H4624 — better known as the Do No Harm Act — has made its way through the Senate committee process. The next step will be the Senate Republican Caucus agreeing to set the bill for a special-order slot. All indications coming from Senate leadership suggest this will happen, but when it comes to protecting innocent […]
President’s Perspective: We Must Sharpen Our Focus
Charles Martin published the book “What If It’s True” in 2019. Martin is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of fiction novels, but “What If It’s True” is a non-fiction work where the storyteller revisits the life and ministry of Jesus and connects it to real-life experiences. The motivation behind Martin’s book […]
Outside the Walls: Walking with Your Father
“I’m going to pray that God helps me find a shiny Pokemon.” My son Corder and I were spending a little quality time together walking around the South Carolina State House grounds, playing a video game where you find digital personalities in real places. My quick response was, “Don’t bother God with that. He has […]
Striking the Waters: A Comprehensive Strategy for Missions Giving
Late last year, I enjoyed casual conversation at an SCBaptist association’s monthly pastor gathering. We discussed Baptist doctrine, organization, mission, and funding. Several in the room asked for help with a practical strategy for funding our shared mission work locally, statewide, nationally, and globally. Each church can make a huge difference around the corner and […]
5 Ways Pastors Create a Prayer Culture
Most of us agree with John Maxwell’s well-known adage, “Leadership is influence, nothing more, nothing less.” By that definition, the pastor’s leadership influences the ministry of the local church. This is particularly true in building a culture of prayer. Your culture determines your future, so it cannot be left to chance. A culture of prayer […]
Books Every Prayer Leader Should Read
Frederick Douglass was born a slave to an enslaved Black mother almost 50 years before slavery ended in America. School for slaves on the plantation was out of the question, so he learned to read when others helped him understand the letters on signs and posters on barn doors. He eventually escaped from slavery and […]
Three Prayer Lessons From the Life of Jesus
Have you ever seen the bumper sticker that says, “If you can read this, thank a teacher”? Maybe we should say the same thing about prayer. Jesus is addressed 90 times in the Gospels, and 60 of those times He is referred to as “Teacher.” Jesus had a lot to teach, but His disciples asked […]
Surprising Answers About Unanswered Prayers
Americans are surprisingly optimistic about answered prayer. In fact, nearly 25 percent of people who pray told Lifeway that all their prayers are answered! The majority of people, 58 percent, report that “some” or “most” of their prayers get answered (“Americans Pray for Friends and Family, but Rarely for Celebrities or Sports Teams” – Lifeway […]
How to Reconstruct a Broken Prayer Life
Judith Greenberg, Ph.D., is not an evangelical. In fact, she is not even a Christian. She claims to be an atheist. Professor Greenberg studied at Yale and described herself as “a New York Upper West Side liberal, [and] a firm believer in science and rationality.” A nagging sense of what she calls “survivors’ guilt,” however, […]
Getting Serious About Daily Prayer
Charles Spurgeon was right. He once said, “He who prays much will pray more and he who prays little will pray less.” In fact, a new survey finds that the Americans who want to pray more are the people who already pray. Since the poll was taken in December 2023 and related to “New Year’s […]