Charles Huckaby
About Pastor Charles
Ramah Baptist Church called Charles Huckaby as Lead Pastor on November 15, 2020. His first Sunday in that position was December 6, 2020.
Pastor Charles is originally from Mississippi. There he met and married his bride Lyndsey in May 2011. They have three children, Andrew, Clara, and Lucy.
Prior to coming to Ramah, Charles studied and worked at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. There he completed his Master of Divinity degree in May 2020.
Pastor Charles's testimony
I repented of my sins and trusted Jesus Christ alone for salvation when I was 12 years old. I was raised in a Christian home and taught the gospel at a young age. Yet even as a child, I pridefully did not want to actually admit I was a sinner. WhenI was 9, I walked the aisle and said what I knew I was supposed to say and was baptized, but my heart did not change. For the next three years, I struggled with the call to repentance. I did not want to stand before people who always told me what a good boy I was and have to admit that I was not good. I knew I needed Christ and was not genuinely converted, but my pride kept me from truly trusting Christ.
On February 16, 2003, our church began holding a week of revival services. That Sunday morning, God gripped my heart and the weight of my sin overcame my fear of man. I do not remember at all what that preacher said, but I remember weeping there in the pew. I went home and yielded to Christ in prayer. That evening I went forward and told the congregation what had happened in my life. I found out that God was working mightily in our church. Several others came forward that evening with similar testimonies. By the end of the week of services, the front of the church was filled from left to right by those with new faith in Christ. There were times in the subsequent years that I doubted my salvation, but that was generally correlated with seasons of sin and rebellion against God’s will. I came to understand that wasn’t conviction over salvation but conviction over sin. I praise God that he has never let me sin without conviction that drew me back to Him. As years have passed and the Spirit has continued to conform me to the image of the Son, I am persuaded with no doubt that I can look back to that February Sunday as the day I trusted God for salvation.
Pastor Charles's Call to Ministry
God allowed me to work at Southwestern Seminary before he called me into the
ministry. We moved to Fort Worth, Texas, in July 2014 in order for Lyndsey to attend
Southwestern. We had both graduated with our respective degrees from the University
of Mississippi in May. In previous months God had moved upon Lyndsey’s heart and
confirmed in mine that his plan was for us to move to Fort Worth. I believed God had
led me to law school and wanted me to serve Him as a lawyer however He asked. With
God calling Lyndsey to seminary, I was confident I could become licensed as an
attorney in Texas just as easily I could in Mississippi. God had different plans.
I took the Texas Bar Exam at the end of July and began awaiting the results
which would not arrive until November. I sought employment in the legal field but
could find none. God almost humorously opened up a job for me at the seminary
library; I had previously worked at the law library during law school. Due to my job on
campus, I was required to go to chapel at least once a week, but because of the nature of
my specific task in the library, I had the privilege of going all three days each week
during the semester. In hindsight, I can see that God was already preparing my heart
for His calling me into ministry. Sermons were often directed to young “preacher boys”
but I never dismissed this information as if it did not apply to me. My coworkers did.
They knew they were not called into the pastorate. I wasn’t so sure about myself.
I failed the bar exam that first time and assumed I need to simply buckle down
and work harder. I took the exam the following February and received better but still
failing results that May in 2015. I took the exam again in July and began the wait until
November. Throughout this season God increased my passion for his local church and
decreased my passion for the practice of law. I began taking classes at Southwestern
because they were strongly discounted for me as a seminary employee. I expected to be
a godly lawyer who taught Sunday School and served my church faithfully. Legal
issues still interested me, but I found that my mind often wandered to ministry. On
November 5, 2015, a professor preached in chapel from 2 Timothy 2:1–7 about
“Surrendering to the Cost.” That evening I received my third failing grade on the Texas
Bar Exam. Each attempt had grown closer with this attempt being only one percentage
point away from passing. I was confused. Was God calling me into ministry or was I
giving up on the hard task before me? I did not want there to be any doubt in mind.
I began preparing for the February exam which was proctored only in Austin at that time.
On Monday night, February 22, 2016, I sat on the couch in our hotel suite with stacks of
papers I had not studied and I could not muster the smallest concern about the test. My
desire to practice law was gone. I pulled out a copy of a booklet the seminary
distributed entitled “Calling Out the Called.” As I read through these essays on my
Kindle, God confirmed in my heart that He was indeed calling me into a lifetime of
vocational service. I believed then and believe now that service is primarily as the
pastor of a local church. I went in and gently woke Lyndsey and told her what I
believed God was saying to me. She sleepily answered something along the lines, “I
wondered when you were going to figure that out.” We prayed together and went to
sleep. The next day, I did not take the test. I have never looked back. I am convinced of
God’s internal call upon my life. Thankfully, others have agreed and affirmed the gifts
they say they see in me as well, including the wonderful saints of Ramah Baptist Church.