2+ day, 23+ hour ago (418+ words) The Pilgrims sign the Mayflower Compact on Nov. 11, 1620. The event was memorialized by the "Signing the Mayflower Compact, 1620," an 1899 painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, shown above. (Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons) November 27, 2025 By Baptist Press The feast enjoyed by the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag people in 1621 is what most people think of as the first Thanksgiving. However, the first recorded English day of Thanksgiving in the New World actually took place at "Berkeley 100" in Virginia two years earlier. However, the account of the Pilgrims" Thanksgiving feast should not diminish the generally overlooked Thanksgiving held at Berkeley 100, later renamed Berkeley Plantation, on the James River, in 1619. The Berkeley settlement of 36 people was located on a "king"s grant," a tract of land given by the king, large enough to supply 100 of the king"s men (soldiers) for a year....

4+ day, 22+ hour ago (1120+ words) November 25, 2025 By Stella McMillian TOKYO, Japan (IMB) " The line into one of the stadiums at Tokyo's Komazawa Olympic Park stretched out the door and down the street. The crowd waited patiently in the crisp fall air for a chance to watch the volleyball semifinals at Deaflympics, a worldwide event that brings Deaf athletes together to compete every four years. For Suncica, a Deaf believer from Serbia, the main event was not the volleyball competition taking place inside the stadium, but rather it was the gospel conversation she was having with the couple behind her in line. As they talked, she pulled a card from her bag with an illustration of Mt. Fuji against a sun and five rays of color. She handed the card to the couple. When they scanned the QR code, a site popped up with short gospel…...

4+ day, 23+ hour ago (613+ words) November 25, 2025 By Dan Steinbeck WILLARD " First Baptist Church, Willard, received grants recently, enabling them to make improvements connected with their local church initiative, called "Project 2025." The church received a $2,000 grant from the William E. Eslick Fund, administered through the Community Foundation of the Ozarks. The Eslick Fund offers periodic project funding to a Southern Baptist Church in Greene County, Mo. The next funding opens in 2027. The church also got a $1,500 grant through Cardinals Care for a new playground. The total cost for the playground was $75,000. "I'm fairly new at the church," Pastor Mark Milioni told The Pathway. "We recognized some things that needed improvements. Projects can unify a church. It's been fun and great." Milioni is also president of Mission University, formerly known as Baptist Bible College in Springfield, which focuses on training pastors and missionaries. It was through his work…...

1+ week, 2+ day ago (494+ words) November 21, 2025 By Rob Phillips This is another in a series of excerpts from'What Every Christian Should Know About the Return of Jesus, released by High Street Press and available at'Amazon.com. Then, we read: "The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet are, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever" (Rev. 20:10). While the Hebrew word sheol and the Greek term hades generally depict the temporary abode of the dead, gehenna and its associated terms describe a place of everlasting future punishment, not only for Satan and evil spirits, but also for those whose names are not written in the book of life (Rev. 20:15). Jesus seizes rabbinic language connected with gehenna, such as "unquenchable fire" and "never-dying worms" (cf. Isa. 66:24), to impress upon his…...

1+ week, 2+ day ago (906+ words) November 21, 2025 By IMB SOUTH ASIA (IMB) " Mitch Englehart identifies himself as a "big thinker." In 2004, while jogging in Arlington, Texas, God put the number "10 million" on his mind. "At the time, I knew nothing about church planting or anything like that," he said. "I felt that the Lord told me, "I want you to live and work in such a way that results in 10 million people walking with Me." Englehart with his wife, Nellie, answered the call to serve as International Mission Board missionaries in South Asia. Once on the field, however, he realized that the 10 million figure was not the heart of the mission. The real task was to create a multiplying process, one that would equip countless others to reach the unreached. "I had to find more people who could do the work," he said. "Local leaders had…...

1+ week, 2+ day ago (513+ words) November 20, 2025 By Brian Koonce SALISBURY " What began as a devastating discovery of termites for Pleasant Woods Baptist Church here, turned into a blessing far beyond what the congregation could imagine. The church had been growing steadily, especially through their Wednesday children and youth ministries, and Pastor James Rawlings said that with some renovations to their existing building, they hope to reach even more in their community for Christ. "We've seen God do some wonderful growth, as far as adding to the kingdom," Rawlings said, "as far as salvation, then baptism, and then deep spiritual growth." A year ago, they began planning to add on to their fellowship hall but soon noticed buckling walls and cracks by the doors. When leaders examined the walls between the fellowship hall and the 80-year-old sanctuary, it wasn't a pretty sight. "We got looking into…...

1+ week, 4+ day ago (359+ words) November 19, 2025 By Jason Myers EDITOR'S NOTE: Jason Myers serves as vice president with the MBCH Children and Family Ministries. In Genesis 22, God calls Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac on a mountain in the land of Moriah. As they journeyed, Isaac noticed there was no lamb for the offering. Abraham responded with faith: "The Lord will provide." And He did. At the last moment, an angel stopped Abraham, and God provided a ram caught in a thicket. While Abraham climbed one side of the mountain saddened by his circumstances, God was sending provision up the other. That image has stayed with me. November is National Adoption Month. As someone who was adopted and has worked in child welfare for nearly 25 years, I've seen many stories of heartbreak and healing. Adoption is a beautiful reflection of redemption'a child whose birth parents couldn't…...

1+ week, 4+ day ago (622+ words) November 19, 2025 By Diana Chandler BOULDER, Colo. (BP) " Weekly Bible reading resurged 12 points this year in the U.S. after a 15-year low, with Millennial and Gen Z men leading the way, State of the Church researchers said in their November release. Millennials and Gen Z outpace the 12-point increase, with reading jumping 16 points among Millennials, half of whom now read Scripture weekly. Among Gen Z, the 49 percent who read Scripture at least weekly represents a 19-point climb, researchers said of the study from Texas-based Barna Group and Boulder-based Gloo. Millennials read the Bible on par with Christians, matching the 50 percent of Christians who do so. The findings show "a major rebound of Bible reading, along with a surge in usage among younger generations," Barna Group CEO David Kinnaman said. "This aligns with other signs of spiritual interest and reinforces the finding that…...

1+ week, 6+ day ago (135+ words) November 17, 2025 By Missouri WMU The Week of Prayer for International Mission is Nov. 30Dec. 7, 2025. This is a week you and your church can focus on praying for our international missionaries and this offering. Discover the ministry of Missouri Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers as they bring help, hope, and healing to North Carolina after Hurricane Helene destroyed lives and homes in devastating floods. People of faith must vote next fall to remove abortion from the state constitution, former Missouri Governor Mike Parson told Missouri Baptists gathered in Branson late last month. Miner Baptist Church here is lifting high the cross of Jesus. To be exact, they have constructed a 120-foot-high cross on their property, visible from Interstate Highway 55, in hopes that more people would be drawn to Christ....

1+ week, 6+ day ago (497+ words) November 17, 2025 By Dan Steinbeck SIKESTON " Miner Baptist Church here is lifting high the cross of Jesus. To be exact, they have constructed a 120-foot-high cross on their property, visible from Interstate Highway 55, in hopes that more people would be drawn to Christ. The cross has been the "talk of the region," Pastor Steve Francis of Miner Baptist Church told The Pathway. Already, he added, this memorial to Christ's death has made a difference on people's lives. "One lady came off the interstate," Francis said. "She was dealing with a lot of issues. She saw the cross and came in and talked to one of our counselors and left a different person." On Sept. 25, the cross was erected by the Rozier Construction Company from Greenwood, Miss., which has erected several similar crosses across the country. Hundreds of people from the church…...