Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835
By Aaron Earls
LifeWay Research
NASHVILLE — Almost all Americans celebrate Christmas, but most say COVID-19 will cause some changes to their usual holiday habits.
A new study from Nashville-based LifeWay Research found 93 percent of American adults say they celebrate Christmas. That number is essentially unchanged from a decade ago when 91 percent said the same in a 2010 LifeWay Research survey. [Read more…]
By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org
Christmas celebrations may look a little different this year for many Tennessee families as they deal with the reality of COVID-19.
But take heart. One thing COVID-19 can’t affect is the reason we celebrate Christmas — the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Christmas is always hard on families who have lost loved ones during the year and 2020 will be no different. As of Dec. 13, there were 5,406 reported deaths from COVID in the state, according to www.tn.gov/health. As this paper is delivered to homes this week, that number will have increased. [Read more…]
By David Dawson
Baptist and Reflector
ddawson@tnbaptist.org
Ternae Jordan, pastor of Mount Canaan Baptist Church, Chattanooga, and Grant Gaines, pastor of Belle Aire Baptist Church, Murfreesboro, engage in a discussion for a ‘barbershop conversation’ as part of this year’s Summit.
MURFREESBORO — Among the many powerful moments of the 2020 Virtual Summit was the “barbershop conversation” with Grant Gaines and Ternae Jordan.
The two pastors got together to discuss the topic of racial justice, and how the Bible promotes and defines it. Gaines, pastor of Belle Aire Baptist Church, Murfreesboro, and Jordan, pastor of Mount Canaan Baptist Church, Chattanooga, gathered at the Blue Raider Barbershop in Murfreesboro to film the video conversation.
A portion of their discussion was shown during Summit, and the entire conversation between the two pastors can be viewed at TBCSummit.org. Below are some excerpts from the discussion. [Read more…]
By Diana Chandler
Baptist Press
SALEM, Ore. — Oregon will become the first state in the nation to decriminalize possession of small amounts of drugs including Oxycodone, cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine beginning in February 2021.
Voters approved the measure on Election Day by a margin of 58.6-41.4 percent and concurrently approved by 66.7-33.3 percent a new tax on tobacco and E-cigarettes to fund treatment programs in place of incarceration for drug users. Several other states passed measures legalizing only marijuana.
Voters in several other states passed measures legalizing marijuana. And several states saw gambling measures approved. Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission executive Travis Wussow said the changes in the “predatory drug and gambling industries” are alarming. [Read more…]
By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org
FLINTVILLE — Perhaps no one knows better than Don Pierson how desperately the United States needs to be intimately connected with God through prayer during this point in the nation’s history.
In a nation filled with fear over COVID-19, increasing racial turmoil and divide and a country divided by politics, God is the only answer, said Don Pierson, pastor of Stewart’s Chapel Baptist Church, Flintville.
Prior to accepting the pastorate at Stewart’s Chapel, Pierson served as a Southern Baptist missionary in Belize, a director of missions for William Carey Baptist Association and for about 12 years as the prayer specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. [Read more…]
By David Dawson
Baptist and Reflector
ddawson@tnbaptist.org
FRANKLIN — When the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic first began impacting daily lives, many youth pastors were sent scrambling.
The entire landscape of youth ministry changed almost overnight. Trips and events were postponed or canceled. On-campus gatherings were suspended. Things that were once considered “routine” parts of youth ministry had to be altered or even temporarily eliminated. [Read more…]
By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org
In today’s world, anyone who stands boldly on the Word of God will be ridiculed and criticized.
Yet, it’s really not an option to not stand firmly on God’s Word. As Christians, we really don’t have a choice if we have truly given our lives over to God.
Acts 16:13 (HCSB) reminds us, “Be alert, stand firm in the faith, be brave and strong.”
James 4:17 (HCSB) says the same thing, but even stronger, “So, for the person who knows to do good and doesn’t do it, it’s a sin.” [Read more…]
By Todd Brady
Vice President for University Ministries, Union University
Some of society’s half-baked thinking has been exposed and mocked recently by conservative pundit, Jesse Kelly.
Last week, Kelly tweeted “Yale University was named for Elihu Yale. Not just a man who had slaves. An actual slave trader. I call on @Yale to change it’s [sic] name immediately and strip the name of Yale from every building, piece of paper, and merchandise. Otherwise, they hate black people. #CancelYale.” A mere six hours after he posted this, his tweet had been retweeted some 17,000 times and liked nearly 40,000 times.
Of course, Kelly’s tweet is sarcastic. It came as calls are being made by some who are wanting certain monuments of people who owned slaves to be removed.
Others jumped on his rhetorical bandwagon by saying that anyone with “Yale” in his biography is a racist and that Yale’s faculty is complicit by their participation in this “historically racist institution.” One person said, “Every person with a degree from Yale should be canceled. They should be forced to resign from public office. Resign from all Boards. Be disbarred. Lose their professional certifications. Lose judgeships.” [Read more…]
Baptist Press
WASHINGTON — Pro-life leaders expressed deep disappointment with the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal 29 to uphold a Louisiana law designed to protect the lives and health of women by requiring hospital admitting privileges for doctors who perform abortions.
In a 5-4 decision, the high court ruled the law — which mandated a physician must have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of a facility where he or she performs an abortion — violated the U.S. Constitution by imposing an “undue burden” on a woman’s right to the procedure. The justices found the Louisiana measure was nearly identical to a Texas admitting privileges law they struck down in 2016. [Read more…]
By Art Toalston
Contributing writer, B&R
Warmhearted feelings amid the pandemic can be hard to come by.
Maybe you’ve been venturing out to help neighbors with limited mobility or carrying a batch of fresh cookies to their doorstep. You might be enjoying warmhearted moments of connecting with your family there at home or in video chats.
And, amid dispiriting TV newscasts, you might perk up for segments on heroic doctors, nurses, first responders, truck drivers or store clerks. [Read more…]
