By Johnnie Godwin Contributing Columnist, B&R My diary entry for June 20, 1955 reads, “I feel that Phyllis is the answer to my prayers if I will try to seek God’s will.” I was 18; she was 16. At 15, I had reluctantly answered a Moses-like call to preach God’s Word. To answer that call, I knew I wasn’t meant to do it alone but matched to the wife God

By Randy C. Davis TBC Executive Director Bob Hall is not a complicated man. He has a love for Jesus and a love for others, and sharing his love for Jesus with others has been a hallmark of his 37 years as campus minister of Baptist Collegiate Ministries at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Bob retires tomorrow (July 31). However, even though the page is turning on decades of formal

By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector The “Name It and Claim It” theologians have it all wrong. Noted speakers and authors such as Joel Osteen, Kenneth Copeland, Benny Hinn, Creflo Dollar, and others advocate that if you have enough faith bad things will not happen to you and you will prosper. Evidently these “experts” are not reading the same Bible I read.

By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector I recently received a note from a pastor friend who was distressed that his church was considering cutting his salary. I was disturbed as well because I know this pastor and no one works harder and cares about his flock and the lost in his community than he does. Budgets are tight everywhere, from our own personal budgets to businesses and in our

By Larry Robertson President, TBC, & Clarksville Pastor The “famous theologian” Bob Dylan said it well: “The times they are a-changin’.” I know, change is not a welcome word for some folk. Yet change, in and of itself, is neither good nor bad. It is, however, sometimes necessary. Did you know that lobsters have to shed their shells periodically in order to grow? If they didn’t go through that necessary

By Randy C. Davis TBC Executive Director I refuse to be a rotten egg; and I don’t want you to be one either. Fortunately, there is still time not to become one. Maybe I’d better explain. Theologian C.S. Lewis writes in his seminal book, Mere Christianity, that, “It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn

By Chris Turner Director of Communications, TBC NASHVILLE — We are on a trajectory in the South that will see a current generation spiritually lost unless something drastic changes in the near future, said the Tennessee Baptists Convention’s top leader, and he said statistics bear that out. “We are at the cusp in the South of [spiritually] losing our children and our grandchildren,” said Randy C. Davis, executive director-treasurer of

By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector A denomination went on life support last week. Sadly, I don’t think some of its leaders even realize they signed their own death notice. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) became one of the largest Christian denominations in the country to endorse gay marriage last week when its General Assembly voted to allow pastors to conduct same-sex weddings and approved a constitutional amendment defining marriage

By Johnnie Godwin Contributing Columnist, B&R Two things bear on my mind at this moment: our positive God and our negative society. To say God is positive is totally true. To categorically judge our society to be negative is only partially true — but way too much. I start each morning with a strong cup of hot, black coffee and the Bible. For me, that’s about as positive a way

Bobby Welch Assoc. Executive-Director, TBC The Pastors Task Force on Southern Baptist Convention Evangelistic Impact & Declining Baptisms recently reported their findings. This diverse group of 15 summarized their work into five recommendations: Pray for spiritual awakening. Model personal evangelism and provide pathways. Create a disciple-making culture. Serve the next generation. Celebrate the next generation.