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Biography of David Spakes



This web site contains a scrapbook and condensed biography of David Spakes, Pastor of Spirit and Truth Fellowship of Knoxville and founder of Spirit and Truth Ministries. In most cases, you can click on pictures to see an enlarged photo in a separate window.

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2012

Television Interview, Knoxville, TN

"A few months after I met Gwen Ford, she invited me to be a guest on her weekly television program called I Believe. She highlights unusual ministries on her program, and Spirit and Truth Fellowship of Knoxville seemed made-to-order. The episode that included my interview aired for the first time on Wednesday, Febrary 22 at 7:00 PM on WVLR. This station is channel 48 over-the-air and reaches a fairly wide cable audience in all of the counties surrounding Knox County. I helped Gwen on this a few other occasions by doing some voice-overs for her show, including several Spiritual Moment segments."



Parenting Expo, Knoxville, TN

"On Saturday, Febrary 25, Sheila and I spent the day at the Knoxville Expo Center telling people about Spirit and Truth Fellowship of Knoxville. The event was a Parenting Expo sponsored by local radio station B97.5. Our primary message at this event was the children's church program, called Kid's Place, and also the Kid's Café. We were also announcing a church event called a 'Forgiveness Service' that we were planning around a new Christian movie that was soon to be released in theaters titled October Baby.

Sheila and I started preparing for the Parenting Expo several weeks before the day of the event. We designing print brochures to hand out, ordered pens to give away with the church name on them, and purchased a small quantity of Thirty-One diaper bags for the church to give away in a drawing. We had the bags embroidered with the church name and logo. I also put together two movies, one to show pictures from our past Science Café events, and one to advertise the Kid's Café.

Both of us took the day off work on Friday so we could set up the church's booth at the Expo Center. We arrived early on Friday morning with breakfast in hand. I was excited to learn that I could drive my truck indoors almost right up to our booth to unload. I had never driven around inside a large building before. It was fun! We used a different layout for our booth than anyone else by moving our table to the back of our 10-by-10-foot area and eliminating the separation between us and the passers-by. We laid down rugs that the church bought for the children's programs to help create a warm, inviting area. We put up our signs and got everything ready except my laptop and DVD player that we used to show videos in the booth.

On the day of the event, we had pretty good booth traffic. I enjoy talking with people, so it was an fun day for me that went by quickly. We took pictures with many of the costumed characters roaming the show floor. Richard and Carrie Fischer (some new friends of ours) joined us in the booth for a while, but they also walked the floor to talk with other attendees about their pro-life ministry. At the end of day, the four of us packed up the booth and loaded everything into the truck. When all the work was done, Richard and I spent a few minutes being silly for the camera."



Accompanied Guest Speaker Carrie Fischer, Seymour First Baptist Church, Seymour, TN

"Sheila and I met Richard and Carrie Fischer through Gwen Ford's ministry. On the same day I was in the studio to record the interview for Gwen's television show, Carrie had been there earlier to also record an interview. I was unaware of the Fischer's pro-life ministry when I shared with the production assistant what I knew about the October Baby movie, but she made the connection and introduced us. Shortly after this, we invited the Fischers to participate in the Forgiveness Services we were planning, and they invited us to go with them to an upcoming speaking engagement they had in Seymour.

On the morning of Sunday, March 18, we met the Fischers at the Seymour First Baptist Church. We helped them set up a booth in the foyer area and also worked with the sound booth staff to get Carrie mic'd and Richard's video camera positioned. We also helped them to man the booth and pass out literature before and after the church service. I learned during our time together that Richard had spent many years as a member of a Messianic Christian congregation, and a few weeks after this we got a chance to experience our first Passover Seder with them. In the last picture below, Richard is posing proudly with his Davidic harp.

Before we left the church, Pastor Bruce Yates stopped by the booth and spoke with me. He may have remembered me from the National Day of Prayer service to which we were both invited a few years earlier. He did ask if I was the pastor of a church, and I told him about Spirit and Truth Fellowship of Knoxville and its mission."



Science Café at Ijams Nature Center, Knoxville, TN

"Towards the end of 2011, I read in the newspaper that Ijams Nature Center had lost some government funding, and I felt led to inquire about renting space from them for Science Café events to resume in 2012. Unknown to me, they had previously operated a monthly Science Café event, and they were interested in reducing their commitment but wanted to keep the program going. It seemed to both groups that our goals were a good match for each other, and we began to have our Science Café meetings there in March."



Easter Church Service at Ijams Nature Center, Knoxville, TN

"The first time I met with the staff at Ijams Nature Center to talk about our interest in holding our Science Café meetings there, they raised the possibility that Spirit and Truth Fellowship of Knoxville might also be able to rent space for church services on Sunday mornings. We selected a few dates and rented their meeting room on a trial basis. On Easter Sunday morning, April 8, we held our first church service at the facility. However, even before that date, we felt good enough about this decision that we tentatively agreed to enter into a rental agreement for a weekly church service to begin at the end of May. The church sent out a few thousand mailers to announce the Easter service and other services to follow."



October Baby Forgiveness Services at Ijams Nature Center, Knoxville, TN

"Sheila and I had the opportunity to attend an early screening of the October Baby movie, and since the beginning of the year we had been planning to hold at least one Forgiveness Service to minister to women who were afflicted with guilt from a previous decision to have an abortion. We advertised this event at the Parenting Expo in February even before we had selected a time and location. We ended up offering this special service on two dates, April 29 and May 6, and I preached a two-part sermon series on forgiveness: 'Bound by Anger' and 'Bound by Guilt'. Our singers for these services were Marinda Magoon and Patrice Kalinowski. Richard and Carrie Fischer joined us for both of these services, and Carrie was available to stand in proxy for the discarded baby so a grieving woman could ask her child for forgiveness and be set free from her guilt. At the end of the second service, Carrie prayed a blessing for anyone watching the service on video."



Weekly Church Services at Ijams Nature Center, Knoxville, TN

"On May 27, we began to hold a weekly church service for Spirit and Truth Fellowship of Knoxville at Ijams Nature Center. The service time on Sunday is from 9:30 AM until 11:00 AM. Each week, we have to set up the meeting room for church and tear it down, but this process is relatively easy because the tables, chairs, and sound system are very close to the room, and an Ijams staff member is there to set up the room divider for our Kid's Place area. The ease of this arrangement helps me to know that our meeting here is part of God's plan, a tangible sign of God's opening the door."


Sermons Preached at Spirit and Truth Fellowship of Knoxville (2012)
June
10
2012
9:30 AM
Holy Spirit 01: Have You Heard?     
June
17
2012
9:30 AM
Holy Spirit 02: Trinity     
June
24
2012
9:30 AM
Holy Spirit 03: The Holy Spirit's Mission     
July
1
2012
9:30 AM
The Lord's Supper        
July
8
2012
9:30 AM
Holy Spirit 04: The Fruit of the Spirit     
July
15
2012
9:30 AM
Holy Spirit 05: The Gifts of the Spirit (Part 1)     
July
22
2012
9:30 AM
Holy Spirit 06: The Gifts of the Spirit (Part 2)     
July
29
2012
9:30 AM
Holy Spirit 07: The Holy Spirit Speaks!  
August
5
2012
9:30 AM
Conclusion to The Holy Spirit Series     
August
12
2012
9:30 AM
Brother's Keeper 01: Man's First Question     
September
2
2012
9:30 AM
Brother's Keeper 02: Re: Publican Party        
September
16
2012
9:30 AM
Brother's Keeper 03: Stranger in a Strange Land     
September
23
2012
9:30 AM
Brother's Keeper 04: Abomination     
September
30
2012
9:30 AM
Brother's Keeper 05: The Latest FAD  
October
14
2012
9:30 AM
Brother's Keeper 06: Where Has Benevolence Gone?     


Talk Radio Show Guest, Knoxville, TN

"I was invited to appear as a guest on a morning talk radio show on Joy620 AM WRJZ hosted by Bob Bell. I arrived at the studio about 6:30 AM on Wednesday, August 1 and was joined by three ladies from Deeeper Still Ministries, which provides post-abortion counseling and support. I felt privileged to be introduced to their ministry this way, and I shared with Karen Ellison (the organization's founder) about the October Baby Forgiveness Services we held at the church a few months earlier. We were live on the air from 7:00 AM to 8:00 AM. These pictures were taken after our portion of the program."



"There is One Thing You Lack"

"On many occasions, I have been in service at a Spirit-filled church where the gifts of the Spirit were in operation, and I both witnessed and participated in prophesy and in tongues and interpretation for the edification of others, but never like this. During the morning worship on Sunday, September 30, I was playing guitar and singing at Spirit and Truth Fellowship of Knoxville when the presence of the Holy Spirit came over me strongly. I began to speak in tongues, and behind it was an interpretation directed at me. The Holy Spirit commended my obedience to God's command to continue to hold these church services even though very few people have been coming. I was in tears, speaking and not knowing what words would come out next, listening intently since these words were now for my edification. Then, to my utter astonishment, the words took an unexpected turn: THERE IS ONE THING YOU LACK. My mind raced quickly. What could it be? What I have done wrong? How have I failed God's instruction to me? My heart sank and my head fell in shame as I waited for the Holy Spirit to tell me the fault that was all mine. The next few seconds seems like an eternity. Then, the words began to come forth. WHEN YOU SPEAK NOW, NO ONE LISTENS. BUT THE LORD SHALL FILL YOUR TONGUE. My downcast spirit was suddenly and completely uplifted! God does the most incredible work with such inferior materials, and I am an eager clay ready to be molded by the master potter. His will be done!"



[1980s] [1990s] [2000s] [2010s] [All Years]
[1980] [1981] [1982] [1983] [1985] [1988] [1989]
[1990] [1991] [1992] [1993] [1994] [1995] [1996]
[1997] [1998] [1999] [2000] [2001] [2002] [2003]
[2004] [2005] [2006] [2007] [2008] [2009] [2010]
[2011] [2012]




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