Pastor's Page
Name:
Philip Blankenship
Born:
Greenville, SC
Wife:
Mikki
Children:
Seth & Abi
Education: College -
North Greenville University
Seminary - Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
The above information tells general things that
you can learn about me in a minute. To see what God can do with a stinkin
thinkin
sinner like me . . . please take another minute and read my testimony as
shown in this newspaper article:
From
jail to joy, experience changes man's life
By
Nancy Parsons, Courtesy of “The Great Falls Reporter”
Story
posted May 03, 2002 - 11:00:00 EDT
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The Rev. Philip Blankenship has been
accused of picking up strays or outcasts.
The pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist Church, however, takes no offense in the
accusation. That's because, he says, he too has lived life as an outcast.
Blankenship grew up in Greenville and said
his parents were both well-respected in the community and dedicated Christians.
The eldest of three children, Blankenship has a brother who is 10 years younger
and a sister four years younger than himself.
"They were both good students and did well," Blankenship said.
"But I was like the black sheep of my family. It started in high school. I
liked both sides of the fence. I liked to hang out with the good students and
also with the rebellious crowd."
As a teenager, Blankenship said he began to experiment with alcohol and
marijuana. For 15 years, he said he was on a quest to satisfy the longings of
his heart with worldly things.
Searching for an answer
"I was looking for something that made a difference," he said.
"But over the 15-year period, I was on a downward spiral. I began drinking
heavy and my use of cocaine had spiraled to crack cocaine."
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By
the time he was 30, Blankenship was living out of his car. "I didn't even
have shoes to wear," he said.
Both Blankenship and his girlfriend, he said, were
using crack cocaine on a daily basis and would do whatever necessary to obtain
money to buy their drugs.
"At night, we'd go through neighborhoods, check
for unlocked cars and take change from the consoles. And we stole a lot of
cigarettes from grocery stores. We were desperate. It's a desperate
lifestyle," he explained.
Once the couple pooled $20 or $40, they would make
their drug purchase, he said.
"It's an unsatisfiable hunger and you do what is
necessary to get your drugs. My life was on a spiral downward and I had come to
a place in my life I was destitute and hooked on crack cocaine."
One night, after making a drug purchase,
Blankenship's life took an abrupt turn. Looking in the rear view mirror of his
car, Blankenship saw the blue light of a police car behind him. Desperate to
hide his purchase, the drug addict stuck the crack rock into his mouth. His ploy
to hide the drug, however, did not work.
The South Florida police officer, Blankenship said,
stuck a gun to his head, reached inside his mouth and removed the crack rock. He
was on his way to jail.
Behind
bars
"I called my friends and I called my
parents," Blankenship said. "But they couldn't get me out. So here I
was in jail. I had no money, no friends, no hope and a lot of fear. That's where
I was."
Life behind bars, he said, was a life-changing
experience. Being on lock-down for nearly 24-hours a day with other prisoners
was not only demoralizing, but made him feel like an animal, Blankenship said.
The 30-year-old man, just three weeks into his jail
sentence, said he remembered how he would turn to God when he faced trouble in
times past. "So, I began to read God's word and my mom would send me cards
with scriptures written inside," he said.
One particular scripture, Ephesians 2:1-10, he said,
was written on a note from his mother. "I knew the scripture described me.
I had followed the desires of my heart," he said.
Sitting in the darkness of his county jail cell,
Blankenship said he bowed his head and began to pray. "It was if my heart
was covered with red clay mud and was hard," he said. "But my heart
broke out and it changed me on the inside. I haven't been the same since."
Seventy-five days after he was incarcerated,
Blankenship pled no contest to the drug charge. The judge withheld judication
and the inmate was freed from jail, allowed to leave Florida and return to South
Carolina where he was placed on probation for two years.
Home again
Returning to his parents' home, Blankenship said, was
not easy. He had no job and his pride was totally broken. "I just stayed
home and prayed," he said. As part of his court ordered community service,
the ex-prisoner taught literacy.
"Still, there was something wrong with me,"
he said. "I knew God had something for me to do."
People, he said, suggested he become a preacher. But
preaching, he decided, was not in his plans. "I didn't want to be a
preacher," he said. "But I'd serve as a deacon. That was it."
Unable to sleep one night, Blankenship said he went
to his mother and told her something was wrong. "She told me to go back and
pray," he said. "I told the Lord that if He would show me what He
wanted me to do, I'd do it."
The prayerful man said he reached for his Bible and
opened to John 1:43, "...finding Philip, Jesus said, follow me.'"
"I cried," he said. "It was if a
weight had been lifted off my heart."
The next step
Blankenship said he was called to serve as a church
youth minister and began his undergraduate studies at North Greenville College
in 1997. Working his way through school and serving as an interim pastor,
Blankenship, four years later, was awarded a master of divinity degree from the
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky.
"Nobody ever thought I'd make it," the
pastor said. "But I know where He's brought me from. He can do impossible
things. Obviously, He's done it for me.
"I'm just like an old stray, except God found
me," said Blankenship, now 40, tears filling his eyes. "We all have
desperate hearts and are looking for the same answer. It's through Jesus.
"There's one thing we all have in common. God
made us all. Christ saves. He gives hope to the hopeless, life to the lifeless
and joy to the joyless."
First pastorate
Blankenship married his wife, Mikki, a fifth grade
teacher at Chester Park, on April 7, 2001. The couple were called to the
pastorate of Mt. Zion on Dec. 30, 2001. The pastor said his desire is no longer
for drugs or worldly things, but to be a part of the community and a servant of
God. His ministry, he said, is based on the word of God.
"I know that I'm not all that. I ain't nothing
but a crackhead touched by God's grace. He picked me up when nobody else would
talk to me and I'll remain faithful to Him," the minister said.
Blaney Newsletter
In my monthly article for the Blaney Newsletter, I endeavor to encourage, motivate and to inspire you to grow in your relationship with Jesus. If you would like to read this article, please click here for the link.
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