February 25, 2002
Panhandle-Plains Baptists urged to walk with God
___By Toby Druin
___Editor Emeritus
___PLAINVIEW--Walking with God ultimately leads to a deeper understanding of who God is and to a heavenly triumph, but the path often is painful, more than 1,000 participants heard at the 81st Panhandle-Plains Pastors' and Laymen's Conference.
___"Every time my wife has had cancer, we've come out tighter, closer and with a greater understanding of God and his purpose for our lives," said T.W. Hunt, who came to offer prayer insights.
___Not only has he learned from his wife's suffering but also from his daughter's, said Hunt, a former professor at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a popular author of discipleship books.
OFFICERS of the Panhandle-Plains Pastors' and Laymen's Conference include Wallace Bassett, secretary-treasurer; Bill Wright, president; and Charles Davenport, president-elect. Not shown is Bruce Julian, vice president.
___His daughter, Melana, discovered she had breast cancer in January 1999 and with six children at home could have fallen into despair, Hunt said. Instead, she began researching the word "hope" in the Bible and led her family to new insights they would not have known had she not been ill.
___"I thought I knew God and grace until we went through that experience," said Hunt, who with his wife and daughter are producing a soon-to-be-released book, "From Heaven's View," based on their experiences.
___Although "Walking With God" was the theme of the annual conference at Wayland Baptist University Feb. 18-19, many speakers related how God had led them through illness, often cancer, to deeper commitments to him.
___Don Lane, pastor of CityChurch in Amarillo, said it took a liver transplant to get him focused on what God wanted him to do--try to reach the underprivileged and overlooked thousands in Amarillo. "Can you hear the desperate cry of our cities?" asked Lane, giving what he called a "commercial" for missions. "Our cities are teeming with lost people. Do you feel any obligation to tell them about Jesus?"
___"Storms come into all of our lives," said Bill Race, a layman from First Baptist Church of Lockney. "It's how we handle them that dictates the quality of our lives."
___Race cited several "storms" in his own life--the debilitating illness of his father, the loss of sight in one eye and a detached retina in the other, a miscarriage that took the life of his first grandchild and prostate cancer that threatens his life.
___Participating in a "Walk to Emmaus" discipleship event, however, led him to a new relationship with Christ, a thirst for Scripture and a desire for people to see Jesus in his life, he said. It took the "storms of life" to bring him to where he is now, he explained.
___Mary Stedham, who also spoke to the first women's session in the history of the conference, gave her testimony to the larger group. The family counselor at First Baptist Church of Abilene said her experience battling breast cancer led to a greater relationship with her husband, Mike, who heads the counseling ministry.
___"Out of that experience, Mike learned how to talk about his feelings," she said. "We have to learn to trust one another. I need to know, 'Can I trust you with who I am?' One of the disservices we do in our churches is we forget to tell people it's OK to be imperfect."
___Frank Harber, a widely known evangelist who became pastor of First Baptist Church of Colleyville seven months ago, said he was an atheist for 21 years before yielding to the claims of Christ.
___"It takes more faith not to believe than it does to be a believer," he said. "To be an atheist, you must believe that life came from non-life, that intelligence came from non-intelligence, that cause came from no-cause and that meaning came from meaninglessness. I can assure you there are no atheists in hell."
___Harber and Hunt spoke at each session and also participated in a dialogue session. Asked about insights for young pastors in serving their churches, Hunt urged them not to believe their pastorate will be like any other.
___"Most important is what is the one thing God wants you to do," he said.
___Harber said pastors can help students learn to defend their faith by letting them hear about problems, such as evolution, in their churches before they go off to school.
___Larry Heard, director of missions for Top O' Texas Baptist Area, kicked off the conference preaching on "Who God Is." Every person must answer the question, he said, but if Christians will spend time with Jesus, they can gain enough understanding to turn the world upside down.
___Karen Williams, a member of First Baptist Church of Pampa, said in her testimony that she had grown up in poverty and as a child had been told by a woman that she and her brother and sister didn't belong in church. At 17, however, she was invited to a revival and heard that Jesus loved her regardless of who she was. Later, she found her calling in working with underprivileged children in a mission congregation.
___Wallace Davis, chancellor of Wayland Baptist University, in his report said that the university may be the strongest missions arm of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, offering Bible instruction to more than 4,000 people each year, including many who have never used a Bible before.
___He underscored the need for teaching Christianity in a university setting. "Any university that ignores religious belief is dangerously limiting," he said. "If a university sanitizes Christianity, how can it provide its students with a sanctuary against a pagan world?" Tomorrow's leaders, he added, will be found in Christ-centered universities like Wayland.
___Gary Dyer, pastor of First Baptist Church of Midland, challenged participants to lead holy lives. "The concept of holiness may seem archaic to our generation," he said, "but it is scriptural, and Scripture is never out of date."
___Jerry Golden, pastor of First Baptist Church of Canadian, urged Christians to pray boldly, as they did when Peter was imprisoned and told not to preach the gospel. "This was the first prayer meeting because of a crisis," he said. "Our nation is threatened like never before, but this is an opportunity for the church of the living God to pray."
___With the addition of two new groups--Midland-Odessa Baptist Area and Bi-Fork Baptist Area--to sponsorship of the conference this year, the name was changed, adding "Plains" to form Panhandle-Plains Pastors' and Laymen's Conference.
___Permian Baptist Association came into the fold last year, joining Amarillo, Caprock-Plains, Lubbock, South Plains and Top O' Texas in sponsoring the annual event.
___Bill Wright, pastor of First Baptist Church of Plains, was elected president of the 2003 conference, succeeding Philip Hilton, pastor of First Baptist Church of Sunray.
___Bruce Julian, layman from First Baptist Church of Perryton, is the new vice president, succeeding Tim Holloway of First Baptist Church of Amarillo; and Charles Davenport, pastor of First Baptist Church of Tulia, was elected president-elect. Charles Bassett, Wayland's vice president emeritus, was re-elected secretary-treasurer.
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