Baptist & Reflector

Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835

JAN. 19: TREASURING WHO GOD TREASURES

By Mike Dawson
Tennessee pastor

Focal Passage: Exodus 1:16-17; 22-2:10 

Sunday School Lesson Bible Studies For LifeShiphrah, Puah, and Jochebed. Not everyone will recognize those first two names; many will know the third. They are three brave women depicted in today’s study passage, Exodus 1:16-17; 1:22-2:10. It isn’t an exaggeration to say this “ladies’ trio” helped change the history of the world. Our lesson is called “Treasuring What God Treasures,” and it’s a beautiful story about the sanctity of life. 

Treasuring Life Without Any Exception (1:16-17; 22) 

The backdrop for today’s Scripture is the Israelites’ period of slavery in Egypt. The whole family of Jacob (who became ‘Israel’) had lived in Egypt since their homeland was devastated by famine. As years went by, Egypt’s Pharaoh became extremely uneasy about the Israelites multiplying; Jacob’s descendants now numbered in the hundreds of thousands. Pharaoh decreed that every Israelite male be murdered at birth. He obviously reasoned that females would not be as likely to form an armed rebellion in the future.  [Read more…]

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JAN. 19: PROTECTION

By Troy Rust
Associational mission strategist • Holston Baptist Association

Focal Passage: Exodus 22:21-27; Leviticus 19:9-10 

Sunday School Lessons explore the bibleI do not remember who said it, but I was permanently impacted by the thought that every Christian must decide to live a life of either self-preservation or self-sacrifice. The first option looks like the world, and the second one looks like Jesus. My whole life has been spent in an America that chases hard after unrestrained individualism. 

Ideas that would have been considered shameful or at least hidden from the public eye in previous generations are now celebrated in the streets and normalized through the media.  [Read more…]

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YEAR-IN-REVIEW: THE MOST-READ STORIES ON B&R WEBSITE

By David Dawson
Managing editor, Baptist and Reflector

By David Dawson

ddawson@tnbaptist.org

FRANKLIN — The Baptist and Reflector’s website had a record-breaking year in 2024, setting new high-water marks in “reader engagement” and other categories. 

Listed below is a recap of some of the website’s most popular stories over the past 12 months: 

Title: Confessions of a Concerned Baptist
Writer: Randy C. Davis
Date Posted: May 1, 2024

Randy C. Davis

Summary: Roughly one month before the SBC annual meeting, Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, wrote a column in which he explained why he was not in favor of the “Law Amendment.”  Davis wrote, “I believe the Law Amendment draws a line that points us in a direction away from our denomination’s historical polity.” Davis went on to write that he did not feel the amendment was imperative and that it could be unintentionally damaging. The following month, at the annual meeting, the amendment failed to gain the necessary two-thirds majority. [Read more…]

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2024: A RECORD-BREAKING, HISTORY-MAKING YEAR

By Chris Turner
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

FRANKLIN — Tennessee Baptist experienced a most historic 2024 marked by unique milestones and events that ranged from the celebratory to the tragic. 

Hurricane Helene: Hurricane Helene devastated East Tennessee in September, triggering the largest disaster relief response in state Baptist history. 

The storm, which made landfall in Florida as a Category 4 hurricane with 140 mph sustained winds, weakened to a tropical storm before dumping up to 30 inches of rain across East Tennessee and Western North Carolina on Sept. 27.  [Read more…]

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JAN. 12: GOD’S COMMANDS

By Troy Rust
Associational mission strategist • Holston Baptist Association

Focal Passage: Exodus 20:1-17 

Sunday School Lessons explore the bibleBefore the Ten Commandments were given, the Author gave the basis for their existence. He once again declared Himself to be the true and living God as evidenced by His recent miraculous deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt. Before He addressed practical issues of morality, He dealt with the foundational issue of worship. While we typically hear more about people breaking the latter six commandments, our ultimate struggle lies in the first four commandments. 

Most of us have memorized the first commandment as, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). God is not merely giving Himself first place as though it is ok to have lesser gods. The CSB correctly communicates the mandate that God’s people must have no other gods besides Him.  [Read more…]

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JAN. 12: THE FOCUS OF OUR WORSHIP

By Mike Dawson
Tennessee pastor

Focal Passage: Isaiah 40:21-31 

Sunday School Lesson Bible Studies For LifeMatt Redman wrote a song that includes the line, “I’m coming back to the heart of worship, And … it’s all about You, Jesus.” That phrase, The Heart of Worship, is the title of our new lesson series. Today’s study, from Isaiah 40: 21-31, is The FOCUS of Our Worship. 

I recently asked a congregation, “How many of you were ever in a boring worship service?” Hands went up everywhere. I replied, “I understand. But that’s the wrong answer. We all may’ve been in a boring service at some time. But brothers and sisters, if we were ever in a worship service, it was anything but boring!” 

A.W. Tozer said, “How we think of God is the most important thing about us.” Reacting to that statement C.S. Lewis said, “It is not! How GOD thinks of US … is infinitely more important!” Now these are not just two great theologians verbally disagreeing on what’s most important about us; these are two great truths about authentic worship — the kind described in our text. Worship IS about how we think of God! It’s ALSO about how God thinks of us!  [Read more…]

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TENN. BAPTIST DR: TEAMS NEEDED ASAP FOR REMODEL IN EAST TENN.

By Baptist and Reflector

FRANKLIN — Wes Jones, disaster relief specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, announced on Friday, Jan. 3, that teams are needed as soon as possible to complete remodeling jobs in East Tennessee.

Jones noted that the homes need remodeling after being gutted in the flood recovery process. 

Jones said that team leaders and individuals who are available to work  should contact Kaye Thomas at 615-969-0410. The housing location is Grace Baptist Church in Elizabethton. [Read more…]

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MCDONOUGH LEAVES LEGACY OF EVANGELISM

By B&R staff reports

Renowned Baptist leader and church-planting specialist Reginald “Reggie” McDonough passed away on Dec. 24 at the age of 88.

McDonough became one of the top Southern Baptist leaders while traveling the globe, teaching Christian church planters the importance of strategic planning in building and maintaining congregations for the Glory of the Lord.  [Read more…]

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DOOLEY NOTED: ARE NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTIONS HELPFUL?

By Adam Dooley
Pastor • Englewood Baptist Church • Jackson

Dooley

Should Christians make New Year’s resolutions? While no such biblical requirement is explicit, Scripture does admonish us to contemplate our lives and commit them to the Lord (Prov 16:9). We are told to set our minds on things above (Col. 3:2) and to put our immoralities to death (Col. 3:5) while pursuing compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience (Col. 3:12). Admittedly, none of these aims are date specific, but adopting any of God’s commandments is always a good place to start for those eager to improve the overall quality of their lives. 

We should acknowledge, however, that many of our new commitments can quickly fall by the wayside. Research out of the University of Minnesota suggests that 80 percent of our resolutions don’t survive past Valentine’s Day. Our aspirational lists include goals of exercising more, getting organized, and being a better friend. We dream of gaining more knowledge, worrying less, and living each day to the fullest. Practical ambitions like shedding a few pounds, saving money, and career success also woo us. Christians often envision sharing their faith, reading their Bibles, and spending daily time in prayer. Yet, for most these milestones won’t become a reality.

So why do so many of us fail? And what can we do about it? Though a single explanation may not exist, over the years I have come to believe that unrealistic expectations and goals derail even the best of intentions. Generally, we overestimate what we can accomplish in one year and we underestimate what we can achieve in five years. So, instead of transforming yourself into a giant in the field of your interest, focus instead on the long game of slower but lasting transformation. [Read more…]

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JIMMY CARTER REMEMBERED FOR SPEAKING OPENLY ABOUT HIS FAITH

By Erin Roach
Baptist Press

BP graphic

PLAINS, Ga. — Former United States President Jimmy Carter, who spoke of his faith more openly than other modern leaders, taught a Baptist Sunday School class for decades and became the nation’s longest-lived president, died Sunday, Dec. 29, at age 100.

A member of Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga., Carter was a third generation Southern Baptist and the first U.S. president to call himself a “born again” Christian.

Despite this, his unsuccessful Democratic bid for reelection in 1980 fueled the rise of the Religious Right as evangelicals concluded he didn’t stand where they did on important policies from abortion to stopping the spread of communism, which threatened religious freedom abroad.

Carter “helped activate a massive army of politically minded evangelicals in the elections that followed — most of whom have voted for Republicans ever since,” Michael Duffy and Nancy Gibbs wrote in “The Preacher and the Presidents.” [Read more…]

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