In your opinion, what is Christianity?

Christianity is the belief that Jesus Christ is the only way to a restored relationship with God and the source of eternal life.

What does it mean to be a Christian?

To be a Christian means, “I choose to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.” Some churches and individuals teach or act like this means that we can achieve a level of sinlessness that earns us a place in heaven and in my opinion only serves to keep us focused on what we are or are not able to do. I believe that being a Christian means that we do our best at doing what Christ wants us to do and help others seek God as we do.

What has being a pastor taught you?

That people don’t respect Pastors who are not real. Heck, I try to follow Jesus everyday and mess up. Why pretend I don’t? Being a Pastor has taught me that I am not better than you. I just have a different job, which is to help anyone who wants to find God get closer. I don’t mean to make an excuse for my sins, just acknowledge that I still do sin far more than I want and every new day is another opportunity to please my Heavenly Father.

You mentioned the why in your bio. Could you explain that a little?

God is not trying to spoil our fun. With every “thou shalt not,” there is a plan and reason why God does not want us to do it. In fact, I believe that God knows if we do what he tells us not to do, He (God) knows we will enjoy life less, not more. Many churches are good at telling us, “don’t do that.” I want to fill in the why we ourselves don’t really want to do something.

In your opinion, how is Rock Spring different from other churches in the area?

Rock Spring is real. Come as you are because we are as we are. Church should never be about judging each other but supporting each other.

As someone who has been ‘burned’ by other churches, I am a bit nervous about visiting Rock Spring. What information or advice can you give me to ease my fear?

I still sometimes fear what others think about me so all I can suggest is to try what I do… Just don’t care! I don’t care what anyone thinks of me except God and….oh yes, my wife, Kathy.

You seem to be focused on children. What is your vision for the future in terms of activities and programs for children?

Kids are the energy in a church. Jesus said, “don’t stop the kids from coming to me.” I don’t want to grow old with a bunch of other 50-somethings like me. I want to have an active part in preparing the next generation of church leaders who, by the way, are kids. I love being around them. I had some parents ask me, “how are we supposed to keep or kids from running in church when you are chasing them,” to which I answered, “they started it.” Church should be a place kids want to be, how else can you expect them to want to listen to what church leaders say about how they should live?

What is it that makes you qualified to lead your church? Is it your education, calling, passion, experience?

I don’t have a clue! LOL I’ve been to Seminary, I have 20+ years in ministry and I still feel unqualified, but I love my job!

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Christianity is an identity given to those who have accepted God’s free gift of Salvation provided through Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the cross; God manifested in flesh.

A Christian is one who has an interactive, personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

Being a Pastor has taught me that God loves people and desires the best for them and to be a successful Pastor one has to have that same heart.

Rock Spring’s uniqueness is that it allows people, without prejudice, to be themselves and to develop as God sees fit. Rock Spring does not try to fix anyone; we just walk with them through life.

The only advice that I can and have offered to people who have been burned by the Church is “come and see; I promise you won’t be burned again.”

I look forward to interacting with the people and to sharing in whatever they are going through at this particular time in their lives.

I, like every other preacher, am thinking about how I am communicating God’s message to His people. I want to do my best and to make sure that the heart of what He is saying is getting through in spite of my human inability to do so.

The one thing that I hope to get through each time I preach is that no matter how deep we are in sin, no matter how far away we seem to be away from Him, God loves us and is anxiously waiting for us to give Him any kind of sign that we desire Him in our lives. Simplified, this is that our sin is no problem for Him; He has already dealt with it for us.

I wish to influence people on every level by being transparent and letting them know that perfection is not what God is looking for in us. What He does want, however, is for each of us to be ourselves, enjoy our lives and that in spite of what seems to be wrong with us, He wants to use us to make Him famous.

The thoughts that I have for our online congregation is that Rock Spring is made up of people just like them, who are going through the same things that they are, and that each message is designed to offer hope and, if put into practice, will work.

My passion is to make God famous through the messages that I preach, through my writing, and in and through the real relationships that I have with people who know Jesus and especially those who don’t.

I was an ordained minister when I came to Rock Spring; becoming a Pastor/Elder was a decision that God and Pastor Mike made with very little help from me. All I really had to do was accept and submit to their authority.

I believe that being an authority figure, male or female, must be looked at and handled very carefully. In order to be in authority, we must be able to submit to authority. As far as what the opposition has to say, I really don’t spend much time dealing with their views. The primary thing is to know whether or not God has called you to that position. If you are sure that He has then, the opposition is the one who has the struggle to adjust to where God has put you. The Word of God is very clear on how God views any subject, but quite frequently people misunderstand to whom God is speaking and what is actually occurring culturally when Scripture was and is speaking. God never brings strife and division on the scene, our prejudices and world views do this.

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