After two decades of ministry and a lifetime of looking for Jesus, Timmons is no stranger to pain, cancer, sorrow, failure, joy and hope. “For most of my life,” Timmons shares, “I found myself working FOR God, and not WITH Him, which lead to my tired soul desperately searching for more. Saying, ‘Jesus, is this all there is?’”
His latest single, “You Never Let Go” featuring Tammi Haddon, is a prayer to remind us that regardless of the season we find ourselves in, how connected or disconnected we feel to God, He will NEVER, ever let us go.
What a gift that God used Timmons time with Tammi Haddon and Stefan Cashwell at a songwriting retreat to write a prayer that would be so timely in the unique year that 2020 has been. “We all came in with different heartaches the day we wrote that song, and we all left with the same prayer,” Timmons shares. What beauty that an organic relationship and friendship would lead to a tangible sound of unity in diversity and unity in the hope, without them knowing how much we would end up needing it in this time.
This overarching concept of the walking WITH Jesus permeates not only Timmons’ music, but also his daily life—a unique viewpoint shaped by an incurable cancer diagnosis he received twenty years ago when he was given five years to live.
“The gift of cancer is perspective,” Timmons offers, adding that his cancer remains incurable other than the healing hand of God. “It’s really the open door to speak into people’s stories.” His diagnosis may be the doorway for countless healthy, life-giving conversations, but Timmons has far more than a cancer diagnosis to talk about.
Since his 2013 debut, Cast My Cares, and his 2015 Sophomore project, Awake Our Souls, Timmons has been writing songs for himself and with other artists, such as MercyMe’s Grammy Nominated song of the year “EVEN IF”. All of these songs, and as Timmons calls them, “prayers”, have stemmed from personal experience—after spending the previous 15 years leading worship in Orange County, California, and now 9 years of full time touring around the world. His music is colored by a newfound purpose of living each day to its fullest—practicing a full life WITH Jesus.
“I hear so many stories after every show where people are just stuck in a religion, they’re so exhausted, shame-filled, powerless, and joyless,” he notes. “When people bring me their stories, I want to have songs that actually help them through their journey and invite them beyond fear, into a more complete perspective. As a worship leader that’s my whole goal. I’m not there to help people just sing songs...My job is to help people own their response to Jesus.”
When Timmons is home, he, Hilary (his wife of 23 years), their four children, and friends gather all week long, including Sunday mornings (Journey Church), and encourage each other to put Jesus into practice in the regular rhythms of our days. It’s a point Timmons hopes to drive home to fellow followers of Jesus all over the world. “The Church is not a place you can go to; it’s who we are,” he contends. “We spend 10,080 minutes in a week, and 80 of those are spent gathered in a room, which is awesome...but there are 10,000 other minutes in a week... The Church gets to be the Church all the time— gathered, and then scattered––all in the name, power and authority of Jesus.” This way of life has so captured Tim’s heart, that 6 years ago, he started a non-profit and a weekly blog about it called 10000 MINUTES–with the premise of Inspiring, Inviting and Equipping people to practice Jesus all week long. Check it out!
At the end of the day, that’s Timmons’ greatest desire—whether the catalyst is his cancer diagnosis, his theology, his blog or his songs, he just wants to keep the conversation going so people can discover for themselves the real life found with Jesus.
Tim Timmons' will be releasing a new album with Integrity Music, titled HERE, this coming April 16, 2021.
