Thanks for stopping by the blog and looking around. I hope you find some ideas and thoughts that will challenge you, cause you to think and most importantly grow and deepen your relationship with your Savior. If you're interested, here's a few tidbits about me.
Personal
Molly and I met while we were students at Harding University. We were introduced at chapel on a Friday morning by our mutual best friends. We went out after worship that Sunday night to play basketball and were never apart after that. We married nine months later. That was about eleven years ago. Since then we've been richly blessed with five beautiful kids.
I'm a passionate Crimson Tide fan. I think passionate sounds much more refined than fanatical ;-) I also love to read books on leadership, watch a Braves game when I'm able and play a little golf every once in a while. But mostly, if I have any free time, I spend it hanging out with Molly and the kids.
I was born into a military family and raised all over the place, literally. I've lived in Germany (twice), Hawaii, Alabama (at least three or four times) and Florida. Through all the moving, home base was always Huntsville, AL. Now, home is wherever my wife and kids are; though my parents now live outside Washington, DC and many relatives live in northern Alabama and Chicago.
I'm a passionate Crimson Tide fan. I think passionate sounds much more refined than fanatical ;-) I also love to read books on leadership, watch a Braves game when I'm able and play a little golf every once in a while. But mostly, if I have any free time, I spend it hanging out with Molly and the kids.
I was born into a military family and raised all over the place, literally. I've lived in Germany (twice), Hawaii, Alabama (at least three or four times) and Florida. Through all the moving, home base was always Huntsville, AL. Now, home is wherever my wife and kids are; though my parents now live outside Washington, DC and many relatives live in northern Alabama and Chicago.
Ministry
No doubt, being a full-time minister is a calling. When I was younger and expressing interest in being a preacher, I was given the advice to never go into full-time ministry unless I was certain that I was not able to do anything else. That always seemed a little silly. But, after three years of ministry I took a break. I wasn't ready and I certainly wasn't productive or useful to God at that time. It took about six years of trying out that advice to realize that God intended for me to serve Him and His church as a full-time minister.
During and since that experience, my understanding of my faith, my relationship with my Savior and His desire for all His creation has developed, grown and evolved. I have a deeper understanding of His will, His Word, His Church, what it means to be a minister and most importantly, what it means to be a Follower of Christ. It is my greatest desire to serve by teaching and preaching His Word so that I might possibly be used to make and grow followers of Christ Jesus.
Second to that, I long to see His Church united once again. I will continue to do all I can to serve as a bridge and work to close the gap that we have created between ourselves. Our selfishness and short-sighted vision has hurt the Church and the great impact that we could otherwise have. Instead, we spend too much energy defending our positions and opinions; holding to man-made labels like progressive and traditional, conservative and liberal. I long for the day that we can all strive, through our imperfect understanding of His Word, to simply be Bible-based followers of Christ who simply yearn to get to heaven and take as many people with us as possible.
Education
I've graduated from Harding University twice. Once in May 2000 with a Bachelor's degree. I majored in History and Political Science with a minor in Bible. Since then, I received a Master's degree in Business Administration in May 2009. My area of concentration was Organizational Leadership. That education laid a great foundation of understanding the nature of successful organizations. This has been a tremendous blessing in ministry. By combining this study with study in the biblical principles of Church growth, I feel much more confident and competent in being an effective leader in ministry.
I am currently working towards a Master's degree in Biblical Studies at Heritage Christian University. It has been a tremendous blessing to study under a great group of biblical scholars. I hope to finish in 2011 and begin working on a Ph.D. It's my plan to teach at a Christian university when my preaching days are over.
Professional
I have had the priviledge of serving two congregations as a Youth Minister. Both of these experiences were great, and I'm sure that I benefited from the time with these great congregations more than I benefited them. I am currently working with a wonderful group of Christians as an Associate Minister. This role has given me the opportunity to serve in a variety of ways. I am able to work directly with each major age group of the congregation in some manner. That has been an invaluable resource. The one opportunity that I have especially appreciated is the opportunity to preach regularly - a vocation which I hope to pursue with more regularity in the near future.
In addition to full-time ministry, I have worked in management/leadership roles with two different organizations. I was blessed to be given an opportunity to take on a great deal of responsibility in terms of leading large groups of people to accomplish the goals, mission and work towards achieving the vision of the organizations.
