MILL VALLEY, Calif. (BP)–God has called Southern Baptists to be “the salt of the earth” and to “penetrate the decadence and depravity of our time,” SBC President Jack Graham said in a chapel address at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary.
“Max out for God in your witness for Christ,” Graham urged the seminarians. “God has called us to missions and evangelism.
“Christ said that you are the salt [of the world]. What we need is the salty effect of Christ living in us. Compromise will make us worthless,” said Graham, pastor of the Dallas-area Prestonwood Baptist Church.
“Southern Baptists are critiqued for presenting an exclusivistic claim that salvation is only through Christ,” Graham commented. “It’s true that the gospel is exclusive. But it includes all people who will receive the grace and forgiveness offered through Christ.”
Graham’s March 13 chapel message was part of a two-day visit to Golden Gate’s Mill Valley, Calif., campus, accompanied by O.S. Hawkins, president of the SBC Annuity Board based in Dallas.
The two spoke in various classes and also met with the faculty and administration.
“We were delighted to host these two effective leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention,” Golden Gate President William O. Crews said. “Their vision for shaping leaders for the churches of tomorrow certainly reflects our passion and vision as well.”
Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary is located on five campuses throughout the western United States. It is one of six seminaries owned and operated by the Southern Baptist Convention.
–30–
Eagan is a writer for Golden Gate Seminary.
