Dawson

Many, many years ago, when I was just a boy, my family took a vacation to California.

One night while there, we were eating at a restaurant when we looked across the room and spotted — you won’t believe this — Muhammed Ali! 

The three-time heavyweight champion was eating a quiet dinner with his own family, tucked away in a corner table. 

Realizing the magnitude of this moment, my friend and I sheepishly made our way across the room to shake Ali’s gigantic hand. He was gracious to the two little fellas who interrupted his meal and even signed some autographs without acting outwardly annoyed.  [Read more…]

Van Neste

’ Tis the season for graduation addresses, and as a college professor for many years I’d like to share some thoughts with you (and others who might want to listen in). Our culture encourages you to laziness, and then, mocks and caricatures you as lazy. The truth is if you want a meaningful, worthwhile life, you must work hard. 

It is odd to me to hear the word lazy used in a positive, or at least neutral, sense. It wasn’t that way when I was a kid. If you called a man lazy, you could have a fistfight. 

Now, I regularly hear students say, “I’m just being lazy.” I think they usually mean they are resting. Rest is good and necessary, and appropriate after hard work. Laziness isn’t rest; it is the avoidance of work and is sinful. Don’t let yourself make peace with laziness any more than you would with any other sin.  [Read more…]

Necessary legal disclaimer: I’m a lawyer. I’m not your lawyer. I’m not the SBC’s lawyer. This article isn’t legal advice or intended to create a lawyer-client relationship between the SBC or any other party and me.

Bryson

Mike Law circulated a letter last year informing the Southern Baptist Convention that for the sake of clarity he intended to propose an amendment that churches were not in friendly cooperation when they employed a female pastor.

But the amendment that passed didn’t say that.

It said something else entirely and MEANT something else entirely.

This is not a theological analysis by a seminarian. I’m not talking about women pastors. I’m a lawyer – not the SBC’s lawyer, not even a lawyer that practices civil law – but reading the amendment, I cannot overlook what we are about to do. [Read more…]

Dooley

I will never forget the day God visited my college campus. None of the songs we sang that day readily come to mind. The subject of the visiting preacher’s message is less familiar to me than what I had for dinner on this same date last year. What I do remember, though, is that God showed up in an unusual way during our campus wide revival.

Students began confessing their sins. Professors repented of their pride. Our president openly apologized to numerous faculty members. Testimonies of God’s goodness abounded. Personal pettiness and secret grudges seemed to dissipate in the shadow of God’s undeniable presence. No excessive displays for attention monopolized the time. Miraculous signs or gifts were the farthest things from my mind. Overwhelmed like never before, I wanted to hide my face as I considered just how near God was that day. [Read more…]

Iorg

The Southern Baptist Convention will soon consider final action on an amendment to the SBC Constitution stating that a cooperating Southern Baptist church “affirms, appoints, or employs only men as any kind of pastor or elder as qualified by Scripture.”

This is a significant decision which raises important issues related to Baptist theology, polity and practice and has the potential to profoundly impact not just the Southern Baptist Convention, but the entire Southern Baptist denomination.

When the SBC Executive Committee forwarded the amendment to the Convention in 2023, it did so with a recommendation that the amendment be declined. This remains the position of the Executive Committee and reflects my position as well. Here are some of the reasons for our position, along with some suggestions for a path forward. [Read more…]

Lonnie Wilkey

For more than 35 years, I have attended countless events at Tennessee Baptists’ two camps/conference centers at Carson Springs in Newport and Linden Valley in Linden.

But it wasn’t until the last two-plus years that I have truly come to understand the treasure Tennessee Baptists have at Carson Springs Baptist Conference Center and Linden Valley Baptist Conference Center.

About three years ago, I sensed my time as editor of the Baptist and Reflector was nearing an end, so my wife and I began planning for the future. We had no intent of selling our home in Nashville but in 2021, God moved in such a way that we know it was His will for us to sell. [Read more…]