Baptist & Reflector

Telling the Story of Tennessee Baptists Since 1835

‘IT’S LATER THAN YOU THINK’

By Connie Davis Bushey
News Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Roc Collins, pastor of Indian Springs Baptist Church, Kingsport, delivers his president’s address.

Roc Collins, pastor of Indian Springs Baptist Church, Kingsport, delivers his president’s address.

SEVIERVILLE — “It’s later than you think, but it’s not too late,” declared Roc Collins, president of the Tennessee Baptist Convention at the TBC annual meeting. The meeting was held as part of the Nov. 13-17 Summit here.

“We believe Jesus is coming and because we believe He is coming we want to tell somebody who doesn’t know He is coming. I don’t understand what has happened to us that we seem to have lost our fervor. Friend, it’s later than you think. …

“We’ve become satisfied in too many of our churches, satisfied. We have no burden for a lost world. We don’t care if people die and go to hell,” Collins proclaimed in his president’s address. He spoke from Romans 13:11-12. [Read more…]

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NEW CHURCH BAPTIZES 99 IN 9 MONTHS

By Connie Davis Bushey
News Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Nathan Thomason, founder and pastor, Outreach Baptist Church, Smithville, baptizes a boy outside the church facility in a strip mall near downtown Smithville.

Nathan Thomason, founder and pastor, Outreach Baptist Church, Smithville, baptizes a boy outside the church facility in a strip mall near downtown Smithville.

SMITHVILLE — Nathan Thomason wanted to be pastor of an evangelistic church here. So he started one.

Just nine months later, Outreach Baptist Church, which Thomason planted, has baptized 99 people.

All 99 people were baptized outside in the courtyard of the horseshoe-shaped strip mall which serves as the church’s facility. Thomason uses a portable baptistry.

One evening the courtyard “was full” as 21 adults, teens, and children were baptized, recalled Thomason. [Read more…]

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SPREADING THE GOSPEL REQUIRES YOU AND ME

By Billy Hoffman
Stewardship Development Specialist, TBC

crowd-of-people-illustrationIs God leading you and your church to share Christ where He is not known? I ask it this way because spreading the gospel is both an individual as well as a Christian community activity. In Acts 13 we continue to discover the pattern of the call and empowerment of the first missionary team from the church at Antioch.  From this we see there were three things in play which led to moving the gospel into new territory — spiritual resources, human resources, and tangible resources.  [Read more…]

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EVERY CHURCH CAN EVANGELIZE

Ernest L. Easley
Evangelism Professor, Union University

church-small-white-prairieEvery church can evangelize, including yours!

Sadly, it can be easier to find a reason for not evangelizing than to find a path for evangelizing. “We’re just too small,” some may say. “We don’t have enough money” or “Our members are too old.”

The first church  I served as pastor years ago had renovated the worship center, painted, and laid new carpet down in all the buildings. They were proud of all they had done. But when I presented a plan to go door-to-door sharing Jesus around our neighborhood, they balked. [Read more…]

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SPREADING THE GOSPEL REQUIRES MULTIPLE RESOURCES

By Billy Hoffman
Stewardship Development Specialist, TBC

power-strip-connectorWhat does it take to advance the gospel?  Luke’s record of it in the book of Acts is full of stories where the gospel advanced and how it was received by Jews and non-Jews of the first century. There is a process at work which involves resources being brought to the table for the specific goal of making Christ known, received, and worshiped in new places.  The opening verses of Acts 13 describe the strategic event of Saul and Barnabas leaving a very successful ministry in Antioch, Syria, to embark on a mission to places beyond the familiar, comfortable, and predictable.  There was no lack of evangelism, disciple training, and genuine fellowship where they were but their days of ministry in Antioch were coming to a close. Perhaps they realized everyone in the world was not going to travel to Antioch to hear the gospel. [Read more…]

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A DAY AT THE ZOO AFFIRMS CREATION

By Connie Davis Bushey
News Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Former Tennessee Baptist Convention staffer Jennie Rhodes spies a monkey in a tree at the Nashville Zoo with her husband, Justin. The Rhodes, who were attending the TBC Apologetics Conference, live in Clarksville.

Former Tennessee Baptist Convention staffer Jennie Rhodes spies a monkey in a tree at the Nashville Zoo with her husband, Justin. The Rhodes, who were attending the TBC Apologetics Conference, live in Clarksville.

NASHVILLE — On a recent Saturday some folks viewing the giraffes at the Nashville Zoo could hold their smart phone up to the area sign and view via video Brent Porter, associate pastor of students, Springfield Baptist Church, Springfield, say, “God created the giraffe on day six and created it as the tallest animal in all of the world. …

“The giraffe has one of the strongest hearts of any animal because it has to have the pressure to push the blood all the way to the brain. …” The giraffe also has very high blood pressure which seems like it would damage his brain when he lowers his head, he explained. [Read more…]

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DENVER’S BEAUTY, SPIRITUAL NEED SEEN BY NAMB TRUSTEES

Mike Ebert
Executive Dir. of Public Relations, NAMB

"What could God do with the North American Mission Board? What could God do with the Southern Baptist Convention if we would realize that the primary thing we are to do before we do anything else is pray?" SBC President Steve Gaines, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, Tenn., challenged North American Mission Board trustees as they met in Denver Oct. 4-5. Photo by Hayley Catt/NAMB

“What could God do with the North American Mission Board? What could God do with the Southern Baptist Convention if we would realize that the primary thing we are to do before we do anything else is pray?” SBC President Steve Gaines, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, Tenn., challenged North American Mission Board trustees as they met in Denver Oct. 4-5. Photo by Hayley Catt/NAMB

DENVER (BP) — Set against a backdrop of freshly snow-capped mountains on the front range of Colorado’s Rockies, North American Mission Board trustees saw firsthand how Southern Baptist church planters are countering spiritual darkness in the midst of a recreational paradise.

On the Monday before their Oct. 4-5 meeting, trustees loaded onto buses to visit church planters at their places of ministry. One, Kevin Hasenack, is planting Calvary Church Denver in one of the most diverse communities in the area. [Read more…]

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REACHING THE 94 PERCENT IN NYC

By Connie Davis Bushey
News Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Members of Belmont Heights Baptist Church, Knoxville, and Swerve Church in NYC pause this summer during their missions work painting over graffiti on a building. Tennesseans include, from left, first row, Karen Foy and Breanna Foy; and Abigail Lethgo, second from right; and Barry Lethgo, right; back row, Mike Foy, second from left; and Andy Minton, third from left.

Members of Belmont Heights Baptist Church, Knoxville, and Swerve Church in NYC pause this summer during their missions work painting over graffiti on a building. Tennesseans include, from left, first row, Karen Foy and Breanna Foy; and Abigail Lethgo, second from right; and Barry Lethgo, right; back row, Mike Foy, second from left; and Andy Minton, third from left.

NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. -— “If you reach somebody in New York City you have the potential of reaching the world,” said Kevin Cabe, former Knoxvillian who is now a Baptist missionary in New York City.

“People move here for fame, fortune, film, finance, food, and everything in between. Many Tennesseans are moving here too as we speak. … Then people often move on,” he explained, adding that though 22 million people live within 75 miles of Times Square, the population is transient. Eight and a half million people live in the city. Many are originally from other countries. [Read more…]

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CITY REACH TO IMPACT METRO COMMUNITIES

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

cityreach_knoxvilleBRENTWOOD — Reaching Tennessee for Christ will involve reaching the largest metropolitan areas in the state, according to leaders within the Tennessee Baptist Convention.

To help accomplish that goal, City Reach will be launched during this year’s Summit Nov. 13-17 at the Sevierville Convention Center, pending approval from messengers at Summit. City Reach was approved by members of the TBC Executive Board during their Sept. 14 meeting at Brentwood Baptist Church. [Read more…]

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GAINES: RHETORIC CAN INHIBIT EVANGELISM

By David Roach
Baptist Press

Steve Gaines

Steve Gaines

NASHVILLE — Conviction and kindness are the prescriptions of Southern Baptist leaders for the final eight weeks of the U.S. presidential campaign.

With early voting by mail having begun in North Carolina and in-person early voting slated to begin in three states this week, Southern Baptist Convention President Steve Gaines, joined other well known Baptists (Dallas pastor Robert Jeffress, Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr., and Cedarville University President Thomas White) in weighing in with ethical and spiritual advice for voters.

Gaines, pastor of Memphis-area Bellevue Baptist Church, told Baptist Press “biblical convictions” should guide Christians “in all areas of life, even the way they vote for a president. [Read more…]

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