For those of you who are team-sport enthusiasts, you know that one of the essential items in the repertoire of a team is the “playbook.” The team wins or loses on the basis of its playbook. It is much more than “x’s and o’s.” The playbook states the mission and the goals for the team. Then it is the playbook that articulates what to do or how to act in certain scenarios. When doing life, many wish, “If I only knew what to do.” The truth is, as followers of Christ, we do have a playbook … [Read more...]

On a cold, windy December day, Sharon and I stood at the graveside of one of our heroes: a godly man who took us under his wing at just the right time to help us transition from serving with one local church to a ministry of multiple churches. We grew to love Dr. Charles W. Sullivan and his precious wife, Delilah. He was a native Missourian. He was led to Christ and discipled in one of our Missouri Baptist churches. Educated at SBU, he pastored in Texas as well as in Missouri. He served … [Read more...]

Story telling is an important part of our communicating the miracle of Christmas. Recently I heard one of our state missionaries, Jim Misloski, tell a unique story using a bungie cord. I asked him where he got the story? He said his wife Paula came up with it. I asked Paula to tell her story. As the Christmas holiday season approached, their pastor asked if she would consider gathering and leading an adult Christmas program.  She said, “Ha, I had participated in many “cantatas” over the … [Read more...]

Reflecting on the 2018 Annual Meeting in Springfield, I am overwhelmed at the goodness of the Lord. We had an amazing meeting. We were led with excellence by Dr. Ken Parker. We elected a new president, Dr. Jeremy Muniz, who will help us carry forward the vision of cooperatively making disciples (that means reaching lost people and coaching them in how to life by faith), multiplying churches (here and over there), and developing leaders (for today and tomorrow). Missouri Baptists are not … [Read more...]

In a matter of days, Americans cast mid-term ballots. As stewards, all believers share a responsibility to vote. Charles Finney, 1835, “Politics are a part of religion in such a country as this, and Christians must do their duty to the country as part of their duty to God…. God will bless or curse this nation according to the course Christians take in politics.” Whatever the candidates or issues, no believer gets an “excused absence” from the ballot box. Here are some guiding principles: … [Read more...]

Because of scheduling, very rarely do I get to preach at the same church twice in the same year. I preached the first Sunday of August for my friend Monte Shinkle at Concord Baptist Church in Jefferson City. Then he asked me back again on the last Sunday of September, and providentially I had held that Sunday open because Sharon and I were driving in from another engagement.  As I prepared, I looked over my calendar and noted how many amazing things I knew had occurred during the 60 days … [Read more...]

I once heard a radio Bible teacher say that balance is a vital character quality for men and women of God. While we need to be biblically accurate and courageously convictional, the ditches of life can impede our journey of faith. In response to the warfare, the Lord gives us all we need to “hold up the arms” of a brother or sister engaged in the tough stuff of life—to encourage and to walk beside them.    Sharon and I have been recent recipients of your holding us up in intercessory … [Read more...]

Who can forget the Normandy scenes depicted in recent films? The fallen military and civilian personnel are strewn on the beach. Broken equipment litters the landscape—weapons, a tank, a troop carrier sunk in the shallow water. It is sobering to think of the cost paid by the blood of those who perished. Military campaigns are important. When you have a totalitarian aggressor stripping away the freedoms of citizens and terminating the lives of innocent, nations must push back such darkness … [Read more...]