Johnny L. Sanders

A Native of Sledge, Mississippi, Johnny Sanders is married to the former Rebecca Turner, also of Sledge. He grew up seven miles west of Sledge, attending the Green River Baptist Mission where he was saved, called to serve the Lord at age 13, licensed at age 17, and ordained at age 19. He received the BA in Bible and Sociology from Mississippi College (1959), the M. Div. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (1963), and the D.Min. from Luther Rice Seminary (1978).

During his forty years of ministry as a pastor in north east Louisiana, Johnny has served as vice-moderator and moderator in two associations and he has served as a member of the Executive Board of the Louisiana Baptist Convention from two different associations. He has served as Chairman of the Cooperative Program Sub-committee of the Executive Board. He also served both as vice-chairman and chairman of the Louisiana Baptist Children And Family Ministry during two terms on the Board of Trustees.

Johnny has served was chairman of the Nominating Committee of Lifeway Christian Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, as well as vice-chairman and chairman of the Broadman and Holman Committee. His first vote on the B & H Committee was for the translation and publication of the Holman Christian Standard Bible. He is also certified to lead conferences for the Interfaith Witness Department of the SBC.

His support for missions was recognized in an article in "The Baptist Program," and he was featured on the back of a Sunday Bulletin used by Southern Baptists. The church he served at that time was giving 30.5 percent of undesignated receipts to the Cooperative Program for missions. He also led churches to co-sponsor three missions in South Louisiana.

For more than thirty years, Johnny has been writing and teaching various books of the Bible in churches and seminary extension classes. In preparation for those studies he began writing verse by verse commentaries under the general title, THE BIBLE NOTEBOOK, which today includes forty-two volumes. THE BIBLE NOTEBOOK is prepared to fit in the gap between the critical commentary and the devotional commentary. One volume, UNDEFEATED: Finding Peace in a World Full of Trouble, a verse by verse commentary on the Book of Philippians is now in second printing. THE SERMON NOTEBOOK grew out of the work on THE BIBLE NOTEBOOK.

Johnny has served as monitor for Luther Rice Seminary and is currently a member of the faculty of the Cambridge Graduate School and the Emmanuel College for Christian Studies. These are both accredited distance learning institutions.

Special Honors include: Recognition for Life Time Service by Louisiana Governor Mike Foster, and recognition for forty years service by Louisiana Baptist Convention.

THE SERMON NOTEBOOK is sent to pastors, not as a finished product, but as a sermon starter for interested pastors who may read them and then improve on them. Pastors may be encouraged to invest the time and energy necessary to develop their own Sermon Notebook. Johnny also encourages pastors to make a point of preserving the results of their study and research for future use.