Dad and I have always supported the Southern Baptist Convention. We both have strongly believed in the work of the Cooperative Program, the work of Foreign and Home Missions, and have always subscribed to the "Baptist Faith and Message." We have also believed the Bible is God's Word "from cover to cover," as is. We both preached using the King James Version. Dad, a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, was an excellent student of the Word, used an "Expository" Preaching style, and was "fundamentalist," in the older use of the term, i.e., by staying close to the Scriptures.
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You may access several SBC websites below:
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Dad and I had the opportunity to attend several Southern Baptist Pastor's Conferences and Convention's together. We also attended annual Association, State Baptist, and Virginia Baptist Evangelism Conferences. Here are some of the speakers we heard.
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Dr. Henry Franklin Paschall, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Nashville, TN.
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Jess Moody, Pastor, First Baptist Church, West Palm Beach, Florida.
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John Drakeford, Professor, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, TX.
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Alastair Walker, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Griffin, Georgia
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Manuel L. Scott, Pastor, Calvary Baptist Church, Los Angeles, California.
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Rev. John Bob Riddle, Pastor, Central Park Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama.
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Dr. Ira L. Myers, Alabama State Health Officer
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Charles T. Carter, Pastor, Whitesburg Baptist Church, Huntsville, Alabama
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Dr. R.G. Lee, Pastor Emeritus, Bellevue
Baptist Church, Memphis, Tennessee
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Dr. John Claypool, Pastor, Crescent Hill Baptist Church, Louisville, Kentucky
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John Newport, Professor of Philosophy of Religion, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
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James Pleitz, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Pensacola, Florida
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Dr. James L. Sullivan Executive Secretary-Treasurer, Sunday School Board of the SBC
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William Lawson, Pastor, Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church, Houston, Texas
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Larry Walker, Minister at Large, Metropolitan New York Baptist Association.
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Larry G. Rohrman, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Jackson, Mississippi
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Governor Albert Brewer, Alabama
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Vonda Kay
Van Dyke, Phoenix, Arizona: Miss America, 1965 Vonda is an
accomplished singer, author, ventriloquist, speaker and entertainer. She won
the coveted crown of Miss America in 1965.
Vonda had several
firsts as a winner of the Miss America Pageant. She was the first to appear on
stage in talent competition as a ventriloquist, the first to speak of her faith
on national television, and the first and only winner to be named Miss
Congeniality.
Following her reign,
she launched a successful career as a singer, and wrote two of her books (one
being a million seller) while completing her degree in radio-television at
UCLA. After graduation she had three more books published, wrote magazine
columns and recorded four albums.
She is now retired,
and living in Southern California.
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John E. Hagai, Evangelist, Atlanta, Georgia
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Eddie Lieberman, Evangelist, Greenville, S.C.
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Rev. H. Ray Wood, Evangelist, Birmingham, Alabama (NO PHOTO AVAILABLE)
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Rev. Walter Hultgren, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Tulsa, Oklahoma
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Dr. Hudson Baggett, Editor, "The Alabama Baptist," Birmingham, Alabama
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Roy
J. Fish, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Evangelism
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Dr. Cecil A. Ray,
Cooperative Program
and Church Finance Department of the Baptist General Convention of Texas;
General
Secretary-Treasurer of the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina;
National Director of
Planned Growth in Giving, Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist
Convention.
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Rev.
Clyde Fant, Jr., Former Pastor and Professor of Preaching, Southwestern Baptist
Theological Seminary.
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Rev. Richard Harris served 29 years with the North American Mission Board and it's predecessor, the Home Mission Board, SBC.
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While attending Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary,
Fort Worth, Texas, Rev. Hughes was able to visit First Baptist Church, Dallas,
Texas, and hear Dr. George W. Truett. I
was given my middle name (Truett) after him. He was fortunate to have several
78rpm recordings of his sermons. Some
are offered here.
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Dr. Robert Greene Lee (1886-1978) was another great Southern
Baptist preacher whom Rev. Hughes admired and spoke with on several
occasions. I also had the privilege of
hearing him preach on many occasions.
Some of his sermons are offered here from the public domain.
R.G. Lee was born November 11, 1886, and died July 20, 1978.
The midwife attending his birth held baby Lee in her black arms while dancing a
jig around the room, saying, “Praise God! The Lord has sent a preacher to this
house.”
“God-sent preacher” well describes Dr. Lee. Few in number
are the Baptists who have never heard his most famous sermon, “Payday Someday!”
If you haven’t heard it, or read it, surely you have heard some preacher make a
favorable reference to it.
From his humble birth to sharecropper parents, Dr. Lee rose
to pastor one of the largest churches in his denomination and head the mammoth
Southern Baptist Convention as its president, service three terms in that office.
Dr. John R. Rice said:
“If you have not had the privilege of hearing Dr. Lee in
person, I am sorry for you. The scholarly thoroughness, the wizardry of words,
the lilt of poetic thought, the exalted idealism, the tender pathos, the
practical application, the stern devotion to divine truth, the holy urgency in
the preaching of a man called and anointed of God to preach and who must
therefore preach, are never to be forgotten. The stately progression of his
sermon to its logical end satisfies. The facial language, the alliterative
statement, the powerful conviction mark Dr. Lee’s sermons. The scholarly
gleaning of incident and illustration from the treasures of scholarly memory
and library makes a rich feast for the hearer. The banquet table is spread with
bread from many a grain field, honey distilled from the nectar of far-off
exotic blossoms, sweetmeats from many a bake shop, strong meat from divers
markets, and the whole board is garnished by posies from a thousand gardens.
“Often have I been blessed in hearing Dr. Lee preach, have
delighted in his southern voice, and have been carried along with joy by his
anointed eloquence.” (Source: Baptist Heritage website.)
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Dad and I both heard Dr. Olford
preach. Stephen F. Olford was a 20th
century Christian leader. In 1953, Dr. Stephen F. Olford's years of pastoral
ministry began by serving the Duke Street Baptist Church in Richmond, Surrey,
England (1953–1959) and then the Calvary Baptist Church in New York City
(1959–1973). Billy Graham called him
“the man who most influenced my ministry.”
He was a personal confidant of Graham.
Olford was also a role model and friend to prominent pastors such as
Charles Stanley and Adrian Rogers.
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“The
reason so many churches are declining is shallow discipleship."
Shallow discipleship “is due to the fact that preachers are not preaching the
authority of Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. Without that anointing,
there is no purpose, no power, and no authority.”
-Stephen Olford
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Dad
and I heard Dr. Havner preach shortly before he passed on to be with the Lord.
Before entering full-time evangelistic work, he was pastor of the oldest
Baptist Church in the South, the First Baptist Church of Charleston, SC.
Vance Havner’s educational resume included institutions such as Hog Hill
School, South Fork Institute, Boiling Springs High School (which became
Gardner-Webb College), Catawba College, Wake Forest University, and Moody Bible
Institute. Billy Graham preached his funeral.
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