What effect does your faith have on your lifestyle?

My faith in God shapes every decision I make, and serves as the foundation of my life. He is at the center of all my relationships, goals, struggles, and successes. God determines how I manage and disperse His money, my time, and is my driving force at all times.

Describe how your Journey with Christ began.

I was born and raised in Longview, TX, where I attended First Baptist church until I was about 10 years old. I gave my life to Christ at the age of 6 and was baptized shortly after making the decision. Around the age of 10, I started to playing multiple sports year-round, and found little time to be in church. It wasn’t until I was 24 years old that I realized I had replaced God with baseball, and was letting it run my life. I had achieved a life-long dream of becoming a Major League baseball player, but couldn’t understand why I was so dead and empty inside. It was 2010 and I was playing for the Texas Rangers, who were preparing to play the Giants in the World Series. I had spent the year in limbo, between Triple A and the big leagues, only to be left off the playoff roster but still on the taxi squad (which is a group of players who travel with the team but are not on the roster unless someone is injured and most be replaced). Around that time, I was asking a lot of questions of other believers about their faith. I was desperately trying to understand what this “walk with Christ” was all about and how I went about it. I realized that baseball had an unbelievable grip on me and wanted to fight it no more. I cried out to God, in a Westin Hotel room in San Francisco, CA at 3 o’clock in the morning, and asked Him to save me from my worldly desires and show me how to have an intimate relationship with Him. Since that night, I have seen God move in ways I could have never imagined. It wasn’t an instant overnight change, but slowly through time He led me by the hand. I still have struggles, but I know that my sins are forgiven, and that God come overcome anything I am going through that may seem daunting.

Who have been the mentors in your life? How did God bring these people into your life?

The biggest influence any one person has had on my faith, would have to go to my Grandfather. My mom’s dad, who I called Poppa. We shared the same birthday, March 17th, and I always felt like I had a special connection with him. He illustrated God’s grace, peace, mercy, and most importantly, His love by the way he lived his life. Poppa passed away in January of 2008, the same year I made my Major League debut, on June 26th in Houston, TX, which happens to be about an hour away from his hometown. I am forever grateful to have had such a Godly man in my life. David Murphy and Josh Hamilton are two other men that have helped me tremendously in my walk. I met both of them while playing for the Rangers and am still good friends with both to this day.

What does the Increase of Christ mean to you?

I believe that my sole purpose in life is to serve and bring glory to God. I try to apply that principle in all areas of my daily life. Whether it be as a husband, father, son, brother, friend, teammate, or maybe just an acquaintance. I want all the praise and glory to be directed towards God, who is solely responsible for the man I am today. “He must increase, but I must decrease.” – John 3:30

What is your life verse and why?

Although it has changed as I mature in my faith, I feel that Galatians 2:20 is a verse God continually puts on my heart. It reads, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” This verse is a great reminder that I have died to myself and that the power of the resurrected Christ lives in me. I feel it gives me a sense of peace and fearlessness, knowing that I am eternally alive and serving a King who is greater than anything this world can throw at me.