There Is Always A Way with Dr. Jay Strack

Dr. Alex Himaya is a follower of Jesus, husband, father, pastor, speaker, author, visionary, and leader. He is the founding and Senior Pastor of theChurchat, located in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Under Alex’s leadership, attendance of theChurchat has increased significantly since its founding in 2003. Rather than establishing one mega building in a central location, Alex maximized the reach of the church by implementing a multi-site strategy with campuses across the Tulsa metro area. Inspired by his Egyptian heritage and commitment to further God’s plan for Gospel transformation in Egypt, Alex expanded the reach of theChurchat to international heights by establishing a ministry for permanent and long-term mission teams in Egypt.

Alex is currently involved in church planting efforts both locally and internationally through theChurchat and various strategic partnerships. He has founded an international orphan care ministry called Adopt(ed), which is helping churches and families find their niche in orphan care around the world.

In addition to his role as a strategic leader, Alex has been blessed with the unique ability to connect with individuals on a personal and spiritual level. One of Alex’s greatest passions is to effectively present the same relevant message—the good news of Jesus Christ—using fresh and innovative methods. Alex participates in speaking engagements nearly 200 times each year in order to share the Gospel with people across Tulsa, America, and the world.

Alex received his bachelor’s degree from Ouachita Baptist University in Arkansas and his master’s degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas. He completed his doctorate in Church Growth and Evangelism in May 2002.

Alex and his wife, Meredith have four children—Katherine, Eli, Benjamin, and Lemley.

Julia Immonen Strachan was born and raised in Finland before moving to the UK at age six. An avid sportswoman who works for Sky Sports News, Julia’s passion is campaigning to end modern-day slavery, and she believes sport is a powerful vehicle for raising awareness about such overwhelming injustice.

Thirty-two-year-old Julia Immonen and four other women take on a challenge completed by fewer people than have climbed Mount Everest or gone into space: row three thousand miles, unaided, from the Canary Islands to Barbados.

Row for Freedom chronicles that dramatic journey, detailing the grueling, peril-filled crossing, which broke two world records, as it weaves together Julia’s search for hope and purpose against a background of relationships scarred by violence.

Dr. Jeffrey Alan Lovingood was saved, baptized and called to serve the Lord while at First Baptist Church Cleveland, TN. Having been in ministry since the age of 18, in every church where Jeff has served, he has led the way in reaching beyond church culture and engaging the community. The churches he has served over the past 36 years are: Intern, First Baptist Church. Cleveland, TN; Youth Minister, First Baptist Church. Royce, TX. (While attending seminary); Youth Minister, First Baptist Church. Ruston, LA; Youth Minister, First Baptist Church. Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Youth Minister, First Baptist Church. Cleveland, TN; Youth Minister, Idlewild Baptist Church. Tampa, FL; Youth Minister, First Baptist Church Concord. Knoxville, TN; Senior Associate Pastor for Spiritual Development, Long Hollow Baptist Church, Hendersonville, TN. 2002 – 2014. Under Jeff’s leadership, Long Holllow was consistently recognized for being in the top churches for children, student and adult baptisms; the church has grown from a little over a 1,000 members to a multi-site church with 5 campuses and a membership of 12,000 averaging 7,000 weekly attendance in attendance for all campuses. Jeff currently serves as Senior Associate Pastor, First Baptist Church, Cleveland, TN. (June 2015 to present) – First Baptist Cleveland is the 6th largest church in Tennessee with an attendance of approximately 3,500.

Jeff’s education, awards, and achievements include: High school graduate, Bradley High School; All-State football player, Bradley High School; BA, Carson Newman College; played football and baseball while at Carson Newman College; was a part of three National Championship football teams while at Carson Newman College; Masters of Arts in Religious Education, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; Doctorate of Divinity at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary; Served as President of the Metro Youth Minister’s Conference (The youth pastors associated with this conference represent 25,000+ students and 300,000+ church members.); currently a Trustee at Carson Newman University; received the 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award for Student Ministry; Adjunct professor at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary; Author of Make it Last, Proven Principles for Effective Student Ministry; and Chaplain of the University of Tennessee football team under Coach Phil Fulmer

Jeff was born in 1963 in Detroit, MI. He has been married to Rachel Tollett Lovingood for 30 years. Rachel is an author and speaker. They have 3 children: Trevor, is married to Erica and they have a 2yr old daughter Londyn Willow and a 5 month old son, Leo. Trever is the Campus Pastor at is Bridgepoint Downtown Campus. Kelsey, who has her PA license, and is married to Luke Harper, the Student Pastor at Cross Church Fayetteville Campus in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Luke and Kelsey have a 2 month old girl named Layla. Riley, their third child, is attending the University of Tennessee on a football scholarship.

Ed Newton was raised in a deaf world. The only child of two deaf parents, Ed was the voice in the silence for his parents Ron and Libby Newton. Through difficult circumstances and major hardships Ed was radically saved in high school. It was through the spoken word of others and the written Word of God that clarified a call to ministry as a senior in high school. God began to show forth His sovereign will in leading Ed to Clearwater Christian College to gain a Bible education, while affording the opportunity to play college basketball for four years. Ed continued his education journey by receiving a Master in Religious Education from Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary, a Master of Divinity from Trinity Theological Seminary, and a Doctorate of Ministry in Pulpit Communication and Expository Preaching from Trinity Theological Seminary.

Prior to surrendering to a call to a faith-based itinerant evangelism ministry, Ed has served the local church in multiple positions such as Youth Minister, Recreation Pastor, as well as Minister of Outreach and Single Adults. Ed Newton is currently the Lead Pastor at Community Bible Church San Antonio. He strives to present the timeless truth of Scripture for abundant life change.

God has uniquely gifted Ed with an ability to connect with various age groups, personally and corporately. His communication style can be summarized as “passion with content” while seeking to inspire people to be passionate, dedicated followers of Christ. He and his wife, (College Sweetheart) Stephanie, and their four children, London, Lola, Liv, and Lawson reside in San Antonio, TX.

Ben Trueblood serves as the Director of Student Ministry for Lifeway Christian Resources and has twenty years of student ministry experience, fourteen of which were spent in the local church as a student pastor. In addition to his role at Lifeway Ben is involved in training, consulting, and speaking to student ministries throughout the U.S.

He is the author of three books: A Different College Experience, Within Reach, and Student Ministry That Matters, and is the host of The Student Ministry Podcast by Lifeway. Ben has also recently started a YouTube channel aimed at encouraging and investing in fellow youth pastors.

Ben is driven by a desire for student ministries to expand God’s Kingdom, to see the lives of students transformed by the gospel, and to develop students who shape the culture in which they live.

Ben and his wife Kristen have four children. In his free time Ben enjoys family, hunting, is a huge St. Louis Cardinals fan, and is a collector of hobbies.

Connect with Ben on Instagram: @bentrueblood

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Greg Stier has a reputation for knowing and relating to today’s teens in unique and effective ways. Because of his 25+ years in youth ministry, Stier is widely viewed as an authority on teen issues and adolescent spirituality. Over the course of the last 20 years, Stier has spoken to over 1,000,000 teens in major venues across the nation and heard countless stories of their struggles and triumphs.

Stier’s commitment to mobilizing teenagers to reach their generation for Christ is rooted in the transforming power of the gospel. Raised in a violent, inner-city family of body-builders, he never had a dad and never felt like he measured up because his biceps weren’t big enough! But one by one, he saw his tough, urban family of “thugs” come to know Christ. And that ignited a passion in Stier to see all lost people come to know Jesus.

Living just minutes away from the scene of the 1999 Columbine High School shootings in the Denver area, the tragedy triggered a pivotal turning point in Stier’s career. Following those events, he resigned a pastorate at a church in Arvada, Colorado, to pursue Dare 2 Share (D2S) full-time. Since then, Stier and the ministry of D2S have impacted the lives of hundreds of thousand teenagers across the country, motivating and equipping them to relationally reach out to those who don’t know Jesus with the gospel message of hope.

Stier is well-known for his ability to inspire teenagers to action by communicating Biblical truth through amazing true-life stories and side-splitting humor. This ability to connect with teens has made him a nationally known and sought-after speaker and author who speaks to the heart of teen issues and helps teens find their significance in God. As a dynamic communicator, Stier has had the privilege of appearing on several national television and radio shows.

We are only getting started!