Editor’s note: The following material was first introduced several years ago in a Discipleship Training Resource entitled, “Becoming a Disciple-making Church” by Steve J. Williams. It has been updated and is used by permission. This is the second of three articles. This article will look at four steps for making disciples: Step 1 – Refine your vision. All great disciple-making begins as a vision in someone’s heart. Every church needs a vision for disciple-making. It needs to be written … [Read more...]
KC-area church turning neglected kids into disciples
TOBIN PERRY/North American Mission Board LENEXA, Kan. – Westside Family Church feeds 3,000 kids daily in four countries. Families from the church have adopted more than 100 children in the United States and internationally. The Southern Baptist church helps fill backpacks with food for hungry children and teenagers. It is a regional support and training center for foster care and adoption in the Kansas City area. Yet, according to the Lenexa, Kan., church’s executive pastor Dan Chaverin, … [Read more...]
Despite ill health, Morris said ‘Yes’ to God’s call
CLAYCOMO – Although he faced health problems throughout his life, Harry Lee Morris, 93, could never resign from God’s call. “If God wants you to do something, you just don’t tell him, ‘I can’t do that,’” Morris said, May 23. That may explain why Morris has been a successful bivocational pastor for a number of Ray County churches and church plants for more than half a century. Morris, a Tennessee native, surrendered to the ministry and came to Missouri more than 60 years ago to study years … [Read more...]
LifeQuest Church reaches out on Easter
KANSAS CITY – LifeQuest Church reached out to various Kansas City communities during the Easter season, drawing several families to the church by the first week of May and leading 25 people to profess faith in Christ Jesus. LifeQuest Church, with campuses in the Belton and Pleasant Hill communities, hosted Easter Egg hunts and other events, April 18-19, that drew more than 4,000 people. They partnered with Parks and Recreation from the Raymore community to provide volunteers, candy, … [Read more...]
Anchor Church launches in downtown Sikeston
SIKESTON – Anchor Church launched publicly during a service here, April 13. The day was centered on the good news that Jesus gave His life on the cross and is risen so that man could be reconciled to the Father. The service was highlighted by seeing three people from Sikeston follow their spiritual conversion with New Testament baptism. There were 87 people gathered in the downtown Sikeston storefront to celebrate and hear the gospel. Anchor Church is led by Jason Davis, lead pastor, and … [Read more...]
Southwestern admits Muslim
Gary K. Ledbetter/Southern Baptist Texan FORT WORTH (BP) – A Palestinian Muslim who assisted Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s Gezer archaeological project in Israel was admitted to the school’s Ph.D. in archaeology program, in an apparent exception to the seminary’s admissions policy. Seminary President Paige Patterson told the Southern Baptist Texan that the student enrolled at Southwestern last year because “he had no other options for Ph.D. work in his field” and because … [Read more...]
Can Baptists talk to babies?
Several years ago, Presbyterian pastor and scholar Peter J. Leithart posed a question that could cause problems for Baptists who have young children or grandchildren: Can Baptists talk to babies? According to Leithart, it is logically inconsistent for Baptists to speak to their infants while also denying the validity of infant baptism (aka, paedobaptism). His argument is worth a brief summary and response. Summary “Protestants have always insisted that the sacraments bring no benefit … [Read more...]
‘Mission:Dignity’ blesses hundreds each month
DALLAS – Twenty-five dollars each month. That’s what Bobby Walker received when he went to his first pastorate. “He never made a decision for a pastorate on salary,” Tommie Walker said of her late husband. “He said ‘if God guides, He will provide.’” The Walkers’ testimony is not uncommon. A deep love for each other, and a commitment to the calling God has bestowed on them, characterized their marriage. “We never did have much of a salary, but God blessed us in so many ways; we had each … [Read more...]
Cowboy church leads people – and horses – forward
LINDA REDEFFER/Banner Press PATTON – Whether you’re horse or human, life can be a struggle. And horse or human, it takes a lot of trust to stay on the right path. Pat Patterson, a circuit-riding preacher, attempted to make the connection between trust and salvation to an 8-year-old wild mustang named Corazon, and to those humans who came to the Lamplighter Cowboy Church near Patton April 5-6, to see Patterson work with the horse and to connect with their Savior the way the horse began to … [Read more...]
How Islam makes and defines peace
In the wake of 9/11 and subsequent acts of terror in the name of Allah, many Muslim leaders labor to buff the tarnished image of the religion Mohammad founded nearly 1,400 years ago. Their key message: Islam is a religion of peace. No doubt many of the world’s Muslims prefer peace to the sword, decrying the acts of Islamist terrorists as perversions of true Islam. And to be fair, Islam is a religion of peace, as long as peace is defined in Muslim terms. A case in point: … [Read more...]
Fixing the SBC
Considering the complex issues swirling around the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), I’m not sure anyone has a definitive word on how to fix what ails us, especially as we rub against a culture increasingly more hostile to the gospel. There is no silver bullet to fix all that plagues our great convention of churches. Truth is, we are broken people, raised by broken parents, living in a broken world, and our only hope is the transformational power of the Lord Jesus to fix our brokenness. … [Read more...]
Pre-K baptisms on the rise
John Mark Yeats, Contributing Writer Kansas City – The week of May 17 the North American Mission Board (NAMB) released the results from its baptism task force. A key study, the desire was to find out why Baptism rates in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) are plateaued and declining. Over the last few years, accusations and suspicions have flown from different sections of the convention. Some laid the blame at the feet of Calvinists; others at failing discipleship or a lack of … [Read more...]
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