EDWARDS—The substance of transformation for Bob Loggins, Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) prayer and spiritual awakening specialist, is often quite simple. Loggins does not always draw a big crowd. The seriousness of his topic sees to that. The need of the hour is to preach against sin, so he has no use for entertainment in the pulpit, or the all-too-common practice of making suggestions. His audience here on Feb. 18 at Colony Baptist Church was six. They came to hear his very first … [Read more...]

KANSAS CITY—The process of healing for Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (MBTS) has begun under Robin Hadaway, acting president and associate professor of missions. On Feb. 14, four days after the resignation of MBTS President R. Philip Roberts, Hadaway made a few brief remarks in chapel. “With the transition that happened Friday, and some administrative things I was doing on Monday, last night I got to go back to teaching,” he said. “I realized the reason we’re here is to teach the … [Read more...]

BOLIVAR—Enrollment for Southwest Baptist University (SBU) is up, which led SBU President C. Pat Taylor to speak about the order and goodness of God in a time of uncertainty. SBU has 1,405 students this spring compared to 1,391 a year ago. Including the branch campuses and graduate students, the university is up to 3,508 from 3,484 in 2011. “Genesis teaches us that there is a word of stability, and life is precious, and life is good,” Taylor said. “In the midst of uncertainty, there may … [Read more...]

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa—Thirty minutes before the Mall of the Bluffs officially opened for business one Sunday in late January, worship at Sojourn Church – located in a former Foot Locker bay – began to wind down. Mall walkers turned their heads as they passed by, catching portions of Pastor Jim Parker’s sermon or the worship music. Pastor Parker, or one of the 30 people in attendance, waved at the passersby. Sojourn wasn’t just being friendly to its neighbors. They know their neighbors. In … [Read more...]

JEFFERSON CITY—For the first time anyone can recall, the executive director of the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) will join with the St. Louis Archbishop in a religious freedom rally March 27 here at the Missouri State Capitol. John Yeats will team with Catholic leader Robert Carlson and other religious leaders from Missouri in a 10 a.m. Rally for Religious Liberty, with speeches beginning at noon. Yeats considers it very important for Missouri Baptists to be part of such an historic … [Read more...]

I was waiting for my luggage at the airport recently and I made an interesting observation: I think about 90 percent of travelers have black luggage. If you have a black suitcase on wheels, forget about just reaching out, grabbing it off the belt and rolling on your way. Just try it and you could very possibly get mugged by a dozen or so other black-luggage-lugging passengers. I had to take my husband’s black luggage on a trip one time, and I lost two nails in a bad black suitcase scene. I … [Read more...]

JEFFERSON CITY – Christians are citizens of two realms – the earthly and the spiritual. They have rights and responsibilities in both spheres and Christians in America have no greater responsibility than to vote their convictions based on the Bible, said Pathway Editor Don Hinkle while announcing that all is ready for the March 29 Missouri Baptist Convention Worldview Conference scheduled for Memorial Baptist Church here. “The theme of this year’s conference, ‘A Christian Citizen’s … [Read more...]

BOLIVAR—The trustees of Southwest Baptist University (SBU) in their Feb. 21 meeting came out strongly against the Obama administration mandate that most religious employers must provide health care coverage for contraception and abortion pills, joining their colleagues at Hannibal-LaGrange University (HLGU) who voted similarly Feb. 10. A member of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities (CCCU), Colorado Christian University, is already involved in a lawsuit challenging the … [Read more...]

JEFFERSON CITY – Real Life Discipleship Ministries (RLDM) will take the CORE Conference into overtime March 20 for the first 60 people that sign up for their post-conference roundtable discussion. Aaron Couch and Keith Strasburger from RLDM will host an additional free, informal and intimate conference including lunch March 20 from 12:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., at the Baptist Building. Attendance is limited to the first 60 people who register at www.mobaptist.org/CORE. Couch will speak on making … [Read more...]

ELLISVILLE—Frank Turek, founder and president of CrossExamined.org, answered four major questions to explain why Christianity is the most reasonable worldview at a recent seminar here “I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist.” “Why are we here?” Turek asked. “What’s the point?” The seminar at First Baptist Church attracted a large, diverse audience of college students to seniors, believers and non-believers. The first question Turek tackled was “Does Truth Exist?” “Truth is telling it … [Read more...]

STEELVILLE – This wasn’t your average Baptist pot luck dinner: Instead of green bean casseroles, salads and pecan pies, it was venison steaks, rabbit chili and hard-boiled turtle eggs, More than 250 men and boys of all ages – and two women who slipped in – attended the third annual Wild Game Dinner at Meramec Baptist Association’s Retreat Center outside Steelville Jan. 27. Men from 11 local churches and others unaffiliated with any church brought in enough local game to feed the crowd … [Read more...]