425 | Steward Their Speed, The Battle for Your Head, and Fathering from Strength Not Wounds (Tim Timberlake) PART 2
Episode Description
Every king who takes over a territory changes the language first — because language shapes culture. In Part 2 of this conversation with Pastor Tim Timberlake, you'll hear why the words you speak over your kids are literally forming their world. Plus, Tim gets real about grief, the little deaths that come with every new season of your child's life, and why the only way to be a great father is to remain a son of God first.
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Tim Timberlake is the Senior Pastor of Celebration Church in Jacksonville, Florida, and Christian Faith Center in Creedmoor, North Carolina. He’s the bestselling author of The Power of 1440 and The Art of Overcoming. Tim is a gifted communicator, thought leader, and sought-after speaker known for blending biblical truth with real-life wisdom. He and his wife, Jennifer, are the proud parents of their son, Maxwell. Tim’s father, the late Bishop Mack Timberlake, continues to shape his legacy as a father and pastor to this day.
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Language shapes culture — what you speak over your kids is forming their world, for better or worse.
Boundaries aren't restrictions; they're what make the game worth playing. Your kids thrive within them.
You won't "get over" the loss of a loved one, but you will grow stronger — and you'll remember more, not less.
Every new season of your child's life requires mourning who they were so you can fully enjoy who they are.
Don't father from your wounds. Father from your scars.
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21 Day Prayer Team - surrounding the DADAWESOME book launch.
DADAWESOME Book:dadawesome.org/book
Subscribe to DadAwesome Messages: Text the word "Dad" to (651) 370-8618
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INTRO
Jeff Zaugg: Welcome back to Dad Awesome. Today, Episode 425. This is the second half of my conversation with Pastor Tim Timberlake.
Hey, before we jump into it, two quick things you've got to know. One is we're on the eve of our book launch. The Dad Awesome book — distilling these 400-plus podcast conversations into six core discoveries and story-driven chapters. You can jump anywhere. It's written for the non-reader dad. It's story-based and practical, and it's all designed with a labs section to discuss, break it down, and put it into action. We're prayerful that you guys will buy this book on Tuesday, March 17th. It helps the algorithms, and it's going to help it reach more dads if you buy it on Amazon that day.
The second thing — launching Thursday, March 26th will be our 12th cohort of the Dad Awesome Accelerator. This six-week sprint coaching group, about ten dads at a time. We do homework, encourage each other, share our stories, and do a deep dive around these six core themes. Head to dadawesome.org/coaching to apply. March 26th, the next group kicks off — but apply this week to join.
This is going to be another powerful second half of the conversation with Pastor Tim Timberlake. The first half had so much gold, so much wisdom laced in Scripture and lived experience — and most of it from valley seasons in Pastor Tim's life. He was so raw and transparent about what God has shown him. If you missed it, go back and listen to last week. But here we go — Episode 425 with Tim Timberlake.
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CONVERSATION
Jeff: I'd love to hear what you're celebrating in the dads in your church community at Celebration. What would you celebrate? And what would you call out as a concern?
Tim Timberlake: A concern would definitely be the gap in honoring fathers — not just in the church, but in society and culture. The last time I checked, Father's Day was the 32nd most celebrated holiday. St. Patrick's Day gets more praise than Father's Day. Halloween gets more value than Father's Day. And it's just sad that there's not more emphasis put on it.
I think it starts with us as men. If we champion other brothers, if we champion other fathers, if we champion other figures in the faith who are doing it well and modeling it well, then I think that will change the tide in how society and culture views fatherhood.
Now, some of the things that are encouraging — statistically, 2025 and the beginning of 2026 have been some of the best years for fathers and men returning to church. Young men being hungry for the things of God. That's very exciting and very rewarding to see those seeds of faithfulness flourish and harvest for the men who are running beside us.
Jeff: In this fatherhood season with Max — he's nine years old — what are you discovering that's working? And where are you stumbling, getting up, and trying again?
Tim: What's working is consistency. He travels with me, and we do a hybrid model of school — three days traditional, two days homeschooled. We do his work on the road.
The thing I'm constantly challenged by is how fast he learns and how quickly he grows. We get a certain number of days with them before we release them to the world, and I want to make sure we're stewarding those days well. So often parents are either thinking about the future or the past, but they're not hyper aware of right here, right now. When we are together, I am with him fully — in mind, soul, and body.
He's a brilliant nine-year-old. A sports lover — basketball, football. Keeping me up to date with everything in the sports world, everything happening with streamers on YouTube. Our world is so fast. And our kids will try to glean as much as they can as quickly as they can if we don't steward their speed well. I just want to make sure he's being formed as a son of God instead of a son of culture.
Jeff: In sports, there are unseen things that never show on game day but bring success. What are some of the unseen things you're attending to as a dad that others might not see?
Tim: I think some of the most unseen things are the things we see so often that we no longer pay attention to. In sports — boundaries. The out-of-bounds line. Nobody gives credit to it, but remove those lines and you have mayhem. A basketball player could dribble as far and long as they wanted to escape the defense. But we love the game because it operates within the confinements of boundaries. When we define those boundaries, honor them, and celebrate them, our kids thrive within them.
And language. Every king who takes over a territory changes the language first — because language determines culture. If you can control the language, you can control the culture. We have to be hyper aware of the language we use, the tone in which we use it, the language our kids are using, and the tone in which they're using it — because it's shaping their world. God formed the world with his words. He gave us the same authority and dominion. I want to be consistent so that I'm not shaping a world that's lopsided when God intended for it to look another way.
Jeff: Our kids can anchor their faith in us as parents more than in Jesus himself. How can we spot that and guide them so we're not the rock?
Tim: Keep them anchored in community. There's a season — just like when kids can't feed themselves physically — where parents spiritually nourish them. I think it's healthy to nourish our kids to the point where they discover Jesus for themselves. They will, if we do an effective job and model in front of them: you will not make it into eternity on my faith. You have to develop and discover faith for yourself. I'm going to lead you there.
Jeff: And that alone — for a dad to say with confidence, "I'm going to lead you there" — imperfectly. At the dinner table or at bedtime I stumble my way into leading. But I'm going to show up again and lead you there.
Tim: It's a beautiful thing. As we get older, I think it's beautiful to understand that as we're raising our kids, we're also being raised and growing too. We're growing as parents. We don't have it all figured out. We don't have all the answers — but we are growing.
As kids get older, they realize: my parents were growing too. They were kids who were growing that had kids. We are in that same position. As my wife Jen and I are stewarding Max, we constantly keep in front of him — hey, we are growing.
Jeff: We're going to make mistakes, but we're going to learn together.
Tim: A hundred percent.
Jeff: That's it. My girls know the three L's — I'm loved, I'm a learner, I'm a leader. But a learner doesn't just learn by accident. Every dad listening today is here because they want to grow. What does it stir in you when you think about dads intentionally choosing to grow in fatherhood?
Tim: As a leader, we can only take people to the last place we've been. That's why Moses could not take the children of Israel into the promised land — it wasn't the last place he had been. Joshua had been to the land of promise, so he could lead them there.
As fathers, we have to be found in the presence of God so we can lead our children back to that place. We have to be found in the word of God so we can lead our children back to that place. We have to be found faithful in prayer so we can lead our children back to that place. If we do that, things may not be perfect — but every single day you're making daily deposits, and those deposits are making progress. That's when we become more and more like the Father and less and less like ourselves.
Jeff: I'm holding two of your four books. And now that I know a little more about what it takes to bring a message into the world this way — thank you for these. I want to pull two things from each book quickly.
From The Bumpy Road to Better — "You choose whether hard moments build you or break you, shape you or shatter you, purify you or paralyze you." For the dad who feels broken, paralyzed, stuck — would you speak to his heart?
Tim: If you feel stuck right now, I want to encourage you to step back. I know that sounds counterintuitive, but it's necessary. If I told you to put your nose on a mirror and describe what you see in your face — you couldn't give me much detail. You're standing too close. It's not until you step back that you can see clearly.
Don't look for yourself in it. Look for Jesus in it. And when you find him, grab his hand and let him lead you into perfect truth. Don't feel less than because you feel stuck. Trust God's plan in this season that feels barren, dry, like a wilderness — because he'll meet you there, and he'll lead you and guide you.
Jeff: The word "shattered" in that quote — my heart jumps to Isaiah 61. The brokenhearted, the shattered — but it continues to "oaks of righteousness." Even the hardest of the hard is the setup for strength.
From your most recent book — "The real fight is internal." There's a word of wisdom from your dad about the opponent wanting to take down your head. Would you take us there?
Tim: My dad and I were big wrestling fans, and we noticed that the one who typically won was the one who got the advantage on the head. Because if you can get a hold of the head, the body follows. The enemy uses the same tactic. If he can get a hold of our head as men, as fathers — then our body follows.
If you start thinking, "I'm a terrible dad, I'm terrible," your body begins to follow that action. And before you know it, you become the thing you fear most. That's why Scripture is so profound when it says, "speak those things that be not as though they were." They're on the way.
I want to speak what God says. I want to speak what Jesus says. I want to speak what the Holy Spirit is leading me to say. And I want to become what God desires for me to become. And one of the first ways to do that is stewarding my language well.
Jeff: Thoughts and words — that's the head. What are we pondering? What are we putting in through the eyes? Like motorcycle drivers — you crash into what you look at.
From The Art of Overcoming, there's this idea of "little deaths" — the dream, the hobby, the business. As dads, they stack up. How would you speak to that?
Tim: You think about it even with your own kids. You welcome a new season without saying goodbye to the old one. Every single season, every change, every year — you welcome a new version of your child without having the opportunity to say goodbye to the old version. You have to find time to mourn who they were so that you can enjoy who they are, while having great hope and anticipation for who they're becoming.
I missed the dinosaur phase. I missed those particular things. And you have to keep a healthy reverence and honor for the human experience. Because sometimes we suppress, push down, and move past — and we end up not really addressing what we feel. And it comes up in another area of our life, producing unhealth and toxicity.
Jeff: What do you think I might be missing — a little over six years since saying goodbye to my dad? Because you wrote about grieving, processing, and moving forward — but it's almost like a loop. Anything you'd want to share for me?
Tim: I think one of the biggest misconceptions we have about grieving is that eventually we'll get over it. We as a culture have this phrase — "time heals all." Time doesn't heal all. You won't ever get over it. But you will grow stronger. And with God, you'll remember more. You will see your dad in you.
Someone once said, mourning is acknowledging the depth of love for the person who is no longer here. When I have those seasons of mourning the loss of my father, my grandfather, my godfather — I lost almost all the men I looked up to in a short period of time — I was in a season of reflection, thinking, "God, these men are no longer here. How can I become who you want me to be?" And he reminded me — the only way a king can become a king is a king must first die.
Your king is no longer here. But you are the king for the people depending on you. Step into that role. Step into that assignment. Step into that posture — because you are leading people whether you want to or not.
Jeff: It's amazing how one phrase floods you with memories. I'm thinking about a moment someone prophetically handed me a pair of shoes and said, "These are new shoes."
You used the phrase, "You'll remember more." And I've been thinking this whole time I'm going to remember less as I get further from saying goodbye to my dad. That's a whole perspective shift — no, there are treasures from his life I haven't even discovered yet.
Tim: Yeah. The longer I get away from the day he transitioned, the more I become hyper aware — it's been 24 years since I've heard his voice. Since I've had a hug. And you just start to reflect and think, and you begin to remember more than you ever thought you could. I remember more now, 24 years removed, about the last day and the last conversation than I did five years after.
I'm grateful for the memories. I'm grateful for the investment, the deposits he made — because it's developing me, maturing me, making me into the son God asked me to be.
Jeff: You don't know this, but there are three men — Tyler, Petey, John — who I've done two six-mile obstacle course Spartan races with around Team Dad Awesome. And I've been gathering some of your heart through guys who love and serve on your team. It's just fun to shout those guys out — because I love them. And through their proximity I felt like I already knew you before we ever met.
Coming in for landing — when you think about a conversation called Dad Awesome, was there anything you were hoping I would ask you today?
Tim: When we prayed before this, I just settled my soul — God, whatever you want in this conversation, whatever needs to be said for your sons and daughters, let it be said. I didn't have anything preloaded.
I've thoroughly enjoyed our conversation. I think it's one that is needed. When you look at the demographic of people on earth who feel the most encouraged, dads are last on the list. Things like this are vital — not just to spiritual health and soul health, but to mental health for fathers. To let these men know they are not alone, that they are doing a good job regardless of how poorly they think they're doing. And most importantly — if you can remain a son to God, you'll be a better father to your kids.
Jeff: About a year ago, you prayed over a team of men from our Accelerator cohort and commissioned them to lead. I'd love to close our time the same way — would you pray over these dads?
Tim: I encourage our men — don't father from your wounds. Father and lead from your scars. We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by the words of our testimony. You carry insight, foresight, and perspective that your children need. Even if you don't have physical kids, there's a generation leaning on you. There are spiritual kids looking to you. Lead with love, lead with godly perspective, lead with godly wisdom — and God will continue to give you what you need to lead well.
Heavenly Father, I thank you for our listeners. I know there are men and women tuning in and leaning into this moment. Remind them right now that they are sons and daughters first, and the plans and purposes you have for their life are still yes and amen. Those plans are good and not evil. Remove the scales from their eyes. Remove the hindrances and blockages from their ears. Allow them to see and hear you in everything they do. Remind them on a daily basis, God, of the assignment you've given them — to raise their children well, to point their children back to you, to be consistent in faith, consistent in prayer, consistent in the Word — so they would raise up mighty warriors for the kingdom of God, to push back the kingdom of darkness. In your name we pray. In the name of Jesus Christ, our King. Amen.
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OUTRO
Jeff: Thank you so much for joining us this week for Episode 425 with Tim Timberlake. All the key points, action steps, transcripts, and links to Pastor Tim's books and resources are at dadawesome.org/podcast — look for Episode 425.
A reminder — the next round of the Accelerator is open. Apply now at dadawesome.org/coaching to join us for the 12th cohort, kicking off in just two weeks.
And the Dad Awesome book launches Tuesday, March 17th. Would you buy it on launch day? Leave a review? Text a few other dads? This is a moment to share and celebrate what God has brought to the surface in eight years of this ministry. Head to dadawesome.org/book for all the details.
We're praying for you this week. Let's not just have intent — let's be dads of action. Let's go be Dad Awesome this week.
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"Every king who takes over a territory changes the language first — because language determines culture." — Tim Timberlake
"Don't father from your wounds. Father from your scars." — Tim Timberlake
"If you remain a son to God, you'll be a better father to your kids." — Tim Timberlake
"We can only take people to the last place we've been." — Tim Timberlake
"You won't get over it — but you will grow stronger, and you'll remember more." — Tim Timberlake
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