Sunday Sitdown
David Howard, Interim Pastor
Latexo Baptist Church, Latexo
By Greg Ritchie
Messenger Reporter
The Messenger continues its Sunday Sitdown reports where we speak with our local pastors, educators, businesspeople, students and interesting people of all walks of life in Houston County. To see the full video interview, click on the link below.
What do you think God wants from each of us?
“The Bible tells us exactly what He wants from us – to be obedient. In Deuteronomy Chapter Six, when we are supposed to hear Israel here. ‘O Israel, the Lord is one and we are to love Him with all of our heart, with all of our strength, with all of our might.’ We are supposed to love Him. And we see that brought forward in the New Testament in Matthew Chapter 22, the great commandment which Jesus summarizes as the greatest commandment, that is to love the Lord with all your heart with all your soul with all your might and the second, to love your neighbors as yourself. So He gives us our marching orders, He gives us our mission, He gives us exactly what we’re supposed to do. Now, if we deviate from that, we are in uncharted territory, because that’s what we’re supposed to do.”
What is the hardest part of being a pastor?
“The most difficult part for me is staying relevant – relevant to the congregation, whether the congregation is young or whether it’s old. To be relevant to a preschooler and relevant to a senior saint is a lot to ask of a pastor. So it takes a great deal of research and staying up on things to be relevant. Another thing I struggle with is the stagnation of churches. I have had the blessing of pastoring growing churches. That is what I needed. I could not have been a Jeremiah. Jeremiah ministered for 50 years and didn’t have a convert and that would be hard for me to do. So stagnation is a challenging thing for me. Not only that, but sacred cows in churches. I believe sacred cows make great gourmet hamburgers. I’ve found it’s my lot in ministry to find those sacred cows and if they’re not good sacred cows, grind them up for hamburger and move on. The last thing is dealing with un-Christian behavior. That wounds me deeply and I don’t quite understand why Christians can act in an un-Christian manner.”
What do you like most about being a pastor?
“I love watching people come to Christ. That excites me immensely and not only that, but watching them develop in the church after they’ve been excited and rejuvenated to come to Christ. Then, watching them attack the community with the love of Christ and watching them start the cycle all over again. That excites me and that’s what I look for.”
Will you have a question or something to say to God when you meet Him?
“I’ve already talked to God and we have had many conversations. I don’t know if there’s any question I want to ask Him other than maybe this. ‘What part am I going to sing in the choir that praises You for the rest of eternity?’ I would really like to be a bass but I can’t be a bass. I’d like to be a tenor. But you know what, I would just like to be on key every once in a while. I don’t think about asking Him a question but I will save a statement for him. ‘Thank you.’”
Latexo Baptist Church meets each Sunday at 10:50 a.m. at 3962 US HWY 287 North, Latexo. Call the church at (936) 544-2489.
Greg Ritchie can be reached at [email protected]
