By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Talk about the best-laid plans of mice and men going awry (to paraphrase poet Robert Burns).

Phyllis Bates, a 43-plus year member of the staff of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board (formerly Executive Board) retired on Feb. 28. My plan was to write an extensive feature story and a column.

My feature story idea disappeared quickly after a short interview with Phyllis. It would be easier pulling a tooth from a grizzly bear than it is getting Phyllis to talk about herself.  [Read more…]

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Chalk up another victory for political correctness.

A school system in Tennessee has to go to the time and expense of providing training to employees on the constitutional law concerning “the application of the Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses in public schools” (see story here).

All of this is happening because a Tennessee Baptist youth pastor dared to do what’s right — pray for an injured high school football player. [Read more…]

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Fake news is a big deal today, but it is not “new.”

Fake news has been around forever. Those of us who have been in Baptist journalism for decades can remember the countless news stories we have had to produce assuring Baptists that the Madalyn Murray O’Hair and Proctor & Gamble rumors from the 1980s and 1990s were just that — rumors and hoaxes.

As a teenager I can still remember staring at the headlines of the newspaper tabloids while standing in line to buy food in the local grocery stores. A headline like “Alien Lands in North Dakota” sounds interesting and will make you pick up the publication, but that doesn’t make the story true. [Read more…]

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

They stood together at the pulpit of Rialto Baptist Church in Covington on Sunday, Jan. 15 — Thomas Bester, a 63-year-old African-American pastor, and Carl Funderburk, an almost 80-year-old Anglo pastor.

As I watched them I could only imagine the stories they could tell from having witnessed first hand the racial strife of the civil rights movement in the 1960s-70s. On this occasion, however, these two pastors were united under the spirit of the God that both have faithfully served for decades. [Read more…]

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

As January gets into full swing, people are excited about a new year and new opportunities. No doubt Tennessee Baptists are among the millions who made “resolutions” for the new year, ranging from losing weight to reading your Bible daily to countless other things that individuals deem important.

Hopefully, those who made resolutions will be able to keep them. I don’t make many resolutions anymore. I have a standard resolution that my doctor keeps before me every time I go visit him — lose weight. Haven’t been very successful on that one so I decided to limit my resolutions until I can meet the one I most need to meet.

During worship service on Jan. 1 at Tulip Grove Baptist Church in Old Hickory, Gerald Bontrager offered a novel idea. Instead of making resolutions, follow Scripture. Pastor Gerald provided a “spiritual reference guide for living out the gospel” in 2017. [Read more…]

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

I recently saw a video that made my blood boil. Denasia Lawrence knelt while singing the national anthem prior to a Miami Heat preseason basketball game.

Lawrence said she was protesting the number of blacks that she feels have been “unjustly killed and overly criminalized.” That’s her opinion and that’s what makes this country so great. She can express it. [Read more…]

By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector

Long gone are the days of “Training Union” and “Church Training.” As a child I remember those as programs in the church that were used to teach Christian doctrines and Baptist beliefs. They truly discipled new believers and reminded long-time believers of what Jesus expects of His followers once they accept Him as Lord and Savior.

Now, the term “discipleship” can refer to almost anything including the latest, greatest Christian book. [Read more…]