Rick Burgess is passionate about entertaining people on the radio. But he’s even more passionate about Jesus Christ. The intersection of those two passions has allowed him to reach people with the gospel in more ways than he ever imagined.
Burgess, co-host of the popular radio program “The Rick & Bubba Show,” will be speaking Tuesday evening, Nov. 18, at the Alabama Baptist State Convention annual meeting to be held at First Baptist Church, Montgomery. He will focus on the convention theme of LEADERconnect, which emphasizes connecting with God, with purpose and with others — something he tries to do every day on his show.
Burgess knows that a leader’s effectiveness starts with that connection to God. He said, “For me, until my relationship with God was where He wanted it to be, it made it very difficult for God to use me in any platform He was going to put me in.”
Although Burgess made a profession of faith as a child, he said he accepted Christ as his Savior then did nothing else until he was 31. He credits Rick Cagle, now pastor of Crosspoint Church, Mobile, for challenging him to truly submit to God as outlined in James 4:7–8.
“God showed me how to grow from being a believer in His Son to being a follower of His teachings and it changed me forever,” he said.
Next came the process of connecting with purpose.
Burgess said, “I remember one time thinking, ‘If I’m going to be obedient to Him, how am I ever going to have a successful secular radio show?’ And God convicted me immediately: ‘What kind of faith is that? So you think being obedient to Me can be somehow wrong?’ What God said to me is, ‘All radio belongs to Me, not just Christian radio. You go out and change it.’”
And change it he has. The radio program, based in Birmingham and carried on 56 stations in 18 states, has allowed Burgess and his co-host Bill “Bubba” Bussey to share their faith with people who might not otherwise hear about it. “When you start listening to the program, we want to entertain you then befriend you,” Burgess said. “Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians to win people over, become all things to all people, so when you present the gospel, they’ll be receptive to you.”
That’s where connecting with others really comes into play. “There are people that will hear the gospel from me or from Bubba that really don’t want to hear it from anybody else. They trust us more to tell them how it’s changed our lives than even a pastor, a preacher or an evangelist,” Burgess said. “That’s the unique platform we’ve all been given. There are people that your line of work enables you to reach.”
An active member of Shades Mountain Baptist Church, Vestavia Hills, Burgess doesn’t just talk about his faith on the radio — he lives it out. In January, the Burgess family was struck by tragedy when Rick and wife Sherri’s 2-year-old son, Bronner, drowned in the family swimming pool. Burgess remembers, “God told me immediately, ‘I want people to be perplexed by the way you grieve. I want people to be perplexed by how you and your family carry yourselves so people can see your faith is real.’”
The eulogy Burgess delivered at his son’s memorial service had both a strong evangelistic message and a call to Christians to be more committed. A video placed on YouTube has been viewed by hundreds of thousands of people and, Burgess said, has gone around the world because of the platform God has given him.
Dale Huff, director of the office of LeaderCare and church administration of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, is excited about what Burgess will bring to the annual meeting.
“In planning this event, we were looking for someone who was vocal, upfront and unashamed about sharing Christ in the marketplace and Rick certainly fits that,” Huff said.
Joining Burgess at the Tuesday evening session will be singer/songwriter Kevin Derryberry and the Alabama Singing Men and Alabama Singing Women. Derryberry has performed in concert with a number of contemporary Christian groups and has sung for crusades and events led by Billy Graham, Franklin Graham, Josh McDowell, Jay Strack and others.
The session will begin at 6:45 p.m. For more information about the state convention annual meeting, visit www.alsbom.org.
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