By Chris Turner
Director of Communications, TBMB
cturner@tnbaptist.org

My daughter just left for college, and I’ve mysteriously developed “ugly cry” syndrome. A friend tells me the correlation is not coincidental.

I should have seen it coming. Not too long ago I heard a pastor tell a young couple with a newborn to make the most of every opportunity because “the days are long, but the years are short.” I’ve learned over the past 48 hours the magnitude of that colossal understatement.

My wife and I just settled our only child at a university in Los Angeles. As she blended into the sea of people in her orientation group, all I could think about was walking her to the corner near our house when she was two to splash in puddles wearing her little rubber boots. I’m not certain how fast light speed is but I’m pretty sure the past 18 years qualifies.

Seeing her turn and walk toward her future left me an emotional mess. I’m bordering on a meltdown just writing this. I felt the heavy weight of impending loss pressing on my soul the week leading up to our journey from Nashville to L.A. I couldn’t shake it. “Surely,” I thought, “Surely Scripture can offer a word of comfort.” The Lord must have led me to Ecclesiastes because that is certainly not the book I’d normally choose when seeking a spiritual lift. [Read more…]

By Chris Turner
Director of Communications, TBMB

Two years ago, few had ever heard of Critical Race Theory and now it is on the verge of becoming an ideological pandemic. Lines are drawn, passions are high, sides are forming, and the divide is widening.

For Christians, it gets complicated. Where should we fall on the issue?

Scholars generally agree that Critical Race Theory (CRT) seeks standards to determine how one’s race affects their social standing.

It arose from the legal field in the late 1980s to challenge the idea that racial inequality had been solved; that racial inequality was no longer an issue in American society following Civil Rights and Affirmative Action laws. Other categories (known as Intersectionality) then arose – such as ability, gender, age, class, and religion – to assist in determining inequality and to identify equitable solutions through social and legal actions to remedy issues like social justice and human dignity. [Read more…]

By Chris Turner
Director of Communications, TBMB

I was recently talking with a friend about social media and primarily about Facebook. His perspective was pretty clear: Facebook was birthed in the pit of hell.

“Just look at what’s on there,” he said. “Nothing but discord and dissension. We’d have been better off if there was no such thing as Facebook.” [Read more…]

By Chris Turner
Director of Communications, TBMB

I was afraid to breath for fear that the virtual silence of exhaling would shatter the tranquility of the motionless lake. There wasn’t a ripple, not a single one. It was like the entire scene spread out before my kayak — the lake, the surrounding hills, the pre-dawn sky — was sealed in a vacuum.

Suddenly, a bass jumped exploding the serenity. I exhaled and began to paddle. Stroke. Stroke. It’s about a mile-and-a-half to the spillway from here. [Read more…]

Editor’s Note: Ray Newcomb was a leader in the Tennessee Baptist Convention for decades. Over the years we developed a mutual respect for and friendship with each other. The highest compliment I could give Bro. Ray is this. If I lived anywhere near a church where he was serving, I would join in a minute and be honored and proud to call him “my pastor.” — Lonnie Wilkey

By Chris Turner
Director of Communications, TBMB

Chris Turner, director of communications for the Tennessee Baptist Convention, visited with his former pastor Ray Newcomb at the Summit. Newcomb baptized Turner more than 30 years ago while serving as pastor of First Baptist Church, Millington.
— Photo by Corinne Williams

You did not want to get caught in Ray Newcomb’s crosshairs if you were goofing around while he was preaching.

I did. One time.

“You two boys down there. You need to quit talking and pay attention.”

I’m not sure if I was more mortified by Bro. Ray calling me out in church or by contemplating the impending consequences that would crash upon my teenaged shore when we got home. The irony is that I was actually helping my friend find the correct Scripture passage, that time. But I’ve always sort of just considered this one justice for the times I was goofing around and didn’t get hammered. [Read more…]

By Chris Turner
Director of Communications, TBMB

There is an 80-pound rock in my flower bed that looks like a meteorite. I pried it loose from a mountaintop in North Carolina about 13 years ago. I then grunted, pushed, rolled, chucked, yelled at, and tripped over it trying to get it — and me — to the bottom of a challenging descent. It was supposed to be my “Ebenezer,” but it felt a lot more like a millstone.

You know, “Ebenezer,” like the one found in 1 Samuel 7:13-14. It’s mentioned at the end of a passage where God intercedes on Israel’s behalf to defeat the Philistines in a decisive battle. To commemorate the divine victory, “Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far the LORD has helped us’ ” (verse 12). That rock served as a visual reminder of the Lord’s power and protection. [Read more…]