Author: Russell Lightner

Equipping gospel agents to carry out God’s mission

Editor’s note: Each issue of the Texan this year will include a column written by a member of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s Shepherds Collective. 

“I wish my church was more serious and committed to sharing the gospel!”

I would venture to guess this thought has come to the mind of almost every pastor at some point during his ministry. While we all know evangelism springs from a heart full of devotion to Jesus and a daily walk with the Spirit, I believe pastors and church leaders have a role to play as we lead our congregations to becoming mission-minded and gospel-focused.

First, we must patiently and consistently root out bad theology as it relates to mission in the minds of our people. Some might say, “That’s the pastor’s job,” or, “Missions is for missionaries,” or simply, “I didn’t know we were supposed to do that.” While none of these statements find resonance in Scripture, they are saturating the minds of many of our people due to the mixing of our cultural worldview with our faith. 

As pastors, we must help our people identify these broken concepts and rebuild them with the truth of God’s Word. For example, I recently preached through John’s gospel, and when I came to John 20:20 where Jesus tells the disciples, “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you,” I made a point to show there’s no such thing as a disciple who’s not sent as a missionary. They go hand in hand. To be a disciple of Jesus is to be sent on mission.

Second, we need to recalibrate our training. When we do missions, it’s often a separate outreach event and only those who are already confident show up. Instead, push your evangelism strategy down into the individual ministry areas within the church and integrate your training into those normal ministry routines. 

In our college ministry, part of the weekly rhythm includes time on campus building relationships with the lost by giving away coffee. This isn’t an add-on event; it’s part of a weekly rhythm. With some creativity, we can do the same with our children’s ministries, student ministries, Sunday school classes, and small groups. By integrating mission into every ministry area as part of the normal rhythm, not only are you increasing training opportunities, but you are establishing mission as a part of the culture of your church.

Finally, we need to help our congregation develop a target. I’m a bow hunter, and one of the most critical aspects of success in bow hunting is developing the ability to identify a precise target and then steady your aim on that target before you shoot. Too often, I think our pleas to our people lack a precise target, so they don’t know where to start. 

At our church we use the phrase “spheres of influence” to describe the target. We ask them to identify the places where they live, work, and play and to pursue relationships within those spaces. That’s the target. Those are the places where God has given you responsibility to be a gospel agent, and you should be developing the kinds of relationships that allow you to share the gospel with those individuals at the appropriate time.

We can’t do the work of the Holy Spirit, but clear teaching, consistent training, and helping your people identify and take responsibility for their areas of influence will go a long way in the development of a missional culture in your church.

For more information on the Shepherds Collective and other SBTC networks, visit sbtexas.com/networks.

A child’s decision

A child’s decision to become a Christian is by far the most important decision they will make. Parents, ministers, and children’s leaders often consider how to help a child make this decision. The discussion of salvation begins with the child. 

When a child is ready to become a Christian, I believe there are five crucial questions to ask. The child’s responses will help determine whether the child has a clear understanding of the necessity of salvation and is ready to become a Christian. 

1. What is sin? 

Without the prompting of the adult, the child should respond with the meaning of sin. The adult should always consider the child’s age and that the child will provide an age-appropriate response.

2. Who sins? 

The child should know that everyone sins, including themselves. If a person does not sin, they do not need a Savior. Many times, the conversation ends here because they do not believe they commit sin.

3. When a person sins, who is the sin against? 

When we sin, we sin against God. This is another idea or concept that may be difficult for a child to grasp. 

4. What happens when we sin against God? 

We are separated from Him.

5. What did Jesus do for us and why? 

Jesus died on the cross to take the punishment for our sins. He arose from the grave and is our living Savior. Jesus brings us to God, where sin had separated us.

If the child can answer these questions or similar ones, the child is ready to hear the gospel presented simply and sincerely. If the child is unclear about one or more questions, I suggest affirming the child and their curiosity about Christianity. Tell the child that he or she is taking a step toward God. Encourage the child to continue thinking and asking questions. Always pray with the child, asking God to work in the child’s life. 

The person presenting the gospel to a child should remember to:

  • Use words the child will understand.
  • Encourage the child to answer questions and to ask questions. Remember to engage the child in the gospel conversation. This should be a two-way conversation, not a short lecture.
  • Ask open-ended questions that cause the child to think on their own and respond in their own words.
  • Listen intently. Does the child understand what is being stated?
  • Never pressure a child. The child will make the decision when he or she is ready. Remember, this is a decision between God and the child, not the presenter and the child. 

Lifeway provides excellent resources for presenting the gospel to children—for example, The Gospel: God’s Plan For Us and the 3 Circles conversation guide. Also, remember when the child is ready to pray the prayer of salvation, allow the child to voice their own prayer. A child needs to remember that they asked Jesus into their life. 

B&H recently published an excellent book for pastors, children’s ministers, and church leaders titled Children and Salvation, written by theologians and children’s ministry experts. This is a significant piece of writing, as it is only the third of its kind in the Southern Baptist Convention world. The first was written in the 1950s by Gaines Dobbins; the second, in the 1970s, by various theologians; and this writing was published in 2025. 

SBTC DR volunteers brought a variety of skills to the field in ‘25—including compassion

All things to all people

Tony Durant’s career prepared him perfectly to be active in Southern Baptists of Texas Convention Disaster Relief. With a background in mining and the industrial rubber industry, the retired business owner embraces the wisdom of 1 Peter 4:10, using his gifts while serving as an SBTC DR unit director, also known as a “blue hat.”

“I’m a fixer. I have a knack to repair,” Durant said. During a recent deployment serving Texas Task Force 2 search and rescue personnel responding to July’s Hill Country flooding, Durant found himself replacing the motherboard on one of the laundry unit’s washing machines.

Leading a new unit on its first deployment, Durant praised his crew of volunteers, saying, “Each of my team members used their gifts to serve people and first responders at Leander. I couldn’t use my gifts without team members who make my job easy.”

While in Leander, Durant and his fellow volunteers washed just shy of 650 loads of laundry in service of Task Force 2.

From August 2024-2025, SBTC DR volunteers assisted first responders and survivors of hurricanes, storms, fires, and floods in Spring, Porter, Harlingen, Brownsville, and Bonham, in addition to the Central Texas flood response in Leander, Kerrville, San Saba, and San Angelo. They also provided relief during water crises in Marlin and Chester. Outside the Lone Star State, they ministered in New Mexico, Florida, California, Missouri, and Oklahoma.

“All ministry facets—chainsaw, feeding, chaplaincy, recovery, assessment, administration, shower and laundry—were in the field this year,” SBTC DR Director Scottie Stice said. “We had 19 deployments in Texas and 15 out of state, totaling 64,100 volunteer hours. Volunteers prepared 138,095 meals for distribution, including 52,074 meals served directly to the public by SBTC DR folks. They made more than 48,000 spiritual contacts and saw 2,827 professions of faith, including those related to the border ministry of West Brownsville Baptist Church.

“Folks like Tony and his team are what make DR ministry successful,” Stice added. “They minister to the physical and spiritual needs of survivors and are bound together themselves by Christian fellowship and friendship.”

— Jane Rodgers

As women’s ministry leader grows, she’s helping others do the same

Empowered to lead, ready to serve

Jocelyn Babilon became the women’s ministry director at Lakeland Baptist Church in Lewisville about a year ago. As she settled into the role, she began having conversations with those the ministry would serve.

“When I listened to the women, they were really wanting connection,” Babilon said, “but they were also wanting to learn more about what it actually looks like to follow Christ and to have a better understanding about what they believe.”

As those conversations were ongoing, Babilon said she was also having discussions with other women’s ministry leaders and with Laura Taylor, the women’s ministry associate for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. It became a season of training for Babilon, who was looking for solutions to a challenge many churches face—connecting women to build multigenerational relationships, as well as developing leaders to serve as disciple-makers.

A pair of SBTC events helped Babilon along the way: the She Stands Women’s Conference hosted by Lakeland in the spring, and later, the Women’s Ministry Leadership Summit. Babilon said she was excited to learn that many of the ideas and points of emphasis God had already put on her heart were part of the training at each event. 

“I walked away with so many great ideas,” she said. “The way God just lined those things up was amazing.”

Connections are a key part of the strategy of the SBTC Women’s Ministry, which empowers women in their faith journeys and in the areas to which God has called them through fostering collaboration and growth. In addition to She Stands and the leadership summit, the SBTC offers Women’s Roundtable Conversations to share ideas between women’s ministry leaders and promote available resources. Roundtable Conversations will happen in multiple locations in 2026. 

There is also a more specialized focus for the wives of pastors through events such as the Come Away Pastor Wives Retreat and Pastor Wives Connection Nights. Those events, designed to offer encouragement and fellowship, connected more than 50 women from 48 churches this past year. 

“My goal for our SBTC’s women’s events is to encourage and equip women to grow in Christ and to be better equipped to minister to women in their churches and communities,” Taylor said. “We seek to provide opportunities for networking with other women to advance the gospel.”

That is what’s happening at Lakeland, where Babilon is seeing fruit as the women who serve on her team are doing the work of ministry in the areas of prayer, fellowship, discipleship, and more.

“Now that we’ve established all our roles, [our goal is] to equip our women to do these things well,” she said. “It’s been really great to watch. I’m just excited to see the way the women are growing in our church.”

—Jayson Larson

God is so, so good

I was a crime reporter when I began my journalism career about 25 years ago. Each morning, I would travel to our local police and sheriff’s departments and thumb through the previous day’s call sheets and the jail census. I would walk the hallways, interviewing deputies and detectives. Most of the stories I would unearth were bad news—at least for somebody.

By God’s grace, I have a much different calling today. Each morning when I arrive at my office, I have one main focus: to find and then tell the stories of what God is doing across the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.

Each year, there are always a few stories we tell that stand out to me. As we put the wraps on 2025 and look ahead to all that we anticipate God will do in 2026, here’s a look back at a few of those stories:

‘Running toward the hopeless’ (Issue 2)

Every follower of Jesus loves a transformation story. Even if we don’t completely connect with a person’s past, we know what it’s like, as Colossians 1:13 says, to be delivered out of the dominion of darkness and transferred into Christ’s kingdom. This story, published in the spring, had lots of that. It opens by introducing readers to a man named David—described by many as “scary,” but who ended up giving his life to Christ through the ministry of Port Arthur City Church. The church’s pastor, Julian Martinez, had his own messy past. But since Jesus redeemed his life, the pastor spends his time trying to point everyone he can to salvation. 

‘My life is in His hands’ (Issue 3)

As a parent, this story sent my emotions on a ride. Joshua Nostrand was only 14 years old when he went into cardiac arrest for eight minutes while at youth camp. While moments like that are some parents’ worst nightmare, what happened next was as heart-warming and inspiring as it gets. After surviving the emergency, Joshua recovered, gave all glory to God, and began using his life to tell others about Jesus. “This whole experience,” he said later, “has helped me grow in the gospel.” Amen and amen. 

‘Man, we can do something’ (Issue 4)

In May, a group of pastors and church leaders went on a vision trip as part of the SBTC’s Reach Europe initiative, a ministry partnership with the International Mission Board. While they walked in some of the world’s most beautiful and historic places, many on the trip were also surprised to hear how lost Europe is. In fact, the IMB considers it the most lost continent in the world. Meeting pastors on the frontlines of the spiritual battle was special, but hearing reports that several SBTC churches have since returned (or are planning a return) is downright exciting.

‘SBTC churches get creative to deliver the gospel to the Metroplex during Crossover’ (Issue 5)

Each year in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting, an event called Crossover is held to saturate the host city’s streets with the gospel. This year, with the meeting being held in Dallas, SBTC churches joined congregations from across the nation to tell people about Jesus. Churches held block parties and did door-to-door evangelism. One church held a pickleball camp. Another hosted a Christian comedy club, weaving the gospel story into an evening of laughs. And the best part? More than 700 people made decisions to follow Jesus during Crossover.

You can find these stories and more at the Texan’s online print archive: texanonline.net/print-archive.

SBTC churches are mobilizing to locations where the gospel is desperately needed

Partnering with a purpose

Holly Springs Baptist Church Lead Pastor Clint Williams was among the pastors and church leaders who traveled overseas in May as part of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention’s Reach Europe vision trip. 

When Williams got home and told his congregation what he saw, the missions-minded church in Nacogdoches decided to send a group back. It took less than 24 hours for the trip to fill up. 

“Our church was very eager to go,” Williams said.

Holly Springs served in Hungary, one of the countries included in the Reach Europe ministry partnership between the SBTC and the International Mission Board. The initiative’s goal is to reverse the staggering trend of lostness in Western Europe, which has been described as one of the most lost places in the world. Only 1.1% of Europe’s residents are evangelical, and there is no population segment that is 2% reached. By the IMB’s standards, that makes all of Europe an unreached continent.

As of November, several SBTC churches were preparing to mobilize to locations across the continent to serve IMB partners in locations including Denmark, England, France, Greece, Romania, and Slovenia. 

The SBTC has developed similar ministry partnerships closer to home in Puerto Rico and Nevada—one of the fastest-growing states in America. In those locations, the goal is to strengthen existing Southern Baptist churches, plant new ones, and help raise up a new generation of pastors and leaders to reach the lost. 

“Through these partnerships that have been curated by the SBTC, we’re able to connect our churches to missions opportunities for the purpose of developing long-term relationships that offer maximum gospel impact,” said Colin Rayburn, SBTC Missional Ministries associate. “As we continue to learn more about the specific needs, desires, and abilities of our churches, we’ll be able to fine-tune these partnerships in ways that maximize every SBTC church’s ability to engage missionally.”

During their October trip, Holly Springs worked with rural Hungarian churches to do outreach in a unique way—taking family photos and providing framed prints for people in impoverished villages who might not otherwise have such a luxury. Later, the Texas group had a similar opportunity for a group of elementary school children.

Before heading home, the team had one last chance to leave a taste of Texas with their hosts. Holly Springs hosted a barbecue featuring pulled pork, beans, coleslaw, and southern gospel music played against a backdrop of Texas flag décor. As the Holly Springs team sang hymns such as “I’ll Fly Away” and “Amazing Grace,”  Williams would occasionally stop to explain the biblical principles contained in the lyrics. 

“Just loving on these folks, it was very good,” Williams said. “It connected with a lot of people.”

— Jayson larson