Today on Point of View we hear from history professor at Baylor University, Thomas S. Kidd. He discusses his book, George Whitefield: America’s Spiritual Founding Father. This biography explores the extraordinary career of the most influential figure in the first generation of Anglo-American evangelical Christianity, examining his sometimes troubling stands on the pressing issues of the day.
Our second hour, in-studio guest is Dr. Albert Reyes president and CEO of Buckner International, a global Christian ministry founded in 1879 in Dallas, Texas focused on serving vulnerable children, orphans, seniors, and their families. He will tell us more about his book, The Jesus Agenda: Becoming an Agent of Redemption.
Based on the author’s comprehensive studies of Whitefield’s original sermons, journals, and letters, this excellent history chronicles the phenomenal rise of the trailblazer of the Great Awakening. Whitefield’s leadership role among the new evangelicals of the eighteenth century and his many religious disputes are meticulously covered, as are his major legacies and the permanent marks he left on evangelical Christian faith. It is arguably the most balanced biography to date of a controversial religious leader who, though relatively unknown three hundred years after his birth, was a true giant in his day and remains an important figure in America’s history.
He began his ministry as a pastor serving economically- challenged areas in Dallas, TX. Years later, he served as President of BUA (Baptist University of the Americas) in San Antonio, TX, where he expanded the educational opportunities for Hispanic students who would otherwise have struggled to complete their training.
His travels have taken him across the USA and to over 17 countries, primarily in the global south, where he has engaged heads of state, senior-level government leaders, faith community leaders, leaders of non-government organizations, volunteers, donors, and marketplace leaders to shine hope into the lives of children and families in some of the poorest communities on the planet.
Reyes earned a bachelor of business administration degree in management from Angelo State University, a master’s of divinity degree and doctor of ministry degree in missiology from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and a doctor of philosophy degree in global leadership from Andrews University. He has been a guest lecturer on leadership, leading social change, and organizational transformation at universities in the USA and abroad including Harvard University, Dallas Baptist University, Hardin Simmons University, Angelo State University, and the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru in Lima. He and his wife, Dr. Belinda A. Reyes, live in Dallas and they have three adult sons.
A: The Jesus Agenda is the vision for Christ’s ministry on earth as He outlined it in His first sermon recorded in the Gospel of Luke. Simply put, Jesus came to redeem the lost—not just for eternity in Heaven but from lives of darkness here on earth. This is the Jesus agenda - preaching good news to the poor, proclaiming freedom for the prisoners, recovering sight for the blind, releasing the oppressed, and proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor. I believe every redeemed person—that is, every Christian—is called to become an agent of redemption. The Jesus agenda is not for the few. It is the responsibility and privilege of every believer.