Will you join me?

Since I last wrote to you, I have met with pastors in Tarrant County (Fort Worth area), Corpus Christi area, and the Dallas area. Today I had the honor of preaching in chapel at Dallas Baptist University. Each of those encounters has been encouraging and inspiring.

In my daily Bible reading today, I read the first four chapters of 1 Corinthians. From the beginning of the letter, Paul appeals to the Corinthian believers to be united in mind and thought. Part of the objective of the BGCT is “to cultivate a closer cooperation among the churches and promote harmony of feeling and concert of action in advancing all the interests of the Redeemer’s Kingdom.”

Paul’s primary preoccupation was the proclamation of the gospel. He states, “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (2:2). He then recognizes the importance of collaborating in the kingdom where some plant, others water but God gives the growth (3:7).

As Paul feels the urgency of the gospel task, he asks his readers to stop competing and comparing their preferred spiritual leader and focus on Christ (3:21-23).

We are one month away from our Texas Baptists Annual Meeting in Waco. I hope you have pre-registered already and that you have opted in for electronic voting. As we get closer to that day, I invite you to pray with me for that unity in the Spirit and that harmony of feeling, for the sake of the gospel.

On Friday of this week, you will be able to access the business items that will be on the agenda for the Annual Meeting. Every messenger has the responsibility of being informed and of preparing spiritually. Every messenger has the opportunity to speak and vote according to his/her conscience as together we discern God’s will.

We will consider a reduced budget for 2027, act on a proposed revision to our Constitution, elect officers, elect trustees for Texas Baptists institutions, committees, the Executive Board and other important matters.

We will be led in worship by Gary Anthony, Brad Martin, Geraldine Latty-Luce & Carey Luce, and CreekWorship. We will hear from Joseph Adams, Karen Bullock, Joseph Fields, Debbie Potter and Jeff Warren. We will kick things off on Sunday night with a panel of Millenial/Gen Z leaders.

We will have informative and inspirational workshops. There will be special programs around meal times and informal fellowship in the hallways. You will have an opportunity to meet the new GC2 Navigator assigned to your region of the state. And many other exciting things.

In all that we do when we come together in Waco, I pray that we would be mindful of the lostness in Texas, where at least half of the population does not know Jesus. I pray that we would feel the urgency of collaborating together for the sake of the gospel.

May all our conversations and decisions be shaped by our desire to make Jesus known in Texas, in North America and around the world. May we experience an awakening to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission.

As our GC2 Strong Pilot Program is underway, may we see the Spirit of God at work in those twenty churches, and may God prepare those churches who will engage the GC2 Strong process in 2027.

Will you join me in praying for the Annual Meeting, in praying for unity of mind and spirit around the mission of God, in praying for churches and Navigators in the GC2 Strong Pilot Program? Will you join me in praying for a Great Commandment and Great Commission awakening in our state and beyond? I hope you will!

Today, I am on my way to Longview, then Laredo, Carrizo Springs, Sutherland Springs and Houston over the next few days. I am looking forward to listening to and conversing with pastors and others about GC2 Strong!