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Voting is a conviction

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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...]

In just 60 days

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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...]

A close tool is an effective tool

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Earlier this month, my friend Tom Elliff shared at the Baptist Building with our Missouri Baptist missionary staff and a few pastors from across our great state. According to several of our missionary staff, the one-day event was one of the most impactful Team Days of my tenure as executive director. Always one to tell a great personal story to punctuate a principle, Dr. Elliff told about his preacher granddaddy having a carpenter’s workshop. As a young boy and early adolescent, he loved … [Read more...]

Steadiness is possible

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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...]

Missional beachheads

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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...]

Five marks of successful state missions

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Lori is a 14-year-old victim of human trafficking. When she first entered the Missouri Baptist Children’s Home’s Freedom 43:19 program, she was addicted to drugs, had missed a lot of school, and was extremely aggressive in her behavior. Whether she would stay in the program was anyone’s guess. Even so, staff members prayed for her and poured God’s love into her troubled young life. Rather than flee, Lori surprised everyone by staying. She is now drug-free, on the honor roll at school, and … [Read more...]

A world without Roe

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As I picked up the July 10 issue of USA TODAY, I couldn’t help but notice the headline of a front-page “story” titled, “A world without Roe v. Wade.” Later in the evening, POTUS was to name his nominee to replace retiring SCOTUS Justice Anthony Kennedy. We now know that person to be 5th Circuit U.S. Appeals Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. So, the day before the nomination, the not-so-mainstream media is hosting an opinion piece on the front page promoting a sky-is-falling mentality about … [Read more...]

The Great Commission and rural America

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In his recent Moody Press release, The Forgotten Church, Glenn Daman accentuated the current reality that rural America is a mission field. Rural America has often been thought of in terms of Norman Rockwell paintings long before there was an Ozzie and Harriett of the 60s and a Duck Dynasty of early 2000s. When Sharon and I led Pray Across Missouri 2017-2018, we met people from all 114 counties in Missouri at their County Courthouses for prayer.  We met some really great people from rural … [Read more...]

The art of civility: 14 Practical Ways to Demonstrate Civility

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ci·vil·i·ty səˈvilədē/ noun Formal politeness and courtesy in behavior or speech. "I hope we can treat each other with civility and respect."     Synonyms: courtesy, courteousness, politeness, good manners, graciousness, gentleness, respect, kindness Growth in the social media sphere has created a challenge for Southern Baptists that we did not have prior to the launch of Facebook in 2004. Prior to the invention of social media there were not as many voices attempting to gain … [Read more...]

John Yeats: Missional isolation among international missionaries

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I really like the way we do Southern Baptist missions. A recent return from the mission field with our MBC  partnership nation of Italy was a fresh reminder of “why” we do cooperative missions. Every believer is commissioned to live on mission. Every local church is to be engaged in missions cooperatively and directly. Biblically and practically, working together is a no brainer. On more than one occasion, our team met and interviewed U.S. missionaries who are diligently working to make … [Read more...]

John Yeats: Virtuous words and the court of public opinion

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Trevin Wax tells a compelling story about his Romanian father-in-law in “This is Our Time” (B&H, 2017). As a young man, his father-in-law was a Communist advocate. As many others in his national context, he was engaged in the demise of any form of organized faith. Under Communism, religious liberty experienced the boot of ideological expression. We know from non-redacted history of Romania how the Communist Party closed humanitarian ministries, eliminated all Christian education, and … [Read more...]

Reflections and what we must learn

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As we gathered in Nashville for the called special meeting of the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention, it felt more like a wake. The conversations were more like what you would find when the family gathers during a funeral. Never in our Southern Baptist history has anyone resigned the post of president of the Executive Committee because of “a morally inappropriate relationship.” The members who were able to quickly rearrange schedules and form a quorum did so with a … [Read more...]