Omaha, Neb. – The newly organized, 11-man Interstate 29/49 Corridor Task Force met in Omaha May 17 to discuss strategy and begin to lay the groundwork for taking the gospel into unreached areas in the region. Five state conventions are participating in the task force: the Baptist Convention of Iowa, the Dakota Baptist Convention, the Kansas-Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists, the Minnesota-Wisconsin Baptist Convention and the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC). Missouri Baptists’ … [Read more...]
Pathway wins four national awards
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The Pathway garnered national recognition by winning four awards at the Baptist Communicators Association (BCA) annual meeting here April 19. Up against competition from other state Baptist newspapers, Baptist college public relations offices, Baptist Press and agencies like the International Mission Board, The Pathway garnered one first place award, two second place and one third place in the annual competition. “While we are humbled by this recognition by our … [Read more...]
Churches urged to consider marriage policy
JEFFERSON CITY – With the U.S. Supreme Court weighing the issue of gay marriage and the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act, now is a good time for Missouri Baptist churches to develop policies that clearly define their biblical stance on marriage. That’s the advice of Michael K. Whitehead, the Missouri Baptist Convention’s (MBC) chief legal advisor and principal of Whitehead Law Firm LLC in Kansas City. “Southern Baptist churches around the country are considering ways to … [Read more...]
When did it become unconstitutional?
Perhaps the most important question asked in the Supreme Court during the two days of argument on gay marriage was a rhetorical question posed by Associate Justice Antonin Scalia to pro-gay marriage attorney Ted Olson. “When did it become unconstitutional to exclude homosexual couples from marriage?” Implicit in the question “when did it change” is the question “who changed it?” The answer to those questions exposes the fundamental difference between two competing worldviews in the … [Read more...]
New Omaha, Neb., church aided by MBC
OMAHA, Neb.—With the help of the Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC), Changed Life Church launched Jan. 13 with some 200 people in attendance at Burke High School. They have been averaging more than 100 ever since. Pastor Craig Liscom said one of the most compelling values at the heart of the church is its focus on the concept of restarting over. “We believe that when you open the pages of the Bible that some of the people who lived the greatest lives for God at some point needed a … [Read more...]
Cooperative Program Day arrives April 14
JEFFERSON CITY – What do your tithes and offerings do? Through the Cooperative Program (CP), they start new churches, feed the hungry, advance Christian education, provide disaster relief, promote evangelism, keep more than 10,000 full-time missionaries in the field … and much more. April 14 is Cooperative Program Day for the 45,000 churches of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). It is a day to celebrate the unique funding process that Southern Baptists have used since 1925 to support … [Read more...]
First Branson pastor offers 2-minute resource
BRANSON - Neil Franks, pastor, First Baptist Church, Branson, is into “The 2.” That is his rank among Missouri Baptist Convention (MBC) officers right now as he serves as first vice president. That is also his smartphone identity. Thanks to an innovative app creation, Franks is The 2-Minute Pastor. “We’re not trying to become important or big,” Franks said. “We just think there’s a niche out there. There’s a gap in the market of good, biblical content in short bursts.” As of March 1 … [Read more...]
JOHN YEATS: Cooperation may be ready to move forward in SBC
There seems to be a new attitude percolating among the folks who call themselves Southern Baptists. It’s as if the old ship of cooperative ministries has been sailing on some rough seas of change, but now the sails are ready to unfurl for the journey of faith to which the Lord has called us – namely, to reach the peoples of the world with the gospel. There have been times when the SBC has languished as if someone misplaced the compass. But I join with the choir in singing, “The anchor … [Read more...]
DON HINKLE: Ferocious news media smear a fine pastor
I first encountered Robert Jeffress, pastor, First Baptist Church, Dallas, in 1998 while working as a national correspondent for Baptist Press. My assignment was to cover an escalating controversy between First Baptist Church, Wichita Falls, Texas, where Jeffress pastored at the time, the Wichita Falls Public Library and the Wichita Falls City Council. A church member discovered that the library was making available to children two books promoting homosexuality. The member brought the books … [Read more...]
SBC editors vote Hinkle BASP president-elect
OKLAHOMA CITY – Pathway Editor Don Hinkle was unanimously voted president-elect of the Baptist Association of State Publications (BASP) by Southern Baptist Convention state newspaper editors at their annual conference here Feb. 11-13. Cameron Crabtree, editor of The Northwest Baptist, Portland, Ore., is president until February 2014 when the editors next meet. Hinkle, 58, will begin his service at the conclusion of that meeting, serving a one-year term. Hinkle has been a journalist for … [Read more...]
ACLU withdraws objection to Franklin County prayer
UNION — After filing suit against the Franklin County Commission last summer for declaring that prayers offered before meetings instituted a government-forced religion, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has now withdrawn legal action to stop these invocations. “I think it is good they dropped the lawsuit,” said Jim Plymale, director of missions for the Franklin County Baptist Association. “Now there will be no further legal expenses or clouds over the County Commission in this … [Read more...]
A Christian perspective on beauty
As Christians talking about beauty, we must begin with the Apostle Paul’s exhortation to stop being conformed to this world. We are to have transformed minds, renewed by thinking on God and His ways. Only then will discernment reign, and only then will our lives be marked by beauty. First, let’s begin by stating the problem. Defining beauty is like nailing Jell-O to a wall. We have all heard the dictum, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” and certainly there is truth in this. … [Read more...]