GREEN CITY – Carroll Walker hunted and fished like many Missouri men. He took up archery in order to extend the hunting season and spend more time outdoors. Then a tragic farming accident handed him a disability that threatened his way of life – if he didn’t find a way to overcome it. Walker, 65, has become a competitive archer and a good one at that. In fact he rarely misses his target. All this with only one arm. In 1978 Walker was operating a grain auger on his north Missouri farm. … [Read more...]
Nik Ripken to lead ‘Crucible’ conference
SPRINGFIELD – Nik Ripken is returning to Missouri in October to lead a three-day conference called “Servants in the Crucible.” The IMB missionary and author of “The Insanity of God,” broke Missouri Baptist hearts for deep lostness while speaking at the 2014 state evangelism conference. “People don’t usually invite me back,” Ripken said in 2014. Now, he’s returning. “I’m not sure where Americans are going. But I think witness precedes church-planting movements. The primary place to worship … [Read more...]
‘CORE’ conference to challenge messengers to make disciples
SPRINGFIELD – Missouri Baptists will be encouraged and exhorted to take the gospel out into the world and make disciples during two “CORE” sessions as part of the Missouri Baptist Convention’s (MBC) annual meeting here. The two sessions – Oct. 27 at 2:45 and 6:30 p.m. – will be led by Alvin Reid, professor of evangelism and student ministry at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Greg Stier, popular Christian author and speaker who equips teenagers to relationally share the … [Read more...]
Wayland churchgoer ministers in workplace
WAYLAND — Jeff Boyd doesn’t see his ministry as doing much for God. But he has seen trucker attitudes change when he can engage them in spiritual conversation. Boyd, a member of Southern Baptist Fellowship Church in Wayland, loads and unloads trucks and loads acid in railroad cars for Climax in Keokuk, Iowa, which produces molybdenum products for other metal manufacturers. He had put a Gideon’s bible on a table in the truck driver’s lounge some six years ago. One day it was gone and a … [Read more...]
Training church members as missionaries
Jesus began His earthly ministry with laity from a variety of backgrounds. By the time the Holy Spirit indwelled them permanently in Acts 2, most of the disciples exhibited mission-specific transformations. If Peter, who began with no missions training—and was likely illiterate—had jumped straight into ministry, he would have likely gone into humanitarian work doing something like helping people learn to fish. However, after being with Jesus and the Twelve, Peter developed speaking and … [Read more...]
Preparations begin for Crossover: St. Louis
FERGUSON – A group of more than 200 pastors and Christian leaders gathered at the First Baptist Church of Ferguson on the day violence occurred in the early morning hours sparked by the one-year anniversary weekend of the shooting death of Michael Brown by a Ferguson police officer. Leaders from both sides of the Mississippi met together to hear the plans for and the challenges of Crossover St. Louis, which will precede the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) annual meeting, June … [Read more...]
Free evangelistic horse whisperer show coming to Fair’s Opening Day
SEDALIA – James Frazier wrestled steers and manhandled broncs as a rodeo cowboy in his youth, but at 45, he has found a calmer, quieter, not to mention safer, way of bringing an animal with a bad attitude in to submission: talking to it. Frazier will host a free horse whispering demonstration 10 a.m. Aug. 13 at the Mathewson Exhibition Center at the Missouri State Fair. Admission to the Fair is normally $10 for adults and $7 for seniors, but on the 13th, Opening Day, admission is $4 for … [Read more...]
O’Fallon church growing Christ’s presence in community
O’FALLON – First Baptist O’Fallon (FBCO) in suburban St. Louis seeks to grow God’s church – not necessarily only the local congregation – through a renewed outreach program focusing on spreading Christ’s message. Senior Pastor Richard Young explained the program: “We are providing an opportunity for church members to take the good news of Christ to the community in a variety of ways: personal visits, phone calls, cards and letters, and intercessory prayer.” Since January, members have … [Read more...]
Six questions with Nik Ripken
Editor’s note: Nik Ripken (a pseudonym for security reasons) is a veteran IMB missionary and author who conducted 600 interviews in 72 countries where believers live amid persecution and suffering. Mark Snowden, MBC evangelism/discipleship strategist, interviewed him by phone for The Pathway on July 7. Q: How should Christians respond to an increasingly hostile culture where moral decline and even legislation is perceived as increasingly anti-biblical? Nik: The Bible says we reap what we … [Read more...]
After five years, is there a Great Commission Resurgence?
When the gavel dropped to end the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in Columbus, Ohio, it also marked the fifth anniversary of “a vision for a Great Commission Resurgence” that was adopted by messengers during the 2010 business sessions in Orlando, Fla. In a nutshell, a blue ribbon task force – named by then SBC President Johnny Hunt, pastor of First Baptist Church, Woodstock, Ga., and led by Ronnie Floyd, pastor of Cross Church, Northwest Ark., who now serves as president of … [Read more...]
Bikers find lostness on I-29
FARGO, N.D. – Philip Dooley’s tires on his KTM 990 Adventure crunched over dirt roads, then glided softly through the grass as he stopped in front of the old, abandoned church house. Nestled in the hills of South Dakota’s Lake Traverse Indian Reservation, the house of worship had long been shuttered. “It’s the perfect illustration of why planting new churches is so important here,” said Dooley, the interim pastor of First Baptist Church, Gower, Mo., and part of the Missouri Baptist Biker … [Read more...]
Impactful evangelism ideas – Part 2 of 3
What works best to share the gospel message among those where you live? Here are several ideas that church leaders across Missouri have considered or are doing. 1. Recruit and train Christian music groups to conduct a musical festival at a special event. Raise money for backpacks to help poor children to be ready for school. 2. Ask an elementary school principal for the name and contact information of a newly immigrated child. Have families in the church adopt the child and their … [Read more...]
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