I am a pastor-teacher (Eph 4.11-12) currently living, working, and ministering in southern Johnson County, Kansas (that's in the southwest corner of the Kansas City metro area). On this page I've tried to put together a brief summary of my background and the ministry in which we (my family and I) are involved.
It was required of all Shepherd's School students to be involved in a weekly ministry that "invested the Word of God in other people." This requirement provided the students with an "outlet" for what we were learning, and it also helped train us up for practical ministry of the Word later on. Here are some of the ministries I participated in:
We (my wife and I) were sent out of KCBT in August of 1995 as missionaries to Latin America. We spent our first two years in Bogotá, Colombia, learning language and beginning the slow process of adapting to culture. Our first year there was spent concentrating on formal classes in Spanish, and the following year was dedicated to using the language in the minsitry of the Word.
After our time in Colombia, God opened the door for us to move to San José, Costa Rica, where I was an associate pastor at Emanuel Baptist in Hatillo (on the west side of town). In addition to preaching, I also taught in their Bible institute and worked with people in their discipleship ministry. We spent five years at Emanuel in Hatillo, and then God moved us to the east side of town.
In September of 2001 we started a home Bible study which later (March of 2002) became Eastside Church (La Iglesia del Este) on the east side of San José, two blocks from the university (and half a block from the bar district). I was the founding and senior pastor of Eastside Church until the pastors of our sending church, the Kansas City Baptist Temple, asked us to return home. God raised up several capable and gifted men of solid character to pastor and lead Eastside Church in our absence.
I documented our transition back from the mission field in several update letters. If you'd like, you can read them following these links:
In December of 2010 we returned from the foreign field and soon started a new church in southern Johnson County, Kansas (in the area of Overland Park and Olathe). Since I grew up in the Kansas City area, I feel very much at home here and, therefore, have no intentions of every leaving. If God would see fit to allow me to continue as pastor of Harvest Baptist Church for the rest of my life, I would be quite content with that. Kansas City is populated by hundreds of evangelical churches, the majority of which have departed from the faith and have chosen to follow man's wisdom in entertainment-oriented, seeker-sensitive, purpose-driven "worship" services. They have become men-pleasers rather than God-pleasers. The need for solid, biblical, active local churches here is glaring. If you'd like to visit Harvest Baptist's website, here is the link:
We believe that the Great Commission places an obligation on every born-again believer to intentionally evangelize the lost (2Cor 5.18-20). This can take place in the context of friends, family, and co-workers; or (as is my personal favorite) this can take place on the streets. Here are a couple videos of what we do out on the streets (you can see more out on my YouTube Channel, and on VideoPile; we also participate in a web site dedicated to biblical evangelism):
I've written and compiled a discipleship program that is being used in several local churches and ministries in the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. We offer the entire program free of charge to anyone: www.discipuladobiblico.com. The course takes, on average, about three years as the disciple works his or her way through over 1,000 pages of Bible studies which focus not only on sound doctrine but also on the practical application of biblical principles in daily life.
I am committed to the expository preaching of God's Word and so as God opens doors for Sunday ministry, I preach and teach through a book of the Bible, verse by verse. Here are some of the books of the Bible I've preached through:
In addition to preaching through entire books of the Bible, I believe a good topical sermon series every now and then is healthy for a congregation. Here are a couple of the series I have preached and taught:
One of the greatest needs today all over the world (especially in "Churched" areas like North and Latin America) is theological training, both biblical and applied theology. Many pastors and leaders have never had the opportunity to formally prepare themselves for the ministry of God's Word, especially in the developing world of Latin America. Many those who have received academic preparation struggle to apply it in practical ways in their ministry. We are working to fill that need by:
We are committed to reaching the world, wherever God would open a door of opportunity for us, through the teaching and training we offer. For example, Eastside Church's (which does not include our evangelism or discipleship sites) had over 65,000 visits in 2009, from 69 different countries (Google Analytics Report for 2009).