By Carolyn Tomlin
Contributing Columnist, B&R

Carolyn Tomlin

Rudyard Kipling once wrote, “God could not be everywhere, and therefore, he made mothers.

Celebrated the second Sunday of May, Mother’s Day is recognized as a special time we pay tribute to our mothers. Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia, recognized as the founder of Mother’s Day, petitioned Congress in 1914 to set aside this date to honor those women to whom we owe so much.

A “mother” is not only the person who gave you birth, but she is the one who cared for you as a child. This may include aunts, grandmothers, foster mothers, or neighbor women who nurtured a lonely child. Some of the best “mothers” I’ve known never had biological children, yet in every sense of the word, they were truly mothers. [Read more…]

By Marty Duren
Social Media Strategy Manager, Lifeway

Marty Duren

When Facebook’s membership grew beyond that of a few colleges and universities across America, millions of people piled on. A common refrain from those days was the formerly unwatched student who’s status, “Ugh. My mom’s on Facebook,” indicated a perceived loss of freedom.

It wasn’t long before pastors and other leaders began to warn about flirtation and the role Facebook (and eventually all social media) might play in harming marriage. A story was passed around claiming a certain percentage of divorce filings mentioned Facebook as a problem. One pastor forbade the members of his staff from having social media accounts.

Of course we should always be concerned about the potential abuse of any technology but we should remember Moses didn’t receive “You shall not commit adultery” because of Classmates.com, and David didn’t spy on Bathsheba on Periscope. [Read more…]

By Jon Duncan
Layman, Long Hollow Baptist Church, Hendersonville

Jon Duncan

Having been around children as an educator for close to 20 years now, I remain fascinated at their inability to separate fact from fiction.  More fascinating still is the unwillingness of adults to do the same. In children, this inability is biologically involuntary, cognitive limitation. In adults, this unwillingness is a voluntary, self-imposed limitation. Why let facts get in the way of a strong opinion, right? Regardless of the type of cognitive limitation — voluntary in adults or involuntary in children — the end result is the same: flawed reasoning, which leads to inaccurate, often irrelevant opinions. [Read more…]

By Chris Turner
Director of Communications, TBC

Chris Turner

It can take a lifetime to build a stellar reputation. It only takes a single “tweet” to destroy it.

That, in a nutshell, is the dark side of social media, especially for ministers (but true of everyone). Many still find it unbelievable that social media has that kind of influence, but social media is like nitroglycerin: useful when handled with care but terminal if jostled the wrong way.

Here’s an example. Justine Sacco was the senior director of corporate communications at a large New York company. While on a layover in London, she posted this Tweet: “Going to Africa. Hope I don’t get AIDS. Just kidding. I’m white!” [Read more…]

By Johnnie Godwin
Contributing Columnist, B&R

Johnnie Godwin

At age 29 and on the cusp of 30, I made a momentous decision symbolized by the use of green ink. Everyone needs something like a green-ink moment of decision.  Some moments mean more than all the others because they mean arriving at a decision, forming a conviction, and color-inking all life with a constant reminder.  My green-ink moment of 50 years ago still indelibly tattoos God’s will on my soul!

Context for my green-ink decision. Before I go further, you need a context for what I’m about to say. For a summary and to save space, let me point out that Jesus was born in God’s chosen moment of time and didn’t start His formal ministry until about age 30. What did Jesus do for those first 30 years? The Bible lets us know Jesus was growing at age 12 and ready to get busy about the Father’s will. Though I was only human and sinful, at age 30, and still am, I too had been born in a moment of time, had become aware of God’s call, and prepared. So what? Within my young pastor’s heart lay a holy discontent and sense that my 30s were a time for me to re-map my understanding of God’s calling and live a G-O-A-L: a God/Goal-Oriented Life (Philippians 3:12-15). [Read more…]

By Diana Davis
Reprinted from Baptist Press

Diana Davis

Each Sunday, we’d haul baby beds, sound equipment, and chairs to our temporary meeting place. We were church planters, and though it was hard work, the results were awesome.

Flash forward to present day. Our son-in-law and daughter serve as church planting pastor and worship leader for a new church. Every Sunday, they load a trailer to haul all kinds of equipment to their downtown Indianapolis meeting site. America is still a great missions field.

You are already involved in church planting — a portion of your tithe to your Southern Baptist church helps plant churches through the Cooperative Program, as does your annual gift for the Annie Armstrong Easter Offering for North American Missions. In Tennessee, Tennessee Baptists are involved in church planting when they give through the Golden Offering for Tennessee Missions. [Read more…]