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Columns

7 BOLOs for the Dallas Convention

June 4, 2025 By Eric Reed

SBC25 Dallas

If the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Dallas June 10-11 proves to be a rowdy rodeo, we will “be on the lookout” for these issues. 1. The long arm of the Law Amendment. The open letter to SBC churches on a method to resurrect the Law Amendment virtually guarantees that someone will try it. Asked […]

Between summits

May 30, 2025 By Nate Adams

Nate Adams

Those who know me or who have been reading this column for a while know that I am on a bit of a quest to climb as many of Colorado’s 14,000-foot mountains as possible. My oldest son, Caleb, and I have summited 37 “fourteeners” together, some with other family members. My wife, Beth, would be […]

Turning volunteers’ no’s into enthusiastic yes’s

May 23, 2025 By Daniel Kim

Daniel Kim

In the third week of my internship, I was assigned to tear down chairs and tables after an event in our gym. Coming from a smaller church, I assumed I could handle it on my own—until I saw eight tables and 150 chairs that needed to be cleared. After three grueling hours, one thought kept […]

We need more like them

May 16, 2025 By Brent Cloyd

Gerald and Betty Steffy

When Gerald and Betty Steffy came to Fairfield in August 1959, the couple were in their mid-twenties.  Gerald had just completed his theological training, and he was called to serve North Side Baptist Church. Gerald and Betty served churches in Illinois well into their eighties. Gerald died in September 2022, and Betty just a few […]

Ruth’s surrendered life

May 9, 2025 By Meredith Flynn

Ruth and Naomi

Don’t plead with me to abandon you or to return and not follow you. For wherever you go, I will go, and wherever you live, I will live; your people will be my people, and your God will be my God” (Ruth 1:16). A few months after I moved to Illinois, I was assigned to […]

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Featured Columns

Where is God when it hurts?

Tony Martin

This isn’t one of those pieces that ties everything up in a neat spiritual bow. It’s not filled with pat answers or hollow clichés. It’s born out of pain, prayer and the unshakable truth that — even in the flood — God is still present. The recent flooding in Texas has left so many of […]

Doug Munton

Navigating a season of change

Doug Munton

Nothing is scarier than change. (Well, maybe spiders are scarier, but I digress.) But here is the reality we face. Change is happening all the time, whether we like it or not. The real issue isn’t whether things will change, but how we deal with the change that is inevitable. So, let’s talk about navigating […]

How ‘what’ and ‘why’ unify

Nate Adams

The 2025 Southern Baptist Convention is behind us, and with it the meetings, reports, motions, and actions that pleased some and disappointed others. I know that many church members and even pastors rarely or never attend an SBC in person. That was true for me until I was almost 40, so I appreciate the reality […]

More Columns

John MacArthur leaves legacy ‘on a generation of preachers’

Brandon Porter, Baptist Press

Sun Valley, Calif. | Longtime pastor, author and teacher John F. MacArthur died July 14 after a short battle with pneumonia. MacArthur, 86, pastored Grace Community Church in the Los Angeles area for 56 years. “At the center of Dr. MacArthur’s ministry was an unwavering commitment to declare God’s truth, and Pastor John preached the […]

News

Ben Mandrell

Illinois native Ben Mandrell assumes Adrian Rogers’ pulpit

Brandon Porter, Baptist Press

Cordova, Tenn. | Ben Mandrell has been called to be the senior pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church. Mandrell, a native of Tampico, Ill., has served as president and CEO of Lifeway Christian Resources since the summer of 2019. “I cannot tell you how thankful we are for this moment,” Mandrell, 48, said in a statement […]

SBC Worship platform draws thousands of churches in first month, leader says

IRS opens door for pastors to endorse politicians

More News Stories

Mission

“While we have not yet arrived at the destination we envision, I believe we are clearly headed in the right direction,” said IMB President Paul Chitwood to trustees in the May 22 plenary session. IMB Photo

IMB trustees appoint new missionaries, elect first woman chair

Leslie Caldwell

Richmond | International Mission Board trustees approved 65 fully funded missionaries for appointment during their May 21-22 meeting near Richmond, Virginia. The missionaries approved for appointment will be recognized during a Sending Celebration on Tuesday, June 10, at 10:08 a.m. CDT in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Dallas. The event will […]

Metro East church plant hosts multiplication meeting

Sallateeska baptism demonstrates SBC connections

More Mission Stories

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