As I write this, it is Easter Sunday, and this day ends a period known as the period of Lent. This period is recognized in the Liturgical churches as the period of sacrifice in honor of the sacrifices that Christ endured for us culminating with His death on the cross and resurrection from the dead three days later. It starts on Ash Wednesday and ends on Easter Sunday. As Christ sacrificed for us, I am reminded of the cost of commitment to Him in the area of ministry.

It has been sixteen years since I walked and received my degree from Dr. Charles Shoemaker during graduation week. Many things have changed in our world since 1997. As we recall, the end of the nineties brought the Y2K scare, then on September 11, 2001 our nation was plunged into the Global War on Terrorism. Church life at the end of the 1990s witnessed the impact of Rick Warren’s two books, The Purpose Driven Church and The Purpose Driven Life, and now we are grappling with the Emerging Church phenomenon. The only thing that is consistent in life is change. As I ponder this truth of life, I am reminded that in my own life, especially since God called me into the ministry in 1987, these two axioms, sacrifice and change, have defined my service for Christ.

In 1999, I went back into the Army after serving for nearly three years as an assistant pastor at a small church in Jacksonville, FL. Many of you are familiar with my testimony and my ministry experiences prior to coming back into the Army. A particular incident that was a watershed experience happened when I ran into one of the pastors to whom I sent a resume. I met this particular pastor at the Sword of the Lord Conference in 1998. After sitting and talking with me for a couple of the sessions, he said, "You’re a great guy. When you get a family give me a call". When I related this incident to my pastor and boss at the time, he instructed me wisely on the precarious dilemma of prejudice that I would experience trying to find work as an older (31 year old), unmarried minister. The Lord used that situation in my life to give me insight into the inner workings of full-time ministry. God also showed to me what the true meaning of ministry in service to Him was really all about sacrifice and change. Again in my life, I was faced with the proverbial fork in the road and a path altering decision to be made.

So, I left Jacksonville in 1999 to finish what I had started in 1986, my U.S. Army career. Originally, I had hoped to become a chaplain, but God clearly showed me in 2005 that this was not the direction that He wanted me to go after several attempts to transition into the chaplaincy. Some of my family, friends, and former college peers questioned the wisdom of my deciding to go back into the Army after nearly three years as an assistant pastor. However, God has used my military travels to afford me a ministry experience that staying in Jacksonville, Florida, and remaining single would not have given. As God moved me away from Jacksonville and back into the military, He allowed me to gain more practical ministry experience and wisdom while serving my country.

During my time in the service, I have been a member of several Baptist churches affiliated with various groups (e.g. the Baptist Bible Fellowship, Southwide Baptist Fellowship, World Baptist Fellowship) and unaffiliated. This also has included being a member of two missionary churches to the military in Germany. I have been exposed to a variety of ministry philosophies, especially in the areas of evangelism and foreign missions. I have experienced ministries with varying degrees of worship styles from traditional to contemporary. I would not have had exposure to this much variety of ministry had I not left Jacksonville. The Lord showed me that what we learn at Trinity Baptist College is unique as compared to the ministry training others have received; this is especially true in the area of evangelism. This at first seemed to present a compatibility problem. As the prophet Amos wrote, “Can two walk together, lest they be agreed?” God used the wisdom gained from one of my professors, Joel Spencer, that allowed me to serve in these churches; namely, the Autonomy of the Local Church. Most pastors have a genuine heart for what they are doing, and I saw it as my duty and responsibility to be an enabler for their ministries, not a competitor or a disruptive influence.

In these churches, there was an opportunity to be a blessing by offering myself to be a help to my pastors beyond the normal volunteer church member. Many of these pastors in smaller churches want an assistant pastor, but cannot afford to hire one. This is where the niche and opportunity presented itself. I approached them with my credentials and offered to help if they needed me to assist, without being pushy or obnoxious about it. Some of my pastors allowed me to help in this way and we became close friends as a result. We often joked in private by referring to me as an "unpaid staff member". Some of my other pastors did not want to allow me to assist in this manner. As such, God also used that in my life by allowing me to be a blessing by just being a faithful church member. This afforded me preaching opportunities as my pastor was led to ask me preach. So as Paul famously said about being abased or abounding, I have ultimately learned to be content with whatever situation that I found myself in and to trust His sovereign will in my life. I want to thank all of those with whom I have served for the influence and impact that each of you has had on my life since 1999. God will use it all to make me a better servant for Him.

Beyond ministry, the Lord has allowed me to better understand what our military families endure and the sacrifice and change that they must manage in their lives. Since coming back in the Army, God gave me my wife Heather, and two children, Will and Bridget. God has allowed me to be a critical military staff member, and my efforts have been recognized in war and in peace time. I have met President Carter and Vice President Biden. In the last thirteen years, I have been deployed to Iraq three times. In 2006, my vehicle was struck with a roadside bomb. I missed the birth of my first child, Will, in 2009 because of being deployed, not to mention the countless days and nights of being rocketed by our enemies. As the Andre Crouch song proclaims "Through it all, I've learned to trust in Jesus, I've learned to trust in God. Through it all, I've learned to depend upon His Word".

I will soon retire from the U.S. Army. As we near this time of transition for me and my family I would ask that you be in prayer with me about what God Almighty would have our family to do for Him. God is Sovereign over all things including the ministry. May His will be done and not mine.