Author: Randy C. Davis

Where Are Recruits for World Conquest?

Posted on by Randy C. Davis

There is a growing reality that causes me great concern. I’m scanning the horizon looking for the billowing dust of reinforcements charging toward the spiritual battle, but all I see are wisps from the few. Where are the supply of recruits enlisted for world conquest?

Where are the pastors and ministers to shepherd Christ’s bride during these most desperate of days?

Where are the missionaries to carry the gospel to faraway lands?

Increasingly, too many of our pulpits stand vacant rather than filled by a God-called man filled with biblical authority proclaiming Jesus’ all-sufficient death, burial and resurrection on behalf of sinful humanity. Continue reading “Where Are Recruits for World Conquest?” →

It’s Time to Do More Than Simply Stand

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Tennessee Baptists stood for life in 2019. In 2020, we need to mobilize for life.

You may recall that back in August I had the opportunity to represent Tennessee Baptists before a special study committee comprised of Tennessee Senators tasked with more comprehensively reviewing pro-life legislation that had been proposed during last year’s legislative session. The bill being considered was in essence what has become known as a “heartbeat bill;” legislation that would protect unborn babies once a heartbeat is detected. Many surrounding states, and other states around the country, have passed similar legislation.

However, there were many concerns expressed with that legislation and it was moved to a summer senate study committee. In the process, the bill that was being considered was reworked and the proposed legislation for which I advocated is titled SB 1236. It potentially represents one of the most – if not the most – comprehensive piece of pro-life legislation ever written. It clearly protects life from the point of conception, even before a heartbeat is detected. For everyone who recognizes God as the author of life, SB 1236 undoubtedly embodies an opportunity to legally protect unborn children in a way that hasn’t been possible since the passage of Roe v. Wade in 1973. Continue reading “It’s Time to Do More Than Simply Stand” →

Staying Focused on Our Passionate Priority

Posted on by Randy C. Davis
Randy C. Davis

There are two distinctives that bind Southern Baptists together. The first is our shared biblical belief system. Unfortunately, the Bible can be mishandled in many ways and our Southern Baptist forefathers recognized that, so in 1925, they took the providential step to clearly define what Southern Baptists believe about the Bible.

That document is known as the Baptist Faith and Message (BF&M) and became our “statement of the historic Baptist conception of the nature and foundation of confessions of faith in our religious and denominational life.” The BF&M was updated in 2000 and reaffirms what we believe theologically and why we believe it.

The second distinctive that binds Southern Baptists together is our Great Commission calling to missions, and specifically our historic commitment to rally around international missions. We have always been, and we must always be, a “going” people. Continue reading “Staying Focused on Our Passionate Priority” →

Summit is So Much More Than a Meeting

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My No. 1 desire is to see the spiritually lost people of Tennessee won to saving faith in Jesus Christ, and it is weeks like last week that give me hope that together as Tennessee Baptists, we might see that happen.

Summit, our annual gathering of Tennessee Baptists, is so much more than just a meeting. It has become a rich time of worship, challenge, fellowship, focus, business and celebrating what God is doing across Tennessee to bring people to salvation through Tennessee Baptists and their churches. Continue reading “Summit is So Much More Than a Meeting” →

‘We Serve Churches’ — It Isn’t Just a Slogan

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You shared your concerns.

We carefully listened.

And now I want to prayerfully respond on behalf of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.

Several of us from the TBMB have recently engaged with over 500 Tennessee Baptists during nearly two dozen listening sessions across our state. We initiated these sessions with the sole purpose of learning from you and using what we heard to shape how we as a mission board serve your churches.  For us, “We serve churches” is more than just a mission statement that hangs on a wall. It is our mission. Continue reading “‘We Serve Churches’ — It Isn’t Just a Slogan” →

Listening Sessions — Twenty Towns, Two Ears

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Step off the elevator on the second floor of your Church Support Center in Franklin, turn right and you’ll be looking straight at this large reminder: “Tennessee Baptist Mission Board is a Christ-centered, field-focused, Great Commission organization created by Tennessee Baptists to serve Tennessee Baptist Churches. We value relationships, innovation, stewardship and excellence.”

Our mission statement for many years has been, “Making Christ Known by Serving Churches.”

What does the TBMB do? Simply put, we serve churches. Continue reading “Listening Sessions — Twenty Towns, Two Ears” →

Your GOTM Giving and Your Kingdom Impact

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I spend a lot of time crisscrossing the state on Interstate 40, so much so that I jokingly call it “Randy Davis Boulevard.” The landscape constantly passes, but rarely changes. It’s the people, however, who make Tennessee special.

And the people change. One way we change is our increasing numbers. Our population is rapidly growing. People are relocating here from around the country and around the world bringing racial, ethnic, economic, religious — and non-religious — diversity. There are more dissimilar people now living in Tennessee than ever before.

However, as significant as our diversity is, it is more important to focus on what we have in common. People need Jesus — to be saved, baptized and set on the road to discipleship. Our population is growing faster than the gospel is advancing. The result is that every year our state is becoming more spiritually lost. The reality: any way you slice it, Tennessee is a mission field.

I’ve been saying that for the past several years. It’s a belief based on what I see as I travel Tennessee’s interstates and backroads. Continue reading “Your GOTM Giving and Your Kingdom Impact” →

Anti-Abortion to Comprehensively Pro-Life

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i-stand-petitionThis one has always been clear cut for me. Any person with a moral compass, common sense and even a little knowledge of abortion’s horrors is against the taking of a life in the womb.

Unfortunately, we live in a culture that not only demands the right to murder these sweet gifts of God, it celebrates the murderous practice. The image is seared in my mind of celebration that followed New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s signing into law late-term abortions up to the point of birth. How perverse is that? I never want to see that celebration in Tennessee, and as Tennessee Baptists we not only have an obligation to our Lord to protect unborn children, we have an opportunity to stand and be counted for life. Continue reading “Anti-Abortion to Comprehensively Pro-Life” →

Count the Days and Make Them Count

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calendar-page-handI love sunrises and sunsets. I don’t think there’s anything more beautiful than a sunrise in all its glory or a sunset in all its splendor. The fact that our Lord has given us another day of abundant life on our way to eternal life is a special gift.

My friend, Paul Clark, Jr., loved the hymn, “For the Beauty of the Earth.” I love it too. “For the beauty of the earth; For the beauty of the skies, For the love which from our birth, over and around us lies, Lord of all, to thee we raise, this our hymn of grateful praise.” Continue reading “Count the Days and Make Them Count” →

Reasons for Optimism About the SBC’s Future

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road country skylinePresident George W. Bush once stood in front of a group of people trying to make sense of the world that seemed to be coming undone around them. “One thing is for certain,” he said. “We did not ask for these challenges, but we will meet them. I say that with certainty because this nation has strong foundations and won’t be shaken. In this hour of our country’s history we stand in the need of prayer.”

That comment was made at the first post-9/11 National Prayer Breakfast and prior to the beginning of the longest war, the war on terrorism, in our nation’s history. I was at that prayer breakfast. I saw the resolute courage in our president’s eyes; I heard it in the tone of his voice. Continue reading “Reasons for Optimism About the SBC’s Future” →