Media Pg 1 - Prayers Across Texas

Volume 111 — Number 22
Tuesday, March 15, 2016
www.lampasasdispatchrecord.com
75 Cents
A CALL FOR TEXANS TO PRAY
Former Tarleton quarterback, now a Houston pastor, seeks national revival
By JIM LOWE
Staff Writer
Dr. Johnny Teague, senior
pastor of Church at the Cross
in Houston, has had some
challenging assignments over the
years.
Quarterbacking for the Tarleton
State University Texans for
four years. Completing five
academic degrees. Serving as
a Pfizer pharmaceuticals sales
representative. Then taking on a
church with only 16 members that
had just split and building it up to
a congregation of 700.
But one of his current endeavors
very well may be his most
ambitious yet: conducting a
prayer service in each of Texas’
254 counties.
On a cold, rainy evening last
week, Teague met with some
20 local residents. He talked
about different crises facing the
United States, and how prayer
and spiritual awakening can
dramatically alter America’s
rocky path.
Last Thursday’s Prayers Across
Texas rally originally was to have
been held on the steps of the
Lampasas County Courthouse.
But inclement weather drove
the event indoors to the
commissioners courtroom.
County
Judge
Wayne
Boultinghouse, First Baptist
Church Pastor Dr. Rick Willis and
other citizens were on hand.
Teague, a native of Glen Rose
who still visits his farm there
every week, pastors a church in
WEATHER
Date
High Low Rain
March 10 60 55 0.44
March 11 63 57 0.95
March 12 71 55 0.39
March 13 81 52
2016 rainfall total: 5.34
inches. Same date last year:
3.47 inches. Normal through
this date: 5.32 inches.
Data from the National
Weather Service through the
Lampasas Municipal Airport.
BRIEFLY
Jubilee
Lometa’s
46th
annual
Diamondback Jubilee will
be March 25-26 at Lometa
Regional Park.
Activities March 25 will
start at 7 p.m. with free
mutton busting. The Miss
Diamondback Rodeo Queen
will be crowned, and a jackpot
rodeo will begin at 7:30 p.m.
Later, there will be a dance
with music by The Rivera
Brothers Band.
Activities March 26 will start
at 10 a.m. with the rattlesnake
display. Other events that day
will include cookoffs, an Easter
egg hunt and goat roping.
PHOTO BY JIM LOWE
Juanita Ray visits with Houston pastor Dr. Johnny
Teague on Thursday at the county courthouse after
Teague led local residents in prayer for the nation. The
Southern Baptist pastor hopes to conduct prayer efforts
in all of Texas’ 254 counties within a four-year period.
west Houston that is 80 percent
African-American. “They put up
with a white pastor,” he said with
a laugh.
He made reference to the
Republican presidential debate
hosted by CNN the same night as
the prayer event.
And he asked those in
attendance if they could name the
two political parties that he said
are mentioned in the Bible.
Citing an Old Testament passage
from Judges 21:25, Teague said
the people in one of the parties
did “what was right in their own
eyes.” In other words, they were
guided by their own whims, not
by eternal principles.
But the other party, he said,
is described in 1 John 5:1. Its
members are those who believe
“that Jesus is the Christ.” The
latter party determines to do what
God wants.
Teague said 1 John 5:14 states
that those who have asked Christ
to be their Savior can have
confidence their prayers will make
a difference. The passage says
simply: “This is the assurance we
have in approaching God: that if
we ask anything according to His
will, He hears us.”
The following verse adds: “And
if we know that He hears us –
whatever we ask – we know that
we have what we asked of Him.”
A lot of people believe you
can ask God for anything you
want, and He will give it to them,
Teague told his listeners. But
the key to having one’s prayers
answered is that they need to be
“according to His will,” he said.
In today’s culture, a person
who is pregnant may pray for
an abortion, Teague said. Or if
a person is unhappy with his or
her spouse, the person may pray
for a divorce. Or, if someone is
homosexual, he may pray for a
relationship with another man, he
said.
But rather than “doing what is
right in one’s own eyes” -- as was
the case in the relativistic culture
mentioned in Judges – people
need to realize, Teague said, that
“God sets parameters to protect
us. He doesn’t want us to mess up
our lives.”
Reading from “The American
Patriot’s Bible,” which tells
how Scripture shaped America,
the Houston pastor mentioned
2 Kings. There, the contrasts
between a bad king, Ahaz, and
a good king – his son Hezekiah
who succeeded him – are stark.
Ahaz, the Bible records, “did
Please see PRAYING, page 8
Congregation: Church at the
Cross, Houston, Texas. Senior
pastor. His church is affiliated
with the Southern Baptist
Convention.
Express. Tried out for the
Houston Oilers pro football
team in 1988.
Athletic
accomplishments:
Quarterbacked for four years at
Tarleton. Took 18-20 hours of
semester course work, taught
math labs and played football
at same time. Played semipro football for the Houston
How can you pray for him?
For people to be receptive as
he calls them to repentance
and prayer for the U.S. He
also asks for prayer for pastors
and county judges in the cities
where he will take the project.
Prayer efforts to date: Has
led prayer rallies in 36 counties
Also leads: Prayers Across since last June. Goal is to reach
Texas, an organization that all of Texas’ counties within
seeks to mobilize prayer four years.
gatherings at the courthouses in
all 254 counties in Texas.
Notable support: His own
church members; the Southern
Background:
Holds
five Baptist Convention; and the
academic
degrees.
Two Walk to Emmaus spiritual
bachelor’s
degrees
from renewal program.
Tarleton State University –
one in mathematics, the other Recent visits: Huntsville last
in accounting; an MBA from Tuesday.
the University of Houston in
marketing; a Master of Divinity Attendance: Smallest turnout
with
Biblical
Languages was five people; largest, 300, at
from Southwestern Baptist Hallettsville in Lavaca County.
Theological Seminary in Fort Because of rain, had to meet
Worth; and a doctorate, also indoors. Standing room only;
from the same seminary, with people in hallways, as well.
an emphasis on expositional
preaching. Has worked for A favorite hobby: Studying
Shell Oil Co. in Houston as an presidential history. Has been
accountant and for Pfizer as a to all 50 states and to the home
pharmaceutical representative. of every U.S. president.
Sales tax growth continues
for Lampasas, Lometa
By GAIL LOWE
Staff Writer
First-quarter sales tax returns
have been good for the cities of
Lampasas and Lometa, but not so
much for Kempner.
Both Lampasas and Lometa
have recorded double-digit
percentage gains in February and
March, along with respectable
sales tax gains for January, while
Kempner has seen negative
returns each month dating back to
December.
The March payment of
$125,356 brings Lampasas’ 2016
sales tax total to $445,188, or an
annual increase of 11 percent. The
city’s February and March figures
each represent monthly gains of
12 percent.
In Lometa, the March sales
tax allocation of $5,374 was up
18 percent over the comparable
period last year. Receipts in 2016
are up 13 percent compared to the
first quarter of 2015 with a total
received of $19,687.
For Kempner, the $9,949
payment this month translated
to an 8 percent drop in sales tax
revenues.
March rebates to Texas cities are
based on sales made in January
that were reported to the state
comptroller in February.
Through the first three months
of the year, Kempner shows a
sales tax total of $31,779 which is
6 percent less than it accumulated
for the first quarter of 2015.
Among cities in the neighboring
counties, Goldthwaite has started
2016 with the most economic
promise. Its sales tax receipts
already are up 61 over what it
collected the first three months
of 2015. The city more than
doubled its March rebate from
Please see CITIES, page 10
PHOTO BY DEREK MOY
Kline Whitis Elementary Principal Mitzi Morin plans
to retire this summer.
Legacy of learning
From student to principal,
Mitzi Morin has cherished her role
Correction
A Briefly item in the
March 11 edition incorrectly
described the time change that
took effect Sunday. Clocks
should have been set ahead one
hour for daylight saving time.
By DEREK MOY
Staff Writer
TEXAS PRESS
ASSOCIATION
BETTER NEWSPAPER CONTEST
AWARD WINNER
2015
Repeat regional title
Hill Country Publishing Co., Inc.
About Johnny Teague
PHOTO BY JEFF LOWE
Jason Ayers squats at the Region 2 Division 2 powerlifting meet on Saturday. The Badger
senior won the 114-pound weight class at regionals for the second year in a row, earning a
trip to state. Please see related story and photos, page 5.
Kline Whitis Elementary
School Principal Mitzi Morin
will retire June 30 after serving
as head of the school for 15
years.
She attended Kline Whitis
Elementary as a student for
grades 3-5. After graduating
from Lampasas High School, she
attended Texas A&M University
and became a first-grade teacher.
After 11 years at a school
district in College Station, she
headed back “home.”
“My dad just planted a seed one
day about, ‘You ever consider
coming back home?’ ” she said.
“And I had not. We were very
happy where we were, and I
didn’t have any thoughts of
coming back home… Things
started to grow and happen out of
that, so I decided to come back.”
Mrs. Morin started as a
Reading Recovery teacher at
Kline Whitis Elementary.
“[Principal Mickey] Edwards
didn’t have any first-grade
positions, but he had a Reading
Recovery
position,
which
worked with first-graders,” she
said. “I didn’t want that job, but
it turned out to be the best thing
because I learned and grew so
See PRINCIPAL, page 10
SPRING CREEK
CONSTRUCTION
COMPANY