By Leigh Pritchett
Correspondent, The Alabama Baptist
Ben Bowden, 38, has been in ministry 15 years. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Auburn University, and master’s and doctorate degrees from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He is now pastor of the very church where he came to know Jesus as his Savior 20 years ago. He serves on the board of directors for The Alabama Baptist and teaches New Testament classes at a local community college and at a seminary in East Asia.
Ministry description: Senior pastor
Church name: FBC Enterprise in Coffee Baptist Association
Life verse: “Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.” (Psalm 63:3)
Q: Describe where you focus your greatest ministry efforts.
A: Preaching and making disciples. Preaching is God’s ordained means to grow a healthy church. But a powerful preacher is going to be a personal pastor. Therefore I spend a lot of time meeting with people in smaller groups throughout the week to pray and to read and discuss the Bible.
Q: Tell about a “turning point” in your life and how God was involved.
A: It was the summer I turned 21. I was working at JH Ranch in northern California as a river guide. For my birthday a friend and fellow staff member gave me John Piper’s “Desiring God.” At that time I was clueless about John Piper. For all I knew, he was related to Rowdy Roddy Piper (which would’ve given him much cred in my mind). I read the book and scratched my head. It was the deepest book I’d ever read. I re-read it and was struck by how Piper helped me see that following God and experiencing joy are not two separate paths, but one in the same. As Piper says, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” This truth has shaped my teaching and preaching ever since.
Q: What has God been teaching you lately?
A: My wife and I just had our sixth child. My oldest is eight years old. No twins. (#insane) God has been teaching me the blessing of a godly wife and the freedom in parenting.
• The blessing of a godly wife. She’s got sauce. She’s the cat’s meow and then some. She can dance backwards while carpooling, snack-packing and pastor-wife-ing — and she does it all with a smile on her face and gleam in her eye. Unsurprisingly, God was right: “He who finds a wife finds a good thing.”
• The freedom in parenting. Nothing brings me to my knees quite like parenting. John Wilmot’s quip has become reality for me: “Before I got married I had no children and six theories; now, I have six children and no theories.” However discouraging this quote may sound, it’s actually freeing. Many young Christian parents today are overthinking it. There seems to be an endless supply of Christian parenting books that give us a plethora of advice. Interestingly, the Bible has very little to say about specific parenting techniques other than, “Feed ’em; love ’em; don’t drive ’em crazy and point ’em to Jesus.”
Q: If there was one thing you could tell your younger self about faith, what would it be?
A: I got saved when I was 18. I would love to take my 18-year-old self by the collar and plead with him to memorize more Scripture. Of course, read books, study theology, work ferociously at Greek while in seminary, enjoy the ride, go fishing with Daddy more because he’s not going to be around much longer, etc. But above all else, hide God’s word in your heart! No other discipline has kindled my heart with affection for Christ quite like memorizing Scripture.
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