Gardendale pastor’s book reaches out to busy Christians

When the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness searching for the promised land, God instructed them to gather each morning just enough of His manna for the day.
   
Likewise, modern Christians should gather their sustenance from God’s Word on a daily basis, according to Steve Gaines, pastor of Gardendale’s First Baptist Church.
“The imagery of them having to go out every morning and gather the manna is what I think a Christian’s quiet time is supposed to be,” Gaines said.
   
“We’re supposed to spend time with the Lord each morning and gather from the Word,” he said.
   
To assist with that mission Gaines has written a devotional book called “Morning Manna,” now in its second printing. The publisher, Hope for Your Future Publishing of Gardendale, expects sales between 7,000 and 9,000 by the end of the year. The publisher is a nonprofit organization owned by Gaines.
   
Jacob Vail, lead sales associate at the LifeWay Christian Store in Homewood, said “Morning Manna” is one of the best-selling local books ever carried by the Birmingham-area store.
   
“There has been a tremendous positive response,” Vail said. “Lots of people have come in and bought multiple copies.”
   
The best testimony for the book, according to Vail, is the fact that the store uses Gaines’ book for the morning staff devotions.“Every day there is something new, refreshing and convicting,” Vail said. “We’ve had some really deep, great morning devotions.”
   
A Homewood radio station, WDJC-FM, also reads from the book daily at 6:10 on its morning radio program.
   
The book also has the approval of several Southern Baptist  Convention  leaders.
Adrian Rogers, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in the Memphis, Tenn., area, wrote the book’s preface. The book carries endorsements from Hartselle Evangelist Junior Hill; Jerry Vines, pastor of First Baptist Church, Jacksonville, Fla.; and Paige Patterson, president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.
   
In spite of a busy schedule as senior pastor of a large church, Gaines managed to write the book in two and a half years.
   
He began writing one entry per day, four or five days per week, while recovering from an illness in 2000.
   
There is one devotion for each day of the year and each is centered around a Bible verse.
Gaines said the book mirrors the way he preaches.
   
“Ninety-five percent of my sermons are to Christians, but I always give an evangelistic twist to each sermon,” he said. “I feel like non-Christians will pick up this book. A lot of people are buying the book to give to lost people.”
   
Not willing to miss an opportunity to reach the lost, Gaines included the plan of salvation in the back of the book.
   
“I know there’s enough gospel in there for people to get saved,” he noted.
Gaines has been at Gardendale’s First Baptist Church since 1991 and has seen it grow into one of the largest Southern Baptist churches in Alabama.
   
With an average attendance of 3,200 weekly in three Sunday morning worship services, the church has led the state in baptisms six of the last eight years and was second the other two years. First, Gardendale’s television ministry reaches more than 40,000 viewers.
   
The church has purchased 140 acres by I-65 and plans to begin a first phase of relocating in about two years.
   
As far as the book goes, Gaines is very clear about his hopes for the book. “I want God to be glorified through this book. I want Christians to be drawn closer to Him and to grow in grace.”
   
Each devotion was designed to be read in five minutes or less, because Gaines said he knows family. In fact, he and his wife, Donna, have four children and understand the busyness of family life.
   
“I designed it for people who have a lot going on,” he said. “A family can take five to seven minutes at the breakfast table in the morning, read a devotion and have prayer before the kids go off to school,” Gaines said.
   
“The greatest thing in a Christian’s life is spending time with the Lord,” Gaines said. “My prayer is that this book will encourage people to spend time with Him. I hope to whet people’s appetites to give them a deeper hunger for the Word of the Lord and to spend time in prayer. Everything grows out of your prayer life.”