Jeff Vanlandingham is not the mayor of Lawrenceburg, but I’m pretty sure he could be if he wanted. I recently sat at a table close to the door of Co-Work Coffee Shop with Jeff and he knew every person who entered. There was a greeting, a handshake, a question about family, or school, or a job, or something else, and then we’d resume our conversation until the door opened again.
Yale University was founded because Harvard University was deemed too liberal. How ironic is that, considering both universities are light-years away from their founding principles. My wife, Jeanne, and I were touring Yale last year with a young tour guide who used the word “secular” more than a dozen times during the 90-minute tour. It felt like an intentional effort to position the brand. In a moment away from the
Our beautiful state of Tennessee has more than 3,000 partner churches spreading across the farmlands, metropolitan areas, and small communities from Memphis to Mountain City. In our attempt to get as close to our churches and associations as possible, we have six regional Harvest Field Team Leaders and one ethnic/language Harvest Field Team Leader who relate directly to the churches, pastors, and associational missionaries in their region. I’m a “player
When I received the call to serve as prayer catalyst for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board’s new “Prayer Matters” initiative, I couldn’t help but feel God’s hand in this new chapter of my life. After 24 years as an educator and decades leading Bible studies and prayer groups in my hometown of Murfreesboro, this role feels like a natural extension of my lifelong passion. Prayer has always been a hot
It’s Passion Week. Good Friday and Easter offer followers of Jesus Christ a great opportunity for ministry, reflection and celebration. Seasons like this are always tricky for church leaders. We’re excited about the celebration of the cross and the empty tomb, but we also feel the pressure of additional ministry events, opportunities and adjusted schedules. And of course, we want our Easter sermons to be the best, most creative, most
For Christians, Easter is the most important festival of the church. During this time, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus who died on the cross and rose from the dead. Parents have many opportunities to establish traditions for their children in remembering this important event. Read the story of the crucifixion, Christ’s death and resurrection in Matthew, chapters 27 and 28. Use some of the following ideas for your family
Here’s a bold, yet certain resolution. Resolved: Tennessee Baptists are pro-life from conception to the grave (and we are certainly pro-life beyond that). The two greatest gifts God offers us are life itself and Jesus as the only way to reconciliation and eternal life. Why would He do that? Love. The Heavenly Father does it because He loves each of the eight billion individuals He created who currently populate the
I have a friend and former boss, Rob Phillips, who has the misfortune of knowing even less Spanish than I do. Because of that, he was easy to dupe — at least on one particular occasion. We were on a remote backpacking mission trip in Honduras. We had just dropped our gear when our guide asked if someone from our group could preach to the villagers in an hour. “What
As the multiplying healthy churches team leader, I work with churches to help facilitate the starting of healthy multiplying church plants and replants. One of the key things that I do for churches and associations is identify areas/people groups that are underserved and under-reached with the gospel. This information is gathered through community analysis, demographic research and what I like to call “boots on the ground” investigation. This last approach
The church at Ephesus was birthed out of movement of God’s Spirit that threatened to put idol makers out of business. The silversmith union rioted because the church became a powerful disrupter of evil as it proclaimed Jesus as Lord. And yet, not too many years later, Jesus said, “But I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember then how far you have
Jeff Vanlandingham is not the mayor of Lawrenceburg, but I’m pretty sure he could be if he wanted. I recently sat at a table close
Yale University was founded because Harvard University was deemed too liberal. How ironic is that, considering both universities are light-years away from their founding principles.
Our beautiful state of Tennessee has more than 3,000 partner churches spreading across the farmlands, metropolitan areas, and small communities from Memphis to Mountain City.
When I received the call to serve as prayer catalyst for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board’s new “Prayer Matters” initiative, I couldn’t help but feel
It’s Passion Week. Good Friday and Easter offer followers of Jesus Christ a great opportunity for ministry, reflection and celebration. Seasons like this are always
For Christians, Easter is the most important festival of the church. During this time, we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus who died on the cross
Here’s a bold, yet certain resolution. Resolved: Tennessee Baptists are pro-life from conception to the grave (and we are certainly pro-life beyond that). The two
I have a friend and former boss, Rob Phillips, who has the misfortune of knowing even less Spanish than I do. Because of that, he
As the multiplying healthy churches team leader, I work with churches to help facilitate the starting of healthy multiplying church plants and replants. One of
The church at Ephesus was birthed out of movement of God’s Spirit that threatened to put idol makers out of business. The silversmith union rioted
