News Articles by Rob Marus

HAYSVILLE, Kan. (BP)–Bo Graves says he will never forget 8:29 p.m. on May 3. That’s when he went from being the senior pastor of a fast-growing church in a comfortable suburb to being the shepherd to a grief-stricken flock in a devastated community. The sanctuary of First Baptist Church in Haysville, Kan., sits just two […]

MULHALL, Okla. (BP)–A providential malfunction in the hot water heater of their new home may have saved the lives of Troy and Trena Withey when a massive tornado hit Mulhall, Okla., May 3. Only a day after they moved into the parsonage of First Baptist Church, the home was leveled by a tornado that may […]

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (BP)–Administrators of the Missouri Baptist Convention have announced that mission trips through the MBC partnership with Baptists in the former Soviet republic of Belarus have been suspended until conditions in the Balkans improve. As of April 15, the Southern Baptist International Mission Board had reported no other partnership missions efforts being canceled […]

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (BP)–Being a Christian and being a Baptist help define everything Jean Carnahan does as Missouri’s first lady, including her latest project — writing a book. The wife of Gov. Mel Carnahan wrote “If Walls Could Talk: The Story of Missouri’s First Families.” She also personally directed the design of the book, which […]

SANDY HOOK, Mo. (BP)–Dave Bennett never expected that a moment of frustration and anger in a barn loft would change his life so dramatically, costing cost his hip and his health. But the Missouri Baptist Convention evangelism director said the resulting experience has brought him closer to God and made him more sensitive to the […]

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (BP)–Dave Bennett knows about overcoming barriers to sharing the gospel with people. As an evangelist, he’s been doing that for years. Today he is acutely aware of barriers most churches probably don’t think about — physical ones. After a lifetime of “normal” physical mobility, Bennett has spent nearly two years of dealing […]

ST. LOUIS (BP)–Messengers, in an unusual move at the 1998 Missouri Baptist Convention annual meeting, accepted a floor motion to consider a resolution on home schooling that had not been endorsed by the convention’s committee on resolutions. Then they passed the resolution after heated debate. Though the resolutions committee received 32 resolutions from messengers at […]

NORTH KANSAS CITY, Mo. (BP)–Stephen (not his real name) doesn’t care if he loses his job at a casino if Missouri voters bring an end to “boats in moats” casinos in the state. Stephen says he will vote against Amendment No. 9 which calls for legalizing slot machines and other “games of chance” in casinos […]

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (BP)–Although acknowledging widespread signature fraud, Missouri’s secretary of state announced Aug. 21 she had certified pro-gambling petitions to place a “boats in moats” proposal on the state’s Nov. 3 general election ballot. The initiative, which will appear on the ballot as Amendment 9, would alter the Missouri constitution to allow slot machines […]

REPUBLIC, Mo. (BP)–Critics say the small southwest Missouri town of Republic is trying too hard to live up to name — even pretending it is more sovereign than the U.S. Constitution. Many of the city’s 8,000 residents, however, including some Missouri Baptists, say a group of outside agitators is ruining the peace and quiet of […]