About

I’m married to my wife Ashley and we have three wonderful children. Without question the most fun I have is hanging out with them.

Currently I serve as the Vice President for Student Services and Professor of Preaching at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. But I was raised in Oklahoma! I’ve had the privilege of serving Southwestern  since 2004 in various capacities including Associate Dean for the Professional Doctoral Programs and as Dean of the College.

I love serving at SWBTS, but it’s because I love the churches that Southwestern serves. Before SWBTS I had the joy of pastoring Salem Baptist Church in Richmond, VA, for eight years. I graduated with a B.S. in Communications from Liberty University, an M.Div from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and a Ph.D in Communication from Regent University.

The great thing about the seminary is it allows me to teach and invest in the rising generation of pastors and other church leaders. I’ve enjoyed teaching courses such as Evangelism, Virtues of Godly Character, and the Enlightenment, but my main teaching and research interests lie in the theology of preaching, the history of preaching, and especially expository or text-driven preaching.

My books include Dying to PreachEmbracing the Cross in the Pulpit, which is a short theology of preaching, as well as Recapturing the Voice of God: Sermons Shaped like Scripture where, working from the conviction that sermons should be text-driven, I give practical help for pastors who desire to shape their sermons like Scripture. Right now I’m working on basic handbook on text-driven preaching as well as two expositional commentaries: one on Hebrews and another on Jeremiah/Lamentations. I hope you’ll benefit from these as well as other resources such as various articles and chapters.

I’m passionate about missions and especially being able to teach and train in a foreign context. My wife and I’ve travelled to over 20 countries and are active in mission work around the world.

Thanks for visiting my website. I hope you find the resources here to be helpful. I’d love to stay in contact. Feel free to drop me a note or connect via Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

For more information see Dr. Smith’s curriculum vitae.