My Story
I was born in Knoxville and grew up in Atlanta, where my parents placed me in a Christian school for seven years. Within the first month of first grade, my teacher presented the Gospel to us, and I accepted Jesus as my Savior. Between school and Awana, I learned a lot about Scripture. Then, in youth group, I started learning to live it out.
In college, I joined InterVarsity (IVCF). A large number of students in the group went to Key Biscayne Presbyterian Church (PCA), which is how I first connected to Reformed theology and my present denomination. IVCF has had such an impact on my life that I can generally point to a few actions every month that I trace back to IVCF's training (even when preparing a sermon).
A few years later, while participating with a church plant in the PCA, I experienced hearing my pastor and a counselor echo each other consistently. This started me seeing how counseling and pastoring (including preaching) work shoulder to shoulder to refine God's people.
As the church progressed through a couple of pastors and a merger, the church came to be a mixture of three ethnicities, using three languages in worship. The experience of diversity was intense, teaching me humility as well as how to respond to the image of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit in others.
I originally considered full time Christian work, but I had settled into thinking I was best as part of the laity; however, one of my previous pastors said to me a couple of times that I would make a good pastor. I scoffed, but I could not stop thinking about it. I did my research and ended up at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando. Afraid of public speaking, I made efforts to learn. Though nervously unsure of my first sermon in class, I received encouragement and positive critique. I now speak better and more boldly, and I enjoy declaring God’s Word to God’s people.
Through time serving at my present church and also working at Wycliffe, I have seen both the joy and the instinct I have for shepherding well. I have even challenged people to consider their place of maximum participation in the Great Commission. In recent years God has taught me to relish my adoption as His son, giving me confidence in His joy over me.
Philosophy of Ministry
I am created by God with a heart for shepherding. By personality, gifting, and life experience, He has formed me to tend the growth of His people with added spiritual skills in mercy, teaching, and wisdom. The foundation of how I do this comes from Scripture, and from the system of Scriptural teaching found in the Westminster Confession of Faith.
My standards and goals in this shepherding are to teach directly the truths found in Scripture, whether singularly or in small or large groups. Additionally, I will Nurture God's people in a way that trains them to consult God's Word with reliance upon the Holy Spirit for both instruction and application to the specifics of life.
In shepherding God's people in their situation of life, I will work to build the church with focus on three building blocks. Whenever leading in Worship, I will aim for the church to understand God's nature as well as our own, to live out our utter dependence on Him, and to experience His goodness to us. I will build Community in the church so that each member gives sacrificially and receives with gratefulness, with the intentional practice of openness, mercy, and teamwork. I will set the standard that the church's Mission consists of actively reaching out in His Name, both individually and communally, to all the peoples with compassion and welcome, telling of God's offer of favor and grace to all.
Finally, my aim regarding each Christian's inner existence is to foster the practice of a Spirituality in which he or she hears the invitation of the Holy Spirit to sit with Him in quiet, ready to respond to His affirmation and challenge.
I will accomplish this Leadership of God's people in ways that see them positively sparked to living out the fullness of His grace. I have practiced and will continue to practice godly confrontation and challenge, recognizing a proper place in this for humility, diplomacy, and firmness on my part. I have learned to trust God for the outcome, and I have seen God spur Christians to action that I expected to decline and sit still. I experience and display joy in other people's progressions, and I know and proclaim the value of wise risk.