By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector In 2015, the issue of same-sex marriage took center stage. I doubt any of us will forget June 26, the day that the United States Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriage is protected under the Constitution and is now legal in all 50 states. Christians prayed for a different outcome but I think many of us felt that the Supreme Court ultimately would
Three years ago today (Dec. 17, 2012) will forever be etched in my memory. I received a phone call from my wife that our daughter, Joanna, was on the way to the Emergency Room to deliver our first grandson. We knew it was about six weeks too early so we were very concerned as we began the 300-plus mile drive. When we arrived in Greenville, S.C., our grandson, Elijah David,
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector Every kid who has ever grown up in a Baptist church probably can repeat the story of the prodigal son found in Luke 15:11-32. It’s a story that was real when Jesus told it and it’s still real today. The issue of prodigal children as it relates to ministers and their families is told here, but it goes far beyond just being a
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector This week I read an excellent blog by Everette Piper, president of Oklahoma Wesleyan University in Bartlesville, Okla. He noted a student had come to him after a recent chapel service complaining he was offended because the sermon made him feel guilty. Later in the week I watched a news telecast by a local TV station interviewing a student at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro who
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector For anyone who lives in this world, last week was tough. I don’t know what happens in every community in our state and our nation, but I daresay they are similar to Nashville and Memphis. I was in both places last week — metropolitan Memphis for the Summit in Millington and then back to Nashville. When you turned to the news in either
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector Baptists are known for many things – some good, some not so good. We tend to argue among ourselves over things that have no Kingdom significance. We get bent out of shape if someone sits in our pew on Sunday morning. We’re not happy if the pastor doesn’t visit our sick relative in the hospital (never mind that we probably forgot to let
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers are a special breed of people. They love the Lord with all their hearts and souls, and they love people enough to do “the dirty work” that most people would run from. I spent time this week with Tennessee volunteers who were serving out of First Baptist Church in Manning, S.C. Teams did flood recovery or, “mudouts,” for
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector Two things are certain in this world: death and taxes. And not even death is certain should Jesus choose to return to earth sooner than later. We can add one more thing to that list that is certain for sure. You can’t please everybody. We launched the new Baptist and Reflector website on Oct. 7 and we had mixed reactions. Some readers wrote
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector We have all heard the accusation. Christians are just a bunch of hypocrites. They preach one thing, but live the exact opposite. Sadly, there are Christians who do just that. But there are also Christians who try the best they can to match their words with their actions. Christians, however, do not have the market on hypocrisy. For those who read the Baptist
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector Hunger. For most of us, we have no idea of what true hunger is. We all perhaps have gone a day or so without food, but we seldom can say we are really hungry. I recently had a colonoscopy which means I went without eating solid food for more than 24 hours. And though I was “hungry” I knew I would have something
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector In 2015, the issue of same-sex marriage took center stage. I doubt any of us will forget June
Three years ago today (Dec. 17, 2012) will forever be etched in my memory. I received a phone call from my wife that our daughter,
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector Every kid who has ever grown up in a Baptist church probably can repeat the story of the
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector This week I read an excellent blog by Everette Piper, president of Oklahoma Wesleyan University in Bartlesville, Okla. He
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector For anyone who lives in this world, last week was tough. I don’t know what happens in every
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector Baptists are known for many things – some good, some not so good. We tend to argue among
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers are a special breed of people. They love the Lord with all their
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector Two things are certain in this world: death and taxes. And not even death is certain should Jesus
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector We have all heard the accusation. Christians are just a bunch of hypocrites. They preach one thing, but
By Lonnie Wilkey Editor, Baptist and Reflector Hunger. For most of us, we have no idea of what true hunger is. We all perhaps have
