We miss these great men of God. But if the Lord should tarry, he will raise up many more like them. Our job is to remain faithful, just as they were.

Most Christians have just learned about the sudden passing of Voddie Baucham in America. I had seen him speak in Melbourne not all that long ago. He was only 56. There will be many moving tributes for this great Christian, so I will leave others to do this.

But I am reminded of how the death of God’s leaders often paves the way for new ones to come on the scene. We are certainly seeing that with the murder of Charlie Kirk. And Scripture provides various examples of this. Simply think of how the prophet Elisha followed on from Elijah, asking for a double portion of his anointing.

And the rag-tag team of dis-spirited and often feckless disciples became the mighty driving force of the early church after Jesus died and rose again. The biblical principle of John 12:24 so often applies here: “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.”

Here I will just highlight a few things about Baucham and some others who have recently passed. Let me mention just five of them who have gone to be with their Saviour in the past six months, and share a few quotes from each. But Baucham will get the bulk of my attention.

Voddie Baucham—September 25, 2025, age 56

“The gospel is the glorious, Christ-centered, cross-centered, grace-centered news of what God has done in Jesus Christ (the last Adam) to redeem man from the fall of his federal head (the first Adam) and to give man an eschatological hope that all things will eventually be redeemed in Christ.”

“I do not mean that we must accept the world’s faulty, emasculated, unbiblical version of love—the version that sees any disagreement or confrontation as inherently unloving. No, we must love each other with a tenacious, biblical, Christlike love.”

“True repentance is the result of an accurate understanding of the significance and gravity of sin, coupled with an overwhelming desire for the remission of that sin through the person and work of Christ and turning from sin and dead works to faith and obedience.”

“I am happy to save every single child I can. I am not a social justice warrior, but I believe God meant it when He said, ‘Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause’ (Isaiah 1:17). But I don’t believe He called me to use the government as a proxy. God calls His people to be His hands and feet in this regard. Believing this transformed my life and that of my family to the tune of adopting seven newborns in nine years as an expression of our pro-life commitment.”

“We are seeing a complete cultural shift in our perception of marriage as the preferred state. In fact, I believe this trend is foreshadowing something far more serious—a wholesale rejection of marriage as an institution.”

“The church does not meet as often as the home. Thus, if Christ is to be worshipped daily, it is incumbent upon the home to play an important spiritual role. Consequently, fathers, as heads of households, are thrust into a pastoral role.”

“The gospel is about much more than how we get saved and go to heaven. The gospel is about the work of Christ saturating every aspect of our lives.”

“Suffering is common for all. However, persecution (which is a form of suffering) can be avoided. All you have to do is compromise.”

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