discipleship Archives - Baptist & Reflector

BIBLE READING PLAN TRANSFORMS UNIONVILLE CHURCH

May 26, 2020

By David Dawson
Baptist and Reflector
ddawson@tnbaptist.org

UNIONVILLE — Getting a free steak dinner is a nice incentive for reading through the Bible, but the members of Longview Baptist Church, Unionville, are motivated by more than meat.

They’ve seen their church rejuvenated by the power of God’s Word — and that’s been the real reward.

Jonathan Osterhaus, pastor of Longview, formulated a daily Bible reading plan for church members when he came to Longview in 2008. Each year since, he has challenged the entire congregation to read through the Bible. [Read more…]

NEW TITLE, SAME PASSION

March 6, 2020

Barbier reflects on impact, importance of youth ministry

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

TBMB youth ministry specialist Jay Barbier worships with the crowd on the opening night of the 2019 YEC event.
— Photo by Royce DeGrie

FRANKLIN — Jay Barbier has a new title with the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board and it’s a perfect fit with his love and passion for youth ministry.

Barbier recently was named youth ministry specialist for the TBMB following the retirement of Bruce Edwards in January. He has served with the TBMB for the past two years as evangelism event specialist, coming to that role from First Baptist Church, Millington, where he served as minister of youth for seven-and-a-half years.

The past two years have actually helped prepare Barbier for his new role as he met with and began building relationships with youth ministers and leaders across Tennessee. He shared his vision for youth ministry in Tennessee during a recent podcast of Radio B&R. (The full podcast, Episode 38, is available at RadioBandR.org).

“As youth ministry specialist, my role is to serve churches. … I want to help churches where they are as well as help them move the ball forward when it comes to evangelism, discipleship or anything else that we can do to serve them,” Barbier said.

He observed that discipleship is a key to effective youth ministry. People learn best by example, Barbier said, noting that as a new Christian he wanted to lead others to Jesus. “I had pastors, deacons, and individuals who helped me. They showed me. They took me to visitation. They included me in salvation conversations with other people.” [Read more…]

‘WE SERVE CHURCHES’ — IT ISN’T JUST A SLOGAN

November 13, 2019

By Randy C. Davis
TBMB President & Executive Director

You shared your concerns.

We carefully listened.

And now I want to prayerfully respond on behalf of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.

Several of us from the TBMB have recently engaged with over 500 Tennessee Baptists during nearly two dozen listening sessions across our state. We initiated these sessions with the sole purpose of learning from you and using what we heard to shape how we as a mission board serve your churches. For us, “We serve churches” is more than just a mission statement that hangs on a wall. It is our mission. [Read more…]

DISCIPLE NOW STILL CHALLENGING STUDENTS

April 6, 2018

By David Dawson
Baptist & Reflector

MOUNT JULIET — Although there are many different components that go into Disciple Now weekend, John Oliver essentially captured the essence of the ministry in just one sentence.

“The students are getting saturated with the Word of God,” he said. [Read more…]

SUNDAY SCHOOL LEADS TO SHARING THE GOSPEL

March 9, 2018

By David Dawson
Baptist and Reflector

CROSSVILLE — When “Celebration Sunday” rolled around at Central Baptist Church in Crossville, there were indeed many reasons to celebrate.

In just over a month’s time, the church experienced praise-worthy results from the “Connect>1” campaign — an initiative designed by the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board to engage church members in personal evangelism through small groups and Sunday School.

While taking part in the six-week, church-wide campaign, the members of the Crossville Baptist congregation prayed for 2,825 lost people, invited 194 individuals to church, and shared the gospel 151 times. A large number of participants also learned multiple methods of how to give a gospel presentation.

Lewis Taylor, the Sunday School director at Central Baptist, said the success of the program was the result of the church body working in harmony and members of all ages being on the same page. [Read more…]

DISCIPLING — MODELING CHRIST FOR OTHERS

December 6, 2017

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Earl “Butch” Duty died in November.

Unless you are a member of Tulip Grove Baptist Church in Old Hickory or a lifelong resident of the Donelson-Hermitage-Old Hickory-Mount Juliet area, you’ve probably never heard of him.

He would likely have referred to himself as “just a layman.” Butch was much more than “just a layman.” He was a Christian who modeled what it meant to be a disciple of Christ. [Read more…]

MINISTRY IN COLUMBIA GIVES HOPE TO WOMEN

June 20, 2017

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Betty Clot gets a hug from Kathy Henson, a resident of The Discipleship House in Mount Pleasant.

MOUNT PLEASANT — After serving in the ministry for 35 years, including 26 as a pastor, Walt Clot (pronounced Clo) and his wife Betty moved from Virginia to be near their children who were living in Middle Tennessee.

Instead of having hours upon hours of carefree time the Clots soon embarked in a ministry that would have them working nonstop and provide only three weeks of a vacation longer than five days in a 12-year span. [Read more…]

MESSENGERS OK 9 RESOLUTIONS, TO VOTE ON ‘ALT-RIGHT’ PROPOSAL

June 14, 2017

By Tom Strode
Baptist Press

Messengers raise their ballots Tuesday, June 13, to approve a request by the Resolutions Committee to present a resolution on “the anti-Gospel alt-right white supremacy movement” at 2:45 p.m. Wednesday, June 14, on the last day of the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting at the Phoenix Convention Center.
-Photo by Philip Bethancourt

PHOENIX (BP) — Messengers to the 2017 Southern Baptist Convention passed resolutions Tuesday (June 13) repenting of prayerlessness and calling for leaders to practice biblical morality before deciding late at night to vote Wednesday on a previously rejected proposal denouncing the “alt-right.”

The approved resolutions covered some hot-button theological and moral issues, but the proposed resolution on the “alt-right” — a movement that supports white nationalism — gained the most attention.

The Resolutions Committee chose not to report out the proposal to messengers. An effort by the resolution’s author to bring the “alt-right” measure to the floor failed in the afternoon session, and a motion by another messenger in the evening session also fell short. Each motion required a two-thirds majority, and the evening vote received only 58 percent approval. [Read more…]

FOUR TEENS WIN BIBLE DRILL COMPETITIONS

May 19, 2017

State Youth Bible Drillers were, front row: Zeke Turner, Harvest Church, Memphis; Kayla Hill, Tulip Grove Baptist Church, Old Hickory; Abigail Parks, New Market Baptist Church, New Market; and Harrison Sampson, Northport Baptist Church, Newport; back row, Hannah Williams, Calvary Baptist Church, Union City; Caitlyn Crook, Auburntown Baptist Church, Auburntown; Josiah Brooks, Holston Baptist Church, Strawberry Plains; Hope Bone, First Baptist Church, Columbia; and Paige Meeks, Zion Baptist Church, Brownsville. The winner was Hope Bone and the runner-up was Caitlyn Crook.

By Connie Davis Bushey
News Editor, Baptist and Reflector

MOUNT JULIET — Four teens were winners or runners-up in the 2017 State Youth Bible Drill and High School Bible Drill held May 6 here.

Hope Bone of First Baptist Church, Columbia, won the Youth Bible Drill and Caitlyn Crook of Auburntown Baptist Church, Auburntown, was runner-up. In the High School Drill, Brittany Forrest of Prospect Baptist Church, Hollow Rock, won and Lindsey Hedrick of Alder Branch Baptist Church, Sevierville, earned the runner-up spot. [Read more…]

WORSHIP PASTOR ON HARLEY PLANTS CHURCH

May 8, 2017

By Connie Davis Bushey
News Editor, Baptist and Reflector

The leaders of Kairos Communities, Ooltewah, pause at Wired Coffeehouse, Ooltewah, recently. They are, from left, Shane Mitchell, founder and elder/pastor; Kel Trudgian, elder/pastor; and Steve Gervasi, elder/teaching pastor.

CHATTANOOGA — Just two years ago Shane Mitchell was a worship and creative arts pastor of a traditional church who enjoyed riding his Harley Davidson motorcycle. Then he felt called by God to build relationships at a coffeehouse.

Since then his work-a-day world has shifted — from spending most of his time at Oakwood Baptist Church, Chattanooga, where he led worship, to managing a thrift store while leading a new congregation.

His personal life has been rocked — from living in a nice traditional home in Chattanooga to a small apartment in Ooltewah. [Read more…]

Barbier reflects on impact, importance of youth ministry

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