racism Archives - Baptist & Reflector

CHANGING CHATTANOOGA

November 5, 2020

Through acts of service and prayer rallies, Mount Canaan Baptist is sharing the gospel and promoting racial harmony in ‘Scenic City’

By David Dawson

ddawson@tnbaptist.org

A large crowd gathers for a prayer rally at Mount Canaan Baptist in June.

CHATTANOOGA — Ternae Jordan, like so many pastors in the nation, has been given the difficult task of helping his congregation, and his community, navigate through the emotionally draining developments that have emerged over the past six months.

Racial unrest, deadly storms and a worldwide pandemic have combined to create a seemingly grim set of circumstances, and have caused many people, including some Christ-followers, to slip into a state of depression.

And yet, Jordan, lead pastor of Mount Canaan Baptist Church, Chattanooga, doesn’t look at this challenging stretch as being a time when evil and illness have prevailed. Just the opposite, in fact.

“I can see God’s hands all over this season,” said Jordan. [Read more…]

WHY RACISM IS DESTRUCTIVE

October 1, 2020

By Fady Al-Hagal
Ethnic new church catalyst, Tennessee Baptist Mission Board

Jesus our Lord said, “If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand” (Mark 3:25).

When the church is not united, disunity will become a major hindrance intended to separate and render ineffective the mission of the body of Christ on earth of making disciples of all nations.

The sin of racism, prejudice and hostility toward other people groups, colors and nations has long been the very tool of the enemy to steal, kill and destroy between the nations and the people of the earth.

The body of Christ is to be actively sharing the unconditional love of Christ shed abroad in our hearts and is to be constantly on mission making disciples amongst people of every tribe, tongue, language and race. [Read more…]

CHRIST — THE CHAMPION OF PEACE

August 24, 2020

By Shawn Allred
Pastor, First Baptist Church, Kenton

“Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Your heart must not be troubled or fearful” (Matthew 14:27). These words spoken by The Prince of Peace over 2,000 years ago still ring true for us today.

These words are words that impact me significantly when I read them. They speak to my heart, and my heart, in turn, is inclined to believe them. These words of Christ are bound to me by the Holy Spirit, who guides me in truth, and I do believe that Christ is the champion of peace.

No other peace can ever be as impactful as the peace that Christ gives, and for this, I rejoice. However, my heart is troubled as I seek to listen to both sides of the racial debate. I have yet to see the peace that promises to surpass all human understanding and to guide our hearts and minds (see Philippians 4:7) championed as the solution to the problems that are seemingly destroying our nation and, most importantly, our witness for Christ. [Read more…]

IS WHAT OFFENDS TRULY OFFENSIVE?

August 14, 2020

By Todd E. Brady
Vice president for university ministries, Union University, Jackson

It is often said that a picture is worth a thousand words. It’s not. Some think that meaning is determined by the one who looks at the picture. It’s not. A picture is worth the number of words intended by the author who painted it. The meaning of a picture is not determined by the viewer. For the written word, meaning is not determined the reader. Instead, the meaning of a sentence is determined by the author. When meaning becomes untethered from the one who originated a particular work, watch out; it will often take on a “meaning” of its own—meaning whatever somebody may want it to mean.

The Order of St. Michael and St. George is personally awarded by the Queen of England to ambassadors, diplomats, and senior Foreign Office officials who have served abroad. The imagery on the award’s badge shows St. Michael trampling on Satan. It evokes biblical reminiscence. In Genesis, we read that God told the serpent, “he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15) For believers, this prophecy of Christ crushing Satan’s head is a cherished and hopeful promise. Paul told the Romans that “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” (Romans 16:20) [Read more…]

ALABAMA PASTOR RESIGNS AFTER CELEBRATING KKK LEADER

July 31, 2020

By BP Staff

Will Dismukes resigned as pastor of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church four days after giving the invocation July 25 at a birthday celebration for Nathan Bedford Forrest. — Photo from Google

PRATTVILLE, Ala. — A bivocational Southern Baptist pastor resigned from his church Wednesday (July 29), after backlash resulting from his participation in an annual birthday celebration for Nathan Bedford Forrest, a leader in the Confederate Army and the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.

Will Dismukes, who is also a first-term Republican state representative, resigned from his position at Pleasant Hill Baptist Church after a deacons’ meeting. Four days earlier, he gave the invocation July 25 at the birthday celebration for Forrest. The event was held in Selma, Ala., on the same day as ceremonies honoring the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis.

Lewis, a leader in the civil rights movement and an Alabama native, was a longtime member of Congress from Georgia. In 1965, during a march in Selma that became known as “Bloody Sunday,” Lewis suffered a fractured skull when he was beaten by Alabama state troopers. [Read more…]

IS THERE REALLY ONLY ONE RACE?

July 10, 2020

By Chris Turner
Director of Communications, Tennessee Baptist Mission Board
cturner@tnbaptist.org

There is only one race, the human race.

Those eight words are an oft-used expression these days as the nation grapples with race, racism, justice, prejudice and a myriad of other topics causing friction among people of various skin tones, especially among blacks and whites.

But the statement is true; there really is only one race. Unfortunately, the phrase is frequently delivered as a politicized retort rather than as a humble declaration deeply rooted in biblical veracity, and Christians must migrate from a political to theological perspective when stating there is only one race. Here are some fundamental questions to which we should seek answers to correctly inform the spirit of our response. [Read more…]

LET’S STOP AND THINK ABOUT WHAT WE ARE DOING

July 9, 2020

By Todd Brady
Vice President for University Ministries, Union University

Some of society’s half-baked thinking has been exposed and mocked recently by conservative pundit, Jesse Kelly.

Last week, Kelly tweeted “Yale University was named for Elihu Yale. Not just a man who had slaves. An actual slave trader. I call on @Yale to change it’s [sic] name immediately and strip the name of Yale from every building, piece of paper, and merchandise. Otherwise, they hate black people. #CancelYale.” A mere six hours after he posted this, his tweet had been retweeted some 17,000 times and liked nearly 40,000 times.

Of course, Kelly’s tweet is sarcastic. It came as calls are being made by some who are wanting certain monuments of people who owned slaves to be removed.

Others jumped on his rhetorical bandwagon by saying that anyone with “Yale” in his biography is a racist and that Yale’s faculty is complicit by their participation in this “historically racist institution.” One person said, “Every person with a degree from Yale should be canceled. They should be forced to resign from public office. Resign from all Boards. Be disbarred. Lose their professional certifications. Lose judgeships.” [Read more…]

MULTITUDE OF QUESTIONS VS. MIRACLE OF THE CROSS

June 25, 2020

By Joseph McGaha
Pastor, Calvary Baptist Church, Lenoir City

I have hesitated to wade into the discussion concerning the deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta and the mayhem that has ensued afterward for various reasons. Yet I find after much prayer and consideration that I am compelled to speak out as a Christian, as a pastor, and as an American.

Perhaps the one quote from history that continues to echo in my heart and mind the last few days is “To sin by silence makes cowards of us all.” It is very clear from the study of history that no one made, or makes, a difference by continuing to do the same thing over and over again.

I have been, and will continue to be, an ardent supporter of our law enforcement officers and their families. They are doing an extremely difficult job in the midst of increasingly hostile situations from a public that is rarely, if ever, appreciative of the toll that it takes on their mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health; as well as the overall shape and state of their marriages and family life. [Read more…]

IS THERE REALLY ONLY ONE RACE?

June 23, 2020

By Chris Turner
cturner@tnbaptist.org

There is only one race, the human race.

WHAT WE READ IS NOT ALWAYS WHAT WE REALLY READ

June 22, 2020

By Lonnie Wilkey
lwilkey@tnbaptist.org

As a Baptist journalist for four decades, I learned early on in my career that what I wrote was not always what was read or understood.

I have had countless conversations over the years with people upset with what they understood that I had written. Normally, I could help them understand what I meant with those words, but not always.

In an opinion piece, a good journalist tries to make a point and get people to think. I know that I have failed on occasion and caused more confusion than I did clarification. Hopefully, I have become a better communicator.

In the June 10 issue, my friend and colleague Chris Turner wrote an opinion piece that has been misunderstood. Chris wrote about an encounter in his neighborhood with a black teenager shortly after George Floyd was murdered in Minneapolis. Chris described how the teenager avoided him with fear in his eyes because he didn’t know how Chris would react. [Read more…]

Through acts of service and prayer rallies, Mount Canaan Baptist is sharing the gospel and promoting racial harmony in ‘Scenic City’

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