Pastor and author Daniel Ritchie was born without arms, but that has not stopped the Lord from being able to use him in mighty ways for His glory and the Kingdom of God. Ritchie has been nominated as the first-ever vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention. The pastor and evangelist who most will know from the book My Affliction for His Glory: Living Out Your Identity In Christ and Endure: Building Faith for the Long Run, is set to be nominated for the position in June. The news has been well received by those who are part of the organization.
Matt Capps, who serves as the lead pastor of Fairview Baptist Church in Apex, North Carolina, went on to say, “Ritchie is among the most faithful, consistent, and passionate witnesses for Christ that Southern Baptists have seen raised up in this generation.” He then added, “I am eager to see our convention recognize this gospel servant and unapologetically champion the vital ministries of vocational evangelists like Daniel by electing him to serve as first vice president.”
Ritchie took to his Instagram account to thank Capps for the nomination. He also spoke about his hopes should be elected. He posted, “I hope to shine a light on personal evangelism in the church and the need to raise up a young generation of ministry leaders — with the Great Commission continuing to be the driving force and focus of Southern Baptists.” Ritchie came to faith as a teen and earned a bachelor’s degree in biblical studies from Judson College. He is currently, pursuing a a Master of Divinity degree from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. The evangelist has worked for the last 20 years as a speaker and student pastor. He rose to prominence at the 2022 SBC Pastors’ Conference in Anaheim, California.
He has often addressed his disability. He warned against what he calls a microwave mentality,” which he described as “if something cannot be done in five minutes or less, it is not worth doing.” He went on to say, “The Father does not work at the pace of our man-made culture. He does not count time like we count days. The Father does not conform His work to our broken perspective of time. He is not in a hurry; we are.”
He then finished up by saying, “We must be faithful to take a step back from our busy lives to consider what we have in our loving Father. We need to give ourselves the space to soak in the fact that our Creator and Savior love us dearly. We must carve out pockets in the day to stop and commune with the eternal God beyond the space of our Sundays.”
God can use anyone, regardless of their circumstances. A physical disability or even a mental one is not too big for the King of Kings to overcome and use to help minister to broken people in our culture. Our world is in desperate need of testimonies like Ritchie’s.
Pray for him to remain faithful to God and the calling on his life.
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