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...]
The simple solution: the love of Jesus
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...]
What is the next stage?
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...]
Sharing your thoughts on reopening church
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...]
Lean on God, reboot the church campus
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...]
Never lose sight of the gospel vision
From time to time, I serve on a board or belong to an organization that decides to build something, or requests a large amount of money from a donor or foundation for a special project. Invariably, a donor and/or the donor’s representative will ask if each of the board members gave something to demonstrate their private support. In other words, they want to know if you are serious about the vision, or simply wanting to maintain existence. No one wants to give to something merely to … [Read more...]
COVID-19: Remember who we are … the Church!
On that cold wintry morning, a friend of mine stood with me across the street from the burning church building. The reporter, with his camera and microphone, was ready to be the first to break the morning news about the fire. The reporter asked the lay leader in front of us, “What will happen to the church now that the building is gone?” Without missing a beat, this lay church leader responded by giving the reporter a little lesson in biblical theology: “This building is not the church. We … [Read more...]
What to do about the coronavirus
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...]
Preventing abuse in the Body of Christ
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...]
What you should do for a Valentine date
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...]
Kneel for the Lost
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...]
A heritage is like a relay team
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...]
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