As I waded across the creek in chest-deep muddy water, I thought to myself, “This is not smart! You are all alone and it is questionable if you will make it to the other side.” When I was in high school, I was a long-distance runner. Four days each week during spring training, I would run home from school to my parents’ home, 5.2 miles away. On this particular warm spring day, I thought I would take a short cut through a pasture, through the woods, and over the creek. I could save a … [Read more...]

When a major life-threatening event occurs that changes people’s lives, organizations, and commerce, people often act out their insecurities and grief. Major natural disasters like COVID-19 have placed these tendencies on full display. This should not surprise us. Man-made terror like the 9-11 World Trade Center attack and the Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing, or the graphic death of an African-American man by a euro-American police officer, create opportunities for people to act out … [Read more...]

Governor Parson and the director of the Department of Health and Senior Services, Dr. Randall Williams, are targeting the state-wide reopening for 11:59 p.m. Sunday, May 31. Of course, our state leaders are monitoring closely the data and hope they do not need to draft orders to extend precautionary measures. I hear repeated questions: “When do our churches begin to return? What is the next stage for our churches?” Let’s be perfectly clear: The church never closed and never stopped being … [Read more...]

Like pressure from a shaken can of soda, tremendous factors contribute to the anxiety churches and businesses feel as they engage the public once again. While some say the reopening is happening much too fast, I’m so grateful that most local churches across our state are beginning to reopen for corporate worship and personal witness. Digital communications are here to stay, but sometimes people simply want to move beyond the two-dimensional world of a flat screen. For your marvelous … [Read more...]

After several frustrating attempts to make my digital device work correctly, I called the IT expert. Invariably, his first question is, “Have you rebooted your device?” Sure enough, when I do the first thing on the trouble-shooting chart – “reboot” – most of my struggles with tangled-up electrons running amuck on a silicon chip sort themselves out. As federal and state guidelines are changing from quarantine and shelter-in-place to reengagement with businesses and communities, it is … [Read more...]

The spread of the coronavirus continues to affect many – and concern many more. While your state missionaries are not medical professionals, we are suggesting some steps Missouri Baptist churches may take to protect their people when they gather to worship. Jim Misloski, director of developing leaders for the MBC, shared the following with one of our church leaders, and you might consider this information helpful in your local church’s decision-making process: “At this time (at our … [Read more...]

I just returned from the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee meeting in Nashville. While there was much significant business to conduct, the issue of sexual and physical abuse continues to be a significant part of the conversation. On the first day of our meeting, Monday, Feb. 17, yet another story appeared on USA TODAY’s front page. This is not just a national issue. As Missouri Baptists, we are waking up to the truth that our 1,800 affiliated churches are not immune from … [Read more...]

By the end of the week, millions of Valentine cards will be bought and sold to express our love and care for people in our sphere of relationships, especially our spouses. For married couples, there is something that has better impact on intimacy than a Valentine card or a pre-paid Master Card. We learn this activity from the Lord Jesus. When Jesus interacts with people, what does He do to peel back the veneer and get to the heart of an issue or the depth of personal persona? He asks … [Read more...]

In recent days, Sharon and I went to a prayer meeting at the Jerusalem Prayer Center in Israel. The place was a large house on Embassy Row that was formerly the consulate for a European country. Now, it has been converted into a beautiful location for prayer. The staff was very grateful for the Missouri Baptists that volunteered and assisted with the construction of a garden at the facility. Those who supervised the place reminded our group that we needed to be quiet because some people … [Read more...]

As I read the following quote from Eugene Peterson in a Paula Hemphill post, I was captivated by its simple truth: “Without a cultivated memory, we live from hand to mouth on fad and novelty. But Christians don’t sprint out of the starting blocks in each generation in a race for heaven. We are on a relay team. We have a heritage, a richly composted family history.”* She went on to say that the quote resonated deeply in her heart. And her mission is focused on passing on a love for God’s … [Read more...]