Words of comfort come easy to most of us – at least, as the saying goes, until we suffer a toothache ourselves or stub our own toes. But one wellspring of comfort never runs dry – namely, the life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Through the ages, Christians have sought comfort amid suffering by remembering the truths we celebrate on Christmas, Good Friday and Easter. Since Jesus lived and died for them, these Christians saw themselves in His story of suffering. In turn, … [Read more...]
Kids have problems, too!
“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” – Genesis 1:27 Sometimes we forget that children, as well as adults, have problems. We, perhaps, think that all we need to do to make them happy is to praise them and let them have a lot of fun. Not so! Children sometimes worry themselves to the point of sickness. They have an added problem. They often don’t have the vocabulary or experience to be able to explain their feelings to … [Read more...]
Why do people deconstruct their faith?
A recent phenomenon has hit evangelicalism. People who grew up attending church and expressing faith early in life are walking away from their previous professions. The inevitable result is young millennials either completely rejecting Christianity or severely wavering in what they still believe. The movement is called faith deconstruction, the process of unpacking, rethinking, and reexamining previously held beliefs. With such a significant shift taking place in our churches, how should … [Read more...]
Leadership in transition
Since we asked the Missouri Baptist Convention’s Executive Board on March 6 to launch a search for the next executive director, Sharon and I have received so many good wishes from Missouri Baptists and from believers all over the country. We are deeply humbled. We pray the transition creates an atmosphere of continuity throughout the search process while maintaining leadership clarity. This transition is a process of changing leaders with the least amount of disruption for the missionary … [Read more...]
Even Pi Day points us to the Alpha and Omega
Many moons ago, after surviving an algebra class in my freshman year of college, I bid adieu to mathematics and intended never to take up the subject again. Even in childhood, when for a short time I dreamed vaingloriously of studying astrophysics in the footsteps of the great Einstein himself, I disliked math – naturally, since few people love subjects they struggle to understand. On my wall hung a poster of Einstein, with words of hope for me: “Do not worry about your difficulties in … [Read more...]
Super-size your zeal, fervor, service
I’m going to be honest here, I’m the kind of person who would like to get a new car every year. It’s not about having a fancy car, mind you. I don’t really care about that. The reason I need a new one is that unless the car is new, I have no real way of knowing how many fries are between the seats. One potato, two potato…I really don’t know. I only know it has to be too, too many potatoes. A few months in, can it even be called a potato anymore? Also, what’s that smell? Even with … [Read more...]
Do you want to defend parental rights?
EDITOR'S NOTE: Timothy Faber serves as legislative liaison for the Missouri Baptist Convention. There are several bills in our state legislature this session that call for establishing a “Parental Bill of Rights.” Among them are HB627, Sb4, SB89, SB318, SB451, and SJR29. Each of them have some very good aspects. The final outcome will likely be some combination of these bills. It should be abundantly clear, however, that simply making a law does not solve the problem. In Scripture, we … [Read more...]
Missouri Senator aims to add sexual orientation, gender identity to state’s Human Rights Act
JEFFERSON CITY – The simple act of refusing to bake a cake landed Jack Phillips in trouble. The Colorado Human Rights Commission accused him of unlawful discrimination because he did not want to be a part of celebrating the “wedding” of a gay couple. Their push to force him to bake that celebratory cake was based on Colorado law, which prevents discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Missouri statute does not read the same. The Missouri Human Rights Act (as … [Read more...]
Comprehensive care, strategies
James, the first-century pastor of the embryonic church in Jerusalem, was given the task of instructing the diaspora with truth that honors God. James doesn’t pull any punches in his inspired writing to the churches scattered all over West Asia and the Middle East. Obviously, he knew that churches without clarity of truth tend to isolate themselves and drift into all kinds of aberrant behavior fueled by the flesh of humanity. As a result, they have the potential to discredit the Lord Jesus. … [Read more...]
‘Revive us again’: More than 25 HLGU students find Christ
Even as spiritual awakening moves across college campuses around the nation, Hannibal-LaGrange University experienced an outpouring of the Spirit during its spiritual emphasis week earlier this month. More than two dozen students professed faith in Christ, and many others were challenged to grow in their walk with Christ. “After 5 years of working in Student Life at HLGU, I never thought I would see the week that we just experienced on our campus. Though we often prayed for such things, it … [Read more...]
Baptist Homes announces ‘Welcome Home’ campaign
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article was written by Ronald Mackey, vice president of community engagement at Baptist Homes & Healthcare Ministries. Baptist Homes & Healthcare Ministries is in a dynamic growth cycle unlike anytime in our history. In the span of three years, we have grown from four campuses (Arcadia Valley, Chillicothe, Ozark, and Ashland, which is under construction) to eight campuses (adding Smithville, Independence, Adrian, and Vandalia)—with ongoing negotiations to … [Read more...]
Missouri a battleground for next generation
EDITOR'S NOTE: Timothy Faber is Legislative Liaison for the Missouri Baptist Convention. The 2023 legislative session is in full swing. ... In fact, at times they are in overdrive. One committee in the House began a hearing on several bills related to LGB and transgender issues in our public schools. The hearing lasted for over nine hours – until 2 o’clock in the morning! To the casual observer, it would simply seem that politicians are inefficient and cannot accomplish anything. But one … [Read more...]
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