By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector [email protected] Though we are nearing the four-month mark of the pandemic and some churches have begun to meet again, we’re still not back to where we were (before COVID-19). And what’s more, it may be a while before we get there. Add to it over the past few months, tornadoes and other storms, racial tension and protests in our nation, a presidential election
By Randy C. Davis TBMB President & Executive Director Ten years. That’s how long it’s been since Jeanne and I left a beloved pastorate to follow the clear call of God to serve our Tennessee Baptist Convention network of churches. That decision came only after an intense season of prayerfully seeking the Lord’s direction. It was an agonizing time discovering, as best we could, His direction. I had asked the
By Lonnie Wilkey [email protected] Americans across the country will celebrate the Fourth of July on Saturday with hot dogs, hamburgers, homemade ice cream, barbecue, baseball, swimming and, of course, fireworks. Sadly, that is all many Americans think of when it comes to celebrating the Fourth of July. Actually, we are not celebrating the Fourth of July. We are celebrating Independence Day, the day when the Continental Congress declared the 13
By Derek Allen MOBILE, Ala. — In March, April and May, our church staff braced for a wave of COVID-19 cases to sweep through our church family. It never happened. In fact, for the first three months of the COVID-19 outbreak, our church family of about 1500 only experienced a handful of coronavirus cases. As far as we know, none of those cases was spread at one of our events.
By Bruce Chesser President, Tennessee Baptist Convention Senior pastor, First Baptist Church, Hendersonville All of us find ourselves now in the unique situation of needing to rebuild what we had going prior to the pandemic. As most of us began the process of regathering in person, we found some things are missing. Most of us have begun with worship gatherings and we will add the Connect Group/Bible Study/Sunday School piece
By Jerry Drace Evangelist / Senior pastor, Friendship Baptist Church, Friendship. At one time the Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists (COSBE) had more than 600 members. Today it has fewer than 90 and less than 50 of these are preaching evangelists. COSBE held its annual business meeting using a Zoom conference call on June 12. One of the areas of discussion was how COSBE members can help pastors and their
By Roc Collins Director of Strategic Objectives, TBMB From my early years of little league through high school, no matter what sport I played, I heard a common message from all my coaches. Whether it was on the diamond, the hardwood floor or the gridiron, coaches would say it over and over. “Keep your eye on the ball!” Don’t look at the opponent’s eyes. Don’t second guess the play. Don’t
By Joseph McGaha Pastor, Calvary Baptist Church, Lenoir City I have hesitated to wade into the discussion concerning the deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta and the mayhem that has ensued afterward for various reasons. Yet I find after much prayer and consideration that I am compelled to speak out as a Christian, as a pastor, and as an American. Perhaps the one quote from
By Lonnie Wilkey [email protected] As a Baptist journalist for four decades, I learned early on in my career that what I wrote was not always what was read or understood. I have had countless conversations over the years with people upset with what they understood that I had written. Normally, I could help them understand what I meant with those words, but not always. In an opinion piece, a good
By Randy C. Davis TBMB President & Executive Director Tennessee state representatives took an important step toward protecting life last week when pro-life legislation passed in both the House and the Senate. The legislative approval makes a way for the bill to move on to Governor Bill Lee, who will probably sign it into law since it closely resembles the pro-life legislation he outlined in January of this year. The
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector [email protected] Though we are nearing the four-month mark of the pandemic and some churches have begun to meet
By Randy C. Davis TBMB President & Executive Director Ten years. That’s how long it’s been since Jeanne and I left a beloved pastorate to
By Lonnie Wilkey [email protected] Americans across the country will celebrate the Fourth of July on Saturday with hot dogs, hamburgers, homemade ice cream, barbecue, baseball,
By Derek Allen MOBILE, Ala. — In March, April and May, our church staff braced for a wave of COVID-19 cases to sweep through our
By Bruce Chesser President, Tennessee Baptist Convention Senior pastor, First Baptist Church, Hendersonville All of us find ourselves now in the unique situation of needing
By Jerry Drace Evangelist / Senior pastor, Friendship Baptist Church, Friendship. At one time the Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists (COSBE) had more than 600
By Roc Collins Director of Strategic Objectives, TBMB From my early years of little league through high school, no matter what sport I played, I
By Joseph McGaha Pastor, Calvary Baptist Church, Lenoir City I have hesitated to wade into the discussion concerning the deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis
By Lonnie Wilkey [email protected] As a Baptist journalist for four decades, I learned early on in my career that what I wrote was not always
By Randy C. Davis TBMB President & Executive Director Tennessee state representatives took an important step toward protecting life last week when pro-life legislation passed