Baptist & Reflector

Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835

  • Home
  • Tennessee
  • SBC
  • Columnists
  • SS Lessons
  • Tennescene
  • Radio B&R

WHAT IF THEY NEVER HEAR THE GOSPEL?

July 7, 2025

By Adam Dooley
Pastor • Englewood Baptist Church • Jackson

Dooley

What about the person in the deepest jungle who has never heard the name of Jesus? Or the man stranded on an island throughout the entirety of his life? I have been asked about similar scenarios more than once.

Varying versions of these questions abound, but the heart behind each inquiry is the eternal destiny of those who never hear the gospel. If I may state the dilemma bluntly, do people who know nothing of Jesus and salvation spend an eternity in hell?

The simple answer is yes. But why? [Read more…]

Facebooktwittermail

Filed Under: Featured, Opinion Column

HONOR GOD AND COUNTRY ON JULY 4

July 4, 2025

By Carolyn Tomlin
Contributing writer, Baptist and Reflector

Carolyn Tomlin

AAA reports a record of over 72.2 million Americans will travel domestically during the Fourth of July holiday, an increase of 2.4% over last year. The average trip will be 50 miles from home.

As July 4 falls on a Friday, people will have a long weekend. Airline flights are setting new records.

Whether your family plans to journey to other areas or plans a stay-at-home Tennessee holiday, these educational, fun, and creative activities will make this a time to remember.

Celebrate family, faith, and patriotic community events this Independence Day. [Read more…]

Facebooktwittermail

Filed Under: Opinion Column

HISTORY ISN’T A ONE-SIDED STORY

July 3, 2025

By Zoë Watkins
Communications specialist

Zoë Watkins

Moses killed an Egyptian. King David had an affair and assassinated the husband. Peter “Vincent Van Gogh-ed” a soldier’s ear.

History is messy, but for every bad thing that happened, the good should shine that much brighter.

Moses led the way to freedom for the Israelites. David was a man after God’s own heart. And Peter was a disciple of Christ who helped spread the gospel far and wide ultimately becoming a martyr.

God’s Word is often misinterpreted because history is taken out of context. History is messy because messy people crafted it, and the Bible documents that. But the messiness doesn’t, or at least shouldn’t, stop us from learning and appreciating the Bible’s historical record. [Read more…]

Facebooktwittermail

Filed Under: Opinion Column

GOTM: MEETING NEEDS SINCE 1902

July 2, 2025

By Vickie Anderson
Executive director-treasurer • Tennessee WMU

Vickie Anderson

In 1902, Mrs. Mildred Golden, Tennessee WMU Corresponding Secretary (1898-1902), cast a bold vision for Tennessee Baptists to pray for their Tennessee mission field and give to the first state missions offering. A total of $800 was given that first year.

For the next decade, without the convenience of electric typewriters, word processors, or computers, Mrs. Golden and her husband, Dr. W.C. Golden (TBC Executive Secretary, 1902-1910), wrote and copied the programs for the season of prayer.

Together with family and neighbors, they counted envelopes and leaflets, wrapped them in brown paper, tied and addressed each bundle, stamped them, and, most importantly, prayed over every packet before mailing them to the churches across the state. In 1943, Tennessee WMU named the state missions offering after the Goldens. [Read more…]

Facebooktwittermail

Filed Under: Opinion Column

THE CLOUD THAT SURROUNDS ME

June 27, 2025

By Adam Dooley
Pastor • Englewood Baptist Church • Jackson

Dooley

No one lives in a vacuum. Despite our occasional efforts to deny it, the people around us influence nearly every part of our lives for good or bad.

Either you benefit from the nurture, example, and encouragement of those who speak into your life, or you suffer, stumble, and lament due to the absence of these things.

A difficult past may not destroy you, but it will shape you. Likewise, the benefit of loving support will not guarantee a successful life, but it will certainly position you for it.

Hebrews 12:1-2 illustrates the value of benefitting from the experience of others: “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” [Read more…]

Facebooktwittermail

Filed Under: Featured, Opinion Column

2025 SBC ANNUAL MEETING WAS PIVOTAL

June 26, 2025

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

Randy C. Davis

The Southern Baptist Convention, held in Dallas two weeks ago, was, in my view, one of the most significant annual meetings our denomination has experienced in recent years.

The agenda was packed, with critical decisions made on resolutions, amendments, budgets and other matters.

Having had time to reflect, here are my key highlights and takeaways from our time in Dallas: [Read more…]

Facebooktwittermail

Filed Under: Opinion Column

CHRISTIANS AND THE PRIDE TSUNAMI

June 26, 2025

By Chris Turner
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Chris Turner

June is Pride Month, and every year it crashes into our culture like a tsunami, flooding us with an aggressive amount of pro-LGBTQ+ messaging. Transgenderism has become a leading force to normalize gender confusions and sexually deviant behaviors. Unfortunately, the church — and most commentary offering a traditional or biblical perspective on gender identity — is often labeled as bigoted or largely goes unheard.

But not this year. This year, Riley Gaines was heard.

Gaines, a former 12-time All-American collegiate swimmer for the University of Kentucky, made a public comment about a Minnesota high school girls’ softball team that won the 2025 state championship with a transgender female (biological male) pitching every inning of every game of the tournament, giving up a single run. Gaines’ comment elicited a scathing response on social media from Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles, who called Gaines “truly sick” for being “anti-trans” and labeled her a “sore loser” for her hard stance on prohibiting biological males from competing in women’s sports. Notably, Biles has never competed against transgender women. [Read more…]

Facebooktwittermail

Filed Under: Featured, Opinion Column

BEING RESOLUTE ABOUT PRAYER, FASTING

June 25, 2025

By Nancy Duggin
Prayer Catalyst • TBMB

Nancy Duggin

Tennessee designated July 2024 as “a time of prayer and fasting” by enacting Joint Resolution 803. The resolution, entitled “A Resolution to seek God’s hand of mercy healing on Tennessee.” It quoted Founding Fathers and Scripture in appealing for divine intervention and forgiveness to address the challenges.

Now, Tennessee House Joint Resolution 51 (HJR51) in the 2025 session calls for a voluntary, annual period of statewide prayer and fasting across the Volunteer State. This resolution, sponsored by Representative Monty Fritts, calls upon the citizens of Tennessee to seek God’s blessings and mercy for our state.

A call to prayer provides the opportunity for large numbers of individuals to join together in faith and agreement. Such prayer is referred to as intercession. [Read more…]

Facebooktwittermail

Filed Under: Opinion Column

ARE ALL SINS REALLY THE SAME?

June 18, 2025

By Adam Dooley
Pastor • Englewood Baptist Church • Jackson

All sins are the same.

Sin is sin.

No single act of disobedience is any worse than another in God’s eyes.

Chances are you’ve heard statements like these repeated by sincere believers and cynics alike.

The faithful sometimes parrot these words to avoid sounding judgmental or harsh while discussing wrongdoing. Critics of Christianity, too, will champion notions of equal offense as they mock any efforts to warn about the dangers of particular sins.

But is the premise behind these declarations true? Are all sins equally obnoxious to God? Is gluttony just as offensive to the Lord as adultery? Should we really equate speeding on the highway with taking the life of another person? Is a stolen piece of bubblegum just as damning as the pilfered lifesavings taken from an elderly person?

Well, it depends.

In one sense, a single sin of any kind relationally separates us from our Creator. Each act of disobedience falls short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Every person is by nature a sinner who is not righteous, does not seek God, and is incapable of good (Romans 3:10-12).

As result, apart from grace, we stand before the Lord condemned, dead in our sins as children of wrath (Ephesians 2:1-3), resulting in eternal death (Romans 6:23).

Any sin, whether great or small, leaves every human being without excuse or defense in the presence of a holy God (Romans 5:12). We minimize the gravity of our shortcomings to our peril.

In another sense, however, the Bible clearly teaches that there are categories of sinfulness which bring varying levels of consequence, both temporally and eternally.

Though every sin offends the righteousness of God, all sins are not equally egregious to the Lord. Some transgressions, for instance, can lead to physical death while others do not

(I John 5:16-17). The degree of the offense is key.

Few would dispute that God hates all sin, yet Scripture reveals seven specific actions that are uniquely wicked in His eyes (Proverbs 6:16-19). While describing Judas Iscariot to Pontius Pilate, Jesus made this principled distinction, “He who delivered Me to you has the greater sin (John 19:11).”

Clearly, God not only delineates between right and wrong, but also between wrong and more wrong.

Sexual sin, for example, is especially objectionable because, unlike other trespasses, it wreaks havoc against our physical bodies and well-being (1 Corinthians 6:18). God does not say, “flee immorality” because He resents our physical pleasures, but due to His desire to protect us from psychological trauma and physiological harm.

Defiling the marriage bed destroys many conjugal unions before they ever get started (Hebrews 13:4). Severe consequences like these reveal the seriousness of fornication and God’s judgment of it.

Likewise, homosexuality represents an increased level of carnality because its indecent acts are contrary to God’s design of nature itself.

Scripture describes same sex unions as dishonorable, degrading, unnatural, indecent, depraved, and improper (Romans 1:26-27). Lest you think I’m overstating it, the homosexual perversion of Sodom and Gomorrah led to its destruction (Genesis 19). As the Lord looked upon their wickedness, He declared, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave (Genesis 18:20).” Clearly, these behaviors were not like other shortcomings.

Though some erroneously insist that the real problem in Sodom and Gomorrah was a lack of hospitality, such an assertion contradicts the clear witness of Scripture. Jude described the citizens in Sodom as those who “indulged in gross immorality and went after strange flesh,” making them worthy of eternal fire (Jude 7).

The Apostle Peter explicitly stated that God condemned these cities due to their “sensual conduct” in order to make “them an example of those who would live ungodly lives thereafter (II Peter 2:6-7).” In other words, increased obscenity kindles the wrath of God differently than other sins.

Even worse than these sexual proclivities, though, is the repeated aversion to and ignoring of truth. The more God reveals Himself to us, the greater offense we cause by resisting Him. When Jesus spoke of the cities who rejected the apostles, He measured their condemnation by saying, “Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city (Matthew 10:15).”

Dooley

You read that correctly. The perversion of Sodom was less offensive to Jesus than the rejection of His gospel message.

The same warning appeared in Luke’s account when Jesus chastised Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum for dismissing the miracles in their midst.

Vile and wicked cities like Sidon and Tyre will fare better in the judgment than these places that had access to truth but trampled it under foot (Luke 10:10-16). The latter offense is great than the former.

Simply put, increased revelation equals increased accountability. Though the witnesses of creation (Romans 1:18-20) and our conscience (Romans 2:14-16) are enough to send us to hell apart from the cross of Jesus, dismissing or misrepresenting the fuller revelation of Scripture brings additional judgment and consequence.

No wonder Jesus warned about the severity of making children stumble in their faith (Matthew 18:6). Similarly, James cautions that not many should desire to be teachers of biblical truth because it invites stricter evaluation (James 3:1).

Some sins are indeed worse than others, but that doesn’t give us an excuse to justify ANY sin in our lives. None of us will stand before the Lord and point to the misdeeds of others in order to cover the wrongs we have done. Thank God that the blood of Jesus can cleanse us from every stain, great or small! B&R — Dooley is pastor of Englewood Baptist Church in Jackson and author of Hope When Life Unravels and Exalting Jesus in 1-2 Chronicles. Contact him at adooley@ebcjackson.org. Follow him on X (Twitter) @AdamBDooley.

Facebooktwittermail

Filed Under: Featured, Opinion Column

COOKIES, KOOL-AID AND A BIG THANK YOU

June 16, 2025

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

You’ve probably never heard of Martha J. “Mattie” Pritchard Miles, but you’re familiar with her work.

Mattie was born on May 4, 1870, in Illinois and married the Rev. D.T. Miles, a Methodist minister at Hopedale United Methodist Church in Illinois. Mattie had a passion for children to know Jesus. She was a public-school teacher during the week and a Sunday school teacher on weekends.

At just 24, she launched the first Vacation Bible School (VBS). Her goal was to create a space for all children, regardless of church affiliation, to learn about Jesus.

In May 1894, she organized a four-week program to provide children with Bible teaching and activities during their summer vacation. The first VBS had about 40 students and lasted four weeks, with parents paying $1 per student to cover supplies. [Read more…]

Facebooktwittermail

Filed Under: Opinion Column

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • …
  • 137
  • Next Page »
Subscribe Classifieds Advertise About

Popular Posts

Recent Posts

  • JULY 20: GOD’S FAITHFULNESS
  • JULY 20: CAN I WALK AWAY FROM MY SALVATION?
  • LIFEWAY CEO BEN MANDRELL VOTED 8TH PASTOR OF BELLEVUE BAPTIST
  • SBC PRESIDENT PRAYS FOR ‘RIGHTEOUS PEOPLE’ IN SENATE OPENING PRAYER
  • BELLEVUE ANNOUNCES MANDRELL AS PASTOR CANDIDATE

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

2025 © The Baptist and Reflector. All Right Reserved.

Copyright © 2025 · Metro Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in