Voddie Baucham went to be with the Lord yesterday. I want him to be here still.

I knew that if I ever needed to hear a solid biblical defense on a difficult issue, I could look up his videos and interviews or read his books. He possessed a wealth of biblical knowledge, particularly for faithful Christians navigating the public square. He stood faithfully against the woke and gay agenda peddled by so many evangelicals for the past ten years.

I began in pastoral ministry 25 years ago, and like many young pastors, I was full of zeal with little knowledge. I was the guy who thought reading commentaries was detrimental to understanding Scripture: “All I needed was the Bible, not the mere thoughts of men.” It didn’t take me long, though, to realize that my interpretation of Scripture was just the thoughts of one man, and I was less seasoned and less knowledgeable about Scripture than many others!

For a kid who never read a book to completion in high school, except the Bible, I was ill-equipped for pastoring in more ways than one. But God was patient with me and providentially equipped me. One of the main men that God used to equip me in those early days was Voddie Baucham.

I owe my Christian worldview to him. His book, The Ever-Loving Truth, was life-changing for me. Early in my ministry, I had a limited understanding of a biblical worldview. Still, after reading it, I began to examine everything based on Scripture, getting to the root of why the world and the church were faltering, and how God’s word and Christ were sufficient for addressing all that ails humanity. I was a youth pastor at the time, and I took my students to a worldview conference that Voddie was headlining, which was a couple of hours away. He stayed and spoke with the youth and adults for over an hour afterward. He was incredibly charitable with his time, which speaks volumes to his character.

Voddie’s love for God, his exposition of God’s word, and his exaltation of Jesus Christ helped to set me on the path to pursuing theological education. I’m not sure if I would have pursued seminary without his influence. I’m a better pastor today because of his ministry.

A few years later, I read his book, Family-Driven Faith, and took several men in my church through it. We found Voddie’s willingness to build discipleship on Scripture, not assumptions from the school system, refreshing. In that study, all the older men shared that they regretted not having more children. Baucham loved children and encouraged Christians to have full quivers. It wouldn’t surprise me if there were a million more children in evangelical Christian households today due to his writing and preaching. He was right, because biblically, married Christians should pursue having children. My wife and I had two children at the time and added two more in the next few years.

In many ways, Voddie represented the best of Southern Baptists. He was a faithful husband, father, pastor, missionary, theologian, philosopher, expositor, and orator. He was faithful with little and with much. The only reason he wasn’t a leader in the SBC was that he did not submit to the denominational politics of our compromised elites and was too vocal in his public opposition to the spirit of the age that had infiltrated many churches. He wouldn’t kiss the ring of fame, influence, power, and popularity. Instead, he was willing to trade those earthly rewards for eternal rewards, a decision few pastors are willing to make.

He was truly an excellent preacher. Voddie could preach the text, explain its theology, apply it to your life, and have you hooked from the beginning of his sermon to the end, for over an hour. He was one of the top 10 living preachers and remains in the top 10 for preachers who have lived during my lifetime (the past 44 years). He was that gifted.

I will greatly miss him. It seems the SBC needs him more now than ever, and there’s no one to pick up his microphone. No one has a combination of gifts like this. I know the Lord will raise up others, but Baucham truly was one of a kind. I miss him already and look forward to giving him a big bear hug when I see him in eternity.

May Voddie’s faithfulness encourage us to be faithful, when it’s popular and when it’s not. Don’t preach for a paycheck, pastor, for such are the hirelings who scratch itching ears. Be like Voddie. Sacrifice the applause of men for the eternal love of God.

Because today, Voddie is enjoying Christ face-to-face, and he’s received his eternal reward.