Baptist & Reflector

Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835

COUPLE DECIDE TO REMAIN WITH IMB

Missionaries Ted, Beverly Holmes plan to return to “our home” in Poland

By Connie Davis Bushey
News Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Beverly and Ted Holmes, International Mission Board missionaries to Poland from Tennessee, visit the Tennessee Baptist Convention Baptist Center in Brentwood recently.

Beverly and Ted Holmes, International Mission Board missionaries to Poland from Tennessee, visit the Tennessee Baptist Convention Baptist Center in Brentwood recently.

NASHVILLE — Instead of a “Pauline Damascus Road experience,” it was a quiet voice, the nudge toward, “This is the way. Walk in it,” said Ted Holmes of the couple’s decision to stay with the Southern Baptist Convention’s International Mission Board as missionaries to Poland. He referred to Isaiah 30:21, which was used in a Bible school the Holmeses helped lead this past summer in Poland.

For Beverly it was several things, including hearing Jonasz Skrzypkowski, their recent guest from Poland, speaking to Carson-Newman University students in Polish. Though Beverly has struggled with the language, she thought as she heard Skrzypkowski speak, “That’s a beautiful language.”

The Holmeses were speaking of the staff cutting measures of the IMB in response to financial woes which included offering them early retirement. Ted and Beverly have been missionaries in Poland for seven years. Formerly Ted was associate pastor, Forest Hills Baptist Church, Nashville, and Beverly was a physical education teacher in Franklin.

They consider Poland their home now, they explained, though they were in their 40s when they and their youngest daughter, Megan, began serving there. [Read more…]

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LET’S FACE IT — WE LIVE IN AN OFFENDED WORLD

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Before it Hits the PressThis week I read an excellent blog by Everette Piper, president of Oklahoma Wesleyan University in Bartlesville, Okla. He noted a student had come to him after a recent chapel service complaining he was offended because the sermon made him feel guilty.

Later in the week I watched a news telecast by a local TV station interviewing a student at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro who was offended every time she walked past the academic building which bears the name of Nathan Bedford Forrest. There is an attempt by some on the MTSU campus to have his name removed from the building.

Name on the building or not, it does not erase who he was or his place in history. If the name “Hitler” was never uttered again, it won’t change what he did. We cannot erase history. Removing any mention of people or events that “offend” us today can’t change what has happened. If anything, we need those names before us to remind us that atrocities have happened in the world’s history and that we should never repeat them. [Read more…]

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CHURCHES CAN TAKE STEPS TO BECOME MORE SECURE

By Connie Davis Bushey
News Editor, Baptist and Reflector

church, structure, construction, sky, building, securityMILLINGTON — Andy Willis knows something about security. As director of security for Bellevue Baptist Church, Cordova, he is in charge of the largest Baptist church facility in the state of Tennessee — over one million square feet sitting on 300 acres. He also oversees the safety of the about 15,000 people who gather there each Sunday morning.

Willis led the breakout session, “Security Warning: Churches a Rising Target for Attack,” during the annual meeting of the Tennessee Baptist Convention Nov. 10-11 held in Millington.

He proposed security measures, but added that they should be conducted as part of “the ministry of security.” [Read more…]

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‘EVANGELICAL’ DEFINED AFTER NEW RESEARCH

Baptist Press

151202evangelicalNASHVILLE — The National Association of Evangelicals and LifeWay Research released an evangelical beliefs research definition Nov. 19 for accurate and consistent use among researchers.

NAE initiated development of the research definition more than two years ago. In partnership with LifeWay Research, the definition was crafted, reviewed, and tested for validity.

Numerous surveys seek to capture the opinions and practices of evangelicals in the United States. From tithing behaviors to political inclinations, evangelicals are regularly identified in research and polls. Because researchers use different tools to identify evangelicals, results vary from poll to poll. Even the estimated number of U.S. evangelicals ranges from 23 percent to 35 percent of American adults. [Read more…]

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LEADING TENNESSEANS TO JESUS

New TBC president has passion to see churches reach the lost

Roc Collins stands with his wife, Jeralyn, following his election last month as president of the Tennessee Baptist Convention. He is pastor of Indian Springs Baptist Church, Kingsport.

Roc Collins stands with his wife, Jeralyn, following his election last month as president of the Tennessee Baptist Convention. He is pastor of Indian Springs Baptist Church, Kingsport.

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

JEFFERSON CITY — In Roc Collins’ new role as president of the Tennessee Baptist Convention his learning curve will be minimal. Since becoming pastor of Indian Springs Baptist Church, Kingsport, 10 years ago, Collins has been fully involved in Tennessee Baptist life. He has served as president of the Tennessee Baptist Pastors Conference and this past year was chair of the TBC’s Executive Board.

Though born in North Carolina (the son of a Baptist pastor), Collins has strong ties to the Volunteer State. Both his parents were reared in Tennessee and Collins graduated from Carson-Newman University in Jefferson City. While in college he accepted his first pastorate — Briar Thicket Baptist Church, Bybee. “I have a heart for the state of Tennessee and I love Tennessee Baptists,” Collins said.

[Read more…]

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WOMEN DISTRUST CHURCH ON ABORTION ISSUE

LifeWay news office

151202abortionNASHVILLE — Many women with unplanned pregnancies go silently from the church pew to the abortion clinic, convinced the church would gossip rather than help, a new study by LifeWay Research shows.

More than four in 10 women who have had an abortion were churchgoers when they ended a pregnancy, researchers found in a survey sponsored by Care Net, a nonprofit organization supporting more than 1,100 pregnancy centers across North America.
“That’s a huge opportunity for the church to have an impact on those decisions,” said Scott McConnell, vice president of LifeWay Research.

But only 7 percent of women discussed their abortion decision with anyone at church. Three-fourths (76 percent) say the church had no influence on their decision to terminate a pregnancy. [Read more…]

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LIFEWAY COMPLETES SALE OF DOWNTOWN NASHVILLE CAMPUS

By Art Toalston
Baptist Press

151201lifewayNASHVILLE (BP) — LifeWay has completed the sale of its 14.5-acre campus in downtown Nashville.

“Although this momentous event is cause for thanksgiving, it is also bittersweet,” Thom S. Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources, wrote in an email to the Southern Baptist entity’s trustees and employees Nov. 24 after the sale was announced around 5 p.m.

“LifeWay has served the bride of Christ from this property for more than 100 years,” Rainer wrote. “Those of us who serve today continue an unbroken line of tens of thousands of employees who have stewarded the responsibility to produce trustworthy Christian resources for the church. And, we will continue to do so into the future, but from a new location.”

The sale was announced in a joint news release from LifeWay and Southwest Value Partners, a private real estate investment firm based in San Diego. [Read more…]

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TENNESCENE DEC. 2-15

Stewart

Stewart

LEADERS

Ron Stewart, pastor, Grace Baptist Church, Knoxville, for 28 years, will retire effective June 1, 2016. He is a former president of the Tennessee Baptist Convention. Stewart also was a member of the TBC Executive Board from 1998-2004 and 2006-07 and of the board of Carson-Newman University, Jefferson City, from 2010-15.

Kelly Harden has been named dean of the School of Nursing at Union University, Jackson. Harden, associate dean of graduate programs in the School of Nursing and chair of the doctor of nursing practice program, joined the Union faculty in 2006. She is a member of Englewood Baptist Church, Jackson.

Natan Velasquez of Venezuela has been called as pastor, Iglesia de las Americas (Church of the Americas), Franklin. He is the former president of the Venezuelan Baptist Convention.

[Read more…]

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ARABIC BAPTIST LEADER RAOUF GHATTAS DIES AT AGE 69

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

MURFREESBORO — Raouf W. Ghattas, a Tennessee Baptist pastor known for his work in reaching Muslims with the gospel, died Nov. 25 of an apparent heart attack at his home in Murfreesboro.

Raouf

Raouf W. Ghattas was noted for his love of Muslims and his desire to educate others about Islamic culture and how to share the gospel with Muslims.

Ghattas, 69, was pastor of Arabic Baptist Church in Murfreesboro, a congregation he helped establish in 2011 along with his wife, Carol.

Ghattas was born in Cairo, Egypt to an Evangelical Presbyterian family. He received a degree from Cairo University and immigrated to the United States in 1976. He worked for 12 years as a nuclear engineer. God called him to pastor the Arabic Mission of University Baptist Church in Fort Worth, TX where he served from 1985-1990. While serving as pastor, he earned both his M.Div. and D. Min. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, completing his doctorate in Muslim Evangelism. [Read more…]

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GOD ‘HAS NOT FORGOTTEN YOU,’ SAYS EZELL

By Tim Ellsworth,
Contributing Editor, B&R

Kevin Ezell, president of the North American Mission Board, based in Alpharetta, Ga, presented the closing message at the 2015 Summit held Nov. 9-11 at First Baptist Church, Millington. — Photo by Corinne Williams

Kevin Ezell, president of the North American Mission Board, based in Alpharetta, Ga., presented the closing message at the 2015 Summit held Nov. 9-11 at First Baptist Church, Millington.
— Photo by Corinne Williams

MILLINGTON — “In ministry, it can be very difficult,” said Kevin Ezell, president, Southern Baptist North American Mission Board, based in Alpharetta, Ga. He preached during the Tennessee Baptist Convention annual meeting held here at First Baptist Church. Ezell speaks from experience. Of the churches he served, he only received one unanimous call to serve as pastor of a church and at one church, he was the only one to attend an evening service, he recalled.

The Apostle Paul also went through discouragement, noted Ezell. God responded in Acts 18:9-10 by telling Paul not to fear and not to quit because He would be with Paul. God also told Paul that He would protect Him from physical harm. [Read more…]

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