By Chris Turner Director of Communications, TBMB Confession One: I struggle with racial prejudice against blacks. There, I said it. God has consistently convicted me of that and increasingly helped me let a lot of that go over the past 20 years. It occasionally rises up, but He reminds me that racial prejudice is rooted in pride, one race believing it is superior to other races, and that in His
By Chris Turner Director of Communications, TBC At one time, I was a correspondent for the International Mission Board traveling throughout Latin America writing stories for The Commission magazine. I was in Honduras working with a missionary who was at the end of a very long year of helping the people rebuild their country following the devastation caused by Hurricane Mitch. He was spiritually, physically and emotionally exhausted, and with
By Chris Turner Director of Communications, TBC I hear the naysayers. They say newspaper is dead. Or, if not dead, is dying, or on life support, or limping to an inglorious death, or breathing its last, or turning blue. Or as one friend would say of newspaper’s current state, “It wouldn’t fog a mirror.” As someone who loves newspapers and has been associated with newspaper production for the better part
By Chris Turner Director of Communications, TBC Steve Gaines, pastor of iconic Bellevue Baptist Church, Cordova, sat at the table in the pressroom at the annual Southern Baptist Convention meeting and waited for questions. Gaines had just been elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention by a historic vote of acclamation. “Any questions,” the moderator asked the media. Silence. Stunned silence. Finally someone spoke up and said, “I think we’re
By Chris Turner Director of Communications, TBC I sized up the donkey standing about 15 feet in front of me; then I casually walked over. I kept my distance because I’m not an equine kind of guy, but I had something to say. I looked the beast of burden square in the eye and decided to keep my comments brief and to the point. “I’m glad I’m not you the
By Chris Turner Director of Communications, TBC Cogito, ergo sum. Meaning: “I think, therefore I am.” The statement is the self-evident revelation of Renaissance philosopher, René Descartes. The Frenchman reduced all of life to nothing by doubting the existence of everything; however, he reconciled that, since he had the mental ability to doubt his own existence, then he must actually exist. He then reconstructed the existence of the world around
By Chris Turner Director of Communications, TBC The Great Commission is in the DNA of every church (or at least it should be), and hopefully every church has as its vision the idea of “reaching people for Jesus Christ.” But unfortunately, too often the community around the church doesn’t know that’s the vision because church members don’t know that’s the vision or don’t understand how to transfer it beyond the
By Chris Turner Director of Communications, Tennessee Baptist Convention An old and influential friend died Jan. 13 and the best way I know to honor my friend is to reminisce about the good times. My friend actually isn’t a person, it is – or was – the communications department of the International Mission board made up of extremely gifted people who became my friends. At one time, many of these
By Chris Turner Director of Communications, TBC You know the adage, “Whenever you get two Baptists together you always have three (or more) opinions.” And I know this is hard to fathom, but preachers can sometimes be, well, opinionated. Almost all of them see the world through the lens of a biblical worldview so it is difficult to look at the culture around them and not express their view as
By Chris Turner Director of Communications, TBMB Confession One: I struggle with racial prejudice against blacks. There, I said it. God has consistently convicted me
By Chris Turner Director of Communications, TBC At one time, I was a correspondent for the International Mission Board traveling throughout Latin America writing stories
By Chris Turner Director of Communications, TBC I hear the naysayers. They say newspaper is dead. Or, if not dead, is dying, or on life
By Chris Turner Director of Communications, TBC Steve Gaines, pastor of iconic Bellevue Baptist Church, Cordova, sat at the table in the pressroom at the
By Chris Turner Director of Communications, TBC I sized up the donkey standing about 15 feet in front of me; then I casually walked over.
By Chris Turner Director of Communications, TBC Cogito, ergo sum. Meaning: “I think, therefore I am.” The statement is the self-evident revelation of Renaissance philosopher,
By Chris Turner Director of Communications, TBC The Great Commission is in the DNA of every church (or at least it should be), and hopefully
By Chris Turner Director of Communications, Tennessee Baptist Convention An old and influential friend died Jan. 13 and the best way I know to honor
By Chris Turner Director of Communications, TBC You know the adage, “Whenever you get two Baptists together you always have three (or more) opinions.” And
