New IMB President

Earlier this week, the trustees of the International Mission Board elected David Platt to serve as president. Platt is the pastor of The Church at Brook Hills (Birmingham, AL) and author of Radical, Radical Together, and Follow Me. He is also known for Secret Church.

I am encouraged by the choice for several reasons:

David Platt is a man unequivocally passionate about seeing God glorified among all peoples. He loves his Lord, the gospel, and the local church. He has a humble heart that is consumed with the Great Commission. He has already been a catalyst for the unreached people groups of the world who have no access to the gospel and  has ignited a renewed interest and passion for biblical missions in the SBC.

One of the trustees said this:

I am happy to share that the Trustees of the International Mission Board just elected Dr. David Platt as our 12th President. We did this for one very stark, simple reason: this man is anointed by God and has a passion for missions like no one else. He is a gifted leader and a brilliant strategist, but the purity and humility of his heart sets him apart as unique. . . I have never met anyone on whom the anointing of God rests as powerfully and comfortably as David Platt.

Here is the sermon on missions that he preached two years ago at the Together For the Gospel conference:

Let's pray for David Platt and his family as he transitions into this position. Pray that God would grant him the wisdom to lead IMB missionaries well and to mobilize SBC churches to be obedient to and directly involved in the Great Commission resulting in many unreached people groups becoming reached as the gospel goes forth to the ends of the earth by the power of the Holy Spirit.