Russell Lightner

1 month 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.

Dec 17, 2024 | texanonline.net | Russell Lightner

As we hunt for stories to fill the Texan each month, we are driven by our main mandate: tell the stories of what God is doing in the churches of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. Sometimes we do that by reporting about how God is moving at a church. Sometimes we tell stories about the individuals who make up the body of Christ. Still other times we stumble on a story where God uses a squirrel to impact His kingdom (more on that in a minute).

Dec 16, 2024 | texanonline.net | Russell Lightner

Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Disaster Relief neared the end of its major 2024 deployments on a mountaintop in North Carolina with mass feeding and chaplaincy efforts in the tiny town of Spruce Pine. Volunteers were serving survivors of Hurricane Helene, the devastating late September storm that swept through Florida, Georgia, and Appalachia, claiming more than 200 lives and causing billions of dollars of damage.

Dec 13, 2024 | texanonline.net | Russell Lightner

HOUSTON—Pastor Zach Brackett at LifeBrook Church in Houston says he wouldn’t wish on his worst enemy any of the hardships the church has endured in the past five years. Yet he can see how God has used the obstacles for his good and the good of the congregation. A few months after Brackett arrived at the church, the baptismal waters began to stir once again, but a backup somewhere in the line sent the drain water flooding into the church offices.

Nov 5, 2024 | texanonline.net | Russell Lightner

Messengers to the Southern Baptists of Texas ConventionAnnual Meeting will gather for a powerful time of prayer, worship, and fellowship at Sagemont Church in Houston on Nov. 11-12.