160: Life at Lee Creek with Jared Lincks

Christ’s Kingship and the Necessity of the Local Church

To the Ruled Church Podcast. This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased. He is honored, and I get the glory. And by the way, it's even better, because you see that building in Perryville, Arkansas?

You see that one in Pechote, Mexico? Do you see that one in Tuxla, Guterres, down there in Chiapas? That building has my son's name on it.

The church is not a democracy, it's a monarchy.

Christ is king. You can't be Christian without a local church.

You can't do anything better than to bend your knee and bow your heart, turn from your sin and repentance, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and join up with a good Bible-believing church, and spend your life serving Jesus in a local, visible congregation.

Well, welcome to the Ruled Church Podcast. I am your host, Allen Nelson. I'm one of the pastors at Providence Baptist Church. We are a confessionally-reformed Baptist church, in central Arkansas. I think I joked at your conference, brother, that if you don't know where Perryville is, we're just on the outskirts of Toadstuck.

So it is an actual place, Toadstuck, Arkansas. But Perryville, we're a little less than 1 ,500 people, like 13-something, I think, which is a lot smaller than the population of Van Buren. What's the population of Van Buren?

I believe right around 23 ,000.

23 ,000. So yeah, you're not quite 20 times as big as us, but man, that's big. Well, with me today, you heard his voice, Jared Links. He is the pastor, or I should say one of the pastors, right? Yes. Lee Creek Baptist Church, which is a church that's no stranger to the podcast.

We have had Brother Harold Smith on the podcast before. We've had Brother Joseph Allen on the podcast before, and now we have Brother Jared Links. So no stranger. Your church is no stranger to us. We love Lee Creek Baptist Church.

Grateful for what's going on there. But let's just start out, brother, by you telling us a little bit about yourself.

Yeah, absolutely. Thanks for having me on, brother. Grateful for you and your ministry. Grateful for the work that you're doing here with the podcast as well. I'm grateful to serve at Lee Creek Baptist Church.

I was ordained to the ministry from Lee Creek back in 2023, and spent a few years pastoring at Vesta Baptist Church, just north of Charleston, Arkansas. And I'm grateful for that time, the Lord's kindness through that church body as well.

And with Brother Joseph, as you mentioned, he moved back to Kentucky, his home state last year for pastoral ministry there, providential call of God. And so planted here at Lee Creek, my wife and I last year, almost one year to the date in September, we'll mark the one year mark.

So blessed to be married to my wife, Bethany. We were married in March of last year, and grateful for the grace of the Lord through all of those things. And especially thankful for the hunger of the church for the word of God,.

Where I'm able to serve at the ministry. You know, I didn't tell this to you before, but you saying that, just this question popped to my head, and maybe it'd be helpful to people, but what was it, you know, you were ordained there at Lee Creek.

What was it that moved you to know that like, I believe I'm called to pastor, and then how did that process look with the church?

Yes, called to pastor at Lee Creek, specifically in the transition. No, no, sorry.

I meant you were ordained, right? You were ordained in 23. What was the process to that? Like, when did you know, hey, God's called me to the ministry, and then how did the church affirm that? It'd just be interesting to know.

I think it'd be helpful to others to hear.

Recognizing a Call to Pastoral Ministry

Absolutely, and that's a little bit of a backstory. I was saved by the grace of God at five years old, raised in a Christian home, thankful for the Lord's kindness in those ways. And so from a very young age, I always thought about ministry in a certain sense, but obviously I did not particularly know what that would look like, or how the Lord might move in that direction.

And so as I began to get older and to think and pray about that more, especially early 20s, late 19 years, the Lord began to crystallize that. And so I just started serving at the church that I was a member of at that point.

You know, door-to-door evangelism, college campuses, teaching in Sunday schools, that kind of a thing. And the Lord just really stirred my heart towards the work in ministry. And so I had a pastoral mentor at that time who had connections to a church who was looking for an interim pastor, and they were between pastors.

And the church that I was at had encouraged me towards seminary education. So I was going online at Seminary Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, and the Lord just graciously opened up the door for me to do this interim pastoral work at the same time, which was a huge encouragement and blessing for me to have the education from the seminary, but also the practical experience on the ground at the local church.

The Lord was especially kind in that. So whenever that work finished, I went to Lee Creek Baptist Church, and that was right around the time that Brother Harold was actually transitioning from Lee Creek.

And so he asked me during their transition, before Brother Joseph Allen was there, would you be willing to teach on Wednesday nights? And so I taught there for, I believe it was seven months over the course of that timeframe before Brother Joseph came, and the church was just very encouraging.

And obviously looking back now, being a pastor there now, that was very kind of the Lord to allow that familiarity with the church body. And so then Brother Joseph came on board and served in the life of the church.

Him and I very quickly got to know each other at a deep level, became very fast friends, and he was a huge encouragement to me just really in the initial period of the work of the ministry at that point.

And so Vesta, whenever they moved to call me long-term in the work of the pastor at Lee Creek, ordained me at that point. And there was really an understanding in the church that that was their direction.

I was moving into looking for a pastor at long-term. They were very affirming, very encouraging of that. And so I think that's key is it's a noble task, as Paul says in 1 Timothy 3. A desire for that work is a noble thing, but you also need the affirmation and encouragement of the church to affirm gifting and qualifications and character, and even to give feedback, right?

As you're going through the work of pastoral ministry and preparing for that work and even preaching the word to say, here's what was particularly encouraging, or here's where I think that you could be strengthened in the midst of your preaching.

And so Lee Creek was hugely encouraging for me in all of those ways through that process. Yeah, amen.

That's good. That's good because one thing I like to tell guys is there's an internal and external call, if you will, to ministry. God has to call a man to serve in the role of pastor, but it's not just, you don't just get to stand up and say, hey, God's called me to be a pastor.

There's that external affirmation of the church and it goes, God calls, the church affirms, and it's all, and when it's working right, it's a beautiful symmetry and harmony. And so it's great to hear that about your journey.

Yes, absolutely.

And it really was those two, that internal and external call meeting together. And I would say too, Lee Creek was very encouraging to me in the sense of a body who was affirming that external, that call, but also a church body seeking to hold a deep doctrine, but also love one another.

Well.

The Purpose and Benefits of Local Church Conferences

So it was a wonderful season. Lord was exceptionally kind. Well, this episode's coming out in September. So we're still in August recording, but so by the time people listen to it, I'll say last month, but according to me and you, it was still this month, your church hosted a conference and you graciously extended an invitation for me to preach at it.

And I was very grateful for that and got to meet Blake Boyston, which I'm gonna try to get him on the podcast as well. Great brother. And so we've talked about on the podcast before, I mean, not you and I, but others have talked about, I've talked about the beauty and importance, I think of local church conferences.

So I'm not so much, you know, I don't really have much to say about the G3 stuff. I used to go to G3 and loved it and had a great time. And there was some benefit to that. But I would say that for me, where my heart is in the last couple of years especially is like just seeing more churches host local church conferences free, come to it.

So talk to me a little bit about your heart behind that. You know, it's these kinds of things or they can cost money for the church. So, you know, how did you navigate all that? Why did you do it? Let's just throw that out there and see where that leads.

Right. Yeah, and I would say maybe just as a little bit of context, Lee Creek has a history of really enjoying conferences. Yeah. As a church body and they're both Brother Harold and Brother Joseph's ministries.

They've enjoyed hosting conferences. And so that's been present in the life of the church. So for us, our heart behind it was we want to encourage and edify the local church there at Lee Creek. And then as the Lord would give opportunity, encourage other pastors, encourage other local churches by hopefully providing something that can just give, as you said, free, open to anyone who would like to come deep dives into certain areas on, in this case, a one day conference in the future.

Who knows what the Lord would have if we're able to maybe do a few days or something along that nature. But trying to just give encouragement and biblical truth and also an opportunity. But one of my goals was just to see individuals have an opportunity to fellowship together.

Other pastors have an opportunity who are like-minded, but maybe don't know each other and have an opportunity to get to know each other and have that fellowship as well. Yeah.

Amen. So why did you choose the theme that you chose about the church?

Yeah, I think a couple of things stand out. One, I think there's a great need of recovery of the doctrine of the church. What does the Bible teach about who we're called to be as the church? What does the Bible teach about our central mission in the life of the church and who Christ is the head of church desires for his people to be?

And I think there's a need for a recovery of that doctrine. But also just starting out the first year of pastoral ministry, I think that it's an encouraging foundation for the church here at Lee Creek, for us as a body to be reminded of some of these cornerstone truths.

And so really having that opportunity, the three topics were prayer, the commission of the church, and the soul care of the church. Those are all three pretty foundational areas that are realities that we all need to be reminded of as Christians.

And so trying to get maybe a push towards just urging us to be faithful and encouraging us to be faithful in light of the truth of God's word in those areas.

Amen. I have a little general overview of the Reformation that I have a little alliterated outline that I use. What was the Reformation about? The first point is it's about authority. And that is who has the authority in the church?

And of course, the reformers recovered, didn't invent, but recovered the biblical understanding of authority, which is our final authority is the scriptures alone. So sola scriptura. And then you have the idea, second point, the idea of assurance.

So it's a recovery of the gospel. How is a man right with God? It's not Christ and, it's not the sacramental system of Rome. It's, we're justified by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone to the glory of God alone.

Justification is wrapped up in the personal work of Christ. But then the third point, and I kind of branch out from this is, the third point that I use is assembly. And this is really getting into the second generation reformers.

And that is teaching about the church. And I would argue, now the first generation did a good job too, but I'm really talking about the Baptist. And I think it was Tom Askell. Somebody recently I saw had put a quote up that the greatest contribution that Baptists have brought is a recovery of biblical ecclesiology.

And so I love that. And there's all sorts of things we could talk about with that, elder led and congregational and all these things. But I think it's important, just thinking about your conference. I think it's important that we have a healthy and robust ecclesiology and it's okay to be Baptist.

Amen.

Amen, amen, amen. And yeah, I think that's really what the goal of the conference was, especially maybe in a couple of particular ways. One, I appreciate your session on prayer and especially the George Whitfield quote that you gave at the beginning where he alludes to the reality that whenever God begins the work of revival, he sets his people praying.

And that reminder of our dependency on God for the health of the church, our dependency on God to save souls by the power of the gospel and sanctify in Christ, and that we as a church need to be coming before God in prayer, just such a powerful reminder, but then also part of the healthy ecclesiology being as Blake in his session on the commission of the church alluded to as well, being partnership with sister churches, encouragement of sister churches who are like-minded.

I think that also was part of the heart to see that begin to recover as well.

Yeah, Blake's session on churches strengthening churches is an aspect of the Great Commission that I think a lot of believers don't think about. I think they think about door-to-door evangelism or even street preaching, which is things we do, passing out tracts, this is all beautiful and it's all good.

And, you know, but his emphasis on also churches partnering with churches for edification and help and strength is good. And then of course your session, you know, on the soul care of the church, on really, you know, we preach this at our church too, or one of the things that you brought out, but like really knowing people at the deeper heart level and being able to address one another with the sufficiency of scripture on those deeper heart things.

You know, a lot of people in the church today, church is something, and a lot of people in our state, I'm sure you run into this too, but a lot of people, church is something they go to for maybe an hour, a couple hours a week, but it's not a family that they are plugged into, involved in.

So I don't know if you want to say anything else about your session, but that was, I was edified by that too.

Well, thank you, brother. And I think maybe the only thing I would say is that we need the church. We need the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the encouragement that comes through as people. And for individuals who are members of churches, also for us as pastors, we need the church as well, the accountability and encouragement and edification of the body, so.

Amen, I'm preaching through Acts right now, and I'm in Acts 9, and I'm dealing with Saul's conversion, but immediately after Saul's converted, the Lord sends Ananias to him. And it's just a thought, I mean, now, I'm not tying you into this, but I'm just telling you, what I have come to hold that, I think Ananias, at the very least, he's some sort of spiritual leader in the church, but he's probably, in my opinion, he's probably an elder and pastor.

And it's just a point I'm gonna make when I bring out the text is like, even Paul began his journey with the church. After he's converted, it was like immediately loving Christ's people. And then of course, throughout the rest of his ministry, this isn't controversial or hidden at all, he loves the church.

And yeah, I think that's one thing I've tried to do, particularly the last five or six years is just really, really hammer home on the necessity of the church and that Christ is worthy of a healthy church.

But another thing that I wanted to say about your conference is, and this is an underrated aspect of local church conferences, I think, is the networking and the fellowship and getting to meet. So I got to meet Blake, I got to meet your father-in-law, John Melton, and the whole Melton clan.

Wow, they are quite talented musically, but just that opportunity to get to meet brothers and sisters and just be edified by what God's doing in your guys' life and you and Bethany and all those things.

I just wanna throw that out there.

Yes, yes. Yes, whenever I married into the Melton family, the whole family is musically talented. I just try to turn on Spotify successfully. So, but I'm blessed by their labors in that way.

So it's Yeah, when your wife was playing the piano and then there was that one song, maybe it was in Christ Alone or something, but at some point I looked over there and your sister-in-law was playing piano and your wife was playing the violin.

Yes, yes, yes, absolutely.

Pastoral Care and the Church as a Spiritual Family

So another great encouragement of churches being able to have conferences is that networking. Let me ask you this, just strategically, practically, how long did it take you guys to plan, to say, okay, to budget, all that sort of stuff?

Because you guys fed us, you guys gave very generous honorarium. Like what did that planning process look like? How long did it take?

We would have started planning for that around November or December of last year. And by that, I mean, not that we were steadily working on the conference for that long, but in a huge way, but just little chunks.

And so we have our annual budget planning meeting in December where myself and Nicole, they're in the deacons at the church and looked over that and fought through that. And then the congregation approves it.

So we would include the conference line budget in that process. And then just steadily began working on that over the course of basically, I would say February through August, especially. So just trying to work ahead and figure out what books do we want to give away, lining up speakers and song leading and things of that nature as well.

And for this conference, obviously you and then Pastor Blake were both hugely encouraging, not only to Lee Creek, but also to myself in the midst of the pastoral transition. And so we wanted to bring both of you in to speak at the conference, which I think was very encouraging for the body.

So I tried to view it as taking small, small chunks towards that preparation process over that time period.

Amen, that's great. So what excites you? What do you encourage about as you look forward? I mean, here we are in fall of 2026. By the time this episode comes out, you'll have been there basically exactly one year.

So now you're rolling into your second year. What's encouraging? What's exciting as you look to the future of Lee Creek Baptist Church?

That's a great question. And I just, I love the hunger of the church for the word. I think that's the central encouraging reality is there's a genuine, sincere hunger for the word over the level of public ministry of the word and private ministry of the word also.

And that really leads to a genuine love for one another. And it's been encouraging to see the church's desire to want to know more of Christ and the scripture, but also just to enjoy fellowshipping together and to want to spend more time with one another.

And here recently, we've actually started as a church body doing evangelism at a local nursing home. It's roughly, I think, eight minutes from our church. So it's pretty close in that way. And just seeing people really be committed to that from the church body and enjoying serving one another and not only kind of maybe a shorter service of song leading and then sharing the gospel, but also afterward staying for extended times to visit with individuals and serve in that way together.

That kind of a hunger to seek to care for others being driven by a genuine desire for the scripture. That's very encouraging and very encouraging in the work of ministry and whenever you are really able to partner with the local church in that way.

And you see, as Paul says in Ephesians, the saints doing the work of the ministry. That's the goal of what we're streaming for.

Amen, yeah, that is encouraging. Brother, what are you preaching through right now?

Preaching Through 2 Thessalonians and 1 Corinthians

We are finishing up the book of 2 Thessalonians on Sunday mornings and then working through 1 Corinthians on Wednesday nights.

Yeah, that's good. Now, how about Brother Dusty Devers? Does he, how often does, how does that work? How's your guys' relationship work with him preaching or teaching?

Yes, Brother Bob, he teaches a Why did I say Dusty Devers?

I understand, same last name. Yeah, Bob Devers.

He teaches Sunday school. Every Sunday morning, he teaches a Sunday school class. And so they're, I believe, just finishing up the book of Joshua and they are getting ready to walk through some teaching of the Lord's Supper, I think, after that.

So that's an encouragement to our body. And we seek to meet up every month and talk through, you know, maybe things going on in the church. And we have a couple of brothers as well in the church body who can teach and preach in different capacities.

So that's something that I'm thankful for is our church body has that presence.

Amen, yeah, yeah. Well, it's been a joy talking to you today, Brother, and it's a joy hearing that Lee Creek is in a healthy position on a healthy trajectory, you know. And we say it a lot that Christ is worthy of a healthy church, but we're not, you know, that's, we want it to be more than just a slogan, you know.

I mean, a catchy little slogan, like we really, we want to help each other. We want to help Lee Creek. We want Lee Creek to help us. We want our churches to help other churches. And you've got churches around you that are in a good place.

And so, yeah, I just, I love it. I know that we're not in any kind of formal association. I think that's probably kind of overplayed sometimes. I'm not saying it's wrong. I'm just saying, you know, sometimes we feel like we have to be in a formal association to be able to help one another, but that's not true at all.

I mean, because Providence Baptist Church of Perryville has the same goals that you guys have at Lee Creek. You want Christ to be honored, your membership to be edified and growing. You want your church shepherded well.

You want Christ to be exalted. I want the 23 ,000 people in Van Buren, Arkansas, to bow the knee to our Lord Jesus Christ, to repent and believe the gospel. And so I'm thankful that there's a gospel light right there in Van Buren.

And I know Lee Creek's not the only one, but in that area, there are faithful churches proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ. Yes, yes.

Amen, amen. And it's a blessing to see God's providence every day and the upbuilding of his people and using them for sharing the gospel.

Yeah, amen. So anything else you want to say before we wrap it up here? I don't think so, brother. Just grateful for your work here.

And grateful for your heart for the church. And this podcast has been an encouraging platform for me as a pastor in the state of Arkansas, listening to it. And I love, like you said, that phrase of Christ is worthy of a healthy church.

And that's just, it's an encouraging reality. And as a pastoral mentor of mine says, don't give up, don't give out, don't give in. And so just keep pressing onto that word.

Amen, amen. So I'll just go say you and your wife's name again is Jared and Bethany Links. And they're at Lee Creek Baptist Church. He is one of the elders at Lee Creek Baptist Church in Van Buren, Arkansas.

So if you have someone looking for a church in the Van Buren or Fort Smith area of the state, and you can, what's, I guess, the website?

Yes, yes, LeeCreekBaptistChurch .com.

LeeCreekBaptistChurch .com. Well, pray for Jared, pray for Bob. You can pray for Dusty Devers too, but you could pray for Jared and Bob there, pray for the church, pray for Jared and his wife, Bethany.

And so, so grateful that we've made a friendship and a connection and Lord's providence is just so kind. It's so kind. And so I'm grateful to know your brother and I just encourage you to press on. And I wanna thank you for encouraging me.

Yeah, absolutely. Thank you, brother. Amen, well, thank you guys for joining us on this episode of the Rural Church Podcast. Look forward to catching up next week.

The Church as God’s Masterpiece

If you really believe the church is the building, the church is the house, the church is what God's doing. This is his work. If we really believe what Ephesians says, we are the poemos, the masterpiece of God.

How are you gonna respond?