By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector Long gone are the days of “Training Union” and “Church Training.” As a child I remember those as programs in the church that were used to teach Christian doctrines and Baptist beliefs. They truly discipled new believers and reminded long-time believers of what Jesus expects of His followers once they accept Him as Lord and Savior. Now, the term “discipleship” can refer to
By Nathan A. Finn Dean, School Of Theology & Missions, Union University This year’s presidential election is unique in that both major party candidates are remarkably unpopular as individuals. It really is remarkable that so many Republicans and Democrats have spent so much time more or less apologizing for their support of their respective candidates. No doubt political scientists and historians will be studying this phenomenon for many years to
By Ken R. Speakman Member, Tulip Grove Baptist Church, Old Hickory When invited to join the staff of The Gideons International in 1968, I had been a member of the Gideons for only one year. I had been very successful in my business career and leaving my business to take a job with the Gideons was a major step for me and my young family. I would be taking a
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector In most sporting events, there is a clear cut winner. A team wins or loses. It’s not as simple in life. Sometimes things happen and there are no winners — only losers. Such is the case in our nation today. The most recent example is in Charlotte, N.C., where a black man was shot by police on Sept. 20 and rioting broke out
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector Growing up in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s I constantly heard adults bemoan the direction that television programming was heading. Little did they know. What seemed “over the top” then pales in comparison to programming on network television today. And even worse, there are more networks clogging the airwaves with questionable programming. In my early years there were the big three
By Randy C. Davis TBC Executive Director James Suggs gets it. Suggs, 72, is the pastor of Cave Hill Baptist Church in Newport. He’s lived in Cocke County his entire life — Cocke County, total population of about 35,000. Suggs shares the story of when he was a young pastor in his early 20s and told some friends that his goal in life was to see a million souls saved.
By Johnnie Godwin Contributing Columnist, B&R My home church was the First Baptist Church of Midland, Texas. We had a piano, electric organ, a choir, and a minister of music. It was a rare thing when we had any other musical instruments, and we never had an orchestra. I’m not against the majestic orchestras that lead us in music worship along with fine choirs and excellent sound systems. But let
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector My 3-year-old grandson, Eli Beasley, is playing soccer this fall. Personally, I think he is too young to play in a league, but Pappy deferred to his parents. Well, Eli is proving Pappy probably was right. He takes a notion to play and practice when he wants to, causing his mother a great deal of frustration. But when he decides to play, Eli
By Rondell Treviño Evangelical Immigration Table As Christians, we know the Bible is the breathed out Word of God (II Timothy 3:16), and our blueprint on how to morally live vertically in relationship to God and horizontally in relationship to others in the world. We know God Himself has graciously given us the Bible, comprised of 66 books filled with more than 750,000 inspired and relevant words so we might
By Chris Turner Director of Communications, TBC At one time, I was a correspondent for the International Mission Board traveling throughout Latin America writing stories for The Commission magazine. I was in Honduras working with a missionary who was at the end of a very long year of helping the people rebuild their country following the devastation caused by Hurricane Mitch. He was spiritually, physically and emotionally exhausted, and with
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector Long gone are the days of “Training Union” and “Church Training.” As a child I remember those as
By Nathan A. Finn Dean, School Of Theology & Missions, Union University This year’s presidential election is unique in that both major party candidates are
By Ken R. Speakman Member, Tulip Grove Baptist Church, Old Hickory When invited to join the staff of The Gideons International in 1968, I had
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector In most sporting events, there is a clear cut winner. A team wins or loses. It’s not as
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector Growing up in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s I constantly heard adults bemoan the direction that
By Randy C. Davis TBC Executive Director James Suggs gets it. Suggs, 72, is the pastor of Cave Hill Baptist Church in Newport. He’s lived
By Johnnie Godwin Contributing Columnist, B&R My home church was the First Baptist Church of Midland, Texas. We had a piano, electric organ, a choir,
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector My 3-year-old grandson, Eli Beasley, is playing soccer this fall. Personally, I think he is too young to
By Rondell Treviño Evangelical Immigration Table As Christians, we know the Bible is the breathed out Word of God (II Timothy 3:16), and our blueprint
By Chris Turner Director of Communications, TBC At one time, I was a correspondent for the International Mission Board traveling throughout Latin America writing stories