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First Person is produced in cooperation with the Far East Broadcasting Company, who rejoice in the stories of changed lives through the power of Jesus Christ. Learn more at febc.org. I may have blindness, but blindness does not have me. My role as a pastor and Bible teacher is to help people see God's will for their lives. What an odd assignment for a blind pastor, wouldn't you say?
Welcome to First Person. I'm Wayne Shepherd, and this week you'll meet a pastor who serves his church under unique circumstances. You'll meet Chad Roberts in a few minutes. Each week we try to bring you a personal story of how God works in a person's life, using their life and testimony for the benefit of God's kingdom. I've said it many times, you will recognize some of the names of the people we talk with, but many times they're not well-known names, just people whom God is using in some unique way.
To become more familiar with First Person, please visit FirstPersonInterview.com, where you can also listen to scores of past interviews. We also have a free smartphone app for that purpose called First Person Interview, easily found in your app store. And a special word of thanks to the Far East Broadcasting Company for making First Person possible. Visit febc.org. Now, if you were listening carefully at the outset, you heard Chad Roberts explain what's unique about his calling as a pastor.
But let's hear more from Chad himself as he tells his story. Well, I am a pastor who planted a church in 2001. And of course, it was all uphill. It was that great missionary, Hudson Taylor, who once said there were three stages to God's work that he found. The first stage is
is that it's impossible. The second stage is that it's difficult. And then the third stage, it's done. I like that. I already do. But, you know, church planting, we started from scratch with nothing. We started with less than 10 people, two of which were my parents. So really, I think seven, if you include me and my parents. And
We didn't have anything. It was all uphill. But, you know, all through these years, God has been so faithful to us. He's helped us every twist, every turn. But about five years ago, the
The most unexpected thing happened to me. I was in my late 30s. I had went to train pastors in Central America. We had hiked a very large mountain to the top of a Christian radio tower. And when I got to the top of that tower, blood vessels burst behind my left eye. And that began a process that left me five years ago permanently blind in both eyes.
So you are completely blind, correct?
Yes. It was about a 15-month journey from the time I lost sight in my left eye. I had two failed surgeries. And in the last surgery, the surgeon accidentally tore my retina, which left me immediately blind. And then I had the same breakdown. They say, the eye doctors tell me often what happens in one eye can easily jump to the other. And so when I began having the same breakdown in the right eye,
I went completely blind about 15 months later. But you've been a pastor for some 20 years before this happened, correct? Yes. Yes. So did this set you back? Did you think, well, my, my, my life as a pastor is over? Well, I certainly had a lot of questions and, you know, the church that I pastor, it really was beginning to, to grow, uh,
beyond anything that we had had in previous years. And I think a lot of people questioned, you know, can he go on? How was I going to study? How was I going to prepare? How was I going to preach without a Bible? But the most interesting thing happened. The year that I had this happen was 2017, and I was in my late 30s. And that previous year,
And that January, I knew the Lord was telling me, I want this to be a complete different year. I want a blank page. And the Lord said, I want you to go through the book of Acts, and I want you to take your time. It ended up being a two-year journey for us through the book of Acts. But about six weeks into Acts, I always took time.
a great deal of notes with me to the pulpit, Holy Spirit began to tell me, preach with no notes going forward. This is before your accident. Yes, I had no idea I was going to go blind. No idea. And the Lord said, stop preaching with notes. Study as you always study.
but lean on me. And I had no idea. So, you know, it would have been from January 17 until November 18 that I was completely blind. And all that time, the Lord was preparing me. And, you know, I look back at it now and it's just part of God's grace. Yeah, of course. We've only met on one occasion and it was a brief encounter, but you seem like such a positive person now.
Be honest, though, did it set you back when all this happened? I mean, it was so bizarre that you would go blind like that.
You know, I look back now when it did first happen and I did withdraw more than I think what I realized. I very much, you know, after I would speak, I would go straight to another room and not want to talk to people. Oh, to go to a restaurant, to walk through a restaurant and know every eye is on you because...
They can tell that you're blind. You know, when I first went blind, if I went to a restaurant, I would spill my drinks or I would, you know, drop my food or just embarrassing things. And I tell you, Wayne, when two years ago, I preached through the entire book of Mark. And when we would come to encounters like the man with the withered hand.
When Jesus told him to stretch forth that hand, I just imagine in my mind that he kept that hidden tucked within his robe. He didn't want people to see it. The man that they lowered down from the roof, you remember that story? I can't imagine his objections because it's embarrassing when you have a handicap. It's embarrassing when you know all eyes are on you. It gave me a completely different perspective to the people in the scriptures. Right.
Well, it's obvious that your blindness does not define you, and I want to talk more about how you cope with what some people would call a disability. Do you call it a disability? No, not at all. I didn't think you would. People ask me often why I don't use a cane or why I don't wear the dark sunglasses. I tell people I don't feel like a blind man. I don't live like I'm blind. Mm-hmm.
We'll talk more about how you live life as a pastor without your eyesight in a few moments. But as I said, you're not defined by your blindness. You have a story that predates what happened to you there. Tell me, when did you become a believer and how did the Lord get a hold of you in the first place, Chad?
Well, my story, obviously, you know, I was raised in all of this, but now, obviously, my mom, like so many others, oh, I had a praying mom. My mom didn't know anything of God until she was 23.
She was never taken to church. I remember one time preaching on, say it was Daniel of the Lion's Den, a familiar story. And I said, I know everybody knows this story. And after church, she said, Chad, don't ever say that. She said, I was 23 years old and had never heard that story when I first got saved. Don't ever assume.
And she was so lost. Her story, we did a great recording with her called Rescued. She was so lost and the way the Lord rescued her was unbelievable.
And so my dad was not a Christian. My mom was completely transformed by the gospel. So I grew up in a very divided and a very volatile home environment. My dad didn't become a Christian until the last 15 years of his life. But my mom, from the age of 23, walked with God. And she raised me. I can remember walking into rooms.
And she would be on her knees weeping before the Lord. I can remember going to the grocery store as a little boy, and she would pray with me that God would make our money stretch and that God would help us to find deals. I just grew up in an environment of prayer, and it's all that I really ever knew. And so, yeah, God captured my heart when I was very young. Yeah, but you had to make a decision, didn't you?
Yes. Oh, yes. No, I felt the Lord drawing me. I felt conviction of sin, even as a boy, that I knew I needed the Lord. I understand you took a mission trip as a young man, and that really shaped your life, too. That was certainly a defining moment. My family had a lifelong friend who, when communism fell in 89, he left around 90, 91. He quit his job and became a full-time missionary.
And when I was only 12, which would have been the summer of 93, he came to my parents and he said, I want Chad for the summer with me in Eastern Europe. And they said no.
no way, not till he's 18. God dealt with him and God orchestrated some wonderful events and they released me to go. And I went the summers that I was 12 and then I was 13 and he took me everywhere, Ukraine, Hungary, Romania, Germany, all over those places. And it just really defined my life. Yeah. It was an exhilarating time for the gospel in those countries, wasn't it?
Oh, yes. I can remember meeting pastors over there who very much suffered under communism, being 12 and 13 years old and hearing their stories. I remember going to one church in North Romania where literally there were more people outside the church listening to speakers than what there could fit inside the church. It marked me forever. Yeah.
So as a young teenager, you had that experience. Did you preach in those situations? Did you come home and begin preaching at that young age?
Well, you know, again, it's really interesting the way the Lord orchestrated it. What would happen, I didn't preach per se, but what would happen is churches found out about it. So, you know, a lot of churches did like youth Sundays, or they would have me come speak to their youth groups. And then what happened is that began to grow, those invitations grew. And I think, yeah,
From the time I was 12 until I finished high school, I actually spoke in over 200 churches through those years. There's a lot more to Chad Roberts' story, and we'll get to it next as you stay with us for this edition of First Person.
Hi, I'm Ed Cannon. And as you know, situations around the world are changing quickly. Stay current with FEBC's ministry and get a deeper understanding of people who need to find hope. Hear how you can feel the pulse of God's Spirit moving through the hearts of believers dedicated to reaching the lost. Be sure you join me for the podcast until all have heard. Discover how the gospel is making a difference around the world.
Search for Until All Have Heard on your favorite podcast platform or hear it online at febc.org. My guest is Chad Roberts. Chad is a pastor. He is the pastor of Preaching Christ Church. Where is the church located, Chad? It is in Kingsport, Tennessee, which is just a little outside the Smoky Mountains. Beautiful part of the country. And you said earlier that you planted that church way back in the early 2000s, 2001, was it?
Yes, that's right. You were only 20 years old when that happened. 20 years old. Didn't know anything. And you were single, right? Oh, yes. Yes. I told the Lord. I said, God, I knew he was telling me to plant the church. And I said, Lord, I'm not married and I don't know what I'm doing. No one is going to come. And turns out I was right about that for several years. I like to remind the Lord I was right. No one came. But that singleness didn't last forever.
No, no. The Lord sent me a wonderful wife. How did you meet Sadie? Well, her parents began coming to my church, and she was away at college. And they kept telling her, hey, our pastor is single. And she kept saying, no, thank you. I don't see myself with a pastor. And then she came, and we met each other. And I would say we dated.
We dated just right at a year before we were married. I laugh now and tell people, you know, after I met her, I had to get a restraining order. It got very awkward, but no, I kid. We have a great time. And I should mention also that you are a radio pastor. Your program is on in Knoxville, Tennessee. Is it on the single station there?
No, we're actually, when it comes to radio, we're in San Diego, we're in Tyler, Longview, and Cincinnati, and we're looking at a couple more right now. We're getting ready to pick up. But then, of course, we do a great deal of broadcasting on OnePlace, Prey.com, several digital things. Okay, well, we'll put some links in our program notes so listeners can tune you in and check that out. What's the name of the program?
awakened to grace with chad roberts awakened to grace all right well let's get back to this unique circumstance in which you serve christ you became blind as an adult so you lost your sight which means that you know what eyesight was at one time and have that had that experience and then that tragic instance of the burst blood vessels then the
The medical procedure that didn't go right and it led to your total blindness. Talk to me about how you are accepted as a pastor with the loss of your eyesight. One of the things that surprised me the most is how many people with other disabilities came up to me and would say, Pastor Chad, I'm so sorry for what has happened to you, but I can't tell you how much more I relate with you. I wasn't prepared for that.
I remember talking very transparently about my struggles when I first went blind of even going out to eat and how embarrassed I felt. And I remember a lady in my congregation, she has some type of genetic disease where muscles did not form right around her mouth and she has trouble eating. And she talked about, and just multiple have come up to me and said, I relate. And I was prepared for that. Yeah.
I can see how that would cause you to be much more empathetic with other people. Is that one way in which you were changed through this circumstance of blindness? It is. I think that all of us, to some degree, we judge others, right? Judge appearance and so forth and tone, body language, etc.
I'm amazed how much of that has lifted when you're blind. You pay attention. I never paid so much attention to the tone with which people speak. Now I do because, you know, you can't see their facial expressions. You can't see their body language, but the tone, very interesting. And I wasn't ready for that. Are people uncomfortable talking with you?
Yes and no. Sometimes people will say, you know, I've never really had a conversation with a blind person. And when I look back over my own life, I had never sat down with someone who was completely blind before.
But, you know, I find it very interesting. I do an enormous amount of counseling as a pastor. Do you? People really, they tell me, you're comfortable to talk to in counseling situations. So I think it kind of goes both ways. Yeah. Well, give us some insight on how you function as a pastor and your study habits and your study tools that you have. You mentioned the Lord led you to start preaching without notes before you became blind, but-
Give me some insight in how you prepare these sermons, Jedd.
Well, you know, anyone who's listening who has been a church planter will most certainly identify with this statement. You work so hard as a church planter. And I did my absolute best to grow this church. And I'm amazed it did not really take off until I went blind. It was like the Lord said, all right, now you have your hands off of it. Now I can really do what I want. And the church has grown.
grown exponentially in every way in our faith in our in our in our spiritual maturity and of course even numerically it's grown in every single way but probably the greatest is within our staff our leadership and our staff is among the best that i have ever seen and i
That is the greatest advantage that I have in my position today. Now, when it comes to studying, I had to shift. I was always very much an avid reader. I even owned a Christian bookstore at one point in my 20s. I've always loved books. But-
I had to shift to audio books. And that's where I become so familiar with your voice. I've listened to so many audio books now. And so I do find commentaries and I do find things like that, that, you know, I preach in an exposition style.
And so I love to preach through books of the Bible. So I very much am dependent upon devices. You know, I'm very dependent on Alexa, Google, things like that. What I do is within my Alexa device, I treat it like a file, like a file drawer. I'll create a sermon list.
Everything I learn, all the insights I feel like the Lord's giving me, I put it all in those lists. And then I have a list called Sunday, and then I build my sermons from there. And where I do preach, word for word,
Phrase for phrase, line upon line, precept upon precept, I just go verse by verse. You tell the story when you were a young pastor starting that church, Preaching Christ Church, that an older woman encouraged you. Can you tell me that story? It was the most humbling Sunday that I've ever experienced.
We rented a banquet room as our first church. And so they had a wedding party the night before that Saturday night. And to say that that hotel had a great, had a cleaning staff would even be an overstatement. And I knew it'd be on me to get the place situated for church that next Sunday morning. Well, the wedding party stayed. Oh, gosh.
I think it was till 2 a.m. Oh, wow. I tried to go in there to clean it for the next morning service. They had stomped cake into the carpet, beer bottles everywhere, alcohol everywhere. There was no way we were going to have church. That morning, rather than canceling, that morning we chose to have church in their abandoned kitchen.
And I probably set up 12, 15 chairs and I have never felt more like a failure. I've never felt more inadequate than having a Sunday morning service in an old, dirty hotel, abandoned kitchen.
And there was a little lady who is a founding member. She's gone on to be with the Lord. Her name was Betty Hawkins. She wrote me a letter that week. She could see my discouragement. And she said, Chad, long before God grows the branches of this church, he's going to grow the roots first.
Don't get discouraged. And she said, if we had our choice, if our family could have chosen to hear the most wonderful choirs this morning or to be in the most comfortable pews this morning, she said our family would have chose to been here with you at Preaching Christ Church. What a great encouragement that must have been to you. I still have the letter to this day.
Chad, before we leave, I have to ask you about Scripture. I know how precious it is to you. There must be passages that just come alive to you because of the circumstances that you serve Christ in. But what would you share with us today from Scripture? Well, 2 Corinthians 12, 7, I think of often. When Paul said, I've been given a thorn in the flesh.
That really came alive to me when I suffered blindness. I think often about Hudson Taylor's quote. He said, if God leads me into the most difficult of circumstances, I need the grace of God. And should God lead me into the most luxurious circumstances where it's comfortable, I still need the same grace of God.
So Hudson Taylor said, the will of God then is more of a matter for God to consider than for me. Because either way, I live by the same grace of God. And when Paul said he had been given a thorn as though it were a gift,
He said, no, God's grace is sufficient for me. I knew in my mind God's grace would be sufficient going into blindness. I just never knew how real. I never knew the depths. I never knew the reality of what God's grace, the sufficiency really was until I went blind. And he hasn't failed me one day, not one moment.
What a remarkable statement. Our guest has been Pastor Chad Roberts, who, although totally blind, doesn't let that slow him down in serving Christ. He's pastor of Preaching Christ Church in Kingsport, Tennessee, and the host of the radio show Awakened to Grace. We'll put links to his ministry in our program notes at FirstPersonInterview.com.
If you happen to join us late today or want to share what you've heard with someone else, please visit FirstPersonInterview.com and click the red Listen button. Or use our smartphone app, First Person Interview, and download any interview in our archive, including today's, and listen at your convenience in the car or at home.
First Person would not be possible without the support of the Far East Broadcasting Company, and FEBC has many stories of their own to tell of God at work in the world through radio and new media sources. Check out the website febc.org and follow the exciting developments. febc.org Now, with thanks to my friend and producer Joe Carlson, I'm Wayne Shepherd. Join us next time for First Person.