Hardage was serving as director of development for George W. Truett Theological Seminary and interim pastor at First Baptist Church in Waxahachie. He previously has served as executive director of the Waco Regional Baptist Association. He also has been pastor of First Baptist Church in Sulphur Springs, First Baptist Church in Holliday and First Baptist Church in Blum. He also pastored First Baptist Church in Weatherford, Okla. and has served as interim pastor at churches such as Columbus Avenue Baptist Church in Waco, First Baptist Church in Huntsville and First Baptist Church in Bryan.

Hardage said he is honored to be selected to serve Texas Baptists. He will begin as executive director Feb. 1.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to serve our Texas Baptist family as executive director,” Hardage said. “It is an honor, and I’m very humbled. I have great respect for those who have served in this position before me and appreciate so much those currently serving this convention. Texas Baptists are making a positive difference for the kingdom, and this is to be celebrated. However, there is so much still to be done. Together, as we work, pray and give we can touch this state and beyond, to an even greater degree.”

Hardage has served as the the chairman of the BGCT State Missions Commission, chairman of the BGCT Missions Funding Committee and as a trustee at East Texas Baptist University. He currently is a trustee at Latham Springs Camp and Retreat Center.

Hardage earned his bachelor’s degree from Baylor University, a master’s of divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a doctorate from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City.

Hardage currently serves as director of development for George W. Truett Theological Seminary and interim pastor at First Baptist Church in Waxahachie. He previously has served as executive director of the Waco Regional Baptist Association. He also has been pastor of First Baptist Church in Sulphur Springs, First Baptist Church in Holliday and First Baptist Church in Blum. He also pastored First Baptist Church in Weatherford, Okla. and has served as interim pastor at churches such as Columbus Avenue Baptist Church in Waco, First Baptist Church in Huntsville and First Baptist Church in Bryan.

The BGCT Executive Board, which is charged with hiring the convention’s executive director, will vote on whether to call Hardage to the position Jan. 12 during a special called meeting.

Hardage said he is grateful for the influence Texas Baptists have had throughout his life and ministry. He is thankful for the opportunity to be considered as the convention’s next executive director.

“I am honored and humbled by this opportunity to serve our Texas Baptist family,” Hardage said. “I am a grassroots Texas Baptist. I was saved, baptized, called, licensed and ordained in Texas Baptist churches. I received my education at a Texas Baptist institution and have served as pastor of three Texas Baptist churches and interim pastor of five others. I have been the director of missions of a Texas Baptist association and now have served at one of our seminaries. It has also been my privilege to serve Texas Baptists, voluntarily, through a variety of committees and boards.”

Hardage has served as the the chairman of the BGCT State Missions Commission, chairman of the BGCT Missions Funding Committee and as a trustee at East Texas Baptist University. He currently is a trustee at Latham Springs Camp and Retreat Center.

Ron Lyles, chairman of the search committee, praised Hardage as a “man who has a strong love for Jesus and for the Body of Christ, the Church.” He characterized Hardage as having the professional and personal skills to lead Texas Baptists.

“David’s desire is to build upon the strengths of what we as Texas Baptists are doing well and to guide us in making the necessary changes to make our cooperative work even more effective and efficient. He wants to move us ‘from viability to vitality,’” Lyles wrote to the Executive Board.

“The search committee looks forward to the official presentation of David Hardage for your consideration and affirmation. I am confident that those of you who do not know David well will be impressed when you have that opportunity. We gladly recommend him to you to serve as our next executive director.”

Hardage earned his bachelor’s degree from Baylor University, a master’s of divinity degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a doctorate from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City.

Click to view David Hardage’s resume.

A few short years ago, churches in America prayed that there would be opportunities for believers to share the gospel freely in the Soviet Union. Now the time has come as Ukraine, the breadbasket of the former Soviet Union, is now open to a message of Hope.

In October 2010, Singing Men of North Central Texas and the Michael Gott International team partnered to share the gospel along the Dnieper River in Central Ukraine. They filled 11 concert halls to capacity and saw 4,547 people sign decision cards to indicate that they had invited Jesus Christ to be their Lord and Savior. This partnership of presenting the gospel through song and sermon opened doors in a mighty way.

Another exciting mission partnership will be sharing in song and sermon in Ukraine October 2-15, 2011 to share the gospel in another partnership with MGI, SMONCT and BGCT Music and Worship. The Breakthrough Band, a group of seven Texas Baptist church musicians, will be in Western Ukraine on an evangelistic concert tour. The group’s name translates into “Proactive” in Russian! It has a very strong, contemporary connotation that the teams will be using to share the gospel. The goal is for Breakthrough and the advance teams to be instrumental in seeing 5,000 lost young people respond to the clear message that there is forgiveness and a future in Jesus Christ.

The Breakthrough Band will be using the same Ukrainian staff that partnered with SMONCT and MGI last year. All eight cities on the Breakthrough itinerary have local directors from the supporting churches and committees with follow-up teams in place to begin work immediately after each concert. A prayer guide and travel blog can be found on www.smonct.org.

Next year Texas Baptists will have two more evangelistic music mission partnerships with the Singing Men of Texas and Michael Gott International. The SMONCT team will return in April 2012 to serve in Southern Ukraine and Crimea. The remaining five regional SMOT groups will minister in different areas of Central Ukraine. The Singing Men will each be taking a choir of 80 singers, their wives and ministry partners to accomplish the tasks necessary to fulfill the mission opportunities. God is working and we have an unimaginable opportunity to join Him in Ukraine!

Urgency. This is an answer to prayer! The doors are open now. The fields are white unto harvest, but the harvest time is brief. Please pray for God to continue to open doors, allow safety during travel, provide financially for the Singing Men and ministry partners and for the local churches and ministry teams as they prepare for the evangelistic harvest in the uttermost parts of our world! Is God calling you? For more information on these evangelistic music mission opportunities, please see links at www.smot.org.

This fall the gathering will shift from a two-day annual meeting to a three-day conference aimed at providing helpful thoughts and actions from ministers and ministry practitioners from across the state, said Wayne Shuffield, who leads Texas Baptists’ Evangelism/Missions Team. Patterned after the Catalyst conferences, plenary Ignite Hope Sessions will feature a series of speakers, none of whom will speak longer than 20 minutes.

Featured presenters include: Ron Hall, best-selling author of Same Kind of Different as Me who details encounters and friendship with a homeless man in a Fort Worth ministry; Ed Stetzer, president of LifeWay research who has provided statistical insight to church leaders around the globe; Milfred Minatrea, founding director of the Missional Church Center; and Bob Roberts, pastor of Northwood Church in Keller, whose church seeks to have an impact locally and globally by sharing the hope of Christ.

Other presentations will focus on reaching Muslims for Christ, starting churches in apartment complexes, sharing the gospel effectively and clearly, ministering to unreached people groups, participating in mission work globally, having an effective restorative justice ministry and using music and drama groups in evangelism.

“Messengers and guests at this year’s annual meeting will experience the impact and footprint Texas Baptists make globally in obedience to our Acts 1:8 mandate,” Shuffield said. “In addition, participants will hear and learn from multiple and various speakers fresh and practical ideas and insights to take home to their churches, neighborhoods, schools and businesses to implement in their Hope 1:8 strategies and goals.”

The reworked Annual Meeting, which begins when registration opens Oct. 24, is the outgrowth of a convention study committee’s recommendations designed to encourage more Texas Baptist churches to participate in the yearly gathering. The 2011 annual meeting will take place in the Amarillo Civic Center.

The committee recommended that each annual meeting focus on a specific topic that would help Texas Baptists in their efforts to spread the gospel. Those topics are to rotate. The first topic – evangelism and missions – Shuffield believes, reflects the heart of God and the passion of Texas Baptists.

“All Texas Baptists, at our core, are about reaching Texas for Christ, equipping each other in Christ, and assisting through partnership with one another in our Acts 1:8 mission with Christ,” Shuffield said. “This is Evangelism and Missions for Texas Baptists. We will gather in Amarillo this month to fellowship, celebrate, learn more and sharpen skills for all God is doing and wants to do through Texas Baptists in our world.”

For more information about the meeting, visit www.texasbaptists.org/annnualmeeting.

Through a partnership with Need Him Ministries, Texas Baptists have the unique opportunity to pioneer the use of ABBY, an extremely advanced artificial intelligence translation platform that translates what people type in real time, allowing cross-language conversations about spiritual matter to take place across the globe.

Called Hope Chat – www.hopechat.com – ABBY empowers believers to share the hope of Christ with seekers worldwide. ABBY accurately translates words in the 28 languages spoken by 95 percent of humanity, taking into account culture and colloquiums.

Already, some Texas Baptists have been trained to respond to people via this simple-to-use platform and people are coming to Christ. Individuals facing crises have come to the sight. People with spiritual questions have come to the site. People seeking Christ have come to the site. And more people will come.

So how do you get involved?

Simple. Call one of Texas Baptists’ staff members at 888-244-9400, and they will arrange for you to be trained on the platform. We want each user to be comfortable using the software. We want each user to be prepared to respond to those looking for the hope of Christ. After taking the training, you’re ready to go. Simply log in and wait for someone to come to the site. Visitors are hitting the site around the clock.

With the help of ABBY, we can follow the mandate of Christ in Acts 1:8.

Student loan debt. If you earned a bachelor’s degree and are in your mid-twenties, this is your number one answer. College is a life-changing experience, but most students are not financially prepared when they decide to enroll in classes.

As the famous saying goes “If you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.” The best time for students to start planning on which college to attend is in their early high school years. A problem most students have is they wait until their senior year to make decisions about colleges and college majors, and they miss out on opportunities to take classes that align with their future academic goals.

From a financial standpoint, students can save a lot of money by taking advanced courses in high school that allow them to graduate with college credit that can be transferred to the college of their choice. Preparation can result in a significant saving of time and money both of which is crucial for students.

Why bother doing this much work?

In 2008, two-thirds of students graduating with a four-year bachelor’s degree did so with debt. The average student loan debt was $23,186 for graduating seniors. (Figures were pulled from the 2007-2008 National Student Aid Study (NPSAS)).

Every student needs to consider the type of work they can do immediately following graduation. Doing so will help gauge the amount of loans a student should take out – if any – and will provide a better picture of how long it will take to pay off their loans. The best way to pay down debt is to work. There is no other way around it. Income is the best tool students can use to paying off loans.

Students who graduate college and receive their first full-time job often make the worst financial mistakes in their first year of working. The transition from broke college student to income-generating college graduate does not go as smooth as some would think.

New college graduates spend their first couple of paychecks as if they don’t have school debt to pay. Recent graduates are notorious for adding extra monthly expenses to what they already own. A dorm room on campus with a meal plan starts to look appealing when a student is forced to move off campus. Adding monthly rent, grocery bills and gas expenses is enough to make any graduate forget about having to pay down school loans.

So then students get used to paying the minimum balance on loans and then the vicious cycle of owing Sallie Mae for the next 10-20 years begins with yet another college graduate.

As a parent, how can college be a positive experience for my child?

Parents should start preparing to send their children to college as early as when they are born. Investing a few dollars a month in a 529 savings plan over a period of 18 years can add up to be a substantial amount. Plus people take care of their investments so a parent who saves money will be more likely to talk to children about college. Parents who do not invest in their child’s education are less likely to motivate their children to pursue higher education. At times, parents are the ones that need to be educated about education. It’s not that parents don’t want their children to succeed, it’s often a matter of not knowing the proper channels that they need to go through.

There also are tax benefits to sending your child to college and claiming them while they are in school. Depending on the state that you live in, parents/students may qualify to get a certain amount of their tuition reimbursed by the government.

What should families start doing?

Families need to create an environment that is college friendly. It can be as easy as touring the campus that is close to their home and speaking with a financial advisor. Many of the unknowns about college keep students and some parents in debt. The annual tuition fees should be considered when selecting a college. Just like grade school, some families can afford to send their children to private schools, but if they can’t, public school is a viable option.

College is not any different than grade school; families need to be open with their children about their finances so that they have a realistic picture of which school they can attend, based on their financial position.

Going to school now and paying for it later is a one way street to keeping graduates from living the life they went to school for in the first place.

Written by Fabian Ramirez. Fabian is a Web Content Specialist for Texas Baptists. In his spare time Fabian blogs about his passion, personal finance and education. He gets to speak on these topics to thousands of students every year in middle and high schools across the country.

Select either of the two dates below for more information

Fielder Road Baptist Church MetroCenter, Arlington – March 5-6, 2012

First Baptist Church, Amarillo – March 8-9, 2012

January 20-21, 2012
Hillcrest  Baptist Church
Cedar Hill, Texas