LEAVING A LEGACY THAT LASTS

Give Your Life Away

2 Timothy contains the epitaph of Paul the Apostle. It's basically his "swan song." It's the last letter he would write before his death.

If you've read the letter, you know it's personal - probably Paul's most personal letter. It's vulnerable and authentic.

Paul knows he only has a short time to live and he wants to write his "son in the faith," a guy named Timothy. Paul wants to remind Timothy about what really matters, what's really important

In 2 Timothy Paul shares at least four principles that will allow anyone to leave a legacy that lasts.

Over the next few days I would like to walk some of these thoughts out... Especially in light of how I saw these principles lived out in the life of my Dad. Hopefully, by sharing you'll get a glimpse of the kind of man I was privileged to call, "Dad."


FIRST PRINCIPLE: Give Your Life Away

In 2 Timothy 4:6 Paul describes the way he viewed his life.

2 Timothy 4:6 (NIV), For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure.

Paul compared his death to “a drink offering.” In the Old Testament, a drink offering was an offering performed by pouring wine out on the ground or on the altar (Numbers 28:11-31). It was the final offering in a long list of offerings (Numbers 15:1-16).

Here's the way 2 Timothy 4:6 reads in The Message.

2 Timothy 4:6 (MSG), You take over. I’m about to die, my life an offering on God’s altar.

Paul is painting a mental portrait for Timothy. When Paul thought about his coming execution, he didn’t envision a chopping block; he viewed the EXECUTIONER’S CHAMBER as a SANCTUARY, and the chopping block as an ALTAR.

In effect, Paul was saying to Timothy, “Nero is not going to take my life. I am going to give my life as a sacrifice or offering to Jesus Christ. I’ve been a living sacrifice since I met him… Now I am going to complete that sacrifice by willingly laying down my life for him as a martyr.”


This is something my Dad believed to the core of who he was. Here's a piece of his story.

My Dad started attending church because his sister, Shirley had a transformational experience with Jesus Christ that compelled her to reach her family for Christ. She started by reaching out to her brother, the guy that would eventually become my Dad… (By the way, she would eventually reach almost the entire Goins' clan with the gospel, forever changing the dynamics of this family... Proof of God's ability to use just ONE PERSON to make a significant difference)

After a brief encounter with the law and a night in jail, like a lot of other people, my Dad decided, “Maybe church isn’t a bad idea…” Even before becoming a Christian, Dad became incredibly active in the Sale Creek Church of God… A church that would play a significant role in the spiritual formation of the Goins family.

In December 1965 (right around Christmas) my Dad stood at an altar with my mom where they presented me to the Lord in Baby Dedication… Brother W.I. Head led the ceremony. Dad has shared this story at almost every Baby Dedication he officiated at… He stood there at my Baby Dedication and made promises of faith and devotion, and the entire time he stood there he knew he didn’t have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ…

A week later our little family moved to Fort Benning, Georgia where Dad finished up his stint in the service… And for six months the Holy Spirit used that dedication service to “convict” my Dad and bring him to a place of repentance… My Dad was haunted by this question, “How can you possibly walk out all those promises you stood there and made when you haven’t even surrendered your life to Jesus Christ?”

Dad finished his stint in the service in May 1965… He and mom moved back to Sale Creek where he immediately began attending church at the Sale Creek Church of God. And in the Summer of 1965, after being irresistibly drawn by the Holy Spirit, my Dad surrendered his life to Jesus Christ.

All of my life all I’ve ever known is a Dad who had given His life to Jesus Christ… To use Paul’s words: He “…poured himself out like a drink offering to God…”

Even though Dad was involved in church before his conversion, after it, he threw himself into the ministry of the local church… Wherever he was needed, he willingly served… Whether that involved teaching a group of boys, leading the youth or doing odd jobs around the church… He gladly did it…

He and mom led the youth ministry of the Sale Creek Church of God for 17 years…

For a period of time, he was actually my Sunday School Teacher… While going through some of his things, I ran across I letter I had written when I was just a little boy. The top of the letter read, “What My Sunday School Teacher Means To Me.” In it, I had written the following...

“My Sunday School teacher is my Dad, so he’s more than a Sunday School Teacher to me…”

Dad gave his life away…

Much like Barnabas (Acts 9:27, 13) he loved to “champion,” inspire and influence young men and women to make a difference for Jesus Christ…

While I was a teenager, Dad and mom formed the group: Ken Goins and the Spiritual Explosion… He invested more money and time than I’ll probably ever know pouring his life into that little group of teenagers…

He let us sing… (Even though I’ve never really been able to sing…) He let us play… (Even when we played really, really loud…) He let us preach… (Even when we couldn’t preach… In fact, some people still wonder whether or not I can do that now…)

My earliest and most important influence when it comes to ministry and the church was my Dad.

Why? He gave his life away…

In 1982 Brother Don Johnson, the Evangelism Director for the Churches of God in the State of Tennessee, called my Dad and asked him to consider planting a church… At first, Dad wondered whether or not that was even his calling. Brother Johnson challenged him and encouraged him. “Ken, you are a faithful man. We need faithful men to plant churches…”

Several possible sites were presented. None of them felt “right” to Dad… Then one day Brother Johnson called, “Ken, I’ve found an area that could really use a Church of God. The closest Church of God on that side of the river and in that county is several miles away. Would you think about starting a church near Watts Bar?”

Dad drove through the area and found an old abandoned storefront building. It was littered with all kinds of debris… But he came back home to Mom and announced, “I’ve found a building… Let’s start a revival and just see if God is up to something…”

I remember walking through that very building with Dad, stepping over beer cans, cigarette butts, all kinds of debris. I looked at Dad and asked, "Are you SURE God told you to do this?" Dad just sort of smiled.

We cleaned and prepared the building. The revival services started as planned. During the first revival service, Charles James, the father of one of the girls in our little singing group, gave his life to Jesus Christ. That revival lasted for two weeks…

Then it was time for Dad and Mom to “make a judgment call.” Was this just a revival or would they plant a church in Watts Bar?

Dad and Mom prayed… They asked God for a sign… They kept it to themselves, but said, “If on a Sunday morning, after all of our friends and family go back to their churches, if God will give us seven people – seven people - from ‘this side of the river,’ we’ll start a church in Watts Bar…"

Sunday rolled around… There weren’t SEVEN PEOPLE from “that side of the river” in the service; there were ELEVEN PEOPLE…

Dad thought, “God has done exceedingly, abundantly more than we ever asked…”

The first services of what would become Watts Bar Church of God took place in January 1983. The church was officially established March 30, 1983… The first service on the present church property took place in November 1983.

After twenty-five years, the church is still making a difference. Why? You bet, it’s the sovereign grace of a great God and my Dad would be the first to say, “to God be all the glory.” But I also believe God used a man who was willing to "give his life away."

If you want to leave a legacy that lasts, "give your life away."

"For I am already being poured out like a drink offering..."

Tomorrow, I'll share the second principle involved in "leaving a legacy that lasts."