Free Grace Conversations

I got a call from Clay, the missions pastor of a large church in Athens, Texas, one afternoon as another summer was approaching. I had never met him before, but he had gotten my name from a local youth minister that had me speak at his youth events.  “Hey, I’m organizing a mission trip to […]

There is always a war of technology going on in media. For reasons I will explain in a moment, the industry chose 8mm cameras and projectors over other technology. When I was young, the battle was between VHS and Betamax. Beta was superior in image quality. However, VHS won the battle and became the household […]

The year I served as the interim youth minister was the busiest of my life. The summer was especially hectic. I made my first two international mission trips. I led the student ministry through a packed summer schedule and I played at a handful of summer camps with my band.  My band did a two-week […]

From the time I was sixteen, I have been driving very used cars. My first was a Nissan Pulsar. I often told people, "The great thing about this car is that when something breaks, the broken part usually falls off on the road, so I don't have to worry about it." My next car was […]

Being in the Baptist sphere came with its own idiosyncrasies. One such awkwardness was what was known as the invitation. Growing up in the Bible church meant that I had not been introduced to the end of service time, where individuals are encouraged to walk down the aisle as a means to solidify salvation. A […]

By my junior year in high school, it was becoming clear that there were a lot more gigs for a worship band than a loud rock act. As the worship war was waging in churches, the door was swinging wide for drums and electric guitars where only pipe organs, choirs, and pianos had been before. […]

I got my first church job at the age of 19. I was hired on as the pastoral intern at a small Bible church. I was the first one the church had ever had. It wasn't clear what the job description was. I met with the pastor a few times a week. The majority of […]

That same year I had an interesting experience while standing outside one of the local Christian rock venues. Billy was a kid who  I knew from the marching band. I don't remember him ever attending one of my garage Bible studies, so I'm not sure he knew I was such a Bible nerd. We were […]

It was just going to be a small get together and at first, that's all it was. I had invited Stephanie, James, Jeff, and a few others. We met in my parent's garage where our band practiced. Amidst the ragged drum kit and second-hand electric guitars, we read a little bit of Ephesians together. I […]

Junior High sleepovers were the best of times and the worst of times. Our neighborhood was not lacking in options. John's house was always a safe choice, though he had a curly furred dog who demanded a crotch sniff followed by a face lick. Spending the night at Jimmy's was not bad because he had […]