Potts, David
Personal:
I have been saved since January 20, 1981, when I trusted Jesus Christ in Cantonment, FL
My wife, Connie, and I have been married since June 7, 1981
Education:
– Bachelor of Divinity 1986
– Ordained to the Ministry, in Meridian, ID – May 2007
– Currently working on Master of Theology through Andersonville Theological Seminary
Experience:
– Assisted in church plant in Saraland, AL – Calvary Baptist Church 1982
– Served as Deacon at Treasure Valley Baptist Church, Meridian, ID 1995-2006
– Pulpit Supply – Various churches throughout Alabama, Florida, Idaho and Oregon
– Instructor at TVB Bible Institute, 1999 to 2013 (classes detailed below)
– Director, Reformers Unanimous Addiction Recovery program – 2005 to 2013
– Member, Mayors Anti-Drug Coalition, Meridian, ID – 2005 to 2013
– Assistant Pastor, TVBC, 2006 to 2013 (responsibilities detailed page 2)
– Board-member, chaplain, Idaho Peace Officer’s Memorial – 2007 to 2013
My TVBC Assistant Pastor Responsibilities:
– Teaching/ Preaching as required by Pastor
– Weddings and Funerals
– Counseling (marriage, addiction, depression, discipleship, etc.)
– Baptism Coordinator (work with all candidates to verify salvation before baptizing them)
– Sunday School Superintendent/ Junior Church Director
– Bible Institute Administrator and Instructor
– Reformers Unanimous Director, Counselor, RU Sunday School Teacher
– Missions Director
– Facilities Manager
– Construction Manager
– Calendar Scheduling Coordinator
– Event Planner (Missions Conferences, Pastors’ Schools, Retreats, Outdoorsmen’s Feasts)
– Ghost Writer for Pastor (letters, in-church publications, a booklet)
– Bookstore Manager
– Jail/Prison Ministry Oversight
– Open Air Evangelism Director (Street & Park tracting/preaching, Kindness Evangelism)
– Church Graphics, Media, Technology & Webpage Oversight
– Mentorship, and coordinate Pulpit Supply with Bible Institute students
– Platform Ministry Director (coordinate altar workers, prayer rotation, etc.)
– Bus Safety & Maintenance Coordinator
Special Honors and Activities:
– 2001 unanimously voted Pastor, White Pine Baptist Church, Moscow, ID
– Wrote The Pentateuch – A Study Guide for use in our Bible Institute
– Invited to lead Invocation and Benediction for all IPOM events 2007- 2013
– Completed Idaho Department Of Corrections Religious Volunteer Course
– Taught “Technology in the Ministry” class at 2009 TVBC Pastors’ school
– 2009 ghost authored Pastor DeMichele’s booklet Abortion: Come Let Us Reason Together
– 2010 declined invitation to pastor Knight Community Church, Grand View, ID
– Participated in leadership in numerous area-wide anti-drug events
– Lead Benediction at 2011 Right to Life Event at Idaho Capitol Building
– Participated in Safety &Security for Places of Worship class hosted by US Attorney’s Office
– Invited to be 2012 Idaho Senate Chaplain
– Testified before Idaho State Senate regarding disallowing marijuana legalization
References: (more references are available upon request)
– Pastor Tommy Turnbow, 1st Baptist, Webster, TX 77598 ● 281-332-4041 www.firstbaptistwebster.org
– Pastor John Paisley, Riverview Baptist, Pasco WA 99301 ●509-547-2021 www.riverviewbaptist.org
– Pastor Randy Mitchell, Temple Baptist, Statesville NC 28677 ●704-929-3932 www.templebaptistnc.com
– Pastor John Haveman, Open Door Baptist, Missoula MT 59801 ●406-544-7289 www.odbcmissoula.com
– Pastor Tim Peery, Alta Canyon Baptist Church, Sandy, UT 84094 ●801-572-0747 www.altacanyon.org
– Pastor Aaron Gehlken, Central Baptist Church of Orange County, CA 92705 ●714-552-5494 www.centralbaptistoc.com
My Salvation Testimony:
I didn’t grow up in church, but I always believed in a Creator and knew the King James Bible is the Word of God. I just had difficulty with the idea of a personal God, which made it easier to ignore my lost condition throughout my childhood and into my first year of college. I had met Connie (my wife now) at the mall, and we started dating the summer of 1980. Everything was going along as I might have expected it to, when she said to me that she was worried about dying- her boyfriend four years earlier had died at band camp. We solved the angst by going to a church that November that she had attended a little as a child. We went one time, couldn’t tell you a thing about the service, but that soothed our consciences for the time. I had a coworker who witnessed to me at work, but I would try to ignore his testimony.
Connie’s mother had become burdened about her children’s salvation but didn’t know how to lead them to Christ, so she started going to a church where she knew some people. Shortly after the turn of the year, the Pastor announced they were to have a young evangelist in for a week-long meeting, and she asked all three of her children to attend. Connie told me about it and said her mother would like me to come to the meeting with her if I could. In my mind, going to church for someone was a huge favor; the kind of thing that would have you in the advantage for a very long time, and I knew that I wanted to marry Connie, so I told her “ Yeah, we’ll go one night.” Thinking that my future mother-in-law was going to be in my debt for some time to come, we pulled into the little country church about 7 o’clock the evening of January 20th 1981. The evangelist was young, but he opened the Bible to Matthew 11, and began to preach Christ. By the time he was finished I was looking for the door, but we had to stand and sing the invitation hymn; my hands were wringing the back of the pew in front of me, when Rachel (Connie’s mother) reached around her and tapped the back of my hand whispering, “Would you like to go up there?” I never answered her. I grabbed Connie’s hand and we went forward, her two brothers following, and at the altar, all four of us were lead to the Lord by altar workers. We were the first of 12 young people to get saved that night. When I returned to my seat, relieved of the burden of sin, but forever indebted to the lady who I thought would be in my obligation, for her willingness to speak when she did; I realized that I knew nothing of the new life I now possessed. The Lord dealt with me about whether or not I would live for Him or for myself. I vowed that I would continue to live for Him if He would help me, and He has. I immediately began reading the Bible, so that I would know who was telling me the truth and who wasn’t. I told the Lord that I’d lay everything next to the scriptures to measure its veracity, and that has proved to be a valuable method. The church we were saved in wasn’t a Baptist church, by the time we were married that June, the Bible had made us Baptists, not by creed but by conviction of scripture alone. And God had dealt with me about pastoring as well as living for Him.
That September we dropped out of PJC and enrolled in Pensacola Bible Institute to study for the ministry, and further learn the Bible. At the end of my first year we left to help a man plant a Baptist church in Saraland, AL. We returned the next year to continue our studies and graduated in 1986. When not working full-time in the ministry, I have been self-employed as a carpenter/builder, and have strong IT skills.
My Statement of Faith:
I believe in the one true God, manifested in three persons in the Godhead: the Father (whose name is JEHOVAH, the Maker and Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth), the Son (the pre-incarnate Word, true God and true man, our virgin born Redeemer), and the Holy Spirit (our Comforter who convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment); revealed to mankind through the Holy Scriptures, which were given by inspiration and preserved to us in the King James Bible, without error; which show unto us the free way of salvation through Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection, necessary for all men in their lost sinful estate to be justified before God enjoying God’s blessings in Heaven and to avoid eternal damnation in hell. I further believe that our sanctification (a progressive work begun in regeneration and continued through walking daily in the Spirit) is the will of God which will lead to our personal and ecclesiastical separation as we join with fellow believers in a local church (which keeps the two ordinances: adult baptism by immersion and communion) on the Lord’s Day (Sunday) and as often as occasion will allow to: give cheerfully to the support of the Gospel ministry, at home and abroad, to study the scriptures dispensationally, and to be in subjection to the civil authorities ordained by God that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty; as we wait for the pre-millennial, pre-tribulation return of our Lord Jesus Christ for his church.
This Statement of Faith does not exhaust the extent of my faith. The Bible itself is the sole and final source of all that I believe. I do believe, however, that the foregoing Statement of Faith accurately represents the teaching of the Bible.
Positional Statements
– I believe in the bodily resurrection of the just and of the unjust, the everlasting blessedness of the saved (in heaven), and the everlasting punishment of the lost (in hell). John 5:28,29; Acts 24:15; Revelation 22:11
– I believe in the pre-tribulation rapture of the Church (the Body of Christ). Prior to the coming period of tribulation described in Revelation, chapters 6 18, the Lord Jesus Christ will return for His church which will be caught up to meet Him in the clouds. 1st Cor. 15:51, 58; 1st Thess. 4:13, 17
– I believe in the millennial reign of Christ, after the period of tribulation described in Revelation chapters 6-18, the Lord Jesus Christ will return to reign on earth for 1000 years. Rev. ch. 19-20
– I believe that apostolic healing and tongues are not part of God’s program for the present church age. However, we do believe in prayer for the sick in accordance with James 5:14, 15; 1st Corinthians 13:8; 1st Timothy 5:23; 2nd Timothy 4:20
– I believe that human life begins at conception and that the unborn child is a living human being. Abortion constitutes the unjustified, inexcusable taking of unborn human life. Abortion is murder. I reject any teaching that abortions of pregnancies due to rape, incest, birth defects, gender selection, birth or population control, or the mental well-being of the mother are acceptable. Job 3:16; Ps. 51:5; 139:14-16; Isa. 44:24; 49:1,5; Jer. 1:5; 20:15-18; Luke 1:44
– I believe that God has commanded that no intimate sexual activity should be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. I believe that any form of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, bestiality, incest, fornication, adultery, pedophilia, and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s gift of sex.
Gen. 2:24; 19:5; 26:8-9; Lev. 18:1-30; Rom. 1:26-32; 1st Cor. 5:1; 6:9; 1st Thess. 4:1-8; Heb. 13:4