I have written nearly 400 of these columns as editor of The Pathway and I am certain that this is one of the most important. The importance does not lie in my prose or in who I am. It lies in its subject matter. By the time you read this, the Missouri Senate will have begun spirited debate on one of the most essential pieces of legislation in its history. It is known as Senate Joint Resolution 39 (SJR 39), or the Missouri Religious Freedom Amendment. If approved, something that at this … [Read more...]
Counterfeit Love
“Love you!” “Love you, too!” I hear these words almost every time my children phone me and we say goodbye. I also hear these words often at church as members say goodbye after meetings. It is common to hear these words in public places, as well. One might think there is a lot of love going around! Perhaps many of the love messages we hear are sincere. That is such a good, wonderful, feeling to know that Christian brothers and sisters in the church family and children in the … [Read more...]
Matching up sensible, humble thinking
If happiness is having all the laundry done, I’m pretty sure no one has ever been happy. Laundry success is too often defined as digging through the basket of clean clothes for two socks that match. As opposed to digging through the heap of the dirty laundry you’re composting on the floor. Of course, you still may end up wearing socks that don’t match. But hey, maybe it’s all part of an elaborate plan to keep us laundry-humble. Yesterday it took me all day to put away my smallest load of … [Read more...]
The inspiration of Scripture
This is the first in a series of columns on the inspiration, inerrancy, infallibility, and sufficiency of Scripture. When Christians say the Bible is true, we often use terms to describe the manner in which God has spoken to us through His written Word. One such term is “inspired.” But what does that mean? God-breathed The apostle Paul writes in 2 Tim. 3:16, “All Scripture is inspired by God …” The phrase “inspired by God” comes from the Greek theopneustos. It means “God-breathed” and … [Read more...]
Synergistically more
The Calgary Stampede is one of the best rodeos in North America. Randy Frazee writes in Think, Act, Believe Like Jesus that one of the most thrilling events at the rodeo is the Heavy Horse Pull. I couldn’t agree more. To witness the muscles, the strength, the snorting, and the snap of the bridle is amazing. Seeing and hearing these enormously powerful animals pull a loaded sled is an indescribable experience. Frazee repeats the story of one of the horses pulling 9,000 pounds, while the … [Read more...]
Religious freedom battle about to heat up
Last summer Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) Executive Director John Yeats asked me to organize a statewide effort to strengthen Missouri’s religious freedom laws following the U.S. Supreme Court decision that redefined marriage. For four months I had the privilege of leading discussions about the matter with lawmakers, State Capitol staffers and First Amendment scholars and attorneys. I am pleased to say that through hard work and much prayer a bill has been crafted and is being sponsored … [Read more...]
Gather the elders (Part 2)
The 2016 Evangelism Conference is a wrap. What an extraordinary event! I’m even more convinced than ever that the Lord is up to something marvelous in the heartland. In a nutshell, here is what we did: “Consecrate a fast, Proclaim a solemn assembly; GATHER THE ELDERS and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord.” (Joel 1:14) “Gather my saints together unto me …” (Psalm 50:5a) Every once in a while some “moment” happens and it is so … [Read more...]
Missouri Baptist Dee Wampler: Spreading ‘In God We Trust’
Political correctness has been a three-decade-long attempt by the left to restrict the First Amendment rights of those who disagree with them. The late New York Times columnist William Safire researched the phraseology and discovered it had originated in Communist literature in the early 20th century. Philosopher Philip Atkinson describes it this way: “(Political correctness) is the communal tyranny that erupted in the 1980s. It was a spontaneous declaration that particular ideas, … [Read more...]
Six similarities of Islam and Mormonism
Satan is clever but not original. He cannot create, procreate, raise the dead, or inspire Scripture. But he can take things God created for good and twist them for his evil purposes. He is especially proficient in false religions, from Algard Wicca to Zoroastrianism. While the world’s wayward faiths are diverse, the evil one’s fingerprints are on all of them. To illustrate, let’s look at similar patterns in two very different belief systems: Islam and Mormonism. It would seem these … [Read more...]
The electorate and America’s destiny
A clear division of responsibilities between the government and the church was a needed principle that emerged out of the Protestant Reformation. The duty of the church is to pray for the government and to be supportive as long as it does not require the church to do something that contradicts God’s Word. The government is responsible for guaranteeing the freedom of the church and to protect the church from those that would seek to destroy it – and it does so without favoring any particular … [Read more...]
Crazy-thirsty for Christ
She just wanted a drink of water. That’s all the girl wanted. I was visiting my daughter Kaley while we worked on a book. Being a gracious hostess, she took the blow-up mattress on the floor and gave me her bed. Her apartment was cute but with a sort of hobbit-sized bedroom, so with the air mattress, bed, dresser and my suitcase, there was not really any part of the floor still showing. Which would’ve been fine. Except that in the night, Kaley wanted that drink of water. She was … [Read more...]
A 20-year-old prayer and God’s faithfulness
God’s answers to prayer are grounded in God’s graciousness and faithfulness. But He will not answer if we do not petition Him. An examination of Scripture reveals that Christian prayer has always been essentially petitionary. Thus prayer should be part of our everyday lives. We may ask God for spiritual and material needs (though the latter should be subordinated to the former), letting God know the desires of one’s heart (Job 6:8; Ps. 21:2; Phil. 4:6). I, like many of you, have been … [Read more...]
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