My Story & Beliefs

I’m a bible teacher at Church of the City and an advocate for Compassion International.

Becky and I live in the Nashville area with our youngest still at home and our three adult kids nearby. I serve as a teaching pastor at Church of City and occasionally get to speak on behalf of Compassion International at conferences, concerts, and churches across North America.

Becky and I got married and moved to Nashville just a week after I graduated from college in Texas. We were young and dumb, and so we left family and friends and the best barbecue in the world for the dream of breaking into the music industry. We actually managed to pull it off. I signed a contract with Rocketown Records in 2000. Over the next few years, I released a few albums and toured the world.

That’s what I thought I wanted. But as it turns out, it wasn’t what anyone, including me, truly needed.

In the midst of all this, Compassion International invited me to see their work with children born into poverty. That trip changed everything. I was so moved by their ministry that I began to speak on their behalf at my concerts. Eventually, this advocacy grew, taking me to colleges, churches, conferences, and even other people’s concerts. By 2010, I had left the music industry entirely to speak full-time about how God is meeting both the physical and spiritual needs of children around the world through local churches.

Then came 2019. A global pandemic brought live events to a screeching halt. I went back to school, pursuing a Masters of Divinity at Fuller Theological Seminary. During lunch with a pastor friend, seeking his advice on how to survive grad school, he casually mentioned an open position at his church. At first, I had zero interest in working at a church, but after a series of interviews and a lot of prayer, I felt a surprising tug on my heart.

Now, I’m a teaching pastor at Church of the City. I teach the Bible at our Franklin, Spring Hill, and Downtown Nashville churches and provide pastoral care to our congregation in Franklin. Life so far has been a winding road full of unexpected turns, but along the way I’ve learned so much about following the way of Jesus. I’m deeply grateful for the chance to share some of that wisdom with others.

What I Believe

  • The first person of the Trinity orders and directs all things according to His purpose and pleasure. He has created humanity to bring Him glory and honor, through His grace. While He is transcendent, He is also actively involved in His creation—offering an eternal relationship with us through His Son, Jesus Christ. (Matthew 6:9; John 5:19-24; Ephesians 1:3-6; 2:1-10)

  • Jesus Christ is both the eternal Son of God and virgin-born Son of man. Fully God, fully man, He surrendered nothing of His deity during His earthly life. His sinless, sacrificial offering on the cross made atonement for all of humanity’s sins for all time. We believe in His bodily resurrection, His physical ascension, and His visible return back to earth to fully establish His earthly kingdom. (John 1:14-18; Colossians 1:15-20)

  • The Holy Spirit executes the will of God in this world through humanity by leading, guiding, filling, teaching, and convicting. The Holy Spirit is not merely an impersonal force, but is a person, displaying the qualities of personhood (intellect, emotions, and will). The Holy Spirit equips believers upon conversion by giving them gifts to be used for the building up of the church and by bearing fruit through their yielded lives. (John 16:7-11; Ephesians 2:10; Ephesians 1:13-14; Galatians 5:22-25)

  • We are created in the image of God, destined to enjoy an intimate relationship with Him and one another, fulfilling His will here on earth. Through Adam and Eve’s willful sin in the garden, sin entered the world and has infected all of humanity. Due to our inherent sinful nature received from our father Adam, we are spiritually dead, and destined for physical death and an eternity apart from God. (Genesis 1-3; Romans 1:18-32; Romans 5:12-21; Ephesians 2:1-3)

  • Jesus Christ died for our sins as the only sufficient sacrifice, offering atonement for the sin of all humanity through His death, burial, and resurrection. While salvation is available to all, it is only experienced by those who receive His gracious gift by faith. As a result of our new relationship with God through His Son, Jesus, we are called to a life of submission to the Holy Spirit, manifesting spiritual fruit, and walking in good works that God has prepared beforehand for us to do. (John 14:6; Acts 4:12; John 1:12; Ephesians 1:7, 2:8-9; Hebrews 10:10-14; 1 John 5:11-13; Galatians 3:26; John 3:16)

  • I believe every word in the original writings is inspired by God and what God intended. The Word of God reveals God’s nature and will for all of humanity. We affirm that while God’s Word is accurate in all matters, it is not given as an end in and of itself, but rather a means to a relationship with God. (2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:20-21; Hebrews 4:12; John 17:17)

  • All who place their faith in God through His Son, Jesus Christ, are a part of the universal body of believers known as the Church. The purpose of the local church is to lead people to Christ and bring them to maturity in Him. Members of the local church are to live lives in humble submission to other Spirit-led believers and leaders. (Hebrews 10:24-25; Acts 2:41- 47; 1 Corinthians 12-14; Matthew 28:18-20; Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17)

  • At the end of all things, God promises to make all things new. He invites us, His followers, to join Him in this work of renewal on earth. The signs of His kingdom coming are salvation, joy, peace, justice, God’s presence, belonging, and healing. (Revelation 21:5)

  • I hold to these beliefs as central to the Christian faith, providing unity within the Church. Every other matter is nonessential. There is liberty to celebrate and learn from the great diversity of thought within the Church.