It would be enough to drive Charles Scopes bananas. Nearly a century after the famed Scopes Monkey Trial led to the teaching of evolution in public schools and decades of in-fighting over increasingly liberal curriculums in public schools, a King Kong competitor may be emerging in increasingly conservative Missouri. After gaining passage by the Senate Education Committee, Jan. 21, a major education reform measure (Senate Bill 55) that includes school choice is headed to the full Senate for … [Read more...]

One of the greatest impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the attacks on religious liberty. In too many instances political leaders have used public safety as an excuse – and ultimately a weapon – against churches services and faith-based gatherings. They have often done so while allowing certain types of businesses to remain open. One of the most egregious violations of religious liberty has been perpetrated against nursing homes. Too often pastors have not been allowed to visit … [Read more...]

I left home, in Nashville, Tenn., for the Air Force when I was 23. Other than for two brief years working as a business reporter for The Tennessean newspaper in Nashville, I have been gone from my homeland for the entire time. That would be 43 years (now I have given away my age!). When one lives far from home, it is rare to get home for both Thanksgiving and Christmas. Mom has always insisted on Christmas. So I have made it home for Christmas every year, but one since I left home. Santa … [Read more...]

“To be ignorant of what happened before you were born is to be ever a child.” – Cicero One of the passions of The Pathway staff is our love for history. Especially the history of Christianity, but also of the world, of America, of the church, of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) and the Missouri Baptist Convention. Our love for history is derived from Scripture, since God is the author of history, the Alpha and Omega. I have always been interested in history. A considerable percentage … [Read more...]

One of the great blessings in the ministry to which God has called me is the opportunity to know a multitude of faithful brothers in Christ who are veterans, true leaders with impeccable integrity, intellectual giftedness, courage, unselfishness and loyalty. As a veteran, I have come to appreciate the observance of Veteran’s Day, Nov. 11. Not because I am a veteran, but because of the veterans I have had the privilege of knowing. Each were willing to give their last, full measure of … [Read more...]

“My creed leads me to think that prayer is efficacious, and surely a day’s asking God to overrule all events for good is not lost.” – James Gilmour I hope we can agree that if there was ever a time we should be praying for our nation it is now. Sickness and strife are driving America to its knees. Let us make good use of such posture. E.M. Bounds wrote a classic on the subject, titled On Prayer. He writes: “The prayers of God’s saints are the capital stock in heaven by which Christ … [Read more...]

It has been a decade since an attempt to change how Missouri selects its judges – especially the ones serving on the Missouri Supreme Court. The way we select and retain our judges is known as The Missouri Plan. Adopted in 1940, the goal was to remove politics from the judicial selection process. It is failing. Under the Missouri Plan, the governor appoints three citizens to serve on the judicial selection commission. They are joined by three Bar-elected members of the Missouri Bar … [Read more...]

Several decades ago the Southern Baptist Convention’s Executive Committee completed a readership study of the state convention newspapers. Subscriptions were declining and leaders wanted to know why. Ultimately there were several reasons, but one caught my eye. Most state newspapers targeted pastors and church leaders as their primary subscribers. This was understandable because the denomination’s leaders needed to know what was happening throughout the SBC and in their states. The … [Read more...]

Cooperative Program giving has a tremendous impact in supporting our missionaries around the world and in Missouri. But there are other ways it influences. In one recent instance, through The Pathway. For the past five years, an Oregon couple, Aaron and Melissa Klein, owners of a bakery named Sweet Cakes by Melissa, have been the victims of an unjust lawsuit by two lesbians who sued after the Kleins refused to bake them a wedding cake. In 2015, the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries … [Read more...]

It is easy to get our eyes off the Lord when it seems like our world is coming apart at the seams. Every day challenges us to keep our faith in the Lord strong. No matter what is happening in the world or in our lives, we must trust Him because He is in control. God has had a plan for us from the beginning – and His plans are best because God knows all about them. “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD,” in Jeremiah 29:11. We do not know God’s plans, but He does, Philip … [Read more...]