By Randy C. Davis President & Executive Director, TBMB Casino operators must know something about bass fishing. They’ll make the lure of a big jackpot dance and sparkle in the bright lights hovering above slot machines and roulette wheels. They mesmerize their catch with nibbles of what could be, and then before someone realizes it, WHAM! The hook is set, and the person is caught and reeled in. In the
By Kathy McBroom As I was driving down the road at 3:22 a.m. recently on the way to see my granddaughter, I had the Christian music blaring. Zack Williams was singing “This is the sound of dry bones rattling” from his song “Rattle.” After a long season of despair, I am believing that I heard hope rising. By now, most everyone is aware of the toll that COVID-19 has and
Mike Glenn Pastor, Brentwood Baptist Church, Brentwood I hung up the phone after talking to another colleague who had called to tell me he was leaving his position as the pastor of a nearby church. He was joining the administrative staff of a local university. He could have been retiring or starting his own non-profit. He could have been taking a job in the “real world,” as church professionals call
Clay Hallmark President, Tennessee Baptist Convention The other day I picked up a 24-pack of bottled water at Sam’s Club. Each bottle of water cost me about $0.20 each. That exact bottle of water at the grocery store costs $0.40 each. If you get that bottle of water at a restaurant it will cost you $2. If you were to drink that bottle of water in a hotel room, the
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist & Reflector [email protected] Suffice to say, our world is in a mess. COVID-19 is beginning its third year and has shown no sign of going away. People are still catching the disease and, sadly, some are still dying. Russia has invaded the Ukraine. Thousands of people have died and people are fleeing the country. Gas prices are skyrocketing. In Tennessee, gas has exceeded $4 a
By Joe Wright Exec. Dir., Bivocational & Small Church Leadership Network Burnout has long been a problem for pastors, especially for pastors of smaller-attendance churches and those who are bivocational. The pandemic has only exacerbated this problem. Many pastors have experienced “decision fatigue” due to the need to make a decision early in the week but then having to change that decision later in the week. The resultant confusion within
By Kevin Shrum Pastor, Inglewood Baptist Church, Nashville In 42 years of ministry I have heard almost every reason conceivable for not attending the weekly gathering of God’s people. In fact, I’ve heard 2,184 of them, possibly more. Forty-two years of ministry multiplied by 52 Sundays in a year equals 2,184 Sundays, and this does not include Sunday and Wednesday nights. If you add those to the equation there could
By Randy C. Davis President & Exec. Dir., TBMB William Lunsford watched soldiers returning from World War I to a hero’s welcome and cared for by a grateful nation. Lunsford, pastor of Edgefield Baptist Church in Nashville, believed Southern Baptists should have the same heart for pastors who had given their lives to ministry but had reached old age and found themselves in a state of financial insecurity. “We’ve made
By Joe Sorah Harvest Field Team Leader, TBMB What do you do when no matter what you do will be second-guessed or criticized by others? That is what it has felt like for many pastors over the past two years. Questions like: “Do we have in-person services or just virtual services?” and “Do we mandate wearing masks or are masks optional?” In conversation after conversation, pastors have related the frustration
By Kevin Ezell President, North American Mission Board Southern Baptists work together for one primary reason: to fulfill the Great Commission. For decades now, we have cooperated in that shared, sacred effort to reach the nations with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our society has seemingly been coming apart at the seams over the last few years, and the sharp divisions provide us an opportunity to display something radical to
By Randy C. Davis President & Executive Director, TBMB Casino operators must know something about bass fishing. They’ll make the lure of a big jackpot
By Kathy McBroom As I was driving down the road at 3:22 a.m. recently on the way to see my granddaughter, I had the Christian
Mike Glenn Pastor, Brentwood Baptist Church, Brentwood I hung up the phone after talking to another colleague who had called to tell me he was
Clay Hallmark President, Tennessee Baptist Convention The other day I picked up a 24-pack of bottled water at Sam’s Club. Each bottle of water cost
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist & Reflector [email protected] Suffice to say, our world is in a mess. COVID-19 is beginning its third year and has
By Joe Wright Exec. Dir., Bivocational & Small Church Leadership Network Burnout has long been a problem for pastors, especially for pastors of smaller-attendance churches
By Kevin Shrum Pastor, Inglewood Baptist Church, Nashville In 42 years of ministry I have heard almost every reason conceivable for not attending the weekly
By Randy C. Davis President & Exec. Dir., TBMB William Lunsford watched soldiers returning from World War I to a hero’s welcome and cared for
By Joe Sorah Harvest Field Team Leader, TBMB What do you do when no matter what you do will be second-guessed or criticized by others?
By Kevin Ezell President, North American Mission Board Southern Baptists work together for one primary reason: to fulfill the Great Commission. For decades now, we
