My path was set. All I had to do was chase my dream. After graduating from Lanphier High School in Springfield, IL in the Spring of 1981, all my attention was focused on earning the opportunity to one day play professional baseball. As the proverbial stars began to align for that dream to become a reality, everyone seemed to be on board except the One who really mattered.
After receiving recruiting letters from the likes of the University of Notre Dame and the University of Illinois (among dozens of other notable institutions of higher learning), I set my sights on attending Illinois State University (ISU) to play Division 1 baseball for the legendary coach, Buford “Duffy” Bass.
It was all that I could think about. I had trained for this my entire life. But God.
The Big Decision
I remember it like it was yesterday. The week before I was to report to ISU for the Fall baseball season, I was attending Senior Week at a Christian camp in Lowpoint, IL called Camp Manitoumi. It would be the last hurrah of the summer before I went off to college. At that week-long camp, there was a talented group of musicians from Baptist Bible College of PA (BBC) called The Brass Quintet. Those young men would minister to the students during the day and play their instruments during the chapel sessions in the evenings. I liked them. Not only were they great musicians but a couple of them were also good athletes, and I found them all very easy to talk to. Throughout the week their message became increasingly compelling.
Looking back, God used that small group of Bible college students to challenge me to consider trading in my earthly ambitions for something different—the opportunity to study the Bible like I never had before.
The Big Result
After working on me the entire week, I finally bought what they were selling. To say that I was afraid to call my dad and tell him that I was now considering going to Bible college, would be an understatement. I was petrified. But I almost swallowed my gum when he and I began to talk. The man who had coached me and trained me my entire life to play professional baseball threw me a major curveball when he said he would support me in whatever I chose to do. I was shocked.
With everything happening at warp speed, I arrived back home from spending the week at that camp, to an encouraging church family who seemed as surprised as I was at this shocking turn of events. So, the next day with my duffle bag in hand, I was on a plane headed to Clarks Summit, PA to study for the ministry.
The Big Transformation
While I had attended church my whole life, it became very evident that I was not well-grounded in the scriptures. I knew many of the Old Testament stories and had embraced the gospel, but I was theologically wet behind the ears.
To state it mildly, I was blown away at the faithful, systematic teaching of God’s Word in an academic setting. I had so much to learn, and after a short season of “having fun”, I decided that I was going to work hard to soak up as much of the Bible as I could. So, I took dozens of life-changing courses over my four years on campus. Memorable courses like Hermeneutics and Principles of Bible Study, Old Testament Survey, New Testament Survey, Romans, Isaiah, Genesis/Exodus, the Book of Acts, Systematic Theology, and homiletics (which is the art of preaching). It was in that preaching class that I finally determined what I wanted to do with my life. If the Lord would have me, I wanted to preach and teach the Bible and shepherd a local church to His glory (I Timothy 3:1; 2 Timothy 4:2; Acts 20:28).
That growing desire to be used by God in pastoral ministry became a reality upon my graduation from BBC. I entered the ministry at the ripe ol’ age of 21 and have now served as a pastor in five different local churches—two of which I have had the privilege or replanting and/or planting.
I have always been repelled by the “religious” types described by Jesus in Matthew 23. You know, those legalistic, churchy “Christians” who want others to think they are spiritual. And because of that, I never wanted to be a cookie cutter, prototypical “pastor.”
No, I was determined in my heart that if God would allow me to be used by Him to minister to His people, I would work hard to trade in the proverbial clergy collar for a pair of shorts. From day one, my philosophy of ministry was to stand firm on the Word of God no matter the cost (I Corinthians 16:13), systematically preaching and teaching the whole counsel of God (Acts 20:27) and doing life with people.
The Big Blessing
During my formative years, I was exposed to a wide variety of men who were also in pastoral ministry. In my observation, there were far too many “pastors” who would seemingly sit all week in their offices with little to no intentional interaction with their flock. They would preach their sermons on a Sunday morning (usually three points and a poem) and then go home, not to be seen by real people until the next Sunday morning. Sure, they would marry folks and bury folks, but so many of the men I had observed were nothing more than professional pastors.
I wanted no part of that kind of “ministry”. I would rather be a bat boy for a minor league baseball team than be a stuffy, unapproachable, unaccountable “minister”.
The pastors who I admired were those who also diligently labored in the study and proclamation of God’s Word, but they were actively engaged with the sheep.
My desire has always been for the people I am honored to teach and shepherd to know me for who I am. And for me to know them for who they are. Sure, life can be messy but isn’t that what the church is supposed to be about? Aren’t we all on the same mission? Aren’t we all to be faithfully practicing the “one anothers” of the New Testament? Aren’t we all called to “stimulate one another to love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24) and to “proclaim the excellencies of Him who called [us] out of the darkness and into His marvelous light” (I Peter 2:9)? Don’t we all need encouragement and edification along the way (I Thessalonians 5:11)?
As I reflect back on my long tenure in pastoral ministry, my mind is flooded with some of the finest Christian people on the planet. People that I have loved and done life with. But you know what they all have in common? They are real authentic followers of Christ. Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination (just like their pastor), but they just humbly live out what they say they believe. It is folks like these who reach their communities for Christ. It is folks like these who are committed to the church. It is folks like these that I joined the ministry to lock arms with. And it is folks like these who one day will hear Jesus say to them, “Well done my good and faithful servant(s).” May God continue to abundantly bless their lives as He has undeniably blessed mine.