Author: Russell Lightner

Una fe contagiosa

En medio de la pandemia, iglesia ve un crecimiento masivo por medio de una mesera que aceptó a Cristo y comenzó a invitar a sus vecinos y compañeros de trabajo

Cuando se trata de la labor evangelística que realizan las iglesias, el COVID no discrimina. Presentó desafíos tanto a las mega iglesias como a las pequeñas congregaciones, a las iglesias urbanas y rurales, a las iglesias establecidas y a las recién plantadas, como la Iglesia Vida Victoriosa.

Un año después de la fundación de Vida Victoriosa, el plan del pastor Over Ochoa de conectar con la gente de Tioga—una comunidad de unos 1,200 habitantes en el condado de Grayson, a menos de una hora en automóvil de la frontera entre Texas y Oklahoma—se vio obstaculizado por la pandemia mundial. Las puertas a las que querían tocar estaban cerradas. Las conversaciones sobre Jesús que él y su esposa, Cristina, querían tener fueron, hasta cierto punto, silenciadas, ya que la gente limitó su exposición a cualquier persona fuera de su hogar.

“La pandemia creó todos los desafíos que se pueden imaginar para un plantador de iglesias,” dijo Ochoa.

Fue una experiencia frustrante para los Ochoa, que anteriormente habían visto al Señor hacer un trabajo rápido en lo que a menudo parecían circunstancias imposibles. Después de sentir el llamado del Señor a plantar una iglesia hispana en Estados Unidos mientras servía al Señor en su país natal, Colombia, Ochoa sabía que podría tomar años el proceso de obtener la residencia en Estados Unidos.

En lugar de muchos años, tardó uno.

La familia acabó aterrizando en McKinney y empezó a celebrar reuniones de oración en su apartamento. Poco después, empezaron a realizar un culto los domingos hasta que llegó tanta gente que el espacio se les quedó pequeño.

Aun así, el Señor ya estaba trabajando. Uno de los hombres que había estado asistiendo a la iglesia en el apartamento también cortaba la yarda en la Primera Iglesia Bautista (PIB) de Prosper. Un día, el pastor de la iglesia le dijo que la PIB de Prosper quería llegar al creciente número de hispanos en las comunidades alrededor de la iglesia, pero que no podían hacerlo porque nadie en la iglesia hablaba español con fluidez. El trabajador decidió poner a Ochoa en contacto con el pastor, quien, a su vez, puso a Ochoa en contacto con la Convención de los Bautistas del Sur de Texas para recibir formación y apoyo.

La colaboración dio como resultado la plantación de la Iglesia Vida Victoriosa en Prosper, que actualmente cuenta con unos 75 miembros y asistentes.

“A veces nos enfocamos en predicar a las multitudes. ero con sólo una persona que venga a Cristo, podemos ver multitudes venir a Dios porque esa persona puede traer a muchas más.”

Over Ochoa Tweet

Soñando un nuevo sueño

Unos años después, Dios comenzó a poner en el corazón de Ochoa la visión de comenzar otra obra hispana. Una vez más, comenzaron a orar y a pedir la provisión y dirección del Señor. En poco tiempo, Ochoa recibió una llamada que consideró una respuesta milagrosa a sus oraciones. La llamada era de la Asociación Bautista de Denton, ofreciendo el uso de un templo abandonado para plantar la primera iglesia hispana en Tioga.

Parecía que el Señor había despejado todos los obstáculos para que la visión se hiciera realidad.

Y entonces el COVID dio un golpe, cerrando fuertemente todas esas puertas que los Ochoa habían planeado tocar. De rodillas, clamaron para que Dios les diera alguna oportunidad de hacer conexiones con los hispanos del pueblo. Se enteraron de que en el pueblo de al lado había un restaurante italiano que no había cerrado durante la pandemia y que empleaba a muchos hispanos. Así que fueron intencionalmente, buscando en oración oportunidades para compartir el evangelio.

Allí fue donde conocieron a Juanita López, una mesera que, según Ochoa, “tenía un ligero interés en conocer el evangelio.” Con ese pequeño rayo de esperanza, él y su esposa decidieron frecuentar el restaurante para almorzar y así poder hacerse amigos de Juanita y hablarle más de Jesús.

Durante dos años, compartieron intencionalmente el amor de Cristo con Juanita, hasta que un día ella aceptó a Cristo como su Salvador. En poco tiempo, Juanita estaba asistiendo a Vida Victoriosa e invitando a sus compañeros de trabajo a venir también.

“Llegó al punto en que todos los empleados aceptaron a Cristo en sus vidas y el dueño decidió cerrar los domingos porque todos querían asistir a la Iglesia Vida Victoriosa,” dijo Ochoa.

Hoy en día, alrededor de 45 personas asisten a la iglesia -muchos de ellos son compañeros de trabajo y vecinos de Juanita a los que comparte el evangelio de forma intencional y regular. Todos los sábados organiza barbacoas en su comunidad para invitar a los vecinos a la iglesia y, poco a poco, sus vecinos siguen sumándose a la familia de la fe.

“A veces nos enfocamos en predicar a las multitudes,” dijo Ochoa, “pero con sólo una persona que venga a Cristo, podemos ver multitudes venir a Dios porque esa persona puede traer a muchas más.”

Contagious faith

In the midst of pandemic, church sees massive growth after waitress comes to Christ, begins inviting neighbors and co-workers

When it came to the gospel work being done by churches, COVID did not discriminate. It presented challenges to megachurches and tiny congregations alike, to churches urban and rural, to established churches and newly planted ones—like Vida Victoriosa in Tioga.

Within a year of Vida Victoriosa’s founding, pastor Over Ochoa’s plan of connecting with people in Tioga—a community of about 1,200 people in Grayson County, less than an hour’s drive from the Texas-Oklahoma border—was stymied by the global pandemic. The doors they wanted to knock on were closed. The gospel conversations he and his wife, Cristina, wanted to have were, to some degree, silenced as people limited their exposure to anyone outside their household.

“The pandemic created all the challenges you can imagine for a church planter,” Ochoa said.

It was a frustrating experience for the Ochoas, who had previously seen the Lord make quick work of what often seemed like impossible circumstances.

After sensing the Lord’s call to plant a Hispanic church in America while serving the Lord in his home country of Colombia, Ochoa knew it could take years to work through the process of being granted residency in the U.S.

Instead of many years, it took one.

The family, which includes their daughter, Lina, ultimately landed in McKinney and began holding prayer meetings in their apartment. Soon after, they began having a church service on Sundays until so many people were coming, they began to outgrow the space.

Even so, the Lord was already at work. One of the men who had been attending church at the apartment also mowed the property at the First Baptist Church of Prosper. One day, the pastor there told him FBC Prosper wanted to reach the growing number of Hispanics in the neighborhoods around the church, but were hindered from doing so because nobody in the church spoke fluent Spanish. The worker decided to connect Ochoa with the pastor, who, in turn, connected Ochoa to the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention for training and support.

The collaboration resulted in the planting of Iglesia Vida Victoriosa in Prosper, which currently has about 75 members and attendees.

“Sometimes we get too focused with preaching to crowds. but with just one person coming to Christ, we can see multitudes come to God because that one person can bring many more.”

Over Ochoa Tweet

Dreaming a new dream

A few years later, God began to put on Ochoa’s heart the vision of starting another Hispanic work. Once again, his family began to pray and ask for the Lord’s provision and direction. Before long, Ochoa received a call that he considered a miraculous answer to his prayers. The call was from the Denton Baptist Association, offering use of an abandoned church to plant the first Hispanic church in Tioga.

It seemed the Lord had cleared all the obstacles for the vision to become a reality. And then COVID hit, closing tightly all those doors the Ochoas had planned to knock on.

On their knees, they cried out for God to give them some opportunity to make connections with the Hispanics in town. They heard that in the next town over, there was an Italian restaurant that had not closed during the pandemic and that employed many Hispanic people. So they intentionally went, prayerfully looking for opportunities to share the gospel.

That’s where they met Juanita Lopez, a waitress who Ochoa says “had a slight interest in learning about the gospel.” With that small glimmer of hope, he and his wife decided to frequent the restaurant for lunch so they could befriend Juanita and tell her more about Jesus.

For two years, they intentionally shared the love of Christ with Juanita, until one day she accepted Christ as her Savior. Before long, Juanita was attending Vida Victoriosa in Tioga and inviting her co-workers to come as well.

“It got to the point where all the employees accepted Christ in their lives and the owner decided to close on Sundays because everyone wanted to go to Vida Victoriosa,” Ochoa said.

Today, around 45 people attend the church—many of them are Juanita’s co-workers and neighbors with whom she intentionally and regularly shares the gospel. She hosts barbecues every Saturday in her community to invite neighbors to church and, little by little, her neighbors continue to be added to the family of faith.

“Sometimes we get too focused with preaching to crowds,” Ochoa said, “but with just one person coming to Christ, we can see multitudes come to God because that one person can bring many more.”

Lone Star Scoop • November 2022

SBTC DR responds to Florida In wake of Hurricane Ian

FORT MYERS, Fla. After Hurricane Ian tore through Florida, killing 105 people and resulting in billions of dollars in property damage, Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Disaster Relief volunteers quickly joined first responders in serving the survivors in early October. SBTC DR teams arrived in Fort Myers Oct. 2-3 to set up a mass feeding kitchen from Lufkin staffed with volunteers from across Texas. The Lufkin unit, stationed at McGregor Baptist Church in Fort Myers, supported the feeding efforts of the Texas division of the Salvation Army there. On Oct. 4, feeding volunteers prepared 5,100 meals in the unit’s first operational day. A second SBTC DR feeding unit from Pflugerville also established operations at Riverside Baptist in Fort Myers, assisting the American Red Cross there. Additionally, SBTC DR chaplains, assessors, communications, incident management personnel, and a quick response kitchen were sent to Florida. —Jane Rodgers

Annie Armstrong giving reaches all-time high, NAMB says

Alpharetta, Ga. Southern Baptists gave a record $68.9 million to the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering in 2022, breaking the giving record for a second year in a row. Giving to the offering has exceeded records in five of the last six years. “This is incredible news for our missionaries,” said North American Mission Board President Kevin Ezell, “and it is an incredible testimony to God’s faithfulness and to the generosity of Southern Baptists.” The Annie offering accounts for half of NAMB’s budget, and every dollar of it goes directly to the mission field in the year the money is given. The offering’s total is tallied based on giving during the fiscal year, October 2021 through September 2022. The giving increases have allowed NAMB to expand missionary efforts and increase care for missionaries. In February 2022, NAMB announced that it would provide health care benefits and establish retirement accounts for first-year church planting missionaries through a partnership with Guidestone Financial Services. —Baptist Press

Pomeroy preaches farewell message at Sutherland Springs

SUTHERLAND SPRINGS Frank Pomeroy, who pastored at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs for two decades, preached his final sermon at the church on Sunday, September 25. Pomeroy, who announced his intent to retire earlier this year, preached about Paul’s farewell message to the elders at Ephesus in Acts 20. “As I stand here this morning, I think about how God has had me standing here before you for 20-plus years,” Pomeroy said to the congregation. “We’ve had a lot of really great times, and we’ve had some really, really hard times together—times of laughter, tears, and great mourning. We’ve done all this together, with Christ at the forefront.” In November 2017, a gunman opened fire inside the church, killing 26 people and injuring 20 more. Pomeroy’s 14-year-old daughter, Annabelle, was among those killed in the shooting. —Jayson Larson

SWBTS accepts gift of $250,000 from SBTC

FORT WORTH Nathan Lorick, executive director of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, presented a $250,000 gift to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary on October 3.

The gift was accepted by O.S. Hawkins and David S. Dockery, who were appointed to interim leadership positions at the seminary following the late-September resignation of president Adam Greenway.

“It’s our honor and joy to partner with you, Southwestern, and to present to you a check for $250,000 to help with the expenses, and to come alongside your faculty during this time of transition,” Lorick said in presenting the gift. “The SBTC stands with you and we’re for you, and we love our partnership alongside you.”

Hawkins, who acknowledged that the seminary is facing “serious financial challenges,” said the gift would be used to “free up much-needed funds as another step in reestablishing our school on sound financial footing.”

—SWBTS

Metroplex Chinese house church network models worship for those who may one day return to native country

Chinese believers who accept Christ while living in the U.S. might not be able to find an American-style church if they return to China. That’s part of the reason why Eugene Zhang is leading a house church movement in the Dallas-Fort Worth area as a model for what to expect if such a transition occurs.

Most Chinese believers who return to China never join a church there, Zhang said, because they cannot find one like they’ve known in America. “If you start a Chinese house church and they worship just like a house church in China, when they go back, it’s easier for them to fit in the culture there,” he said.

Zhang grew up in a house church in China and briefly served as a missionary in Russia before immigrating to the United States, where his primary employment has been as a truck driver. He and his wife, Lily, attended Hillcrest Baptist Church in Cedar Hill, and along the way they began ministering to Chinese students at Dallas Baptist University (DBU).

The couple learned the students often were uncertain about the future and were looking for purpose in life, so as an outreach, they started providing opportunities to engage with American culture in activities such as horseback riding, target shooting, and fishing.

“Food always makes good friends, especially in Chinese culture,” Zhang said, noting that providing homemade Chinese food reminded the students of home. “We started to talk about Jesus. Some believed, and we had a Bible study. Later on, we bought a home not far from DBU because we want to continually share the gospel with Chinese students.”

The first week of 2020, Zhang’s group formed a house church in Grand Prairie, hosting not only a Bible study but worship services and weekly evangelism training. During the pandemic, two more house churches started, and now the number is up to six throughout the Metroplex.

“This ministry could potentially reach into the hardest-to-reach places on earth.”

Eugene Zhang Tweet

Using the name Hillcrest Chinese Church Network, Zhang partners with Hillcrest Baptist Church, the North American Mission Board, and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention to reach not only Chinese students, but Chinese of any age or station in life. “God has really blessed the ministry, and I am very happy with that,” he said.

Zhang explained that some house churches in China can accommodate a thousand people if the home has a large yard or appropriate facility, but generally house churches have 50 to 100 people. In the Hillcrest network, each church has around 20 people—although the original Grand Prairie location has grown to 40.

“Every meeting we have a meal, just like the early church did,” Zhang said.

One of his main challenges now is training leaders to care for each of the house churches, he said. He has handed four of them over to others, and he is leading two of them.

Church planting is important, Zhang said, because he sees Chinese unbelievers but doesn’t see people sharing Jesus with them. “God loves everyone and wants them to be saved … [This is] about eternal death or eternal life. It’s very serious,” he said.

The house churches in the Hillcrest network allocate at least 5% of tithes and offerings to the Cooperative Program, and Zhang emphasizes that all future churches he hopes to plant—even throughout the U.S.—will be encouraged to participate in CP.

Zhang envisions that many of the Chinese in the house church network in Texas will return to China well-equipped to start or serve similar churches there.

Research shows 80% of Chinese students will return to China, Zhang said, and a student trained and experienced in house church ministry is equipped to replicate the ministry in China, perhaps impacting generations.

“This ministry could potentially reach into the hardest-to-reach places on earth,” Zhang said.

A call to prayer

On a Monday night 25 years ago, something happened to me that changed the trajectory of my life and calling. I was 17 and attending a night of worship with our student ministry. It was on that night in that worship service that the Lord began dealing with my heart about becoming a person of passionate prayer. Immediately after the service, I asked our student minister if I could begin a student-led prayer gathering each week.

Every Tuesday evening, students would gather and cry out to God for our families, friends, and schools. We didn’t exactly have the manual on how to pray, nor did we have a highly organized prayer service. We simply had a heart for God to move among us, and we believed one of the keys to that was to be on our knees together praying.

As I transitioned to college, I wanted to serve. I approached our campus ministry and asked where they needed someone to serve or lead. As you can imagine, there was no one to lead the prayer ministry. I was elated to give new leadership to this group of college students in praying.

My love and passion for prayer transitioned with me into the pastorate. In my last church, we took prayer seriously. The turning point for our church came when we had a prayer summit that became a launching pad for our people to make prayer a priority. We would have people fill out prayer requests and leave them on the altar anytime during the service.

I told our church we would never end the invitation until every card was picked up and someone committed to pray for that request for the next seven days. We never had to wait, and our church became such a praying church that as soon as we opened the invitation, prayer warriors would rush down and pick up the cards.

“In my last church, we took prayer seriously. The turning point for our church came when we had a prayer summit that became a launching pad for our people to make prayer a priority.”

Nathan Lorick Tweet

At our annual meeting in November, I challenged Southern Baptists of Texas Convention churches to begin a prayer gathering at every church. While I am no longer a pastor of a church, I still have a burning desire to see God move among us. One of the ways I firmly believe this can happen is if we are praying.

If you are at a church that doesn’t hold some type of consistent prayer gathering, can I encourage you to commit to starting one in 2023? Our team at the SBTC would be happy to walk with you as you design what that prayer gathering could look like for your church. While I certainly challenge all 2,700-plus SBTC churches to begin prayer gatherings, wouldn’t it be incredible if we had even 500 of our churches with consistent prayer gatherings calling out to God to move among them?

If you already have a prayer gathering at your church, I praise God for that! I would love to know about it. Would you please email me at nlorick@sbtexas.com and let me know what church you are a part of and when your prayer gathering is? I want to pray for you as you call out to the Lord together.

If you currently do not have a prayer gathering but will commit to beginning one in 2023, I would love to know so I can pray for you as well. Again, please email me and let me know of your commitment to begin. We want to come alongside you and be a resource as you pray.

I am so excited about what God is doing through the churches of the SBTC. Let’s lead the way for other states and be a network known for our passion for prayer. I believe God will bless our efforts. I am thankful for you. I am honored to serve you. I am in your corner. I am praying for you!

O Little Town of Montalba

Thousands have heard gospel through rural church’s ‘Walk Through Bethlehem’ event

One woman’s vision has resulted in a small EastTexas church reaching thousands with the message of Christ.

Wayne Frazier had only been pastor of Montalba Baptist Church a few years when longtime member Carolyn Bledsoe, whose husband, Charles, chaired the deacons, made an unexpected request.

“I had a dream that we turned our little property here into Bethlehem,” Bledsoe told Frazier.

That vision became a reality, resulting in gospel presentations to more than 10,000 people since 2008 through an annual Christmas event—
A Walk Through Bethlehem—that continues to attract visitors from across the state and nation.

The property to which Bledsoe referred was a corner tract of 10 acres, mostly pastureland, beside the main church building. The house that once stood on the property had long been moved, with only the black-topped driveway leading into a pecan grove remaining.

Where most saw an empty lot, Bledsoe envisioned the Holy Land. It would take nearly the entire congregation of 40-50 in the unincorporated Anderson County community of fewer than 1,000 to pull it off, but they were “full on board” from the beginning, Frazier said.

Mrs. Bledsoe directed the first three years of the event before turning over the reins to volunteer Susan Shelton.

How the walk works

Held Friday to Sunday during the second weekend of December, the walk is a literal walk rather than a drive-through, although it starts with an old-fashioned hayride. Guests park at the church, enter the fellowship hall, where they enjoy cookies and cocoa and receive goodie bags filled such items as gospel tracts, a Christmas ornament, and Christmas crafts for the kids—all with an emphasis on the nativity.

Church volunteers greet guests and help load each group of 20-25 on a hay trailer.

“Then we take them through the ‘time tunnel,’” Frazier said, describing it as an archway of lights. The hayride takes guests past shepherds watching sheep and stops at the Bethlehem city gates, where passengers disembark and are led by a costumed guide through an East Texas version of the streets of the town of Jesus’ birth.

Shops and attractions change from year to year. All actors stay in character inside the town walls. Children are apt to receive a silver coin from a money changer. Guests may view a local potter’s wares or pass a shop “selling” doves for sacrifice. Actual sheep, goats, and donkeys provide further realism.

The walk culminates with a stop before the stable, where guests sit in a small amphitheater, also recently added, and view the nativity. Either Frazier or his son Judson, pastor of First Baptist Fruitvale, will give a brief message about the real meaning of Christmas, always presenting the gospel.

Since Wayne and his wife, Jennifer, have 10 children, some years a Frazier baby might portray the baby Jesus. But with December weather often unpredictable, the church purchased a lifelike doll for the nativity, Shelton said.

With 500-700 visitors per year, a conservative estimate says the walk has been used to present the gospel to more than 10,000 people, making it a massive outreach for a small congregation.

“We want to invest in people so that when they go back to Fairfield, Crockett, Dallas, or wherever, they impact their communities.”

Wayne Frazier Tweet

The gospel

The heart of the walk is the sharing of the gospel, Frazier said.

“Our church hasn’t grown a lot physically, but its outreach has grown exponentially,” he said, explaining that Montalba Baptist’s location in a primarily retirement-aged community with no school nearby precludes some traditional outreaches. Still, Montalba’s people desire to be kingdom-focused, and the walk provides an opportunity to do just that, as does the church’s annual Fourth of July community picnic and fireworks show.

Both events are part of the church budget and offered free of charge to attendees.

“We try to do all we can,” Frazier said. “We want to invest in people so that when they go back to Fairfield, Crockett, Dallas, or wherever, they impact their communities.”

The day before the 2021 walk opened, Carolyn Bledsoe was laid to rest in South Texas. Frazier preached the funeral service and rushed back to Montalba in time for the first guests.

He knew “Miss Carolyn” would have wanted it no other way.

The 2022 Walk through Bethlehem is scheduled for December 9-11 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Messengers conduct business as SBTC pursues God’s presence at annual meeting

CORPUS CHRISTI—The 25^th annual meeting of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention on November 14-15 drew 1,031 messengers and guests. Following the theme “Pursuing Presence,” convention president Todd Kaunitz led messengers to emphasize prayer in the life of local churches.

Kaunitz preached to the convention Monday night from Jeremiah 29:11 and encouraged listeners to seek God’s presence, saying “… a spiritual awakening is a byproduct of a church revived, and without a revived church, there is no spiritual awakening in the culture.”

Sexual Abuse Advisory Committee
A committee appointed by the convention president brought four recommendations intended to resource affiliated churches in preventing, responding to, and reporting sexual abuse. The Sexual Abuse Advisory Committee arose from a motion approved at the 2021 annual meeting.

The committee recommended:

1

That the SBTC contract with a consultant(s) and/or organization(s) to aid the convention and its member churches regarding matters of sexual abuse;
2

Development of a church resource guide for (a) assisting churches in training their congregations for sexual abuse prevention, (b) ministering to sexual abuse survivors and their families, (c) protocols for sexual abusers and accused sexual abusers in the church, and (d) appropriate reporting of suspected sexual abuse in accordance with state law;
3

Cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention’s “Ministry Check” effort;
4

That the SBTC strengthen its internal policies and practices regarding reporting sexual abuse, accessibility of resources to affiliated churches, and informing staff of available resources and services.

Implementation of the recommendations will be overseen by the SBTC Executive Board and the SBTC staff.

Biblical challenges
In addition to Kaunitz, messengers heard thematic sermons from four preachers throughout the convention meeting.

Julio Arriola, director of the Send Network’s church planting partnership with the SBTC, began by referencing the Acts 13 commissioning of Paul and Barnabas, which followed a time of prayer and fasting. “As the church prays and fasts,” Arriola said, “so goes the church …. Revival in our churches will happen when we fast, pray, and go.”

Nathan Lino, pastor of First Baptist Church of Forney, spoke from 1 Timothy 2:1-7. Speaking of Paul’s opening exhortation in verse 1, Lino said, “The very first ministry of the church you ought to address … is the corporate prayer life of the church.”

Matt Boswell, pastor of The Trails Church in Prosper, directed messengers to Matthew 28:19-20. He said, “After the announcement of the Great Commission, Jesus offers His followers the great comfort of His presence.”

Chip Luter, senior associate pastor at Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans, La., preached from 1 Chronicles 4, the story of Jabez. “Jabez recognized that the Lord’s hands are the best hands,” he said, urging his listeners to trust their lives to God.

Items of business
Messengers approved a $27.8 million budget for 2023. This represents a 4.8% increase over the 2022 budget. SBTC Chief Financial Officer, Joe Davis reported that receipts were $408,275 over budget through September 2022. The 2023 budget continues to allocate 45% for in-state ministry and 55% to Southern Baptist causes in North America and around the world.

A motion was approved intended to clarify Article IV, Section 1, of the SBTC Constitution regarding “Affiliation Qualifications.” The motion clarifies that the phrase, “The office of pastor [shall] be limited to men,” will be interpreted by the convention to refer “not only to the titles of senior pastor or lead pastor, but to any role designated by the noun, ‘pastor….’” Regarding already affiliated churches, the interpretation will be applied beginning Jan. 1, 2024.

The convention’s Executive Board awarded the Leaders Legacy Award, for individuals who have distinguished themselves in service to Christ through the SBTC, to John Greene—who has served at Harmony Hill Baptist Church in Lufkin for five decades.

Messengers approved five resolutions dealing with gratitude for the host city and convention president, expressing opposition to gambling, affirming a biblical view of gender, and celebrating the overturn of Roe v. Wade in the June Dobbs v. Jackson case, which returned abortion to individual states for regulation.

Kaunitz was elected by acclamation for a second term as president. He was joined by Eddie Lopez, en Español pastor for FBC Forney, who was elected by acclamation as vice president. Sharonda Cooper, a member of Emmaus Church in Georgetown, was elected convention secretary.

The 2023 SBTC annual meeting will be held Nov. 13-14 at Cross City Church in Euless.

—Jane Rodgers contributed to this report.

Elliff at 2022 president’s lunch: we are on ‘the cusp’ of revival

CORPUS CHRISTI—Bill Elliff, founding and national engage pastor at The Summit Church in North Little Rock, Ark., announced that revival is near during the president’s lunch Tuesday, Nov. 15, at the 2022 Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Annual Meeting.

Elliff is the author of numerous books, including The Presence-Centered Church, a work mentioned by SBTC President Todd Kaunitz in his introduction. Kaunitz called Elliff one of his “spiritual heroes” who did not disappoint in person.

Neither did he disappoint Tuesday’s audience of more than 500 who filled Henry Garrett ballrooms of the American Bank Center in Corpus Christi.

Elliff recounted his first experience with revival when, as a freshman at Ouachita Baptist University in 1970, he participated in “an extraordinary moment of the manifest presence of God.” Scores of students confessed sins and embraced Christ following a short chapel message by a visiting Texas preacher.

"“I realized that more could happen in five minutes than in 50 years of human effort."

Bill Elliff Tweet

“I realized that more could happen in five minutes than in 50 years of human effort,” Elliff recalled of that moment. “It created a hunger for more of the Lord,” a longing he admitted—voice cracking as it often did during the lunch—that he still feels.

That college experience led Elliff to explore God’s work in revival—which he called “a necessary, extraordinary movement of God that produces extraordinary results,” paraphrasing pastor and author Richard Owen Roberts.

Referring to Habakkuk 3:2b, “Revive your work in the midst of the years,” Elliff said revival is God-ordained: “God thinks we need moments like this.”

Why do we need revival?
Revival is necessary, Elliff said, because humans drift spiritually: “We always walk away. We always wander away.” God’s discipline descends. He sends revival when we cry out in humility and helplessness.

“We need revival when our hearts are cold,” Elliff added. It is “God’s glorious work, whether we join Him or not.”

Prayer is vital to revival, Elliff urged. Prayer must be at the core of any building programs, ministries, or sermons.

“I am so capable of pastoring without God,” he lamented.

God’s work in revival is often surprising and unexplainable, bringing equally surprising results, Elliff noted, describing five great national revival movements: the First and Second Great Awakenings, the 1857 New York Prayer Revival, the Welsh Revival, and the Jesus Movement of 1969-1972.

Revivals awaken the lost, he said, giving examples such as the 15 percent of colonists converted during under two years of the First Great Awakening (1735-1745), a percentage comparable to 1.5 million coming to faith in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex today.

Revivals bring dead churches to life again “by the thousands,” and they “transform the culture,” spurring major mission movements, as with the Welsh Revival. They “accelerate the mission” and “make God known,” Elliff urged.

“Revival is near, whether we realize it or not.”

Bill Elliff Tweet

Revival is near
The last great American revival, the Jesus Movement, ultimately fizzled because churches rejected hippies in their pews, preferring the traditional, Elliff said with regret. Noting the dates of the great revivals, he suggested we are overdue. It has been 50 years since the Jesus Movement.

“Revival is near, whether we realize it or not,” he said. We may well be in the midst of God’s familiar cycle of revival, in which increased judgment and desperation bring desperate prayer.

Historically, a time of God’s working begins 8-10 years before a major revival. This time of preparation is happening now, Elliff said, describing reports of “a rising tide of prayer” among Americans.

“And I feel we are right on the cusp of this again with every fiber of my being,” Elliff said, advising the audience not to quench the Holy Spirit and to do exactly what the Lord says.

Return to what should have been there all along, he urged: “Move your life and the life of your church into extraordinary prayer.”

Does God have your full attention when you pray?

Ihad the privilege of interviewing Bill Elliff for a Q&A that is featured in this month’s issue of the Texan. If you don’t know him, Elliff is an Arkansas pastor, an author, and a lifelong student of historic revivals and spiritual awakenings. He will talk about these things as the guest speaker at the President’s Lunch at this month’s Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Annual Meeting in Corpus Christi.

I not only enjoyed our conversation, but the Lord used it to guide me to reevaluate some of my own personal spiritual disciplines—including prayer. Elliff and I talked quite a bit about the role prayer plays in revival and spiritual awakening. A couple of years ago, he wrote a book called “Simply Prayer,” which I began reading shortly after our interview.

Prayer can be a struggle for me. It’s too easy for me to close my eyes and hastily string together a series of religious-sounding words that feel more like I’m reading them off a shopping list than the tablet of my heart. My mind during prayer is prone to wander (Lord, I feel it!), lining up the day’s troubles and tasks while simultaneously offering a modicum of my attention to the King of kings.

"When I pray, does the Creator of all existence have my full attention?"

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“Simply Prayer” has challenged me in many ways, none more impactful than my lack of focus when I pray. “We charge into prayer,” Elliff writes, “and quickly reel off a laundry list of things we want God to do. Failing to realize who we’re approaching, we never really engage God’s presence consciously.”

Ouch. Yeah, that can be me sometimes. Those last words have stuck with me: engaging in God’s presence consciously. When I pray, does the Creator of all existence have my full attention? Can I really get singularly locked in with Him and navigate Dallas traffic at the same time? Do I ever stop to listen to the Author of all things, or am I just narrating the way I want my story to play out?

One of the practices Elliff offers in “Simply Prayer” is called “entering in,” which is to say that we don’t start speaking to the Lord until His Holy Spirit has carried our minds into the throne room of His presence. There’s nothing complicated or mystical about this; for me it has meant closing my eyes (so you know I’m not praying in Dallas traffic), mentally picturing myself entering the throne room, and kneeling directly in front of my Lord. It’s been a continual battle of swatting a swarm of thoughts away, but I feel like the practice has already benefitted my prayer life.

I hope and pray you’re blessed by what Elliff has to say in this month’s issue. More than that, I pray that we will all take more seriously the privilege and honor of having a heavenly Father who doesn’t demand our attention, but who wants it as a perfect and loving Father would.

We are fond in our Christian culture of saying things such as, “He is worthy!” Surely our full attention is one of the things of which He is worthy.

Revival bursts out at East Texas church after pastor’s wife gets saved

Jaclyn Horine missed a trip to the Holy Land a few years ago when she started a new job. Now, unexpectedly, she has seen Jerusalem through the eyes of a new believer.

Her coming to faith as an adult—and as a pastor’s wife— has stirred the congregation of Friendship Baptist Church in Blackfoot, where her husband, Jerry, serves as senior pastor. Since her decision to truly follow Jesus, baptisms at the church have multiplied.

“I thought for years that I knew God,” said Jaclyn, a self-described preacher’s kid from Indiana. Both she and Jerry believed she was a Christian. Jerry remembered an occasion when Jaclyn had some trouble articulating her testimony, but she had been raised in the church and surely knew Jesus.

Except she did not.

“Her hope wasn’t in Christ. It was in her religion and herself,” Jerry said.

“My religion was me,” Jaclyn said.

When a professor from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, where Jaclyn is pursuing a master’s degree in counseling, suggested that she might be building a foundation on her family background rather than Christ, Jaclyn initially disagreed. Yes, the move away from family in Indiana to Texas had been difficult, but she had been involved in church all her life, hadn’t she?

Then the truth dawned on her on Sunday, March 6, as Jerry preached from Romans 3 at Friendship. Jaclyn had recently been studying Romans 3:21-25 for a seminary hermeneutics class, and suddenly, in the middle of her husband’s sermon, it all made sense.

“My husband is preaching on the hope we have in Christ. I basically realized I didn’t have that hope,” Jaclyn said. Admitting she “just felt broken” as Jerry issued an invitation at the close of the sermon, Jaclyn recalled, “God just picked me up and took me to the altar. It was a beautiful moment.”

Both husband and wife could tell the Spirit of God was moving. Women from the church surrounded her at the altar. Jaclyn felt embarrassed at the thought of the other women hearing her admit she had sinned and needed a Savior.

“As I was praying to God for a new heart, I heard people praying for me.”

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“God gave her a new heart. Salvation was just so real that day,” he added.

Since then, the church has experienced nothing short of a revival, with 32 people baptized since Easter. The church is rejoicing about all those baptisms, but number 31, on Sept. 11, was extra special, Horine said. A local young man whom “everyone had written off” as “too far gone” in substance abuse came forward for baptism.

“Now he comes to our prayer services and he is starting to lead his circle of influence to Christ,” the pastor said, adding that he believes more conversions and baptisms would follow this young man’s actions.

An ongoing revival

Growth continues at Friendship. The historic church, founded in 1860, had about 60 members when Jerry, formerly a church planter in Indiana, was called there five years ago at age 23 after attending Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Now some 200 attend the church and every children’s class is “busting at the seams,” Jaclyn said, noting that the congregation had prayed for children to come. The couple’s four-year-old foster daughter was recently overheard “baptizing” her Barbie doll, now that baptisms are a regular event at Friendship.

The growth is all the more remarkable when one realizes that Blackfoot, an unincorporated community of 33 according to the 2000 census, is nestled on a back road seven miles off the two-lane highway that connects Corsicana and Palestine. It’s not a place one will just happen upon.

Jaclyn’s profession of faith has inspired many of the baptisms that are a part of the growth.

“God is opening eyes. It’s beautiful,” she said.

“It’s an ongoing revival,” Jerry added.

“Well, if you came to know Jesus, Lord knows I need to come to know Jesus,” one older lady told Jaclyn. Jerry had been praying for the woman’s husband, and both came to faith during lunch with the pastor one day.

Renewal of vows in Israel

As for the journey to Israel in 2022—a trip sponsored for pastors and their wives by the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention this past July—Jaclyn is thankful she could go and even grateful that she was not able to accompany Jerry on his original trip in 2017.

“The Lord opened my eyes to so much in Israel,” she said, admitting that her initial expectations of experiencing the places where Jesus walked had been replaced by a sense of mission to Israel.

Now she has a heart for the lost for whom Jesus wept: “We should be weeping for those people [over] the things that made Jesus weep.” She also understands the legalism and tradition enveloping many in Israel.

“I had been following tradition in religion all my life,” Jaclyn said. “I assumed if the letter of the law was intact, the Spirit would follow.”

Her salvation has brought renewal to their marriage as well, the Horines said.

“I am still super thankful for the quick sanctifying that showed me things in my married life, like pride. It really changed things in our marriage,” Jaclyn said.

Along the Sea of Galilee, the couple renewed their vows as Matthew Timmons, pastor of Norwood Heights Baptist Church in Palestine, officiated.

The ceremony was Jerry’s idea: “After her salvation, the Lord laid it on my heart to renew those vows.”

They rebraided the cord of three strands that they had braided in their original wedding.

“This shows there are truly three in our marriage,” Jaclyn explained, referring to the fact that mutual faith in Christ now characterized their union.

Said Jerry: “It’s God’s providence, knowing that she just came to Christ and got to experience that.”