When I arrived in Killeen, I was greeted by a joyful and expectant church. Before my arrival the church had hit a rough patch, but all of that was in the past. We hit the ground running and the church was buzzing with optimism. However, the honeymoon was short lived. On September 11, 2001 the Twin Towers fell and Fort Hood went from an atmosphere of war readiness to a culture that was at war.

I distinctively remember the winter of 2007 when 1st Cavalry was replacing 4th ID in Iraq. We had 100 names of church members or attendees that were deployed. Many of our co-ed LifeGroups went from married couples to wives only. All of our warriors were off at war. We went from "business as usual" to "adapt and overcome."

I'm thankful that the years in Iraq and Afghanistan have passed into history. Great suffering and injury were endured by our warriors and their families. As we are presently watching Ukraine and Russia slug it out, I pray that God will bring a quick end to the suffering of war.

In those first ten years of my ministry, we also relocated the church from downtown Killeen to our current campus. Today, we are battling to reinvigorate the church after the Covid-19 shut down. I pray each day for God to fill up His church.

When I pray this prayer, I am first asking God to fill up His house with His Holy Spirit. Without him we are no different than a social club. A second level meaning to the phrase "fill up Your house" is to fill it with people. In a city of 100,000 people, there is no acceptable reason for this church not to thrive. If we fail at His mission, we have failed with eternal consequences.

I'm excited about the future of this church because God is looking to do something eternally significant in this generation of "post-war" and "post-Covid" residents. I believe that God will use the willing and the obedient. I believe the heart of our church is one that is both willing and ready to follow Him into the future. As always, I'm looking up to see what God will do with this great people known as First Baptist Church Killeen.