Daniel Ritchie, a pastor and author born without arms, is due to be nominated as the first-ever vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention. The evangelist, who is best known for writing My Affliction for His Glory: Living Out Your Identity in Christ and Endure: Building Faith for the Long Run, will be nominated in June. Reaction to the news has been universally positive.
Lead pastor of Fairview Baptist Church in Apex, North Carolina, Matt Capps, explained that “Ritchie is among the most faithful, consistent, and passionate witnesses for Christ that Southern Baptists have seen raised up in this generation.” He added, “I am eager to see our convention recognize this gospel servant and unapologetically champion the vital ministries of vocational evangelists like Daniel by electing him to serve as first vice president.”
Ritchie took to his Instagram account to thank Capps for the nomination. He also spoke about his hopes should be elected. He posted, “I hope to shine a light on personal evangelism in the church and the need to raise up a young generation of ministry leaders — with the Great Commission continuing to be the driving force and focus of Southern Baptists.”
Ritchie came to faith as a teen and earned a bachelor’s degree in biblical studies from Judson College. He is currently, pursuing a a Master of Divinity degree from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. The evangelist has worked for the last 20 years as a speaker and student pastor. He rose to prominence at the 2022 SBC Pastors’ Conference in Anaheim, California.
He has often addressed his disability. He warned against what he calls a microwave mentality,” which he described as “if something cannot be done in five minutes or less, it is not worth doing.” He went on to say, “The Father does not work at the pace of our man-made culture. He does not count time like we count days. The Father does not conform His work to our broken perspective of time. He is not in a hurry; we are.”
He concluded by saying, “We must be faithful to take a step back from our busy lives to consider what we have in our loving Father. We need to give ourselves the space to soak in the fact that our Creator and Savior love us dearly. We must carve out pockets in the day to stop and commune with the eternal God beyond the space of our Sundays.”
We reported earlier, about another Baptist church which gave a massive charitable gift. For the last three months, Pastor Joel Southerland of Peavine Baptist Church has been asking for members to give toward a secret “Christmas Project.” He reveled the surprise during a Christmas Eve service. The pastor explained why this is such an impactful gift. Southerland said that Medical debt is the No. 1 cause of consumer bankruptcy in the United States. It gets on your credit report. It can stop you from getting a house loan [or] car loan, sometimes a job. Twenty-six percent of Americans deal with the crippling effects of medical debt.”
Unpaid medical debt can be purchased from hospitals for pennies on the dollar. Most often it is purchased by collections agencies, but charities can also bid. Peavine partnered with Undue Medical Debt, to make it possible for the erasure of such debt. This charity claims to have erased nearly $15 billion in medical debt since its inception. Members of the Church contributed $24,879.65, which settled $5.7 million in medical debt for 4,280 people in the surrounding area.
Watch Ritchie Deliver an Inspiring Message:
“This project isn’t just about numbers. It’s about people – families who can now breathe a little easier and focus on their health and well-being instead of medical bills,” said the Executive Pastor Daniel Currie of Peavine. “We’re grateful to be part of a church that believes in serving others in such a tangible, life-changing way.” The church has decided to keep working with this charity.
Featured image: Screen shot from embedded video.