Baptist Press has reported that Arkansas pastor and former Southern Baptist Convention President Ronnie Floyd is to be nominated as the next President of the SBC Executive Committee on Tuesday, April 2nd. Here are three things you need to know about Ronnie Floyd:
- In 1997 Floyd’s book The Power of Prayer and Fasting was published by Southern Baptist Publishing house B&H Books. In that book Floyd made the claim that “God is on the brink of ushering in a great spiritual awakening across this land through the mighty gateway to His supernatural power.” This awakening never came. Two decades since Floyd made what can fairly be classified as a false prophecy, that SBC baptism levels have sunk to their lowest level since World Word II. “Gay marriage” has been legalized in the United States and the right to abortion on demand remains enshrined as American law. In his book Floyd also wrote, “In my first forty-day fast, the Lord confirmed in my heart that He was going to bring a mighty spiritual revival in America that promises to transcend all denominational, cultural, racial, and ethnic lines.” Again, this has not happened. Across the board, American denominations (including the Southern Baptist Convention) appear to be liberalizing. It’s also worth noting that racial tensions in the SBC and the greater United States seem to be on the rise.
- Floyd is the pastor of Cross Church in Springdale, Arkansas. Under Floyd’s leadership, the church changed its name from First Baptist Church of Springdale and opened multiple satellite campuses. The Southern Baptist Convention confession of faith defines a New Testament Church as “an autonomous local congregation.” Thus, Floyd’s church model defies the very confession of faith of the denomination he is expected to lead.
- Ronnie Floyd has associated himself with dangerous heretics in the course of his ministry career. Floyd participated in the “The Gathering,” a 2016 “solemn assembly” event which prominently featured word-of-faith preacher Kenneth Copeland. Floyd was a featured speaker at the cultish International House of Prayer’s “One Thing” Conference” during his tenure as SBC President. Floyd serves on President Trump’s “Faith Advisory Committee” with arch heretics Paula White and Rodney Howard Brown (former SBC Executive Committee President Frank Page also served on that committee).
With so many concerning facts about Floyd, one might wonder why he is being considered for such an important job as President of the SBC Executive Committee. Arguably, Floyd bought the job with the money of his own church members. Baptist Press reported that Floyd’s church has given 1 million dollars or more to the Cooperative Program since 2015 and nearly 11.5 million dollars during Floyd’s 33 year tenure as the pastor of Cross Church. Floyd, at 63 years of age, can leave his church and settle into a lucrative denominational executive role (his move is not unlike that of his friend Johnny Hunt. Hunt, another megachurch pastor and former SBC President, has taken a step back from leading his church and accepted a role as a Vice President of the North American Mission Board.). Sadly, many Southern Baptist leaders only see the positively promoted side of Ronnie Floyd. This is no accident. At one time, a media professional employed by Floyd’s church traveled with him and took promotional photos. If someone has seen the success of Ronnie Floyd, it’s not by accident.
For more on the activities of Ronnie Floyd, see this article.
*Please note that the preceding is my personal opinion. It is not necessarily the opinion of any entity by which I am employed, any church at which I am a member, any church which I attend, or the educational institution at which I am enrolled. Any copyrighted material displayed or referenced is done under the doctrine of fair use.
