Ministry can be hard.” My dad’s experience in ministry was great, but my grandfather’s experience was very painful most of the time.

They were like, “If there’s anything else you can do with your life, Josh, do that. When I first told my parents, they tried to dissuade me. And so God started stirring this thing in me until I thought, OK, maybe this is what God wants me to do with my life. The people around you look to you for spiritual leadership, and there’s a grace on you for that.” He handed me a copy of Lectures to My Students by Charles Spurgeon. Shortly thereafter, my youth pastor said, “Hey man, I see something in you. I had a very powerful, very real salvation experience then. I realized this deep need for Jesus when I was 16. I was an unsaved, very religious person with a lot of normal ’90s teenage struggles, all covered up with this religious veneer. Even though church was positive, I didn’t give my life to Christ until I was 16. Did you always expect you would enter ministry?

I saw a real, authentic relationship with Jesus. He was generous and sincere in his faith. Dad wasn’t one dude at church and a different dude at home. My parents modeled following Jesus in a very real way. It felt like how it was supposed to be, as if church were this oasis in a desert of a world that was hostile and brutal and would tear you down and pick you apart. There was joy, love, unity and honor that was different from the world around us. I grew up watching my dad want to spend time with the pastors’ families on our staff. The staff loved each other deeply and genuinely enjoyed each other. Our church was a place of obvious joy and incredible acceptance. What did your parents or pastors do right that set you up for such a positive experience as a young man? My pastors were my personal heroes growing up. I was very well-loved and discipled there. A lot of people have a bad experience being a pastor’s kid, but it was a tremendous experience for me. He’s actually recently joined our staff at Lakepointe. My grandfather was a Baptist minister who served all over throughout his ministry-Missouri, Kentucky, Michigan-in smaller country churches. What experiences led you to pastoral ministry?

Lake pointe church pastor salary