Articles by Guest Author

One night before worship, I asked for the Lord to reveal something to me, whether it be the message or just a word that stood out. One song that we sang was “At the Cross.”

Somewhere in my church life I got the idea that children’s ministry is on the back burner, and all the focus should be on adults and youth...I have been terribly wrong.

When we talk about doing missions, surely many of us think of going somewhere far from home, preaching the Gospel to a lot of people or having a place with a big crowd surrounding us and telling them about Jesus.

I was surprised when I got a call out of the blue from movie producers at Pure Flix asking if they could make a feature film based on my book, “The Case for Christ.”After all, my book had been published nearly two decades earlier.

“Back then, my main focus was not excelling,” she said. “But this time is different. Houston Baptist University has really changed that for me. I want the ‘gold medal’ this time.”

Texas Baptists offered pastors and their church members the opportunity to be refreshed and reminded of biblical stewardship, including personal and church budgeting. The first of five “Giving Your Money Purpose” day retreats in 2018 was held on Saturday, April 21, at Houston Baptist University.

For Spring Break this year, I decided to go to New York City. Not for a vacation or to sightsee, although I did get to do some of that, too.

I was blessed with the opportunity to attend the Discovery Weekend for Go Now Missions from February 16-18. During those three days I learned a lot. I learned to trust in God, to listen to what He was telling me and to follow my heart. I went into the weekend with a feeling that I was supposed to go to a specific place.

The story began about three years ago. I was a sophomore at the University of North Texas (UNT), in my rookie semester as an RA in the "artsy dorm" and I had decided to apply for GoNow Missions. I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do or who I wanted to serve. I applied for a position in Jamaica because a friend of mine went the previous winter break and highly recommended it. However, I quickly discovered that the timing was not going to work out for that trip. So I ended up going to Discovery Day with absolutely no idea what position I was wanting or being called to.

It was Christmas morning. There were 10 of us crowded into my grandmother’s toasty living room. The torn wrapping paper was piled high and the folded gift bags were stacked neatly to return to the box for next year. The smell of bacon and sausage filled the air and each of us sifted back through our hauls to see just how good Santa was this year.