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DISCIPLE NOW MAKES A DIFFERENCE

March 17, 2023

By David Dawson
Communications specialist, TBMB

Students engage in worship during Glow Weekend at First Baptist Church, Goodlettsville.

During the past few months, I have become involved with the youth group at our church, serving as the drummer for the Wednesday night worship gatherings and as a de facto chaperone at youth events.

These roles have been a blessing for me, especially since my oldest son, Jonah, is in sixth grade and is now officially a member of youth group. (It doesn’t seem possible to me that he is old enough to be in the youth — I mean, didn’t he just start on solid food a few weeks ago??  — but that’s a topic for another day). 

In any event, Jonah and I both recently attended Glow Weekend, which is our church’s version of Disciple Now.  [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Featured, Opinion Column

TBMB CAMPS HOST D-NOW WEEKENDS

March 16, 2023

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Students and leaders from multiple churches gather for a photo during Disciple Now Weekend held at Carson Springs Conference Center.

NEWPORT — As a former youth minister, Kevin Perrigan understands that discipling middle and high school students is “vitally important” to help them face the challenges they encounter every day.

“Every church should be pouring themselves into their students to encourage them in their spiritual walk,” observed Perrigan, now manager of Carson Springs Baptist Conference Center in Newport.

For many years, a Disciple Now Weekend has been an avenue that many churches have used to have an intensive mid-year event for their students, he noted. “But as a whole, many of our small churches are not aware of what a D-Now weekend is or the benefits of such of an event,” he said. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Featured, News, Tennessee

MILE HIGH MISSIONARIES

March 15, 2023

By Ann Lovell
Contributing writer, B&R

God’s call leads Kingsport couple to Denver’s urban core

Derick Sherfey and his wife, Cayla, pictured here with their two children, serve as missionaries in downtown Denver.

DENVER — Derick Sherfey answered the phone in his Denver home in March 2020. A local Denver public school principal was on the line. 

The COVID-19 quarantine was just starting and the principal and his team were concerned about the large number of students receiving free and reduced lunches. With schools closed, Sherfey recalls, the team was afraid these children might not eat.  

The principal told Sherfey he held a Zoom call with his team to discuss the issue. During the call, one of his team members unmuted to ask, “What about those annoying Christians who won’t leave us alone? Could they help us?”  [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Featured, News, Tennessee

PASTOR, SONS USE HOBBY TO PROVIDE GUITARS FOR MISSIONS

March 14, 2023

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Pastor Greg Gilbreath of Madison Baptist Church, Jackson, strums the guitar he and his sons made to be sent to a church in Peru. It was the second guitar the Gilbreath family has constructed for missions.

JACKSON — Pastor Greg Gilbreath of Madison Baptist Church has always enjoyed both playing and repairing his own guitars.

Two of his sons — Sam and Ben — also enjoy playing the guitar while his third son, Nic, is a woodworker. Sam Gilbreath is minister of youth and plays in the worship band at Meridian Baptist Church in Jackson while Ben is a folk musician. “Nic does not play an instrument but he is really skilled at making the guitars “look pretty,” he laughed.

After learning about Instruments of Joy from Scott Shepherd, worship and music specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, Gilbreath and his sons decided to provide a guitar for the Nashville-based organization that provides musical instruments to equip musicians who live in poverty-stricken communities who cannot afford instruments.

Since its founding, Instruments of Joy has provided more than 750 instruments in over 70 countries by working with partners, such as the TBMB, who have established relationships in many of those countries. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Featured, News, Tennessee

RESEARCH REVEALS IMPORTANCE OF SMALL GROUPS, EVANGELISM, ASSIMILATION FOR CHURCH GROWTH

March 13, 2023

By Marissa Postell Sullivan
Writer, Lifeway Christian Research

 

NASHVILLE — As churches continue ministry in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, many are finding it increasingly difficult to grow their small groups. However, churches continue to report new commitments to Christ and changed lives.

According to a Lifeway Research study, the authority of Scripture is foundational to churches’ groups and discipleship strategies. More than 9 in 10 (97 percent) U.S. Protestant pastors say Scripture is the authority for their church and their lives, with 89 percent strongly agreeing. Meanwhile, 2 percent disagree, and 1 percent are not sure. Protestant pastors have consistently considered Scripture to be the authority for their church and their lives since Lifeway Research began asking this question in 2008.

Even as pastors hold on to the authority of Scripture, it has become increasingly difficult for pastors to move worship attendees into small groups where they’ll study Scripture. On average, Protestant churches say 44 percent of their current weekend worship attendees are involved in a small group, Sunday School or similar group, indicating a decline in average small group attendance since 2010 (49 percent). [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Featured, SBC

LOTTIE MOON LETTER DONATED TO SEBTS DISPLAYS MOON’S COURAGE, INFLUENCE

March 9, 2023

By Chad Burchett
SEBTS

Lottie Moon letter / SEBTS

WAKE FOREST, N.C. — Earlier this month, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary (SEBTS) received the donation of an letter written by Lottie Moon, lifelong missionary to China in whose memory Southern Baptists receive their annual Christmas offering for international missions. Dated July 22, 1878, the letter is a remarkably preserved example of Moon’s correspondence and offers a glimpse into her early ministry.

In 2007, Keith Harper, senior professor of Baptist studies at SEBTS and editor of Send the Light: Lottie Moon’s Letters and Other Writings, acquired the historic letter from a Civil War collector in the metro Atlanta area.

“The letter was discovered tucked away in the middle of a packet of Civil War letters,” Harper recalled, adding that he was amazed to find the letter so well preserved. [Read more…]

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PART II: SHOULD WE SING THOSE SONGS?!

March 7, 2023

EDITOR’S NOTE: The following column is Part II of a three-part series. The other two parts are available online: Part I and Part III. 

Should We Sing Those Songs?!

NOTE FROM THE WRITER: In Part I, we were introduced to the new “worship war,” a debate about the suitability of worship music based on a song’s origins. We explored the issue’s importance, highlighted some theological concerns, and assessed the root argument as well as some counterarguments. In Part II, we’ll continue our investigation.

Another objection is that by singing songs with problematic sources, churches sanction that source. In other words, by singing “Graves into Gardens,” churches show tacit support of Bethel Church. By singing “Shout to the Lord,” they give Hillsong their stamp of approval.

Others allege that by leading or singing a song, they approve of that song. Nothing more, nothing less.

Plus, there’s another angle to consider. When a pastor quotes a theologian, does that quote endorse the totality of the theologian’s life and beliefs? I’ve heard teetotalers quote Martin Luther though he was unabashedly a heavy drinker. John Calvin is cited often in sermons, but these pastors don’t sanction the execution of Servetus? I’ve even heard pastors quote non-Christians, not because the sources are infallible, but because they wrote or spoke something deemed beneficial to the gathered body of believers. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Featured, Opinion Column

IMB TOPS 1,200 IN MISSIONARY PIPELINE

March 7, 2023

By IMB Staff

Missionary candidates who move through the pipeline are approved by IMB trustees, then blessed by Southern Baptists for service to the nations at Sending Celebrations held during the year.
-IMB Photo

At the first of March, the International Mission Board counted more than 1,200 candidates in the missionary application process. This is a significant milestone for Southern Baptists, as the number of missionary candidates in 2019 was 300.

“The IMB missionary candidate pipeline has now quadrupled over the past four years. Praise the Lord!” IMB President Paul Chitwood said. [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Featured, News, SBC

MAYBE IT IS TIME TO GET EXCITED, TENNESSEE!

March 3, 2023

By Clay Hallmark
President, Tennessee Baptist Convention

Have you ever noticed people at a college football game? When their team runs on the field they cheer. When their band plays, they clap and sing along. When their team scores a touchdown and wins the game, then all bets are off as to how excited the fans will be. 

In fact, some people get so excited over their team that they can barely contain themselves on Saturdays while at the football stadium. 

However, when you take these same people to church on Sunday, they barely speak to anyone, they won’t sing songs or hymns, they never clap along with the band, and when the pastor makes a particularly good point in his sermon, rather than say “Amen,” they yawn and look at their watches. Where is the excitement? Where is the praise? Where is the joy? 

A little boy had attended church on Sunday morning with his parents for the first time in a while. That night he knelt to say his prayers before going to bed. The little fella prayed, “Dear Lord, I sure had a good time at church today. I sure wish you could have been there!”

Wow! No truer words have ever been spoken. When we were created by God, we were created to worship Him. The word worship is literally translated as “worth-ship.” We are to live our lives to prove God’s worth-ship, and that He alone is worthy of our praise. I’ve been thinking about why we give God so very little worship in our daily lives.  [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Featured, Opinion Column

WHO QUALIFIES AS A ‘CHURCH REGULAR’?

March 2, 2023

By Aaron Earls
Writer, Lifeway Christian Resources

NASHVILLE — If you want to be considered a regular at a local church by those behind the pulpit and in the pews, you’ll probably need to show up in person at least a couple times a month.

A study from Lifeway Research finds a majority of both U.S. Protestant pastors and churchgoers consider someone to be a regular church attender if they attend twice a month or more. Most also say that’s based on how often they attend a worship service, not other church activities.

“There has likely never been unanimity on what qualifies someone as a regular churchgoer,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research. “But the question piqued our interest recently as we have heard church leaders speculating that churchgoers are attending less often and that their mindset of who is a regular attender may be changing.” [Read more…]

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Filed Under: Featured, News, SBC

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