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...]
How do you stop a revolving door?
When I approached the revolving door with my luggage, I thought to myself, “This might not be pretty.” The door was spinning at an abnormal rate. And this wasn’t a single-person revolving door. It appeared that each section could host one and 3/4 of a person. How you dealt with 3/4 of a person in a revolving door was not a problem I preferred to solve at the moment. I did calculate that getting in the revolving system was an easier proposition than getting out. That is, getting out with … [Read more...]
New VBS resource helps churches ‘go, tell’ worldwide
NASHVILLE (BP) – Packing for your next mission trip may have just gotten a whole lot easier. LifeWay Christian Resources has produced a new Vacation Bible School program called "Go & Tell Kids" to serve as a gospel presentation tool that's easy to transport to the mission field and works anywhere. "'Go & Tell Kids' is themeless, meaning people don't have to drag a bunch of stuff with them halfway around the world, and it's stripped of uniquely American cultural references," said … [Read more...]
‘Until He comes back, He will call evangelists’
JEFFERSON CITY – Connoisseurs of culture have long predicted the death of the vocational evangelist. Such was the case in the 1920s, when author Sinclair Lewis penned the satirical novel, Elmer Gantry, mocking the great American evangelist Billy Sunday. Like many others at the time, he thought the era of the evangelist had seen its heyday pass. Never could he have imagined how, only a few decades later, the evangelistic ministry of Billy Graham would begin – a ministry that would impact … [Read more...]
GCC breakouts highlight hope, faith in action
ST. CHARLES – In addition to the main speakers at the Great Commission Conference Feb. 22-24, attendees heard from a wide variety of breakout session leaders further breaking down the event’s theme of being ambassadors of hope for transformation. Bill Victor, regional collegiate ministry coordinator for the Missouri Baptist Convention, led a session on the intersection of faith and politics, a topic not often considered a way for Christians to bring about hope and transformation. While … [Read more...]
New US citizen says immigrants hungry for gospel
COLUMBIA – Regardless of the politics or legal arguments surrounding immigration, one thing is clear: they need Jesus. One of the United States’ newest citizens knows that first hand. Omar Segovia, the Missouri Baptist Convention’s ethnic church planting catalyst, was born in Chile, but immigrated with his family to Canada when he was six. He grew up there as a Canadian, but more importantly, he grew up around people who cared about his family and shared the gospel with them. They … [Read more...]
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