Introduction: Mark, my best friend and husband

My hero is my spouse, my friend, my lover, my co-worker, and my pastor. Mark is the meekest man I know. He is controlled strength embodied. I don’t know anyone who works harder and loves deeper than he does.

He was born the youngest child of three and only son to a hard-working, middle-class family in Dallas, TX in December of 1959. His grandfather was the pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church and his father the associate pastor. We have a reel-to-reel tape of the service on January 6, 1960 where Mark is introduced and you can hear him exercising his lungs in the background.

When he was five, Mark walked the aisle for salvation and a man prayed with him. This man never dealt with Mark about his sinful condition and Mark never prayed. He rode on that false profession for many years.

When he was a young teenager, due to his grandfather’s failing health and the decline of the inner-city neighborhood, Bellevue Baptist Church closed its doors. Mark began attending another independent Baptist church close to his home. He became very involved singing in the choir, singing special music and as a bus captain on one of the church’s bus routes. The entire time, he was lost and on his way to Hell.

On January 6, 1980, (twenty years to the day after that first service) Mark felt the conviction of the Holy Spirit and accepted Christ as his personal Savior. Two weeks later, Mark surrendered to preach. Two weeks later, we met.

We were friends for six months and then Mark asked me out. We went soulwinning and then went to Red Lobster for dinner. Nineteen days and nineteen dates later, we were engaged. Nine months later, on June 5, 1981 we became husband and wife.

When he was saved, Mark was finishing up his second year of college on a music scholarship. He transferred to a Bible college that fall, and prepared himself for the ministry.

Mark has pastored three churches: Temple Baptist Church in Lufkin, TX; Trinity Independent Baptist Church in Kansas City, MO; and All Seasons Baptist Church in Bettendorf, IA.