Interview with Pastor Johnny Hunt
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Today we have the privilege of bringing you this interview with Pastor Johnny Hunt who recently has announced his willingness to be nominated as a candidate for SBC President when our messengers meet in Indianapolis in June. He will be nominated by Dr. Ted Traylor, pastor of Olive Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida.
Johnny Hunt is the pastor of First Baptist Church in Woodstock, Georgia. Baptist Press reports that “during his first year as pastor, the church baptized 318 people and had 268 additions by statement and letter. Since he arrived, the church has seen average Sunday school attendance grow from 275 to 4,705, according to the 2007 Annual Church Profile.”
We pray that this interview helps everyone get to know more of the heart of this great man of God.
Within the week we also hope to bring you an interview with another candidate, Dr. Avery Willis. Continue to prayerfully consider whom God would lead you to support to be the next leader of our convention. See you in Indy in June!
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17 Comments
May 9th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
Scott,
Great job! I will say this about Dr. Hunt – you will be hard pressed to find a more passionate Pastor or person for that manner, when it comes down to his zeal and biblical understanding of reaching people for Jesus.
The statement he makes about our concern over money vs. our concern over souls is the best yet.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:21 pm
[...] Today Interviewed Johnny Hunt Posted on May 9, 2008 by Tom Click here to [...]
May 12th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
Interesting interview, particularly the bits about the CP and ‘Calvinism’. I think Woodstock’s approach to missions and church planting should be considered by all churches within the SBC, but that would spell trouble for the CP in many respects, wouldn’t it? On the ‘Calvinism’ bit, I think Pastor Hunt’s advice on people watching their language, etc, needs to be heeded (including by himself).
May 14th, 2008 at 12:48 am
Looks like the high road is a thing of the past…..
This was in my “inbox” from somebody with an “@fbcw.net” email address.
“Greetings to you in the wonderful name of Jesus! I want to talk with you of a recent development of which you may already be aware. Many of you know that Pastor Johnny Hunt has been asked numerous times over the past 10-12 years to allow his name to be placed in nomination as President of the Southern Baptist Convention. Even after much encouragement from many of his peers and friends, he has never felt led to do so. In recent days after being asked again and after much prayer and seeking the Lord, he has agreed to allow that to happen at this year’s convention. There are other strong candidates that will be doing the same. However, I believe with all my heart that Dr. Hunt will provide the best leadership for all of us in two specific areas. Those two areas being change and a bright future for us as well as the denomination we all love but for which we are deeply concerned.
You may say, “Jim, I agree but what can I do?” I want to encourage you to make every effort to be in Indianapolis, IN on June 10-11, 2008 and cast your vote for Dr. Hunt as our next SBC president. The election will be on Tuesday afternoon, June 10th. I also encourage you to bring as many delegates as you are allowed
by the Convention to do the same. Finally, would you exercise whatever influence you may have with other Pastors who do not know Pastor Johnny like you do and assure them that a vote for Pastor Johnny will be a vote for a different and bright future? Encourage them to be at the Convention and/or send delegates to represent them.
We have all been the beneficiary of Dr. Hunt’s investment of time, instruction and encouragement. Now, it is time that we invest in him. I trust you will do your part, my brother. We are counting on you. Finally, I want you to be assured of several things.”
Anybody else get one of these???
Grace and Peace….
ABClay
May 15th, 2008 at 10:28 am
ABClay,
I can hear the ‘ghost’ voice of W. A. Criswell in Jim Law’s email, “We’ll have a great time here in
HoustonIndianapolis if for no other reason than to elect Johnny Hunt as president.” Nice to know it’s not just the SBCOutpost guys who are using the web to be political.James
May 16th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
Okay, the last email that spammed me was not complete. The “Campaign Manager” of Hunt’s church has been kind enough to send the remainder of the sales pitch. It follows:
We have all been the beneficiary of Dr. Hunt’s investment of time, instruction and encouragement. Now, it is time that we invest in him. I trust you will do your part, my brother. We are counting on you. Finally, I want you to be assured of several things.
Dr. Hunt is doing this ONLY because he feels it is the perfect will of God for him to be nominated.
He desires only that God’s perfect will be accomplished.
He deeply loves our denomination and is concerned about the decline in winning people to Christ.
He greatly desires to restore hope and confidence in many about our denomination.
Know you are each one loved and appreciated and we don’t take lightly the relationship we have been privileged to have with you. I pray God’s blessings upon you and pray the Lord will give you direction about how you will be involved in this important cause.
In Christ’s love,
Jim Law
Executive Pastor
Now I ask some questions:
1. Did he just say that it is the perfect will of God that Hunt be elected? What if Hunt doesn’t get elected, is God’s will not perfect anymore or will we find our denomination outside of God’s will altogether? If this is the case, shouldn’t Hunt then, since the denomination is outside of the will of God, remove his church’s support from the SBC?
2. I read in my bible that it is God that grows the church. Are we somehow exalting ourself to the level of God if we believe that we can somehow add to the numbers of those who are being saved? Our call and responsibility is to earnestly preach the Gospel and it is my contention that we should make this alone the Ends of our duty on earth as members of the body of Christ as we glorify God in our mission. I have to be honest, and this may seem a little harsh, but the language that is often used is full of pomp when we say that we “won” somebody for Christ. We should be very careful when we take Glory from God. We don’t do anything, nada, zip.
Anyways, something for you to put in your pipe.
Grace and Peace to y’all…
ABClay
May 16th, 2008 at 2:27 pm
Before you begin to tell me that we do something when we share the Gospel, I would remind you that it is not us, but Christ working through us. I am a pathetic sinner not worthy of uttering God’s Good News because of my transgressions. It is only by the grace and power of God that I can ever speak of such things as “atonement”, “propitiation”, and “holiness”.
Thanks be to God alone….
ABClay
May 16th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
AB,
You undermine the legitimacy of your concerns when you take what the email actually said (“he feels it is the perfect will of God for him to be nominated), change it (“perfect will of God that Hunt be elected“), and then ridicule it.
You can do better.
May 16th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Funny my anti spam word is “temperance” as I write this.
Thank you for pointing that out Wes. I am sorry for this mistake as I would not intentionally try to distort what somebody says just to grind an ax. As a matter of fact, I don’t even have an ax.
I am not against Dr. Hunt being the SBC President. I listen to Him at least once a week and learn a great deal from his exposition of the Bible, though I do not fall completely in line with his beliefs regarding some things.
Now that you have pointed my mistake out, I would certainly agree with him that it is God’s perfect will that Hunt be nominated since this thing has come to pass and there is not a single molecule that is outside of God’s sovereign control on this earth or in our universe.
Again, with my humblest apologies, I am…
ABClay
May 23rd, 2008 at 3:07 pm
[...] Interview with Pastor Johnny Hunt [...]
May 28th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
ABClay,
You are really something, I would think that you might want to use this energy on going out and winning someone to the Lord, but I guess if you don’t think they are the elect then you just don’t bother with those trivial things and that leaves you with the time to try and tear down those who do walk with the Lord. When your kneeling before the thrown of God I just want you to tell me that in your heart of hearts you know that Jesus will tell you that what your doing here was pleasing to Him?
May 28th, 2008 at 9:37 pm
Brother Gerald,
I am afraid that when I kneel before the throne of God that I will be woefully inadequate to express anything other than thankfulness for His Grace towards me and a full sense of unworthiness for being in His presence.
Thank you for pointing out to me that I am not being as obedient to the call of my Lord as I should be. I want to assure you that this is not limited to my unwillingness to tell the gospel every chance that I am given.
Grace and Peace to you brother…
ABClay
May 28th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
As Long as God is Please with the way you attack Pastor Johnny that’s all that counts? Right brother after what your doing is building up the body of Christ – Right? By distorting the facts to persuade those that are jealous of what God is doing with a man that just desires to be used by God, after all what Satan wants more is for God’s own people to attack each other isn’t it?
May 28th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
Brother Gerald,
I frankly don’t understand your rant. All that I was saying was that the “electioneering” that is going on is not what I would expect from any candidate for SBC president. Why send out a “campaign” email?
If you will spend some time and review my posts, you will find that apart from Dr. Hunts comments regarding Calvinists in the SBC and his “restoring” of some pastors to the pulpit, I agree with Hunt and truly enjoy listening to him teach. I thought that his easter sermon this year was probably one of the best that I have heard.
There have been people who have complained that the CP giving of FBCW was not adequate for Hunt to be elected and I have pointed them to an interview that gives a balanced perspective of FBCW’s missional work and Hunt’s opinion on CP giving.
If you wish to be angry at me because I have a problem with campaigning for a political position in the SBC, then you have that right. But I do not believe that I have attacked Pastor Hunt here.
Perhaps you are angry because I said that it is God that grows the church? Do you believe that we can actually persuade somebody to be saved? I do not believe this. I believe that if we are diligent at sharing the gospel, which I freely admit that I fail often at this, then God is responsible for the harvest and will draw all of the “elect” into the fold. This was why I made a call for us to be careful in how we exalt ourselves as it relates to the work of salvation.
You ask many questions, much of which I suppose to be rhetorical in nature so I will not answer them.
Grace and Peace to you Brother Gerald…
ABClay
May 29th, 2008 at 10:44 am
No Sir I am not angry. May the Lord Jesus Christ Bless you and your Today!
June 6th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
[...] The third interview that SBC Today conducted with one who has announced that he will be allowed himself to be nominated the presidency of the SBC was with Pastor Johnny Hunt. (The interview can be heard HERE.) [...]
June 15th, 2008 at 12:42 pm
This is great an wonderful news that a man of God who truly cares about how many souls he can bring with him to heaven as been chosen to lead the Southern Baptist denomination. Thank God that pastor Johnny Hunt accepted this challenge and I’m sure that the Holy Spririt Himself had a great deal to say about this decision.
We live in very difficult and trying times and someone who lives. talks and preaches the all inclusive love of God “Agape’ stand at the head of a Christian church that waivers not.
J.C.Viger