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LEGISLATORS CONSIDER BILL

March 24, 2016

Editor’s Note: Last night The Tennessean reported, on Wednesday, March 23, the “Bathroom Bill” was given new life in the House and advanced in the Senate. Although the House Education Administration and Planning Committee voted against the bill on March 22, when the committee reconvened on Wednesday, Rep. Jim Coley, R-Bartlett, made a motion to force the committee to reconsider its action. Tennesseans can still call their legislators to express their views on this bill.

 

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

public restroom signs male female gender bathroom toiletNASHVILLE — A bill that would require students in public education institutions in Tennessee to use restroom and locker rooms that are assigned to their biological sex is currently circulating in the Tennessee Senate and House of Representatives.

Senate Bill 2387 and House Bill 2414 are commonly referred to as the “Bathroom Bill.”

David Fowler, president of the Family Action Council of Tennessee and a former state senator, has been monitoring the progress of the bill. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Featured, News, Tennessee

GAINES TO BE NOMINATED SBC PRESIDENT

March 22, 2016

Bellevue pastor shares goals and hopes if elected convention president

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Steve Gaines

Steve Gaines

BROWNSVILLE — Tennessee Baptist pastor Steve Gaines of Bellevue Baptist Church, Cordova, will be nominated for the presidency of the Southern Baptist Convention during the SBC annual meeting June 14-15 in St. Louis.

Georgia pastor Johnny Hunt announced he would nominate Gaines on March 9.

In an interview with the Baptist and Reflector March 14 in Brownsville, Gaines said he was approached about allowing his name to be nominated at the end of last year’s meeting. Current SBC president Ronnie Floyd of Arkansas is in his second and last term.

Throughout the year others have asked if he would be willing to be nominated. Gaines, though, said he never “aspired” to hold that office. Gaines recalled that his predecessor at Bellevue — the late Adrian Rogers — once said, “That office (SBC president) should seek the man rather than the man seeking the office.” “That was a good statement,” Gaines agreed. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Featured, News, Tennessee

CHURCHES CONTINUE TO FACE BUDGET SHORTFALLS

March 21, 2016

By Bob Smietana
LifeWay Research

160321lifewayNASHVILLE, Tenn. — When it comes to finances, the new normal for American churches seems to be “just getting by.”

A third of Protestant senior pastors say their church’s giving was under budget in 2015, according to LifeWay Research.

One in five saw their finances decline.

Overall, about half of pastors say the economy negatively affected their churches this year.

Scott McConnell, associate director of LifeWay Research, says pastors are still uneasy about their church’s finances.

“Wages grew in 2015, and inflation and unemployment remained low,” said McConnell. “Yet the financial picture for many churches did not improve.” [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Featured, News, SBC

10,356 FILIPINOS MAKE COMMITMENTS

March 17, 2016

Baptist and Reflector

Charles Pratt, left, assists a Filipino pastor in baptizing a new Christian in the South China Sea. Pratt directs Cross Partners Ministry.

Charles Pratt, left, assists a Filipino pastor in baptizing a new Christian in the South China Sea. Pratt directs Cross Partners Ministry.

SOMERVILLE — A team of nine missions volunteers serving on the Cross Partners Ministry team recently returned from two weeks in the Republic of the Philippines where they served with more than 30 churches in four different Baptist associations.

The team participated in more than 100 evangelistic crusades with Filipino Baptists across Luzon Island and saw 10,056 professions of faith and 300 other decisions for Christ.

The team was led by Charles Pratt, director of missions for Fayette Baptist Association based in Somerville. Pratt also is president and founder of Cross Partners Ministry, Inc. He has been leading volunteer missions teams on 5 continents for over 26 years to serve on short time missions trips. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Featured, News, Tennessee Tagged With: evangelism, missions

DR VOLUNTEERS GOING TO LOUISIANA

March 16, 2016

By Connie Davis Bushey
News Editor, Baptist and Reflector

dr-disaster-relief-logoMOUNT JULIET — Three teams of Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers will be traveling to Leesville, La., in a few days to help victims of flooding there.

Wes Jones, disaster relief specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Convention, reported that the Tennesseans responded to a request for teams to help the people in Louisiana begin cleanup after the devastating floods in the state. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Featured, News, Tennessee Tagged With: Disaster Relief

CHURCH HELPS STRUGGLING CHURCH

March 16, 2016

By Connie Davis Bushey
News Editor, Baptist and Reflector

160316creeksideHENDERSONVILLE — When Mike Pennington, director of missions, Bledsoe Baptist Association, began helping Cragfont Baptist Church, Castalian Springs, it was in trouble. He tried to assist the congregation for several years but it was still declining in attendance and could not meet its financial obligations.

Then he approached First Baptist Church, Hendersonville, whose senior pastor, Bruce Chesser, agreed to try to lead his church to help Cragfont.

Now, just four years later, the new Creekside Fellowship, which meets in the former Cragfont facility, is drawing about 130 people to Sunday morning worship and is a healthy church, agreed Pennington and Bruce Raley, executive pastor, First Baptist, who led in the process. [Read more…]

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WEST TENNESSEE EVANGELISM RALLY DRAWS 800

March 15, 2016

By Nathan Handley
Union University News Office

Fred Luter speaks at Union.

Fred Luter speaks at Union.

JACKSON — Fred Luter, senior pastor of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church in New Orleans and former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, said evangelism needs more emphasis in churches and organizations.

Luter was the keynote speaker at the West Tennessee Evangelism Rally, held Feb. 21 at Union University. The event was sponsored by Union and the Tennessee Baptist Convention.

“We need to understand how critical, how important it is that we make evangelism a priority in this state,” he said. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Featured, News, Tennessee Tagged With: evangelism, Union University

DEACONS ARE SERVANTS FIRST, SAYS HENRY

March 14, 2016

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Tennessee native Jim Henry speaks during a recent conference for deacons at Poplar Heights Baptist Church in Jackson.

Tennessee native Jim Henry speaks during a recent conference for deacons at Poplar Heights Baptist Church in Jackson.

JACKSON – Nashville native Jim Henry has a love for deacons that grows stronger with each passing year.

From the surgeon who shined the shoes of his prayer group members at First Baptist Church, Orlando, Fla., to the small group of deacons who “had his back” at a rural church in Mississippi during days of racial tension in the 1960s, Henry knows his ministry has been made easier by deacons who held to the servant model of leadership. [Read more…]

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VBS: A MOST EFFECTIVE EVANGELISM

March 10, 2016

25 percent of baptisms in Tennessee and nationally result from Vacation Bible School

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

160310VBS-BKCBRENTWOOD — Vacation Bible School has been around for decades, but it is still one of the most effective evangelism tools in the Southern Baptist Convention, according to two Tennessee Baptist Convention specialists.

“In Tennessee Baptist life we know that approximately 25 percent of our professions of faith come either through VBS or Backyard Kids Clubs,” said Steve Pearson, TBC evangelism specialist. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Featured, News, Tennessee Tagged With: evangelism

STEVE GAINES TO BE SBC PRESIDENT NOMINEE

March 9, 2016

By David Roach
Baptist Press

Steve Gaines

Steve Gaines

ST. LOUIS (BP) — Tennessee pastor Steve Gaines will be nominated for president of the Southern Baptist Convention, Georgia pastor Johnny Hunt announced today (March 9).

“When Steve Gaines shared his prayer journey he and [his wife] Donna had travelled, I was touched by his clear call to allow himself to be nominated,” Hunt, pastor of First Baptist Church in Woodstock, Ga., wrote in a news release stating his intention to nominate Gaines during the SBC annual meeting June 14-15 in St. Louis.

“Steve struggled with this nomination as he has always believed this office should seek the man,” Hunt continued. “With such a passionate desire for spiritual revival in our churches and nation, and knowing him to be a man of deep intense prayer, it brings joy to my heart to nominate Dr. Gaines.” [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Featured, News, Tennessee

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