JEFFERSON CITY – Mark Snowden, evangelism/discipleship strategist for the Missouri Baptist Convention has been picking apart the Annual Church Profile (ACP) data on baptisms, reaching out to churches of various sizes that report the most baptisms and compiling their success stories. “Each year we celebrate categories of churches based on size,” Snowden said. “Missouri Baptists call this the Pacesetters. I asked several of the pastors and ministers of missions how they had baptisms and what … [Read more...]
Yeats: Passing the baton of God’s truth to the next generation
Dennis and Barbara Rainey tell the story of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards. This colonial couple left a legacy that was much larger than either of them could have imagined. The Raineys write, “Jonathan Edwards felt God’s call to become a minister. He and his young bride began a pastorate in a small congregation. During the years that followed, he wrote many sermons, prayers and books, and was influential in beginning the Great Awakening. Together they produced 11 children who grew into … [Read more...]
Study: Cremation gaining acceptance
Bob Smietana/Baptist Press NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) – Cremation may be the new American response to death, according to a survey by LifeWay Research. The study, which surveyed 1,036 Americans, shows that about 4 in 10 (41 percent) say they plan to be cremated. Six in ten (58 percent) say being cremated won’t keep you from being resurrected to live in heaven. And few (14 percent) say cremation is wrong. The LifeWay online survey reflects the growing acceptance of cremation, which has become … [Read more...]
What has the Lord sent you to say?
Journalists are notoriously a tough crowd. Some go to prison rather than divulge a source. A few are imprisoned or even shot for being mistaken as spies. They take the heat from important people for holding them accountable. And Christian journalists have no fewer pressures as they work hard to accurately explain how God is at work. You may not be a journalist, but do you have a message of salvation from God? And how will you share it with those who need to hear it? Personal meet-up? Hand … [Read more...]
Christian worldview called ‘map of reality’
HANNIBAL – As the first speaker at the 2014 Missouri Baptist Convention Worldview Conference April 3, Anthony Allen prefaced the day’s topics with a basic understanding of what a Christian worldview is. Allen, the president of Hannibal-LaGrange University, which hosted the conference, said a Christian worldview means the gospel has a bearing on every aspect of life, including culture. It is the idea behind Eph. 6:12: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, … [Read more...]
Hobby Lobby attorney: Return to self-government
HANNIBAL – As a member of the legal team that defended Hobby Lobby before United States Supreme Court, University of Missouri law professor Joshua Hawley told participants at the Missouri Baptist Convention’s Worldview Conference, April 3, that they must bring their faith to bear in the public sphere. “We are charged to carry into politics and into public God’s purpose for government and political society,” Hawley said, “to advocate for a truly just society, for human freedom, for the … [Read more...]
Apologist: Our decisions have eternal consequences
HANNIBAL – When Rob Phillips searched the Internet for answers to the question, “What happens when I die?” he found more than 312 million responses. “Your worldview drives your answers,” the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) communications director and North American Mission Board (NAMB) certified apologist said during the MBC’s Worldview Conference at Hannibal-LaGrange University, April 3. After reading Luke 16:19-31, where a rich man and a poor man named Lazarus lived and died, … [Read more...]
Does the Bible prove preexistence?
Our Mormon friends teach the doctrine of eternal progression. Among other things, it means that all people were born into the spirit world – through sexual relations between God and one of his wives – prior to taking on earthly bodies. As Mormon.org puts it: “Your life didn’t begin at birth and it won’t end at death. Before you came to earth, your spirit lived with Heavenly Father who created you. You knew Him, and He knew and loved you. It was a happy time during which you were taught … [Read more...]
Ukraine: MO churches partner with Ukrainian Baptist Seminary
LVIV, Ukraine – Although he was born under the shadow of the Soviet regime, 36-year-old Baptist seminary President Yaroslav “Slavik” Pyzh never imagined that he would now face what, according to some news agencies, could become “the worst East-West crisis since the Cold War.” With support from Missouri Baptist churches, Pyzh and his students at the Ukrainian Baptist Theological Seminary labor to spread the hope of the gospel throughout Ukraine as Russia amasses and shuffles its troops … [Read more...]
Smiling at the future – with or without cavities
I hear if you put a Whitman’s Sampler under your pillow, the cavity fairy will bring you … a $200 invoice from your dentist. If you try it, you should know that while the midnight snacking is awesome, there most likely will be some time in the chair in your future. On the other hand, you’ll probably be smiling all the way to the dentist. Personally, I’ve been trying to come up with new ways to fight tooth decay while also utilizing my time more efficiently. Like this morning I’m putting … [Read more...]
Canaan Baptist sends team to West Africa
ST. LOUIS – Canaan Baptist Church here sent a four-person mission team across the world, Jan. 19-Feb. 2, to proclaim God’s Word among an unreached, unengaged people group in West Africa. According to Canaan Baptist pastor Daniel Carr, the recent mission team went to West Africa with the express purpose of sharing the gospel. “We’re not there to build buildings. We’re not there to help out with humanitarian relief. We’re there to share the gospel,” Carr said, explaining that such … [Read more...]
Revival sweeps across Southeast Missouri
MOREHOUSE – Randy Conn understands the difference between a revival meeting and a revival. He and others in the Charleston Baptist Association are seeing the results of a real revival. Five churches in the association finished simultaneous March revival services in a two-week span with some outstanding results: 59 professions of faith, resulting in18 baptisms so far, and 10 rededications. The participating churches were First Baptist, Morehouse; First Baptist, East Prairie; First … [Read more...]
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