The Backwoods Baptist

After a brief ministry update Pastor Harold shares some of the challenges he encounters distributing free Christian literature at the Backwoods Book Co.

Churches have to have a good offense and a good defense to be a healthy church. We lose our effectiveness when we specialize in preventing the world to enter our church at the expense of getting the gospel out of our church. Other church may excel at outreach but fail in doctrinal purity. Simply put, the church has to play both side of the ball.

The Christian should be actively seeking to make friends and love his neighbors. We need to know the distinction between being friends with the world and having friends in the world. Having lost friends is the first step to leading them to faith in Christ.

Pastor Russell Threet joins the podcast to discuss an old practice that is making a resurgence. The once common practice of churches sharing a pastor is coming back into practice during this time pastor shortages. Russell and Harold discuss a couple churches that have begun this process before giving the biblical and historical precedence for this practice.

Pastor Harold begins by sharing some scriptural examples of places of private prayer before examining the prayer practices of some faithful Christians of the past. Lastly Harold shares some of his own experiences from his journey in a place of private prayer.

With most major denominations in decline and many churches either stagnate or declining is there an explanation for our declining salvations? In this episode pastor Harold Smith gives the top five reasons for our lack of salvations and offers three keys to turning this trend around.

In this episode Pastor Harold discusses the lack of pastors and the increase in pastorless churches.

Our lives have seasons as do our ministries. When we live and minister in harmony with the seasons of life and ministry we maximize our harvest.

The greatest threat to the gospel is a half-gospel that cannot save. This threat is especially serious because it is being quietly promoted by a small but growing number of Baptists — a group that historically has not held this view. The missing element in their gospel is repentance. Except ye repent, ye shall likewise perish.

In a day where everything happens fast and instant is expected, should we still wait on God's timing? Is there ever a wrong time to do or say the right thing? Let us look to the Bible to answer these questions.

Properly functioning committees are essential to the health of every church. Bro Harold lays out several biblical examples and offers some practical tips for effective church committees.

In this episode Bro Harold shares some recent experiences from a revival meeting and some common interactions from the bookstore. As Christians we have a unique bond by the Holy Spirit that the world can not know of much less experience. The same tie that binds us to Christ also binds us to each other.

Bro Jeremy serves as the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Houston, AR

In this episode pastor Harold gives five benefits of having an interim pastor before your church seeks her next pastor. He also covers traits to look for in a successful interim pastorate.

This is the first episode in a series titled History To Help where we seek to learn lesson for today from days gone by. The First Baptist Church of Little Rock has a long and rich history, join us as we seek to learn from their journey of faith.

How do we build friendships outside our own little circle of friends? Pastor Harold discusses how to maintain close friendships across our ministerial divisions. He also outlines and illustrates isolating traits that kill friendships.

In this episode I tell of the times I was close to God and how I slowly lost that closeness. I also share my current morning routine that brings me closer to God each day.

In this episode I discuss the key components to powerful preaching. I also discuss some of the strengths and weaknesses of topical and expositional preaching and offer some tips to strengthen both approaches. Join us as we seek to be better preachers.

In this episode I recap 2025 and layout my hopes and plans for 2026.

Derrick currently serves as pastor of Denver St Missionary Baptist in Greenwood, AR but plans to serve as a missionary to France in 2026.

Pastor Russell Threet joins me to discuss the growing problem of laziness in ministry. We both agree that pastors need regular rest but we also see a lack of exertion in ministry. Join us as we give a more biblical approach to this problem.

This Christmas give your friends and neighbors a Christian devotional to read in the new year.

More and more pulpits are being filled by dry intellectuals delivering book reports while the times are calling for prophets filled with the fire of God. Our pastors are online bickering over secondary doctrines while the lost hit Hell in ignorance.

In this episode I discuss the trend of closing small Baptist churches.

Brandon White serves as the pastor of Landmark Missionary Baptist Church in Granite Bay, CA.