Baptist & Reflector

Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835

VETERAN USES WAR EXPERIENCE TO MINISTER TO AIRMEN

By Jane Rodgers
Southern Baptist Texan

EDITOR’S NOTE: May 29 is Memorial Day.

Doug Brinson

SAN ANTONIO (BP) — As an Air Force pararescueman in Vietnam, Doug Brinson often faced death to save downed pilots, including a treacherous three-week stretch of missions in 1972 that shaped his life in ways he will never forget.

“I probably aged a few years in those three weeks,” Brinson said.

Brinson’s parents urged him to follow his brother by enlisting in the Air Force, thinking it the safest branch of the military. The southern Louisiana native found himself drawn to the allure of dangerous USAF pararescue. [Read more…]

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WHAT IS RAMADAN, AND WHY SHOULD CHRISTIANS CARE?

International Mission Board

Imagine not taking in food or drink during daylight hours for twenty-eight days straight. Envision what it would be like for that practice to be directly linked to your standing in society or your stature with God. This is the reality for Muslims during the month of Ramadan, a time when every follower of Islam is encouraged (and in some cases required) to spend the month exercising many forms of self-restraint, seeking to be aware of God, and thinking about how they should best worship him.

If you were to visit an observant Muslim country during this time, you would find restaurants closed during daylight hours. Refrigerated boxes of soft drinks found on the sidewalk on most streets are padlocked. Cigarette venders are missing from the daily street traffic. Until sunset approaches and dinner preparations can finally be made, many normal patterns of life are completely halted. [Read more…]

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GAINES CALLS FOR 21-DAY FAST BEFORE PHOENIX SBC

by David Roach
Baptist Press

EDITOR’S NOTE: The full text of SBC President Steve Gaines’ call to prayer is printed below.

PHOENIX (BP) — Southern Baptist Convention President Steve Gaines has called Southern Baptists to 21 days of prayer and fasting leading up to the SBC annual meeting in Phoenix.

The fast will begin May 23 and end June 12, the day preceding the June 13-14 SBC annual meeting, Gaines announced today (May 18) in a written call to prayer. He defined fasting as “doing without something in order to focus more attention on the Lord Jesus and His Kingdom,” adding that “prayer and fasting are essentials in the Christian life.”

Gaines, pastor of Memphis-area Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, Tenn., urged all Southern Baptists to participate in the fast. Some may feel called to “go without food for 21 days and just drink liquids,” he wrote. Others may opt to “eat less than normal and drink only water,” skip one meal per day for 21 days or fast from a technology like television. [Read more…]

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GRADY COTHEN, FORMER PRES. OF 2 SBC ENTITIES, DIES

By David Roach, Baptist Press and
Marilyn Stewart, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary

Grady Cothen, who died May 19, served as president of the Baptist Sunday School Board from 1974-84.
-SBHLA photo

RIDGELAND, Miss. (BP) — Grady Cothen — the former chief executive of a state convention, a Southern Baptist university and two Southern Baptist Convention entities — died May 19 at The Orchard retirement home in Ridgeland, Miss. He was 96.

Among his service to Southern Baptists, Cothen was executive secretary of the Southern Baptist General Convention of California (1961-66), president of Oklahoma Baptist University (1966-70), president of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (1970-74) and president of the Baptist Sunday School Board (1974-1984). The California convention has since been renamed the California Southern Baptist Convention, and the Sunday School Board has become LifeWay Christian Resources.

“Few Southern Baptist leaders have made so deep a mark in so many different places as did Grady Cothen,” New Orleans Seminary President Chuck Kelley said in a news release. “He came to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary when it was in a crisis. He brought stability and a foundation upon which our future was built. We thank God for giving our convention such an excellent leader.” [Read more…]

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GRAHAM TOUR TARGETS TENNESSEE TOWNS

By Diana Chandler
Baptist Press

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It’s not often an evangelist with the following of Billy Graham’s son Franklin hosts gospel events in communities as small as Jackson, home to about 68,000 people.

Fresh from the success of the 2016 Decision America Tour that drew a total of 230,000 people to prayer rallies in all 50 states, Franklin Graham is focusing on small and medium-sized towns in Tennessee in May as he continues his national call to prayer. [Read more…]

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SOUTHWESTERN TO HOUSE BILL WALLACE PAPERS

By Julie Owens
Baptist Press

FORT WORTH, Texas — Southern Baptist medical missionary and martyr Bill Wallace suffered profoundly in his last weeks on earth, but he had long been prepared. “There is no sacrifice in all the world too great for a man to make for the Lord Jesus Christ,” he wrote in an emotional letter shared with his home congregation just before he left for his fateful mission to China in 1935. [Read more…]

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STATE LEGISLATORS OK POST-VIABLE ABORTION BAN

By Tom Strode
Baptist Press

NASHVILLE — The Tennessee legislature has overwhelmingly approved a ban on post-viability abortions, drawing praise from the president of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board and the head of the Southern Baptist Convention’s ethics entity.

The House of Representatives voted 69-18 in favor of the Tennessee Infants Protection Act May 3, two days after the Senate passed the legislation in a 27-3 vote. Gov. Bill Haslam, who is considered pro-life, signed the bill into law on May 12. [Read more…]

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‘O LORD LISTEN, FORGIVE, HEAR, ACT’ AMERICA PRAYS

By Diana Chandler
Baptist Press

Nashville-area residents gathered for prayer and worship at the SBC building during the 66th annual National Day of Prayer.
Photo by Shawn Hendricks/BP

WASHINGTON (BP) — From 45,000 or more venues including public parks, courthouses, churches, community centers, government buildings and the like, concerted pleas went up to God for America on the 66th annual National Day of Prayer.

“O Lord, Listen! O Lord, Forgive! O Lord, Hear and Act!” was the organized cry drawn from Daniel 9:19 today (May 4), that birthed perhaps hundreds of thousands of individual prayers for various aspects of society, including governmental sectors and leaders, families, media, businesses and religion, according to event organizers. “For Your Great Name’s Sake,” also taken from Daniel’s prayer, is the national theme. [Read more…]

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AMERICANS LIKE BIBLE BUT DON’T READ IT

By Bob Smietana
Lifeway Research

NASHVILLE — Americans have a positive view of the Bible. And many say the Christian Scriptures are filled with moral lessons for today.

However, more than half of Americans have read little or none of the Bible.

Less than a quarter of those who have ever read a Bible have a systematic plan for reading the Christian Scriptures each day. And a third of Americans never pick it up on their own, according to a new study from Nashville-based LifeWay Research. [Read more…]

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SBC PHOENIX: ‘PRAY! FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS’

Baptist Press

PHOENIX — As this year’s Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting approaches, SBC President and Tennessee pastor Steve Gaines says fellow Baptists should anticipate emphases on prayer, evangelism, and financial stewardship at the June 13-14 gathering in Phoenix, where the 2003 and 2011 annual meetings also were held.

This year’s annual meeting theme is “Pray! For such a time as this” based on Luke 18:1 and Esther 4:14. Gaines hopes that through a commitment “to fervent, frequent, faith-filled prayer,” the SBC will become “a catalyst for spiritual awakening and revival. [Read more…]

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