About Rod D. Martin
Praise for Rod D. Martin
Book Rod to Speak
Politics & Economics
Technology & Markets
Faith & Culture
SBC Churches: Own Up, Wake Up, and Rise Up
by Ronnie Floyd
January 27, 2015
The 50,000+ churches and congregations of the Southern Baptist Convention must understand the urgency of this hour in which we live. As far back as I can remember, I know of no time more critical and more urgent than the one we are living in right now.
There is no great movement of God that has ever occurred that does not begin with the extraordinary prayer of God’s people. The time is now for us to come together before God in clear agreement, visible union, and extraordinary prayer for the next Great Awakening and for the world to be reached for Christ.
For the sake of our nation and the spiritually lost around the world, it is time for us to humble ourselves before God. Pastors, church leaders, and members of our churches, the alarm clock is going off in our nation. This is no time to push the snooze button. It is time for us to answer the call.
SBC Churches: Own up!
As the pastor goes, so goes the church. As the churches go, so goes the nation. Therefore, when you look at the spiritual and moral condition of our nation, our churches must own up that this has and is happening on our watch!
We need to resolve between one another and with the Lord that we must own up to this reality. We cannot blame the generation before us. We cannot blame the government. We cannot blame the justice system. We cannot blame the culture.
As the Church, we are responsible for where we are as a nation. We have gone to sleep at the wheel. We have settled for mediocrity. We have acted as though this is the way things are going to be. We have chosen to sit this one out. Now is the time for us to own up to the reality of our condition today.
SBC Churches: Wake up!
While our nation’s present condition is undeniable, much of the Church in America sleeps. Spiritual lukewarmness is plaguing the Church. Complacency and conflict categorize the Church more than contrition and compassion. We place more emphasis on announcements and promotions than we do on prayer.
Now is the time for our churches to wake up! We need to wake up from our slumber, indifference, and laziness. We need pastors to wake up to the fire of God and the anointing of God upon them while they preach God’s Word weekly. We need our members to wake up and stand with their pastor, holding his arms up in prayer continually.
The grim reality is that unforgiveness is the #1 sin in the Church. It builds a wall so thick one cannot break through it, so deep one cannot tunnel under it, and so high that no one can climb over it. While unforgiveness is choking the life of God’s Spirit out of many of our churches, we need to believe again that the power of the gospel is greater than the wall of unforgiveness. While the wall of unforgiveness appears to be impenetrable, Jesus came to tear down every wall, including the wall of unforgiveness.
Pastor, forgive your members. Members, forgive your pastor. Pastor, forgive other pastors. Church members, forgive other church members. Freedom awaits you on the other side. We need to wake up to the oceans of God’s grace. Open your arms to one another and to a world that needs the Lord Jesus Christ. Extend the hope of the gospel.
SBC Churches: Rise up!
Our churches must rise up in these desperate times. We must rise up to the challenges of this hour. We cannot sit this one out. We must get off the sideline and get into the game. The urgency is upon us, so rise up!
Rise up in compassion in your community. Rise up to actions of Christian love and grace toward others. Rise up, giving more than you have ever given to extend the gospel to the nations. Rise up, storming the gates of hell.
SBC Churches: Come to Columbus!
Join us in Columbus, Ohio, on June 16-17, 2015, as thousands of people converge on this city from across America. Our theme is GREAT AWAKENING. This is why we are committing the entire Tuesday evening session of the annual meeting of our Southern Baptist Convention to come together in clear agreement and visible union at one place at one time with God’s people. We will unite in extraordinary prayer for spiritual revival personally, spiritual revival in the church, for the next Great Awakening, and for the world to be reached for Christ.
Therefore, in Jesus’ name, I plead with Southern Baptists to humbly come together before God in clear agreement, visible union, and extraordinary prayer for the next Great Awakening and for the world to be reached for Christ. This is why we need you to come to Columbus this summer!
Rod is one of our nation’s leading minds. He’s smart, original, and very committed—a combination that one rarely finds.
Rod Martin and [former Howard Dean campaign manager] Joe Trippi are America’s two foremost experts on online politics.
Rod Martin is a Reaganite-Thatcherite conservative…[and] a man who has spent much of his life ministering to and working for the benefit of others. I know Rod as an advocate for freedom, a leader who understands the real changes we need in Washington, and who has the drive and ability to make those changes happen.
Rod Martin is the kind of dynamic leader who has the knowledge, ability and experience to lead us successfully into the 21st Century. His vision for America is compelling.
Rod Martin literally wrote the book on excellence. Humble yet brilliant, a man of love and compassion, with penetrating clarity he illuminates the world around us, and we are both stirred and enlightened.
Rod Martin is a born leader and an outstanding political mind. Anyone who takes him on is going to have a serious fight on their hands.
Rod Martin is a man of uncommon vision and character. Ever since I first worked alongside Rod in the early days of PayPal, I’ve been struck by his powerful vision for the future. Rod understands the intersection of technology, politics and culture in a way that few others do.
Rod Martin wears with uncommon grace an uncanny ability to link his vigorous faith to the practical challenges of both the business world and the political arena. Yet the respect he shows for others carries a warmth and modesty that are both too rare among those who are strong advocates of feisty positions.
America badly needs more leaders who really get the future. We need more Rod Martins.
Rod Martin is a modern day philosopher-statesman. He is a capitalist intellectual, a conservative iconoclast, a gentle adversary and a kind prophet. He inspires us towards a fresh national vision built upon the original founding principles.
Rod Martin is not only effective and efficient, but he is also perceptive, wise and gracious. He gets things done. He is a great friend and a great ally.
Rod is one of the sharpest, most gracious men I know, and one of the most gifted political thinkers today. His ability to analyze issues and communicate thoughtful insights on them have earned him the respect of people across the political spectrum.
I am proud to have been Rod Martin’s friend for a quarter century, and I can tell you that he is one of the finest men and most outstanding leaders in our church and in our country today. He has a knack for turning everything he touches to success.
Rod Martin is a cornucopian entrepreneur and eutropic thinker whose influence radiates through an array of companies, institutions, movements and churches. A renaissance American, he is also a prolific friend of freedom and faith around the globe.
If Rod Martin represents the next generation of leaders, America has nothing to worry about.
A leader and a servant, in public life and in private, Rod Martin strides at the top of his profession, and has nowhere to go but up. He is in the truest sense of the word ‘outstanding’.
Rod Martin is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished thought leaders today. He is a wonderful mentor, a humble role model, and a deep inspiration for the next generation of scientific innovators and entrepreneurs.
Rod’s achievements pale beside his character and his brilliance. He sees what others can’t. He leads when others won’t.
Rod Martin is one of America’s finest young minds.
