My Story
I made a profession of faith when I was six, but by my teenage years I had drifted. At seventeen, after being arrested for stealing a car, the Lord used that moment as something of a Damascus Road for me. It was one of the first times I saw clearly that God's sovereignty is not an abstract doctrine—He really does intervene, and often in ways that humble us before they heal us.
Not long after, a mission trip to Arizona and a serious accident pressed a question into my heart: What actually matters for eternity? I had planned to join the military, but a horse kick changed those plans in an instant. The Lord redirected my steps to Word of Life Bible Institute, where I met Kara. We married in 2009.
For the next six years, I worked warehouse and manufacturing jobs while volunteering in youth ministry. It felt like wilderness wandering—I knew God had called me to something, but I couldn't understand why I seemed stuck. Looking back, the Lord was using those years to shape me in ways I couldn't see at the time.
In 2014, I stepped into my first full-time youth pastor role. But hidden sin was quietly eroding our marriage. When we moved to Florida in 2018 for a pastoral residency, a trip back to Ohio brought me face-to-face with what that sin looks like when it's left unchecked. That was a mercy. It led to confession, a long road of repentance, and the kind of restoration only God can give.
After that season, the Lord led us to plant Neighborhood Church in Lakeland. We launched in 2022. Six months later, Kara was diagnosed with cancer while pregnant with our fifth daughter. That was a hard road—but even there, we saw the Lord's faithfulness. He loves us fiercely and eternally, and He has carried us through every step.
Family
Kara has been my partner in ministry and in the beautiful chaos of our home ever since we married in 2009. She's not a prop in the background of church life—she's a faithful, steady help to me and, in many ways, the administrative backbone of what we do.
We have six daughters. Yes, six.
Our house is loud, rarely spotless, and usually full of people, laundry, questions, and activity. It's not polished, but it is a kindness from the Lord.
Family as Ministry
One thing the Lord has pressed on me over the years is this: family ministry doesn't begin at church. It begins at home.
If a man is going to help shepherd God's people, he has to give faithful attention to the people under his own roof. That's not a side issue—it is pastoral ministry. First Timothy 3 makes that plain enough.
So we've tried to live with an open home. Sunday lunches, Bible studies, counseling conversations, families gathered around the table—these things haven't been interruptions to ministry. They have been ministry.
What I Believe
The Gospel
Jesus Christ—the eternal Son of God—lived the righteous life I could never live, died the death I deserved, and rose again on the third day in victory over sin and death. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.
The Scriptures
The Bible is God's Word—inspired, inerrant, and sufficient. It doesn't need my creativity to make it powerful. It needs to be opened, read, explained, and trusted. That's why I believe in expositional preaching. The text sets the agenda—not the preacher.
The Local Church
The church is not a building, and it is not a religious vendor of spiritual goods. It is Christ's body, and God's ordinary means for making disciples in this age. A healthy church will be marked by biblical preaching, sound doctrine, a clear gospel, meaningful membership, loving discipline, intentional discipleship, evangelism, and qualified leadership. None of that is flashy. It is simply God's wise design.
The Christian Life
The Christian life is a life of growing holiness by God's grace through the ordinary means of grace—His Word, prayer, and the sacraments in the context of the local church. And it is not meant to be lived alone.