Life Story

I was born near Seattle and, due to growing up with a father in the military, moved several times before settling in the Houston area. Though I attended church during my childhood and adolescence, I did not truly know and follow Jesus until I turned 17.

God used my love for football to link my path with that of another teammate, Jeff Faircloth, placing my locker directly next to his. Shortly after two-a-days began, Jeff approached me after practice. In a rather forward manner, he announced that we were going to have a conversation about Jesus, but I could choose when this conversation took place. Jeff saw past football into the kingdom of God.

I wasn’t immediately saved through our conversation, but I did become intrigued. Over a period of time, God began to break down the walls, and then He just saved me. I don’t know how to explain it. I was checking things out, I was studying, I was finding reasons why I shouldn’t have to believe and shouldn’t have to submit to Jesus Christ, yet in the middle of all that, in the middle of all those doubts, in the middle of all those intellectual barriers, I think Jesus just got tired of playing with me and said, “No, you’re mine.” He rescued me and captivated my heart, and I just immediately fell in love.

Before going to college, I served as a youth pastor of a small church near Houston. From there, I went to Hardin-Simmons University in Abilene, Texas, where I received a bachelor's degree in Bible. While at Hardin-Simmons, I became the teacher of an inter-denominational Bible study for college students called Grace. I was also on staff at Beltway Park Church. After several years in Abilene, I continued my itinerant speaking ministry with a home base in Dallas.

In 2002, I became pastor of First Baptist Church of Highland Village, now known as The Village Church. In 1999, I married my wife, Lauren. We have three children.

Hope for The Village Church

My hope for The Village is that we would be a family of men and women who know and worship the triune God rightly, that in view of His majesty we would walk in compassion, mercy and grace and that both our minds and our hearts would be full of and shaped by Him.