By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector Earl “Butch” Duty died in November. Unless you are a member of Tulip Grove Baptist Church in Old Hickory or a lifelong resident of the Donelson-Hermitage-Old Hickory-Mount Juliet area, you’ve probably never heard of him. He would likely have referred to himself as “just a layman.” Butch was much more than “just a layman.” He was a Christian who modeled what it meant
By David Leavell, President, Tennessee Baptist Convention I know you see it. At least, I hope you see it. Tennessee is becoming increasingly lost with each passing year. More people who don’t know Jesus as Lord and Savior. More people without hope. More people without divine forgiveness. Tennessee grows approximately 60,000 people a year. Last year, Tennessee Baptists baptized 20,302 people. That is the lowest number of people baptized since
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector Another Summit has come and gone. Tennessee Baptists met last week at First Baptist Church, Hendersonville, to worship, fellowship, and conduct business. They did all three well. The convention started off on the right foot with the Sunday night service at First Baptist and an All Nations celebration service at nearby Long Hollow Baptist Church. Bartholomew Orr preached an outstanding message at First
By Randy C. Davis TBMB President & Executive Director On Feb. 18, 1952, the S.S. Pendleton was caught in a brutal winter storm generating 60-foot waves that slammed into the 500-foot tanker. The seas became so intense that it split the ship in two. The captain and six others were in the forward part of the ship; the other 32 in the aft as the two sections began drifting apart.
Baptist Press NASHVILLE (BP) — The first time I ever visited an African community devastated by HIV/AIDS, I vividly remember meeting people whose lives had been changed forever. I met mothers living with AIDS and trying to survive long enough to see their children reach adulthood, able to care for themselves. I visited several homes where the head of the household was the oldest living child. At 14 or 15
By Larry Robertson Pastor, Hilldale Baptist Church, Clarksville “And he said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat” (Mark 6:31). A lady I once pastored in a church in a place in “a galaxy far, far away” criticized me for taking a vacation. She actually used the line, “Well,
By Paul Gunn Pastor, Tusculum Hills Baptist Church, Nashville When Baptist and Reflector Editor Lonnie Wilkey asked me to write an article about Veterans Day (Nov. 11), I immediately thought of three things all veterans have in common. Every veteran has a story or many stories. The reasons vary as to why some talk non-stop of their military experiences and others have very little to say. I grew up with
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector I look at our nation today and just shake my head. We are living in a day when we are more interested in revising or even, in some cases, eliminating history than we are in learning from it. Sir Winston Churchill once said, “Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” America is failing miserably. We haven’t learned anything
By Randy C. Davis TBMB President & Executive Director I loved family reunions when I was growing up. Those reunions always landed on or near my Grandpa Davis’ birthday. My Grandpa Davis was my hero. He and Granny Davis were faithful saints and I loved them dearly. Granny Davis was the greatest prayer warrior I’ve ever known, and Grandpa Davis served as treasurer at Little Escambia (Ala.) Baptist Church for
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector On Sunday, Nov. 5, a Texas man entered First Baptist Church, Sutherland Springs, Texas (about 35 miles southeast of San Antonio), and killed 26 innocent people and wounded about 20 others. This occurred roughly five weeks after a man killed a woman in an Antioch, Tenn., church parking lot and then wounded seven people inside the church. In the case of the most recent
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector Earl “Butch” Duty died in November. Unless you are a member of Tulip Grove Baptist Church in Old
By David Leavell, President, Tennessee Baptist Convention I know you see it. At least, I hope you see it. Tennessee is becoming increasingly lost with
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector Another Summit has come and gone. Tennessee Baptists met last week at First Baptist Church, Hendersonville, to worship,
By Randy C. Davis TBMB President & Executive Director On Feb. 18, 1952, the S.S. Pendleton was caught in a brutal winter storm generating 60-foot
Baptist Press NASHVILLE (BP) — The first time I ever visited an African community devastated by HIV/AIDS, I vividly remember meeting people whose lives had
By Larry Robertson Pastor, Hilldale Baptist Church, Clarksville “And he said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.’
By Paul Gunn Pastor, Tusculum Hills Baptist Church, Nashville When Baptist and Reflector Editor Lonnie Wilkey asked me to write an article about Veterans Day
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector I look at our nation today and just shake my head. We are living in a day when
By Randy C. Davis TBMB President & Executive Director I loved family reunions when I was growing up. Those reunions always landed on or near
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector On Sunday, Nov. 5, a Texas man entered First Baptist Church, Sutherland Springs, Texas (about 35 miles southeast of