I was born November 22, 1984 in Odessa, TX and raised in a small West Texas oil field town called Crane. Growing up, God graced me with the best family I could have ever wanted. Though we were not rich and I was not given a free ride through my adolescence, my parents loved me and did their best to give me everything I needed and a lot of stuff that wasn’t a necessity. Above all, they raised me to love God and trust in Him.
Despite their love for God, their love for the church was crushed by the time I was four years old due to immaturity in some of their fellow believers. (I am not placing blame, but just saying that stuff happens). We left church shortly after my brother was born, and I was raised without a church family helping me along.
During this separation from the church, I tried to unite with other believers in F.C.A., fifth quarters, and a few random Sunday invites from friends. Through all that time I never doubted my love for and trust in Christ that my family had instilled in me, but all the talk of “getting saved” confused me.
At 16, I decided it was time to get serious about my faith and plugged in to church because it was obviously something lacking in my life, so I contacted the new pastor at the church of my childhood and asked to go to church camp. It was at that camp that I understood the message of the Gospel and what salvation really means, and I was made certain that my faith in Christ was real and personal.
Since that time, I have gotten into as much trouble as I have done good, but I know that Jesus loves me and will not let me go. I graduated from high school in 2003 sensing that God had a call on my life, and since that time, I have followed His lead without looking back.
“To God be the glory.”
Despite their love for God, the love for the church was gone by the time I was four due to immaturity in some of their fellow believers. (I am not placing blame, just saying that stuff happens). So we left church shortly after my brother was born, and I was raised without a church family helping me along.
During this separation from the church, I tried to unite with other believers in F.C.A., fifth quarters, random Sunday invites from friends, etc. During that time I never doubted my love for and trust in Christ, but all the talk of “getting saved” confused me.
At 16, I decided it was time to get dedicated to church because it was obviously something lacking in my life, so I contacted the new pastor at the church of my childhood and asked to go to church camp. It was at that camp that I understood the message of the Gospel and what salvation really means, and I was made certain that I had received it.
Since that time, I have gotten into as much trouble as I have done good, but I know that Jesus loves me and will not let me go. I graduated from high school in 2003. I went to bible college that fall; in November of that year became the youth pastor of Trailwood Baptist Church in Grand Prairie, TX, and in 2007 I graduated with a B.S. in Bible from Arlington Baptist College. I spent that summer doing missions in Mexico and Uganda, Africa.
Since then I have become the associate pastor of Grace Baptist Church in Odessa, TX where I have had the opportunity to preach and serve and am surrounded by people I love and who love me. In January of 2012, I will be moving into full-time missions with Heart of God International as Minister of Evangelism.
“To God be the glory.”
