"Most
Baptists have known Bailey Smith as both a successful pastor and an effective
evangelist for more than six decades and his death has left a significant
spiritual void in the 21st century church that seems to be struggling to keep
evangelism a priority.
The
book The Sacred Trust by Emir and Ergun Caner avows, “Without a doubt
(Bailey) Smith is the ideal personification of a Christian who has an
unwavering, single-minded commitment to fulfilling the Great Commission.
It
was during his tenure as pastor of the Oklahoma church that he became the
youngest man ever to serve as president of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Smith
authored the best seller Real
Evangelism and has several books to his credit, including Taking Back the Gospel, Real Christianity, Real Christian Excellence, and The Grace Escape. He was working on his biography at the time
of his death.
Bailey’s
greatest asset on earth for the past 55 years has been his wife, Sandy Elliff
Smith. The Smiths have three sons: Bailey Scott , Steven Wayne, pastor of
Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas, and James Joshua, who is
pastor of Prince Avenue Baptist Church in Bogart. Smith is not only survived by
his wife and sons, but by eight grandchildren."
More
information at:
Evangelist
Bailey Smith was one of my heroes. He
was the second SBC president of the SBC Conservative Resurgence. I remember voting for him at the Southern
Baptist Convention. I was just out of
college (ETBU) and will always be grateful to my parents for helping me with
the expense of attending those conventions.
Bailey
proudly stood for evangelism and the inerrancy of the Bible. To the young preachers out there – get his
books and listen to his preaching. You
don’t have to preach like him, or anyone else, but you can certainly learn and
profit from him.
Updates:
“I
believe Jonah was a literal person swallowed by a literal fish, spit out of a
literal stomach, and in a literal mess,” -Bailey
Smith, upon his presidential election, during the height of the Conservative
Resurgence.
"Bailey
Smith, having transferred his permanent address to a golden strand in the
presence of the Lord, leaves behind a legacy of men and women led to
Christ. And though that was not all that he did, who can leave a
more noble legacy?...
As
pastor of one of the greatest SBC churches, First Southern Del City, Oklahoma,
a graduate of Southwestern Seminary, twice president of the Southern Baptist
Convention, and forever a supporter of the biblical role of the evangelist,
Bailey was simply remarkable. His Real Evangelism conferences were
an encouragement to tens of thousands. His encouragement on a
personal level was the deep work of God’s Spirit in his soul…"
-David R. Brumbelow, Gulf Coast Pastor,
January 15, AD 2019.
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