Ronnie Floyd

Archive for February, 2015

February 9th, 2015

America Needs Heroic Leadership in the Present, Leadership That Champions Religious Liberty Globally

Join the Movement, Southern Baptist Convention

Christianity is alive and well in Washington, D.C. in spite of what you may read on your smart phones or watch on television.

This past week, I spent two days in our nation’s capitol, where I joined thousands of our fellow countrymen at the National Prayer Breakfast. I also saw first-hand the work of Southern Baptist lawmakers in Congress.

There are 31 Southern Baptists serving in the House of Representatives and eight serving in the Senate. I was able to meet with many of them, and they asked me to share this message with the Convention: Christianity is alive in our nation’s capitol.

Many of these elected officials attend weekly Bible studies and prayer meetings with their colleagues and local churches.

And for the first time in more than 100 years, senators and representatives are gathering for a weekly worship service that is held in the Capitol. It is also open to the public.

Their assignment is tough. At times, it can be exhausting and discouraging. But they have a deep belief that God has them in this place at this time for a specific purpose.

Each Southern Baptist lawmaker that I met loves the Lord passionately and serves our nation humbly and sacrificially. It was a true joy to be with them.

I am so grateful for the doors the Lord opened for me to share our deep concern for what is happening nationally and globally with some of our nation’s leaders.

I appealed to them passionately to stand firm against the evil of ISIS and other groups that are brutalizing and killing innocent people around the world. I pleaded with them to do all they can to bring about an end to religious persecution.

I was able to share our concern for our own mission force, the largest in the world, serving our Lord in some of the toughest places on this planet. I was able to humbly communicate our deep desire for leaders to champion religious liberty nationally and globally.

I was also compelled to share our deep belief that the greatest need in America is a Great Awakening. As I shared the need for a mighty spiritual awakening in our nation, there was a common agreement among us.

They were very encouraged when I shared that on Tuesday night of this year’s Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Columbus, Ohio, we are dedicating the entire session to a prayer gathering of Southern Baptists to pray for our nation and her needs spiritually as well as the great need to reach the world for Christ.

Be prayerful, my friends. God has His people representing Him everywhere, including in our nation’s capitol, for such a time as this.

One of the most poignant moments of my visit came during the National Prayer Breakfast. NASCAR Hall of Famer Darrell Waltrip gave one of the most powerful testimonies of the life-changing power of the gospel of Jesus Christ I have heard in a long time.

There were 3,600 people in the auditorium – some of the most powerful people in the world. And yet, God raised up a race car driver to tell people they needed to give their life to Christ or they would spend eternity without God.

But there was also a disturbing moment that occurred at the National Prayer Breakfast, during remarks delivered by President Obama.

First, let me say that I pray for President Obama every day. I also pray for the First Family. That being said, I must acknowledge that some of his remarks last week deeply concerned me.

He compared the Crusades to the Islamic State – a flawed comparison. And in making the comparison, he seemed to minimize the severity of ISIS and other groups that are brutalizing and killing innocent people.

It is true that atrocities have been committed in the name of Christ. However, neither Jesus nor His true followers would have ever condoned such wrongdoing. Jesus stood for love, grace, and forgiveness.

Instead of focusing on the past, America needs heroic leadership in the present—leadership that champions religious liberty for all people.

As reported in the past few days¹, ISIS is crucifying children, burying Iraqi children alive, using mentally challenged children as suicide bombers, and taking religious minority children, brutalizing them to death, even by beheading and crucifixion. Many of these children who are not killed are sold into sex slavery, while others die of starvation.

All of this must come to an end. We cannot sit this one out, but must rise up and declare this as unacceptable and barbaric behavior that must come to an end immediately.

We must stand now and stand together. In Jesus’ name, we need to stand for those who cannot stand for themselves. We need to stand for children, women, and men who are being brutalized, abused, and murdered globally, all in the name of religion. We need to call upon our nation’s leaders, including our President, to rise up and champion religious liberty globally.

We must rise and stand up in our churches, unashamedly and courageously calling upon our people to join in this valiant effort.

Enough is enough. It has gone way too far and existed way too long. The time is now for all of us to stand.

Yours for the Great Commission,

Ronnie W. Floyd

Senior Pastor, Cross Church

President, Southern Baptist Convention

¹The Christian Post: ISIS Is Crucifying, Burying Iraqi Children Alive; Using Mentally-Challenged Kids as Suicide Bombers, Says UN Watchdog http://www.christianpost.com/news/isis-is-crucifying-burying-iraqi-children-alive-using-mentally-challenged-kids-as-suicide-bombers-says-un-watchdog-133704/

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Dr. Ronnie Floyd is currently serving as the President of the Southern Baptist Convention. The Southern Baptist Convention is America’s largest Protestant denomination with more than 15.7 million members in over 46,000 churches nationwide.

To request an interview with Dr. Ronnie Floyd
contact Gayla Oldham at (479) 751-4523 or email gaylao@crosschurch.com.
Visit our website at http://ronniefloyd.com
Follow Dr. Floyd on Twitter and Instagram @ronniefloyd

Dr. Ronnie Floyd is the President & CEO of the Southern Baptist Convention Executive Committee.

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February 6th, 2015

Equipping the Next Generation of Southern Baptist Pastors, Missionaries, and Scholars

Southern Baptist Convention

Over 18,000 students are currently enrolled in our six Southern Baptist seminaries. This is the largest number of pastors, missionaries, and scholars we have ever equipped at one time and is a great praise to our God.

Conservative Theology Works

Due to the conservative resurgence in the Southern Baptist Convention by courageous men and women of God, our six seminaries are now anchored in a deep belief in the infallibility and inerrancy of Holy Scripture. Our Southern Baptist Convention rose to the occasion to declare to the world, “We believe in the Bible!”

In our Baptist Faith and Message 2000, our convention of churches declared boldly:

The Holy Bible was written by men divinely inspired and is God’s revelation of Himself to man. It is a perfect treasure of divine instruction. It has God for its author, salvation for its end, and truth, without any mixture of error, for its matter. Therefore, all Scripture is totally true and trustworthy. It reveals the principles by which God judges us, and therefore is, and will remain to the end of the world, the true center of Christian union, and the supreme standard by which all human conduct, creeds, and religious opinions should be tried. All Scripture is a testimony to Christ, who is Himself the focus of divine revelation.

The presidents of our six seminaries, their administrations, and faculties adhere to these words unashamedly and courageously.

While the world is veering away from a deep belief in God’s Word, we stand upon it with our very lives. Reading through our Baptist Faith and Message 2000 statement on The Scriptures reminded me that our churches should utilize this resource to keep before our people what we believe and who we are as Southern Baptists.

Never again do we need to fall away from a deep, abiding belief in the infallibility and inerrancy of the Holy Scripture in our churches, seminaries, and colleges. While some may believe that we limit ourselves due to our beliefs, the reality is our six Southern Baptist seminaries are educating more seminary students than ever before in our history. Yes, conservative theology works!

I Love Our Seminaries and Their Leaders

While I am a two-time graduate of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, I want you to know that I love all of our seminaries, their leaders, and the value they bring to our entire convention of churches and our future together.

Last fall, I was on five of our six seminary campuses. Before the spring semester concludes, I will have been on all six of our campuses. It does not matter which of the six campuses I am on, I feel I am among family and friends. I love our seminaries and their leaders! Nothing excites me more than investing in the next generation of pastors, missionaries, and scholars.

Our six presidents are men who are deeply passionate about their calling, their work, the seminary they lead, and the value that our seminaries bring to Southern Baptists and beyond. I want to urge you to pray for them and encourage them when you can. The value they bring along with their teams who minister alongside them is great not only for today, but for the future of our churches and even into eternity.

For those who may not know the formal names and locations of our six seminaries and the year they were formulated, the following is from sbc.net:

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky (1859)
The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas (1908)
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in New Orleans, Louisiana (1917)
Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Mill Valley, California (1944)
The Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina (1951)
Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Missouri (1957)

Through these ministries, we are educating 18,000 seminary students who will become pastors, missionaries, and scholars.

Our Cooperation Leads the Way in Equipping the Next Generation

Did you know that your church’s financial support through the Cooperative Program of the Southern Baptist Convention helps educate these 18,000 students? Any church that has a passion to see our future pastors, missionaries, and scholars equipped in the Word of God to reach the world for Christ needs to do all they can to increase their generosity through the Cooperative Program.

Do you realize that 22.16% of the monies that comes through our Cooperative Program nationally goes toward our THEOLOGICAL EDUCATIONAL MINISTRIES? Yes, you and your church play a huge part and can play an even bigger role in educating and equipping our next generation of pastors, missionaries, and scholars.

A decade from now, whether a pastor is leading a church in Brooklyn, New York, Portland, Oregon, Phoenix, Arizona, New Orleans, Louisiana, Cherokee, Texas, Ogden, Utah, or Westerville, Ohio, you and your church have invested in his future and advancement of the gospel globally.

A decade from now, whether one of our missionaries is serving on the field in China, India, Jordan, Brazil, Spain, or Nepal, you and your church have invested in their future and in the advancement of the gospel globally.

A decade from now, whether one of our scholars is equipping the next generation at one of our six seminaries or in one of our Baptist universities related to your state convention, you and your church have invested in their future and the advancement of the gospel.

A Final Word of Testimony

I am so grateful for the equipping I received at one of our seminaries. To this day, it impacts my life. Thank you, Southern Baptists, for making it possible. Every soul reached in the ministry entrusted to me, every mission field we have traveled to and invested in personally, every church we have planted globally, and each time I stand to represent you nationally and internationally, it is because you invested in me personally and in my education. 1,000 thank yous!