Author: Russell Lightner

Never too young to make a difference

Harper Sparks is a pretty typical sixth grader. She loves football, her friends, and swimming. She also reigns as Young Miss DeKalb over in Bowie County. Her dad, James, is pastor of First Baptist Church in DeKalb, where Harper is an enthusiastic participant in church ministries and events.

But Harper also has an unusual item on her growing resume—she’s the youngest columnist for the Bowie County Citizens Tribune newspaper.

Starting a year ago, the 12-year-old middle schooler writes a weekly devotional in the lifestyle section of the paper. Her July 24 column spoke of her participation in a project for Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, a ministry that serves families who have a baby in intensive care.

“This ministry helps these families and mothers know that they are not alone, and the love of God is with them,” she wrote.

The column went on to encourage readers to find ways to let their own lights shine in the lives of those around them. She concluded with an invitation to attend her church.

James says Harper’s relatable style has made her articles popular. “[Her writing] is easy for anybody of any age to grasp … a lot of people in this community have been touched by how down to earth it is,” he said.

Her connection to the paper came about unexpectedly. Her mom, Mindy, posted an anecdote involving Harper to their church’s Facebook page after a 2023 mission trip. The editor of the paper saw the post and ended up inviting Harper to write a weekly devotion.

Taking on a weekly column is indicative of Harper’s confidence and maturity. She is bold to invite her teachers to attend First Baptist with her. Some of them have started attending, and one even credits Harper’s persistence with strengthening her own spiritual life and that of her family.

“I told [Harper], ‘No matter what else you do with your life, this is the real stuff,’” Mindy said. “You’re making a real difference in people’s lives.”

Thank you, pastor

This time of year is my favorite. The weather begins cooling off and the leaves start changing colors. I also love this time of year because it’s football season. There is nothing like high school football on Friday nights and college football on Saturdays.

However, of all the things we can highlight this time of year, one that often goes unmentioned is the time churches can set aside for pastor appreciation. Many churches designate October as Pastor Appreciation Month. It is a time when church families can express their thankfulness for their pastor and his family.

It is extremely important as a church to let your pastor know you love and appreciate him. I pastored two churches and know firsthand the challenges pastors face. Allow me to give you three reasons your church should set aside time to show appreciation to your pastor:

Pastors work hard

There is an old joke that pastors only work on Sundays and Wednesdays. There is absolutely no truth in that statement. Pastors are some of the hardest working people there are. Every week, a pastor must seek the Lord for what he should share out of God’s Word for the congregation. He spends hours studying and crafting that message. On top of that, he is leading an organization. A church has many administrative duties that require leadership. He also must shepherd the people the Lord has called him to. Sometimes that requires counseling people. Sometimes that means early morning or late night visits to the hospital. Sometimes that means fixing things around the church. Your pastor works hard.

Pastors can feel isolated

Pastoring can be a lonely calling. It’s one of the only positions in the world that has a constant revolving door of relationships. A pastor will see people come into the church and see people leave the church. People get engaged in the ministry and then they may move to another city. This makes it difficult for a pastor to establish deep relationships and can lead to feeling isolated. Make sure your pastor knows you love him and are here to support him. See him as a friend and a pastor.

Pastors need time away

I often encourage churches to give their pastors time away. The nature of being a pastor means you are always on call. It’s not a job you can leave at the office. At any moment, a pastor’s time with his family could be interrupted for various reasons. There is rarely any time to unplug and recharge. I encourage your church to find time when your pastor can be away and be refreshed. I promise you, he will be a better pastor when his heart has been refreshed with rest and family time.

I have always believed being a pastor is the greatest calling one can have. But it can be physically, emotionally, and spiritually draining. However, your pastor does it with joy day in and day out because he loves the calling the Lord has given to him. I encourage you to take time as a church to show appreciation to your pastor. When your pastor feels loved and appreciated, he will love and lead you well.

I love you and am humbled to serve you!

Dios ha usado una serie de relaciones para moldear a Sagemont Encuentro, ministerio Hispano de Sagemont Church—y a su pastor

“Hemos crecido juntos”

HOUSTON—Lázaro Riesgo, pastor de Sagemont Encuentro, es producto de las personas que Dios ha traído y sacado de su vida.

Riesgo tenía tres años cuando su padre salió de Cuba buscando encontrar una vida mejor para la familia en EE.UU. Sin embargo, el padre no regresó, dejando a la familia luchando por superar el trauma y el sufrimiento que conlleva el abandono.

“Recuerdo [oír] llamar a la puerta y querer creer que era mi padre el que estaba en casa”, recuerda Riesgo, “pero no era así”.

Riesgo reconoce la pesada carga que su madre, Cary, asumió al criar a su familia y al mismo tiempo cuidar de su propia madre.

Él recuerda a una tía, Obdulia Peña, que un año vino de visita desde Miami y llevó a su madre a la fe en Cristo. La tía, que murió en el 2023 a la edad de 96 años, animó a Cary a encontrar una comunidad de fe que pudiera apoyarla mientras enfrentaba las dificultades de la vida.

Cary lo hizo y empezó a asistir a la Iglesia Bautista Libre, una de las pocas iglesias de la ciudad que seguía en pie después de la revolución cubana. Fue la presencia del Señor y la comunión entre los hermanos y hermanas de la iglesia lo que sostuvo a esta familia quebrantada.

Riesgo tenía nueve años cuando entregó su vida a Cristo durante un llamado al altar. Varios hombres cristianos que habían estado invirtiendo en él desde que era más joven continuaron impartiendo sabiduría bíblica en su vida, enseñándole a no odiar al padre que le abandonó, sino a tener amor y misericordia por él.

“Estos hombres me enseñaron a amar al Padre celestial y a llenar la ausencia de mi padre terrenal con la suficiencia del Dios del cielo”, dice Riesgo.

A los 17 años, otro hombre importante llegó a la vida de Riesgo: Rolando Delgado, un nuevo pastor que llegó a la iglesia. Fue a través de Delgado que Dios llevó a Riesgo a responder a al llamado del Señor para asistir al seminario y prepararse para el ministerio.

“Lázaro”, recuerda Riesgo que le dijo Delgado, “necesitas encontrar tu lugar en el cuerpo de Cristo”.

Riesgo nunca quiso ser pastor ni dedicarse al ministerio. “Sólo quería ser un buen creyente, casarme y tener una carrera exitosa en el deporte”, dice Riesgo.

Pero Dios empezó a cambiar su corazón durante uno de los mensajes de Delgado, en el que advertía que la fama y el éxito son a menudo piedras de tropiezo para servir a Dios. Al poco tiempo, Riesgo se matriculó en el seminario de su ciudad natal para prepararse para el ministerio.

Puertas abiertas

Riesgo conoció a su esposa, Ariadna, antes de entrar en el seminario. Ella comprendió y aceptó el llamado de Dios a sus vidas y nunca dudó de ese llamado, dice él, ni siquiera cuando tuvo que tomar la difícil decisión de dejar su carrera de medicina en Cuba para servir en el ministerio con él.

Tras licenciarse en Teología en el 2003, Riesgo fue enviado a pastorear su primera iglesia. Unos años más tarde, en el 2007, Dios abrió una puerta para que él y su esposa ampliaran su ministerio a través de la Red Nacional de Liderazgo Juvenil, una asociación de tres convenciones bautistas de Cuba. Esto condujo a un trabajo a tiempo completo para que ellos viajaran por toda la isla para ayudar a discipular a la juventud cubana hasta el 2010.

Los Riesgo comenzaron a visualizar la expansión del ministerio que estaban haciendo en Cuba a un área más grande. En el 2011, salieron de Cuba para cumplir un llamado misionero en Panamá en un instituto bíblico, preparando futuros líderes para el pastorado y las misiones. En el 2015, esa visión más amplia se hizo más evidente cuando recibieron una invitación de una agencia misionera bautista en Nashville para expandir el trabajo que estaban haciendo en Panamá por toda América Latina. Aceptaron y pasaron cuatro años capacitando líderes en muchos países de América Latina, incluyendo Uruguay, Perú, Ecuador y el Salvador.

Dios no ha terminado contigo

En el 2019, sin embargo, Riesgo sintió que algo faltaba. Él echaba de menos las conexiones asociadas con servir en la iglesia local debido a sus frecuentes viajes para capacitar líderes de las iglesias. Él supo de una oportunidad para pastorear una iglesia en Miami y aunque parecía una respuesta a sus oraciones, le esperaban muchas dificultades.

Antes de la pandemia, les robaron a él y a Ariadna sus pasaportes y documentos de residencia durante un robo en su casa. Ser pastor durante la pandemia resultó física y emocionalmente agotador, lo que llevó a Riesgo a tomar la difícil decisión de dejar de ser pastor en 2020 para cuidar de su salud.

“Nos quedamos solos en Miami, prácticamente sin nada”, cuenta Riesgo.

Pasaron seis meses, de junio a diciembre, caminando por esa etapa de desierto. Aunque fue una época de desánimo para Riesgo, Él recuerda los constantes ánimos de Ariadna.

“En aquel momento me veía sin futuro”, dice Riesgo, “pero mi esposa me recordaba fielmente que esto era temporal… [que necesitaba] recordar a qué y por quién habíamos sido llamados.”

“Dios no ha terminado contigo”, le decía Ariadna.

Él admite que en aquel momento le costaba creerlo, pero que desde entonces ha visto a Dios actuar de una manera poderosa a través de una nueva asignación ministerial.

Un nuevo comienzo, una nueva historia

Después de pasar medio año alejado del ministerio, Riesgo recibió una llamada de un pastor estadounidense, John Carswell, que había ido a Cuba a enseñar a otros pastores y allí se conocieron. Carswell se enteró de que la iglesia Sagemont de Houston buscaba un pastor para su ministerio hispano y animó a Riesgo a presentar su currículum.

A pesar de su inquietud, Riesgo lo envió y le llamaron para una entrevista. Aproximadamente una semana después de regresar a Miami, los líderes de Sagemont le enviaron una carta en la que le hacían extensivo el llamamiento para pastorear Sagemont Encuentro. Riesgo y Ariadna empacaron las pocas pertenencias que les quedaban y llegaron a Sagemont Encuentro para predicar el Domingo de Resurrección del 2021.

A partir de ese momento, comenzó a escribirse una nueva historia para los Riesgo y para la iglesia.

Las relaciones—con Dios, entre ellos e incluso con iglesias hermanas—son uno de los puntos centrales de Sagemont Encuentro. A Riesgo le impactaron mucho las relaciones que estableció con aquellos hombres que invirtieron en él cuando era más joven, y ahora quiere conectar a otros para que crezcan y aprendan a servir a los demás.

Riesgo también se centra en animar a la gente a profundizar en su experiencia con el Señor y a tener una identidad arraigada en Cristo. Él escribió recientemente un libro, Contrastes: El valor de ser diferente, para desafiar a los creyentes a vivir vidas genuinas mientras toman decisiones que se alinean con los valores del reino de Dios.

Como resultado de este enfoque en Jesús y en los demás, Riesgo—quien también trabaja con nuevos plantadores de iglesias a través de su colaboración con Send Network SBTC—dijo que Dios está permitiendo que el ministerio experimente un crecimiento numérico, espiritual y relacional.

Dijo Riesgo: “Hemos crecido juntos”.

God has used a series of relationships to mold Sagemont Church’s Hispanic ministry—and its pastor

‘We have grown together’

HOUSTON—Lazaro Riesgo, pastor of Sagemont Encuentro, is a product of the people God has brought in and out of his life.

Riesgo was three when his father left Cuba promising to find a better life for the family in the U.S. The father never returned, however, leaving the family struggling to overcome the trauma and suffering that comes with abandonment.

“I remember [hearing] a knock on the door and wanting to believe it was my father who was home,” Riesgo remembered, “but it wasn’t.”

Riesgo acknowledges the heavy burden his mother, Cary, took on as she raised her family while also caring for her own mother.

He remembers an aunt, Obdulia Peña, visiting from Miami one year and leading his mother to faith in Christ. The aunt, who died in 2023 at age 96, encouraged Cary to find a faith community that could support her as she endured life’s hardships.

Cary did just that and began attending Iglesia Bautista Libre, one of the few churches in town still standing after the Cuban revolution. It was the presence of the Lord and the fellowship of brothers and sisters at the church that sustained the broken family.

Riesgo was nine when he gave his life to Christ during an altar call. Several Christian men who had been investing in him since he was younger continued to speak biblical wisdom into his life, encouraging him to not hate the father who abandoned him, but to have love and mercy for him.

“These men taught me to love the heavenly Father and to fill the absence of my earthly father with the sufficiency of the God of heaven,” Riesgo said.

When Riesgo was 17, another important man came into his life—Rolando Delgado, a new pastor called to serve the church. It was Delgado whom God used to lead Riesgo to answer the Lord’s call to attend seminary and prepare for ministry.

“Lázaro,” Riesgo remembers Delgado challenging him, “you need to find your place in the body of Christ.”

Riesgo never wanted to be a pastor or be involved in ministry. “I just wanted to be a good believer, get married, and have a successful career in sports,” Riesgo said.

But God began to change his heart during one of Delgado’s sermons, during which he warned that fame and success are often stumbling blocks to serving God. Before long, Riesgo enrolled in seminary in his hometown to prepare for the ministry.

Open doors

Riesgo met his wife, Ariadna, before entering seminary. She understood and accepted God’s call on their lives and never doubted that call, he said—even when she had to make the difficult decision to leave her medical career in Cuba to serve in ministry with him.

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in theology in 2003, Riesgo was sent to pastor his first church. A few years later, in 2007, God opened a door for his wife and him to expand their ministry through the National Youth Leadership Network, an association of three Baptist conventions in Cuba. This led to a full-time job for the Riesgos to travel throughout the island to help disciple Cuban youth until 2010.

The Riesgos began to envision expanding the ministry they were doing in Cuba to a larger area. In 2011, they left Cuba to fulfill a missionary call in Panama at a Bible institute, preparing future leaders for the pastorate and for missions. In 2015, that larger vision came more into focus when they received an invitation from a Baptist mission agency in Nashville to expand the work they were doing in Panama throughout Latin America. They accepted and spent four years training leaders in many Latin America countries, including Uruguay, Peru, Ecuador, and El Salvador.

‘God is not finished with you’

By 2019, however, Riesgo sensed something was missing. Because of his frequent travels training church leaders, he missed the connections associated with serving in the local church. Before long, he learned of an opportunity to pastor a church in Miami. While it seemed like an answer to prayer, many difficulties lay ahead.

Prior to the pandemic, he and Ariadna’s passports and residency documents were stolen during a burglary of their home. Pastoring during the pandemic proved physically and emotionally exhausting, leading Riesgo to make the difficult decision to take a break from ministry in 2020 to take care of his health.

“We were left alone in Miami with virtually nothing,” Riesgo said.

They spent six months, from June to December, walking through that desert season. Though it was a time of discouragement for Riesgo, he remembers Ariadna’s constant encouragement.

“I saw myself without a future at that time,” Riesgo said, “but my wife faithfully reminded me that this was temporary … [that I needed to] remember what and by whom we were called.”

“God is not finished with you,” Ariadna would tell him.

Though he admits it was hard to believe at the time, he has since seen God move in a powerful way through a new ministry assignment.

A new start, a new story

After spending half a year away from ministry, Riesgo received a call from an American pastor, John Carswell, who had gone to Cuba to teach other pastors. Carswell learned that Sagemont Church in Houston was looking for a pastor for its Hispanic ministry and encouraged Riesgo to submit his resume.

Despite his trepidation, Riesgo did and was called for an interview. About a week after he returned to Miami, leaders at Sagemont sent him a letter extending the call for him to pastor Sagemont Encuentro. Riesgo and Ariadna packed the few possessions they had left and arrived at Sagemont Encuentro to preach on Easter Sunday 2021.

From that moment on, a new story began for the Riesgos and for the church.

Relationships—with God, each other, and even sister churches—are one of the focal points at Sagemont Encuentro. Riesgo was greatly impacted by the relationships he formed with the men who invested in him when he was younger, and now he wants to connect others so that they may grow and learn to serve others.

Riesgo also focuses on encouraging people to deepen their experience with the Lord and have an identity rooted in Christ. He recently wrote a book, Contrasts: The Value of Being Different, to challenge believers to live authentic lives while making decisions that align with God’s kingdom values.

As a result of their focus on Jesus and one another, Riesgo—who also works with new church planters through his collaboration with Send Network SBTC—said God is allowing the ministry to experience growth numerically, spiritually, and relationally.

Said Riesgo: “We have grown together.”

5 minutes with Damon Halliday

Damon Halliday founded Keystone Fellowship Church, recently rebranded as The Key Church, in 2012 in North Fort Worth. The 1,200-member congregation is engaged in a vibrant youth sports outreach, among other ministries. In addition to his tenure at The Key, Halliday served as an associate pastor of evangelism and missions at a prior church and formerly conducted corporate Bible studies for a major airline in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. He is a member of the executive board of the SBTC. Halliday and his wife, Antoinette, have been married for 34 years and are the parents of two adult daughters.

What is something you’ve been able to celebrate at The Key Church recently?

Our outreach ministry, Huddle Touch, is going well. Through Huddle Touch we provide pregame meals for area high school football teams. Last year we provided pregame meals for L.D. Bell and Chisholm Trail high schools every game. There are 10 games in a season. We feed them. We pay for the meals. The celebration is last year, we led 31 football players to Christ. Sports is an easy avenue to reach kids for the Lord. We give them what they like so we can introduce them to the One they need.

What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in your ministry lately?

We are already outgrowing our brand new four-year-old building. Our children’s and nursery spaces are jam-packed. It’s a great challenge to have.

What’s a lesson you’ve learned to this point of your ministry you know you’ll never forget?

Prayer and integrity are most important, and if you prioritize those two things, God will bless the rest. So many times we focus on practical things. We need to do that. But we must focus on prayer. Take care of the simple things and He will bless everything else. God has done exceedingly abundantly above all we can ask or think. We never thought we’d be where we are today.

What’s one thing you’d like to see God do specifically at your church this year?

Fill up our second service, which is half full. That’s our 11 o’clock service. The 9 o’clock service is completely full. We have a 600-seat worship center. We’ve had a good crowd through the summer. Once we fill the 11 o’clock, we can start our third service.

How can other SBTC churches be praying for you?

Pray for God to provide directions and resources to build our new sanctuary. Our current sanctuary is our future gymnasium. When we reach three services, we will really have to start planning on building. There’s nowhere to go. We think, “Here we go again.” It seems so impossible with everything so expensive. Building can be overwhelming, but thank God for growth.

You can learn a lot from the Lord on the run

get out and run a few times a week, but hot summer days give me a very small window for running. If I don’t get out before the sun comes up, it’s probably not happening that day.

Rain—rare as it can be in my area this time of year—adds to the challenge. But as I ran on a misty, dark morning recently, the Lord reminded me of a few truths that are just as good for the road of life as they are on the run:

Know the terrain

I have two to three loops I’m familiar with depending on how many miles I want to run. When you repeatedly travel the same paths, it gets easy to remember where the trouble spots are. There’s a sidewalk on one of my streets, for example, where a soil shift has caused the concrete to break and ramp upward. I’m always thankful when I remember to step over—rather than stumble on—that little piece of pavement.

Applied personally, knowing the terrain means knowing my tendencies in different seasons of life and adjusting accordingly. There are times on my schedule when I’m going to be a little more uptight because I’m a little busier than usual. Twenty years ago, I was sure the way to navigate times like that would be to press in and work even harder. Now I know hectic seasons are times, at least for me, when I need to apply more self care and slow down in as many areas as possible to conserve energy for the most demanding tasks at hand.

Mind your posture

As I tire during a run, my posture begins to sag. My chin drops, which makes breathing more difficult. That lowering chin starts to put pressure on the middle of my spine, which, in turn, puts more stress on my lower back and hips. This eventually changes my stride, causing unnatural movement in my knees and feet. The result? Increased soreness and a need to take extra days off to give my body a chance to heal.

It’s easy to get out of whack—physically and mentally. I’ve suffered from many a mental sag, which is why it’s so important for me to remember God’s command to set my mind on things above (Colossians 3:2) and to be renewed in my mind by truth (Romans 12:1-2). Just as it takes discipline and stamina to maintain proper posture while running, it takes effort to keep your mind focused on what the Lord has promised and what He is doing rather than on what’s going wrong or what you don’t have.

Puddles are unavoidable

I hate wet socks and shoes, but when you’re running in the rain and in the dark, you’re going to step right in the middle of several puddles. It’s unavoidable. And when you’re a couple of miles from home, you can either pout about your soggy footwear or focus on something better and finish the run strong.

Sometimes I live as if it’s possible to avoid puddles, and when I step into one, I get nonplussed, as if something unusual is happening to me. Life’s got puddles—lots of them. Better to embrace that reality and spend my mental energy seeking the Lord’s comfort and wisdom rather than lamenting wet socks.

“I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace,” Jesus said in John 16:33. “You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”

Jesus wasn’t running when He said that … but that shoe sure does fit.

‘God is in the middle of something here’

70-year-old first-time pastor says he has no other way to explain East Texas church’s fruitfulness

GRAND SALINE—The man who gave Christian recording artist Chris Tomlin his first opportunity to lead worship at a concert has been called to pastor his first church at age 70. In fact, it’s the church both he and Tomlin grew up in, years apart.

Main Street Baptist Church in Grand Saline had “been kind of dormant” after years of successful ministry, said David Crain, the church’s pastor who, after 45 years as a traveling evangelist, was hesitant to think he had what it took to lead the congregation back to vibrancy.

The pastor search team had secured a younger candidate just over a year ago. “He was coming, 29 years of age,” Crain said. “I chuckle when I think about it.” The church asked Crain to fill in for four weeks until the new pastor arrived, but the pastor went to another church and Crain’s time was extended.

“They asked me if I would consider being their pastor, and I said, ‘No. I have never pastored. I have no idea what that means,’” Crain recounted. After turning them down repeatedly, he agreed to pray about it and realized God was leading.

Attendance the first four Sundays Crain preached at Main Street Baptist signaled something may have been up. The first Sunday, they had 85 people in worship. The second Sunday they had 112, the third Sunday they had 144, and the fourth Sunday they had 180, Crain said.

Now attendance has surpassed 360, and the church has moved to two services. “It’s kind of just skyrocketed for a little town in East Texas,” Crain said.

They baptize most every week, and many new people have joined, including couples with young children and students. The church has hired two associate pastors, and preregistration for a fall Awana program is nearing 70 children.

“All I can tell you is God is in the middle of something here, and I didn’t want to miss out. The conventional wisdom says, ‘Get a younger guy,’ and we would have done that had we been able to find one.”

David Crain Tweet

“All I can tell you is God is in the middle of something here, and I didn’t want to miss out,” Crain said. “The conventional wisdom says, ‘Get a younger guy,’ and we would have done that had we been able to find one.”

One way being 70 years old helps at this particular church, Crain said, is that he already had connections with the congregation.

“I wasn’t the new guy on the block,” he said. “I knew everybody here. … I knew their heart, and I could just start ministering right away.” That includes being with a family when a loved one dies, cheering on the local team at football games, and visiting people at hospitals.

“In a church this size and a town this size, there’s a whole lot more going on than you would think,” Crain said. “We’ve had two suicides here in the last month or two—kids from our school. There’s a lot of need, and there’s a lot of pressure on folks in this day and time, so to be able to be a part of that and help them through it is kind of a wonderful thing.”

David Martin, who grew up in the church five years ahead of Crain and now serves as a deacon and trustee, said, “He doesn’t let anybody in the church go to a surgery or anything like that unless he’s standing there with them when they go in.”

And since Grand Saline doesn’t have a major hospital, that means a 45-minute drive to Tyler or a 55-minute drive to Dallas.

“You can’t speak about his age because his age doesn’t show,” Martin said. “I’ve never seen a young pastor that was able to keep a schedule like that.”

Having recorded several studio albums, Crain is a world-class musician, Martin said.

Tomlin wrote about Crain in an Instagram post in 2017: “David was a traveling musician out of our little church. I thought he was the coolest guy ever. I couldn’t believe that someone could travel around to churches and sing for a living (ha).

“I just want to be purposeful. I just want to be useful.”

David Crain Tweet

“I’ll never forget this one particular afternoon when I was in high school. David stopped by my house and asked if I would like to go help him set up his gear and sell ‘tapes’ in the back for the concert that he had that night,” Tomlin wrote.

“… In the middle of his concert, he said he had a friend in the back named Chris that was helping him for the night, and he thought it would be a good idea if I took the stage and played a couple songs. Then, to my surprise, he just walked off the stage and everyone was staring at me! All I can remember was that I was pretty awful. But that one opportunity turned into another and then another and then another.”

Martin said Tomlin is one of countless young men Crain has nudged into the ministry and even mentored. His decades of preaching at youth camps between revivals demonstrated his love for youth.

“Kids just flock to him,” Martin said. “They sit on the front row. The front row is loaded down with kids. God has worked through David in many, many ways that we don’t even know about.”

As for how long he plans to continue pastoring now that he has gotten started, Crain said he doesn’t see an end in sight.

“I know the Levitical priests actually got to retire after a certain amount of time, but since I’m not of that tribe, apparently there’s no retirement for me,” he joked. “I just want to be purposeful. I just want to be useful.”

To everyone around him, he said, he’s 70, but “to me, I’m still like in my mid-40s. I look in the mirror and I don’t know the guy.”

His schedule had been full of 30 to 40 revivals a year, as well as concerts and camps when he was asked to pastor, so “it wasn’t like I was running out of anything to do.”

“Right now, it’s kind of just full steam ahead.”

I have to depend on God to do this

I became a pastor when I was 40 years old. So, it was a 20-year training process, not through seminary, but through different pastors and churches. I can tell you more than a dozen churches and more than a dozen pastors who discipled me and mentored me.

My spiritual journey began when I was 16. I lived in the Philippines and a college student from Campus Crusade came to my campus—he was the first person to share the gospel with me. A Southern Baptist pastor discipled me when I was in college. He was a campus minister, and he really spent time with me. That was a turning point in my Christian life.

God really spoke to me through this preacher. We would meet every day because his ministry center was close to my dorm. I would hang out at his house, and we would be talking until sometimes three in the morning. We talked about the Word, discipleship, prayer, confession—all basic responsibilities of Christians.

After college, I was on fire. I wanted to share what I learned with my own church back home. So, I went back and started a ministry among the youth, and that was fruitful—some of the youth that came out of that are leaders in our church now here in Austin.

I started working in Manila and met my wife, Rela, there. We later helped plant a church in Cavite. That was my first time to be involved in church planting, just assisting the pastor, a worship leader, musician—all kinds of other roles, except being a pastor. My landlady was our first member. That church continues today.

I did want to attend seminary after that time in college because I was interested in being a pastor, but God closed those doors repeatedly, so I ended up being mentored by all kinds of pastors from different churches.

I know many pastors would say, “God called me to plant a church,” but in the case of our church, it’s different because it was not a single person who was called. It was my entire family. I had moved to Idaho where I was working as a semiconductor engineer. My brother moved to Memphis and my sister moved to Nebraska. Because we wanted to live close to one another, I think it was in 2007, we agreed to find a city where we could all be together. We all moved to Austin and joined different churches. My wife and I started a Bible study with my sister’s family and my brother’s family, and we met in South Austin. That small Bible study was just us at first.

There were two other families that started attending our group as well, so we ended up having five Filipino families. Then neighbors started attending. I called Dr. Kim [Asian ministries consultant] at the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention and told him we needed a place to rent. He connected me with Gilbert Chavez. Pastor Gilbert was very encouraging and accommodating. He let us use his youth room for our Bible study. The first night we had 64 people. He said, “I don’t think this is a Bible study. Why don’t you plant a church?” I said “no” since none of us was in the ministry. My brother and I worked in the tech industry and my sister was a nurse. Pastor Gilbert still encouraged me, and that led me to begin training through the SBTC.

“It’s all part of God showing me that I have to depend on Him.”

—Al Manigsaca Tweet

But in our Bible study, we had three different pastors who were connected with us. Every time a pastor came in, we would all agree that we would defer to him: “OK, you might be the pastor of this church.” Three times we tried that and none of them worked out. It was just as if God was giving me this basketball, then every time a pastor came to our group, I would pass this ball to him. And each time, the ball was back in my court. The third time the ball came back to me, my brother said, “Al, I guess you’re the one.” I agreed. When I surrendered to that, things moved very, very fast. A year later, I was ordained as a pastor. Now, 12 years later, I’m the pastor of Riverlife Baptist Church.

On this long journey, I believe the biggest thing I’ve learned is full dependence upon Him. Just think about the struggle that I am going through every week. I don’t have any seminary training on which to base my sermons or my judgment whether I’m doing a good job or not. So basically, the thing is when we started, I really don’t know how to pastor. I was praying to the Lord, “Lord, I don’t know how to do this.” And I know that’s still my mindset even up to this point in time.

It’s all part of God showing me that I have to depend on Him.

Want to share a story of what God is doing in your life or your church?

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Stronger together

Iam grateful to God for our network of churches known as the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. God has been so gracious to us since our inception in 1998. We have 2,780 churches in the SBTC, and we are blessed to be guided by our executive director, Nathan Lorick.

Having served on the executive board and now as president of the SBTC, I have had a front row seat to view the many ways God continues to show His favor upon us. Take a moment and lift up a prayer of thanksgiving to God for allowing you to be a part of a dynamic partnership with brothers and sisters in Christ committed to proclaiming Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit.

The theme for our annual meeting, scheduled for Nov. 11-12 at Sagemont Church in Houston, is “Side by Side.” Nathan and I, along with all the men and women serving in the SBTC, want our churches—especially pastors and staff—to know they are not alone. The devil likes us to feel isolated and removed from other believers. There is much strength and joy for ministry when we realize we are not alone.

"God has blessed us with many fellow ministers of Christ who are passionately pursuing Jesus and His gospel."

Danny Forshee Tweet

Being a Lone Ranger pastor removed from contact and encouragement from others is no way to serve the Lord. God has blessed us with many fellow ministers of Christ who are passionately pursuing Jesus and His gospel. We need each other. We are so much stronger when we are together.

Our focal biblical text for the annual meeting is Philippians 1:27, where Paul writes, “Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.” The verb translated “striving together” in Greek is synathleo (notice the root structure for the English word “athlete” in this Greek word). This connotes toughness and tenacity. We are to exert the energy of a wrestler in his match for the sake of unity in the body of Christ. There will be many temptations to separate us. Let us determine to do all we can to stand fast, be of one mind, and strive together.

I look forward to sharing a message based on this biblical text during the Monday evening session. Also on Monday evening, we will have a prayer and praise service that is going to be powerful.

Be sure and join us in Houston as we celebrate what God has done and is doing through the churches of the SBTC. Each session will have uplifting messages and worship. Meals and gatherings will allow you opportunities to connect with others from around the state. I am excited to host the President’s Lunch on Tuesday, where we will look at some practical ways we can walk side by side with others for the gospel.

I am praying now for God to pour out His favor and anointing on every one of our 2,780 churches in the SBTC. You are loved and appreciated. Keep going strong for Jesus.

Just keep planting

One of my favorite features in each issue of the Texan is our monthly “Jesus Is Writing My Story” article. This article highlights the personal testimonies of faithful brothers and sisters in our Southern Baptists of Texas Convention churches who have learned a lesson about walking with God that they graciously agree to share with our readers.

I must admit, I’m a little biased about this month’s article featuring Nancy Simon. When I was a middle schooler growing up in East Texas, Nancy and her husband, Brian, played a huge part in my spiritual development. Brian was the youth pastor at a small rural church, and I was a kid looking for something to do and, let’s be honest, a girlfriend. Surely I could find one or both at the Baptist church down the street.

But as I got more involved in the youth group, God began to use Brian and Nancy to turn my attention to matters of faith as much as fun and games. They would invite me and other kids from the youth group over to their house to watch movies, or Brian would ask me to ride along with him as he picked up and then dropped off kids in the church van. We had lots of conversations in that van—some of them silly, many of them spiritual.

Ultimately, I strayed away from the church as high school approached. It wasn’t until after high school that all those spiritual conversations took root and, in my 20s, I gave my life to Christ. I’ve often wondered how—or if—that would have happened without Brian and Nancy planting seeds in me that took a long time to grow.

God calls us to be seed-planters. Scripture is clear that only He can draw people to salvation. It’s equally as clear that His followers have a role to play, as well:
“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:6).

"To you who have planted and watered until it hurts, who have tilled and turned with not even the hint of a sprout to celebrate ... just keep planting. God is absolutely at work, and you never know what He is going to do."

Jayson Larson Tweet

There are at least a couple of challenging things about planting seeds: it requires us to get our hands dirty, and once we’ve planted and watered, the final result is ultimately not up to us. Oh, that there were a Miracle-Gro for growing disciples of Christ! But there isn’t. All we can do is offer our emotions, invest our time, and wait to see what God will do with the ones to which we minister.

That’s often a deal-breaker for those of us raised in a results-driven, have it your way and have it now culture. We demand immediate outcomes. We want to know that whatever we’ve invested in will take root and become fruitful. The reality is, sometimes seeds don’t grow as fast as we’d hoped. Sometimes they don’t grow at all.

And yet our calling is the same.

I’m so grateful for people like Brian and Nancy who invested in me even when it may have appeared I was as clueless as a question mark. Though I claim to be nothing great today, I am saved, secured, and striving to pour out my life for Jesus.

To you who have planted and watered until it hurts, who have tilled and turned with not even the hint of a sprout to celebrate … just keep planting. God is absolutely at work, and you never know what He is going to do.