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 MY
LIFE IN CHRIST
I grew up in a Christian home, raised by strong Christian
parents who from the beginning laid a firm foundation of faith in Jesus Christ.
Having attended Gardendale’s First Baptist Church from infancy, I gave my life
to Christ and was baptized at the age of seventeen. Two years later, as a
student at Samford University, I began to sense God’s call to full time ministry
and reorganized my life goals and priorities to follow that call. The resulting
blessing has been 19 years of ministry, during which God has allowed me to serve
Him and His church in various capacities, including youth minister, minister of
music, associate pastor and senior pastor.
In 1989, God blessed me tremendously by adding to my life my
wonderful wife Beth. God added to that blessing by giving us our son, Blake, in
1991, and our daughter, Bailey, in 1997.
I’m a firm believer that God carefully guides the life paths
of those who trust Him, and I’ve seen the resulting evidence of His work in my
own life and in that of my family. Together, we are looking forward to seeing
Him continue to work in and through us in unique ways that will provide us with
a forever-growing testimony of His grace and power.
MY THEOLOGY
I stand firmly planted in the mainstream of traditional,
conservative Southern Baptist theology, holding to the following beliefs:
The Bible – The Bible is the inerrant and authoritative
word of God, written by men under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It
contains the good news of God’s plan of salvation, God’s instructions for
Christian living and God’s directions for the development and operation of the
church. As God’s word, it is both powerful and effective for the building of
faith and for the changing of hearts, reshaping them in conformity to the
desires of God.
Salvation –The Bible is clear that every human being is
sinful and incapable of saving himself. It also tells us that God, because of
His great love for us and His desire to see us reconciled to Him, provided a
means of salvation in Jesus Christ, who took our sins upon Himself as he died on
the cross. God graciously extends this salvation to all who will place their
faith in Jesus Christ, receiving Him as Savior and Lord. Salvation is found only
in Jesus Christ. It cannot be earned by good works, and it cannot be received
through any other source.
The Church – The church was established by Jesus Christ
and is designed to be a gathering of His followers who are committed to glorify
God through their worship and service and to encourage and build one another up
in Christian love. The primary work of the local church falls into the
categories of worship, evangelism, discipleship, ministry and fellowship.
The Christian – A person becomes a Christian by turning
away from sin and self and trusting Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. When a
person receives Christ, God also gives that person the Holy Spirit, who directs,
convicts concerning sin, and aids in growing into Christ’s likeness. Every
believer is responsible, according to God’s word, to love God, to love others,
to use his God-given gifts to serve in the ministry of a local church and to
serve as a witness who leads others to Christ.
MY MINISTRY
- My primary devotion is to Jesus Christ.
- My primary ministry is to my family and then to the church,
which is my extended family in Christ.
- My primary responsibility as a minister is to build up the
Body of Christ through using my spiritual gifts to preach, teach, lead and
minister to the church.
- My primary method of leadership is to serve as an example
in devotion to Christ, in Christian living, in ministering to others and in
evangelizing the lost.
PERSONAL INFORMATION
- Born: December 3, 1964 in Birmingham, AL
- Family: Wife: Beth Bush, Married March 11, 1989
- Children: Blake, born December 20, 1991
- Bailey, born January 8, 1997
EDUCATION
- Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), The Southern Baptist
Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky, May 1999.
- Major – Evangelism and Church Growth
- Minors – Missions and New Testament Studies
- Dissertation, "An Examination of Key Foundational
Influences on the Megachurch Movement in America, 1960-1978."
- Master of Divinity, The Southern Baptist Theological
Seminary, December 1991.
- Attended Beeson Divinity School, Samford University,
Birmingham, Alabama, September 1988 to May 1989.
- Bachelor of Arts, Samford University, May 1988.
- Major – Religion and Philosophy
- Minor – English
MINISTRY EXPERIENCE
- Associate Pastor, Montgomery First Baptist Church,
Montgomery, Alabama, August 2000 to May 23, 2004.
- Pastor, Parkwood Southern Baptist Church, Clarksville,
Indiana, May 1995 to August 2000.
- Pastor, Second Baptist Church, Bessemer, Alabama, April
1992 to August 1994.
- Interim Pastor, New Salem Baptist Church, Valley Station,
Kentucky, April 1991 to April 1992. Also served this church as Associate
Pastor/Youth Minister, May 1990 to April 1992.
- Minister of Music and Youth, Rock Mountain Lakes Baptist
Church, Bessemer, Alabama, March 1988 to August 1989. Also served this church as Youth
Minister, February 1985 to March 1988.
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