By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector During last week’s ice storm in Tennessee I took a step and suddenly was looking straight up after falling flat on my back on an ice-packed street. I was unhurt (except for my pride) but it was a not-so-gentle reminder that life does, indeed, have its ups and downs. The week before, the Wilkey family welcomed Parker Andrew Beasley into the world. Parker

By Randy C. Davis TBC Executive Director We all have memorable days and we also witness historic days. It’s a notable milestone when memorable days are historic, and Tennessee Baptists experienced a notable milestone last November when messengers from Tennessee Baptist churches overwhelmingly selected Memphis pastor Michael Ellis to be president of the Tennessee Baptist Convention. Michael is the first African-American to fill that role in our 140 years as

By Michael Ellis TBC President & Pastor of Impact Baptist Church, Memphis Choices are one of the primary reasons I simply love going to a buffet restaurant. I have the freedom to choose chicken, fish, pork chops, ribs, salad, desserts, and all of the trimmings. Even though I have this freedom to choose from all of the selections, there are usually potential consequences. The possibility of experiencing stomach aches, larger clothing, and

By Randy C. Davis TBC Executive Director It is pretty easy for people associated with the Southern Baptist Convention to rattle off the names of some of our most influential pastors past and present. We’ve had W.A. Criswell, Adrian Rogers, Charles Stanley, and Jim Henry. There are contemporary pastors who are stalwarts of our denomination like Steve Gaines, Fred Luter, Jack Graham, and Johnnie Hunt.

By Chris Turner Director of Communications, TBC The reputations of churches today are just one crisis away from potentially being destroyed, and an overwhelming majority of churches are not prepared to manage even the slightest level of hostility that is becoming more prevalent in today’s American culture. That may come across as a hard statement but it is unfortunately true. I’ve been involved in crisis communications and media relations for

By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector One of the major stories in Baptist Press last week dealt with an Oregon judge who ruled that two Christian bakers discriminated against a lesbian couple because they would not bake their “wedding” cake. In this issue (page 3) we have a story which deals with churches establishing policies as they relate to same-sex ceremonies and funeral services for homosexuals.

By Chris Kelly Exec. VP/General Counsel, TBF It’s a new year, and maybe you have set some of the “regular” resolutions, i.e. read the Bible more, lose weight, exercise, see the world, etc. Now that we’re deep into January, I won’t ask how many of those resolutions have been abandoned, but I will suggest you make one additional resolution this year that will greatly benefit your family and you: make

By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector Are you a mission-minded person? What does it really mean to be mission-minded? Most any Southern Baptist worth his or her salt would answer quickly, “Of course I am mission-minded. I’m a Southern Baptist. Folks, there are thousands upon thousands of self-proclaimed Southern Baptists sitting in our pews who don’t know the first thing about being “mission-minded.”