When I started this blog over 5 years ago, I vowed to myself to stay clear of religion and politics. Like Albert Finney’s character in Big Fish said, “You never know who you’re gonna offend”. My dear late friend Sam taught me to lay off politics on Facebook, and I carried that into my blog.
You could take this post as a hard break from those self-imposed restrictions. But the events of the past few weeks have taken me to a place where I just want to share a bit of my emotional self. As huge a shock that Charlie Kirk’s assassination was, I guess Kathy and I are doing o.k. After all, funerals are there not only to praise the deceased, but also to remind us we’re still alive and there are a lot of like-minded people with us to carry forward those things the departed valued. Then two days ago came news that our favorite preacher – someone you’ve probably never heard of – passed on unexpectedly at 56. Voddie Baucham was raised by a single mother Buddhist in South Central LA, taking his big body to Rice to play football where he met Jesus. He went to seminary after graduation and has run his namesake foundation since 1993. He spent some time in Zambia starting up a school and was one of the founding faculty then Dean for Founders Seminary in Florida. My sadness at his passing dampened a bit when I saw the picture below. Boy, does Jesus have him some new blood!
Voddie delivered an apt sermon the day before he died. An abbreviated version was put up by an admirer (1), although there are a number of annoying commercial breaks.
If you cut 53 seconds into this tribute to Voddie, you can hear him talking about the “rumors” of his death (2). The remainder of the video is well worth the time.
His sermons were always powerful, and there are many out there. Richest source is his web page, Voddie Baucham Ministries, where the archive unfortunately stops at 2022 (3). And Voddie has an ample presence on YouTube.
Death may take the physical bodies of such great men from us, but their spirit and teachings live on. Sometimes it can take a death to get us to focus on those things they’ve been trying to tell us. By heeding them, we honor their memories. Our way should be clear.
References
- Daily Dose of Wisdom. Voddie Baucham’s Final Message Was PROFOUND! https://youtu.be/MQlRU8PZzXg?si=ohXxW0lO2O8i8kf2
- The Gospel of Christ. The Tragic Death of Voddie Baucham, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3h9V4oC87mM
- Voddie Baucham Ministries. https://www.voddiebaucham.org/sermons-listing
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