crack upon mentioning her. Though nameless (for now), her impact on his life was tremendous.

Gaines explained that when his mother was 24, she was diagnosed with cancer in both breasts. Doctors told her a double mastectomy would be required to save her life. Because of the severity of the procedure in those days, surgeons started with one side of her chest and sent her to a post-op shared recovery room, where she spent the next day in and out of consciousness, waiting to recover enough to undergo the second part of the procedure.

In that same room was the little Baptist lady, who had also just undergone a double mastectomy. Gaines said once the women learned of his mother’s condition, she crawled into his mother’s hospital bed, laid her head in her lap, and prayed for her over the next 12 hours, asking God to heal her.

The next morning, the doctors and nurses came in to prepare Gaines’ mother for the final portion of the procedure when, to their shock, they couldn’t find the cancerous lump they had previously located. An X-ray confirmed the miracle—the cancer on the other side of her body was gone.

“What happened?” Gaines’ mother asked through tears.

“God healed you,” the little Baptist lady told her. “I prayed for you last night, and I asked God to heal you, and He did.”

Speaking to the prayer conference, Gaines asked, “Does anybody believe that God can still heal?” Late last year, he announced his own cancer battle—one he has said is improving. “ … That lady then led my mom to Christ. She got healed and got saved on that same bed.”

The anecdote underscored Gaines’ message to kick off the conference, rooted in Daniel 9: Prayer can move the hand of God. Prayer can also reveal the will of God, he said, and it blesses the heart of God. Prayer mattered for Daniel, who Gaines estimates prayed tens of thousands of times over the decades of his life, leading God to grant him favor even in captivity. And prayer mattered for his mother, who came to know Christ because a little Baptist lady gave up a night of her life making her requests known to God for a woman she didn’t know.

“There are things God does for praying people that He doesn’t do for people who don’t pray,” Gaines said. “ … Some of you are discouraged, and all discouragement is just the devil taking courage out of you. Some of you are discouraged because you don’t pray. God wants to encourage you. He wants to put courage back into you, and if you will pray, you won’t lose heart. You won’t be discouraged.”

Impressing God through desperation

The prayer conference featured some of the country’s leading voices on prayer and revival. Sermons were delivered by Southern Baptists of Texas Executive Director Nathan Lorick; Bill Elliff of The Summit Church in Little Rock, Ark.; Ronnie Floyd, author and pastor emeritus of Cross Church in Springdale, Ark.; and Robby Gallaty, senior pastor of Long Hollow Church in Hendersonville, Tenn. A pair of breakouts on the topic of prayer and revival were also offered, featuring Gaines’ wife, Donna, and SBTC pastors Todd Kaunitz (New Beginnings Baptist Church, Longview) and Nathan Lino (First Baptist Church Forney). Worship was led by Julio Arriola, director of the church planting Send Network SBTC.

The event drew participants from not only Texas, but states as far away as Oklahoma, Ohio, and Indiana, according to Kie Bowman, the national director of prayer for the Southern Baptist Convention who organized the conference. Bowman said his heart was not only to inform conference participants about prayer, but to equip them to “move the dial” regarding prayer in their local contexts.

An increase in prayer has been credited for a number of notable movements of God around the country. Included in that has been thousands of people surrendering their lives to Christ on college campuses nationwide and churches crying out to God in desperation to see Him revitalize their congregations and communities.

“Every morning when we wake up, all of hell should shudder—not because of our capabilities or who we know or what we can fund, but simply because the believer’s greatest weapon against the demons of hell is prayer,” Lorick said.

Lorick, who has championed the vital importance of prayer since being called to lead the SBTC in 2021, said crying out in desperation—and not our abilities or accomplishments—is what will impress the heart of God most and lead Him to do things only He can do.

“The truth of the matter is, prayer is not missing in our churches,” Lorick said. “Almost every church has some form of transactional prayer. We pray before the service, we pray before the offering, we pray at the end of the service.

“But what we must seek after is not transactional prayer, but transformational prayer,” he continued. “I just wonder what it would look like if believers and pastors and staff and churches took on a new posture of desperation [in prayer].”

Send Network SBTC celebrates, encourages church planters

BOERNE—“We are planting churches for an audience of One,” said Dean Inserra, pastor of City Church in Tallahassee, Fla., and one of the speakers at the Send Network SBTC church planter retreat held April 4. “Be people of defiant joy. Be joy scatterers.”

Inserra offered a message of encouragement, reminding planters of the importance of togetherness, partnership, prayer, and church support.

“Church planting is hard work—and it’s supposed to be hard. You cannot do it alone. We signed up to serve in this manner, by God’s calling, to do something that was never designed to be easy. … You are heroes at the front line, and it’s worth it.”

God has greatly blessed the efforts of Send Network SBTC, the church planting partnership between the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention and the North American Mission Board, according to Julio Arriola, director of Send Network SBTC.

“This family of churches planted 90 churches in Texas. This is a great movement of God,” Arriola said. He added that out of 48 churches that were planted in 2023, more than 30 were planted by Hispanic pastors.

Planters were not only encouraged by preaching at the gathering, but by a time of prayer, praise, and worship led by Jimmy McNeal. All events were translated into Spanish by Mario Moreno, pastor of Oak Meadow Baptist Church in Austin.

The retreat also included a women’s track based on Jeremiah 17:1-8. Rivers Partin, who serves as part of the planter spouse development team for Send Network, ministered to the English-speaking women involved with church planting. She said she would like women to always depend on God.

“As they pursue doing their work for God, they should rest in God’s love for them and be rooted in God’s love for them,” she said. “All of these ladies are involved in church planting because they want to see people saved, they want to see the fruit of their ministries, and that only comes from being rooted in Christ.”

Carla Arriola, who ministered to the Spanish-speaking women who attended the retreat said, “As church planters’ helpers, we help each other, but people should not be our main refuge and support. God should be the first source of help. … As believers, we are all going to be attacked by the enemy, especially those who are planting churches. You are on the front line of attack for the enemy. It is very important that you remain rooted in the Lord and seek daily nourishment from Him so as not to defend yourselves with your own strength, but rather depend on the Lord and deal with those trials in a way that blesses others.”

Others present at the retreat included SBTC church planter catalysts Aaron Clayton, Edgar Trinidad, Cameron Whitley, and James Martínez, as well as church planter mentors including Russ Barksdale and Travis Berger. Several SBTC staff members also shared about resources their departments provide to church planters. That group included Colin Rayburn, missions mobilization associate; Dan Acharya, people groups associate; Bruno Molina, language and interfaith evangelism associate; and Jason Crandall, church plant lead for Send Network SBTC.

Chosen Conference’s message to the church: ‘We must be engaged’ in fostering, adoption

PLANO—The message was clear and unapologetic: every child is precious in God’s sight.

But the heart of the Chosen Conference, held Saturday, April 13, at Prestonwood Baptist Church, aimed to not only proclaim that truth, but mobilize followers of Christ to make a difference in the lives of vulnerable and forgotten children. Figures cited throughout the conference paint an urgent picture: more than 400,000 children are in the foster care system in America and 100,000 are awaiting adoption. Each year, 20,000 children age out of the foster system without having been matched with a family.

The church, Prestonwood Senior Pastor Jack Graham said, must take action.

“This is a critical and key issue not only in the community and the country, but in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ,” Graham said. “Our goal is to elevate this work of fostering and adopting. … We believe every child is a wanted child, every child is chosen by God. They’re not here by accident or chance, but through the divine plan, providences, and purposes of God.

“This means the church—we the people of God—must be engaged in this.”

The conference was shaped around “three pillars of hope” intended to empower local churches to establish an adoption and foster care ministry within their communities; engage all believers to understand their role in supporting adoption and foster care; and equip families that have been called to adopt and foster.

‘Everyone can do something’

For Shane and Kasi Pruitt, fostering and adoption are deeply personal issues: they have six children, four of whom are adopted (two from Texas and two from Africa–including their son Titus, who passed away last summer at age 10).

Though their connection to fostering and adoption is direct, Shane—national next gen director for the North American Mission Board—noted how Galatians 4:4-5 teaches that all followers of Jesus are benefactors of adoption ministry and orphan care: “When the time came to completion, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”

“It would have been enough for Him to set us free, but He went a step further and said … ‘my Father is going to be your Father, my family is going to be your family, and my inheritance is going to be your inheritance,’” Shane said. “God did the work [through Jesus] to make us a part of His family. Now everything we do is in response to that truth.”

Kasi spoke about what she calls the “both/and” part of fostering and adoption. In other words, there is a side of it that is a beautiful picture of the gospel, wholeness, and rescue that is counterbalanced by the fact that all fostering and adoption needs grow out of the fall and begin with trauma and loss. “Foster care and adoption is heartbreaking and joy, trauma and beautiful, grief and peace, loss and love, tragic and redemption,” she said. “We can be grateful we get to parent our kids and be heartbroken when we have to be.”

The loss of Titus, Shane shared, was one of those heartbreaking instances. Titus suffered from daily seizures, was confined to a wheelchair, could not speak, and was fed through a tube. His death brought a simultaneous wave of grief and celebration for the family as it missed Titus’ daily presence but rejoiced knowing he was in heaven in the presence of the Lord and fully restored.

“I think a lot of times we paint this picture like, if we are obeying God, everything is going to be easy,” Shane said. “We’ve got to remind ourselves that Jesus doesn’t promise us an easy life. He promises us eternal life. Sometimes obedience is not easy at all.”

Kasi shared several ways churches and believers can get more involved in foster and adoption ministry. One way is for families to foster and adopt when called by God to do so. Others can build relationships with local Child Protective Services offices and minister to caseworkers by providing meals and encouragement. Kasi noted that one CPS office shared with her church that, in cases where a child was able to be reunited with his or her original family, a church had been involved in some way 100% of the time.

“Everyone can do something—absolutely everyone,” she said.

Later, Gregg Matte—senior pastor of Houston’s First Baptist Church—shared a testimony about how God used tragedy in his family’s life to lead them to found a ministry called Legacy 685, which provides financial resources, education, and other practical help for families on the frontlines of adoption, fostering, and orphan ministries. Likewise, Scott Turner, an associate pastor at Prestonwood, announced the Plano church has started a fund to support families in the adoption and fostering process.

Shaping the future of Texas

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott knows firsthand the impact a family can have through the adoption process. He and his wife, Cecilia, adopted their daughter, Audrey, in the 1990s. Abbott shared a series of personal family photos during a question-and-answer session with Graham chronicling Audrey’s life from infancy to college graduation to her engagement day.

“What you do really does change not only the life of a child, but changes the future of our state,” Abbott said. “ … The fact of the matter is, we would have to pass fewer laws if we had more families, better parenting, taking care of our children. It’s good parents educating good children, loving them, supporting them, that leads to those children being very productive and making our society better.”

Abbott said the need for qualified parents to adopt and foster remains high, as the most recent statistics show 4,000 children are available for adoption in Texas. Two thousand children have already been adopted this year, he said. There are other avenues the state has created to provide churches with opportunities to contribute. He noted the existence of “rainbow rooms” stocked with items such as diapers, car seats, and school supplies that can be given by CPS workers to children in crisis. Rainbow rooms are located in every region of Texas and can be stocked by churches with the means to help.

Another avenue of involvement is the Clergy in the Court for Kids program operated through the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. The program invites faith leaders to attend court proceedings, meet families in need, and serve as a calming influence in courtroom environments that can be intimidating for most children.

“We need church involvement in our communities more today than we have maybe ever,” Abbott said. “A way to do that is for churches across our state to immerse themselves in this family unit bonding process that can be done through the adoption and foster care process. Through that process you will be involved in ensuring that you will grow and strengthen family units in the state of Texas while at the same time doing what we are told biblically that we have the responsibility to do, and that is to care for our youngest—especially the orphans among us.”

Robertsons share adoption story

Sadie Robertson Huff and her mother, Korie Robertson—who appeared on the popular reality TV show Duck Dynasty—were interviewed by Tasha Calvert, Prestonwood women’s minister. The church later aired a preview of the pro-adoption film Possum Trot, based on the true story of a small East Texas church whose members adopted 77 children from the Texas system. The film is due in theaters July 4.

“Adoption has made our family what it is. … We love a big family,” Korie said of the six children she shares with her husband, Willie. Three of the Robertson children are adopted.

“It’s not exactly what we had planned … it’s not necessarily easier, but it’s better because God calls us to this abundant life,” Korie said. She also noted that younger generations seem increasingly open to adopting children.

Sadie, the mother of two young children, added that she and her husband were considering adoption in the future.

“As the church we do have a responsibility for adoption,” Sadie added. “The church is expected to take in the children that need help … the place that takes in the orphans and cares for those” like a hospital caring for its community.

“I’ve gotten to see my family do that and I’ve been so grateful,” Sadie said, later reminding the audience that Christians have all “been adopted into God’s family through the blood of Christ and we get to share in the same family [eternally].”

Korie praised the help of her church and family in her journey as an adoptive parent. “Find that. That is what the church is meant to be,” she said. “And if it’s not there, start it.”

Cooperative effort among state disaster relief teams assists ranchers affected by Panhandle wildfires

CANADIAN—A massive cooperative effort among Southern Baptist Disaster Relief state teams, including Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Disaster Relief, rushed 1,031 large round bales of hay in early March to areas devastated by recent Panhandle wildfires.

By March 21, plans to transport 1,200 more bales were also underway. As of Sunday, March 24, an additional 1,600 bales of hay have been made available pending the arrangement of transportation.

The hay relief effort—which has also included the North American Mission Board’s Send Relief, the Texas Salvation Army, and a major corporation—started when SBTC DR was contacted March 8 with a request for help. SBTC DR Director Scottie Stice was flummoxed. SBTC DR crews, along with other state SBDR teams, had hurried to the Panhandle even as the wildfires raged. Feeding, shower and laundry, and recovery crews were busy. But how would the team acquire and transport hay?

“We can’t handle this. We don’t have the equipment. We don’t have the time. We don’t have the people. We don’t have semi-trucks or trailers,” Stice remembered telling the Lord.

On March 10, Stice sat in Sunday school at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Ennis thinking of the desperate need for hay. He looked at the whiteboard where the substitute teacher had written, “Ask God.”

So Stice did.

“I read it twice. Then I prayed and asked God,” Stice said. “I sent off a text message to other state DR directors. Before Sunday school was over, we had received a promise of two semi-truck loads of hay from Kentucky Baptist DR.”

The effort gained momentum from there, with SBDR teams from Missouri, New Mexico, Illinois, Tennessee, Ohio, and Arkansas—in addition to Kentucky—promising to help.

“Farmers and ranchers across the various states are donating the hay, by and large,” Stice said.

Send Relief provided some hay loads and a grant to facilitate distribution efforts, he said. More trucks were still needed, so Stice contacted the Salvation Army Texas Division Emergency Disaster Services notifying them of the need.

“We’ve been waiting on your call,” Director Alvin Migues said.

Within a day, the Salvation Army sent two trucks, two drivers, and rented trailers to Arkansas to pick up hundreds of bales of hay and transport them to sites in Borger, Canadian, and Pampa designated as hay depots by Texas A&M AgriLife agents. The AgriLife agents then began coordinating with ranchers to distribute the hay where it was needed.

A large corporation requesting anonymity also sent three semis with trailers to Arkansas. The effort is ongoing.

“It’s been a huge cooperative effort meeting a real need in West Texas,” Stice said. “This illustrates how Baptist DR teams and like-minded organizations can partner to get the Lord’s work done.”

Texas is home to some 11 million head of cattle, more than 85% located in the Panhandle, according to the Texas Department of Agriculture. Tens of thousands of head were affected by the fires which burned more than a million acres.

“Pray God will provide a means for us to get the hay where it is vitally needed,” Stice said.

A short—yet powerful—book to preach to your people

I enjoy hiking. It brings together some of my favorite things: family, nature, and exercise. I cherish the moments of discovery on the trail when my children are surprised by spectacular views. I love how the quiet of a nature hike declares God’s glory. I look forward to the physical challenge of a trek.

But not every hike is suited for my family. Some trails are too technical, some too long, while others are too simple or short. I’ve also found we need a variety of vistas. We need mountains and lakes, coastlines and canyons, waterfalls and woods. Simply put, the process of selecting a trail is both an art and a science.

Pastor, your preaching calendar is like selecting a trail, leading you to be sensitive to the needs of your congregation while providing a panoramic view of the entire counsel of God (Acts 20:27). With that in mind, I want to give you two reasons for leading your congregation down Philemon’s path:

It’s a short New Testament trail

Your church needs variety in biblical themes and genre. Just like my family enjoys hiking a variety of landscapes, your people need the whole counsel of God. Evaluate your past, present, and future preaching calendars to determine if you are providing this.

Have you been in a lengthy book for countless weeks? Have you tackled a series of long books? If so, the brevity of Philemon will be refreshing to your congregation. It’s a short trail with some spectacular views. Maybe you’ve been preaching a series of narrative, prophetic, law, or wisdom passages. If so, Philemon could be a great fit for your congregation. It’s a gospel-centered, relationship-driven epistle.

It’s a master path in forgiveness

If your church is anything like mine, you know relationships can get messy. Bitterness. Envy. Division. Hurt. You name it. The book of Philemon insists mercy and grace should ground our relationships.

Here’s the setting: Philemon is a wealthy, slave-owning Christian. He’s a leader in the church at Colossae who opens his home for a group of believers to gather. Onesimus is Philemon’s runaway slave who wronged his master (Philemon 18). By God’s providential hand, Onesimus crosses Paul’s path in prison. While there, Paul leads him to salvation. “I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment” (Philemon 10).

Onesimus is not Paul’s natural son. He’s a son by faith in Christ. Paul was the means God used to bring Onesimus into the family of God. In this short letter Philemon is the offended brother. By all legal rights, he could punish Onesimus. Yet Paul appeals to him to freely forgive Onesimus.

“Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, yet for love’s sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus … So if you consider me your partner [Philemon], receive him [Onesimus] as you would receive me” (Philemon 8-9, 17).

Preach Philemon, because your people need this beautiful model of forgiveness. Forgiveness is costly. It would cost Philemon and it will cost your congregation. But it also holds untold power for healing and ministry. This is why Paul identified Onesimus as useful to Philemon (Philemon 11) only after his conversion. Together, Philemon and Onesimus could serve as brothers in the work of gospel ministry.

At my church, we tackled the book of Philemon in three weeks. I had just finished a lengthy series through the book of Colossians and honestly, I was weary. I took this small letter as a chance to rest and share the pulpit with three qualified and competent men from my congregation. It was an opportunity to teach my congregation to rely on God’s Word, to equip future pastors, and to rest. During those three weeks, I was a joyful member taking in the surprising views from this much-needed hike.

Your church needs this epistle because forgiveness and reconciliation are at the very heart of the gospel message. Plus, if for nothing else, Onesimus is fun to say!

How we fence the Lord’s table at our church

Have you ever noticed that when you watch a movie or television show and a nightclub is part of the scene, there seems to be two different types of security strategies?

One strategy employs a door man who stands at the front of the line and lets people in whose names are on the list. The second strategy utilizes a bouncer, who allows everyone in and only removes people when there’s trouble.

Sometimes a form of these strategies is used by churches when it comes to the Lord’s Supper. Some churches have a door man mentality, where requirements are in place and enforced, while others have a bouncer mentality, where no requirements are in place and issues are dealt with only when they arise.

At our church, we use the Baptist Faith & Message 2000 to inform our strategy for observing the Lord’s Supper. Article 7 states the following:

“The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of obedience whereby members of the church, through partaking of the bread and the fruit of the vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and anticipate His second coming.”

Our church understands this to mean that the Lord’s Supper is for members of the local church only. So who is a member of a local church? Again, our church turns to the BF&M 2000, Article 6, for guidance:

“A New Testament church of the Lord Jesus Christ is an autonomous local congregation of baptized believers, associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel; observing the two ordinances of Christ, governed by His laws, exercising the gifts, rights, and privileges invested in them by His Word, and seeking to extend the gospel to the ends of the earth. Each congregation operates under the Lordship of Christ through democratic processes. In such a congregation each member is responsible and accountable to Christ as Lord.”

As we read it, a member is a baptized believer by covenant in faith and fellowship with other believers and operating under the commands of Jesus for that local church. Since our church believes the Lord’s Supper must have requirements that need to be met for someone to partake, we reject the bouncer strategy, which represents open communion.

That leaves our church with the door man strategy. This strategy has two options: closed communion, where only members of that local church can partake in the Lord’s Supper, or close communion, where a baptized believer in good standing with a local church can participate in the Lord’s Supper even if they are not members of that specific body. Our church believes both options are permissible in accordance with BF&M 2000 guidelines, and the local autonomous body can decide which option it practices.

So how do we fence, or protect, the Lord’s Supper at our church? I’ll give you four statements we use every month when we partake in the Lord’s Supper:

We state that the Lord’s Supper is for Christians who have followed in believer’s baptism after salvation, and if they do not meet those requirements, they cannot partake.
We state that if there is a guest who meets the above requirements and is a member in good standing of another local church, they are welcome to partake.
We state that if parents have children in the service who are not Christians or haven’t followed in believer’s baptism after salvation, they cannot partake. We encourage parents to use that opportunity to have a gospel conversation with their kids about why they could not partake of the Lord’s Supper.
We state that anyone watching online cannot partake, but that we look forward to the day they can participate when they are back in fellowship with the local body.

While these practices work in our context, each church must decide how to scripturally administer the Lord’s Supper in its own context. Even so, I believe these four statements will enable you to gracefully administer the Lord’s Supper in your local church and effectively lead your people to remember the death of Jesus as He instructed us in His Word.