Dr. Jerry Vines


      “I was saved as a nine-year-old boy on a Sunday night,” Dr. Jerry Vines told The Christian View. “A friend took me to church with him. When the preacher gave the invitation, I came forward to receive Christ.” 
      Sixty years later, Vines is still going strong for the Lord. After serving as Pastor of First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Florida for 23 years, he retired in 2006 in order to devote more time to ministering to other preachers. 
      Vines was born in Carroll County, Georgia to Clarence and Ruby Vines. “My Dad was a very outgoing person, and a Gospel musician,” said Vines. “My Mom is very quiet, but a spiritual woman.” 
      Vines grew up attending Tabernacle Baptist Church in Carrollton and has fond memories of his childhood church. “All of my Pastors and our Ministers of Music were special to me,” he said. “Many godly lay people influenced my life,” he added. 
      He describes himself as a prankster, but also as a shy, timid child and teenager. 
      He enjoyed playing sports, especially football and baseball, and wanted to be a football coach. To this day, he remains an avid fan of the University of Alabama football team. 
      The Lord led him in a different direction, as he felt called to the ministry at the age of 16. Both he and his Pastor were ‘shocked’, he said, that God called him to preach, because, as a high school student, Vines was too nervous to speak in front of his English class, and, after having taken an aptitude test, he was told to go into science or math, but to avoid writing or speaking. 
      His calling, however, has been real to him. “It was very definite to me,” he said. “I have never doubted it.” 
      His first sermon was entitled, On to the Goal, which he preached from Philippians 3:14. “It was about pressing toward the mark,” he said. “I preached it at Shady Grove Baptist Church in Carroll County.” 
      Vines graduated from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia with a bachelor’s degree in Christianity. He earned his master’s degree from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and his doctorate in theology from Luther Rice Bible College and Seminary in Lithonia, Georgia. 
      He pastored his first church at the age of 18 at Centralhatchee Baptist Church in Heard County, Georgia. The church had 40 members. “I was there only 18 months,” he said. “I ran out of sermons.” 
      Other pastorates through the years have included Dauphin Way Baptist Church in Mobile, Alabama and West Rome Baptist Church in Rome, Georgia. 
      In July, 1982, Vines began sharing the Pastorate at First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, Florida with Dr. Homer Lindsay, Jr. “He was probably the finest church growth Pastor I have ever known,” Vines said. 
      Lindsay had announced his retirement, effective, March, 2000, but, in February of that year, he lost a brief battle with cancer. Upon Lindsey’s death, Vines became Pastor and led the congregation into further growth. 
      Vines attributes the tremendous growth of the 30,000-member First Baptist Church to “the people loving Jesus, loving one another, and loving lost people.” 
      The church has an annual budget of $13 million. The one million square foot facility encompasses 11 city blocks in Jacksonville and includes four parking garages and a 10,000-seat auditorium. However, Vines pointed out that, “People in little churches need God’s Word preached as much as people in big churches.” 
      What he enjoyed most about being a Pastor, he said, was “teaching the Word to the people and winning people to Christ.” He baptized more than 18,000 during his tenure at First Baptist of Jacksonville. 
      Among his fond memories there, he said, was “being able to preach a series of messages through every book of the Bible.” (He uses a Nelson Giant Print Bible from which to preach, but studies from many different versions.) 
      Other memories include being elected President of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1988 and 1989, and helping return conservative leadership. “Those were very difficult years,” he said. “The battle for the Bible was raging. God gave us the victory.”
      In 2002, the Presidents of the six Southern Baptist theological seminaries—Golden Gate, Midwestern, New Orleans, Southeastern, and Southwestern—honored Vines with their first Certificate of Honor, calling him ‘an example to the Pastors of the Southern Baptist Convention.’ “It was a humbling experience,” he said. 
      Vines described the mission of a Pastor as being a shepherd and a soldier. “As shepherds, we must preach to our flock, and we must feed and guard the sheep.” As soldiers, Pastors must endure hardship and affliction. 
      “Preaching the Word is my primary call,” Vines said. “It’s what God has called me to do. The most important thing is to get people out of hell and into heaven.” 
      His favorite sermon that he has preached, he said, was entitled, Our Ascended Lord. 
      Dr. R.G. Lee’s sermon Payday Someday has had significant meaning to him. 
      Other preachers in the ministry, including Dr. W.A. Criswell, have greatly influenced his life, he said. 
      Among those who have encouraged him is his biggest encourager—his wife, Janet. The two met in a country church in Carroll County, and were married in 1960 at First Baptist Church of College Park, Georgia. They have four grown children, Joy, Jim, Jodi, and Jon, and seven grandchildren, Brittney, Ashlyn, Jay, Caroline, Catherine, Jack, and Carson. 
      “The Lord has blessed me with a wonderful family, great churches, and a host of Christian friends,” said Vines. “I feel I have grown in my Christian life. I pray I am a more loving, humble, Christ-like person.” 
      On May 1, 2005, Vines announced his retirement, to be effective February 7, 2006, at the conclusion of his church’s annual pastors’ conference. His retirement, he said, was from serving as Pastor, but not from serving in the ministry or preaching the Gospel. 
      His plans have been to devote his time to Bible preaching and teaching, writing, and ministering to and encouraging preachers.
      He preached his last sermon as Pastor of First Baptist Church of Jacksonville on January 29, 2006. Preaching from Colossians 2, Vines said that, although today’s world teaches us that ‘Jesus is one among many’, he pointed out the Apostle Paul’s writings and stated that, “Jesus is not just a Saviour; He is the Saviour. He is not just a truth; He is the truth. He is not just a way; He is the way. He is the preeminent One and only.” 
      On his last day as Pastor, Vines was presented with a rocking chair and also a quilt made from ties worn by church members through the years. Inscribed on the quilt were these words: Blessed Be the Tie That Binds. 
      At the 20th Annual National Pastors’ Conference, held at First Baptist Church on February 7, a standing-room only crowd estimated at 11,000 heard Vines preach the closing message, a sermon entitled Glimpses of Glory, from Exodus 33:17-23. 
      He thought of someday seeing in heaven his father and grandfather and Dr. Homer Lindsay, Jr. and Dr. Adrian Rogers. 
      He also wondered what he might say to Jesus as he meets Him in heaven for the first time: “Jesus, thank you so much for saving a little nine-year-old boy like me in North Georgia, and thank you for calling me to preach as a 16-year-old boy. I never dreamed—I never dreamed what You had in store for me. It’s been glorious. It’s been glorious.” 
      As memories of the past 23 years overwhelmed him, an emotional Vines walked from the pulpit for the last time, and walked down an aisle while singing, O that will be glory for me, glory for me, glory for me. When by His grace I shall look on His face, that will be glory, be glory for me. 
      In his farewell, Vines spoke as he walked out of the sanctuary: “Thank you, saints of God at First Baptist Church of Jacksonville, for letting me be with you these 23 plus years, and you and I sharing together some glimpses of glory.” 
      His mission continues to be to lead others to Christ and to help Christians grow. In addition to his preaching engagements and writing a book on the Biblical account of creation, Vines has increased interest in ministering to preachers, including providing resource materials, such as his sermons, and offering Power in the Pulpit conferences. His ministry is led by his son Jon, and is based in Canton, Georgia, where Vines and his wife now live. 
      The Vineses are members now of the First Baptist Church of Woodstock, Georgia, where Dr. Johnny Hunt pastors. Vines first became acquainted with Hunt when Hunt began attending the annual pastors’ conferences at First Baptist Church of Jacksonville. Hunt’s church now coordinates Vines’ speaking schedule. 
      Referring to the spiritual condition of our country and world today, Vines said, “We are in a period of apostasy and great moral decline. We are desperately in need of revival.” 
      He advises those who are unsaved to give their heart to the Lord. “To give your life to Christ is the greatest decision of your life,” he said. 
      His advice for preachers would be the same advice for all Christians: “Stay close to the Lord. Stay in the Word. Tell people about Jesus.” 
      He has special memories of having won people to Christ during his ministry, and it has been a blessing, he said, to see people he has led to Christ grow in the Lord. 
      Vines said that he would like to be remembered simply as a Baptist preacher. 
      With all of the accolades that have been bestowed upon him, he still remembers the admonition of his maternal grandfather, whom he called a country evangelist: ‘Lift up Jesus.’ 
      “I want people to walk away talking about Jesus, not me.” 



      Link: www.jerryvines.com