What Can We Learn from Voddie Baucham?
Pastors
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12:15 PM on Friday, September 26
By Maddy Rager, Pastors
Voddie Baucham passed away on September 25, 2025, at age 56, following an emergency medical incident. At the time of his passing, he had just begun serving as president of Founders Seminary in Florida, after nearly a decade of ministry work in Zambia.
Voddie Baucham had a deep love for God’s Word and the ability to teach believers how to apply it to every area of life without compromise. Bethany Verret describes Buacham as having an unwavering commitment to the truth, “especially when the world seems to be falling away from God’s will.”
Timothy warns in the New Testament about people who “will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions” (2 Timothy 4:3 ESV). Baucham’s voice will continue to be highly valued and needed in a day when too many are growing comfortable with a watered-down Gospel that “suits their own passions.” Baucham was a pillar of steadfast conviction in God’s Word as he held fast to the ancient teachings of Scripture in an increasingly progressive culture–no matter the cost.
What Defines Voddie Baucham’s Theology?
Known for his views on biblical manhood and womanhood, family, marriage, apologetics, and cultural issues, Baucham taught the importance of thinking and living biblically in all areas of life. A reformed, five-point TULIP Calvinist, Baucham adhered to the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith. He held strongly to a complementarian viewpoint in which he believed men and women were created with separate yet equal and complementary roles.
Baucham believed in and taught Biblical patriarchy. He and his wife were committed home educators, and he shared his concerns about Christian families sending their children to public school. Baucham also emphasized the importance of family in church and discipleship in the home.
In recent years, Baucham spoke out on social justice and critical race theory, describing them as a “looming catastrophe” in evangelicalism. He urged Christians to beware of the “destructive heresies” of the social justice movement, which he argued is a religion in and of itself. Baucham taught the difference between biblical and social justice, which have easily been confused as the same. In his most recent book, Fault Lines, Baucham sought to bring clarity and wisdom for navigating and taking ground in these cultural issues.
Important Events in Voddie Baucham’s Life
Born in Los Angeles on March 11, 1969, to a single teenage mother, Baucham was raised in South Central LA’s gang- and drug-infested projects. He earned an NCAA scholarship to Rice University, where he played tight end in hopes of pursuing a career in the NFL.
However, during his freshman year of college, Baucham heard the gospel for the first time through a Campus Crusade for Christ (now Cru) leader and gave his life to the Lord in 1987. Six months later, his then-Buddhist mother also came to faith in Jesus.
Upon becoming a Christian, Baucham transferred to Houston Baptist University, where he received his BA in Christianity and Sociology. He went on to obtain his Master's of Divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and his Doctorate of Ministry in Evangelism/Apologetics from Southeastern Biblical Theological Seminary. He also completed post-graduate studies in Comparative Theology at Regent’s Park College of the University of Oxford, England.
In 1989, at the age of twenty, Baucham married his wife, Bridget. Together they have nine children and three grandchildren. He founded Voddie Baucham Ministries in 1993. Over the years, Baucham served as a pastor on staff at several churches and also taught as an adjunct professor at the College of Biblical Studies in Houston for eight years. He co-founded Grace Family Baptist Church in Spring, TX, and served as Pastor of Preaching until moving to Lusaka, Zambia, in 2015. Baucham then resided in Zambia, where he served as the Dean of the School of Divinity at African Christian University.
Baucham’s first book, The Ever-Loving Truth, was published in 2004. Since then, he has authored many other publications and appeared in several documentaries. He is an accomplished martial artist and discovered a natural ability and passion for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu when he began in 2012. He has since won numerous tournaments and titles, including winning in his Pan American Championship division in 2014.
10 Voddie Baucham Quotes on Faith
“When John says, ‘Do not love the world,’ he says your love becomes sinful when it is directed at that system that is anti-God, anti-kingdom—that system that is satanic.” — “Do Not Love the World”
“In its simplest form, expository apologetics is about three things. First, it is about being biblical. We answer objections through the power of the Word. Second, it is about being easy to remember. If we can’t remember this simplicity, we won’t use it in our everyday encounters. Third, it is about being conversational. We must be able to share truth in a way that is natural, reasonable, and winsome.” — Expository Apologetics
“We must reject the lie that says there is no love that is out of bounds, because ultimately [that lie] says there is no truth in God. I am a father nine times over, and what that means is I am very well acquainted with the fact that love is not defined by allowing those whom you love to have what they want when they want it just cause they want it. Some of the most loving moments between me and my children have been moments when I have said, authoritatively and unequivocally, ‘No.’” — “Do Not Love the World”
“People know there is truth. Much has been written about post-modernism and its denial of absolute truth. However, even the most hardened truth-denier believes you should take him at his word . . . the point is clear: all people believe in truth. They prove this every time they make a statement that they expect others to understand” — “Don’t Believe Anyone Who Calls Himself An Atheist”
“I have pursued justice my entire life. Yet I am about as ‘anti-social justice’ as they come–not because I have abandoned my obligation to ‘strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord’ (Hebrews 12:14), but because I believe the current concept of social justice is incompatible with biblical Christianity . . . There are plenty of sincere, although perhaps naive Christians who, if they knew the ideology behind it, would run away from the term “social justice” like rats from a burning ship” — Fault Lines
“I believe we are looking for answers in the wrong places. Our children are not falling away because the church is doing a poor job—although that is undoubtedly a factor. Our children are falling away because we are asking the church to do what God designed the family to accomplish. Discipleship and multi-generational faithfulness begins and ends at home.” — Family Driven Faith
“It has been said that as goes the family, so goes the world. It can also be said that as goes the father, so goes the family” — Family Shepherds
“You and I cannot comprehend God’s works, or his ways. ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts’ (Isa. 55:8-9). How, then, can we expect him to fulfill his promises through predictable means? If our time in Genesis teaches us anything, it is that God’s providence is unpredictable” — Joseph and Gospel of Many Colors
“The greatest source of security our children have in this world is a God-honoring, Christ-centered marriage between their parents” — Family Shepherds
“When you’re staring at death, that’s not the moment to get your hope squared away. The time to get your hope squared away is now, because when those moments come, we don’t have time to develop a theology of Heaven. What we do is react and respond out of the deep convictions that have already been established. And may God by his grace establish us in these convictions–that there will be a new Heaven and a new Earth and a new Jerusalem . . . and that we will inhabit that place with God . . . and that we will be completely and perfectly healed, in every way. And that perfect justice will indeed come. That’s the believer’s hope of heaven” — “Hope of Heaven”
Inspiring Books by Voddie Baucham
Fault Lines (Salem Books, 2021). Fault Lines exposes the danger of woke theology and the need for the Church to reject the Critical Race Theory and Social Justice movements of our day.
Coming Home (Crossway 2017). A compilation of expository messages from 8 leading Bible teachers, including Baucham, Coming Home is meant to inform and excite the reader on the return of Christ and the eternal hope found in Him.
Expository Apologetics (Crossway, 2015). Designed to equip believers to defend their faith in everyday conversations, Expository Apologetics provides practical and real-life examples rooted in Scripture as tools for thinking and communicating persuasively with unbelievers.
Joseph and Gospel of Many Colors (Crossway 2013). As described in the tagline, “Reading An Old Story A New Way,” this engaging and thoughtful book unpacks the redemption found within the story of Joseph and ultimately points readers to Jesus.
Family Shepherds (Crossway, 2011). This book calls and equips husbands and fathers to remain accountable to their God-given role of leading their households and families.
What He Must Be (Crossway, 2009). Baucham teaches biblical manhood and the 10 qualities every parent should look for in the man who asks to marry their daughter.
Supremacy of Christ in a Post-Modern World (Crossway, 2008). Baucham and five other pastors and theologians contribute to this book, each offering a practical and biblical vision of Christ’s supremacy as a means of engaging society with the truth.
Family Driven Faith (Crossway, 2007). Baucham gives parents the tools, wisdom, and encouragement to raise godly children in a post-Christian, anti-family society.
The Ever-Loving Truth (Broadman & Holman, 2004). This book calls for Christians to stand for and apply the unchanging truth of God’s Word to our twenty-first-century culture, no matter the cost.
Movies Featuring Voddie Baucham
The Essential Church (2023). A brand-new documentary that explores the difficulties between church and government and tells the story of three pastors who took a stand during COVID restrictions, even at the risk of imprisonment.
Uncle Tom II: An American Odyssey (2022). A sequel to the 2020 documentary Uncle Tom, this documentary provides a deeper look at African-American conservatives and argues that various leftwing thinkers have generated false racial tensions to obtain power.
The Church: Pillar and Ground of the Truth (2020). A documentary featuring Baucham and other church leaders discussing the biblical nature of the church and its intended function.
American Gospel: Christ Crucified (2019). Baucham appears in this documentary in a debate among conservative and progressive theologians on difficult gospel matters, including the meaning of the cross.
Babies Are Still Murdered Here (2019). A documentary uncovering the deep underpinnings of major national lobbyist groups, providing context to understand the pro-life movement.
Genesis – Paradise Lost (2017). Baucham narrates this documentary, which uses stunning visual effects and the latest scientific research, to give a fresh perspective to a story that has received great scrutiny: the story of “In the Beginning.”
George Washington Carver: An Uncommon Way (2010). Buacham narrates this inspiring documentary about George Washington Carver, who went from slavery to become a prominent scientist.
Photo Credit: ©Facebook/Voddie Baucham Ministries/9-26/25
Maddy Rager is a copywriter who recently launched her own freelance business. She has always had a passion for writing and conveying the truths of God's word to compel others to know Him more deeply. She also loves to write music and released a personal EP in 2020. Maddy and her husband live in Franklin, TN and are actively involved in their church and community where they lead worship together in various contexts. You can learn more about her work at www.ragercreative.com.
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