Baptist & Reflector

Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835

CHURCH BREAKS GROUND ON SPECIAL-NEEDS PLAYGROUND

By Baptist and Reflector

Pastor Chuck Workman of Crossroads Church, Westmoreland, speaks prior to breaking ground for a new interactive church playground that can be enjoyed by children with special needs. — Photo courtesy of EnVision Drone & Media Studios

WESTMORELAND — Families of special needs children in Westmoreland and surrounding communities will soon have an interactive playground to enjoy.

CrossRoads Church broke ground on the new adaptive playground on Aug. 4 in Westmoreland

Mayor David Leath and other city officials attended the community celebration. The church provided free hamburgers, hotdogs and ice cream to those in attendance.  [Read more…]

Facebooktwittermail

A GOLDEN RECORD, AN ETERNAL IMPACT

By Randy C. Davis
President & executive director, Tennessee Baptist Mission Board

Randy C. Davis

Dale Lusk didn’t like the decisions he had to make when he began ministering at a boys’ juvenile detention facility here in Tennessee. His dilemma? Which boys get Bibles, which get discipleship materials and which don’t get either.

Fortunately, the decision became easy. All boys who wanted a Bible or materials got them because Tennessee Baptists gave through the Golden Offering for Tennessee Mission and GOTM funds made it happen.

Fast forward 11 years and to date 219 boys and nine guards have come to saving faith in Christ. There are four worship services and other discipleship opportunities available to the boys each week. God is using Dale and other volunteers to literally change the history of these boys to HIS-story. [Read more…]

Facebooktwittermail

THANK YOU, LORD, FOR TOMORROW

By Ray Van Neste
Dean of theology and missions, vice president for university ministries, Union University

Van Neste

When our children were young, it was fairly common for the youngest child to delight in saying the blessing before meals. 

When our youngest, Timothy, was 4 years old he often eagerly asked to say the blessing. His prayers developed, of course, moving first from unintelligible to intelligible and then adding and substituting topics. At one point a new item began appearing in his prayers. He began, in his list of things for which he gave thanks, saying, “Thank you for tomorrow.”

This was striking to me the first time I heard it and I am still not sure what exactly he meant by it. Most likely he melded in a humorous way some different things he had heard us pray. But I did not correct him. It is good theology whether he realized it or not. [Read more…]

Facebooktwittermail

ACTS 2:17 INITIATIVE ENTERS CRUCIAL EARLY STAGE

By David Dawson
Communications specialist, TBMB

FRANKLIN — The next 10 weeks will have a significant impact in the work of Tennessee Baptists for the next 10 years.

 Next month, TBMB Board of Directors will gather for their semiannual meeting and one of the items on their agenda will be to review a report on the Acts 2:17 Initiative. The Board will also consider a recommendation from the Budget Committee that will reflect the needed investment in the plan from Convention churches.’

If the report is affirmed by the board, it will then be presented to TBC messengers in November at the 2024 Summit. 

Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the TBMB, has said he believes the Acts 2:17 Initiative “could become the most consequential process in the Tennessee Baptist Convention’s history. ” [Read more…]

Facebooktwittermail

‘CAREFREE’ DAYS GO BY QUICKLY; USE WISELY!

By Adam Dooley
Pastor • Englewood Baptist Church • Jackson

Dooley

Returning to school each fall always evokes a bit of murmuring from my children. Sleeping in, trips to the beach, and free time with friends is admittedly more fun than studying algebra and writing book reports. I get it. 

What most children and teenagers do not realize, however, is that the revolving semesters of these years represent a season of life that not only passes far too quickly, but also allows a freedom and playfulness that life’s latter stages do not afford.

Youth offers numerous opportunities. Scripture’s wisest man, King Solomon, explained, “Rejoice, young man, during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young manhood. And follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes (Ecclesiastes 11:9a).” His point is that not that we are free to do anything, but that everything changes as we age. [Read more…]

Facebooktwittermail

BURDENED LEADERS AND BOLD PRAYERS

By Jay Hardwick
President • Tennessee Baptist Convention

Hardwick

I don’t know about you, but every time I open a social media app, scan news headlines, or watch a news channel, I feel an ache in my heart, a pit in my stomach and a burden in my soul.

Bad news. Tragic events. Vitriolic debate. Threats and predictions of more to come. And it seemingly never ends. Recently, as I scanned a newspaper and felt all these emotions, I had a thought — “I wonder if this is a little bit what Nehemiah felt when he got that bad report about the status of Jerusalem?”

You know Nehemiah’s story. While serving as cupbearer to King Artaxerxes, he was worried about Jerusalem. He received a terrible report from his brother. The people are downcast, the city is in shambles, and the walls and gates are on fire. The place and people meant to be a beacon for the glory of God were far from it. [Read more…]

Facebooktwittermail

CHURCHES MUST BE READY WHEN A CRISIS STRIKES

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist & Reflector

FRANKLIN — The question is not what to do if a crisis strikes, it is being prepared when your church faces a crisis, said Chris Turner, director of communications for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.

“There are two types of organizations — those that have had a crisis and those whose crisis hasn’t hit yet,” Turner said.

Turner was featured recently on the “Tennessee Golden Hour,” a podcast produced by the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board and hosted by TBMB staff members Matt Tullos and Beth Moore. 

Turner noted there are two types of crises — those that are sudden and those that are smoldering. A sudden crisis is one that is totally unexpected such as a tornado destroying the church building, he said.  [Read more…]

Facebooktwittermail

PASSIONATE ABOUT HELPING OTHER PASTORS

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist & Reflector

Longtime friends and Tennessee Baptist pastors Larry Robertson, left, and Steve Freeman share a passion for mentoring younger pastors.

CLARKSVILLE — Mentoring young ministers is a passion for longtime friends and former Tennessee Baptist Convention presidents Larry Robertson and Steve Freeman.

Robertson and Freeman recently shared in an interview with the Baptist and Reflector how  their ministries were impacted through mentoring. Freeman, pastor of Grace Baptist Church, Springfield, acknowledges that Robertson has been one of his primary mentors throughout his ministry.

Robertson, pastor of Hilldale Baptist Church, Clarksville, felt God calling him into ministry in 1982 while he was attending the Tennessee Baptist Youth Evangelism Conference in Nashville. Though he already had accepted Christ, Robertson admitted, “I was not walking with the Lord.”

On the opening night of the YEC Robertson recalled that “God got my attention.” The following morning former Tennessee pastor and Southern Baptist Convention president Jim Henry challenged those who might be considering God’s call into some form of ministry to stand up.

“I found myself standing up,” Robertson said. “I sensed very strongly that God was calling me into ministry.” [Read more…]

Facebooktwittermail

BCM KEEPS TENNESSEE’S MINISTRY PIPELINE FLOWING

By David Dawson
Communications specialist, TBMB

Tennessee Baptist leaders, from left, Micah Stephens, Jonathan Chapman,
Cole Rogers and Chad Mize discuss the importance of a ministry
pipeline during a recent video shoot.

FRANKLIN — Chad Mize and Jonathan Chapman are doing their part to ensure that the circle remains unbroken.

Mize, associate pastor of missions and mobilization at Forest Hills Baptist Church, and Chapman, collegiate ministry specialist at East Tennessee State University, are both passionate and committed to helping aspiring church leaders find reliable and godly “ministry mentors.” 

Eventually, if all goes according to plan, those same students will then help others follow that path. 

It’s a cycle of events that is crucial to the future of student ministry, said Chapman. With the pipeline of rising ministry leaders slowing almost to a trickle in recent years, this is a vital time for new leaders to emerge. 

Chapman said Tennessee Baptists can aid the process, and infuse the cycle, by supporting the BCMs in Tennessee, both with prayer and financial resources.  [Read more…]

Facebooktwittermail

LEAN IN AT THE FINISH LINE

By Randy C. Davis
President and executive director, TBMB

Randy C. Davis

The men’s 100-meter race at the 2024 Paris Olympics generated global interest. It was the fastest field ever assembled with the winner not only winning gold but also claiming the titles as “World’s Fastest Man.” 

This year’s field was so stacked with speed that for the first time in history, all eight competitors finished in under 10 seconds.

American Noah Lyles came from last to first and won in a photo finish by .005 seconds. The only time he led was exactly at 100 meters, and the difference maker was he pressed hard through the end and leaned in at the finish line.  [Read more…]

Facebooktwittermail

Address

4017 Rural Plains Circle
Franklin, TN 37064

Contact Information

Mail: Baptist & Reflector, P.O. Box 682789, Franklin, TN 37068
Physical Address: 4017 Rural Plains Circle, Franklin, TN 37064
Email: bandr@tnbaptist.org
Phone: 615-371-2003

2022 © The Baptist and Reflector. All Right Reserved.