It has been a decade since an attempt to change how Missouri selects its judges – especially the ones serving on the Missouri Supreme Court. The way we select and retain our judges is known as The Missouri Plan. Adopted in 1940, the goal was to remove politics from the judicial selection process. It is failing. Under the Missouri Plan, the governor appoints three citizens to serve on the judicial selection commission. They are joined by three Bar-elected members of the Missouri Bar … [Read more...]

Several decades ago the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee completed a readership study of the state convention newspapers. Subscriptions were declining and leaders wanted to know why. Ultimately there were several reasons, but one caught my eye. Most state newspapers targeted pastors and church leaders as their primary subscribers. This was understandable because the denomination’s leaders needed to know what was happening throughout the SBC and in their states. The … [Read more...]

Cooperative Program giving has a tremendous impact in supporting our missionaries around the world and in Missouri. But there are other ways it influences. In one recent instance, through The Pathway. For the past five years, an Oregon couple, Aaron and Melissa Klein, owners of a bakery named Sweet Cakes by Melissa, have been the victims of an unjust lawsuit by two lesbians who sued after the Kleins refused to bake them a wedding cake. In 2015, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries … [Read more...]

It is easy to get our eyes off the Lord when it seems like our world is coming apart at the seams. Every day challenges us to keep our faith in the Lord strong. No matter what is happening in the world or in our lives, we must trust Him because He is in control. God has had a plan for us from the beginning – and His plans are best because God knows all about them. “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD,” in Jeremiah 29:11. We do not know God’s plans, but He does, Philip … [Read more...]

Missouri voters should vote NO on Amendment 2 on Aug. 4. Amendment 2 is an expansion of Obamacare, another sneaky effort to expand taxpayer-funded abortions and bankrupt the state. This socialistic monstrosity is the latest example of “government creep,” the never-ending attempt by government to control our lives and rob us of our freedom. Amendment 2 expands Medicaid eligibility to individuals earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. This figure equates to an individual … [Read more...]

In my 45 years as a journalist I cannot recall a member of Congress so passionately urging conservative Christians to get involved in the making of public policy. Sen. Joshua Hawley’s impassioned plea for Christian involvement is welcomed, especially after the U.S. Supreme Court’s disgraceful ruling in the Bostick v. Clayton County case in which it redefined “sex” as written in the 1964 Civil Rights Act. In its ruling, the court said “sex” no longer means “male” and “female” as biological … [Read more...]

I am thankful to live in a nation that promotes religious freedom around the world. I am also grateful to be a member of a denomination that aggressively supports that effort. I applaud President Trump for signing an Executive Order June 2 that calls for the prioritization of international religious liberty in United States foreign policy and at least $50 million a year for programs that boost freedom for religious adherents worldwide. The president took that action just as Southern … [Read more...]

On one of the bookcase shelves in my office sits a beautifully hand-made shadow box. It features the baseball I captured off the bat of former Kansas City Royal Matt Stairs during a game Sept. 21, 2005, at Kauffman Stadium. I was sitting in the second deck directly behind home plate when Stairs fouled a pitch straight back that barely cleared the backstop netting. It came directly at me. I raised my right hand and the ball smacked right into my palm, ricocheting straight down. It bounced … [Read more...]

Televangelist Jim Bakker, who was once king of the false teaching known as the “prosperity gospel,” has shifted the focus of his messages to “the end times.” It is in that context that Bakker, who served several years in prison after defrauding his viewers out of millions of dollars in the 1980s, now finds himself the target of a lawsuit brought by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt. But, before we rush to judgment, we must realize there is an important issue, perhaps unintended, that … [Read more...]

Thank you, Missouri Baptists, for giving through the Cooperative Program (CP). The Pathway is a Cooperative Program-funded ministry. That is why we do not have a subscription charge for mailing it directly to your homes, businesses and churches. The Pathway’s mission has always been to make Jesus Christ known and that all honor and glory is due Him. We attempt to do that by telling the story of how He is at work in our state through you. It is our desire to “build up the body” through … [Read more...]

Missouri Southern Baptists are the largest non-Catholic denomination in the state. We have always rallied around a commitment to carry the gospel to the world. We are also known for our fierce defense of religious freedom, or freedom of conscience. The Baptist Faith & Message affirms only God – not man or government – is Lord of the conscience. This aligns us with a biblical worldview of reality, one that demands our involvement in God’s created order. Such a worldview includes … [Read more...]