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 David Dawson Communications Specialist, Tennessee Baptist Mission Board Over the past few weeks, I have spent a fair amount of time thinking about motives, both good and bad, after having recently seen examples of each. In both cases, I found myself rejoicing. Let me start by sharing a quick story that exemplifies the essence of “pure” motives. A couple of weeks ago, I was assigned to write a story
By Clay Hallmark President, Tennessee Baptist Convention There is an interesting story found in II Kings 3:9-24, which can help each of us understand something important about the kind of faith God blesses. In this story, the Kings of Judah, Israel, and Edom set out to fight the Moabites who had become a threat to them. After traveling for seven days, the Kings and armies found themselves in the desert
By Randy C. Davis President and executive director, Tennessee Baptist Mission Board How badly are we willing to fight for the next generation? A couple of weeks ago in a retreat I attended we discussed the topic of reaching students with the gospel. Someone offered a powerful and passionate statement that summarized what’s at stake: “Whoever wants them the most gets them!” Let the gravity of that statement sink in
By Matt Tullos Special assistant to the executive director, Tennessee Baptist Mission Board It’s been heartbreaking to watch the conflict in Ukraine. Our hearts break as we’ve watched the suffering caused by a delusional despot wreaking havoc on innocent civilians. Those citizens include many believers and churches. Amid the senseless shelling, the blasts, the refugee crisis at their borders, the hour-by-hour toll of warfare on the people of Ukraine, we
By Johnnie C. Godwin Contributing columnist, B&R In one person’s life and career, he was an author, a publisher, and a speaker. But he got downsized at age 55. His wife thought that was tragic and the end of his career. But the “downsizee” thought just the opposite. After a generation of contacts, he continued to write, preach and teach and conduct seminars as an adjunct professor. He began to
By Matt Tullos Special assistant to the executive director, Tennessee Baptist Mission Board Everybody loves a good comeback story and game-changing plays. If you enjoy sports, you can certainly remember an alley-oop, a trick play, an interception, a home run or a steal that changed the momentum of a particular game. We call them game-changers. And we desperately need these game-changing moments in our churches. Even the most contemporary church
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
By David Dawson Communications Specialist, Tennessee Baptist Mission Board Over the past few weeks, I have spent a fair amount of time thinking about motives,
By Clay Hallmark President, Tennessee Baptist Convention There is an interesting story found in II Kings 3:9-24, which can help each of us understand something
By Randy C. Davis President and executive director, Tennessee Baptist Mission Board How badly are we willing to fight for the next generation? A couple
By Matt Tullos Special assistant to the executive director, Tennessee Baptist Mission Board It’s been heartbreaking to watch the conflict in Ukraine. Our hearts break
By Johnnie C. Godwin Contributing columnist, B&R In one person’s life and career, he was an author, a publisher, and a speaker. But he got
By Matt Tullos Special assistant to the executive director, Tennessee Baptist Mission Board Everybody loves a good comeback story and game-changing plays. If you enjoy