In his recent Moody Press release, The Forgotten Church, Glenn Daman accentuated the current reality that rural America is a mission field. Rural America has often been thought of in terms of Norman Rockwell paintings long before there was an Ozzie and Harriett of the 60s and a Duck Dynasty of early 2000s. When Sharon and I led Pray Across Missouri 2017-2018, we met people from all 114 counties in Missouri at their County Courthouses for prayer. We met some really great people from rural … [Read more...]
Hazelwood stirs hope in hotel residents
HAZELWOOD – Sometimes staying in a hotel is no vacation. “There are hotels in Hazelwood that cater to people who are homeless,” said Jim Walker, lead pastor at Hazelwood Baptist Church (HBC), located in northwest St. Louis County. “They are families who get evicted because they couldn’t make rent or because outstanding utility bills overwhelm them and they’ve exhausted their other options. They are living week to week or even day by day.” Seeing the need and desiring to do something about … [Read more...]
Viburnum FBC’s outreach blesses local families, widow
VIBURNUM – She had a 6-foot-wide hole in her roof and a 55-gallon drum catching rainwater in her living room. Retired after 35 years in the Viburnum school district and now living with her son who was diagnosed with cancer, Love Thy Neighbor gave this elderly widow a brand new roof. “I was on that crew and every person except me had her as a teacher,” said Justin Perry, pastor at First Baptist Church here. “While the crew worked, she cried tears of joy and told story after story about … [Read more...]
Concert to expand youth outreach
LICKING – For the last two years. Boone Creek Baptist Church has used an in-church concert to reach youth. This year, it’s going out into the community. The Hot Summer Kickoff will be May 19 at the Intercounty Pavilion in the Licking city park, with food served at 5, and the concert activities follow, according to Delta Hernandez, who with husband Dusty, oversees the Boone Creek Youth program. Both the concert and a meal before it are being offered to youth for free, with the church … [Read more...]
Reformation translators open Scripture to millions
VILVOORDE, Belgium – As the year 1535 faded into autumn and the weather turned cold, an Englishman charged with heresy and jailed in the Vilvoorde Castle here scribbled a note in Latin to his keepers. Could they bring him a warmer cap, coat and leggings? And also a lamp, he added, “for it is tiresome to sit alone in the dark.” “But above all,” he wrote, “I beg and entreat your clemency earnestly to intercede with the lord commissary, that he would deign to allow me the use of my Hebrew … [Read more...]
Calvary Baptist, Republic, reaches, equips senior adults for multi-generational ministry
REPUBLIC— Though retirement isn’t necessarily on Denny Marr’s radar, he still loves cheering on his fellow Baby Boomers as they leave the workforce and are able to give more of their time and energy to their church and to the kingdom of God. “Senior adults are probably the greatest untapped resource the church has,” said Marr, senior adults and pastoral care pastor at Calvary Baptist Church here. “Their wisdom, their time – our church needs them. And while I certainly don’t want to wear … [Read more...]
Tell me about it
Resurrection Sunday is the greatest day for local churches. If I had a wand, I would wish that every church, every Sunday, had a celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. As soon as the day was winding down, I sent out an email blast to about 100 pastors, asking them about their day. Several responded: “We baptized 15 people in Shoal Creek today. Air temp: 31 degrees. Heart temp: off the charts!”— John Swadley, Joplin, Forest Park “Baptized a 35-year-old newly married man today. A 30-year-old … [Read more...]
The hope of Martin Luther King Jr.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (BP) – The apostle Paul’s second letter to Timothy is believed to be his last. While personalized to Timothy and his work in Ephesus, clearly the teaching of the letter was intended for more readers. At the time of his writing, Paul was in prison likely facing execution, and because of this, as Calvin notes, “all that we read here ... ought to be viewed by us as written not with ink but with Paul’s own blood” for what he was suffering and sacrificing. Timothy was losing … [Read more...]
Movements of God: Professions of faith rise to 328-plus at Fort Leonard Wood Army base
FORT LEONARD WOOD – In less than a month, more than 328 United States Army trainees and soldiers professed faith in Christ during chapel services on the military base at Fort Leonard Wood. As reported in the March 27 edition of The Pathway, more than 200 soldiers and trainees professed faith in Christ during chapel services on March 11 and March 18, according to Southern Baptist Chaplain, Captain Jose Rondon. But, on Easter Sunday (April 1), the number of soldiers and trainees professing … [Read more...]
‘Shorty’ the church bus: An unlikely evangelism tool
MUSKOGEE, Okla. (BP) -- Many churches now operate a bus ministry which usually involves transportation of members and visitors from the church to their home and vice versa. However, Timothy Baptist Church in Muskogee, Okla., has an interesting bus ministry that takes the church into the community. "Shorty is a small, old school bus that I kind of had the idea for and shared it with some people in the church," said Kelly Payne, the church's pastor. "The idea was to find a bus that we … [Read more...]
‘The most unreached place in North America’: Springfield family plants churches in Montreal
MONTREAL, Canada – Soon after James Copeland, the former missions pastor at Ridgecrest Baptist Church, Springfield, moved his family to Montreal, he met a self-described atheist named Michael. Over time, Copeland’s friendship with Michael grew. And nearly five months later Michael admitted that he’d been watching the worship services at Renaissance Church online – an English-language congregation near the heart of Montreal where Copeland serves as the lead pastor. Today, Michael attends … [Read more...]
Opera singer from Brazil sparks Vienna house church
VIENNA (BP) -- When Maria* began to feel God nudging her to share Christ with Persians, she didn't know exactly what a Persian was. (There's no Persian language and no Persia on the map.) But within a week Maria met a girl from Iran. When Maria asked what language she spoke, the girl said "Persian," so Maria invited the young lady to study the Bible. Maria didn't set out to start a new Persian church. She was just obeying God. But that Bible study has now grown to over 100 people -- a … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- …
- 28
- Next Page »