Dr. Lee Roberson Preaching, Reaching, Teaching...
Preaching in a Presbyterian Churchby Dr. Lee Roberson
On November 24, 1999, Dr. Lee Roberson, a giant of the faith, turned ninety years old. In 1942, Dr. Roberson became pastor of the Highland Park Baptist Church in Chattanooga, Tennessee. During his tenure as pastor, over 60,000 people were baptized (yes, that averages over 1,000 per year!) and Highland Park grew to become one of the largest churches in the world.
Dr. Roberson has blessed the hearts of so many over the years! Founder of Tennessee Temple University and Temple Baptist Seminary, Dr. Roberson has watched over the training of literally thousands of pastors, evangelists, and missionaries. He has preached around the world in great revival meetings and conferences. He "retired" in 1983 and yet continues to preach often, usually several times a month. His voice is still clear and strong and the wonderful power of the Holy Spirit still rests on his preaching.
Dr. Roberson has always had a tender heart for missions. For years, Highland Park Baptist Church has supported over 500 missionaries. Dr. Roberson also helped found the Baptist International Missions, Inc., one of the largest Baptist mission boards in America with missionaries in over 90 countries.
His road has not always been an easy one. In 1955, the Highland Park Baptist Church was a member of the Southern Baptist Convention. The church had about 12,000 members at the time. Dr. R. G. Lee, Dr. W. A. Criswell and others were frequently invited to the pulpit. The church and school were both red hot for Jesus and evangelism. It was then that some local denominational leaders issued a statement attacking Dr. Roberson and the school. Their main charge? That Highland Park's "financial contributions to the Cooperative Program are extremely small compared to their total Mission contributions." (The church gave $3,600 a year to the Cooperative Program - certainly not a small sum at the time). They also harped on the fact that Tennessee Temple Schools "does not cooperate with our Southern Baptist program." This despite the fact that the church supported 124 full time missionaries, and every teacher in the school belonged to a Southern Baptist Church!
[Note: Similar charges were made against Charles Stanley when he ran for SBC President in 1985. "Jerry Vines ... nominated Stanley ... saying the Georgian's church had given $600,000 to various mission causes during the past year.... Vines did not mention the low percentage going to the Cooperative Program." (Source: James C. Hefley, The Truth In Crisis, p.104 1986). But 30 years and some conservative organizing made all the difference. Stanley was elected on the first ballot with 52.18% of the vote. The truth is, by the time of Stanley's election many conservatives in the SBC supported non-Cooperative program schools and missionaries. An example is Dr. W. A. Criswell's school in Dallas. What a difference 30 years makes!]
Of course, back then, having your own schools, supporting your own missionaries, well, that was the unpardonable sin for some denominational overlords. And so Highland Park was shortly booted out of the local association.
Dr. Roberson's response? "We are busy winning souls. We don't have time to fight the brethren." (Source: The Sword of the Lord, March 11, 1955). And that is an indication of the measure of this man. Never return evil for evil.
Of course, Dr. Roberson remained friends with many in the Convention, and continued to invite Drs. Lee, Criswell, and others in to preach. The work continued, nay, flourished, unhindered by denominational politics and worries. He helped found the Southwide Baptist Fellowship in 1956, a loose association of independent Baptist churches (many of which had also been kicked out of their SBC associations). The Fellowship still meets annually and during their meetings you can hear some of the best preaching this side of glory.
BaptistFire, therefore, salutes this great warrior, this man of principle, this wonderful preacher and soul winner. Dr. Roberson is most often quoted as saying, "Everything rises and falls on leadership!" So we thank you, Dr. Roberson, for your great leadership to Christians and Baptists around the world!
BONUS LINKS
The Lee Roberson Home Page - pics, bios, RealAudio clips. A wonderful resource worthy of your time.
New! Check out this great biography of Dr. Roberson in the Baptist Bible Tribune.
Chattanooga Free Press: Dr. Lee Roberson at 90
Tennessee Temple University home page.
The history of Temple Baptist Seminary
A history of Dr. Roberson's founding of Tennessee Temple University.
SERMONS BY DR. ROBERSON
Stir Up The Gift of God - A must read for every preacher. "If we don’t stir up people, move people, we have failed. If you can preach Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night, and no one is stirred to go out and do what God says, you haven’t done much."
The Need of This Hour - Another one that should be read by every preacher.
Fireworks Don't Last
10 sermons on faith.
One Way Home
What Held Jesus To The Cross? - a wonderful, soul-winning sermon.
Does Jesus Live At Your House?
Keep On Rejoicing
posted by bk @ 2:35 PM
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