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BP stories: David Platt in the news


RICHMOND, Va. (BP) — David Platt, newly elected president of the International Mission Board, is no stranger to being in the headlines.

In a search on Baptist Press, Platt’s name can be found in numerous entries. Through the years, the pastor of The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Ala., has drawn media attention for his involvement with international missions, speaking on numerous panels and at various national events that include the Southern Baptist Convention Pastors’ Conference and giving the SBC annual meeting sermon in 2011. He also is known for being a strong advocate for adoption, and writing the New York Times bestseller “Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream.”

Following are headlines, dates, brief descriptions and links to a few of the Baptist Press stories that included coverage of Platt.

Platt, Greear preach & learn in Indonesia

Nov. 2, 1010 — Platt was one of about 10 pastors and mission leaders from across the United States who traveled to Indonesia in 2010 to preach in churches, seminaries and Baptist conventions. The pastors delivered messages about the cost of witnessing and the worth of Jesus Christ. In the article, Platt said seeing unreached peoples put their trust in Christ will come at great cost. “But in the end, it will be totally worth it.

“… When you make disciples, churches start happening and churches start growing and churches start multiplying. What happens when every follower starts doing that? Then we realize, ‘Wow, together we are a part of a global purpose that has the potential to spread the Gospel to every people group and to every nation.'” http://www.bpnews.net/33992/platt-greear-preach–learn-in-indonesia

50K participate in 6-hour ‘Secret Church’

April 28, 2011 — Platt led a six-hour simulcast called “Secret Church” that involved biblical teaching and prayer for the persecuted church. This was among similar simulcasts that Platt has led. More than 50,000 people across the world participated in the April 22, 2011, simulcast. Secret Church was born from Platt’s experiences teaching in underground house churches throughout Asia. “People are hungry for the Word,” Platt said in the article. “There’s really nothing special or creative about [Secret Church]. It’s just the study of the Word and then prayer for our persecuted brothers and sisters. The Word itself does the work. One of our goals in Secret Church from the beginning has been to study not just for our own sake, but for the sake of the nations.” http://www.bpnews.net/35160/50k-participate-in-6hour-secret-church

Platt: ‘Millions upon millions’ need Jesus

June 16, 2011 — Pastors are responsible to lead their churches to engage the world’s unreached people groups with the Gospel, Platt said in the Southern Baptist Convention annual sermon June 15, 2011. Platt pointed to northern Yemen, which has a population of about 8 million people but only about 20-30 Christians. Worldwide, he said, there are “masses of people groups — millions upon millions upon millions of people who do not have access to the Gospel,” Platt said. Preaching from Matthew 24:14, Platt said Christians are often confused about their message, their mission and their motive. Christians’ message, Platt said, is that God is King and that He rules over all. “Our God is sovereign over all nature,” Platt said. “The wind blows at His bidding. The sun radiates with heat from His hands. Every single night, our God brings out the stars one by one and He calls them each by name.” URL=http://www.bpnews.net/35549/platt-millions-upon-millions-need-jesus]http://www.bpnews.net/35549/platt-millions-upon-millions-need-jesus[/URL]

Panel: Adoption part of the Great Commission

July 9, 2012 — David Platt said adoption and orphan care are necessary activities for Christians who are serious about the Great Commission. Platt was one of the panelists at the Adoption and Orphan Care Panel discussion during the SBC annual meeting in New Orleans. “As we’re making disciples of all nations, we’re going to come across fatherless children,” Platt said. “Be prepared as we’re making disciples of all nations that two-thirds of children in the world don’t have a father. I’m often a bit surprised that orphan care is sometimes not on our radar.” http://www.bpnews.net/printerfriendly.asp?id=38228

Platt explains position on ‘sinner’s prayer’

Sept. 25, 2012 — In a two-part series on the “sinner’s prayer” delivered at his church, Platt explained his concerns over the prayer’s “abuse.” Platt’s sermon came in response to a Southern Baptist Convention resolution that apparently was triggered by a sermon Platt had delivered earlier that year. Platt’s message was viewed by some as being critical of all uses of the sinner’s prayer. Soon, discussion about the sinner’s prayer on blogs and within social medial morphed into a debate over Calvinism. “The use of a ‘sinner’s prayer’ can potentially come across as unhealthily formulaic,” Platt has said, adding that the prayer can be a useful tool for leading people to Christ if handled correctly. “… I talk with people all the time who are looking for a ‘box to check off’ in order to be right with God and safe for eternity. But there is no box. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.” The SBC resolution affirming the sinner’s prayer passed overwhelmingly during the 2012 annual meeting. Platt later said he voted for the resolution. http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?id=38783

Platt’s Mideast simulcast grapples with ‘why’

Aug. 23, 2013 — Believers are “reached for a reason,” Platt said in an international simulcast August 2013. In an undisclosed location in the Middle East, Platt emphasized an urgency to make disciples of the unreached. Platt said he couldn’t explain why he was born in the shadow of dozens of churches when people on the other side of the world live and die without ever hearing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. “I can’t answer the question why,” he told a crowd of 400 believers of more than 50 nationalities. “But I do know this: I’ve been reached for a reason” — to complete Matthew 4:19. In the verse Jesus says, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Platt’s Aug. 14 message focused on “Follow Me,” his follow-up book to the bestselling “Radical.” http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=40959

Platt: In ‘sex-crazed culture,’ Bible makes ‘no exceptions’

July 10, 2013 — Be careful about shaking your head at same-sex marriage, warned Platt as he preached at his church on the cross and sexuality in a two-part sermon drawn from 1 Corinthians 6. Every individual is bent toward sexual sin, he said. Platt’s sermon came at the end of the week when the Supreme Court’s two rulings June 26, 2013, supported same-sex marriage. “If we roll our eyes and shake our heads when we see the Supreme Court ruling on this case, yet we turn the channels on our TVs to watch the trivialization of sex on shows and advertisements, to surf the Internet to find images in order to satisfy our lusts, to go to movies that glamorize sex … and entertain sexual thoughts and desires outside of our own marriage, then we have missed the entire point,” Platt said. http://www.bpnews.net/40698/platt-in-sexcrazed-culture-bible-makes-no-exceptions

Desire God first, Platt says at NOBTS

May 22, 2014 — Personal holiness is among a minister’s greatest needs, Platt said during a seminar on the “spiritual life of the minister” at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. “I know myself really well, and I know I’m not certainly always a model of strength in this issue…,” Platt said. “So I’m just sharing this as one fellow struggler in the battle alongside you.” Platt, a graduate of New Orleans Seminary, presented six characteristics of spiritually healthy ministry leaders, gleaned from the story of Elijah in 1 and 2 Kings. http://www.bpnews.net/42627/desire-god-first-platt-says-at-nobts
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Compiled by Shawn Hendricks, managing editor of Baptist Press, the Southern Baptist Convention’s news service. BP reports on missions, ministry and witness advanced through the Cooperative Program and on news related to Southern Baptists’ concerns nationally and globally. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress ) and in your email ( baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp).

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