My Influences...

In order to understand what makes our church tick...you will need to understand a little something about what makes me tick.

My dad surrendered to the ministry in his thirty's and he and my mom spent most of their ministry starting churches on Indian Reservations in the Western United States. At times, my dad pastored as many as three Native American churches at a time driving a bus from community to community in order to pick up the neighborhood kids. Like many PK's who go on to pastor, I learned a great deal by simply watching my dad. My dad was a gifted pastor. He loved to love people and always made it a habit to be in the homes of his church members as often as he could.

I attended a Christian boarding school during my High School days and was influenced by many teachers and staff but the most influential would have to Ken Casey. Ken and his family had served the Foreign Mission Board in Grenada and had a real "layed-back" approach to life. I remember like it was yesterday the final night that I spent in the dorm on the campus of HCBA. Ken came in to my room and without turning on the light shared some wisdom for me to carry with me. I don't remember what he said...but his tears touched me as I came to realize how much this man believed in me.

Well, I can see already that I've just hit another series...there is no way that I can discuss my personal influences in one post. Let me just move on then, for now, by saying that the following books and authors have greatly influenced me: Rick Warren--The Purpose Driven Church, Henry Blackaby--Experiencing God, Richard Foster--Prayer: Finding the Heart's True Home, several books by John Maxwell, Rees Howell--Intercessor, The Autobiography of George Mueller, The Autobiography of Oswald Chambers, Hannah Hurnard--Hinds Feet on High Places, John Rice--The Power of Pentecost, Thom Rainer--Eating the Elephant, and most likely some others.