CORDOVA — The Tennessee Baptist’s Convention’s annual Summit meeting opened on Sunday night with a blend of praise, prayer and power at Bellevue Baptist Church, Cordova. The night included two worship gatherings  — the All Nations Worship Service (see story HERE) and the annual Sunday night “Tennessee Reunion” service — held at different locations on the Bellevue campus.  Evangelist Bob Pittman, who has preached over 1,000 revival meetings and Bible

Former NFL quarterback answers call, prepares to move to Kenya  FRANKLIN — Rusty Smith has spent most of his life on the football field. Now, he’s headed to a different field: The mission field.  Smith, a former NFL quarterback who played with the Tennessee Titans and New York Giants, will leave next summer with his family to begin serving a two-year commitment in Kijabe, Kenya, as part of the Africa

WAIKIKI, Hawaii — Hawaii is almost certainly not what you think. Go ahead, give it a try. Close your eyes and picutre it. Chances are, right now in your mind, you are probably seeing hula dancers adorned in colorful flowery leis and swishing grass skirts.  Or possibly you see lush green islands, hidden waterfalls and large waves crashing over volcanic rock reefs before rolling gently onto pristine beaches.  And surely

FRANKLIN — Tennessee Baptists gave a record 6,440 backpacks to the Christmas Backpacks ministry, which provides backpacks filled with toys, clothing, hygiene items, food and other items to children in low-income families.  It also serves as a means of outreach and evangelism for participating churches, said Beth Moore, compassion ministry specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. Tennessee Baptists joined Christmas Backpacks (a nationwide ministry) in 2018. That year, roughly

JEFFERSON CITY — Classrooms were empty on Carson-Newman University’s campus on Sept. 28, but it was not a holiday. More than 550 members of the Carson-Newman community took part in the university’s annual Operation Inasmuch (OI). Teams of students, faculty and staff banded together to help at 38 service project sites across Jefferson, Hamblen, Knox and Grainger counties.  The intentional decisions to not hold classes provided time for students to