Street Preachers Podcast: Live from Raleigh-Durham

Hosts: Philip Anthony Mitchell & Tim Timberlake
Date: November 18, 2025
Theme: The Transformative Power of Prayer, Redemption, and Intimacy with God

Overview

Recorded live in Creedmoor, North Carolina, this emotionally charged episode brings Philip Anthony Mitchell and Tim Timberlake back to a formative spiritual home. The duo dives into their personal journeys from darkness to redemption, centering on the healing, anchoring role of prayer. With transparency and urgency, they address issues of shame, sin, intimacy with God, and the relevance of honest, persistent prayer in the Christian life. The episode crescendos in a moving call to repentance and salvation, drawing listeners and a live audience into moments of breakthrough and new beginnings.

Tone: Raw, honest, encouraging, challenging, and deeply pastoral.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Significance of Creedmoor & Personal Journeys

[00:41–07:52]

• Legacy: The venue is deeply special; Christian Faith Center was planted by Tim’s parents, D. Mac and Brenda Timberlake.
  • Tim: “This is the church my parents are planted.” [00:46]
• Mitchell’s Background: From Queens, legal trouble led him to Durham, where he spent 10 years caught in drugs and crime.
  • Philip: “For all of 10 years, we terrorized the Durham area. Selling drugs, abusing women. ... I was empty and I was suicidal.” [01:07]
• Turning Point: A near-suicide is interrupted by a friend's presence; a subsequent experience with gospel music leads him to a crisis of soul and a transformational encounter with God—alone, on the bathroom floor.
  • Philip: “The ministry of presence ... Her presence talked me off the ledge that night.” [02:28]
  • “I crawled into a bathroom on my hands and knees, and I started yelling at God ... and God met me that day.” [03:11]
• Marriage and New Life: Out of this spiritual awakening, he and his girlfriend marry quickly, prioritizing holiness over circumstance.
  • “We didn’t wait until we had money. Holiness was a priority.” [07:13]
• Tim’s Story: Despite being a pastor’s kid, Tim caused “so much hell” for his family, nearly sent to military school, but the relentless love and prayers of his mother and wife brought him back.
  • “They loved me through my disobedience, through my ignorance ... and that love and prayer bought me back into the kingdom.” [09:11]

2. Embracing Redemption & Delivering the Gospel

[09:56–13:55]

• Mitchell’s Return: This is his first time ministering since leaving decades ago, and he speaks directly to those weighed by shame and past mistakes.
  • “God knows how to bring beauty out of your ashes ... your shame into a testimony.” [10:04]
• Direct Gospel Presentation: The hosts remind listeners that morality and good works can’t save; only turning to Christ can.
  • “You’re not tough enough to die apart from Christ ... if you die in your sin ... you will be separated from God for all eternity. But the Father ... sent his Son.” [11:45]
  • “Tonight might be the last time you hear the gospel ... You need to repent before you walk out of this room.” [12:10]

3. Scripture Unpacked: Philippians 4 & The Nature of Peace

[13:55–18:02]

• Key Text: Philippians 4:4–7 – “Rejoice in the Lord always ... Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading, with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God.”
• Insight: True peace comes not from understanding but from surrender.
  • Tim: “God told me, I’ll give you peace when you give up the right to understand. Understanding is a luxury. Peace is a promise.” [15:31]
• Obedience: “You’re not waiting on me. I’m waiting on you ... to be obedient, to take the first step.” [16:08]
• Anxiety Defined: “A lot of times anxiety is experiencing failure in advance.” [17:09]
• Affirmation: “There is nothing you have done that is stronger than the blood of Jesus Christ.” [17:37]

4. Prayer: The Highest Privilege and Essential Habit

[18:02–23:48]

• Necessity of Prayer: “There is no activity you will engage in this life that’s higher than prayer.” [18:38]
• Prayerlessness: Communicates pride and self-reliance; prayer demonstrates dependence and humility.
  • “When we have a prayerless life, we communicate to God that we are prideful ... But when we are prayerful, we communicate ... we are dependent.” [19:08–19:23]
• Vices & Advising a New Habit: Mitchell addresses men specifically, urging to make prayer their default vice when under stress or temptation.
  • “Turn prayer into your vice ... turn every worry into a prayer.” [21:05]
  • “You’ll be anxious for nothing ... you keep running to the Father.” [22:09]

5. Honesty, Brokenness, and the "Secret Place"

[23:48–31:09]

• Authenticity in Prayer: Don’t sanitize or dress up your prayers for God, who knows your heart before you speak.
  • “Don’t sanitize your prayers. ... He already knows what you’re coming in there for.” [28:10]
• "Secret Place": God calls us to private, honest communion—where is that place for you?
  • Philip: “For me, that was a bathroom. Where is that for you?” [30:32]
• God’s Invitation: “The Almighty God wants to talk to us.” [31:21]

6. God’s Accessibility Despite Our Wretchedness

[31:33–36:12]

• God’s Grace: Even in deep sin, God listens to the humble, repentant heart.
  • “Paul said, oh, what a wretched man that I am. ... But the prayer of repentance, he will listen.” [33:39]
  • Tim: “When you put more emphasis on the memory of your past than the power of his presence, you miss an opportunity to receive his grace.” [34:02]
• Universal Need: All are “wretched”—by sin or hidden pride—and must bow in humility to receive God’s grace.

7. Making Prayer a Lifestyle: Practical Encouragement & The Lord’s Prayer

[36:19–46:16]

• Prayer Everywhere: Make prayer like breathing—ongoing, informal, woven into daily routines.
  • “You don’t have to get to a certain place ... As you’re washing dishes by the kitchen sink ... cutting grass ... take my trash can down to the corner ... I’m talking to the Lord.” [37:39]
• Lord’s Prayer as a Model: Not a formula, but a template for honest, comprehensive conversation—adoration, surrender, supplication, confession, and forgiveness.
  • "Pray then like this. Our Father who is in heaven ... your kingdom come, your will be done ... give us this day, our daily bread ... forgive us our debts ... as we forgive our debtors." [38:45–41:33]
• Confession and Freedom: Bring real struggles—lust, pride, anger—to God’s presence for true release.
  • “There’s so much sin in this room ... it will amaze you how freeing it is to go before God and just tell him what’s in you.” [44:32]
• The Invitation: Even when we are hiding in shame like Adam, God calls us to run toward Him, not away.

8. Altar Call and Mass Prayer for Salvation & Intimacy

[46:22–66:58]

• Compassionate Plea: Multiple invitations for repentance, urging those far from God to respond.
  • “If I’m talking to you, say, preacher, pray for me. ... This is the moment for salvation, when everything changes for you.” [52:46]
• Visual Impact: Audience members come forward for salvation, with real-time affirmation and comfort.
  • “Real men cry.” [57:19]
• Prayer Over New Believers: Assurance of forgiveness, identity in Christ, encouragement for next steps (find a church, community, keep praying).
  • “Today is the beginning of the rest of your life ... According to this word ... all of your sins, past, present, watch ... and future have been forgiven.” [61:32]
• Follow-up Resource: Free prayer resource offered via QR code or website.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Philip Anthony Mitchell (on his conversion):
  “I crawled into a bathroom on my hands and knees, and I started yelling at God ... and God met me that day in North Carolina in the bathroom, and he saved me...” [03:11]

• Tim Timberlake (on God's peace):
  “God told me, I’ll give you peace when you give up the right to understand. Understanding is a luxury. Peace is a promise.” [15:31]

• Philip Anthony Mitchell (on prayer as a vice):
  “Turn prayer into your vice ... If every single thing that troubles your heart, you run to the Father ... you’re going to find intimacy, strength, healing, answers.” [21:05–22:09]

• On Authenticity:
  “Don’t sanitize your prayers ... you would do better just being honest.” [28:10]

• Tim Timberlake (on God’s willingness):
  “The Almighty God wants to talk to us.” [31:21]

• Philip Anthony Mitchell (on brokenness):
  “I have a ferocious prayer life ... not because I’m super disciplined. I got a ferocious prayer life because I’m super broken.” [24:19]

• Tim Timberlake (on grace vs. past):
  “When you put more emphasis on the memory of your past than the power of his presence, you miss an opportunity to receive his grace.” [34:02]

• Group Salvation Moment:
  “Real men cry. ... I pray you would rob them right now, God, of their sins and pardon them ... They have escaped hell and heaven is their new destination.” [57:20]

Timestamps for Major Segments

• 00:41 – Why Creedmoor matters to Tim & Mitchell; introduction of personal histories
• 02:28 – Philip’s near-suicide and transformative encounter in prayer
• 07:13 – “Holiness was a priority” — the marriage story
• 09:11 – Tim describes the prayers of his mother & wife saving him
• 11:45 – The Gospel articulated directly to audience
• 13:55 – Philippians 4:4–7 and “peace that surpasses understanding”
• 18:38 – “Prayer is the highest activity ...”
• 21:05 – “Turn prayer into your vice … turn every worry into a prayer.”
• 28:10 – “Don’t sanitize your prayers …”
• 30:32 – The “secret place” of prayer
• 31:21 – “The Almighty God wants to talk to us.”
• 34:02 – “When you put more emphasis on the memory of your past …”
• 36:19 – Making prayer habitual, Lord’s Prayer teaching
• 44:23 – Romans 7, the reality of ongoing wrestling with sin
• 46:22 – Pastoral invitation to run toward God with failures
• 52:46 – Altar call with heartfelt plea
• 57:19 – Comfort for men: “Real men cry.”
• 61:32 – Assurances to new believers; “brand new man/woman”
• 65:00+ – Prayer resource and book giveaway

Closing Exhortation

Throughout, Mitchell and Timberlake call for personal honesty, communal support, and a relentless pursuit of God’s presence as the source of real healing and power. The live altar response and recurring affirmation — “Real men cry” — reinforce the message that brokenness can be a bridge to intimacy with God.

Final encouragement:
“You just talk to him all the time about everything. In the shower and the bathroom and the drive ... Everything you need, you’re going to find there.” [47:28]

Resources Mentioned

• Free Prayer Resource: Via QR code or philipanthonymitchell.com
• Book: "The Bumpy Road to Better" by Tim Timberlake

For Listeners

This episode is for anyone wrestling with past shame, feeling distant from God, or looking to cultivate a life of meaningful, honest prayer. The message: God is waiting in your secret place, ready to meet you and bring freedom, peace, and newness of life.

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