Life Story
I grew up in a small town in East Texas where everybody knew everybody and almost everybody was at church on Sunday. By God’s grace, I had a great Christian family. My dad was a deacon in the church, my mom sang in the choir and my older brother, sister and I were as involved as one could be at church. I have many fond memories of that church including when I was baptized there when I was 10 years old. It and my family sculpted me early on to have great faith and much love for Jesus.
The summer before my 8th grade year, we moved just outside of the Metroplex for my dad’s job. I was bitter. I didn’t like the church we were attending there and went on to have three youth pastors in five years. I was involved as much as I could be and made sure I made all the “good” and “right” decisions so everybody could know I was a Christian. My life was by no means hard, nor had any real struggles, and yet I didn’t exude joy. I followed the “rules” and did as best I could to keep my appearance clean. While these years were hard and fun, I’m so grateful for them now!
I headed off to Denton to the University of North Texas with plans to be a high school history teacher and coach like my dad, but God had different plans! The summer before I went off to school I got to intern under my youth pastor at our church and I fell in love with student ministry. Later in the spring of my freshman year at UNT, they asked me to come back to be the interim youth leader and it was because of that experience, I knew that’s where God was calling me. Simultaneously, I got involved at Denton Bible Church and their college ministry which offered small groups. It was there that I really began to understand God’s insane love for me, His beautiful and sufficient grace, and His plan for my life.
In 2010, I joined Redeemer Church that met at Westlake Academy to be the part time youth minister. It was challenging and I saw a lot of great things but learned a lot about myself and Jesus. In May of 2012, Redeemer merged with Bara Church and I was brought on as the Youth Minister during that transition. That’s another phenomenal story for another time. God’s faithfulness brought me and my family to be a part of the amazing family at Bara in a way we could’ve never imagined but are eternally grateful for!
My heart for youth ministry is for us to be relational and a people where students know that God wants to use them NOW! I often wished I had a trustworthy person or a group of people to come to during those formative years of middle and high school and we strive to provide that every day in Bara Student Ministries. I also thought God had no desire to use me then, while I now realize I couldn’t have been more wrong! BSM has such a heart to love and encourage this next generation to fall madly in love with Jesus!
On July 19, 2008, I got to marry the love of my life, Kate. I met her on a mission trip to Nashville, Tennessee while at Denton Bible. I fell in love with her instantly through watching her serve others! On September 8, 2011, God brought another lady into my life, Eva. She’s an endless source of energy, a chatterbox full of information and fun, and a constant reminder of how important it is to have child-like faith and joy. Then on February 5, 2015, we were blessed with Mr. Jensen Bruce Bradley. He's a chubby thing of fun and Eva LOVES being his big sister (aka - the boss)!
My Hope For Bara Church
My hope is that we would be a church that God is pleased with and honored by. I hope we would live faithful lives worthy of the Gospel and that those lives of faithfulness would stir other’s affections for Jesus. I pray that Bara Church is a church who is constantly seeking to love on all people, especially our young people. May God give us eyes to them as He does.
About Me
Favorite Restaurants
Pie Five
Jason’s Deli
Jersey Mike’s
Favorite Drink
Dr. Pepper
Favorite Holiday
Christmas
Middle Name
Kent
Birthday
October 10th
What I Like To Do For Fun
Play Golf
Watch Sports
Play board games
Hang out with my family
Favorite Bible Verse
"But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only that I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the Gospel of the grace of God.” – Acts 20:24