I originally wrote this to accompany my resume. I have not yet decided if I will send it out with the resume since most resumes leave out this sort of thing. That strikes me as odd, I would think this is more along the lines of the sort of thing a church would want to know.

I will also post an entry on my statement of faith and belief, also written to go with my resume.

I was blessed to have been raised in a Christian home and in a godly, biblical Presbyterian (PCA) church. I do not remember a time when I did not know the message of Jesus Christ. As a child I learned that I was a sinner in need of a savior and as a child I received forgiveness through Jesus Christ. I have experienced many years of straying, particularly during my later high school and early college years. Only the grace of God protected and preserved me from my own attempts to plunge into sin.

Around 1999 I began to visit a small Baptist church plant. Eventually I joined the church through baptism. I still respect and appreciate the church I grew up in but came to a disagreement with what the Presbyterian church teaches about baptism. I became convinced that the Bible teaches that believers should be baptized by immersion after placing their faith in Jesus Christ.

The church I joined also provided my first opportunities for ministry service. I was able to lead Bible studies, teach Sunday school, run Bible drills, and eventually became the minister of youth. It was during my time at this church that I began to feel that God wanted me to serve him through full time ministry in a church. I transferred from Mississippi State University to a small Southern Baptist college to pursue a Biblical Studies degree. My first day there I met a cute redhead named Sandra who I eventually asked to marry me. On August 16, 2003, standing in the Presbyterian church I grew up in, we were married. While at Blue Mountain College I also served for a time as youth minister at Pine Grove Baptist Church

The following May Sandra and I graduated from Blue Mountain College and moved to Birmingham, Alabama where I pursued a Master of Divinity degree at Beeson Divinity School. While at Beeson I had the opportunity to serve as interim pastor at Artesia Baptist Church; I had the opportunity to teach, preach, and evangelize for three weeks in and around Ayacucho, Peru; and I had and continue to have the opportunity to serve as part time pastor of Overton First Baptist Church. Both of our children were also born while in Birmingham. In May of 2008 I graduated from Beeson and am now seeking God’s guidance to a full time ministry position.

My primary gifts are with teaching and preaching. God has graciously given me the ability to study and understand his word and to be able to help others see what God is teaching us in the Bible and how our lives should reflect his truth.