By Steve Freeman
President, Tennessee Baptist Convention

Steve Freeman

Hello Tennessee Baptists!

Another Christmas season is in the books! If your experience is anything like mine, it seems as though Christmas rolls around much faster each year and before you know it — it’s all over! The excitement and anticipation of the season is a wonderful experience … then it’s all done! Life simply returns to “normal” and the normal “everyday” routine seeps back into our lives. The “post-Christmas” question is “what are we supposed to do now?” This is why I am so thankful for the Bible because it provides for us, as God’s children, every answer to every question that we may have in our lives. This certainly includes an answer to the “post-Christmas” question!

Consider the “excitement” of the first Christmas — after the long-awaited and prophesied Messiah had been conceived in the virgin womb of His chosen mother, after Mary and Joseph had persevered through the scandalous scrutiny of “being found with Child” during their engagement, after the long-awaited and anticipated birth of their unique first-born Son, and after the appearance of the angelic hosts announcing the birth of Jesus to wise men from the East and shepherds “abiding in their fields keeping watch over their flock by night” prompting them to “go straight to Bethlehem then and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us” (Luke 2:1-15, Matthew 2:1-2). [Read more…]

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Lonnie Wilkey

I was reading a novel recently and saw these words: “Where there is life, there is hope.”

That sounds good and it works — for fiction. But in real life, hope is available only through Jesus Christ.

We live in a fallen, sin-filled world. Turn on the news every day and you will be depressed within the first five minutes, if not sooner. Just last week in Nashville, there was at least one homicide a day for three days in a row. During my recent recovery from knee surgery I had to spend a few days at home doing nothing but resting and staying off my knee. In between reading and napping, I watched television reruns of shows such as “Dateline” and others that show investigations of people who have been murdered in a variety of ways. Talk about depravity and a fallen world. Those shows are supposedly based on real events. [Read more…]

By Chris Turner
Director of Communications, TBC

Centuries ago, an angel appeared to shepherds outside the city of Jerusalem to announce that a Savior was born. Sadly, untold millions of people have missed Christmas over the centuries because they failed to connect with that baby born that day — Jesus Christ. — Photo by Matt Jones, International Mission Board

Dust particles diffuse the saturated orange of a sinking sun and smooth the warm tones evenly across the horizon. The limestone walls of Jerusalem absorb the light and the city practically glows, like it is on fire. In a sense, it is. Jerusalem’s Old City has been a battleground for thousands of years. Lingering hostility between Jews and Muslims still smolders within, waiting to flare with the slightest gust of cultural friction. The peace for which the psalmist tells us to pray (Psalm 122:6) is noticeably absent.

However, just across the way, atop the Mount of Olives, stands a devout Jewish businessman, eyes closed, arms outstretched, olive skin glistening as he faces the city and the sun. His expression is strained and his lips move rapidly as he silently pours out his heart on behalf of his beloved city.  [Read more…]

By Carolyn Tomlin
Contributing Columnist, B&R

Carolyn Tomlin

Remember when your family made the traditional trip to the meadows and woods in search of that perfect Christmas tree? Or, you cut armloads of holly, pine, and cedar to bring the scent of winter holidays into your home? Perhaps you recall home made ornaments that held a special place on the cedar tree. This holiday season recapture the joys of making family memories while using greenery and seed pods from nature for decorations. Don’t stop with tree decorations — carry the designs to door wreaths, table centerpieces, and mailbox garlands. 

As you find greenery and dried seed pods, think of numerous ways to use these as creative objects in your home.  [Read more…]

By Chris Kelly
Exec. VP/General Counsel, Tennessee Baptist Foundation

Chris Kelly

’Tis the season — the season for celebrating our Savior, gathering with friends and family, looking for that perfect gift, and taking last-minute advantage of the charitable giving opportunities to Baptist causes within this calendar year. While I’ll admit that it is surprising that no one has ever written a Christmas song about charitable giving, it is important to consider whether you may lose some significant giving opportunities if you haven’t taken action by New Year’s Eve. These are just a few ideas to consider implementing before the big ball drops:  [Read more…]

By Billy Hoffman
Stewardship Development Specialist, TBC

Billy Hoffman

Is God leading you and your church to share Christ where He is not known?  I ask it this way because spreading the gospel is both an individual as well as a Christian community activity. This is the third in a series of articles to assist you to discover a biblically-based process for doing that. We continue reviewing Acts 13 to discover the pattern of the call and empowerment of the first missions team from the church at Antioch. From this we see there are three things in play which led to moving the gospel into new territory — spiritual resources, human resources, and tangible resources. Until God changes the nature of the universe those three basic elements are always involved in gospel advance. The order of employing the three is also important. It’s somewhat like constructing a building — it’s important to pour the concrete after all of the underground plumbing and electrical has been installed. If you reverse the order, you’ll have problems. [Read more…]