Baptist & Reflector

Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835

SMALL CHURCH, BUT A MIGHTY GOD

Rural Wayne County church relies on faith to sponsor camp

By Lonnie Wilkey
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org

Pastor Dusty Malugen of Oak Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Iron City baptizes Crislyn Darby in the Buffalo River at Linden Valley Baptist Conference Center. Oak Grove, a small rural congregation in Wayne County, has sponsored a youth camp at Linden Valley since 2013. Nearly 60 people have been baptized as a result. — Photo by Lonnie Wilkey

LINDEN — On paper, it doesn’t seem possible that a small country church that averages about 40 people on Sunday could sponsor a youth camp (at no cost) for about 50 people.

And, members of Oak Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Iron City will agree. They can’t, but God can, and He has proven it many times since 2013 when pastor Dusty Malugen felt God was calling him to lead the rural Wayne County congregation to go beyond its walls. [Read more…]

Facebooktwittermail

‘LOVE THY NEIGHBOR’ BEING PUT INTO ACTION

By Ashley Perham
Baptist & Reflector intern

Jeffrey Bonner and Janice Higdon of Oak Valley Baptist Church, Franklin, repair a building owned by Binghampton Community Church in Memphis as part of City Reach Memphis.

MEMPHIS — City Reach provides an opportunity for churches to partner with each other no matter their size. Last month in City Reach Memphis, a 60-attendee church plant from Murfreesboro helped a 60-year-old church in the heart of Memphis. That same week, a large missions-minded church from Franklin helped a tiny church plant in a seemingly hopeless Memphis neighborhood.

Living Water Church, a six-year-old church in Murfreesboro, spent half of the week working at Leawood Baptist’s Judgement House. The Judgement House is an evangelistic tool to reach teenagers in the area. This was the church’s first mission trip, said Micah Creekmore, pastor. [Read more…]

Facebooktwittermail

BCM STUDENTS BRING ENERGY TO DR WORK

By Ashley Perham
Baptist and Reflector intern

WARSAW, N.C. — The Golden Offering for Tennessee Missions makes it possible for Tennessee Baptists to pass the torch of service down to the next generation through intergenerational missions.

 “For almost three years now, Tennessee Disaster Relief and The Baptist Collegiate Ministries in Tennessee have begun to work together to respond to disasters. We know that students have the desire to help,” said Wes Jones, Tennessee Baptist Mission Board disaster relief specialist.  [Read more…]

Facebooktwittermail

RANDY DAVIS’ STATEMENT TO THE SENATE STUDY COMMITTEE

Editor’s note: The following is the full text of TBMB President and Executive Director Randy C. Davis’ statement to the Senate Study Committee delivered in support of pro-life legislation proposed in SB 1236. Full news coverage of Davis’ appearance before the committee can be found here and the audio podcast of his testimony can be found here.

 

It was a shocking scene. New York governor Andrew Cuomo stood at the podium defiantly poking his finger toward his audience; the audience responding with enthusiastic cheers. He had just signed into law one of the most comprehensive pro-abortion bills in our nation’s history. I thought, “God help us. That man has just signed the death sentence of thousands upon thousands of children.” I’ll never forget the disbelief, devastation, and disgust I felt in that moment. [Read more…]

Facebooktwittermail

DAVIS CHALLENGES LEGISLATORS TO STAND FOR LIFE

By Lonnie Wilkey
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org

TBMB President and Executive Director Randy C. Davis testifies during the Senate Study Committee, advocating senators advance SB 1236, a strongly pro-life bill that acknowledges life begins at conception. To support his position before the senators, Davis referenced the binder that has the names of more than 16,000 Tennessee Baptists and nearly 1,000 Tennessee Baptist pastors who signed the “I Stand for Life” petition over the past three weeks.
Photo: Screen shot from TN General Assembly web video.

NASHVILLE — When New York governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law one of the nation’s most comprehensive abortion laws earlier this year, he “woke a sleeping giant,” declared Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.

Davis was one of five pro-life proponents who appealed to a nine-member Tennessee Senate Judiciary Summer Study Committee Aug. 12 to join thousands of Tennessee Baptists and other evangelical Christians in standing for life in the Volunteer State. Longtime observers of the Tennessee Baptist Convention believe it may be the first time that a representative of the convention has addressed Tennessee senators on a major legislative issue. (Read the full text of Randy Davis’ statement to the Senate Study Committee and the audio podcast of his testimony can be found here.)

[Read more…]

Facebooktwittermail

DAVIS SET TO ADDRESS SENATE TODAY

Baptist and Reflector

Tennessee Baptist Mission Board president and executive director Randy C. Davis speaks at a press conference.

NASHVILLE — Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, is scheduled to address the Tennessee Senate this afternoon (Monday, Aug. 12). The senate committee hearings start at 1 p.m., and live streaming can be found HERE.  [Read more…]

Facebooktwittermail

GOING BIG

Weakley County Association doesn’t use size as excuse while making impact in Music City

By Ashley Perham
Baptist & Reflector intern

City Reach volunteers Pete Staples, Liberty Baptist Church; Gaberial Courtney, Daniel Dean, Alex Eddlemon, Adams Chapel Baptist Church; Phil Mitchell, DOM Weakley County Association work on the Nashville Baptist Association building.

NASHVILLE — Weakley County in northwest Tennessee has a little over 33,000 residents. Yet the Holy Spirit used the rural Weakley County Baptist Association to partner with City Reach Nashville this year to help Nashville churches reach the almost two million people in the region.

The association was involved in three projects in July, including putting a shower in the Nashville Baptist Association building, repairing drywall at Madison First Baptist Church and doing some repairs on a Nashville Baptist Association Disaster Relief building. [Read more…]

Facebooktwittermail

‘EYE-OPENING EXPERIENCE’

Compiled by Baptist and Reflector staff

Mike Dawson, interim pastor at FBC, Livingston, and former pastor at FBC, Columbia, looks at the MLK monument during a recent trip to Alabama with Stand Together Fellowship. — Photo provided by Steve Livengood

Approximately 50 members of the Stand Together Fellowship recently traveled to Alabama for a ‘ Justice Journey’ tour. The group, comprised of black and white civic leaders and pastors in Columbia, was formed in 2016 to promote equality and harmony. Here’s a look at their itinerary from the two-day trip, which Steve Livengood, pastor at FBC, Columbia, called “an eye-opening experience”:   [Read more…]

Facebooktwittermail

‘NO KID SLEEPS ON THE FLOOR IN OUR TOWN’

Ministry provides beds to needy children in East Tennessee

By Lonnie Wilkey
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org

Children in East Tennessee enjoy their new beds, courtesy of volunteers with Sleep in Heavenly Peace, many of whom are members of First Baptist Church, Jacksboro.

JACKSBORO — If national projections hold true, thousands of children in Tennessee will go to bed tonight on something other than a bed – whether it be an air mattress on the floor, blankets or something else.

If national estimates are accurate, about two to four percent of the children in the United States do not have a bed of their own. But, cautioned Pastor Bill Arbo of First Baptist Church, Jacksboro, the number of children without a bed is probably even higher in the Appalachian areas of Tennessee, north of Knoxville.

A group of Christians in the Jacksboro area, many of them members at First Baptist Church, are doing their part to make sure that “no kid sleeps on the floor in our town.” [Read more…]

Facebooktwittermail

TAKING STEPS TOGETHER

Group from Maury County finds ways to promote, produce racial harmony

By David Dawson and Ashley Perham
Baptist and Reflector writers

The members of Stand Together Fellowship gather on the steps of the state capitol building in Montgomery during the group’s recent trip to Alabama. — Photo by Bridget Stuart. (For information about the ‘Justice Journey Tour’ book of photos by Bridget Stuart, contact her at 931-398-4056)

COLUMBIA — With reflective expressions and hopeful hearts, the members of Stand Together Fellowship walked across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Ala., on the afternoon of July 10.   

They moved along in mixed pairs — one white and one black — as they strode across the historic bridge that served as the starting point for the March to Montgomery in 1965. By the time they reached the other side, many in the group had wet faces, the combined result of sweat and tears on this steamy summer afternoon.    [Read more…]

Facebooktwittermail

Recent Posts

Tags

abortion baptisms Baptist Collegiate Ministries Bible: Acts Bible: Genesis Bible: Matthew Bible: Psalms Carson-Newman University childhood Christmas church revitalization collegiate Cooperative Program Disaster Relief education election evangelism family Five Objectives Golden Offering homosexuality IMB international LifeWay Lonnie Wilkey Lottie Moon missions money NAMB new churches pastors prayer racial reconciliation Radio B&R Randy C. Davis SBC SBC annual meeting sports Summit TenneScene Union University volunteers WMU Woman's Missionary Union youth

Categories

Bible Studies for Life Culture Explore the Bible Featured News Opinion Column Radio B&R SBC Sunday School Lessons Tennessee Uncategorized