This series has been so much fun for me, especially the kinds of questions it has generated from my readers. One of the questions I get often, not just on this blog but also when I meet people, is, “How did you get started doing this?”

I ordered a Tony Robbins motivational self-help video, and the rest is history.

Ahh, a joke. Seriously, it is a story of God’s grace and nothing else. I am an evangelist, and I travel the world proclaiming the gospel. This takes me away from home, my community, my precious boys and my lovely wife, several hundred days a year. No man in his right mind would CHOOSE this career. How did I get started? In a word….GOD.

I do not come from a long line of preachers. Nobody on either side of my family has ever been in ministry. It never occurred to me growing up that I would preach one day. My plans were to play college football, get drafted in the pros, play one year for the Dallas Cowboys, and retire on my signing bonus a year’s salary. But instead, at age 14, a radical covergence of events altered the trajectory of my life.

In short, the night that I repented of my sins and was converted to faith in Christ was the night that God laid both His hands on me, calling me to preach. I was at the altar at a youth rally with a ton of other teenagers, and I was praying “the sinners prayer” for real for the first time (I had prayed it dozens of times before but never meant it or udnerstood it). And while I was praying, I looked up and saw the preacher’s shoes at eye level. And I was reminded of the passage in Romans where it says, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news.” It was at that very moment I “got my start” because that was the moment that God not only called me to His salvation, but also to His kingdom work.

A series of events took place that laid the foundation for what is now Crossroads Worldwide and my preaching ministry. I asked my principal at Shannon Forest Christian School if I could preach in a chapel service and I asked my pastor if I could preach on a Sunday night at Crossroads Baptist Church. They both said yes, and I preached. Word began to travel around our area (Greenville, SC) that a 14 year old kid was preaching. Several other pastors invited me to preach for them, some of them out of curiosity, others for the novelty of it, and others as an act of kindness to a young man that they believed in. Then I sort of began a preaching circuit of churches in the upstate of SC, not to mention getting involved in a prison ministry at age 14 where I was weekly teaching inmates the scriptures. This experience, being exposed to the stories and testimonies of murderers, rapists, and criminals, seasoned me at a young age. God gave me a discernment since many of them saw a great opprtunity to manipulate and use a boy my age. God protected me in those years, and taught me volumes about His grace, humanity’s depravity, and what He could do with a willing heart.

By age 17, I was preaching 3 times a week, sometimes 5 or 6. Youth rallies and conferences and youth groups and Bible studies…I did not care how far I had to drive and never asked for a dime. Then during my Junior year of high school, I was elected as National Beta Club Secretary. This opened up vast opportunities for me to travel to state Beta conventions around the nation, speaking at secular events, public school assemblies, and non-religious events. I would meet people, make connections, get invitations, fly all over the country, and preach. I was the happiest teenager on earth, because I still got to play high school football and preach.

When I went to college, the doors continued to open. I began to travel internationally, make new friends, get bigger and better opportunities, and watch God work. Now at age 35, it seems like a dream come true.

So what is the secret? Here it is plain and simple. I HAVE PREACHED THE GOSPEL FAITHFULLY FOR 21 YEARS. That is it. I never marketed myself, never self-promoted, I just tried to preach the simple message of the cross. There is alot to be said for sticking with something for 21 years. It is all by His grace. I could have never done this, I would have never chosen this life or this career. And I know that everyone’s story is different, especially us ROAD WARRIORS, but this is how I got started. And I am just warming up.

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