JEFFERSON CITY — A podcast known as mb:OnAir, the latest in a string of resources that have been and are being created by the communications department of the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC), was released Nov. 28. The first of these monthly podcasts was distributed to Missouri Baptists by means of an electronic newsletter that was earlier developed by Rob Phillips, communications team leader. It featured a five-question, seven-minute interview with MBC Executive Director John Yeats in … [Read more...]

JEFFERSON CITY – Year-to-date contributions to Southern Baptist missions and ministries through the Cooperative Program (CP) are showing strong support at the national level — and in Missouri. According to Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Executive Committee President Frank Page, CP giving through Nov. 30 is up 7.59 percent over the same period last year. Here in Missouri, CP giving through Nov. 30 is $13,239,994, up $337,986 or 2.62 percent, over the same period in 2011. The Cooperative … [Read more...]

CALIFORNIA — People met for church on the last Sunday of November at Flag Spring Baptist Church much like they always have on Sunday since 1879. Well, the setting Nov. 25 may have felt more like the 1800s, when folks gathered in the open air, than say the 2000s, when worship included the conveniences of a modern building. After their facility burned to the ground Nov. 20, church on this first Sunday after Thanksgiving was held on the parking lot under a canopy on a sunny, somewhat windy … [Read more...]

JEFFERSON CITY – No movement of God in our world has ever happened without sustained prayer, says the evangelism/discipleship strategist for the Missouri Baptist Convention. “The Holy Spirit places a spiritual burden on believers that often begins in brokenness,” says Mark Snowden. “It results in a spiritual alignment with God’s plans and purposes. And when humility is genuine, the Holy Spirit is free to use our lives with power.” That deep heart-felt kind of prayer is being launched in … [Read more...]

BOLIVAR — Tim DeClue chairs a Computer and Information Sciences department at Southwest Baptist University (SBU) that has dramatically changed since he first arrived on campus in 1985 as an instructor. “There were no personal computers when I started,” he said. “Everything was mainframe, huge machines. The only computer lab we had had been converted from a typing lab where we had typewriters. We barely had networks. The Internet was around, but it was only a very, very tiny … [Read more...]

JEFFERSON CITY — A total of 877 girls and leaders, representing 74 churches, attended the eight 2012 Girls in Action (GA) retreats held at various associational camps around Missouri. There were 11 salvation decisions. Girls learned about searching for God and that God is waiting for them to come to Him, using a safari theme with the theme verse being, “You will find Him if you look for Him with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Deut. 4:29b) Missionaries who represented service in … [Read more...]

If you believe doomsayers or John Cusack movies, the world will end Dec. 21. That’s the date of the so-called Mayan Apocalypse, when an important cycle of the Maya Long Count Calendar draws to a close. Not to worry. End-of-days predictions have made and broken pundits and self-proclaimed prophets for millennia. Not to be outdone by religious fanaticism, contemporary culture embraces the drama of a cataclysmic end to the world. For example, in the 1979 film “Mad Max,” a shortage of … [Read more...]

Many eyes are focused on the incoming rockets and tensions of the Middle East. These are challenging times; tough times for families caught in the crosshairs of political and economic upheaval. The incoming missiles need to be replaced by people consumed by the compassionate fire of the gospel. Erich Bridges, a global correspondent, tells of a father and mother crossing the Syria-Jordan border with their five children. They watched in horror as their teenage son was shot in the head in an … [Read more...]

What are Christians to think and do about a government that coerces a conscience – one guided by the indwelling power of God’s Holy Spirit – to do what it knows is contrary to God’s Word? The very core of a biblical worldview has never been about arid philosophical knowledge, much less politics. It has always been about knowing God, following Christ and being attentive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. A biblical worldview is about living the truth in our daily lives, not just knowing it … [Read more...]