| Podcast
For this episode of Landowner Insider, I sat down with one of my closest friends, Pastor Ryan Hurt of Lingleville Baptist Church, just outside Stephenville. This one is different from our usual land and ranching conversations, but faith, family, and community are a big part of why people put down roots in places like this, and it’s a conversation I wanted to have. We talked about revival, the difference between religion and a real relationship with Jesus, repentance, fear, and what Christians are called to do in a divided culture.
How My Family Ended Up in Lingleville
Ryan and I met around 2021. My wife Elizabeth and I had been praying about where to raise our kids. I was running the farm, ranch, and land division for Keller Williams Realty International out of downtown Austin, business was strong, and life felt out of balance. Serving at church and being present with our kids was getting harder. I was raised on God, family, then business, in that order, and I wasn’t willing to flip it. We came to Stephenville for the Fourth of July during COVID, a college friend suggested we hear Ryan preach, and after our first Sunday at Lingleville we walked out knowing it felt like home. The friendships that came from that church are the best part, and it’s one reason I push back when people dismiss the church altogether.
Is the American Church in Decline?
Ryan acknowledged the numbers: church attendance is dropping, and old, traditional congregations are leading the decline. He doesn’t see that as the end of the church. In his view, many of those congregations stopped reaching out to younger generations long ago, and what’s dying is more religious routine than living faith. He believes the next generation is more curious about the Lord than any in recent memory, pointing to the conversations his college-age son has in the dorm and to Lingleville’s own congregation, where the main demographic is 18 to 35. He thinks the church of the future may look more like the early church.
Revival Starts With Repentance
Ryan defined revival as a return to recognizing where every blessing comes from. He pointed to Old Testament kings like David and Hezekiah, and to the great awakenings in American history, which he said began with people humbling themselves rather than speaking out against everyone else. His point: revival doesn’t come from winning arguments, it comes from repentance. He also said he sees parallels between today and the Book of Judges, and that’s why he feels the urgency to preach the way he does.
Religion vs. Relationship With Jesus
We spent a good bit of time on what religion is versus faith. Ryan described religion as showing up on Sunday when it’s convenient, with Jesus in the back seat of your schedule, and he said it often gets caught up in hymnals, carpet colors, service times, and who’s in charge. Faith, to him, is a willingness to give Jesus everything. He used the story of the rich young ruler to make the point: Jesus wasn’t condemning success or money, he was going after the man’s heart. Ryan shared that he and his wife stepped out in faith to come to Lingleville, and that God has blessed their lives more than they expected.
Confession vs. Repentance
Ryan drew a clear line between the two using a marriage example. Telling someone you did something wrong isn’t the same as turning away from it. Repentance means acknowledging the wrong, grieving it, asking forgiveness, and turning around. He also noted that he sees no biblical basis for confessing through a priest, pointing to Peter’s description of believers as a royal priesthood.
Fear, Isolation, and Going Into the World
A theme that came up repeatedly is that fear is driving a lot of the church. Some believers respond to a troubled world by sheltering in place, but Ryan reminded us that Jesus’ last words to his disciples were to go. He sees the most anxious people as the ones who hide, and the most joyful as the ones who serve. He framed the answer in the two greatest commandments, loving God and loving your neighbor, and encouraged listeners to simply ask each day how God might use them. Small, local acts, like one conversation or one pregnancy center client at a time, add up.
Why Does God’s Love Not Mean Everyone Is Saved?
I asked Ryan a hard question: if God loves everyone, why doesn’t everyone make it to heaven? His answer was that God loves everyone and gives each person a choice, starting with the Garden of Eden, and that Jesus is the way back. He sees that as a reason to talk about the gospel more, not retreat from the world.
Faith, Politics, and Cultural Division
I asked how a pastor navigates politics. Ryan said he doesn’t avoid it anymore, but he isn’t telling anyone how to vote or siding with a party. He believes the church should help young voters think through the moral questions at stake, such as the sanctity of human life, and not just vote the way their parents did. He also cautioned against throwing stones across the aisle: you don’t change anyone’s mind by condemning them, and the way forward starts in the church, with love and unity.
Where to Start if You’re Curious
For anyone listening who is curious about faith, Ryan’s advice was simple: pray, ask God how he can use you today, and spend time in the Word. His reasoning is that you can’t know the Lord without being in the Bible.
Watch the Full Episode
This article is based on my conversation with Pastor Ryan Hurt on Landowner Insider.
Work With Mock Ranches
Stephenville and the surrounding communities are a big part of who we are at Mock Ranches. If you’re looking for land in this part of Texas or anywhere across the state, explore North Texas land for sale or browse all Texas land for sale at mockranches.com.
About Lingleville Baptist Church
Thanks to Pastor Ryan Hurt and Lingleville Baptist Church for the conversation. Lingleville Baptist Church holds three services on Sundays and livestreams sermons on Facebook and YouTube.
https://www.linglevillebaptist.org/
