Opinion Column

REVITALIZATION: THREE-PRONGED LEADERSHIP

Scott Brown Pastor, First Baptist Church, Waverly The call to be a church revitalizer is a hard call and, although church revitalizers can come in many varieties and skill sets, there are three qualities we must seek to show in our leadership among God’s people as we are working toward revitalization. Ecclesiastes tells us, “a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” Likewise, a pastor who emphasizes the following three roles

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I’LL STICK WITH GOD’S WORD

By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist & Reflector When it comes to understanding rocket science, I am lost. Science and math are two primary factors that led me to becoming a journalist.

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YOUR STATE PAPER AND THE FIVE OBJECTIVES

By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector In 2014, Tennessee Baptist Convention messengers who attended the annual meeting at The Summit at Brentwood Baptist Church, Brentwood, took an action which charted the course of the convention and the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board through 2024. Messengers overwhelmingly adopted the Five Objectives that are geared to seeing at least 50,000 Tennesseans annually saved, baptized, and set on the road to discipleship by

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IN PURSUIT OF THE PERFECT PASTOR

By Randy C. Davis TBMB President & Executive Director Let me go ahead and say it: Pastors aren’t perfect. Surely that isn’t new information for anyone, but I can almost hear you saying, “Well thanks for that news flash Captain Obvious.” But let me ask, if we already know that why do we expect different from our pastors? Ironically, I’m not just talking to the dear brothers and sisters who

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THE 3:16 CHALLENGE AND ACCOUNTABILITY

By David Leavell President, Tennessee Baptist Convention I’m a list maker. I find that I get much more accomplished when I list the things I need to get done each day. I get great joy when I check something off my list. When I don’t get everything finished (which is usually the case), I transfer my unfinished tasks to the next day.

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INVESTING ENCOMPASSES MORE THAN DOLLARS AND CENTS

Bill Gruenewald President-Treasurer, Tennessee Baptist Foundation When most people think about the work we do at the Tennessee Baptist Foundation (TBF), they think about our monetary investments in equities and fixed income as we try to help Tennessee Baptist churches and entities build a strong financial foundation for the future. But there is another asset class of TBF investments — students!

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KEEPING OUR CHILDREN AND YOUTH SAFE

By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector As a parent and grandparent, one of my primary concerns always has been the safety of my children and now grandchildren. We go to great lengths to make sure they are safe at home, at school, on the ball fields, etc. We should expect them to be safe at church, but perhaps we take that for granted. Last year we were attending church

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DEPEND ON GOD, NOT GPS

By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, B&R I was driving home last week from West Tennessee on a rainy, foggy night. I wasn’t entirely familiar with the area so I trusted my phone’s GPS system — not a good idea.

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CHANGING CULTURE PROVIDES NEW OPPORTUNITIES

By Benjie Shaw, BCM Director, University Of Tennessee Health Science Center Stop me if you’ve heard this before: America’s religious landscape has undergone large shifts in the last 20 years. In September, the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) released its latest study, titled “America’s Changing Religious Identity.” In short, the PRRI study discovered:

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IMMIGRATION AND MY CHRISTIAN RESPONSIBILITY

By Chris Turner TBMB Communications Director The plane taxied to a stop and flight attendants opened both the forward and rear doors for us to disembark. As I rose from my seat, a smell hit me like a sucker punch and triggered a gag reflex. People cleared a space. Fortunately, it turned out well for everyone. The smell continued its assault on my senses. As we pulled away from the

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DEPEND ON GOD, NOT GPS

By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, B&R I was driving home last week from West Tennessee on a rainy, foggy night. I wasn’t entirely familiar with the

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