Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835
By Benjie Shaw
Collegiate ministry specialist, Tennessee Baptist Mission Board
I serve as the director of a campus-based ministry. Campus ministry is the only full-time ministry that I’ve ever known.
Working with college students and young adults is great because it affords an opportunity to influence a person in what is probably the most formative timeframe in their spiritual and personal development. [Read more…]
By Randy C. Davis
TBMB President & Executive Director
The most gut-wrenching and soul-devastating site in the world is seeing women militantly demanding the right to kill their unborn babies.
I was reminded of this last week when I saw a photo of women vociferously protesting for the right to “keep abortion legal.” How I pray to God that in my lifetime I’d see the end of the systematic killing of the precious babies God knits together in the wombs of their mothers. Unfortunately, the systematic killing of unborn children is a global epidemic of unimaginable proportion.
According to research done by the Guttmacher Institute, an organization founded 50 years ago and heavily supported by Planned Parenthood, more than 55 million unborn lives per year – 55 million per year – are terminated as a result of “induced abortion” as the report describes it. [Read more…]
By Todd E. Brady
Vice President for University Ministries, Union University
iStock photo
On Jan. 18, thousands will gather in Washington D.C. as they have done each year for over 40 years for the March for Life Rally. Billed as the world’s largest pro-life event, people there will march “to end abortion and to share the vision of a culture of life” and to promote the idea of a “world where the beauty, dignity, and uniqueness of every human are valued.”
Many there will have ending abortion on their mind. As we approach the dark anniversary of the Roe vs. Wade Supreme Court decision, let us remember that while being pro-life is not less than a matter of abortion, it is certainly more than simply a matter of abortion. [Read more…]
By David Evans
TBMB Evangelism Director
Samantha Wilson being baptized at Faith Promise Church in Knoxville.
A decease in baptisms is symptomatic of a larger and looming issue.
In 2015, Tennessee Baptist churches baptized 22,613. In 2016, Tennessee Baptist churches baptized 20,267. In 2017, our Tennessee churches baptized 21,000.
The baptism number across the United States has been declining, but the baptism number is only symptomatic of a larger and looming issue.
Baptized believers are not reproducing their faith by being evangelistic. Baptism is not the problem in Tennessee. Thousands are being baptized. [Read more…]
By Carolyn Tomlin
Contributing Columnist, B&R
According to the Gregorian calendar, January is the first month of the new year. Named for Janus, the Roman god of gates and doorways, the image is depicted with two faces, one looking forward and one back.
In celebrating the beginning of a new year, parents have an opportunity to reflect on the past and more importantly, forward to the coming months. It’s a time to reflect on changes for your family and to resolve to follow through on those changes. Did these resolutions make your list? [Read more…]
By Phil Young
Director of Missions, Knox County Association of Baptists
I decided it was time to get in shape physically. I will spare you the details, but basically, I knew that it was time to take the next step in my physical health.
Oh, I could easily justify keeping things the way they were. After all, I wasn’t overweight and my regular choice of foods was fairly healthy (except for the hot glazed Krispy Kreme donuts). And in comparison, I appeared to be in as good of shape as most of my peers.
However, I knew deep down that my health could be better. I had reached the point where the conviction about what could be was overriding the justification of status quo. [Read more…]
By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org
The printed issue of the Baptist and Reflector goes to press every two weeks during the year.
The B&R staff prepares the copy, proofs it carefully (we have the two best proofers any publication could have in Mary Nimmo and Susan Dalton). David Dawson (TBMB communications specialist who writes for and designs the paper) and I also read it carefully prior to sending it to the printer.
Invariably, the paper is printed and we occasionally find something that we probably should have caught the day before. Fortunately, it doesn’t happen nearly as much as it used to and I attribute it to the dedication and diligence of our staff. [Read more…]
By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
On Friday night, an unknown person or persons shot out the front entrance and windows of Calvary Baptist Church in Lafayette. The church van’s windows were also shot out.
Robbery apparently was not the motive. The vandals did not enter the church and nothing was taken. [Read more…]
By Randy C. Davis
TBMB President & Executive Director
There have been some excellent Bible teachers over the last 100 years. Without reservation, I count the late Dr. Ron Dunn as one of them. He was filled with the Holy Spirit and anointed to teach like few men I have ever known. Every message articulated careful biblical exposition, clear illustrations and practical applications. He kept it real, relevant and preached with a compelling word from the Lord.
I was visiting Dr. Dunn and his wife, Kay, at their home in Dallas in early 1991. He gave me a signed copy of his then latest book, “Don’t Just Stand There Pray Something: The Incredible Power of Intercessory Prayer.” I will always remember that visit with the Dunns, and the title of the book has forever been etched on my mind. [Read more…]
By Laura Hurd
Baptist Press
Hurd
CHURCH HILL, Tenn. — The short eight minutes between our home and school is time that God has been fashioning as an open window for peering into the ever-evolving mind of my son, who tends to be willing to talk more during these moments.
I soon realized the importance of my attentiveness in each conversation. [Read more…]
