By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector I imagine there’s a lot of laughter in heaven these days since the arrival of Tennessee pastor Thom Tapp on June 11. Thom was not the stand-up comic type. Rather, he was just the opposite. He did not stand out in the crowd. While he could carry a conversation with the best of people, he also was content to listen. Thom’s humor came

By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector Another annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention has come and gone. By all accounts it was historic and for the most part Southern Baptists left with a good feeling. Tennessee Baptists should be extremely proud as one of our own — Steve Gaines of Bellevue Baptist Church, Cordova, was elected president in an unusual and historic election (see also column by Chris

By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector We are living in a world where it is not politically correct to do anything that might offend somebody. Unfortunately, the rules are often one-sided. The rules apparently only apply to Christians. We normally can’t offend anyone, but the non-Christian world can do anything it wants though it offends Christians and it is okay. Case in point. Baptist Press reported last week that

By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector Most dictionaries define gout basically as a form of arthritis “characterized by severe pain, redness, and tenderness in joints.” Whoever wrote the definition apparently never had gout. Words can’t adequately describe the pain associated with gout. “Severe” is not a strong enough term. And, yes, I admit I am a wimp when it comes to pain. But I speak from experience on this

By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector On Mother’s Day, my wife Joyce and I attended the baby dedication of our youngest grandson, Parker Beasley, at Skypointe Church in Travelers Rest, S.C. It was a great day and we were blessed to be there for the service. Both of our grandchildren are under the age of 4 and are members of Generation Z. Read the story and take a hard

By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector It’s hard to believe that nearly 14 months have passed since God called Susie Edwards home to heaven. She died March 24, 2015 after a three-year battle with cancer. For more than 27 years Susie was the “voice” of the Baptist and Reflector. Call our general office number and more than likely Susie was the “voice” you heard. But Susie was far more

By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector For the past few years I have dabbled in the junk and antique business, buying and selling items. It’s fun to see how people will buy antique and vintage items to “repurpose” them so they can be used today. Two years ago when the Baptist Center was sold and Tennessee Baptist Convention offices (including the B&R) were moved to a temporary location, many

Editor’s Note: Tennessee Rep. Susan Lynn of Mount Juliet announced April 18 that she is delaying action on the “bathroom bill” this year in an effort to further study the issue. She told The Tennessean, “I am still absolutely 100 percent in support of maintaining the privacy of all students. But I’m going to roll the bill over until net year so we can work on those issues.”   By

By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector LifeWay Research released an interesting study last week (see story). The headline of the story sums it up well: “Christians Face Intolerance; Complain.” Maybe, for once, Christians have a right to complain. For years we have accepted the lie that Christians are intolerant. Some individual Christians are. I won’t dispute that, but for the most part, Christians have been too tolerant and that