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On three-year anniversary of crash, pastor has new lease on life, new perspective for ministry

Repaired & Renewed

Curiosity brought the man to Main Street Baptist Church in Grand Saline one Sunday back in 2022. Though he didn’t attend the church, the man was intrigued by its interim pastor, Mark Moore.

“Are you the Mark Moore who was in the wreck?” the man asked.

When Moore replied in the affirmative, the man shrugged. “I own the wrecking yard where your car was towed,” he said. “I can’t believe anyone lived through that. I heard you were over here and I had to come see for myself.”

The fact Moore was not only alive but preaching following the devastating June 17, 2021, four-car accident near the tiny East Texas town of Ben Wheeler remains a testament to God’s grace and Moore’s determination three years later.

“I can’t believe anyone lived through that. I heard you were over here and I had to come see for myself.”

—owner of wrecking yard Tweet

A life-changing trauma

Moore’s was the third vehicle in a pileup that left him trapped, the driver’s side of his crew cab pickup crushed and crumpled like aluminum foil.

Moore said he remembers nothing about the accident and its immediate aftermath. He discovered that the first people on the scene were a couple coming from Canton, an emergency medical technician named Patrick Baldauf and his wife, Mindy, a nurse. It was Mindy who first noticed Moore hidden by his truck’s deployed airbag.

When volunteer firefighters arrived on the scene, Patrick guided them in cutting Moore out of the wreck safely before he was life-flighted to an area hospital.

“If it wasn’t for Patrick, I would have lost my right foot,” Moore said. “He held my head for 45 minutes till the helicopter arrived.”

Meanwhile, Mindy called Moore’s wife, Elaine, to tell her of the accident. Later, Moore puzzled over how Mindy knew his wife’s contact information. “You told it to me,” Mindy explained.

“I don’t remember anything,” he said. About the first thing he does recall is being in the hospital and awakening after being in a coma for seven days to see Elaine standing over him.

“Mark, you’re going to be OK … and we are going to be found faithful to God throughout this new journey we are on,” Elaine said, alluding to the surgeries, rehab, and recovery to follow.

A long journey back

Moore has since endured seven surgeries related to the wreck. After two of his surgeries—one in Tyler and the other in Dallas in July 2022—his rehab seemed smooth until he began experiencing severe pain in his right ankle.

Doctors discovered his right talus, the small bone in his ankle supporting the entire joint, had died due to lack of blood flow. In December 2023, Moore underwent a complete ankle and talus replacement procedure and spent the next three months getting around with the help of a knee scooter. He began rehab on the ankle this past March and is seeing encouraging improvement.

“I never thought I would walk like this again,” he said.

It’s been one of many blessings the Moores have experienced.

A few months before the wreck, Moore had moved from a longtime pastorate at Lakeside Baptist Church in Canton to a part-time position at The Bridge Fellowship in nearby Martin’s Mill. The Bridge continued to pay his salary even though he was out of commission for several months, Moore said.

By 2022, Moore was serving in the interim position at Main Street in Grand Saline. From there, Cross City Church in Euless invited him to join its staff as minister to senior adults. When he learned a seventh surgery loomed, Moore offered to withdraw his name from consideration for the position. His request was denied.

“We hired you,” he was told. “You’re family.”

The move from East Texas to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex was natural for Mark, a self-proclaimed “city boy” who nonetheless joyfully pastored Lakeside for 31 years. The Moores found a home in Arlington, only 10 minutes from Cross City and just 18 miles from their son and his family in Irving. They don’t have to travel on any major highways to access church or family. Driving on busy thoroughfares, Moore admits, still leaves him a little jumpy.

Another blessing? The November after the wreck, the Moores attended the volunteer fire department banquet in Noonday to express their thanks. The Baldaufs were also invited, and Moore was able to publicly convey his gratitude. The two couples remain in contact today.

Mark and Elaine also keep up with Jennifer Lanfrey, the woman in one of the other vehicles involved in the wreck.

“These are lifelong friendships,” Moore said, noting that he and Jennifer had prayed for each other over the course of their recoveries.

“I tell people I’ve had seven surgeries. In the Bible, seven means complete. I am taking God at His word that I am through with surgeries.”

—Mark Moore Tweet

A newfound perspective

Moore said the accident has changed him for the better in many ways—especially in how he ministers to people.

“Today, when I make hospital visits, I remember what it’s like to be in the bed,” Moore said.

The wreck has improved his bedside manner, he explained. “I’ve always been a tenderhearted guy. It didn’t take much for me to feel mercy. But that wreck has helped me every time I am with people. Everybody has been through something.”

He still expresses amazement that now, with his artificial ankle constructed of cobalt on a 3D printer, he is able to walk without pain.

“I am so grateful,” he said.

His job duties at Cross City vary widely, including a bit of preaching to ministering to senior adults to taking his turn manning the church playscape on days it is open as an afternoon outreach to the public.

“I tell people I’ve had seven surgeries. In the Bible, seven means complete,” Moore said with a chuckle. “I am taking God at His word that I am through with surgeries.”

God brought Larry Wheeler to nothing so He could introduce him to everything he ever wanted

Larry Wheeler can personally testify to the highs and lows life can bring.

He didn’t have much growing up, he says, which motivated him to go straight to work in the oil fields after graduating high school. In those fields, he found hard work, long days, and eventually, a six-figure income. He drove $80,000 trucks—sometimes buying more than one in a year—and had enough money to give his family the life he envisioned.

A life of plenty. The high life.

Though his job paid well, it exacted a high cost in return. Larry often spent weeks at a time away in the fields—a hard fact of life for a new family with a young child. The distance in miles was matched by an emotional void that opened between him and his wife, Mary. Years of infidelity followed.

A sinkhole began to hollow Larry out from the inside, devouring not only the life he had worked so hard to build, but his soul. Looking to fill the emptiness, he spent faster than he could earn. He used alcohol and drugs to numb the painful darkness enveloping his heart and mind.

Financial problems inevitably arrived. He was going to lose his house. He was going to lose his trucks. His family was floundering. He felt like everything was slipping away—and now, as he sat at home alone one night, thoughts of ending his own life entered his mind.

It was the lowest of the lows.

“That was the moment I realized that as much as I tried to control everything, I didn’t have control of anything,” Larry said. “That was actually the night I was going to end it all. I came to the point of crying out—in the middle of the night—to God.”

Having survived a restless night, Larry opened his eyes the next day not realizing God was about to respond to his cries for help. It started with a phone call.

‘It was almost like God was telling me to do it’

It was April 2021 and Charles Wheeler woke up on a mission. No, he woke up with a burden. Easter Sunday was about a week away, so he picked up his phone and, one by one over the next 15 minutes, called each of his three adult children—all of whom were distant from the Lord.

The conversations were short, stern, and to the point.

“I don’t ask much of you, and I’ve never tried to interfere with your life,” he said to his son, Larry. “But I’m not askin’—you need to be in church for Easter.”

“All right, whatever,” Larry responded.

End of call.

The conversation caught Larry off guard. It felt random, out of nowhere, he thought, but was it? When Larry looked inside the church growing up, all he saw was a gathering of people he couldn’t relate to. But over the years, he recalled several encounters he felt God used to remind him of His presence. A couple years ago, Larry was completely unscathed after pulling a man out of a fully engulfed house fire. Several years before that, he had a spiritual conversation with a man he was buying a horse trailer from.

“Do you go to church?” the man asked.

“No sir,” Larry replied, “I don’t need church.”

“Well, maybe that’s true,” the man said, “but who’s to say the church don’t need you?”

Those memories came flooding back after the phone call from his father.

“I think my dad telling me I needed to be at church made me realize, ‘OK, you need to quit being so hard-headed and just do it,’” Larry said. “Here I was the night before asking God to help me, so when my dad said it, it was almost like God was telling me to do it.”

Two days later, Mary came home after the couple’s latest separation.

“Hey,” Larry said to her, “we gotta be at church this Sunday.”

“I realized that as much as I tried to control everything, I didn’t have control of anything. That was actually the night I was going to end it all. I came to the point of crying out—in the middle of the night—to God.”

—larry wheeler Tweet

‘Are you Charlie’s son?’

Judd Frazier was having the kind of morning every pastor can relate to. The details, he says, don’t matter much now, but let’s just say it was a tough morning. Getting your heart and head right to deliver a sermon on those kinds of mornings is difficult enough; when they fall on Easter Sunday, the pressure can feel overwhelming.

Even so, Frazier said knew he needed to be faithful to preach the gospel to all those who would gather that morning at First Baptist Church in Fruitvale. Among those expected in attendance was Larry Wheeler—a man for whom Frazier and Charles, one of the church’s deacons, had prayed many times.

Sure enough, Larry and Mary walked in before the service and took a seat near Charles. Frazier proceeded to preach his passage from 1 Corinthians 15:1-4: “For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures ….”

When Frazier finished, he felt like his sermon didn’t connect. Once the invitation began, he sat down and began praying: “Lord, I butchered this. I’m so sorry.” When he opened his eyes and looked up, he was surprised: Larry was at the altar, doubled over on both knees and weeping uncontrollably.

Frazier shot up from his seat and knelt down next to Larry.

“Are you Charlie’s son?” Frazier asked. Larry shook his head in the affirmative.

“Larry, we’ve been praying for you by name for a couple of weeks,” Frazier continued. “Brother, you need to give your life to Jesus.”

“I don’t know what that means,” Larry sobbed, “but I know I need that because I don’t have what you just [preached] about. My life is a mess and I can’t fix it anymore.”

Larry surrendered his life to Jesus that day and was baptized the next month. Mary—who had made a profession of faith earlier in life before struggling in her faith—recommitted her life to the Lord, as well, and she and Larry began a process of healing and forgiveness that continues to this day.

In the months that followed, Frazier and Larry would meet weekly, studying the Bible and talking about how Jesus can overcome any obstacle in the lives of His followers. It’s not a perfect life, Larry says, but an abundant one.

A life of plenty. The high life.

“My life, it’s been up and down, but man, I’ve just steadily been climbing up,” Larry said. “It’s like Jesus is slowly pulling me out of a pit, and I just give Him all the glory for that. His love is real. His grace—when He says, ‘My grace is sufficient’—it is.”

“My life, it’s been up and down, but man, I’ve just steadily been climbing up. It’s like Jesus is slowly pulling me out of a pit, and I just give Him all the glory for that.”

—Larry Wheeler Tweet

Man on fire

Frazier was at his home on a Friday night not too long ago when a pipe burst. A city employee arrived after hours with his wife to assess the damage, and the three eventually struck up a conversation. Before long, the city employee’s wife realized she recognized Frazier.

“Wait, are you Larry Wheeler’s pastor?” she asked.

“Yes, ma’am, I am,” he said with a bemused chuckle, “but how do you know Larry?”

“Well, I work at a bank in Van, and he has come in and evangelized almost everybody in the lobby several times. He’s asked every one of us in the bank if we’re saved and about our testimonies. He shares the gospel with people every time he comes in there.”

A few weeks later, Frazier had just pulled into a drive thru for a late-night bite after church on a Wednesday when his phone rang. It was after 10 p.m., and the name on the caller ID was one he quickly recognized: Larry Wheeler.

These are the kinds of after-hours calls that can make a pastor’s heart skip a beat, and Frazier’s was no different. “Uh oh,” he thought. “I wonder what’s wrong.”

When Frazier answered, he was greeted by Wheeler’s voice, full of excitement. “Pastor, I just called you to let you know I just led someone to the Lord,” Wheeler said.

“He was so excited,” Frazier recalled. “That man is just on fire for the Lord.”

After nearly fatal fall, pastor’s wife is taking advantage of every gospel opportunity

It was supposed to be a peaceful retreat, a time to begin seeking God’s plan for the next season of their lives.

After 50 years of full-time ministry—21 spent at First Baptist Church in Galena Park—Pastor Marcos Ramos and his wife, Irma, decided it was time to retire. So they planned a getaway to Holly Lake Ranch, located just north of Tyler, last December.

“Here’s the cabin,” Marcos said as he pulled the couple’s car into a parking space near Cabin 51.

As they were settling into their accommodations, Irma went back to the car to look for something. On her way back to the cabin, she climbed the first step and, in a confusing moment of panic, let out a deep cry before falling backward.

That’s the last thing Irma remembers.

Marcos, hearing his wife’s cry, rushed outside and found her lying on the ground. She was unconscious and bloody, having suffered a severe blow to the head on the concrete.

Irma was rushed to the nearest hospital in Tyler and admitted into the intensive care unit. The doctor on duty was surprised she had not suffered a skull fracture considering how hard a blow she had taken to the head.

“Your wife’s brain is full of blood,” the doctor told Marcos.

Irma had suffered a potentially life-threatening brain bleed that would need to be drained as soon as possible. Failure to relieve the pressure on her brain could have left her with permanent brain damage or even caused death.

Three days after her accident, on Dec. 12, Irma regained consciousness. She could move and smile, but she was unable to speak or communicate. She did not know where she was or recognize any of the people around her—including family. Doctors feared she could suffer long-term memory loss, and they prepared the family for the possibility she might never recognize them again.

‘God is going to heal her’

But five days after the accident—five days bathed in desperate, pleading prayer from family and friends who loved Irma—something began to change. She began to speak short words. She recognized the people gathered around her, including her grandchildren, whose names she could recall and who had joined the chorus of prayer surrounding her.

As encouraging as this was, doctors were not hopeful Irma would be able to fully recover. Family members were told she would likely see some improvement in her condition, but they were unsure if she would suffer from some form of long-term paralysis or memory loss.

“I have faith that my mom is going to be restored and she’s going to be fine,” her son, Sammy, said in response to the doctor’s cautious prognosis. “She’s going to walk and she’s going to be able to talk because God is going to heal her.”

“You have a lot of faith,” the doctor said to Sammy. “We hope so.”

Miraculously, just two days later, Irma improved enough to be transferred from intensive care to intermediate care. She began responding well to therapy and eating on her own, no longer requiring a feeding tube.

All told, Irma spent 13 days in the hospital in Tyler. Those were days of waiting and uncertainty, but God showed the family they were not alone. Family members recall how they could feel His presence and see His divine provision through the waves of prayer and help being sent their way.

“She’s going to walk and she’s going to be able to talk because God is going to heal her.”

—Sammy Ramos Tweet

While she was hospitalized, financial assistance and in-kind help poured in from places including the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention and the Lone Star Pastor Care Network. Friends and acquaintances brought her supplies, brothers and sisters from the churches Marcos pastored made the long trip from Houston to visit, and many called to let the family know they were continuing to pray.

Irma improved so much that, just before Christmas, God allowed her and Marcos to return to Houston to celebrate the holiday in their city. She was admitted to a different hospital where she began a 14-day rehabilitation process. She was still struggling with cognitive abilities at this point, but upon arriving in Houston, another miracle occurred.

It was Dec. 23, their first day at the rehab hospital. As Marcos sat in the room with his wife, he began to hear her voice speaking coherently and clearly as they began to have their first conversation in almost a month.

“Where are we?” Irma asked.

“In the hospital,” Marcos replied.

“Are you sick?” Irma responded, sounding puzzled.

“You are the sick one,” Marcos said.

He then began to explain everything that had happened. Her trip back to the car to look for something. Her scream. The mad dash to the hospital. The grueling hours of waiting, the doctors and nurses coming in and out of the room, the prayer … all of it.

Irma remembered none of it.

She remained at the rehab hospital until Jan. 5, when doctors finally cleared her to return home to continue her therapy. Having now started to recover most of her mental faculties, Irma continually shared the testimony of what God had done in her life with all the medical personnel tending to her. They were amazed to see how much she had progressed.

“I want to teach people what I have learned after 50 years of ministry about God’s sovereignty, His mercy, and testify to His greatness.”

—Irma Ramos Tweet

A new assignment

“Now I take every opportunity to share my testimony,” Irma said. “I want to teach people what I have learned after 50 years of ministry about God’s sovereignty, His mercy, and testify to His greatness.”

One such instance happened in February at the Apoderados event held in conjunction with the SBTC’s annual Empower Conference. During the event, Irma met a woman who was a maintenance worker at the church hosting Apoderados.

They began to talk. Irma explained what was happening at the conference. The woman shared that, although her son—a follower of Christ—had invited her to church often, she personally had not yet made the decision to follow Jesus. Seizing on the opportunity, Irma shared the gospel with the woman and invited her to give her life to Jesus right then and there. But the woman said she was not ready.

The next day, Irma saw the woman again. “Are you ready?” Irma asked. This time, the woman said she was and prayed to receive Christ. Irma then connected her with a pastor for follow-up.

Six months after they retreated to the woods of East Texas to seek guidance for the next steps of their lives, God has granted Irma and Marcos an answer. They are starting a Hispanic ministry at Clay Road Baptist Church in Houston, offering English as a second language classes, visiting area homes, and providing community outreach to those in need. Clay Road recently held a community outreach on Easter Sunday where Marcos preached in English and Spanish. Irma is actively ministering to pastors’ wives through the Lone Star Pastor Care Network that ministered to her family during her recovery.

“God’s mercy and love are always with us,” Marcos said, “so whenever you go through a trial, whenever you go through suffering, keep trusting in the Lord and keep your eyes on Jesus because He works all things for good.”

SBTC DR response to SE Texas storms mark ‘longest, most involved deployment’ since Hurricane Harvey

HOUSTON—As spring storms pummeled Southeast Texas, including the greater Houston area, Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Disaster Relief volunteers, with help from Baptist DR teams from other states, launched and maintained a steady monthlong response to the emergency.

The response included serving survivors and first responders with logistical support, hot meals, showers, laundry services, chaplaincy assistance, and recovery operations.

“This has been the longest and most involved deployment since Hurricane Harvey,” SBTC DR Director Scottie Stice said. “It’s involved a series of smaller events spread out over the state. We’ve been there to help.”

SBTC DR volunteers responded to April storms that impacted Trinity, Polk, San Jacinto, Walker, Montgomery, Liberty, and East Harris counties in Southeast Texas. They also served survivors of a May storm event in Hardin County and, as of this writing, are on standby status to respond to a tornado that hit the Temple/Belton area in May.

The disasters keep coming.

On May 24, SBTC DR feeding volunteers using the kitchen at Flint Baptist Church fed 160 first responders and members of the public affected by a tornado in Palestine. That work continued on May 25.

“We’ve been busy, and we continue to be busy,” Stice said. “DR response can be a moving target.”

Helping Houston

The greater Houston area prompted the largest response of the spring to date. With their main base of operations set up at Spring Baptist Church in Spring, SBTC DR and Arkansas Baptist DR teams provided showers and did dozens of loads of laundry in addition to completing clean-up at 12 homes and chainsaw work.

Also in Houston, Clay Road Baptist Church continues to offer survivors shower and laundry services.

In North Houston, SBTC DR teams continued their groundbreaking partnership with the Salvation Army, staffing a mass-feeding kitchen site. Teams contributed 2,220 volunteer hours to prepare 20,235 meals distributed by Salvation Army personnel. In addition to mass-feeding operations from large field kitchens, SBTC quick-response mobile unit workers spent 320 volunteer hours preparing and serving 1,017 meals to Salvation Army and other SBTC DR volunteers.

Outside the Bayou City

SBTC DR volunteers also supported the San Jacinto County Shelter, providing 997 showers and doing 236 loads of laundry until May 24.

Chainsaw and recovery teams from First Baptist Bellville responded to needs in their community, northwest of Houston, by completing 27 jobs, logging 18 heavy equipment hours, and contributing 240 volunteer hours.

SBTC DR equipment and teams additionally set up headquarters at Central Baptist Church in Livingston on May 12. Since then, more than 746 meals have been served, 268 showers provided, 92 loads of laundry done, and 56 home cleanup requests completed with 10 more pending. SBTC DR teams alone have clocked 3,820 volunteer hours at Livingston in a deployment which also involved Baptist DR teams from Oklahoma and Florida.

At the American Red Cross shelter set up at Cleveland ISD’s Pine Burr Elementary school, SBTC DR teams from the Top O’ Texas Association continue to staff a shower and laundry unit as they have since May 16.

“Pine Burr houses the largest Red Cross shelter at the moment,” Stice said. “Our volunteers have done a phenomenal job here as elsewhere … [with ] lots of ministry, lots of gospel conversations, lots of encouraging folks.”

Also in Cleveland, SBTC DR and other state Baptist volunteers based at Calvary Baptist Church began cleanup operations which were suspended on May 25 till floodwaters recede.

At Huntsville, an SBTC QRU and volunteers supported the shelter established at the H.E.A.R.T.S. Veterans Museum of Texas until May 6, while at Liberty County, an SBTC DR shower and laundry unit supported survivors from May 7-13.

Cleanup operations based at Coldspring in San Jacinto County, staffed by Baptist DR teams from Arizona and New Mexico, also took place, with operations closing on May 25.

Meanwhile, in Hardin County, SBTC DR teams served 30 volunteer hours, cleaning out three damaged homes.

“It has been a very busy spring,” Stice said, expressing thanks not only for SBTC DR volunteers who give so much but also for the out-of-state teams who came to help Texas survivors.

“We appreciate the prayer and financial support of SBTC churches through the Cooperative Program and Reach Texas giving,” Stice added.

Even in the face of fear and mystery, I will still trust the Lord

I was really close to my brother Gary. We were good friends in high school, roomed together in college, even were best man for each other’s weddings. We coached together and could argue with one another on the sidelines, and it’d be OK. Our dad died when we were young, and we went through that ordeal together. We worked with Fellowship of Christian Athletes and with our churches.

We were very aware of Gary’s calling to missions throughout all those years. I was excited for him. We had taken mission trips together as college kids. He’d organize it and we’d go to Mexico with groups. He worked for 10 years to get everything in line with the International Mission Board. They’re very meticulous about who they put on the field because they want those people to stay.

Gary and his family had not been in Mexico as full-time missionaries for long at all when there was a terrible accident. In 1999, Gary was swimming in the ocean near Tapachula when a strong undercurrent carried him, his 10-year-old daughter Carla, and two summer missionaries out into deep water. They all drowned.

"I’m learning to be careful with human plans and to plan with the mysterious plan of God in mind."

—Larry Sloan Tweet

Well, I guess it’s the normal human response when somebody is taken away—especially when that somebody is taken before, what we call on Earth, “their time”—to think we would have more time with them. Having it happen so quickly after they got on the field—why would God do that? I wouldn’t have planned it that way—a career-minded missionary who’s spent 10 years trying to get there. But God knows. He sees before and after, so you just have to trust Him, even though you fear what can happen. I call it “fearfully awesome.” God’s plans are fearfully awesome, because He could just take anybody [at any time].

Gary’s death created some fear in me in the next five or six years after that, maybe even now. There are pictures in my mind of tragedies that could happen to me and my wife, my kids, that God could do anything. And if He does, then He’s still the Lord and you just have to keep on.

So when my daughter planned to be married to my now son-in-law, I already knew he had a heart for missions. They grew into their relationship, got married, had kids, and they worked in the Houston area. I said, “Well, one of these days, [them getting called to the mission field is] probably going to happen.” And sure enough, it did. And all those feelings of fear resurfaced.

Just recently, I don’t know, a year-and-a-half ago, a retired coach that I’d worked with started putting together mission teams and he ended up in Tapachula, where Gary was. He sent me a picture with an older Mexican guy and asked, “Do you know this guy?” I didn’t, but he was one of Gary’s first converts and is now a pastor, and he’s still doing it 23 years later.

The day before the drowning, Gary had met with a few pastors and set out his vision for the whole Chiapas area. That vision is continuing today. There’s an institute for training, a seminary, and a group that was still meeting last I heard as of 2012 or 2013. Was Gary the guy that it’s all centered around, or did his passing cause that group to become stronger on their own? I don’t know. There we go again—the mysterious plan of God’s will.

Now my daughter, her husband, and their children are my church’s missionary family that we pray for and travel to help. We’ve been on two trips to their area and probably will do more. Our VBS offering goes to them and my daughter sends videos for each day. It’s been a great connection between our church here and our family in Southeast Asia.

We picked up an unreached people group in that area and we began to pray for them. We had gospel conversations on two trips [in the unreached people group] that we took there and are praying that one of those people will be at God’s throne with every race and every tribe.

I’m learning to be careful with human plans and to plan with the mysterious plan of God in mind. These [plans] are just thoughts that we’re going to act upon, but they may not happen. There’s got to be a trust in God there.

I’ve been reading through Leviticus recently, and there are these little stanzas that end with, “I’m the Lord.” I’ve got them all underlined, about 20 of them. He is the Lord and His mysterious plan is going to come about. I think I’ve learned that even when I’ve got my own plans here, God may have another plan.

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Fire that gutted Paris church’s youth building has done nothing but ignite a movement of God

They can laugh now, three years after the fire that destroyed their youth building, about things like the name of the ministry: Ignite.

“We’ve since rebranded,” said Phil Spann, the longtime student minister at Southside Baptist Church in Paris.

They can wonder at the odd things, like the fact Billy Norris, Southside’s senior pastor, discovered Spann’s Bible a day later amid the building’s charred remains. It was sitting on the podium where he’d left it, undamaged by either fire or water. Or that the sheet music they’d used in the most recent youth service—“Another in the Fire”—was lying on the stage in similarly pristine condition.

“Amazing,” Spann said. “It’s just neat to see how God does some things to show us that He’s in control.”

Mostly, though, they marvel at how God has worked despite—or maybe because of—adversity.

“It’s a very unique story,” Spann said, “one that only God could have written.”

On the afternoon of April 20, 2021, as contractors were installing a vent-a-hood for a new commercial kitchen, sparks from a grinder ignited attic insulation. Although firefighters arrived within minutes, the building was soon engulfed in flames.

“He knows our name. He knows our address. He knows what we’re going through. He’s faithful. He’s a faithful God.”

—Billy Norris Tweet

Spann, who has served at Southside for almost 17 years, remembers praying: “What do we do now?”

“God was like, ‘Hey, I’ve got this. You just follow me,’” Spann said. “That’s pretty much what we’ve done. We’ve just trusted Him, and He’s shown us over and above anything we could ever imagine.”

As Southside’s student ministry prepares, finally, to move into a newly built youth building sometime in the next few weeks, it’s clear the ministry hasn’t so much survived as thrived.

“Even since the fire, we’ve grown,” said Norris, the senior pastor. “It hasn’t hindered the ministry at all.”

Adjustments were necessary, not only by the student ministry, but throughout the church—especially when plans to replace the youth building were postponed for months by insurance issues. But Norris said Southside’s members “just responded in a way that’s been a blessing for everybody. It’s been good for the church but also glorifying to God.”

Each Wednesday evening for the last three years, Southside’s youth have met in the church’s fellowship hall, which seats around 50. After dinner, they head into the sanctuary for a time of praise and worship. When AWANA takes over the sanctuary, the students return to the fellowship hall.

An intentionally no-frills student ministry became even more stripped down because of the space limitations. But that didn’t seem to matter. Somehow, they haven’t lost any momentum.

Instead, they’ve gained students.

“Kids started inviting their friends,” Spann said. “Next thing we know, here we are today, and we’ll average around 75 students. And if they all came at one time, it would be over 100.”

They bring in extra chairs from classrooms. Kids sit on the floor. They haven’t had to tear open the roof yet to get one more person in, but it can feel that way.

Again, the format is simple: Supper, then praise and worship, and then Spann opens that Bible and simply preaches. It has long been his philosophy, and it’s partially why the rebranded ministry is “412 Student Ministry”—a reference to 1 Timothy 4:12 (“Don’t let anyone despise your youth, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity”).

“I believe if these kids can take the classes they handle in school, they can understand the gospel,” Spann said. “I take very seriously what Paul told Timothy, to preach the Word. He didn’t say, ‘Teach ’em how to play games.’ He didn’t say, ‘Entertain.’ He said, ‘Preach the Word’—so that’s what I do.”

For several years, the youth group has attended camp at Falls Creek Conference Center in Oklahoma. Southside shared a 100-bed cabin with a youth group from another church. But when registration opened this spring, Southside filled all 100 slots within two weeks. More students are on a waiting list. And the other church has had to find another housing option.

“We’re thinking two cabins next year,” Norris said.

The results are more than just increased participation. God’s Word hasn’t returned empty. Instead, Southside has seen a harvest. The recent fruit of the student ministry includes salvations and baptisms. During the last two years, the church has celebrated more than 60 baptisms. Norris said they’ve been predominantly children and youth. He rejoices in the 34 decisions for Christ made at camp two years ago, and a similar number last summer.

“That’s all I can say. We’ve just learned to trust Him. It’s not about how we understand. It’s what He has for us. In the end, He’s gonna make it straight.”

—Phil Spann Tweet

“It’s been a significant [number],” Spann said. “Again, I’m just overwhelmed by what God has done.”

What happened?

“The thing I’ve seen more than anything else,” Norris said, “and it just reaffirms what we knew to be true, is God is faithful. It’s all Him. If anything comes out of this, it’s that His name is glorified.

“He knows our name. He knows our address. He knows what we’re going through. He’s faithful. He’s a faithful God.”

Spann knows the Southside youth ministry has lived through an example of his favorite Scripture passage, Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

“That’s all I can say,” Spann said. “We’ve just learned to trust Him. It’s not about how we understand. It’s what He has for us. In the end, He’s gonna make it straight.”

SWBTS team preparing music as ministry for SBC Annual Meeting

FORT WORTH—Preparing music for an annual meeting that serves more than 10,000 people over two days can be overwhelming, but Joseph R. Crider, music director for the 2024 SBC Annual Meeting in Indianapolis, is confident in—and thankful for—the team around him that will help provide worship leadership during the gathering.

Crider, dean of the School of Church Music and Worship at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, said SBC President Bart Barber, a two-time Southwestern alumnus, wanted the seminary’s music team to lead worship at this year’s convention. Crider was elected music leader during the 2023 annual meeting in New Orleans and has spent the past year preparing for Indianapolis.

“I am honored to be asked, but … there is a lot that goes into the preparation that most people never think about,” Crider said. “The music director for the annual meeting is a member of the Committee on the Order of Business for the SBC. The business of the SBC is packed into two days of committee reports, resolutions, entity presentations, elections, preaching and worship, so there are [many details] that take the entire year to plan.”

Crider, Southwestern A Cappella, and the seminary’s Cowden Hall Band will lead the music for the meeting. Southwestern A Cappella, a select music ensemble composed of graduate and undergraduate music students in the SCMW, assisted in leading worship during the worship sessions of the 2023 meeting in New Orleans. The Cowden Hall Band is the school’s graduate house band.

Charles Lewis, associate dean of the SCMW and professor of church music and worship, is coordinating all the production and logistical details. Ricky Johnson, SCMW artist in residence and director of bands, and Hugo Encorrada, a doctor of philosophy student, are working out specific musical arrangements for all the worship.

Without the help of these men, the students in the music groups, Fran De Wysockie, administrative assistant in the SCMW, and the help and encouragement of the school’s faculty and staff, Crider said, “I would be overwhelmed.”

Crider also tapped James Cheesman, who led the music for the 2023 meeting. Cheesman serves as the worship pastor at Barber’s church, First Baptist Church in Farmersville, Texas, and is a Ph.D. student and adjunct instructor at Southwestern.

“With all that James has on his plate, it was a lot to ask him to coordinate music for another annual meeting,” Crider said. “But I will say that the congregational participation and worship at last year’s annual meeting was the best I’ve heard in years. James did an incredible job of choosing songs people know and love, and he led with sincere, pastoral humility. I’m praying the Lord will help us do the same.”

Cheesman will lead the worship with SCMW students prior to Barber’s sermon on Tuesday morning of the convention.

Crider said preparation “began several months ago as we prayed through the theme of the meeting [‘One Mind, One Voice,’ based on Romans 15:5-6], the Scripture passages that will guide each of the worship elements and then the songs and hymns that Southwestern A Cappella and Cowden Hall Band have been leading through the year. Fortunately, we aren’t trying to learn all new music for the June meeting.”

Crider said he has lost track of the hours of rehearsal time, “But our students will come back from their summer break for three major rehearsals on campus totaling around 20 hours of intense rehearsals in preparation for our ministry in Indianapolis.”

The students will lead almost 40 songs throughout the two-day meeting, he said.

Crider explained what he hopes both SBC messengers and his students gain from the experience.

“We simply want to serve the messengers by encouraging them to worship Jesus Christ, to the glory of God the Father, in the power of the Holy Spirit,” he said. “We will serve them well if they think more of Jesus than they do of us and how we lead them. At the same time, we want our SBC churches across the country to know that it [is the SCMW’s passion] to prepare men and women for their calling to the ministry – as is true of all our sister seminaries.”

Crider also expressed the desire “to be faithful in representing” the seminary and Texas Baptist College “in the best possible way – by pointing people to Christ.”

“For our students,” he added, “I hope they see the incredible phenomenon of cooperation among autonomous churches in the Southern Baptist Convention. I hope they see that the annual meeting is not only a big family reunion, but it’s also something God has used in a powerful way to build Christ’s kingdom through evangelism, missions, education, discipleship, and resources for local SBC churches. I pray they will all want to be actively engaged in the future of the SBC.”

This article originally appeared on Baptist Press.

Sometimes the waiting room is the best classroom when it comes to prayer

Prayer frequently requires waiting. The trouble is, we’re not patient. In fact, Americans are so impatient that recent studies can pinpoint what we’re most impatient about and how long it takes us to grow agitated when waiting.

For instance, the majority of us grow quickly irritated with slow Wi-Fi. It’s our No. 1 complaint, guaranteed to ignite our impatience. In addition, on average, we find it intolerable to wait as much as 10 minutes for sluggish customer service.

Do people of prayer reflect the power of prayer when ordinary circumstances test the fragile limits of our patience? Our impatience reminds us of the oft repeated adage, “Man microwaves, but God marinates.”

Waiting has a bad reputation in America, but Scripture is filled with positive examples of waiting. For instance, Isaiah reminds us that if we wait on God we will fly like eagles and run without exhaustion (Isaiah 40:31). Jesus instructed His eager but powerless disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they were empowered by the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49). The psalmist testified that the Lord heard his cries only after he was willing to wait (Psalm 40:1). Many of the biblical invitations to wait are directly connected to prayer.

It sounds extreme, but waiting is an inescapable factor in a praying life. In fact, Jesus insisted that we learn the discipline of waiting in prayer.

Waiting has a bad reputation in America, but Scripture is filled with positive examples of waiting.

Kie Bowman Tweet

In one of His most well-known parables in which He taught the importance of patience in prayer, Jesus contrasted a powerful, malevolent judge to a vulnerable, abused widow (Luke 18:1-8). The judge in the parable had no compassion for the widow’s legal or personal complaints. The widow, on the other hand, refused to stop showing up to court to demand justice. Finally, the corrupt judge conceded because the widow refused to stop asking for his assistance.

Jesus contrasted the heartless judge to our loving God by demonstrating that, unlike the crooked judge, God desires to answer the cries of His people—the people Jesus compared favorably to the persistent widow. The parable is introduced with this instructive preamble, “And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart” (Luke 18:1).

From this well-known text we notice some principles about patience in prayer. Sometimes the waiting room is the best classroom.

Wait in prayer even when the outcome appears unlikely

The two characters in the parable—a widow and the judge—were on opposite ends of the power and privilege scale in ancient society. The judge was a local official with authority appointed by Rome. The widow was a symbol of vulnerability in Scripture; she had no social standing. This widow had only one power—persistence! Jesus described her as one “who kept coming.” The tense of the Greek verb means continuous, repeated action.

Her request was ignored numerous times, but she kept making the appeal. The frequency of her appeals in the face of the judge’s indifference toward her plight is a reminder to us of a basic principle of prayer: God’s delays are not necessarily God’s denials. There is nothing in the circumstances of the story that suggest the widow had a chance of success, except for her persistent asking.

Wait in prayer because God hears

In the parable, the widow’s persistence won the judge over. Her resilience wore down his reluctance. Jesus urged His followers to cry out in unceasing prayer, because God will intervene for those who “cry to Him day and night” (v. 7).

No matter how much time passes between our request and God‘s response, we should never conclude that God does not care. God wants to respond. God wants to answer. In His perfect timing, no matter how long we’ve waited, no matter how big the long shot, God answers prayer. He specializes in results that can be achieved in no other way.

Wait in prayer because an answer is coming

When does waiting in prayer reach a conclusion? Jesus said God will answer His pleading people “speedily” (v. 8). In other words, God’s answer comes suddenly. Why is it necessary to wait if the answer comes suddenly?

The Greek word translated “speedily” occurs in the New Testament seven times. It is obviously a reference to a narrow window of time. Three of the usages of the word refer to a speedy or sudden action in time. The other four usages of the word refer to the nearness in time of the action. Those instances are translated with words like “shortly” or “soon” (Acts 25:4, Romans 16:20, etc.).

In any case, the word means that action is imminent. God will answer. You are justified in waiting, because when the answer comes it will be in a timely manner. So, our job is to prayerfully wait on God’s timing.

Perhaps the testimony of George Müller best exemplifies our goals in patient prayer. He said, “When once I am persuaded that a thing is right, and for the glory of God, I go on praying for it until the answer comes.” If your classroom is the waiting room, God is teaching you. So, keep praying!

Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in Baptist Press.

In new Criswell book, Hawkins examines the life of a man who impacted millions

A man for many seasons

O.S. Hawkins is chancellor of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, former pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, and president emeritus of GuideStone Financial Resources. He has authored more than 50 books, including the latest, Criswell: His Life and Times. Hawkins recently spoke with Southern Baptist Texan magazine about why he chose to write about the legendary W.A. Criswell and how others can benefit from learning about his life.

You’ve described W.A. Criswell as a friend and mentor. Can you talk about the impact he had on you personally and why you decided to write a book about his life?

O.S. Hawkins: I first met him back when I was a kid. In my generation he was legendary, and for some reason early on, he took a liking to me and we developed a warm friendship. I just considered him a great mentor and, in many ways, he was like a father to me. … Really the reason I wrote the book was he was a polarizing figure in many ways, and there has been so much written about him from people who were adversarial to him, whether it was because of theological or philosophical reasons, and then there were other things written that [portrayed him as being] sort of almost without sin. So, what I tried to do was bring balance to his life and also to introduce him to a new generation of preachers who may not have known him in his greatness.

How might pastors who don’t know as much about Criswell’s life be encouraged or even equipped by some of the things you included in this book?

Hawkins: They will see that education is important. They will see that in the first 10 years of his pastorate, he pastored little bitty churches in far-away places. It gave him a love for pastors. There are a lot of stories in the book about that. He ended up leading the largest church in the world for years at First Baptist Dallas, and he had no peer in his prime—I mean, no peer. But he never got away from loving pastors.

I also believe the title of the book, Criswell: His Life and Times, is important because this book is not just for pastors. It’s for everyone who’s interested in leadership or interested in history. It’s about his times. Dr. Criswell lived in every decade of the 20th century, and there’s a chapter on each of these decades throughout the whole book that really describes the times in which he lived. So many things were swirling around the culture in America through World War I, through World War II, through all of these decades that unfolded. So, it’s really a book about Baptist history, Texas history, American history. It’s not just about Criswell. It’s about the times in which he lived and loved and ministered.

What kinds of insights about Criswell will readers walk away with that might inspire them or even change the way they look at the world?

Hawkins: Well, I would say one thing that gets lost in the midst of all of his notoriety was how much he loved people. He’s known as a great preacher and theologian, but what many people don’t know is what an incredible pastor he was and how much he loved his people—and they loved him back. He’d often weep when he preached and the people would weep with him. It was amazing.

He was an eternal optimist in many ways, which we need in Baptist life today. He was naive in the sense that, even in the midst of the great Baptist battles of his life, it never dawned on him that [certain] people didn’t like him or didn’t love him. He was above the fray in the fact that he didn’t hold any personal animosity. He had a unique ability to realize that things are going to get better and that nothing lasts forever. Whatever he was going through, he moved forward knowing this too will pass, and he would hunker down and move on.

He owned his mistakes, which a lot of people don’t do, and he was open about them and he sought to recover from them. And then, of course, you’re not ready to live until you’re ready to die, and I didn’t see anyone ever die like he died. I mean, he died with such a sweet spirit. He would wake up his caretaker in the middle of the night preaching the gospel in his sleep.

He was such a unique individual. Had he gone into law, I think he probably would’ve been on the Supreme Court. Had he gone into business, he’d have built a Fortune 500 company. If he’d gone into politics, he’d have been a senator, maybe president of the United States. He was just a unique individual, greatly gifted by God. And yet he never lost the childlike wonder of it and the work of it. He never lost the wonder of God’s creation. I’ve never known anyone that loved the Lord and depended upon Him and consistently lived for Him and served Him like W.A. Criswell. All he ever wanted to do was pastor a local congregation of baptized believers.

K-12 school infuses new life into Arcadia First Baptist Church in South Texas

Afather dropped his daughter off at Arcadia First Baptist Christian School in Santa Fe and walked back to his car.

“I saw him look back at the office,” Pastor Joshua McDonald said, recounting what he saw watching out the window that day. “He was getting back in his car, and he shook his head and he just walked straight to the office.”

The man had no history of church involvement, but his daughter, an elementary student, had placed her faith in Jesus at the school and had been baptized at Arcadia First Baptist Church about six months earlier. The father sat down with McDonald and poured out his heart.

“She’s been telling us about the gospel, and I believe in Jesus now, and I want to know how I can do this.”

—Joshua McDonald, speaking of a student's father Tweet

“He was like, ‘Man, I’ve seen a change in my daughter. She’s been reading the Word of God, she got saved, she got baptized. She’s been telling us about the gospel, and I believe in Jesus now, and I want to know how I can do this,’” McDonald said.

The man was baptized and the pastor gave him a Bible with his name on it—the first Bible he has ever owned.

“Now he’s in my small group and he’s growing by leaps and bounds, studying the Word every day,” McDonald said.

As many as 100 members of Arcadia First Baptist have died during the past five years since McDonald has been pastor, the inevitable reality of an aging congregation. Yet Sunday attendance has grown from about 200 when he arrived to more than 300 now.

“Probably 50 to 60 of those are kids,” McDonald said.

One of the ways God has pumped new life into the church is through its Christian school, training about 150 students in kindergarten through 12th grade in addition to a daycare with 200 children. What once was viewed as an opportunity mainly for educating children has grown into a ministry also aimed at reaching parents, McDonald said.

“People know that we’re in the community because of the school. We’re on the main highway that passes through town, and everybody knows we’re the last school zone before you can just take off on the highway and leave town,” he said, noting Santa Fe is between Houston and Galveston.

“I think visibility has mattered a lot for revitalization. Anytime there are parents mingling around outside, like for drop-off in the morning or pickup in the afternoon, I go out there and try to meet parents. Our staff is really good about that, too.”

One of the church’s best-attended events is a fall festival in partnership with the school and daycare.

“The first year we had maybe 1,000 people show up. The fire station came out, the police came out, we had food trucks, the Coast Guard parked a boat out here,” McDonald said. “The second year it doubled, and this last year, we probably had 2,500 to 3,000 people come through.”

Church members individually take an interest in the students, too, the pastor said.

“One of our church ladies wanted to beautify our garden area around the church where we have bushes and flowers. She said, ‘I’m going to teach the kids to do landscaping,’ so she made a butterfly garden with some of the younger kids.

“So our kindergartners and first graders go out there and plant flowers and then butterflies land on them. It’s like a little science project for them,” McDonald said.

The growth of Texas is helping Arcadia First Baptist grow. When McDonald arrived, it was a rural church, but Houston has expanded toward Santa Fe and developers are buying up land near the coast. Projections indicate 3,000 to 6,000 new homes will be built near the church in the next few years, the pastor said, and church members have been knocking on doors and having gospel conversations.

One church member, though, realized the church didn’t have to wait until new residents moved in to share the gospel. Many of the workers constructing the homes are Hispanic, so the church member took along the pastor of Arcadia First Baptist’s Spanish language ministry, and as many as 23 of those who heard a gospel presentation placed their faith in Christ, McDonald said.

“In the last year we’ve had probably over 100 salvations,” he said.

Other efforts Arcadia First Baptist has made toward revitalization include walking the campus to identify maintenance needs and transforming a seldom-used library of 3,000 books into a coffee shop where church members meet seven days a week for various reasons.

Said McDonald: “There have been more gospel conversations in the coffee shop than there have been in that room in all the church’s history.”