Sam's story
I'm the planting pastor of Damascus Road Church--in other words, the idea started with Jesus and then he told me next. I guess it also means that most Sunday's you'll hear me yelling at you from up front. Don't take it personally, I like to hear myself talk.
I'm a fairly young buck, feeling a bit older everyday. My bride Caylin and I were married on May 20, 1995. Today, we have three children, Fischer (5), Landen (3), and Emersyn (1). We make our home in Lake Stevens, about 7 minutes south of Marysville proper where I have taught High School English for the last 8 years.
Those are the basics on who I am. In summary, I'm a believer in Jesus Christ, I'm a father, a husband, and, oh yeah, a pastor. I'm not sure you really wanted to learn all of that. You probably clicked on "my story" in hopes of finding out exactly who this lead guys is and how he's "qualified. Honestly, I've never pastored a church before. I'm not ordained by any human institution around, nor have I attended seminary (I do have a Bible degree to go with my English degree if that counts for...whatever). I did serve as an elder at another local church where men laid hands on me and there is more than one who probably wonders if the Holy Spirit really "stuck" when they did.
The only real "authority" or "qualfication" I have is Jesus. I mean, I do read a lot of theology from dead white guys and get turned on by passionate discussions about stuff like the hypostatic union or soteriology. I've even been assessed and approved by church planters and organizations. When all is said and done, my approval and motivation come from Jesus. That's really all we need isn't it? An apostolic calling? Otherwise, aren't you just a professional Christian? Daily I remind myself of 2Corinthians 3 where Paul writes, "Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant..."
So, Jesus called me, told me where, when, and with whom to plant a church. Why? There are a ton of solid arguments and evidence I could give you for the value and bibilcal mandate to plant churches. The only reason I need is, Jesus told me to. If I don't I'll be disobeying Jesus.
So, is the church plant my story. Oh no, my story is much bigger than that. I think up to this point, however, my life has been somewhat of a preface...the parts that are skipped so that you can jump ahead to the exciting chapters. Like Jesus, who spent 33 years on this earth, but only ministered for 3, the best years are yet to come.
kids road
outdoor & offroad