Randy C. Davis Archives - Page 4 of 10

THE COOPERATIVE PROGRAM BEGINS WITH GRANNY TATE

August 21, 2018

By Randy C. Davis
TBMB President & Executive Director

Randy C. Davis

Everybody has their love language. Granny Tate expressed hers by twisting your ear.

Hard.

Granny Tate was a tiny lady, but she was a giant to me. She really did twist your ear as an expression of love. I wouldn’t have minded if she had been a hugger. She was my Sunday School teacher at Shiloh Baptist Church, Saraland, Ala., when I was 11 years old. Even as a 6-foot plus senior in high school, I’d bend down so she could twist my ear. If Granny wasn’t twisting your ear, you weren’t cool. We loved that woman. [Read more…]

TBC CP GIFTS ABOVE BUDGET

August 8, 2018

Baptist and Reflector

FRANKLIN — Tennessee Baptist Convention churches gave $2,766,596 through the Cooperative Program in July.

For the year-to-date, Tennessee Baptists have given $26,029,445. The amount is $504,905 or 2 percent over the amount given at the same time last year. After nine months of the current fiscal year, the gifts are $154,445 or 0.60 percent above budget needs. [Read more…]

THE MISSION FIELD WITHIN THE MISSION FIELD

August 7, 2018

By Randy C. Davis
TBMB President & Executive Director

Aparna had no idea what to expect when she arrived in America and on the campus of East Tennessee State University. Johnson City couldn’t be more culturally different from her home in Northern India.

She didn’t know anybody when school started. One day she saw a group of people standing around and wandered over to see what was going on. It was the Pop-Tart Cart, a ministry of the ETSU Baptist Collegiate Ministry. Sure, it is a place to grab a pack of Pop-Tarts and a cup of coffee, but it is really a connecting point for BCMers to share the love of Jesus and the gospel with fellow students. One of them struck up a conversation with Aparna and invited her to the BCM. That invitation changed her life.

She made lots of new friends in the following weeks and frequently heard the gospel. It wasn’t long before she realized her need for a Savior and gave her life to Jesus. Awesome!

But the story gets better. [Read more…]

THE CHILDLIKE AWE AT THE WONDER OF GOD

July 10, 2018

By Randy C. Davis
TBMB President & Executive Director

Davis Walker, 4-year-old grandson of Randy C. and Jeanne Davis, enjoys the beach for the first time in Florida.

I always love going home. The beauty astounds me.

I grew up on the Alabama Gulf Coast and love it. But it’s a little more than just loving it, it’s in my blood. The majority of my earliest memories are of water skiing up and down the canal, fishing off the coast of Orange Beach, shrimping in Perdido Bay, and sitting at the end of our pier drinking coffee and watching beautiful sunsets with my family.

Unfortunately, I haven’t had a beach fix in years. Like many of you, our family loves the surf and sand, so we’ve been anticipating a vacation to Blue Mountain Beach, Fla. [Read more…]

REMAINING UNCHANGED DURING A SEASON OF TRANSITION

June 28, 2018

By Randy C. Davis
TBMB President & Executive Director

Transitions and changes are not the same. That’s important to keep in mind when considering the Southern Baptist Convention.

The 2018 SBC was a watershed convention for Southern Baptists. Most of the national news related to Southern Baptists was not good prior to the convention. It would be easy to gravitate toward the negatives, but I choose to focus on the positives.

And that’s where transition and change come in. [Read more…]

WHY I AM THANKFUL FOR STEVE GAINES

June 12, 2018

By Randy C. Davis
TBMB President & Executive Director

Steve Gaines
-Photo by Morris Abernathy

Messengers to the 2018 Southern Baptist Convention stand at the threshold of two watershed days in our denomination’s history this week as the annual meeting convenes in Dallas. More importantly, these representatives from our network of churches play a central role in the outcomes that lie ahead. [Read more…]

DR: A STORIED HISTORY AND BRIGHT FUTURE

May 29, 2018

By Randy C. Davis
TBMB President & Executive Director

An EF5 tornado dropped from the skies five years ago and roared across Oklahoma’s open spaces at 200 mph. It locked on Moore, Okla., then slammed into the modest Oklahoma City suburb filled with middle-class, salt-of-the-earth people. It bulldozed an elementary school. It was over a mile wide and ripped a 17-mile path through the heart of that city. The devastation was comprehensive: 24 people killed, more than 200 injured, and more than $2 billion in damage.

And within hours, Oklahoma and Southern Baptist Disaster Relief teams swooped in to serve people. Among them were nearly 40 chaplains caring for the emotional and spiritual hurts of people. But the great thing about Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers is that every person goes as a minister of the Lord Jesus Christ, even if they are running a chain saw. [Read more…]

THE GIFT OF CAMP (AND PRAYER)

May 15, 2018

By Randy C. Davis
TBMB President & Executive Director

One of the greatest gifts you can give your child or teenager is the opportunity to attend church camp.

It was a gift for me and it had a significant place in my spiritual growth. I was a new believer as a teenager when I attended Citronelle Baptist Assembly (CBA) about 60 miles inland from the Alabama Gulf Coast. That opportunity to get away from the distractions of life allowed me to hear from the Lord in ways that have profoundly impacted the course of my life. My brother, Rob, is a pastor and also had his life and calling shaped at CBA where he served as a counselor for several years. [Read more…]

A NORMAL TENNESSEE BAPTIST CHURCH

April 17, 2018

By Randy C. Davis
TBMB President & Executive Director

Normal is good. I’m a fan of normal.

I recently found normal in Howell, about an hour and 15-minute drive straight south from our house in Nolensville. The weather was nearly perfect for an early morning drive with my bride, Jeanne, and we wound our way along country roads through the beautiful rolling hills of Middle Tennessee.

Howell is a small community located between Lewisburg and Fayetteville. We pulled into the parking lot of First Baptist Church Howell and the thought came to my mind. First Baptist Church and the town of Howell are, well, normal.

According to the last census, if you draw a ring around Howell about eight miles from the center of town, the population of Howell is about 8,800. That’s not many folks, but it’s normal. And the church — First Baptist Howell — has between 75 to 100 people of all ages in worship, but that’s normal. [Read more…]

REASONS TO CELEBRATE THE COOPERATIVE PROGRAM

April 3, 2018

By Randy C. Davis
TBMB President & Executive Director

I’m amazed at what God is doing across Tennessee through His people and through the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.

In Dandridge, 15 more boys were recently saved, baptized, and set on the road to discipleship at a detention facility. These precious younger brothers in Christ add to the harvest of more than 100 new believers who have come to Jesus over the past three years at the facility through the ministry of Swannsylvania Baptist Church.

Just last year we saw 95 college students come to faith in Christ through our Baptist Collegiate Ministries on university campuses across our state. More than 4,700 students are involved in BCM and 152 of them are preparing for church-related vocations. [Read more…]

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