Empty nesters answering God’s call to care for orphans. A church reaching out to 6,000 Filipino immigrants living in Missouri. A once-withering church now hosting a vibrant congregation. A ministry devoted to loving the poor at nine different low-income housing sites. An international student ministry reaching 90,000 foreign-born college students in Missouri. A Missouri pastor taking part in his first international mission trip. What do these ministry stories have in … [Read more...]
Call to prayer Aug. 21
Pastors and church leaders, please accept my personal invitation to a Heartland Prayer Summit Aug. 21. Our facilitators are SBC President Ronnie Floyd and OneCry leader Bill Elliff. We are meeting at Crossway Baptist Church in Springfield from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Included is a light lunch. There is no cost for the event other than to arrive with an anxious heart to call out to the Lord. We do need you to register online or by calling Betty Benz Pulliam at 573.636.0400 ext. 302. I … [Read more...]
Clarifying the vision
I join a host of others who are so grateful for the new day dawning at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Jason Allen and his team are transitioning the seminary to the forefront of theological education. How? By reclaiming the priority of “why?” – doing everything they do “for the church.” In a recent blog post, Allen addressed with amazing clarity key issues that are foundational to the cooperative ministries that we do as Missouri Southern Baptists. I asked him for permission to … [Read more...]
Yeats on Windermere
As you read the report about the redemption of 970 acres of land surrounding Windermere, some will ask themselves, “What are they thinking? Didn’t we lose Windermere on appeal with the state Supremes? Isn’t this finished?” When I first heard of a potential buy-back, I had similar thoughts. However, with a little more time and information, the word that began to stick in my brain was “comprehensive” and more specifically, “think comprehensively.” Whenever we face a difficult situation, … [Read more...]
Fixing the SBC
Considering the complex issues swirling around the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), I’m not sure anyone has a definitive word on how to fix what ails us, especially as we rub against a culture increasingly more hostile to the gospel. There is no silver bullet to fix all that plagues our great convention of churches. Truth is, we are broken people, raised by broken parents, living in a broken world, and our only hope is the transformational power of the Lord Jesus to fix our brokenness. … [Read more...]
Interruptions God uses
We’ve all experienced this. We make our plans for the day or week and something comes along that obliterates our carefully constructed agenda. Unless we are the one making the changes, we don’t like having our plans modified. After all, we have places we want to go and things we want to do. Then along comes an interruption. Something explodes our plans and we have significant choices to make. We can become angry, frustrated, bitter and grouchy. Or we can use the interruption as a divine … [Read more...]
MBC Pastors: Important Survey
This week I am sending an email to Missouri Baptist pastors with a link to an important survey that focuses on cooperation. We have made every effort to find email addresses for the 1,900 senior pastors from every size church in our state convention – or a mailing address for those without access to email. In addition, we are including many other paid staff, volunteers and lay leaders in the survey. The reason: Your Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) state missionaries sincerely desire to … [Read more...]
Yeats: Passing the baton of God’s truth to the next generation
Dennis and Barbara Rainey tell the story of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards. This colonial couple left a legacy that was much larger than either of them could have imagined. The Raineys write, “Jonathan Edwards felt God’s call to become a minister. He and his young bride began a pastorate in a small congregation. During the years that followed, he wrote many sermons, prayers and books, and was influential in beginning the Great Awakening. Together they produced 11 children who grew into … [Read more...]
Yeats: Conviction and compassion
This year’s Missouri Baptist Convention Worldview Conference was an extraordinary experience. Because it was held on the campus of Hannibal-LaGrange University, many students engaged in thought-provoking dialogue with the program personalities and participants. I’m encouraged by the thirst of the next generation to learn about engaging the culture from a faith perspective. One of the takeaways from the conference was the message from every speaker about the value of speaking and … [Read more...]
Extraordinary prayer: No bands, no parades, just prayer
Last issue I called an audible requesting Missouri Baptists on April 8 to enter into a special time of prayer and fasting. In response, some are organizing prayer times in their homes or church houses. Others plan to join us in the Baptist Building. We are taking time to pray from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. No lunch. Just prayer. Bring a cushion for your knees. Since I made this announcement, I have been amazed at the number of pastors and church leaders who have called or sent an email to the … [Read more...]
April 8 Call to Prayer
Peyton Manning is perhaps the best quarterback at calling audibles. Football fans have watched this guy for years step up to the line of scrimmage, and if he discovers that the play called in the huddle is not going to translate into a successful yardage gain, he calls an audible. The play doesn’t need to be complicated, just something the opposing team doesn’t expect. I need to call an audible. One of the functions of the state convention is to convene the people of God called … [Read more...]
Trusteeship – a sacred trust
Just this week I returned from serving on the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee. Our February meeting was full of important decisions impacting the cooperative work of churches that identify themselves as Southern Baptist congregations. My fellow trustees listened to amazing reports about our international missionaries and new church planting in North America. We were challenged to hear how our six Southern Baptist seminaries are adapting their work of equipping tomorrow’s … [Read more...]