David is responsible for the preaching ministry of Christ Baptist Church. He is a native of middle Tennessee, a graduate of the University of North Alabama with a BS degree in Nursing, and a 1994 graduate of Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary with a Masters of Religious Education. Prior to entering the ministry, David worked as a Registered Nurse in Emergency/Trauma, Cardiac Care, and Neonatal Intensive Care. He and his wife Lisa, have two children, Anna and Austin. David has served on staff at Shelbyville Mills Baptist Church since July 2000 as associate pastor overseeing administration, education, missions, senior adults, and children. He is the founder of Divide-The-Truth Ministries that has served over 100 churches in the last 16 years with Sunday School notes that “rightly divide the word of truth.” In view of starting Christ Baptist Church, he discontinued this ministry in May 2017 so he could focus his attention on the new church.

Update from Pastor David Brown (December 2022)

Greetings from Christ Baptist Church and Merry Christmas from the Brown family!

In September when I last wrote a newsletter, we were about to finish six a six-month door-to-door campaign with Calvary Baptist Church, Allentown, Florida. In the six months before their arrival, we visited about 700 homes. On the weekend of our outreach, we visited 900 to 1000 homes. We are not without plenty of homes to visit.

Since the completion of our outreach, we have had one family visit us- Tim, Kim, Georgia, and Cooper. In my follow-up visit with them, I found a family looking for truth and sincerely admitting how Covid got them out of the routine of church. However, after witnessing to them, Kim came to realize she needs to be baptized and her husband Tim now understands he is lost. They were back this past Sunday and in small groups, and Tim said they are here to stay. He and I will visit again to follow up on the challenge I gave him in the gospel of John. He knows his need for salvation. Please pray for this family as I believe the Holy Spirit is working in their midst as with Cornelius’ household in Acts 10.

In addition to this family, we have another family- Dutch, Taneka, and their son Eli who have been visiting with us since October. They seem open. This past week I asked if I could visit in their home. I am waiting on their reply.

In addition to these families, we have a couple from Shelbyville Mills that plans to come our way in January. They have felt like the Lord has been leading them to us for quite some time. When I have families come from our sending church, I make it a point that they do not do this secretly and they give proper notice of their intentions. CBC is an intentional church plant of Shelbyville Mills Baptist Church. I want the church and the world to see that the best plan for new church starts is churches planting churches, not churches planting churches because of division and strife (unintentional church plants). I have known this couple for many year and am preparing for how they will be used at CBC.

As I reported in September, Lisa and I went to Poland with a team from AIT in July. Now I am excited to report I will be leading the team to Poland in July 2023 for AIT. Even as we are several months away, I am receiving lots of questions about this trip. I have been out of traveling abroad for several years. A new church plant and Covid kept us busy and prevented mission trips, but we are back in the saddle and ready for the next mission journey.

I am in the 5 th chapter of Corinthians on Wednesday nights and just finished I Timothy on Sunday mornings. I am taking a break from the pastoral epistles until January and preaching evangelistic and Christmas messages until then.

Family – All is well with the Brown family. We are planning to spend Christmas at home with the kids and with Lisa’s family the week after Christmas.

Church – There is great unity and peace in the body and excitement over three new families.

Prayer Concerns – After more years and more procedures than I can count, I will be having the first of two surgeries on my neck and back. On December 9 th I will be having a decompression and fusion in my neck. The pain  and weakness in my left arm has reached a point where I finally concluded that nothing but surgery is going to help. In fact, that is what the surgeon said.

After I recover from this surgery, sometime in January, we are going to evaluate surgery on my lower back. Since 2015 I have had three outpatient procedures, one in California, but nothing has helped. The doctor is optimistic he can get me out of pain in my back and right leg but admits the problems in my lower back are more complicated than my neck. The curse of Adam’s sin is found in my bad genetics in my back. My goal is to be up and going well, but not so fast, by the True Church Conference, and then wide open for all the summer events planned at CBC and Poland.

This has been such a thorn in my flesh for so long. I want out of pain. I want to be used by the Lord for another 20 years. The church is always on my mind. I want to oversee this work as long as I can. Longevity of leadership is the healthiest thing for a church. It is so frustrating and discouraging to know what I want to do, but am limited by a bad back.

Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for your support. Thank you for your love.