Matt Henslee's Blog, page 17
October 23, 2021
If I may...
If I may, I’d like to introduce you to a few folks I mentioned by first name in this article that kinda got around yesterday:
https://religionnews.com/2021/10/22/who-will-lead-the-sbc-forward-the-messengers-they-already-are/
Meet Mitch. Mitch and his wife Kelly have 10 kids. I mentioned his workload, but Mitch is the one every pastor needs in a church. Relentlessly encouraging, hard working, unassuming––he’d leave his 9-to-5 to serve, knowing he still had a ton of cattle to feed when he got home.
Meet Charlie, who, with her husband Punk, the Coopers lead the children and student ministries of Mayhill Baptist. Charlie is a retired schoolteacher who found far more joy teaching kids about Jesus AND offer to tutor them on schoolwork in her spare time.
Meet Cal. Cal has served First Baptist Church of Corona NM. for over 20 years. He’s active in the local association, the state convention, and stays involved nationally, but always out of the limelight. Just one of those guys who loves his people well and, as I like to say, gives ‘em Jesus.
Meet Helen. My momma. I mentioned her jokingly about the thermostat. After their youngest daughter moved out, these two adopted me at two and had me in church every time it was open. Even with my dad in a nursing home, she continues to serve First Baptist Grand Prairie week in and week out.
I could’ve mentioned MANY more, but these four represent a lot of the folks we find in our churches, and are often the glue that hold 'em together. 9-to-5ers, retirees, faithful pastors, and more––they just show up, and lead by serving, week in and week out.
And I love 'em.
October 22, 2021
Who will lead the SBC forward? The messengers. They already are.
My article on Religion News Service.
October 8, 2021
Pastor Appreciation Sale
For #PastorAppreciation, my books are at printing cost…buy for a cheap way to bless a pastor.
You can also get Replanting Rural for 40% off! https://amzn.to/3BtLhny
October 5, 2021
September 25, 2021
August 19, 2021
NAB Podcast with Bart Barber
Kyle was unavailable, so I brought Bart on to discuss our BIG news with him, as well as the fine line pastors must walk to leave well and not ghost people, while also leaving space for the new pastor.
August 18, 2021
California pastors begin planning for SBC ‘22; Litton presents theme | Baptist Press
“We have a lot of differences, but we have one incredible thing in common and that’s our Savior, Jesus Christ.”
August 15, 2021
Life and Ministry Update
As I shared with Mayhill Baptist Church on August 8th, we went to Texas for the Collin Baptist Association to vote on me as their next Executive Director/Associational Mission Strategist on August 12th. Many of you know by now, but the vote was unanimous, and we accepted. We hope to close on a home in Farmersville by the end of the month and hit the ground running with an event for Associational Mission Strategist hosted by the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention.
It was an eventful but fulfilling weekend filled with a lot of memories, food, and gracious confirmation about God’s call on our lives. I was especially grateful to get to spend some time with my daddy in the nursing home. While we are certainly excited about being closer to family and the privilege of serving the Collin Baptist Association, we request prayer as we say goodbye to a place that quickly became home and a people who became family. It is the textbook definition of bittersweet! We also request prayer for a smooth closing process on a home in Farmersville so the move can happen on schedule (early September). Pray also for our girls who will adjust to a much larger school, new teachers, and make new friends along the way.
I will preach my final sermon with Mayhill Baptist Church on August 29th. While it will bring an abrupt end to our studies of James and Psalms, we covered a lot of ground in about 350 sermons; 1-3 John, 1-2 Timothy, Colossians, Philemon, Esther, Ruth, Jonah, Nahum, Mark, and more! What a joy it was to walk through God’s Word with God’s people! God grew us from a few dozen to nearly three times our town’s population, saved a ton of people, and revitalized a church to become one of the strongest in our state. Would you please pray for Mayhill Baptist Church during this transition as they select a Pastor Search Team and move into the future?
Being Mayhill Baptist’s pastor has been the greatest joy in over two decades of ministry. Still, I am also looking forward to the opportunity to be a pastor to pastors in Collin County and encourage and equip us to plant and replant churches in one of the fastest-growing counties in the country. And, in a real tangible, right-now sense, the role puts a hands and feet application to my role as SBC Pastors’ Conference President.
Sure, I will preach and mobilize us to advance the Kingdom in Collin County, but the vision behind my plan for the Pastors’ Conference is to encourage and edify everyday pastors. Collin County is a growing sample size of what we see throughout the Southern Baptist Convention with a mix of the “who’s who and who’s that” of megachurches, small churches, church plants, replants…and everything in between. What a joy it will be to build them up now and then put a lot of what I learn over the next few months into practice for the 2022 SBC Pastors’ Conference in Anaheim.
So, pray for us. Pray for our transition to serve FBC Farmersville and the Collin Baptist Association, pray for Mayhill Baptist along the way, and, most of all, for God to be glorified in the work of MBC, CBA, and in our lives and work. This is a tall task, but we believe God will do great things in, through, and in spite of us.
If you have no earthly idea what an Associational Mission Strategist is, visit: https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/associational-mission-strategist-suggested-dom-title/
If you would like to stay up-to-date on what God does in and through the CBA, visit: https://www.facebook.com/Collin.Baptist.Association
