Tell us about your family.
My family, going back several generations, comes from Ashley County located in southeast Arkansas. I was born and raised in Hamburg, Arkansas, and my wife, Erin is from Crossett, Arkansas. We were married in 2002 and we bought a house in Hamburg where we worked at my family’s local furniture store. In 2006, I surrendered to God’s calling on my life and began serving as Youth Minister for FBC Hamburg. Our children, Ben Tyler and Emma Kate were born in Hamburg, and we lived and served there until 2014. In 2017, God blessed us with a sweet baby girl, Avonlea.
When/How did you begin your relationship with Jesus Christ?
When I was 8 years old, I remember asking questions about my salvation and talking with my pastor about what it meant to be saved. I was then baptized, but I don’t remember much about the whole process. Then in July of 1992, our church was having a revival. I remember sitting there and feeling as if I was the only one in the congregation. It was clearly spoken to me in my heart by the Holy Spirit that I did NOT have a relationship with Him. It was that night that I gave my heart and life to Jesus Christ. My exit interview counselor that night was my dad, which was a great moment for both of us!
How did you come to Lonoke Baptist Church?
Through the years, I’ve felt God leading our family from place to place (some obvious calls and some not so obvious), and in each situation, He has provided the peace that we needed to know that the decision was something that He orchestrated. This was definitely the case for us coming to Lonoke. We loved our church in Mountain View, but could start to see signs of God moving in our lives. In our reluctance to let go, God began to show us through the use of His people that He really wanted us to serve in Lonoke and that He had other plans for Mountain View, so we prayed through it and came to peace about His plans. We moved here in August of 2018!
What is your favorite scripture?
Galatians 2:20 – “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
What is your favorite thing about your job?
I love seeing students come to know Christ, but also finding their true identity in Him and watching as they grow and mature into solid disciples of Christ!
What is the best thing you’ve ever eaten?
I’m more of a “categories guy”, so I have to break it down this way: From my past, I’d have to say my grandmother’s fried crappie // In my present life, I would say Erin’s Cajun Crawfish and Shrimp Pasta // If you were to ask me though, at any given time, if I could have anything to eat what would it be… I would say a pizza from Johnny’s Pizza (found in Louisiana)!
What is your favorite TV show/movie?
More categories here… I tend to like comedies on TV like Chuck and The Office // My favorite childhood movie was The Goonies, and probably my favorite all time movie is The Last of the Mohicans.
What are your hobbies?
I like to watch Chicago Cubs baseball & Arkansas Razorbacks sports // I like graphic design and working on graphics for the church and other companies // I like to hunt and I love to fish!
What is one thing that people would be surprised to know about you?
First of all, most people are shocked that I’m as old as I am (I guess I have one of those faces…), and some people are surprised that I hunt and fish (not sure what that’s all about), but an interesting fact that most people don’t know is that when I was in grade school, I was trained really well by my next door neighbor in 4-H in the area of Forestry and competed to become the state champion in Forestry (identifying trees, etc.).
If you weren’t doing your job now, what job would you have?
Before I surrendered to the ministry, I had gotten a degree in Psychology with plans to potentially get a Masters and go into Forensics.