The Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention will meet Feb. 19-20 at the SBC Building in Nashville. 

A few weeks ago, it appeared that the Executive Committee was poised to rid itself of the elephant in the room — the vacant office of president and chief executive officer. The position has been vacant aside from interim presidents since Oct. 31, 2021 when Ronnie Floyd’s resignation as president and CEO took effect. 

On Jan. 8, the search committee announced it would present a candidate at the EC’s upcoming meeting in February. They chose not to release the name, but it soon circulated that Thomas Hammond, executive director of the Georgia Baptist Mission Board, would be the candidate. Approximately two weeks later, search committee (team) chair Neal Hughes informed EC members the unnamed candidate had withdrawn his name.  [Read more…]

For many churches, dates for Vacation Bible School (VBS) are among the first placed on the church calendar each year. Churches give VBS high priority because pastors recognize VBS as one of the most important evangelistic events for the entire church year. 

In some churches, a volunteer serves as the VBS director. Other churches may have a children’s ministry staff person who’s responsible for coordinating VBS. For some churches, especially single-staff churches, the pastor may wear the hat of VBS director. When a VBS director is wearing multiple hats, it is not uncommon for earlier events on the calendar to quickly push VBS planning to the back burner.  [Read more…]

For many churches, dates for Vacation Bible School (VBS) are among the first placed on the church calendar each year. Churches give VBS high priority because pastors recognize VBS as one of the most important evangelistic events for the entire church year.

In some churches, a volunteer serves as the VBS director. Other churches may have a children’s ministry staff person who’s responsible for coordinating VBS. For some churches, especially single-staff churches, the pastor may wear the hat of VBS director. When a VBS director is wearing multiple hats, it is not uncommon for earlier events on the calendar to quickly push VBS planning to the back burner. [Read more…]

“Your mission, should you choose to accept it …” 

These words are the familiar disclaimer of the “Mission Impossible? franchise. In 2014, Tennessee Baptists began a less famous and yet eternally more significant mission. And we chose to accept it together. [Read more…]

Happy New Year, Tennessee Baptists! I am grateful for what God is doing in our state and for the opportunities we have to serve Him and advance the gospel together in 2024!

The new year is often a time to think new beginnings, new habits, new goals, and new opportunities. People all around the globe celebrate the flipping of the calendar as a proverbial sign of the old that is passed and the new that is to come. As we look ahead to 2024, I want us to consider a question together — “What new thing is God doing and how He is calling me to follow Him in it?”

At the encouragement of a mentor a few years ago, I started receiving the “Verse of the Day” notification from YouVersion as a means of beginning each day in the Word and in prayer. I receive it each day at 4 a.m. and it is the first thing I see and read when I wake up. The goal is to spend those first moments of the morning reflecting on the verse and applying it to my day and life through prayer. It’s been a wonderful, life-giving habit — I highly encourage you to give it a try!

On Jan. 8, the “Verse of the Day” came from Isaiah 43:18-19: “Do not remember the past events, pay no attention to things of old. Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.”  [Read more…]

It was a day to remember, May 6, 2013. It was the day I met, “The GOAT.” 

True, not everyone would agree that he’s the greatest of all time, but what is irrefutable is what Nick Saban accomplished during his years at the University of Alabama. Being from Alabama and being a lifelong Crimson Tide fan, it was an honor for my brother and I to meet him in 2013 at a banquet to which we were invited. 

Rob and I arrived early and were positioned to meet Coach Saban when he also arrived about 30 minutes before the event. We greeted one another, took photographs, and then he asked where we were from. We explained Tennessee and Arkansas, respectively, but that we grew up on the Alabama Gulf Coast. With great enthusiasm, he immediately talked about recruiting Julio Jones and other great players from the coast. “Fertile ground” he called it. The conversation lasted about 20 minutes. 

If you approach Bryant Denny Stadium on Alabama’s campus, you will pass the statues of former Bama coaches Wallace Wade, Frank Thomas, Paul “Bear” Bryant, Gene Stallings and Nick Saban. The common denominator with these five coaches is that they’ve each won at least one NCAA Football National Championship. The Crimson Tide have had other great coaches, but statues are reserved for national champions.   [Read more…]