By Ralphine Major

“Take time to pray; study and meditate; crave the things of God.” This is one of the key concepts in Dr. Mike Boyd’s book, “Principles of Preaching, A Guidebook on Biblical Communication.” While intended to “assist teachers and preachers in understanding and confirming God’s calls on their lives,” it is easy for others to navigate through the pages and be inspired. Key ideas, such as: “only God’s Spirit can lead people,” “the Holy Spirit does the work,” and “the key to Biblical preaching is listening” are spread throughout the book. After hearing many of Dr. Boyd’s personal stories in his sermons, he may seem an unlikely person to author such a God-inspired book.

When I read that “even the best leaders have human elements,” my first thought was about the personal stories Boyd has shared from the pulpit. As a ten-year-old child, he heard a grandmother on her deathbed tell him that she could see Jesus. His other grandmother believed in him when others did not and helped financially with his education. Now, this leader is paying it forward to help those who may not have had the opportunities he did.

Boyd has served in many leadership roles, including past President of the Tennessee Baptist Convention, Tennessee Baptist Convention Executive Board, Vice Chairman of the Trustees at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Carson-Newman University. He has been involved in mission work with Tennessee Baptist Convention Disaster Relief, International Missions, and North American Missions. Dr. Boyd has been accepted to do a PhD in World Christian Studies on Dr. Bill Wallace, the medical missionary beaten to death in a China prison and for whom Wallace Memorial is named. He oversees Mike Boyd Ministries, a non-profit corporation designed to facilitate missions and ministry in the future. He wrote “Principles of Preaching” even as he dealt with malaria, a disease he contracted while leading a team of Wallace Memorial ministers on a mission trip to Haiti to build homes.

(To be continued.)