I have always been a fan of the team.

I look at Moses and his father-in-law; Jethro. In the early days of the exodus from Israel Moses attempted to be the judge for all 2 million of the people. His father- in-law came to him and said Moses, you're going to kill yourself if you keep this up. I also believe Jethro said this because he was seeing the impact that it was having on his daughter. So in godly wisdom Moses appointed different men and delegated the responsibility to be judges within the community.

Anyone who attempts to do everything on his own is going to find several problems:

1. Excellence is too big for one person. If you are the only person coming up with the ideas you are missing a plethora of million dollar ideas and concepts coming from other people.

2. You can’t handle it all. If only one person is running the entire operation you might run 35 people. But that's going to be the extent of it. Larger numbers, larger team.

3.You are robbing others of their opportunity. I Corinthian 12 talks about the body of Christ and how one member is not greater than the other. I've never seen an eye ball rolling down the street by itself. We need the team, We are the team!

"But although I love the team; at the end of the day it falls on the leader. Everything rises and falls on the leader"

–JOHN MAXWELL
 

If it was a failure, that's your bad. If it was a success, celebrate the team. The Scripture tells us that before you run into battle gain wisdom from others. I am all about listening; hearing what others say. I can't see at a 360 degree all the time. I need people watching my back, I need people sharing with me things that I cannot see. But at the end of the day; I have to make the final decision. At the end of the day, I have to be the one to put my signature on the final statement.

I have shared this with every staff I have lead: "I'm asking for your insight not your vote."

I am a visionary by nature; I love asking the questions, how can we do this better, how can we take this to the next level? I have always seen myself on a ship; not behind the captains wheel but in the crows nest. Always looking out to see where were going, what's next.

While being a visionary comes very easily and is quite enjoyable I have learned the need to not speak just because I have seen. Solomon said there's a time and place for everything. The right idea at the wrong time is not the right idea. It is one thing to hear from God where you need to go. It's another thing to know when to go.

My Ministry Journey

Since I was raised in the church I had seen all different forms of ministry. I had learned every song in the hymnal. After repenting and giving my life back to Christ at the end of my senior year of high school, I would be picked up by a ministry team doing resort ministry work at Canyon Lake Texas. After that summer I began college and churches that I had been exposed to the previous summer were calling me to come join their staff as a youth minister. Because I also knew every song in the hymnal; I was also able to lead the music.

My heart was pounding in my love relationship with Christ. I needed, and wanted to find people who were radical in their faith. Where were those who were preaching to the runaways; sharing Christ with the prostitute? Where were the people that were standing out in front of concerts telling people the good news of Jesus Christ? Where were those who were fasting and memorizing scripture? I found myself traveling to Dallas Texas attending a school where I found all the above. It was also during that time that I began to understand what worship was truly all about; it's a matter of the heart. I no longer wanted to sing about Jesus, I wanted to sing to him. With all of these new lessons in my heart and mind God took me back again to youth ministry. I served at different small churches pouring my life into the youth. It certainly paid off, today I still get emails and phone calls from adults who were in my youth groups during those years who continue their faith journey with Christ. Nothing in vain. (2 Corinthians 15:57,58)

In the early 90s I would take my wife and two children to Fort Worth Texas to attend Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. While I was there God began to open doors for me to speak at different youth events; camps, revivals, conventions.

    And although I loved the opportunity to present the truths of Christ to a different group every week I longed for a place where I could teach on a continual basis and watch people as they grew in their faith. In the mid 90s God opened that door. I had the opportunity to begin a college worship service at the  University I attended.  So I called my friend Chris Tomlin and had him join me for the first semester. It took off like wildfire. In the five years that we were there the worship service grew from 75 to over 500.

   During that time I was also speaking at Houston First Baptist Church for their weekly young adult worship gathering as well as traveling almost every weekend. With my children about to become teenagers my family needed a change.

    It would be at this time that I would meet Joel Osteen at Lakewood church in Houston Texas. Joel’s dad had died the year before and Joel was putting together a new team for a new work. I came on staff with Lakewood overseeing the youth, college, singles and young adults. We created a worship service geared for younger adults that eventually would grow to 800. I would also get my opportunity to begin preaching to much larger crowds being one of the regular speakers.

    It would be at that point that God would speak to my heart and tell me that it was time to senior pastor. I ended up coming to the Fort Worth area taking a church of about 500 people. It was another perfect storm. The city was growing, and there were no other churches like us doing what we were doing in the area. I had a vision, I could see what the church could become. I was so blessed to serve in all these different churches and see what God was doing; why couldn’t he do it here? And he did. The church grew from 500 to over 2500, growing from one campus to three and even enlarging the size of our worship facilities.

Today I am the senior pastor at Lake Country Church in Fort Worth, Texas.

My Spiritual Journey

My mom was the single pregnant teenage girl.  She called out to God in her distress and told him if he would get her though this that she would have her baby in church all the days of his life; she kept true to her word.  I was blessed to be raised in wonderful churches with people who loved God and taught his word.  I loved Sunday school and Vacation bible school, choir tours and mission trips.  I understood what it meant to follow Christ at those young ages and in 8th grade on July 16 in Helena Mississippi, I fell broken at His feet knowing that He was everything I needed and wanted.  That same night I would share Christ with a gas station attendant; this would be my first of many.

In high school I was on fire.  But I had no discipleship, no community.  I quickly fell into the world system and didn’t just fall, I dove hard.  I ran as hard as I could from God at this point, getting involved with the alcohol, drugs, and getting kicked out of school.  I was still going to church (My mom’s commitment) but I was hung over, stoned and rebellious the entire time. In those early years truth was planted deep in me. I knew God was there, that He was real.  The conviction was unreal; God wouldn’t even allow me to enjoy my sin.

The end of my senior year of high school I couldn’t take it anymore.  I surrendered my life back to the Father and said I would never go back to my old life again; I was now dead to that.  I began college at a party school (about 20,000 students) which was great for me.  You can’t play church at a party school.  You are either for Him or against Him; I chose to love Him!

 In college I had made the decision that I would never go back to my old life. I immediately plugged in with college Bible studies and started serving in local churches working with youth and worship. 

People have often asked me the question; “ when were you called to the ministry”? I remember the summer working with students taking a group of boys to camp. The speaker was talking about surrendering your life and being willing to go into vocational ministry. I told God that if he could use me to help students avoid my mistakes that I was surrendered to whatever He wanted! I don’t know that I ever received “a call” as much as I saw a need. I saw a need to minister to the next generation and I didn’t see as many  people going to the fields as I thought should be.” Here am I send me”.  

Immediately doors begin to open for me; invitations to come on staff to work with youth. I loved working in the youth ministry, their fire,  passion, their willingness to trust God no matter what. I continued  working at larger and larger churches. But eventually there was a hunger inside of me for more training. Not so much for ministry training as my own personal walk and understanding of God. This would take me to seminary in Fort Worth. 

During my time in seminary I believed that God was taking me, my wife and two boys at that point, to the foreign mission field. I had always loved the quote; “no one has the right to hear the gospel twice if someone has never heard it once”. I was willing and being trained to go. 

But during that time God begin to open new doors. Churches out of nowhere would begin to call me to come speak to their youth groups. That was followed by retreats and eventually camps and then conferences. I so thoroughly enjoyed speaking and teaching but I felt this had sidetracked me from what God had spoken to me. I eventually told God that if this new “speaking thing” was not of Him I’m willing to never “speak again”. I want God’s will more than I wanted the speaking opportunities. When I surrendered; the phone went off the hook. I began traveling almost every weekend. New friends developed who were also getting started in ministry as well; friends like, Chris Tomlin and David Crowder and of course the Mercy Me guys. All wonderful people. 

    But as I was traveling to new opportunities every weekend there was something within me that desired to build. I wanted to see the next steps with people not just weekend events. That would lead to a businessman calling me to come to back to my old college and start a college worship service. Ultimately it would start as a college worship service. I invited my friend Chris Tomlin to come join me for the first semester to kick this thing off. We knew it was a God thing. Other Christian ministries on the college campus begin to join us in the largest worship service to date taking place. During that time I was speaking almost every weekend, and at a large church for their Monday night singles and then at my place on Tuesdays. Although I loved what God was doing I was noticing that my young boys were becoming teenagers. This would lead us to begin to pray for our next chapter. 

The next chapter would come in the form of a invitation to join a church in Houston Texas. I spent several days on my face before God wanting to know His will in this matter. Ultimately we ended up moving our family to Houston for the next decade. We loved pouring into youth, college and young adults there in Houston Texas. 

But one Christmas day as my wife and I were going for a walk Holy Spirit spoke to my heart so clearly, Scott you’re about to senior pastor. His words were so loud and so clear I knew that there was no point questioning or fighting. I told God; “your will be done”! And within the next several weeks we were having conversation with five different churches from around the US. Ultimately I would end up coming to a small church just outside of Fort Worth. I’ve never been the senior pastor before, truth is I never really wanted to. But I knew this was the next chapter Father had for us. It was a perfect storm at that church; the way the city was growing, where the church was located but even more importantly how God wanted to pour out. The church went from 500 to over 2500. We went from one campus to three.  But over the course of time I made the mistake of believing what people were saying. People were calling me a rockstar in our city. Kids were coming up wanting their pictures with me. I actually believed that the success of the churches was due impart to me. Over the next two years Father, so graciously began to reveal to me broken wells that I had been drinking from (Jeremiah chapter 2),  calling me back to himself. The well of living water.