On Monday and Tuesday, March 3-4, Oklahoma Baptists attended the Advance Conference at Mustang, Chisholm Heights. The theme of this year’s conference was “Entrust”, based on the passage where Paul implores Timothy in 2 Timothy 2:2, “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.”
To entrust is to place or set before, to feed, teach and explain, providing opportunities and putting others in charge. Disciples are entrusted with the responsibility of pointing people to Christ, to help them grow in their faith and to challenge them to take the lead with others. Jesus, in the Great Commission recorded in Matthew 28, instructs us to make disciples and share the Gospel with which we have all been “Entrusted.”
Monday, March 3
Monday’s first session began with a word from Ever Borunda, Oklahoma Baptists Hispanic ministry partner. Borunda took the theme verse of the Advance Conference and applied it in the perspective of a bivocational ministry pastor.
“Bivocational ministry is a reality in our world,” he said.
Borunda placed a heavy emphasis on the duty of bivocational pastors, which is to equip disciple makers. A point he made was that bivocational pastors already have a lot of work which may cause them to be focus on other things than teaching others.
“To effectively fulfill the Great Commission, pastors need guidance from other men,” Borunda said. “Solo pastors can’t care for a church by themselves.”
He concluded his time by reiterating that bivocational pastors need to focus on training and equipping others to not get bogged down in work.
Following Borunda and a time of worship, Cordell, First Senior Pastor Terrell Romberg focused on how God can call anyone to be a pastor, using Acts 1 as the scriptural foundation.
“God uses flawed people,” Romberg said. “He entrusted to us the great privilege and great responsibility to bring the Good News to people across the world.”
One of the major things Romberg said he learned while studying to become a pastor was to always trust and seek God.
“Seek God’s presence. Trust God’s power. Rely on God’s provisions,” he said.
To conclude his segment, Romberg shared a concerning statistic from a Gala poll which stated that only 26 percent of people in the United States believe the Bible is the Word of God.
“That’s a mountain,” he said.
However, he encouraged those in attendance by saying that the future is bright.
“I look around Oklahoma Baptists and I see the future is bright, but it’s going to take all of us,” he said.
Next, Katie Mitchell, a 19-year-old college student, shared her testimony. Mitchell grew up with a difficult childhood, the events of which caused her to become angry at God. One of her friends invited her to church, but she would put it off. Then, she felt led to attend a mission trip to Nicaragua. Even though she tried to get out of it, provisions were made that allowed her to go to Nicaragua. On the second day of that mission trip, Mitchell gave her life to Christ.
“I learned to let go of that hurt and anger and give it to God,” she said.
Following the mission trip, Mitchell’s life turned around. She became more plugged into church and continued to further her walk with God.
Oklahoma City, Emmanuel Senior Pastor Terry Buxton then began his segment of the session. He began by reading from Mark 1:1-8 which describes the arrival of John the Baptist. Buxton emphasized that we, as Christians, need to be living the life that lifts up the name of Jesus.
“In John the Baptist, we see what it means to be a faithful witness,” Buxton said. “A faithful witness proclaims the Word of Christ.”
Buxton further emphasized that sermons pastors preach need to focus on Jesus being the center of the Gospel.
“If we do all these (church events), but don’t talk about Jesus, then we are not proclaiming the Gospel,” Buxton said.
After a lunch break, James Wilder, director of missions for the Pottawatomie-Lincoln Association, delivered a message focusing on Acts 3. Specifically, focusing on the account of Peter and John healing the temple beggar, the main theme being addressing the needs of others.
“The power of life change through the Gospel always begins with human need,” Wilder said.
He explained that Peter and John always looked to those in need and addressed their needs which in turn displayed the power of God. Wilder reminded pastors that power does not come from us, it comes from the name of Christ.
“If we do what we can, God will enable us to do what we cannot,” Wilder said.
Next, Charlie Blount, senior pastor from Moore, First, spoke on how to finish ministry work good and faithfully. This segment’s theme verses were from 2 Cor. 5. Blount emphasized that even though our earthly bodies are withering, our souls are constantly being renewed.
“The outer man is perishing, but the inner man is being renewed day-by-day,” he said.
While pastors are renewing themselves though, they must also be working to equip the next generation, entrusting them with the future of ministry. He concluded by reminding pastors that they don’t get to choose what they are entrusted with but must still be faithful with it.
“We should desire to please the God who saved us,” Blount said.
Host church Mustang, Chisholm Heights Senior Pastor Griff Henderson then preached from Phil. 1:1, specifically focusing on the first three words, “Paul and Timothy.” Henderson talked about how God uses the most unlikely of people to accomplish great things and how we should not judge those who God calls.
“We are called to not judge,” Henderson said. “We are called to share.”
He then challenged listeners to ask themselves who Paul is in their life and ask who Timothy is in their life. Henderson concluded by reminding pastors of what their calling is.
“Your job is to raise up the next generation.”
After this, Catherine Renfro, national director of women’s ministries at the North American Mission Board (NAMB), shared her testimony. Renfro grew up in church, but didn’t truly appreciate it at first. When she was 13, she went on her first mission trip and seeing those around her realized that she was missing Jesus in her life. When Renfro got home, she made her profession of faith.
At first, everything was going well for her. In her first semester at seminary though, she received news that her brother had committed suicide. This caused her to question God’s purpose for her. She wasn’t sure why this horrible thing had happened, but over time found her trust in God again.
“Sometimes we define God based on our circumstances of God defining us based on our circumstances,” Renfro said.
Later in life when she was volunteering at Falls Creek, Renfro gave her testimony and a girl who was struggling with suicide approached her asking to receive Christ. What the enemy intended for evil, God turned to use for good.
To conclude session two, Gary McNeil, senior pastor of Durant, First, spoke on having the heart of a disciple maker. An emphasis he made was to not question the circumstances of those we minster to but rather just care for them no matter what.
“The people we see hurting should not be a riddle to us,” McNeil said. “Why do we need to know who’s fault something is?”
This point comes from John 9:1-12, where the disciples asked Jesus who was to blame for the blind man’s affliction. In response, Jesus said that it was not the sins of the man or his parents, but a method for which God’s works can be displayed.
McNeil further challenged pastors to strive to have the heart of a disciple maker. He concluded by saying that we need to fully submit to God in order to accomplish the tasks He has given us.
“We need to submit our hearts to the Lord, our methods to the Lord and our ways to the Lord,” McNeil said.
The final session of Monday opened with a word from Oklahoma Baptists Executive Director-Treasurer Todd Fisher. He spoke about how his recovery from the automobile accident he was involved in last year has strengthened him spiritually, relying on God for every step of the way.
Following this, Oklahoma Baptist University professor of religion Bobby Kelly spoke on 2 Timothy. He focused on the historical context of the letter, that being Paul wrote the letter while being in prison for the second time. Since this was his second time in prison, Paul had run out of appeals and would be executed. Knowing this, Paul wrote to Timothy and pleaded for him to come visit him, but instructed him to first find and entrust the Gospel to faithful men just as Paul had once entrusted Timothy with the Gospel.
Kelly compared this to the current generation of pastors needing to entrust the Gospel to the next generation of pastors.
“Much of what (the next generation) teaches will depend on what sound doctrine we pass on to them,” Kelly said.
Oklahoma Jail and Prison Ministries (OJPM) President Luis Ruiz followed that with his testimony. Ruiz grew up in a Christian household, but later on in life got involved with bad people and was arrested multiple times.
“I became a person I did not know,” Ruiz said. “Drugs have a way of making you into someone you don’t recognize.”
During one of his times in prison, a friend visited Ruiz and told him that God had a plan for him. He didn’t believe it. Later on, a prison chaplain came up to him and told him that God was going to change Ruiz’s life. Again, Ruiz was skeptical. Three months later the same pastor spoke again and asked Ruiz if he wanted to change. Ruiz admitted that he did want to change, but had already accepted his new life.
That night, Ruiz woke up in a panic and didn’t recognize where he was, asking himself how he had gotten there. During this panic, a portion of Rom. 6:23 came to his mind, “for the wages of sin is death…”
From that point on, Ruiz began to change drastically. He attended Victory Bible Institute while in prison, which gave him the skills he needed to start preaching. Using those skills, Ruiz began teaching other inmates about Christ. Upon being released from prison, Ruiz asked for guidance on how to navigate his new life, to which God gave him Matt. 6:33, “But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Now, Ruiz continues to lead inmates in the Oklahoma prison system to Christ.
“What you are seeing before you is a new creation,” Ruiz said. “God is not finished with me. There is still so much work to do.”
Jamie Dew, president of New Orleans Seminary, concluded the first day of sessions with a word from 1 Cor. 4, asking pastors how they can be sure they’re making disciples correctly. To answer this, he told pastors to also ask themselves if they are making servants or not.
“To follow Jesus Christ is to do what He did, serve others,” Dew said. “Are you raising up servants?”
He also cautioned pastors to be constantly looking inward, making sure their lives reflect that of Christ’s. Full of servanthood, stewardship and faithfulness.
Tuesday, March 4
Advance Conference’s second day began with breakout focus groups for pastors to attend. These included children’ ministry, African American leaders, foster care, Hispanic ministries, worship and many more. The groups provided a time of fellowship and guidance, allowing pastors to learn from their peers.
Beginning the final session, Falls Creek Program Director Todd Sanders promoted the 222 Challenge. This challenge asks pastors to meet with two people two times a month and pray for two people over the duration of a year with the intent to multiply disciples.
Then, Chad Higgins, senior management of church equipping at Lifeway, spoke on what it means to be a disciple. He reminded pastors that they need to make sure that they are using the same words to mean the same thing.
“We may have many different definitions of the same word,” Higgins said.
He then suggested the reason why there are so many different definitions of the same things is because there is a tendency for pastors to disciple in the same way they were discipled growing up. Higgins concluded by reminding pastors that they need to be accountability models to those they are discipling.
“When the rest of the world wants to bring chaos and strife, may we be the peacemakers,” he said.
Country Club Hills, Ill., Hillcrest Senior Pastor Adron Robinson then spoke on how God has entrusted us with the Great Commission and how we have been commanded to go out and make disciples. He challenged pastors to not get too comfortable in their churches, but to go out and seek those who need to hear the Gospel.
“We have been commanded to go out and make disciples,” Robinson said, but sometimes we get too comfortable in our church.”
He continued, saying that even if we have doubts to remember that the power doesn’t lie in the hands of pastors but in the hands of Jesus who has all power of all the Earth.
“We serve the One Who has all authority,” Robinson said. “We may have doubts, but Christ has all authority.
Following this, Tarvoris “Coach Tee” Uzoigwe, Oklahoma Baptists evangelism and apologetics ministry partner and his daughter, Avaria, shared their testimonies. Tee grew up in a Christian household and wanted to be a good, Christian role model for his daughter. Just like her father, Avaria often shares the Gospel with her friends and those around her when she gets the chance.
The final speaker for 2025’s Advance Conference was Shane Pruitt, national next generation director for NAMB. His time focused on make sure what pastors believe and teach about Jesus is consistent with what the Bible says Jesus was like.
“Our opinions about Jesus do not change who He is,” Pruitt said.
He also emphasized the importance of having a personal relationship with Christ. Just because someone attends Church or knows someone who is saved doesn’t necessarily mean they too are saved.
“Salvation isn’t a groupon,” Pruit said. “If you don’t believe Jesus is God, you aren’t a Christian.”
This year’s Advance Conference was a time of fellowship and growth for pastors across Oklahoma. The next Advance Conference is scheduled for March 3-4, 2026. Visit oklahomabaptists.org/evangelism for more upcoming events.
