My name is Katie. I am 17 years old and a senior at St. George’s Independent School. I will be attending Loyola University Chicago in the fall with a major in Multimedia Journalism. And this is my first blog post. I must admit that I was a bit nervous when I was first...

When I was a teenager, I hated Valentine’s Day. My very logical parents insisted that it was just a "Hallmark holiday" that could be comfortably ignored. For them, it existed to dupe people into wasting money on things they didn’t really need. Even though I could...

In 1986, Robert Fulghum, a minister and author, published a book of short essays entitled All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten. The title of the book is taken from the first essay in the volume and perhaps familiar to many of you, in which Fulghum lists...

On several occasions recently, due to the child's illness or closure of day care, I have had the opportunity to keep my three-year-old granddaughter, just the two of us, together, alone, overnight and throughout the following day with no distracting older brothers or...

“Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” Martin Luther King, Jr. from Strength to Love As the...

In my last blog, I wrote about our Baptist denomination with its beginnings based upon religious freedom for all. In the early days of our country, many people came here to have the freedom of religious expression. They were fleeing societies where government and...

My wife and I spent time over the holidays with our two sons and their families in Jacksonville, Florida.  Actually we spent most of our time with our new granddaughter, Josephine (Josie), who is eight months old.  Josie is delightful, and her smiles light up a room. ...

The moments that shape our lives are much more likely to be small and personal, rather than huge national events.  The poet, Robert Bly, has discussed the idea of a defining moment – that instant when a small event changes one’s life. Now most of us...

Election Challenges by Neil Boggan   “Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery. None but ourselves can free our minds.” - Redemption Song by Bob Marley   “The best criticism of the bad is the practice of the better.” - From the Mission and Vision statement of...

I have appreciated Stephen’s sermons on our Baptist freedoms. Since we have a tendency at times to take freedoms for granted (until we lose them!), it has been a wonderful opportunity to be reminded of these tenets which have been foundational to our distinctive...

  It is election time in Tennessee.  We are bombarded with information about the upcoming election- from our media and from our mailboxes.  Just how involved should we as Christians and Baptists be in our government?  Baptist history in the 1600s and 1700s was filled...

I  think everyone is a "planner" to some degree. When I first awaken in the morning and ascertain what day it is, I mentally run through my tentative plans for the day. Next, I have a quiet devotional time with prayer in which I commit my day to God and ask him to...

 Trust is defined in the dictionary as the “assured reliance of the character, ability, strength or truth of someone.” If we look around locally and globally today, it seems that trust is a commodity that’s in short supply. Not to attempt to glorify the past, for it...

One of the most interesting topics in our world today is the role the Internet and mobile communications play in creating community.  Much of the world is connected through these two means.  We can talk with, text, and message people around the world 24-hours a day...

It had been a frustrating morning.  My physician team at the VA was taking care of a 97-year-old man who had suffered debilitating strokes.  I was meeting with the family and the patient to discuss end-of-life issues.  The discussion was not going well.  I tried to...

I began my review on the subject of miracles by looking in the concordance of the NIV Bible.  I found two mentions of "miracles" or "miraculous" in the Old Testament and 14 listed in the New Testament.  I was surprised at how few there were.  Anyone who believes in...

  from The Stranger  by Chris Van Allsburg “But faith . . . taught me the lesson: to live in the mystery, even to love it.”        from Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood   This summer has allowed me to do things that I have not done in awhile: one is to read – just...

Kindness. The dictionary simply defines the word “kindness” as treating people with respect. Although some might say that kindness has become a rarity in everyday life, being kind has always been a goal of good people everywhere.  It’s no surprise that from childhood...

  My name is Kate, and I am a senior at the University of Memphis. I am studying anthropology and international studies and will hopefully be going to law school in the fall. You may be thinking, “Wow, this little adult is going to go save the world (or at least...

  Choose any symbol you want.  Choose a team’s logo, a country’s flag, a musical artist, or a gang’s colors.  The people who support the symbol love it and the things it represents.  Likewise, those who don’t support it hate everything about it.   Symbols are...

"When I use a word," said Humpty Dumpty in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass, "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less."  Alas, if only that maxim could be applied to the word "evangelical."  My dilemma is whether or not I'm still...

God and Mathematics By Theresa Jennings Vern Poythress holds six academic degrees including a PhD in mathematics and a ThD. In his book, Redeeming Mathematics: A God-Centered Approach, he argues in favor of an inexorable connection between God and mathematics, based...

  Romans 15: 1 – 2, 7 (KJV) 1We then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification . . . 7 Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to...

    As part of our on-going relationship with The Healing Center Full Gospel Baptist Church, our congregation was invited to spend three Wednesday nights at their church in April. The focus of our time together, besides the wonderful opportunity to continue...

The one is the way to the many. The specific is the way to the spacious. The now is the way to always. The here is the way to the everywhere. The material is the way to the spiritual. The visible is the way to the invisible. We liberate ourselves from illusions and,...

Second Baptist Church hosted Dr. Linda Nichols, Dr. Robert Burns, and Rev. Dennis McDuffie in a seminar Saturday, April 21,  on Aging Gracefully.  Dr. Nichols is a nationally known caregiver researcher based at the Memphis VA Medical Center.  Dr. Burns, the...

God Gives Peace When we commit our heart and lives to Jesus and accept with great gratitude His sacrifice that frees us from the punishment for our sins, God gives us peace.  We have peace given from God and peace with God. Col.3:15a (NIV) says,  "Let the peace of...