O’FALLON – Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee President and Chief Executive Officer Dr. Frank Page said in a recent missions conference that problems in SBC mission efforts is due to churches placing priorities on activity rather than close relationships with Christ. Page made the comment at First O’Fallon on October 24 in concluding remarks to the church’s annual missions conference. He cautioned that churches should not be so busy with religious activities that they leave … [Read more...]
FBC O’Fallon puts global missions in the spotlight
O’FALLON – Though most new years begin in January, at First Baptist Church, O’Fallon, October kicks off the year for one of the suburban St. Louis congregation’s biggest ministry priorities. The church’s recent annual Global Missions Conference (GMC) celebrated activities the church accomplished in the last 12 months, and introduced mission partnerships and short-term trips for the coming year. The five-day emphasis involved 12 missionaries in multiple events, several dozen church … [Read more...]
Ripken: Persecuted Christians see miracle of everday U.S. churches
SPRINGFIELD – The International Mission Board’s Nik Ripken opened a window on the realities facing persecuted believers worldwide and on the way those believers view American Christianity during the Missouri Baptist Convention annual meeting, Oct. 28. “There is no free church and persecuted church,” Ripken said. “There is just the church. And it is always persecuted and it is always free. And when any part of your body is hurting and you’re not aware of it, and you’re not concerned about … [Read more...]
Luncheon highlights MBC partnership with Italy
SPRINGFIELD – MBC Annual Meeting participants heard Charles Worthy, Connecting Leader for Italy with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board, as he spoke at the partnership missions luncheon here. Rick Hedger, team leader for the MBC Missional Evangelism/Discipleship Team, cast the vision for 15 Missouri churches to agree to partner with three regions of Italy: Veneto, Tentino Alto and Friuli Venezia Giulia. These are all in the northeastern part of Italy, and each region has … [Read more...]
Why non-westerners reject the gospel
Missionaries to Muslims often report resistance to the gospel message – not because Muslims reject Jesus as a great prophet, but because the Qur’an denies the doctrines of original sin and the atonement. The idea of natural-born sinners runs counter to the Islamic belief that man is basically good but ignorant of Allah’s will. This may be overcome by repeating the shahada – “There is no god but Allah; Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah” – and by embracing the five pillars of Islam. In … [Read more...]
Baptists poised to seize moment in S. Sudan
JUBA, South Sudan (BP) – While United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon alluded to “a new window of opportunity” for peace in war-torn and famine-stricken South Sudan, one missionary there said “the window is small” for sharing the Gospel in the world’s youngest nation. Ban was speaking Sept. 29 at a high-level meeting of the U.N. as part of its General Assembly debates, which included leaders from around the world. Ban said it is “a pivotal moment” for the country of South … [Read more...]
Faith-based schools face LGBT dilemmas
ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WNS) – In the months since the Supreme Court decided same-sex marriage should be legal throughout the United States, faith-based high schools have entered a new frontier. While some Christian schools are fighting to teach biblical views on sexuality, others have changed to fit in. Last week, Lance Sanderson was sent home from his all-boys high school in Tennessee. He asked the administration for permission to bring a boy to Christian Brothers High School’s homecoming … [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...]
MBTS’s ‘For the Church’ event defends biblical truth
KANSAS CITY (BP) – As society’s view of truth continues to change, attendees at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s second annual For the Church Conference were urged to lead their churches and ministries in becoming pillars and buttresses of truth. More than 1,000 pastors, students and ministry leaders from across America packed into the Kansas City campus’ Daniel Lee Chapel complex to attend panel discussions, workshops, and main sessions with messages by Jason Allen, Russell … [Read more...]
Hope in a backpack for hungry children
MORIARTY, N.M. – For most school-age children, weekends are a highly anticipated time of fun and freedom. But for others, there’s another expectation – hunger. These kids live in a survival cycle, taking multiple trips through the cafeteria line at school – stocking-up at lunch on Friday and catching up at breakfast on Monday –to compensate for the food that is in short supply (or even unavailable) on the days in between. Pastor Dennis Garcia of The People Church in Moriarty, N.M., knows … [Read more...]
Italy next up for partnership missions
JEFFERSON CITY – If approved by messengers to the annual meeting in October, Missouri Baptists will form a new, four-year partnership for missions with Italy beginning Jan. 1, 2016. The initial plan was approved by the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) executive board July 14 based on the recommendation of Rick Hedger, MBC partnership missions specialist. Hedger has been praying for Italy and seeking the next MBC partnership for two years, and said God has laid the former … [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...]
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