Author: Russell Lightner

Building back better

Generosity—expressed through labor and good stewardship—helps Central Texas church rebuild after 2022 tornado

ess than a year after an EF-3 tornado destroyed First Cedar Valley Baptist Church, the Central Texas congregation has built back better thanks to good stewardship of God’s resources and the generosity of God’s people.

After the April 12, 2022, tornado struck, the building suffered so much structural damage it had to be torn down. About all that was left of the building was its slab foundation and a large cross that was anchored to it.

Tears trickled down Pastor Donnie Jackson’s face as he viewed the aftermath. He had grown up in the church and saw a lifetime of memories destroyed.

But First Cedar Valley—located 11 miles west of Salado—pushed on. That Easter, the church held outdoor services on the bare slab less than a week after the tornado. Efforts to rebuild had already begun.

‘God’s people came through’

Almost immediately after the storm, Jackson received “tons of phone calls.”

“I was there [at the church property] daylight to dark fielding so many phone calls,” Jackson said. “I could not remember everyone who had called. So many churches. So many people.”

The church was insured, Jackson said, and the insurance company advanced funds quickly as a partial settlement so reconstruction could begin. The property was soon cleared of downed trees and debris. A church member and proprietor of a commercial building company arranged for onsite storage for whatever could be salvaged by volunteers and workers.

By early May 2022, that church member’s crews had erected a temporary air-conditioned building that would seat 78 so the church could hold services indoors. A week or so later, construction on the new permanent facility began.

As manpower assembled from inside and outside the church, donations poured in as well, Jackson said.

“It was unbelievable how the churches and others stepped forward,” he said.

“People poured out their love for us. Ours is a story of how God used people. So many helped us in so many ways. God touches the hearts of people. This has been such a blessing to us as a church and to me as a pastor.”

—Donnie Jackson Tweet

Substantial checks arrived from other congregations. Old friends, acquaintances, and even strangers contributed. A contractor who specializes in large-scale commercial electrical work offered to supply not only the inside electrical work but also outdoor lighting and parking lot poles—items not included in previous bids from others.

When it came time to sign the contract, Jackson was astonished to note the charges. “It was all zeroes. We didn’t owe a dime,” the pastor said. “These are the kind of people God sent our way. … God’s people came through.”

The church has literally built back better, Jackson said, noting that 14 feet has been added to the back of the worship center that now seats 250. Sunday school and office space also was expanded. While the old building was around 8,000 square feet, the new facility is 10,000 square feet with another 25,000 square feet of concrete parking.

Space isn’t the only thing increasing.

Attendance, which had begun to rise after Jackson assumed the pulpit full time in March 2020 and suffered a decline during COVID, is climbing again. More than 65 regularly attend, and special Sundays like Easter and Mother’s Day draw more than 100. Younger families are coming. Almost every Sunday brings new visitors.

“I will be baptizing five over the next few weeks,” Jackson said. Referring to his own pre-pandemic health issues, Jackson said he intends to continue leading the church. “As long as the Lord allows me to keep on keeping on, I will. It’s in His hands. Even our next breath is in His hands. Whatever He allows me to do I will do.”

“The tornado put our little village on the map. ... it’s a blessing to see your people grow so much in the faith. We went through it together.”

—Donnie Jackson Tweet

‘We packed it out’

Remarkably, construction progressed at such a pace that the church began to occupy the new facilities on Dec. 23, 2022. The official dedication was held on Saturday, April 1, 2023, almost one year to the day of the tornado.

Gov. Greg Abbott, who had come to Cedar Valley to offer support in the immediate aftermath of the tornado, attended the dedication, as did first responders, area dignitaries, and representatives from other churches.

“We invited the churches that helped us and had been praying for us. Many had sent funds or made donations of chairs and other items,” said Jackson. “We held [the dedication] on a Saturday so these pastors and their members could attend and not take away from their worship services. Everybody was invited to be a part of it. … We packed it out.”

The cross from the former building is in the new building, as are an 1800s-era Bible and a commemorative plate inscribed with a Bible verse. The items survived the tornado unscathed and are now in the new main foyer. Another larger cross, damaged during the storm and repaired, hangs in the worship center.

“People poured out their love for us. Ours is a story of how God used people,” Jackson said. “ … So many helped us in so many ways. God touches the hearts of people. This has been such a blessing to us as a church and to me as a pastor.

“The tornado put our little village on the map,” he added. “Besides the additional numbers of people coming, it’s a blessing to see your people grow so much in the faith. We went through it together.”

‘Investment in ministry is just glorious’

Fairdale Baptist Church in Hemphill is sending its dollars—and people—to assist a nearby Hispanic congregation

Years ago, leaders at Fairdale Baptist Church recognized a couple of noteworthy things related to their budget:

1. They knew they needed to formally create a reserve fund to tackle any big-expense emergencies that might arise, such as the church’s air conditioning going out (which, in Texas, definitely constitutes an emergency).

2. They recognized the church had been carrying a large sum of money totaling in the low six figures in its general reserve fund that was going unused each year.

Fairdale addressed the first issue as many churches do—by creating a reserve fund and contributing to it. But the church chose to do something unique to address the second issue and, because of it, Fairdale is having a kingdom impact by making a gospel investment in other churches in the region.

Rather than continuing to leave the money sitting dormant in its own account, Fairdale opted to invest those funds with the Southern Baptists of Texas Foundation—a ministry partner of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention that, in turn, works with churches in areas including investments, stewardship assessments, church lending, and financial consulting. Fairdale’s decision to work with the foundation, however, came a twist: the church opted not to keep the interest earned from its investments, but instead directed the foundation to pass it along to support other Hispanic churches in the area, including a church with which it already had a relationship—Primera Iglesia Bautista Hispana in Jasper, about 40 miles southwest of Hemphill.

“The biggest thing we talked about was, as a church, we’re not in the business of being a bank. We have to be about working for the Lord, and we saw those funds just sitting there that could easily be used to help ministry efforts elsewhere.”

—Fairdale Pastor JR McDonald Tweet

“The biggest thing we talked about was, as a church, we’re not in the business of being a bank. We’re not in the business of just holding funds here that wouldn’t be used,” Fairdale Pastor JR McDonald said. “We have to be about working for the Lord, and we saw those funds just sitting there that could easily be used to help ministry efforts elsewhere.”

Primera’s pastor, Enrique Perez, said his congregation is relatively small, full of people who work hard and want to reach people for Christ in their community. Like so many other congregations, COVID significantly impacted the church. Perez said he tries to stay connected to those who were attending regularly before the pandemic but have not quite made it back yet. At the same time, he and the church strive to connect to new people in the community.

“We want Christ to be known in our community,” Perez said. “The only way to do that is to reach people where they are.”

That’s why Fairdale’s gospel partnership with Primera has meant so much. Perez said Fairdale has supported Primera’s work since his arrival there in 2005. That partnership is measured not merely in dollars, but in human capital. Each year, Fairdale sends a group of its members to Primera to help put on vacation Bible school.

"You talk about returns in the stock market, but when it comes to kingdom work, investment in ministry is just glorious. That really excites us."

—JR McDonald Tweet

Meanwhile, interest funds from Fairdale’s investment with the foundation are added to a fund that Primera will use to construct a new building to replace its aging facility. Even as it saves for the future, Primera continues to pour into other gospel work. Perez said his church sent 250 Bibles to two churches in Mexico earlier this year and a few months later provided funds to a gospel partner to provide sandals and Spanish Bible tracts to the mountainous region in Oaxaca.

“I cannot put into words what [Fairdale’s partnership] has meant,” Perez said. “It’s just amazing. Fairdale is the most mission-minded church in our area. If there’s another church that has a bigger heart, I’m not aware of it.”

Milton Hamilton, a Fairdale deacon, is among those who have helped with Bible schools and other outreaches at Primera. He and his wife, Rosemary, have become so invested in Primera’s mission, they recently decided to answer a call from the Lord to leave Fairdale—where they have been members since the mid-2000s—to join the Hispanic congregation. They are learning how to speak Spanish and plan on making the transition this summer.

“They’re a small congregation … but they’re just sweet, loving Christian people,” Hamilton said. “I told JR, ‘God is calling Rosemary and me to a foreign mission field, but it’s only 40 miles away.’”

That’s a different kind of investment, but a kingdom investment nonetheless. The significance of the financial and human investment in congregations other than its own has energized Fairdale, McDonald said.

“We’re actually investing in ministry,” he said. “That to me sounds like a winning scenario for investment. You talk about returns in the stock market, but when it comes to kingdom work, investment in ministry is just glorious. That really excites us.”

Setbacks? Call them setups for a comeback

After seasons of adversity, FBC Vidor cuts ribbon on recovery center for women

he story of the Women’s Care Center, a ministry of First Baptist Church of Vidor and its non-profit partner, Main Street Ministries, is one of perseverance and faithful pursuit.

When the ceremonial ribbon was cut in front of the center on June 4, it marked the latest point on a timeline that stretches back more than a decade. That chronology includes two historic storms, a global pandemic, and more God moments than one can count.

But first, the specifics: the center will provide a safe, sober-living environment that can house up to 10 to 12 women at a time. Those women will spend their days working through a 12-step recovery program to help with substance abuse issues, receiving support, guidance, and Biblical counseling, and—most importantly—hearing the saving message of Jesus Christ.

During a ceremony at the church prior to the ribbon cutting, FBC Vidor Pastor Terry Wright challenged his congregation to commit to loving and serving the women God will bring to the center. “Lord,” he prayed, “we commit to having the compassion you have, the love you have, and the desire you have to see lives changed.”

About 13 years ago, Wright was invited by Nathan Lorick, SBTC’s evangelism director at the time who now serves as its executive director, to join a group of pastors on a vision trip to Florida. The group visited First Baptist Church of Leesburg and its pastor, Charles Roesel, who led the church to start a number of ministries aimed at meeting practical needs that would open doors to sharing the gospel in the community. Among those ministries was a women’s shelter funded partially by a thrift store.

Upon returning home from the trip, Wright challenged leaders in his church and at Main Street Ministries to pray about starting a similar ministry to serve not only Vidor, but Southeast Texas and beyond. The church already owned a 12,000-square-foot building donated by James Moore, a deacon from nearby First Baptist Church of Groves, who gave an additional $65,000 to help renovate the building for ministry purposes. Soon after, God began to provide leadership to start a center for women, and a thrift store was opened to help provide funding.

Progress, however, was halted in 2017 with the arrival of Hurricane Harvey, which put more than half of the city of Vidor under water. In 2019, work was slowed by Tropical Storm Imelda, and the following year brought the COVID-19 pandemic that once again hindered efforts to open the center. A rare freeze in 2021 caused pipes to burst in the building that would house the center, leading to yet another remodeling project.

“It just seemed like there were so many catastrophes, but God is so good in His timing. He always sees the big picture, and His timing is perfect.”

—Cara Freeman, FBC Vidor’s director of women’s ministry Tweet

“It just seemed like there were so many catastrophes,” said Cara Freeman, FBC Vidor’s director of women’s ministry, “but God is so good in His timing. He always sees the big picture, and His timing is perfect.”

What felt like discouraging delays at the time opened other doors of opportunity, including allowing time for the hiring of Women’s Care Center Program Director Gena Rogers. Rogers’ personal testimony includes watching family members struggle with substance abuse. She will be joined at the center by a couple of other employees, as well as volunteers from the church who will be called upon to minister to the women who come to the center.

“We pray that God uses the Women’s Care Center to change the lives of women and their families,” Rogers said. “We want them to have a personal relationship with God and give Him all the glory.”

Panhandle church turns a corner after congregation rallies around pastor following tragedy

At New Home,
there’s new hope

New Home Baptist Church gave Pastor LJ Wright a chance in 2019. Since then, the congregation’s faith has produced fruit—despite the pandemic and the pastor’s own tragic personal loss.

Wright’s journey to New Home Baptist, located in the small Texas Panhandle town of the same name, population 350, just south of Lubbock, followed an atypical track.

“I wasn’t raised in a Christian home,” Wright said. At age 10, he was removed from his biological parents and raised in the foster system, living “all over the place.” He spent his early childhood in Oregon, then New Mexico, and finally graduated from high school in West Virginia.

Although Wright captained the varsity baseball and basketball teams in high school, college provided too many opportunities for alcohol and substance abuse.

“I made a shipwreck of my life in college,” Wright admitted. “The Lord found me in a really dark place and saved me.”

That dark place turned out to be a county jail, where Wright was detained on substance abuse-related charges. In total, Wright estimates he spent more than three years incarcerated as a young man.

Yet at age 25, he met Jesus in a county jail.

“I was in trouble,” he recalled. “Every time someone tried to share the gospel with me, I rejected it.” One day he felt convicted to attend a church service in jail. As the speaker preached, it was as if the “blinders were ripped off,” Wright said. “I recognized my sin. … I was terrified that I had rebelled … but not only had He preserved me, Christ died for me.”

It was as if he had become a “new creature on the spot.” Years of anger at the foster care system, his parents, and the world dissolved.

“What had the church done? I got called into ministry at this church with no education, no experience in the pastorate, and as a convicted felon. I had no idea how it would work. The church was committed. They saw something.”

—Pastor LJ Wright Tweet

Connecting through tragedy

Following his salvation, Wright began studying the Bible; telling people about Jesus became his passion. He served at a church as part of its Spanish ministry and began doing pulpit supply for the Lubbock Baptist Association. He was soon invited to preach at New Home, then without a pastor.

“I wasn’t looking to be a pastor,” Wright said. Even so, New Home kept approaching him. The vote to call him to the position in 2019 was unanimous.

“What had the church done?” Wright wondered. “I got called into ministry at this church with no education, no experience in the pastorate, and as a convicted felon. I had no idea how it would work. The church was committed. They saw something.”

Wright and his wife, Tiffani, expecting their first child, moved into the pastorate. Two months after they came to New Home, tragedy overwhelmed the young couple, then 29 and 23 years old. As the baby’s due date neared, a routine visit to the obstetrician proved devastating when the physician could not detect a heartbeat. Wrenley Wright was buried on what had been her original due date: Nov. 23, 2019.

The church rallied around the couple.

“God used that situation with Wrenley to bring our church family together. We have a bond now that we wouldn’t have had otherwise. I was green in the pastorate. They were so patient with Tiffani and me,” Wright said. “It was so hard.”

Wright calls the tragedy a major turning point for the church, a loss that cemented relationships within the congregation: “We are family here.”

“I may lose my friends. I may lose money. I may lose my reputation but I know Jesus is worth it.”

10-year-old boy on the cost of following Christ counseled by wright Tweet

Growing through challenges

It wasn’t long before COVID-19 struck. After an initial pause, the church resumed in-person worship quickly. Folks returned, but provisions were also made for online worship. Attendance fluctuated during COVID, then picked up. Weekly attendance now ranges from 100-150, but Easter 2023 saw attendance soar to 250 with two services.

Included among Wright’s attendees are his biological mother and stepfather, who are members at New Home—where she sings in the choir and he serves on committees. Wright reconnected with his mother before his salvation, learning that she was a believer and happily remarried.

“My mother was serving the Lord,” Wright said. “We have been serving Him together ever since.”

Baptisms and memberships have exploded since 2020, with more than 60 joining and 30-plus baptisms—one of which was preceded by Wright counseling a 10-year-old boy on the cost of following Christ.

“I may lose my friends. I may lose money. I may lose my reputation,” the boy told Wright, “but I know Jesus is worth it.”

The church’s active Wednesday night children’s programs—including Royal Ambassadors, Girls in Action, and Mission Friends—draw 100 kids from the town and surrounding areas. Many unchurched children attend. In anticipation of future growth, New Home recently paid cash for a 10-acre lot and plans are in the works for a new facility.

Wright calls himself the “most blessed man on earth to be able to serve this community,” praising his youth pastor, staff, and volunteers. “We have great people in all positions. These people love the Lord, love to serve, love the church, love the community,” he said. Ultimately, it has “all been God’s work. He is sovereign. We are just trusting Him.”

What Ravenhill taught me about life and ministry

he privilege of knowing Leonard Ravenhill when I was a teenager was nothing less than a sovereign surprise. Ravenhill was a British evangelist and writer whose statements on prayer and revival frequently pop up in sermons and on social media. God crossed our paths during the most impressionable years of my life.

Here are six lessons I learned from this wonderful man of God:

1. Invest in young people.

I was 16 years old in 1981 when I met Leonard, who was 74. The occasion was a prayer meeting he led on Friday nights in the house of the Brown family, just outside of my hometown of Tyler. Ravenhill knew as much about me as I did about him—nada. Yet because of this gritty English evangelist, a bunch of shaggy teenagers were praying while our peers were partying.

2. Pray with conviction.

I had only recently accepted God’s call into ministry when I started attending the prayer meeting with a few friends. Private and public prayer were still awkward for me at that time. God used Ravenhill’s prayers to loosen, then lighten, me up. He prayed with so much intensity that I expected the carpet under his knees to catch on fire. His fire for public prayer was stoked by the many hours of private prayer he had invested between those meetings.

3. Pray in unity.

I was a Southern Baptist kid who at first was intimidated by these often raucous prayer meetings, but I eventually got used to people praying out loud and at the same time. One night the prayer time devolved into noisy chaos and Ravenhill put a hard stop to it. It took several attempts for him to get everyone’s attention before he said firmly, “God does not cause the spirit of confusion. We have come to pray together in unity!” I remember wanting to give him a high-five, but had just enough restraint to stand down.

“He never stopped praying for the church to experience the next Great Awakening.”

Mark Dance Tweet

4. Great worship trumps great music.

I really enjoyed hearing Ravenhill pray and teach, but he was less than awesome at singing. Keith Green sometimes led worship from his piano, but mostly it was Ravenhill who led us a cappella—at least when I was present. Ravenhill’s favorite song was “Holy, Holy, Holy,” which he led at every single meeting. I loved it more each time we sang it.

5. Anger is not always a sin.

Most of Ravenhill’s books and sermons are prophetic in tone. I suspect he was not so much angry with the culture as he was the church. He never stopped praying for the church to experience the next Great Awakening. There is a righteous anger that leads to more righteousness, as well as an unrighteous anger which can lead to sin (Ephesians 4:26). Ravenhill was both good and angry, which ultimately meant he cared about the things God cared about.

6. Prayer is more caught than taught.

My Fridays with Ravenhill ended when I went off to college five hours away. Our last visit was in the Tyler hospital after a stroke left him temporarily speechless. After we prayed together one last time, his nod and smile were a sufficient graduation diploma from what I consider to be my school of prayer. As he is so often quoted as saying, “No man is greater than his prayer life.”

Developing a rhythm of rest

bout three years ago, God convicted me about my work schedule. At the time, I was working seven days a week. He revealed to me that I must obey His Word—the fourth of the 10 Commandments, to be exact: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8).

Interestingly, of all the 10 Commandments, the Lord gave more explanation regarding this one than all the others. In Exodus 20:11, God uses a personal illustration to get His point across to His people: “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.”

After reading several books detailing the importance of rest, it became very clear that I needed to make a seismic change in my weekly schedule. So I decided to obey God’s Word, follow His personal example, and do what Chick-Fil-A has been doing for decades—I decided to take a day off each week. I have chosen to take Saturdays off to rest and recharge, and it has been a major blessing and game-changer for me.

"God loves you and wants you to be strong so you can serve Him and others to the best of your ability."

Danny Forshee Tweet

What about you? How are you doing? Being maxed out will lead to burn out, and when you are burned out in ministry, you are unhealthy. Allow me to offer three practical tips to help you make some changes in your schedule so you can at least take one day off a week:

1. Obey God.

God’s Word is very clear about taking a day off and resting. I had multiple people offer books to me on the importance of resting. So I had a choice to make: Would I obey God or not? Would I listen to friends who were trying to help me or not? I am so grateful to God that He impressed upon me to make the change.

2. Do yourself a favor.

Proverbs 11:17 says, “The merciful man does good for his own soul, but he who is cruel troubles his own flesh.” One of the best things you can do for your soul is rest. It will take some discipline to make the change. Turning off the computer, not checking emails, and unplugging from work will take effort. People may judge you and tempt you to get back in the mode of working all the time. Don’t do it! For the sake of your health and your family, keep your commitment to obey God and help yourself.

3. Enjoy the benefits of rest.

One of the books I read in my quest to learn more about rest is Leading on Empty. Leading from a place of strength is far preferable, and the only way to do that is to develop a rhythm of rest. On your day off, do things you enjoy. Read. Go for a walk. Hang out with family and friends. You get the idea: anything fun, but no work.

God loves you and wants you to be strong so you can serve Him and others to the best of your ability. He also desires for you to enjoy the life He has given you. So rest in Jesus, my friend. Relax. Take at least one day off. Trust me—you will love the results!

Cross City’s SALT program is creating a leadership pipeline to equip people to serve the church

‘A season of equipping’

hen John Meador arrived as senior pastor of Cross City Church (then First Baptist Euless) in 2006, he brought something extra: SALT, an intensive discipleship program that he says is “unparalleled” in its preparation of teachers.

SALT—or, Servant Approach to Leadership Training—is the brainchild of Eddie Rasnake, discipleship pastor at Meador’s previous church, Woodland Park Baptist of Chattanooga, Tenn. The SALT Institute remains a vital ministry of that church.

“When I came here, the search team asked me to bring the material,” Meador said, explaining that Rasnake and Woodland Park had developed the course even before Meador had become pastor of the Chattanooga congregation.

“There is a high level of expectation. It is a seminary-level course,” Meador said.

Church member Sharon Smith echoed her pastor’s words. Smith and her husband, Claude, have been members of Cross City for 37 years. She was a Bible study leader at the church when Meador came. As a veteran Precept group leader, Smith had significant experience with inductive Bible study methods and was pleased when Meador recruited her to participate in the pioneer SALT class at Cross City in 2007.

“The purpose is to equip people who are called to be pastors, teachers, [serve] in full-time ministry, or those who have a burden to teach or serve in the local church.”

—Sharon Smith Tweet

“I was blessed to be included,” Smith said. “We did SALT for two years. I loved it, absolutely loved it. It began a season of equipping for our church. After the success of the initial launch, we added a morning ladies’ class, which I led. It was a great decision which led to several graduating classes of women.”

Although the church experimented with shorter versions of SALT over the years, the basic course continues to require a two-year commitment. With Rasnake’s permission, Cross City adapted the course somewhat, but essentially, its SALT classes follow his curriculum for four semesters, Smith said.

“The purpose is to equip people who are called to be pastors, teachers, [serve] in full-time ministry, or those who have a burden to teach or serve in the local church,” Smith said. “Pastor John says that Jesus made it clear that leadership in the kingdom is different than leadership in the world.”

A life-changing course

Meador taught SALT in the early years, then stepped away to spearhead the church’s Can We Talk? evangelism outreach based on materials he authored. When the pandemic changed the nature of door-to-door evangelism, and following the death of longtime Cross City SALT teacher David Crome in 2022, Meador stepped back into the SALT teaching role. He shares those duties with Smith—who acts as course coordinator and facilitates the class when Meador is absent.

Cross City members wishing to take the course go through an application process to ensure they have a grasp of basic Christian doctrine and understand the requirements of the two-year commitment.

“There’s homework every week. There’s Greek involved. This is not for those looking for a light Bible study,” Smith said.

Regular attendance is expected, with classes held for two hours on Wednesday evenings each semester. Anticipation rises as each two-year course draws to a close and enrollment begins for the next. Classes run around 10 students, and all must enroll at the beginning. There are no mid-program additions during the two years.

To date, 102 Cross City students have completed SALT. Most are serving as teachers and Bible study leaders at Cross City, at other churches, or in their communities. Some have gone on to seminaries or become full-time pastors or ministry leaders.

The recent 2023 graduating class reflected “the generations and the multiethnic identity of our church,” Smith said, calling the group “a beautiful picture of heaven.”

Matt Tyson, now of Shreveport, La., called the SALT experience “transforming.” Tyson, then a corporate healthcare finance executive in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, took the course a decade ago. Called to ministry, Tyson left his career to become executive director of Meador’s One Conversation evangelism ministry, then became a pastor in Louisiana, and today pastors 3:18 Church serving the homeless in the Bayou State.

“SALT transformed my thinking, transformed how I studied the Word,” said Tyson, who since has earned a master’s degree in theological studies from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Smith and Meador say those are the kinds of ways God is using the SALT program.

“SALT transformed my thinking, transformed how I studied the Word.”

Matt Tyson Tweet

SALT by semester

The SALT curriculum, which can be purchased online, is now published in four manuals. Semester one covers a biblical philosophy of ministry, Smith said. Subjects include the ministries of the church, with ministers from the youth, children’s, preschool, and other departments presenting their philosophies of ministry.

Semester two focuses on handling the Word accurately. This features a section of teaching in which students learn to use Greek study tools effectively. Semester three deals with how to handle difficult subjects and includes an in-depth study of the book of Acts.

Semester four features application skills, as students use what they have learned to create a biblically based message to present to the class.

“It’s just astonishing to see what they come up with after all they have learned,” Smith said. “We celebrate big time at each graduation.”

FBC Watauga is doing kingdom work by mentoring the church leaders of tomorrow

Cross Training

First Baptist Church in Watauga was founded by four Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary students in 1939.

“They came out to Watauga, which was a small, rural community north of Fort Worth at that point, and they decided they were going to plant a church here. They laid the groundwork for it,” said Dennis Hester, pastor of FBC Watauga.

The students had a goal of having L.R. Scarborough, the seminary’s president at the time, fill the pulpit on the first Sunday.

“So they went into his office and told him that the Lord had told them that he was supposed to preach the first sermon at this new church plant,” Hester said. “He did.”

In the years following its founding, FBC Watauga was a small church where seminary students served as pastors. The average tenure of each pastor was two or three years, and no pastor had been there more than four years until the Hester’s predecessor, who stayed 14 years. Hester has been there 18 years.

“The church was hurting when I came, and my heart is to love the local church,” he said. “I just loved the church and preached the gospel and we saw the church begin to take off.”

"What we see the Lord doing now is [allowing us to mentor] young men and women who are going off into the ministry in other places.”

—Dennis Hester Tweet

One of the most exciting ways God has moved recently has been through giving the church a ministry of raising up the next generation of leaders. In a slight shift from its history of having seminary students as pastors, FBC Watauga now has Hester serving as a mentor to ministers.

“We have a plethora of interns regularly, and this has really happened over the last eight or 10 years,” he said. “What we see the Lord doing now is [allowing us to mentor] young men and women who are going off into the ministry in other places.”

The church sees between 150-200 people in attendance on Sundays and has a handful of interns. One is a young woman interning as a chaplain while her husband interns as a young adult pastor. The church has a couple of worship interns as well.

On the staff, the student pastor grew up in the church and recently finished a master’s degree, while the worship pastor is pursuing a degree at Texas Baptist College.

“Both of those guys are young men that we’re raising up,” said Hester, who has been in ministry 30 years, pastoring in May, Texas, before Watauga.

In recent years, Hester earned a doctorate in pastoral ministry at Southwestern. “It has given me a lot more tools in my toolkit to mentor these young men and women,” he said.

“They need a place where they can come and be mentored and discipled because, obviously, if we’re not raising up the next generation of pastors and chaplains and worship ministers from a theologically sound and biblically firm foundation, we’re not going to have [biblically conservative] ministers,” Hester said.

FBC Watauga aims to make Scripture the foundation for everything, particularly worship and preaching, the pastor said.

“What we see is that even some of the young adults who have come through our church that went maybe to a university where the vast majority of their professors were very liberal and did not hold to the inerrancy of Scripture, they were able to stand firm,” Hester said.

Another ministry God has blessed the church with is praying for the lost. After the pandemic, FBC Watauga wasn’t seeing many people baptized.

“We start meeting, whether it’s half a dozen or two dozen people meeting, on Tuesday nights at 6:30. We write down the names of lost friends or family members,” Hester said. They split into groups, pray over the names, and then hand them off to the staff for prayer the following day.

“Not long after we did that, we started seeing God move and save souls,” he said.

A 27-year-old man who had not been in church stepped into a worship service and was saved the same day, the pastor said. A retired veteran in his 60s had been attending regularly but went forward during the invitation, broken and with tears in his eyes, to receive Christ as Savior.

The church has built relationships with people in the community through being involved in the town’s civic organizations, through back-to-school supply efforts, and through the pastor serving as a local police chaplain.

“They see us loving people and caring for people,” Hester said.

‘We all make mistakes’

Ahead of his Equip keynote, Lifeway’s Ben Mandrell talks about the beauty of using blunders for our betterment

Lifeway Christian Resources President/CEO Ben Mandrell will be the keynote speaker at the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s Equip Conference on Aug. 5 at Sagemont Church in Houston. Mandrell gives vision and strategic leadership to the 132-year-old organization that provides ministry resources for churches in more than 160 countries on six continents. He also hosts the ministry podcast, The Glass House, with his wife, Lynley. Mandrell recently spoke with the Texan about a topic he will speak on at Equip—mistakes.

What’s one of the biggest mistakes you’ve ever made in a ministry context?

Ben Mandrell: One of my biggest mistakes was I told my church plant [in Colorado] I was going to be there forever. [The church] wanted to know if I was going to plant this church, get it up and running, and move on to the next city. At that moment in my life, I was a 100% convinced I was in Denver for life. I told them I was going to be buried next to Buffalo Bill, because he was famously buried in that area. But Scripture is just so clear about [not] predicting your own future. As much as I wanted to comfort my flock and encourage them that I had no intentions of leaving, what I was really doing was pretending in some weird way that I was sovereign over my life or that I could decide where I was going to be buried. I’ve learned that it’s really good to give people hope and encouragement, but it’s not good to make promises you can’t keep.

Generally speaking, what are some of the biggest mistakes ministry leaders make?

BM: I feel like a lot of pastors—and I’ve been in this boat—we worry so much about how we’re being perceived by outsiders when the ultimate measure of our success is how we are respected by the insiders. There’s an old saying that is so true: you can tell the skill of the shepherd by the condition of the sheep. It doesn’t matter to me how big a church is or how fast it’s growing. There are a lot of things that cause a church to grow. What’s really the best way to tell if a church is healthy is to go inside and look at the condition of the sheep. If they’re attended well, if they’re fed, if they’re cared for, it’s a healthy environment. I heard somebody say once, “Success is when the people who know you best respect you the most.” That’s a definition of success that I think is more biblical than the one that we have, which says that success is when you have the most followers on social media. Most of those people who are following you really have no clue who you really are.

"Just like Peter, we all make mistakes. We betray the name of Christ. We blow it, and the Lord—because He’s gracious—restores us."

—Ben Mandrell Tweet

For pastors, the nature of their calling frequently thrusts them into positions where the decisions they make, which can sometimes lead to mistakes, are often very public. What advice can you offer to pastors to help them navigate those rocky waters a little more smoothly?

BM: I think one of the hardest things to do is publicly apologize for a mistake. Yet when people observe somebody owning a mistake, there’s something so endearing about that. It makes you feel connected to that person and [leaves you thinking], “Man, I’m so glad he said that. That makes me feel better about the seven mistakes I made this week!” I don’t know what it is about us as spiritual leaders, but we want to give people the impression that we don’t need grace, that we don’t need forgiveness, that we don’t need anyone to put up with us because we blow it sometimes when that’s exactly what the gospel says.

The healthiest pastors I know often say things like, “Look, I don’t know if we’re doing this right, but we’ve got to do something, so here’s the path we’re going to take.” And when they communicate things like that, it’s always done in a spirit of [acknowledging] we’ve never been here before. You often don’t know [what to do]—you’re just doing your best to manage a tricky situation. The decision you’re making may be the right decision, but it may not be. Time will tell.

Why are we so afraid—especially in ministry contexts—to make mistakes, and what are some ways we can process our mistakes in a healthier way?

BM: In ministry, I’m either beating myself up for something I should have seen coming or I’m catastrophizing what could happen if this thing gets out of hand. Neither one of those things is healthy. Just like Peter, we all make mistakes. We betray the name of Christ. We blow it, and the Lord—because He’s gracious—restores us. I don’t think Jesus wanted Peter to spend the rest of his life punishing himself for that one night, and I don’t think the Lord wants me to spend the next 10 years lamenting some decision that I made in year one at Lifeway.

That doesn’t mean I don’t want to cash in on the experience and be better next time because of it. So I think one of the things I’d recommend is surround yourself with people to help you sort out [the different parts of your ministry]. Have a leadership team that has the freedom to challenge you and to speak into your processes. Let people speak into your life who have the gift of discernment and wisdom. That is an invitation into intimacy. … I think having people you trust speak into your pastoral ministry is a rare thing. I just don’t see a lot of pastors doing it. A pastor who thinks he’s got it all [figured out on his own] is sunk. He needs people around him to round out his gifts—but it takes a certain amount of self-awareness to get there.

Saturday, August 5
Sagemont Church Houston

Equip is designed for anyone serving in the local church and offers leadership training in a wide array of ministry areas. Whether you are a pastor, volunteer, deacon, or church staff Equip has something to help you become a better leader.

De la luz a la oscuridad y de nuevo a la luz

Dios redime luchas personales de pastor para abrir nuevas puertas ministeriales en una comunidad “hambrienta” del Evangelio

liel Díaz recuerda claramente uno de los momentos más oscuros de su vida.

En el 2016, después de meses de debilitantes ataques de pánico que parecían surgir de la nada y poco después de ser ordenado como pastor, Díaz decidió ingresar en un centro de tratamiento de salud mental. Mientras estaba allí, el Señor usó a un consejero, armado con las palabras de Jeremías 29:11–para recordarle a Díaz que, aunque se encontraba en una situación difícil, debía recordar quién es él en Cristo y no dejar de cumplir su propósito.

Era un gran reto para Díaz: hablar a los demás de un Dios al que le costaba sentir y de una esperanza que él mismo no tenía.

“Voy a hacer lo que me estás pidiendo, aunque no tengo deseos,” recuerda Díaz haberle dicho a Dios.

Así que Díaz comenzó a hablar con la gente del centro sobre Jesús y a compartir con
ellos el plan de salvación. Después de compartir el evangelio con un hombre allí, el hombre le dijo a Díaz: “Yo necesito a ese Jesús.” Mas tarde, Díaz se acercó a una mujer con semblante decaído y también le habló de Jesús. Su respuesta fue casi exactamente la misma: “Yo necesito a ese Jesús.”

Sus respuestas separadas al mensaje del evangelio impactaron mucho a Díaz y le sirvieron como punto de inflexión. Le recordó que la esperanza en Jesús sigue siendo real y que Él es capaz de liberar a las personas incluso de sus sentimientos más oscuros. Después de ese encuentro, tres días después de llegar al centro, Díaz supo que su tiempo allí había terminado y que había comenzado una temporada de sanidad personal.

Díaz, ahora pastor de United City Church en Español en Humble, utiliza esa época oscura de su vida—que él describe como su desierto—como un trampolín para el ministerio en una de las regiones de más rápido crecimiento de Texas.

“Crecí en la iglesia, he servido al Señor durante muchos años, pero yo necesitaba mi desierto, porque aunque no los entendamos, son necesarios,” dijo Díaz.

De la luz a la oscuridad

Originario de Cayey, Puerto Rico, Díaz llegó a Houston en agosto de 2012. Se mudó con su esposa, Sharon, después de que algunos de sus amigos les invitaran a explorar nuevas oportunidades en Norteamérica. Díaz y su esposa hicieron la mudanza sintiendo que el Señor estaba obrando, pero sin saber cómo obraría.

A través de su preparación académica en el Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico en jazz y música afrocaribeña, Dios abrió las puertas para que Díaz fuera instructor de música y maestro de Biblia en un instituto de entrenamiento para ministerio de música en Houston. Mientras continuaban su jornada, ellos perdieron un bebé y decidieron encontrar una iglesia donde pudieran “sentarse y sanar,” dijo Díaz. Esa iglesia fue el campus de Conroe de la Iglesia Bautista Champion Forest, donde encontraron sanidad, compañerismo y un lugar para servir. En el 2015, la iglesia llamó a Díaz para servir como su pastor de alabanza a tiempo parcial mientras continuaba con sus deberes en el instituto de música.

El año siguiente resultó ser uno agridulce. En junio de 2016, Díaz fue ordenado pastor. Al mismo tiempo, su salud mental empezó a deteriorarse. Un día estaba en su casa sentado en el sofá cuando, de repente, empezó a sentir que le faltaba el aire. El episodio fue tan grave que lo llevaron a urgencias.

“No podía hablar, se me torcían las manos y empecé a sufrir ataques de pánico,” cuenta Díaz.

Los ataques de pánico evolucionaron durante los seis meses siguientes. Al principio eran semanales … luego diarios … y después empezaron a repetirse varias veces al día. Finalmente, alrededor de Navidad, Díaz compartió lo que sucedía con su pastor, Esteban Vázquez, y finalmente decidió ingresar en un centro de tratamiento de salud mental. Dijo que no entendía lo que le estaba pasando, ni podía ver cómo Dios iba a utilizar todo esto para bien.

Pero como Díaz aprendió a través de su encuentro de salvación con la mujer del centro de salud mental, Dios apenas estaba comenzando a obrar.

“Todo esto es un milagro que sólo Dios puede hacer. El noreste de Houston estaba esperando algo en español. Estaban sedientos ..."

—Eliel Diaz Tweet

De la oscuridad a la luz

Después de salir de la institución, Díaz comenzó a reconstruir su salud mental al comprometerse a entregar su vida completamente a Dios. En enero de 2018, después de recuperarse de sus luchas personales, Díaz fue contactado por Ramón Medina, pastor de Champion Forest en Español, y Stephen Trammell, pastor del campus de North Klein de Champion Forest. Ellos le dijeron a Díaz que el campus de North Klein se estaba preparando para comenzar un ministerio en español e invitaron a Díaz a servir como su pastor. Díaz aceptó.

Díaz y su esposa comenzaron el ministerio en español en el campus de North Klein con sólo unos pocos miembros de la familia y amigos cercanos. Su primer servicio de adoración se celebró en agosto de 2018, y durante cuatro años, el Señor los bendijo con un ministerio próspero. En medio de este tiempo vibrante, Díaz–ahora con una familia de cuatro–comenzó a sentir que se acercaba una nueva temporada de ministerio.

Un día, mientras Medina comentaba con Díaz todas las maneras en que Dios se estaba moviendo en el campus de North Klein. Durante esa conversación, Medina mencionó que United City Church en Humble estaba buscando un pastor para dirigir un ministerio en español que estaba comenzando. Aunque sólo fue una breve parte de esa conversación, Díaz no pudo dejar de pensar en United City desde ese momento. Antes de terminar la conversación, Díaz compartió que estaba sintiendo que se aproximaba una nueva temporada de ministerio y le pidió a Medina que estuviera en oración con él.

Algún tiempo después, tras investigar sobre United City y orar sobre esta oportunidad, Díaz volvió a Medina y le preguntó si le parecía que él pudiese ser la persona adecuada para dirigir el nuevo ministerio en español de la iglesia de Humble. El pastor dijo que sí, y Díaz finalmente se puso en contacto con los líderes de United City. Una de las cosas que entusiasmó a Díaz fue que la iglesia estaba situada cerca de la zona donde vivía su familia cuando llegaron a Texas desde Puerto Rico. En ese momento, no había iglesias bautistas del sur hispanas en la zona.

“Dios nos permitió vivir en esa zona y conocer a la gente y luego regresar para iniciar un ministerio en español,” dijo Díaz.

United City Church en Español se lanzó oficialmente en enero de 2023, poco después de que Díaz fuera comisionado para dirigir esta obra por Chris Kouba, pastor principal de United City.

United City Church en Español ha sido intencional en construir una comunidad de líderes replicables a través de grupos pequeños, el compañerismo y
atendiendo sus necesidades por medio de eventos para mujeres, hombres y matrimonios.

“Todo esto es un milagro que sólo Dios puede hacer,” dijo Díaz. “El noreste de Houston estaba esperando algo en español. Estaban sedientos … Queremos ver vidas salvadas y construir una iglesia de gente imperfecta sirviendo a un Dios perfecto–una iglesia que abrace a la comunidad tal como es para que pueda ser transformada por el evangelio de Jesús.”