Vote for David

By now you have heard that David Rogers, Adrian Rogers' son and a missionary with the International Mission Board for the past 13 years, is running for 1st Vice President of the convention against Jim Richards, who is the Executive Director of the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. I do not know Richards, I have never had the privilege of meeting him. I know that he is the director of the newest Southern Baptist convention in Texas that has aligned itself as uniquely conservative and that he is a member of a strong CP supporting church in Ft. Worth. I have heard wonderful things about his character and am positive that he is a blessing to those who know him. I do, however, know and value David Rogers. David and I met in person for the first time last year at the convention. We had the privilege of attending a few meetings together and, as many of you know, share similar beliefs in the area of the IMB's policy on baptism, in particular. We also both have publicly claimed to only have one issue with the current edition of the Baptist Faith & Message, and that would be in reference to the statement that baptism must be a prerequisite to the Lord's Supper.

Having said all that, I will be casting my vote in San Antonio for Bro. Rogers. Although all of the reasons above are good ones, and ones worth voting for, I will instead cast my ballot for the reasons enumerated in my previous post. I am passionate about missions, I love strongly the IMB and her work, and I am compelled to vote for an active missionary as a sign of my support for both the Cooperative Program and my support of our missionary personnel around the world.

As I said earlier, the position of 1st Vice President of the SBC is a largely ceremonial position. It really carries little to no specific weight or authority. As such, in my opinion, my vote should be cast for the candidate whose election will encourage and inspire the greatest numbers of people. Additionally, the candidate who most clearly represents the best of the SBC is the one in whom I chose to vote. David Rogers, as an active missionary with the IMB, is one of my heroes and fully represents the best that our Southern Baptist heritage of passionate missions support has to offer, and for those reasons I look forward, with more anticipation than I have ever had for an SBC V.P. race, to cast my ballot in David's favor. I encourage you to do the same.