Baptist & Reflector

Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835

GOTM UP 5.3 PERCENT

Baptist and Reflector

160913gotmBRENTWOOD — When the books closed on Aug. 31 for the 2015-16 Golden Offering for Tennessee Missions, the final tally for the year totaled $1,713,258.

The total was a 5.3 percent increase over the amount given for the 2014-15 GOTM. In addition, 1,220 churches gave to the offering in 2015-16, a net increase of 44 over the previous year.

This year’s increase is an important step as Tennessee Baptists move forward in their GOTM goal of realizing an increase in annual giving for the Golden Offering for Tennessee Missions that reaches at least $3 million by 2024 (Objective 5). [Read more…]

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A ‘TENNESSEE REUNION’ PLANNED

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

160913tnreunionBRENTWOOD — The Tennessee Baptist Convention’s annual Summit: The Gathering of Tennessee Baptists is expanding this year.

As always, the Summit (scheduled for Nov. 13-17) will include the Tennessee Baptist Pastors Conference and the annual business meeting, but this year will include the “Tennessee Reunion” on Sunday night, Nov. 13, and a golf tournament on Thursday, Nov. 17. [Read more…]

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2016 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON BOARDS

The Committee on Boards respectfully submits the following report to the messengers to the annual meeting of the Tennessee Baptist Convention and recommends its adoption and therefore the election of the individuals listed to the boards and committees and terms as indicated. The Committee represents to the messengers that each individual meets the criteria for the position as defined by the Convention bylaws, including the requirement that persons elected to a position “will if elected, covenant to serve in accordance with, and not contrary to, the Baptist Faith and Message 2000.”

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COLUMBINE MARTYR FILM SEEKS BOLD YOUTH REVIVAL

By Diana Chandler
Baptist Press

NASHVILLE (BP) — When two fellow classmates approached Rachel Joy Scott on the lawn of Columbine High School and questioned her belief in Jesus, she affirmed her faith and was shot to death at point-blank range.

The story of her martyrdom has been told perhaps countless times in books, sermons and interviews in the past 20 years, but Pure Flix Entertainment hopes its upcoming film of Scott’s 17 years on earth inspires students nationally to accept and boldly proclaim Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Beginning a month in advance of the Oct. 21 opening of “I’m Not Ashamed,” the Pure Flix Faith and Family Alliance ministry and ad hoc partners will kick off the national six-week “I Am Hope” evangelistic and discipleship movement targeting students. [Read more…]

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LIFEWAY PROVIDING ASSISTANCE TO FLOOD-RAVAGED LOUISIANA

By Aaron Earls
LifeWay Christian Resources

As Louisiana recovers from historic flooding, LifeWay Christian Resources wants to help churches, pastors and other victims. Part of the effort includes restoring Bible study material and pastoral libraries lost in the floodwaters. -Photo provided by Baptist Message.

As Louisiana recovers from historic flooding, LifeWay Christian Resources wants to help churches, pastors and other victims. Part of the effort includes restoring Bible study material and pastoral libraries lost in the floodwaters.
-Photo provided by Baptist Message.

NASHVILLE (BP) — As Louisiana recovers from historic flooding, LifeWay Christian Resources wants to help churches, pastors and other victims.

Part of the effort includes restoring Bible study material and pastoral libraries lost in the floodwaters.

“LifeWay provides biblical solutions for life,” said Thom Rainer, president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources. “We want to support these pastors and churches during the good times, but even more during the difficult times. Replacing some of what was lost is a way for LifeWay to stand with pastors and churches through these heartbreaking circumstances.” [Read more…]

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‘THERE WAS MUD ON HER CHANDELIER’

By Connie Davis Bushey
News Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers pause Sept. 1 during their work with homeowner Mary Hillen in Denham Springs, La. They are members of a team led by Woodland Baptist Church, Brownsville. From left are Lee Eyster; David White; Hillen; and Bill Cox, pastor, Trinity Baptist Church, Brighton.

Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers pause Sept. 1 during their work with homeowner Mary Hillen in Denham Springs, La. They are members of a team led by Woodland Baptist Church, Brownsville. From left are Lee Eyster; David White; Hillen; and Bill Cox, pastor, Trinity Baptist Church, Brighton.

DENHAM SPRINGS, La. — Bert Porch of Woodland Baptist Church, Brownsville, felt for Mary Hillen of Denham Springs. As she stood in her gutted living room, Hillen, a widow, explained that her family and friends had helped her but couldn’t do it all.

She still needed help and didn’t have flood insurance to pay for it. The disaster relief team of 11 led by Woodland Baptist began removing commodes, shower tile, and insulation and then sprayed for mold.

“There was mud on her chandelier,” said Porch. The water in her house was about 7 feet deep as 31 inches of rain fell in a few days, he added.

“When you see the amount of damage our help was definitely needed. There’s no way in this size of disaster for people to completely help themselves,” said Porch. [Read more…]

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CARSON-NEWMAN, UNION ON PRO-GAY ‘SHAME LIST’

Baptist Press

carson-newman-logo2NASHVILLE — Nearly a third of the 102 institutions of higher education on a pro-homosexual activist group’s list of “the absolute worst colleges for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth” have Southern Baptist ties.

All schools on the list, which was published Aug. 29 by the college-focused organization Campus Pride, have a religious affiliation, with the vast majority affirming historic, orthodox Christianity. Thirty-one institutions listed (30.4 percent) cooperate either with the Southern Baptist Convention or a Baptist state convention that partners with the SBC. [Read more…]

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LIVING PROOF: GOD STILL WORKS MIRACLES

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Ternae “T.J.” Jordan Jr., left, recently attended a meeting at the Tennessee Baptist Con-vention’s rented office space in Brentwood with his father, Ternae Jordan Sr., center, and his brother, Jamichael. The elder Jordan is pastor of Mount Canaan Baptist Church, Chattanooga, while T.J. is his assistant pastor.

Ternae “T.J.” Jordan Jr., left, recently attended a meeting at the Tennessee Baptist Con-vention’s rented office space in Brentwood with his father, Ternae Jordan Sr., center, and his brother, Jamichael. The elder Jordan is pastor of Mount Canaan Baptist Church, Chattanooga, while T.J. is his assistant pastor.

BRENTWOOD — Just looking at Ternae “T.J.” Jordan Jr., one would never suspect that that he once lay in a hospital bed with a bullet in his head, fighting for his life.

More than 23 years later, Jordan still has that bullet in his head but he has no visible scars at the bullet’s entry point.

He now serves as assistant pastor at Mount Canaan Baptist Church, Chattanooga, where his father (Ternae Jordan Sr.) is serving as pastor.

T.J. Jordan, then 15, and his sister, Dejuan, were sitting in a local YMCA (in Indiana where his father was serving as pastor at the time) after taking piano lessons, waiting to be picked up by their mother, when he was hit by a stray bullet fired during a fight outside the facility. [Read more…]

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TENNESSEE MISSIONARY CHARLIE WORTHY ASKS FOR PRAYER FOLLOWING EARTHQUAKE IN ITALY

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

160829italy1AREZZO, Italy — Prayer is the greatest thing people can do in response to the 6.2 magnitude earthquake which devastated several towns and villages in central Italy Aug. 24, said Tennessee native Charlie Worthy.

Worthy, who hails from Memphis and is a graduate of Union University, Jackson, and his wife Shannon are Southern Baptist International Mission Board missionaries in Arezzo in the Tuscany region of Italy. The Tennessee Baptist Convention has been in a partnership with evangelical believers in Italy since 2013. The Worthys coordinate volunteer teams from Tennessee that travel to Italy for missions opportunities. [Read more…]

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REVITALIZATION DOESN’T HAPPEN AT ONCE

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Pastor Robbie Carty of Sunset Village Baptist Church, Bristol, stands beside the church’s Community Prayer Box which has helped connect the church to local residents.

Pastor Robbie Carty of Sunset Village Baptist Church, Bristol, stands beside the church’s Community Prayer Box which has helped connect the church to local residents.

BRISTOL — Robbie Carty is living proof that patience pays off.

When he became pastor of Sunset Village Baptist Church, Bristol, seven years ago he readily admits the congregation “was stuck in a rut.”

Members of Sunset Village did not want to change, he observed. They were content with maintaining the “status quo,” Carty related.

“It took me six years to get them to realize that change is going to happen — not by our accord but by God’s accord,” said Carty, a bivocational pastor. [Read more…]

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