March 27, 2025
WARNER ROBINS, Ga. – Georgia Baptist Convention First Vice President Rubén Torres told a group of the state’s top ministry leaders on Tuesday to keep their church members reminded that they are special instruments to be used by the Lord.
Torres, pastor of Iglesia Bautista Victoria en Cristo in Jonesboro, said that’s an important message because people who haven’t been taught the truth about grace can feel insecure and uneasy about their standing before God.
“Someone has described it as being as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs,” he said in a devotional message delivered to the Georgia Baptist Executive Committee at Central Baptist Church in Warner Robins. “But when you hear the gospel and the Word of God comes to your heart and you receive Christ, you find out all these wonderful things that God has done for you and how much God loves you.”
Along with his work in Jonesboro, Torres has been engaged in ministry partnerships in Honduras, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Panama and Cuba.
A native of Puerto Rico, Torres became a follower of Christ as a college student and has been in ministry for nearly four decades. He has a master’s degree from Luther Rice Seminary and a doctorate from Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Torres said some followers of Christ may feel like they’re not qualified to serve. That, he said, is why they need to hear that, while they aren’t deserving of God’s grace, they have it nonetheless.
“So we have to take the opportunity to tell our people, our congregations, our church members that if we are serious about getting our character in line with the Word of God and getting our doctrine in line with the Word of God, then God can use us,” Torres said. “God can manifest Himself through our lives, through our ministry, through our churches.”
And, Torres said, God blesses people who line their lives up to God’s Word.
“Our place of service might be small when we start out, but if we are determined to keep our character and doctrine pure, then we can be used beyond our expectations,” he said. “We may start out having a very limited role in the kingdom, but if we persevere then we can become instruments for special purposes, instruments to convey God’s holiness, instruments useful to the Master, instruments prepared for every good work.”
Torres said that’s an especially important message for people who have been subjected to false religious teachings.
He concluded his devotion with a question: “As pastors, shepherds, churches, are we encouraging our people, our members to see themselves as useful instruments in God’s hands?”
