As the Missouri General Assembly approaches its spring break, no less than 28 bills have been introduced in an effort to protect the unborn and health of the mother. Missouri is among the top three states with the most abortion restrictions introduced this year, according to Elizabeth Nash, the state policy director for the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion rights and research group. Such activity bears witness to the prayer warriors and pro-life activists determined to make abortions rare … [Read more...]
A call to faithfulness despite somber mood
O Lord, how my adversaries have increased! Many are rising up against me. But You, O Lord, are a shield about me, My glory and the One who lifts my head. – Psalm 3:1,3 For the past two weeks I have had the privilege of visiting with executive directors from other state conventions, editors of state convention newspapers and Southern Baptist leaders. It is an annual effort I make in order to get a first-hand impression of where Southern Baptists are at the moment. Carrying the … [Read more...]
Judge’s reasoning leaks in rubberized ruling
Americans are blessed to live in a country where we can freely express our views, exercise our faith to its fullest (at least for now), appeal to our leaders for redress through our judicial system and change leadership through peaceful elections. While never a Christian nation, America was founded by people who established a government that was profoundly influenced by a Judeo-Christian ethic. President John Adams made this clear when he said our government could never function properly … [Read more...]
Learning to walk by faith, not by sight
Among my 33 years of travels through journalism was a stint as a business reporter for The Tennessean newspaper in Nashville. I had the opportunity to report on many significant stories during my time there. I met and mingled with a lot of Nashville’s financial and political powerbrokers. I dined with kings, who would pull up at the newspaper’s entrance in their Cadillacs and whisk me off to a fancy restaurant. Pinstripe suits and shoulder-length, permed hair was my style. My appearance … [Read more...]
Surprise Christmas gift recollects life’s path
Mom gave me one of the best gifts this Christmas that she’s ever given me. And she’s given plenty of doozies, too. I’ll provide more about the gift shortly, but first, some personal history. Even though he only had an eighth-grade education, Dad was known as a crackerjack auto mechanic. His determination and popularity enabled him to start his own business: A full-service gasoline station. Tracy’s Texaco was located in the rural town where he was born and raised, Greenbrier. Located … [Read more...]
A beggar editor enfolds himself in emperor colors
Rudyard Kipling, writing about a character in his 1893 collection of short stories titled Many Inventions, said “he wrapped himself in quotations – as a beggar would enfold himself in the purple of emperors.” Kipling could just as easily have been describing a Christian newspaper editor. We live for quotations, wrapping our publications in them as a beggar enfolding himself in the purple of emperors. In his preface to Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations, Mark Twain biographer Justin Kaplan … [Read more...]
Mocking marriage and Missouri voters
Last month Gov. Jay Nixon directed the state Department of Revenue to accept joint tax filings from same-sex couples who were “married” in another state, but live here. Now the Missouri National Guard is issuing ID cards to same-sex “married” couples in order to process spousal benefits even though they were “married” in another state. Both actions defy Missouri’s Constitution, which was amended by voters 71 percent to 29 percent in 2004, defining marriage as between one man and one … [Read more...]
Biblical marriage takes a hit in Missouri
Missouri voters passed in 2004 an amendment to the state’s Constitution (known as Amendment 2) declaring marriage to be between one man and one woman. It was the first state do to so and did so by a 71-29 percent margin. Issue settled – or so we thought. In what has to be one of the most disheartening actions in the history of Missouri politics to thwart the will of the people, Democrat Gov. Jay Nixon directed state tax officials on Nov. 14 to accept tax returns jointly filed by same-sex … [Read more...]
Thanks from Pathway staff; pray for the persecuted
I would like to thank those of you at the Missouri Baptist Convention’s annual meeting who offered kind words of encouragement to The Pathway staff. Your overwhelming affirmation of your state newspaper is humbling. We are grateful to God for the privilege to serve Southern Baptists in Missouri and around the world. We will try even harder to exceed your expectations for truth and information from a biblical worldview perspective. I would also like to thank the nearly 1,000 messengers … [Read more...]
Captive in Iran: Incredible story of courage, love
DON HINKLE/editor dhinkle@mobaptist.org A powerful book by two Iranian Christian women who spent 259 days in the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran, Iran, in 2009, gives outsiders a look at the harsh conditions and brutal persecution Christians face within the prison’s confines. Captive in Iran is the story of Maryam Rostampour and Maziyeh Amirizadeh who – over a three-year period – covertly put New Testaments in the hands of 20,000 of their countrymen, knowing that Islamic laws in Iran … [Read more...]
Let’s celebrate the past and the present, too
I’m so glad the pastor invited me to participate in his church’s 190th anniversary. Can we even begin to imagine the kingdom impact of a rural congregation over the course 19 decades of ministry? Think about the total number of people saved and baptized or the number of Vacation Bible School cookies eaten on the premises or the total number of chickens that were fried for all the church luncheons. The numbers are unfathomable. The drive to this worship service was breathtakingly … [Read more...]
New website ready, let’s chat in KC
I hope you are making plans to attend the Missouri Baptist Convention’s (MBC) annual meeting in Kansas City Oct. 28-30. There will be tremendous preaching, singing and praying. MBC team leaders have been given the privilege of offering the prayers at this year’s meeting. I have the privilege of offering Tuesday evening’s (Oct. 29) invocation. It promises to be a great time of fellowship, too. One of the great things about the annual meeting is renewing acquaintances and meeting Pathway … [Read more...]