Share your personal faith story. How and when did you enter into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?  Describe your call to ministry.

I feel very fortunate to have come to Christ at a very young age.  I remember the moment vividly.  I was coming home with my mother from the grocery store in Morton, Illinois.  We pulled into the driveway and sat in the station wagon.  I asked my mom to tell me how I could make Jesus my Savior.  She explained that all sinned and because of that, we need a Savior and that only through placing my faith in Jesus as my personal sin-bearer could I get right with God.  We bowed right there and I trusted Jesus as my Savior at 5 years of age.  I was so excited that I jumped on my big wheel and rode down the street to my friend Bryan’s house and led him to the Lord!

From a very young age I felt called to ministry and specifically pastoral ministry.  I can relate to Paul’s discussion with Timothy in 1 Timothy 3:1 as God gave me an internal heart desire to pursue leadership in His church.  This desire was affirmed and intensified as I grew into a young man.  I was given many opportunities to lead Bible studies and eventually to preach at my home church at age 17.  It was at that time that I ordered my life around God’s call.  After High School I pursued Biblical education and continued to serve both discovering and honing my gifts.   These gifts and this calling have been affirmed again and again by the people I’ve had the privilege to serve.  I have no doubt that for this reason I was born.  My deepest heart’s desire is to serve God in pastoral ministry.

What is your view of prayer and study in the pastoral role?

Acts 6:4 has been a guiding verse for me in pastoral ministry.  The disciples were being distracted from their primary work and therefore appointed “deacons” to help carry the load.  The leaders were then to devote themselves to prayer and study.  Acts 6:4 reads, “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”  My primary call is to be a student and teacher of God’s Word and a man of prayer.  These tasks must come first if I am going to be an effective pastor and leader.  I love the words of Andrew Bonar who said, “Dimidium studii qui rite precatur habe.”  Translated, this means, “He who has truly prayed has completed the half of his study.”

How would you describe the role of missions in relationship to the local church?  What has been your experience with missions personally or in your current church setting?

I come from a family of missionaries.  I have a sister and brother-in-law who are missionaries in the Czech Republic with Josiah Venture.  I have another brother-in-law and family who are missionaries in Indonesia with New Tribes Missions.  I consider myself a missionary of sorts having planted a pioneer work here in the U.S. and having taken numerous short-term missions trips.  All this to say, there is a big world with monumental needs and the church locally is a part of God’s work universally.  I believe that the local church should be actively involved in the universal work that God is doing.

Give a brief overview of your current organization’s leadership structure.  What are 2-3 key strengths you bring to organizational leadership?

Planting a church gave me the opportunity to step back and say, “What does the Bible say about leadership and what does that look like in the local church?”  My root conviction is that leadership must follow Jesus’ example of servant-leader.  I believe that the Bible clearly outlines the structure for leadership in the local church in 1-2 Timothy and Titus.  Currently, our church has elders as its primary leaders.  They function as the spiritual and primary leaders.  We then have what we call “Ministry Directors” who report to the elders.  These Ministry Directors function in the same way that New Testament deacons do. 

If you were to poll the leaders I work with, I believe they would say that I have the ability to bring  a “team” aspect to our leadership.  I have the ability to bring people together, maintain harmony, and get them to work together.  I believe they would also say that I am a man of action - able to make decisions and get things done while adapting to change.  Finally, I believe they would describe me as a visionary - a “big picture” person.  Additionally, I have a D.Min. in organizational systems which I believe I would give me additional tools to strengthen the leadership in any church.

Describe your teaching and preaching approach.

I am an expository teacher and preacher with a focus on substantive Bible teaching while maintaining  cultural relevance and practical real-life application.  Preaching for me is a matter of the heart.  I resonate with Jesus’ approach to ministry in Mark 1:38 which says,  “And he said to them, ‘Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.’”  Throughout the Gospels we see Jesus teaching and preaching as His primary method of disclosing the Gospel message.  I believe the Word of God is powerful and transforming.  I believe it is God’s revelation of Himself to His creation.  I trust its power and authority and seek to teach it with passion and relevance.  Passionate, deep teaching is the heartbeat of my pastoral ministry.

What is your philosophy of church growth?

I have come under great conviction that what a church offers determines what kind of seekers it will attract.  If a church is offering the unashamed Truth of scripture, it will attract people seeking a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ.  In the Parable of the Growing Seed in Mark 4:26-29, Jesus describes the Kingdom of God.  The follower of Christ sows the seed and then goes to sleep.  The seed grows “by itself”.  The implication is that we are not the energy behind church growth, God is.  Our responsibility is to sow true seed and then allow God to germinate it in peoples’ lives.  Church growth will happen “automatically” and will be healthy growth when we are committed to this principle.

How would members of your congregation describe your personal and relational qualities to someone they want to invite to church?

I have actually asked this question of people in my church.  The most common response is that “He’s real.”  People describe me as authentic, unpretentious, passionate, and approachable.  They also describe me as optimistic, upbeat, and funny.