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1 week ago | 
texanonline.net | Scott Barkley |Jayson Larson
PASADENA, Texas (BP)—Barry Wilmore attended his first elders meeting in nearly a year at Providence Baptist Church on April 10. His absence was understandable. Wilmore, known by many as “Butch,” had an unexpected extended stay at the International Space Station after the Boeing Starliner carrying himself and fellow astronaut Suni Williams developed issues docking with the ISS. Their plight and return home last month became worldwide news.
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2 weeks ago | 
texanonline.net | Karen L. Willoughby |Jayson Larson
Executive pastors and administrators are often called to do a little bit of everything, from managing church staff and overseeing day-to-day finances to meeting the HVAC tech at the building on Saturday night to ensure the building is climate-controlled by Sunday morning. It’s a challenging calling that can often leave its servants feeling worn out and disconnected.
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3 weeks ago | 
texanonline.net | Jane Rodgers |Karen L. Willoughby |Jayson Larson
Many of us have experienced it: the unexpected blessing when someone ahead of you in the drive-thru pays for your coffee or an unknown benefactor covers the cost of your restaurant meal. Unexpected blessings. Random acts of kindness. Since 1995, the U.S. has celebrated a national Random Acts of Kindness Day on Feb. 17. Today, churches are finding that acts of kindness need not be random at all, but rather, intentional acts to share the love of Christ.
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3 weeks ago | 
texanonline.net | Erin Roach |Karen L. Willoughby |Jayson Larson
Heights Baptist Church is energized to grow the kingdom of God rather than focusing on growing its own congregation. Its pastor, Lee Peoples, says any church, no matter its size or resources, can help start a new church to reach the unreached. “In the book of Acts, you often see the kingdom growing by multiplication, not just addition,” Peoples said. “The blessing has always been as we have sent people out, we turn around and reach new people.
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3 weeks ago | 
texanonline.net | Michael Visy |Karen L. Willoughby |Jayson Larson
“It’s not personal.”When members leaving the church tell us this, it’s hard not to take it personally. Even as they express their gratitude for your friendship, your ministry, and the church, it hurts when people leave.
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3 weeks ago | 
texanonline.net | Danny Forshee |Karen L. Willoughby |Jayson Larson
The Empower Conference in February was fantastic. The biblical teaching, worship, and fellowship were outstanding. We had people from our church attend, but next year I want to get the word out and invite more to come and be blessed by this annual evangelism conference. What a blessing to be one of the 2,812 churches in the SBTC!One of my favorite scenes in the book of Acts is when the apostle Paul meets with the Ephesian elders in Miletus while wrapping up his third missionary journey.
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3 weeks ago | 
texanonline.net | Erin Roach |Karen L. Willoughby |Jayson Larson
The church plant Kade Pierce is leading is in its infancy, but already he knows the value of the collective support behind him—and it’s something Southern Baptists across the generations also have realized. “Truthfully, the Cooperative Program is helping me make this happen,” Pierce, pastor of Eastside Community Church in Dickinson, said.
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4 weeks ago | 
texanonline.net | Mark Dance |Karen L. Willoughby |Jayson Larson
Editor’s note: The following is an excerpt from Mark Dance’s book, Start to Finish. Used with permission from the author.
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4 weeks ago | 
texanonline.net | Gary Ledbetter |Russell Lightner |Karen L. Willoughby |Jayson Larson
When Grant Falls was born in 2022, his parents, Laura and Seth, had a traumatic start to life with their son. His condition was far worse than they expected when the doctors noticed he had a heart problem in utero. After he was born, Laura actually couldn’t see him until the day after his birth because of the immediate need to treat his heart defect. Seth took her in a wheelchair to the ICU.
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1 month ago | 
texanonline.net | Karen L. Willoughby |Jayson Larson
CARROLLTON (BP)—More than 1,000 people say they plan to participate in the 44th annual gathering of the Korean Council, set for June 9-11 at New Song Church in this northwestern suburb of Dallas. This includes pastors, staff and lay members of the Southern Baptist Convention’s 973 Korean churches. Known formally as the Council of Korean Southern Baptist Churches in America, the fellowship each year meets in conjunction with the SBC’s Annual Meeting.
