"I have heard of ministers who can preach a sermon without mentioning the name of Jesus from beginning to end. If you ever hear such a sermon as that, mind that you never hear another from that man ... Paul's harp only had one string, but he brought so much music out if is as never came from any other. He found such infinite variety in Christ that he never exhausted his theme. With him it was Christ first, Christ last, Christ midst, Christ everywhere. He could never have his pen in his hand without writing something in praise of his glorious Lord and Savior." - Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Satan is on the warpath. He is constantly trying to distract the world from the way, the truth, and the life! (John 14:6)
There are more than 30,000 people within 10 miles of the church I pastor. If current statistics hold true then about 11,000 of them do not know the Lord. I suspect that number could even go as high as 15,000!
Jesus said, "If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all peoples to myself." (John 12:32) Specifically, Jesus is talking about the Cross -- but, if we also lift HIM up in our churches, HE will do the same. He will draw people to HIMSELF! Preach Jesus! Amen!
I am going to preach Jesus -- it's time those thousands of people come to the way, the truth and the LIFE!!!!
Friday, April 18, 2008
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Preaching the Word!
Wednesday evenings are really great in our church. We start the evening at 5:00 p.m. for supper at the church. After dinner we head into the sanctuary for a time of prayer and Bible study. Currently, I am teaching from Ephesians 6: Spiritual Warfare. Specifically, I am teaching about the Armor of God. Each week we look at a specific piece of the armor. Paul says that we should wear the armor so that when all is said and done -- we will be standing. We have this great treasure called the ARMOR OF GOD!
During the study I called for our folks to take their Bibles and turn to 2 Timothy 4:2. Paul is Timothy's mentor here and he is clear about many things, but in this case he leaves not room for error! PREACH THE WORD!
It struck me as I was teaching (actually, I got some pretty big goose bumps) that I am so blessed to be able to do this ALL THE TIME. Preaching is a major part of my life....the questions.....the research.....the prayer! All of this is part of doing what I love to do -- PREACH!
My desire as a pastor is to be faithful to Paul's admonition -- to preach the Word. PLEASE PRAY FOR ME! It is important that I share what God wants our people to hear! As Paul said to Timothy -- "Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching."
"For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Hebrews 4:12 (NKJV)
During the study I called for our folks to take their Bibles and turn to 2 Timothy 4:2. Paul is Timothy's mentor here and he is clear about many things, but in this case he leaves not room for error! PREACH THE WORD!
It struck me as I was teaching (actually, I got some pretty big goose bumps) that I am so blessed to be able to do this ALL THE TIME. Preaching is a major part of my life....the questions.....the research.....the prayer! All of this is part of doing what I love to do -- PREACH!
My desire as a pastor is to be faithful to Paul's admonition -- to preach the Word. PLEASE PRAY FOR ME! It is important that I share what God wants our people to hear! As Paul said to Timothy -- "Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching."
"For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." Hebrews 4:12 (NKJV)
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
A Vision is Coming!
This coming Sunday I am preaching a sermon called “Fresh Start: Getting Life Right!” This message will be one of the most important sermons I will ever preach at First Baptist Church. Because of the importance of this message I am asking that you lift me up in prayer more than ever before. This message will call for total commitment to Christ. (Matthew 6:33) Pray for those who should hear this message and for me the messenger!
A Vision is Coming…A Vision is Coming!
Can you believe it – I have been here for almost 8 months! Time is flying! It seems like only yesterday that I was preaching my trial sermon called, “Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing.” As we move ahead together I want you to know that God is speaking and I am listening!
At this time I am listening to the Lord as I seek Him for HIS VISION for our church. The VISION is simply that plan that God has for the future! I recently read a great book by George Barna. Here is a portion of that article:
Vision is the ability to understand the history, the present condition, and the potential of the church, and to conceive a plan for action that will maximize the ministry potential. More often than not, vision is a result of having spent much time absorbing the facts about the community, knowing the resources upon which the church can call (people, funding, facilities, equipment, etc.), and devising sound but creative strategies for moving forward. Vision always entails progress: it is never satisfied with the status quo. (How to Find Your Church – p. 104 – George Barna)
God did not call me to this church to be “satisfied.” You should not want me to be satisfied – you should not be satisfied. As long as there is one lost person…..as long as there is one hurting person…..as long as there is one person struggling to live.....WE SHOULD NOT BE SATISFIED!!
So far I have met with the Mayor Sam Wright and Calvin Miller of the Talladega Economic Development Authority. I currently have a meeting with the Chamber of Commerce to discuss the impact of their plans for the city of Sylacauga. I am very excited about the possibilities – about the VISION that God is giving me. PLEASE GET EXCITED WITH ME! I want you to know that this entire process is being covered in prayer! Mark your calendar for September 14th and 15th – VISION SUNDAY!
A Vision is Coming…A Vision is Coming!
Can you believe it – I have been here for almost 8 months! Time is flying! It seems like only yesterday that I was preaching my trial sermon called, “Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing.” As we move ahead together I want you to know that God is speaking and I am listening!
At this time I am listening to the Lord as I seek Him for HIS VISION for our church. The VISION is simply that plan that God has for the future! I recently read a great book by George Barna. Here is a portion of that article:
Vision is the ability to understand the history, the present condition, and the potential of the church, and to conceive a plan for action that will maximize the ministry potential. More often than not, vision is a result of having spent much time absorbing the facts about the community, knowing the resources upon which the church can call (people, funding, facilities, equipment, etc.), and devising sound but creative strategies for moving forward. Vision always entails progress: it is never satisfied with the status quo. (How to Find Your Church – p. 104 – George Barna)
God did not call me to this church to be “satisfied.” You should not want me to be satisfied – you should not be satisfied. As long as there is one lost person…..as long as there is one hurting person…..as long as there is one person struggling to live.....WE SHOULD NOT BE SATISFIED!!
So far I have met with the Mayor Sam Wright and Calvin Miller of the Talladega Economic Development Authority. I currently have a meeting with the Chamber of Commerce to discuss the impact of their plans for the city of Sylacauga. I am very excited about the possibilities – about the VISION that God is giving me. PLEASE GET EXCITED WITH ME! I want you to know that this entire process is being covered in prayer! Mark your calendar for September 14th and 15th – VISION SUNDAY!
Thursday, April 3, 2008
My Testimony!
NOTE: Today in my office at First Baptist Church of Sylacauga, I picked up a copy of the book that God used to change my life. I remember saying that I would spend the rest of my life telling others the TRUTH! This testimony is long, but worth reading because I would not be here today without the life changing truth it contains! Prayerfully! TC
I was born Timothy Wayne Childers on December 18, 1954 at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Gadsden, Alabama. I was born again on August 26, 1982 in Leeds, Alabama. I will never forget the night I sat across the dining room table from my pastor, Alk Kavli. I bowed my head, prayed and accepted Jesus as my Savior. It was 17 years after Jesus accepted me that I learned what it meant to be accepted by my heavenly Father....to experience His life flowing with power through me. I had spent 99.9% of my Christian life working FOR God. In 1985 I surrendered to the ministry, moved my family to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Since that time I have served Palestine Baptist Church in Bogaloosa, Lousianna...Lakeside Baptist Church in Metarie, Lousianna...Emmanuel Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama...First Baptist Church in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee...College Heights Baptist Church in Gadsden, Alabama and presently I am the Senior Pastor at First Baptist Church of Mableton, Georgia. In 1999 God showed me the truth. I learned what it meant for God to work THROUGH me. The following is my journal entry for November 3, 1999.
"This journal is full of entries where I have made commitments to start fresh. As a matter of fact just about a week ago I made the entry just before this one. As usual something filled the space and I did not keep my commitment to come in early and have my quiet time, etc.
I have been growing increasingly concerned about myself. Over and over I have felt like I was turning into my Daddy. (Note: My father committed suicide in 1991.) I have acted like him lately. I have experienced some of the things he experienced. I have felt as if I was headed for some kind of show down. Debbie even confronted me the other night with the reality that I have every symptom of someone who is clinically depressed. I did no want to hear that but the symptoms do no lie. The past few weeks have been some of the most miserable of my lifetime. I have been on edge, to the point of tears, weeping openly for hours, stressed out over things at church - even though if things got any better there I do not know what I would do - I even go so low that a couple of weeks ago (after a fight with Debbie and a few days of low living before hand) that I prayed that God would take me out of this world. I had been having thoughts of just driving away and never looking back. It is not that I do not love my family, it is just that at that time I was under the delusion from the devil that they would be better off without me. We were leading a conference in Prattville that weekend and my topic was - "How to Get Over Life in the Pits.? How appropriate that God would have me lead a conference about being in the pits. I certainly could give them first hand information about what it felt like to be there. I thought as I got up to lead the conference that I would die. As I began to lead the conference, something began to happen. God began to speak to me. I was leading the conference for me. The conference was based on Psalm 40:2 where David said that the Lord has lifted him from the miry clay, set his feet upon a rock and established his steps. Well the Lord did that for me and He pulled me up?but I knew that there had to be more to this. We returned home on Saturday and I began to try to get to the place where God would speak to me about what to preach on the next day. Nothing came. I am not surprised given my state of mind. The next morning I arrived at church at my usual Sunday morning time around 6:15 a.m. I sat in front of the computer and could barely pray. Nothing I looked at in the Word jumped off the page at me. Nothing was coming. I was supposed to preach about vision because we are in the midst of a stewardship campaign. I went through my files and decided to preach my sermon on commitment that I preached as a trial sermon at CHBC. It was decided. That is always such a relief. I could not get excited because it was not a fresh word from the Lord and I was feeling like I was slipping back into the miry clay again."
Pretty depressing, huh? Well, it was depressing then, but now when I look back on those days I can truly rejoice because of what God has done in my life. That night when it was so dark in my life something wonderful happened! I died to myself. I did not really know what had happened until I started reading Handbook to Happiness by Dr. Charles Solomon. I called my wife and said, "I am reading a new book and if it is true I will spend the rest of my life telling people about it.? It is true and I am happier and more fulfilled than I ever dreamed I could be.
I was the kind of pastor that wanted results. If I did not get the kind of results that I wanted, I blamed myself. I always assumed the answer was that God is not pleased with my preaching, leadership skills, or my abilities. My response was to make commitments to pray more, study more, visit more, plan more, and program more. I never kept those commitments because I too busy. The guilt was unbearable. I was burning the candle at both ends and I ran out of wax. Oh, I was getting results! Things could not have been any better in my ministry; but it was never enough for me. When I came to the end of myself and began to understand the truth of the crucified life - the resurrected life of Christ in me, I began to really "rest.? I am busier now than before, but full of passion for the ministry. The difference in me now unbelievable! I have learned what it means to live in Christ. I no longer feel guilty when throngs of people do not respond during our services. I have been set free from worry. My marriage is stronger. I have stronger relationships with my church family. I am more relaxed. I can have fun again! It is a great life?. HIS life!!!
I was born Timothy Wayne Childers on December 18, 1954 at Baptist Memorial Hospital in Gadsden, Alabama. I was born again on August 26, 1982 in Leeds, Alabama. I will never forget the night I sat across the dining room table from my pastor, Alk Kavli. I bowed my head, prayed and accepted Jesus as my Savior. It was 17 years after Jesus accepted me that I learned what it meant to be accepted by my heavenly Father....to experience His life flowing with power through me. I had spent 99.9% of my Christian life working FOR God. In 1985 I surrendered to the ministry, moved my family to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Since that time I have served Palestine Baptist Church in Bogaloosa, Lousianna...Lakeside Baptist Church in Metarie, Lousianna...Emmanuel Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa, Alabama...First Baptist Church in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee...College Heights Baptist Church in Gadsden, Alabama and presently I am the Senior Pastor at First Baptist Church of Mableton, Georgia. In 1999 God showed me the truth. I learned what it meant for God to work THROUGH me. The following is my journal entry for November 3, 1999.
"This journal is full of entries where I have made commitments to start fresh. As a matter of fact just about a week ago I made the entry just before this one. As usual something filled the space and I did not keep my commitment to come in early and have my quiet time, etc.
I have been growing increasingly concerned about myself. Over and over I have felt like I was turning into my Daddy. (Note: My father committed suicide in 1991.) I have acted like him lately. I have experienced some of the things he experienced. I have felt as if I was headed for some kind of show down. Debbie even confronted me the other night with the reality that I have every symptom of someone who is clinically depressed. I did no want to hear that but the symptoms do no lie. The past few weeks have been some of the most miserable of my lifetime. I have been on edge, to the point of tears, weeping openly for hours, stressed out over things at church - even though if things got any better there I do not know what I would do - I even go so low that a couple of weeks ago (after a fight with Debbie and a few days of low living before hand) that I prayed that God would take me out of this world. I had been having thoughts of just driving away and never looking back. It is not that I do not love my family, it is just that at that time I was under the delusion from the devil that they would be better off without me. We were leading a conference in Prattville that weekend and my topic was - "How to Get Over Life in the Pits.? How appropriate that God would have me lead a conference about being in the pits. I certainly could give them first hand information about what it felt like to be there. I thought as I got up to lead the conference that I would die. As I began to lead the conference, something began to happen. God began to speak to me. I was leading the conference for me. The conference was based on Psalm 40:2 where David said that the Lord has lifted him from the miry clay, set his feet upon a rock and established his steps. Well the Lord did that for me and He pulled me up?but I knew that there had to be more to this. We returned home on Saturday and I began to try to get to the place where God would speak to me about what to preach on the next day. Nothing came. I am not surprised given my state of mind. The next morning I arrived at church at my usual Sunday morning time around 6:15 a.m. I sat in front of the computer and could barely pray. Nothing I looked at in the Word jumped off the page at me. Nothing was coming. I was supposed to preach about vision because we are in the midst of a stewardship campaign. I went through my files and decided to preach my sermon on commitment that I preached as a trial sermon at CHBC. It was decided. That is always such a relief. I could not get excited because it was not a fresh word from the Lord and I was feeling like I was slipping back into the miry clay again."
Pretty depressing, huh? Well, it was depressing then, but now when I look back on those days I can truly rejoice because of what God has done in my life. That night when it was so dark in my life something wonderful happened! I died to myself. I did not really know what had happened until I started reading Handbook to Happiness by Dr. Charles Solomon. I called my wife and said, "I am reading a new book and if it is true I will spend the rest of my life telling people about it.? It is true and I am happier and more fulfilled than I ever dreamed I could be.
I was the kind of pastor that wanted results. If I did not get the kind of results that I wanted, I blamed myself. I always assumed the answer was that God is not pleased with my preaching, leadership skills, or my abilities. My response was to make commitments to pray more, study more, visit more, plan more, and program more. I never kept those commitments because I too busy. The guilt was unbearable. I was burning the candle at both ends and I ran out of wax. Oh, I was getting results! Things could not have been any better in my ministry; but it was never enough for me. When I came to the end of myself and began to understand the truth of the crucified life - the resurrected life of Christ in me, I began to really "rest.? I am busier now than before, but full of passion for the ministry. The difference in me now unbelievable! I have learned what it means to live in Christ. I no longer feel guilty when throngs of people do not respond during our services. I have been set free from worry. My marriage is stronger. I have stronger relationships with my church family. I am more relaxed. I can have fun again! It is a great life?. HIS life!!!
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Shameless Plug
I am such a blessed man. Easter Sunday was a great day! I had my family with me in worship! This is a shameless plug to show off how beautiful family is. Check out the look on Tucker's face. In the picture you will find, my mother in law on the right, Candi, my daughter in law is next to her with Clay our son behind her. The kids are my grandkids with my daughter Amy and son in law, Sam next to her! See how blessed I am!! Praise be to God!
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