Month: February 2026

SBTC DR in the field: San Saba rebuild and winter ice storm relief

SAN SABA—Marsha was in desperate need. Her San Saba home was swamped during the July 2025 floods that swept through the Texas Hill Country, overflowing the banks of the San Saba River and inundating the town.

Still reeling from that summer disaster, Marsha faced yet another devastating challenge when her husband died unexpectedly on Christmas Day.

Help came in the form of Southern Baptists of Texas Disaster Relief volunteers partnering with First Baptist Church of San Saba. Texas Rebuild teams from SBTC DR began arriving in early January to continue the repair of Marsha’s home that had begun earlier.

Immediately following the initial July disaster, SBTC DR teams rapidly deployed to San Saba, partnering with First Baptist in clean-up and recovery efforts. They removed soggy sheetrock and damaged flooring, performed mold remediation, shoveled mud and debris from dozens of homes, and shared the love of Jesus with the community.

Rebuilding had to wait until after the floodwaters receded and the land dried out.

Their home still uninhabitable through the fall and beginning of winter, Marsha and her husband were living in a travel trailer on their property, said SBTC DR task force member Jesse Hauptrief, unit director of the First Baptist Melissa crew serving in San Saba. Marsha’s husband wandered outside the travel trailer and into the still-damaged house on Dec. 25, where he collapsed and died.

Hauptrief shared Marsha’s story with the First Baptist Melissa team—consisting of volunteers from across the state—so they could be sensitive to her loss. “They needed to know her story. We worked with her. She came to the house several times and was pleased with the progress. A team from First Baptist Farmersville came in after we left and finished almost all of the house.”

Hauptrief added that the Farmersville team focuses on rebuilding, whereas his crew featured “chainsaw guys” converted into rebuilders. “Normally we tear stuff up,” he said with a laugh, highlighting the differences between rebuilding and relief work.

This time, they put things back together.

Volunteers helped finish work on Marsha’s home rebuild by installing chair molding and hardwood flooring that she had acquired. They installed cabinets and rebuilt a dangerously rickety porch.

“We were afraid the porch would fall in when any of us stood on it,” SBTC DR volunteer Paul Wood said. “We took it down and put up a nice, durable porch and stairs.” He added with a chuckle, “If a tornado hits, that porch will still be there.”

Of more eternal significance, the team shared the gospel with Marsha. “She was receptive,” Wood said. “She listened to what we were saying about Jesus’ love and that’s what we’re here for. The work comes secondary to that.”

With the help of SBTC DR volutneers, Marsha had a new porch and renewed hope after the loss of her husband. SUBMITTED PHOTO

Disaster rarely takes a holiday

From late December 2025 through January 2026, a veteran SBTC DR team from Flint Baptist Church also served in San Saba in addition to the Melissa crew and the new Farmersville rebuild team.

SBTC DR Director Scottie Stice called the San Saba rebuild the most successful to date. Rebuild follows on the heels of relief and can be difficult to organize, he added.

“It’s exciting. It’s gone very well,” Stice said, also praising the “outstanding” assistance from First Baptist San Saba.

Still, disaster rarely takes a holiday.

SBTC DR shower teams are currently deployed at sites around Monroe and Delhi, La., assisting first responders, volunteers, and churches helping the community following late January ice storms.

“That work, too, is going well,” Stice said, adding that SBTC DR chainsaw teams are scheduled to deploy to Louisiana and Tennessee to serve the ice storm survivors by removing downed trees—sharing their skills and their Savior.

For more information about SBTC DR, or to get involved, visit sbtexas.com/disaster-relief.

Compelled to be agents of change

“These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also …” –Acts 17:6

Can I be honest with you? There are times when I am so comfortable being comfortable that I forget the calling on my life requires me to be in places and positions that do not always feel the best. My heart’s desire is that God’s will is not only done, but magnified in and through me. However, my flesh is not always willing to do what it takes to see that accomplished. We often want world-changing results but are unwilling to consistently take part in self-changing routines. 

In Acts 16, Paul is beaten and imprisoned in Philippi. After his miraculous prison experience and the conversion of the Philippian jailer, he travels over 100 miles to Thessalonica. Imagine the bruising of Paul’s flesh as well as the swelling of his joints and ligaments. His body would have been in less than perfect condition, but he still moved forward because the gospel needed to be shared. 

The gospel does not call us to be comfortable adherents, but it should compel us to be change agents.

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In Acts 17, Paul and Silas preach the gospel. The results are so staggering, the Jews of the city declare they have “turned the world upside down.” On its surface, the criticism stated by these men could be perceived as negative—but how awesome would it be if those who stand in opposition to God’s movement would say something similar about our lives, churches, and convention. The gospel does not call us to be comfortable adherents, but it should compel us to be change agents. 

As a perfectionist, I have a hard time functioning if everything is not the way I designed it in my mind. Even though I spend countless hours planning, preparing, and praying, I still struggle when things aren’t right. The truth is there will be moments in life when perfection is not the goal, but participation is. Regardless of how seasons of life may be, we still need to move forward according to God’s will. 

Allow me to encourage you today: Keep moving forward. Let us be lockstep in minimizing what we don’t have and magnifying what we do have: the gospel of Jesus Christ. And when this gospel is shared with the sin-sick and dying, it should cause the enemy to exclaim, “These men are turning our world upside down!”

Liele’s groundbreaking work remembered

One of the most significant figures in the history of Christian missions is a freed Georgia slave named George Liele. Even though William Carey may be called the father of the modern missionary movement, George Liele left America and planted the gospel in Jamaica a full 10 years before Carey left England.

Conversion and early ministry

George Liele came to Christ in 1773, at the age of 23, and was baptized by his White pastor, Matthew Moore. Sometime after Liele’s conversion, his owner, Henry Sharp, who was a Baptist deacon, gave Liele his freedom so he could pursue God’s call. After his conversion, Liele preached for two years in the slave quarters of plantations surrounding Savannah and into South Carolina.

Because of his faithfulness and powerful preaching of the Word, many surrendered their lives to Christ. George Liele was ordained on May 20, 1775, becoming the first ordained Black Baptist preacher in America. After his ordination, he planted the first Black Baptist Church in North America, a church still in existence today.

An open door to preach in Jamaica

In 1778, Henry Sharp was killed in the Revolutionary War. After his death, Sharp’s heirs took steps to re-enslave Liele. As result of their actions, Liele was thrown in jail. Eventually, he was able to produce proper documentation concerning his freedom and was set free.

Soon after his release, Moses Kirkland, a colonel of the British army, befriended Liele and helped him leave the country. Kirkland helped pay for Liele’s trip to Jamaica, and after two years Liele paid this debt and obtained a certificate of freedom for himself and his family. George and his wife, Hannah, and their four children left Savannah and landed in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1782.

When Liele landed in Jamaica it was a British colony. There, Liele found land and a people who needed a missionary. Slaves were brought from Africa to Jamaica to work on the sugar plantations. These men and women had no real knowledge of Jesus Christ and the gospel. Liele planted a church and held a baptism service every three months. These baptisms were public events in which professing converts were baptized in a nearby ocean or river.

The growth of an integrated ministry

The work of the church and the public baptisms caused persecution. Eventually, Liele was charged with preaching sedition and was thrown into prison. He was later acquitted of these charges. Despite facing these hostilities, during the eight years of preaching, he was able to baptize 500 people and establish a strong church.

Not only did Liele’s ministry lead to a spiritual impact on the island, but his work also made a social difference for the Jamaican slaves. By July 31, 1838, slavery was eradicated in Jamaica.

In 1814, there were only about 8,000 Baptists in Jamaica. This number included slaves, freedmen, and some Whites. However, as a result of Liele’s ministry, by 1832 there were over 20,000 believers.

Author David Shannon summed up Liele’s life of ministry this way: “The Christianity practiced by Liele was not limited to one nation, colony, or ethnic group but was a faith found and spread through interaction with colonists and national leaders in the Americas and England. In turn, this broad vision of Christianity shaped and spread a variety of Christian experience that became widespread and influential in Black, White, and integrated congregations in Georgia, South Carolina, Jamaica, Nova Scotia, Sierra Leone, and beyond.”

Training and sending out missionaries beyond Jamaica

Not only was Liele an effective missionary and evangelist, he was known for encouraging his converts to go preach the gospel to the lost. As a result of his leadership, they went to Savannah, Georgia, Nova Scotia, and Sierra Leone.

Adoniram Judson is often cited as the first Baptist missionary from the United States. But, in fact, this designation belongs to George Liele. His story is an important part of missionary history and is worthy of emulation.

George Liele died in 1828. He may have begun life as a slave, but he lived as a free man in Christ. He left a rich legacy of thousands who were transformed by the good news of Jesus.

This article first appeared on IMB.

After 27 years, inerrancy remains the cornerstone of the SBTC

When the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention began in 1998, it established a clear identity separate from the other convention in the state, the older and much larger Baptist General Convention of Texas. Distinctions between the two conventions in Texas developed from the Conservative Resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention. 

To put it simply, the new convention was formed by those who favored the reform of the national denomination and were disappointed to find that this could not happen in the BGCT. The new convention has grown from 120 churches in 1998 to more than 2,800 in 2026. 

As the number of affiliated churches and the span of ministries grew, founding principles remained the same: The SBTC operates as a confessional fellowship, using the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 as the doctrinal statement each affiliated church affirms. It operates in cooperation with the Southern Baptist Convention to reach beyond even the broad reach of Texas, and it has prioritized missions and evangelism over other priorities pursued by older state conventions.   

The principles by which the BGCT has operated the past 27 years have varied as new leaders emerged. The convention now supports pro-life initiatives in Austin, for example. But some of the former principles remain influential within BGCT leadership and institutions. 

One flashpoint between the new and old conventions at the beginning was endorsement of women as pastors. While the BGCT’s leadership affirmed women as pastors, the SBTC supported the traditional teaching of Scripture, that only qualified men as called by God should be pastors. In its 2025 report, Baptist Women in Ministry claimed 43 women were senior or co-pastors in BGCT churches. The BGCT has elected three women as convention presidents—the most recent one, a children’s pastor, was elected during their 2025 annual meeting. She is the first ordained woman to have been elected BGCT president.   

The SBTC has remained in harmony with the SBC, including the allocation of 55% of undesignated receipts for national and international missions. The BGCT has had a more complex relationship with the national denomination—at one point, in 2000, mostly defunding every SBC entity that depended on Cooperative Program funds. That action was eventually reversed.

Institutions funded, though not owned or controlled, by the SBTC affirm the BF&M 2000’s doctrinal guidelines in every aspect of their ministries. At this year’s BGCT annual meeting, the decades-old controversy over teaching at Baylor University continued as some BGCT pastors urged the convention to examine the university’s response to an LGBTQ-friendly student group, as well as allegations of financial support for another LGBTQ-affirming group, Baptist Women in Ministry. The motion to investigate the convention’s flagship institution failed.

Foundational to both state conventions is their view on Scripture. Texas is a state chock-full of churches in both conventions that affirm the full inerrancy of the Bible. However, the BGCT as an organization has been unwilling to affirm inerrancy, though some likely believe it. The result of that unwillingness has been that institutions, particularly seminaries and universities, supported by the BGCT have wrestled with issues that are long settled within the SBTC and the SBC—including open theism (the belief that God does not know the future because He is still learning), LGBTQ issues, and women as pastors. 

This leads to a related distinction between the two conventions—confessionalism. The BGCT has repeatedly rejected the BF&M 2000 as the confession by which it operates, though churches within the BGCT are free to use the confession they choose. The 2000 confession specifically addresses the authority of Scripture, leadership of churches, and sexual morality in a direct way not present in older confessions. A confessional fellowship will require, as do the SBTC and SBC, that denominational leaders and programs, as well as professors teaching, will do that work within the parameters of the BF&M 2000 adopted by SBC messengers from SBC churches in 2000.

A denominational body formed around an accepted confession of faith will have far less trouble sorting out how to express their biblical convictions day to day. 

This was—and is—the unsettled difference between the two Southern Baptist state conventions in Texas.

“I’m so grateful for over 2,800 SBTC churches whose doctrinal unity fuels our mission focus,” SBTC Executive Director Nathan Lorick said. “We have always been and will always be a network of churches that stand firmly on the inerrancy of Scripture, which is the foundation for all that we do. I believe the greatest days for the SBTC are ahead.”