Opinion Column Archives - Page 3 of 90

CONFESSION NEEDS TO BE MADE ON AN ONGOING BASIS

January 15, 2021

By Chris Turner
cturner@tnbaptist.org

Do Christians need to continue confessing sin after they’ve come into a relationship with Jesus Christ?

I was recently asked that question by a friend who’d been told that continued confession is unnecessary. Since that conversation with him, I’ve heard and read others propagating that same perspective. I don’t know how widespread that thinking is, but it is categorically unbiblical and dangerous to one’s understanding of what it means to be a disciple of Christ.

The entire narrative and tone of the Bible establishes God superior to man and man subordinate to God. A methodical reading of just Proverbs reveals two core biblical points: (1) The way to grow in fear (awe/devotion/worship) of God is to pursue (relentlessly chase after) the wisdom (good sense), understanding (mental grasp) and knowledge (familiarity through experience) God offers in His Word; (2) The person who embraces these actions with the goal of living a life pleasing to God will live; the person who does not will die.

Confession is foundational to both points, and it would be difficult to circumstantially support continued confession as unnecessary even through extremely selective proof texting. [Read more…]

A WORD OF HOPE IN A WORLD OF HURT

January 13, 2021

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

Racial tensions were high, extremely high. Riots flared and spread across the nation like wildfire. Hundreds of protestors were killed. Lynching was all too common and scarred our society.

But it got worse.

Politics and political parties were in upheaval, and in less than five years a president, a presidential candidate and a globally recognized American civil rights leader were all assassinated.

But it got worse.

Cities burned in protest of a war costing tens of thousands of military lives, and the Pentagon, the epicenter of the U.S. military, was assaulted by over 50,000 protesters as they breached the gates. [Read more…]

TIME TO TURN OVER THE HOURGLASS

January 13, 2021

By Jerry Drace
Evangelist/Senior Pastor, Friendship Baptist Church, Friendship

As the last grains of sand ran out of the 2020 hourglass I read once again the speech of Russian dissident Alexander Solzhenitsyn given on June 8, 1978, at the Harvard University commencement service. They were profound at the time and prophetic for 2021.

A portion of his speech follows and concludes with my personal comments. His entire speech can be found at: https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/alexandersolzhenitsynharvard.htm. [Read more…]

THREE CERTAINTIES OF LIFE: DEATH, TAXES AND JESUS

January 12, 2021

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org

Bill Wilkey with his wife, Lynn, left, and sister, Ruby Taylor.

It’s long been said that there are only two certainties in life: death and taxes.

After writing checks for my property taxes in 2020 and learning of the deaths of two dear friends and a family member in just the past two weeks, I tend to agree with that statement.

But, there is a third certainty that far outweighs the first two: Jesus Christ is still on His throne. [Read more…]

GOODBYE 2020, HELLO 2021

January 6, 2021

By Kathy McBroom

This year is a not a year we will soon forget. Speaking for educators, our lives have changed drastically. Those close relationships that we built with kids are now so different.

We’ve gone from watching students learn our educational concepts while being in a classroom with a teacher each day to struggling with the inconsistency of being in class, or at home and online or a combination of both with limited support. The consistency of having students every day close by is gone, and a lot is lost in that. [Read more…]

2020 — A YEAR THAT WILL ‘LIVE IN INFAMY’

January 4, 2021

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org

In 1941, then United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt described Dec. 7 “as a day which will live in infamy” after the Japanese attacked and bombed Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.

This past year will probably be remembered by those who have survived it and historians who look back on 2020 as “the year that will live in infamy.”

To say 2020 was a difficult and trying time for all Americans would probably be the most understatement of all time. [Read more…]

WHEN GOD MAKES MUCH OF LITTLE

December 30, 2020

By Randy C. Davis
TBMB President & Executive Director

There are times when the peculiar will cause you to pause and think.

For instance, during the first of November, the TBMB received an anonymous donation of two pennies in an envelope addressed to no one in particular, and with no specific gift designation. The envelope had no name or return address, just an Etowah postmark and inside the giver’s two cents. [Read more…]

LOOK FOR THE HOUSE WITH THE ACTIVITY IN THE YARD

December 26, 2020

By Todd E. Brady
Vice president for University ministries, Union University, Jackson

This nativity scene is displayed at the home of Todd Brady, Vice president for University ministries, Union University, Jackson.

Decorating for Christmas is a fun and meaningful event. Among the children, there is excitement as ornaments and decorations which were forgotten throughout the year are pulled from the attic and remembered again. Certain ornaments are special to certain people in the family and must only be put up by them.

For us, there’s that unique ornament made from a red pepper from that trip out to New Mexico. The paintings from Ethiopia are great. Then, there’s that special ornament made by a boy in the first grade — an ornament made from a paper plate and red tissue paper commemorating the Passover.

I am finding that the best decorations are not those which cost the most money but are those that were made by those who are most special to us. We wouldn’t take a million dollars for the fingerpainting prints done by the little boys years ago. [Read more…]

A SIMPLE FORMULA FOR REACHING LOTTIE MOON GOAL

December 25, 2020

By Paul Chitwood
President, International Mission Board

The 2020 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering goal is $175 million. That number is significant because 2020 marks the 175th anniversary of Southern Baptists sending workers to the nations.

The annual offering makes up almost 60 percent of the International Mission Board’s revenue and helps to support 3,535 missionaries and their families. Going back to 1888, the year Woman’s Missionary Union launched the offering, Southern Baptists have given over $4.7 billion through the offering.

Simply put, our company cannot exist without the Lottie Moon offering and this year’s offering goal is a God-sized goal. We’ve never had a $175 million dollar offering goal and never had a $175 million offering. Last year’s offering, the third largest in history, was $157 million. The largest Lottie Moon offering ever was $165,798,000. That falls almost $10 million short of this year’s goal of $175 million. [Read more…]

TEACHING CHILDREN THE ‘REAL’ MEANING OF CHRISTMAS

December 23, 2020

By Carolyn Tomlin
Contributing Writer, B&R

Several years ago, I watched a group of kindergarten children sing “Silent Night” in an assisted living center. With angelic faces and sparkling eyes, these 5-year-old little ones had memorized the first stanza of this beautiful old Christmas hymn. Watching the faces of those in the audience, I saw eyes brimming with tears … perhaps remembering Christmas past when their own children had been in a church program. Or, recalling their own childhood when their family had gone out together and cut a tree from the family farm. [Read more…]

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