It was Advent 1964. I trusted Jesus as my Lord and Savior earlier that year. I was 10 years old. With Christmas approaching, I looked forward to one of the most anticipated Sunday evenings that Grace Baptist Church in Springfield, Tenn., would have – a Christmas cantata titled, “The Night the Angels Sang.” John W. Peterson’s 1958 cantata that heralded the angelic announcement of Jesus’ birth as told in Luke 2:8-20 was to be presented following months of rehearsals by the choir. I sat and … [Read more...]
Hobby Lobby Q&A with Attorney Joshua Hawley
Joshua Hawley, associate professor of law at the University of Missouri, will speak at the Missouri Baptist Convention’s (MBC) annual Worldview Conference here, April 3, less than two weeks after he stands before the United States Supreme Court in a landmark case on religious liberty. Hawley serves on the legal team that will defend Hobby Lobby before the Supreme Court, March 25. The Green family – the Southern Baptist owners of Hobby Lobby – filed a lawsuit against the Department of … [Read more...]
Judge’s reasoning leaks in rubberized ruling
Americans are blessed to live in a country where we can freely express our views, exercise our faith to its fullest (at least for now), appeal to our leaders for redress through our judicial system and change leadership through peaceful elections. While never a Christian nation, America was founded by people who established a government that was profoundly influenced by a Judeo-Christian ethic. President John Adams made this clear when he said our government could never function properly … [Read more...]
Surprise Christmas gift recollects life’s path
Mom gave me one of the best gifts this Christmas that she’s ever given me. And she’s given plenty of doozies, too. I’ll provide more about the gift shortly, but first, some personal history. Even though he only had an eighth-grade education, Dad was known as a crackerjack auto mechanic. His determination and popularity enabled him to start his own business: A full-service gasoline station. Tracy’s Texaco was located in the rural town where he was born and raised, Greenbrier. Located … [Read more...]
A beggar editor enfolds himself in emperor colors
Rudyard Kipling, writing about a character in his 1893 collection of short stories titled Many Inventions, said “he wrapped himself in quotations – as a beggar would enfold himself in the purple of emperors.” Kipling could just as easily have been describing a Christian newspaper editor. We live for quotations, wrapping our publications in them as a beggar enfolding himself in the purple of emperors. In his preface to Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, Mark Twain biographer Justin Kaplan … [Read more...]
Mocking marriage and Missouri voters
Last month Gov. Jay Nixon directed the state Department of Revenue to accept joint tax filings from same-sex couples who were “married” in another state, but live here. Now the Missouri National Guard is issuing ID cards to same-sex “married” couples in order to process spousal benefits even though they were “married” in another state. Both actions defy Missouri’s Constitution, which was amended by voters 71 percent to 29 percent in 2004, defining marriage as between one man and one … [Read more...]
Three iconic deaths on Nov. 22, 1963
Fifty years ago today (Nov. 22) is largely being remembered as the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas. It is interesting to note that two other important lives ended that same day with much less fanfare. Author and Christian apologist C.S. Lewis along with gnostic philosopher and author Aldous Huxley both drew their last breaths in this world on this day. Lewis doing so, no doubt trusting in his Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and Huxley, per … [Read more...]
Biblical marriage takes a hit in Missouri
Missouri voters passed in 2004 an amendment to the state’s Constitution (known as Amendment 2) declaring marriage to be between one man and one woman. It was the first state do to so and did so by a 71-29 percent margin. Issue settled – or so we thought. In what has to be one of the most disheartening actions in the history of Missouri politics to thwart the will of the people, Democrat Gov. Jay Nixon directed state tax officials on Nov. 14 to accept tax returns jointly filed by same-sex … [Read more...]
Thanks from Pathway staff; pray for the persecuted
I would like to thank those of you at the Missouri Baptist Convention’s annual meeting who offered kind words of encouragement to The Pathway staff. Your overwhelming affirmation of your state newspaper is humbling. We are grateful to God for the privilege to serve Southern Baptists in Missouri and around the world. We will try even harder to exceed your expectations for truth and information from a biblical worldview perspective. I would also like to thank the nearly 1,000 messengers … [Read more...]
Captive in Iran: Incredible story of courage, love
DON HINKLE/editor dhinkle@mobaptist.org A powerful book by two Iranian Christian women who spent 259 days in the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran, Iran, in 2009, gives outsiders a look at the harsh conditions and brutal persecution Christians face within the prison’s confines. Captive in Iran is the story of Maryam Rostampour and Maziyeh Amirizadeh who – over a three-year period – covertly put New Testaments in the hands of 20,000 of their countrymen, knowing that Islamic laws in Iran … [Read more...]
New website ready, let’s chat in KC
I hope you are making plans to attend the Missouri Baptist Convention’s (MBC) annual meeting in Kansas City Oct. 28-30. There will be tremendous preaching, singing and praying. MBC team leaders have been given the privilege of offering the prayers at this year’s meeting. I have the privilege of offering Tuesday evening’s (Oct. 29) invocation. It promises to be a great time of fellowship, too. One of the great things about the annual meeting is renewing acquaintances and meeting Pathway … [Read more...]
Too many Missourians are experiencing hunger
Southern Baptists love to eat. I have always argued that cooking extraordinaire Paula Deen has nothing on Southern Baptist ladies. If you know me you know I am a living testimony to that delicious fact. No one can find more tasty fried chicken, more mouth-watering hash brown casserole or more lip-smacking pecan pie than at a Southern Baptist picnic where the ladies of the church have brought their cooking talents to bear on us all. But not everyone is so blessed. I’m reminded of a story my … [Read more...]