In the last edition of The Pathway, I shared a story about trying to enjoy a “date night” with my beautiful wife, Tara, shortly after an EF4 tornado devastated Mayfield, Ky. (Read it here). As you might recall, the restaurant we chose that evening was about a 25-minute drive from our home, and I explained how disturbed I was for everyone around us to act so normal. Internally, I questioned how they could be unaware of the devastation just a few miles away, or I wondered if they simply … [Read more...]
Pray against, vote against, preach against pro-abortion Amendment 3
UPDATE (Sept. 10): The Missouri Supreme Court ruled on Sept. 10 that Amendment 3, which – if passed – will codify expansive abortion rights within the Missouri Constitution, must be placed on the state ballot, Nov. 5. Read more here. As I write these words, the fate of one of the most radical challenges to our constitutional order in the state of Missouri – namely, the proposed pro-abortion Amendment 3 – is being weighed in the state court system. Why do I call this legislation radical? I … [Read more...]
New school year, same mission
by Shane Pruitt For many students and ministries, the start of a new school year feels the same as New Year’s resolutions for many adults. Most students see returning to school as offering more new opportunities and better chances to start over compared to the beginning of a new calendar year. As leaders, we tend to feel the pressure of overthinking what we will do differently in our ministries each school year. We want to be innovative, creative, and think outside the box or even crash … [Read more...]
Unpacking worries with the God of peace
Sometimes I worry about me. The other day I accidentally stepped on my computer bag and then apologized to it because I thought it was my dog. Then I laughed and explained to it, “Oh, I thought you were the dog.” I explained to it. My bag and I had a moment, ya’ll. I should worry a little, right? Worry tends to sneak up on me now and then anyway. I’m amused at how sincere I am when I smile and toss out a casual “Either way, no worries” to a friend. I truly don’t want that friend to … [Read more...]
Texting: the tool churches are underutilizing
by Braden Cross BRENTWOOD, Tenn. – Historically, email has been the go-to tool for church communication. But if you’re on staff at a church, you’ve likely started to realize communicating through email isn’t working as well as it used to. Church announcements get overlooked, volunteer requests go unseen, and visitor follow-up often slips through the cracks. Open rates have dropped drastically the past few years and now sit at roughly 25%. Twenty. Five. Percent. That means, on average, … [Read more...]
How can we act so normal?
Shortly after a violent EF4 tornado hit my hometown of Mayfield, Ky., in December of 2021, my wife convinced me to take an evening off and enjoy a “date night.” I realize it sounds awkward to say she had to convince me, but we were living in a rather unique context. Due to the tornado, our staff had been serving the community virtually non-stop for weeks. We helped families with food, water, clothes, shelter, transportation, home repair, and many other necessities. Basically, regardless … [Read more...]
‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge’
This month, campus life and classes are ramping up at Cooperative Program-supported schools, like Hannibal-LaGrange University, Missouri Baptist University, Southwest Baptist University and Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary/Spurgeon College. Across the state, Missouri Baptist churches and associations have in recent years begun—or are expanding—their own educational programs: for example, churches like Crossway Baptist, Springfield; Heritage Baptist and Hillcrest Baptist, Lebanon; … [Read more...]
Three types of dangerous leaders
Lately, I have had an opportunity to pull back from all the busy activities of ministry and to simply stop, reflect, and think. I have learned and grown from personal experience, watching a few incredible leaders and some, not-so-great leaders. During the past 10 years, I’ve learned about three dangerous kinds of leaders: 1. The solo-leader. There’s always one or two of these in every leadership team. The one who has the mentality that ministry is about himself/herself and is not … [Read more...]
Friends with lasting impact
Trip and fall in front of your friends? Anytime that happens, the best thing to do is to just bounce right back up and keep on going. To the airport. Then leave the country. Maybe change your name. It’s not easy to save face after one of those inelegant face-plants. Been there, planted that. I think I once accidentally ate a little dirt. The last time I took a tumble there was no dirt-eating, but I think I do remember the faint taste of carpet. It was in a busy hallway at church. … [Read more...]
How to pray when you don’t feel like praying
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article was first published on Baptist Press here. Are you motivated to pray? The word “motivation” doesn’t appear in older dictionaries since it wasn’t coined until the mid-19th century and didn’t come into common use until the 20th century. The question of why we act as we do gave rise to a field of psychology determined to analyze the “motivation” of personal choices. Interest in the psychology of motivation continues to the present. What does any of this have to … [Read more...]
Pray, give, go, send
My wife, Tara, describes her recent trip to Zambia My beautiful wife, Tara, was recently blessed with an opportunity to serve alongside a few of our International Mission Board missionaries in Zambia. Simply put, the experience was incredible! For this edition of The Pathway, Tara would like to briefly share about her journey. I pray you enjoy her reflections, consider her requests, and always remember our mission to reach the nations. “And Jesus went throughout all the cities and … [Read more...]
Pray, give to see Scripture available in all languages
A few years ago, at the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting, the International Mission Board (IMB) gave Southern Baptists the opportunity to help provide Bibles for people groups across the globe—particularly, for people groups who don’t have access to Scripture in their heart languages. To mark the occasion, Southern Baptists who participated in this effort could highlight a verse from Scripture displayed in the IMB’s booth. My wife and I highlighted Revelation 5:6, which exalts … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- …
- 129
- Next Page »