John 3:8, Hebrews 11:8, and Joshua 3:13

    For a fourth of my adult life, I was in full-time communications and part-time ministry (at least vocationally). Then for nearly the other three/fourths of my career, I have been in full-time ministry and part-time communications, writing for fun and sometimes profit in the free-lance and self-publishing world.

The circle is 

now complete-

My SWBTS ring,

featuring the Dome
bought in 1991 by

Melissa's parents.

As of June 6, 2022, “the circle is now complete”, as some jedi warrior once said, but not nearly as ominous as all that. I will resume my communications career, taking the role of Associate Director of News and Information at my alma mater, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

    I pursued communications for neither fame nor fortune (a good thing too), but rather because “I never heard the Apostle Paul preach, but I read what he wrote”. The written word has a legacy different and likely more lasting than the preached word.

    I am proud to be back “home at the dome” in Fort Worth. Southwestern was a great and formative experience for me. At the time of my enrollment, it was the largest Protestant seminary in the world with more than 5,000 students on campus. I loved SWBTS so much I spent six years getting a two-year degree in 1991. (Full disclosure, during that time, Melissa and I alternated going to school, she got her bachelor’s degree, we had two children, and I served in two churches as well as working most of those years as full-time journalist.)

   My family asks me, “Are you excited? Are you nervous?” to which I reply, “yes to both.” I enjoyed my years as managing editor of two Texas newspapers and a writer at several others including the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. After so many years in ministry, I never left writing and I know also I will never leave ministry either.

    I left First Baptist Church of Killeen more than a month ago for a self-imposed Sabbatical. I officially accepted the Southwestern position the first day of my unemployment. But when I announced my resignation, I had absolutely no idea I would be going to where I am going. I intentionally preached my final sermon on the text of the waters parting only after putting their feet into the water. It truly was a leap of faith in a lifetime of walking by faith. 

    And as He always has been, God continues to show Himself faithful.