It was 2002 and I walked into the Bishop’s office in Fort Worth, Texas to have a meeting! He was one of the many bishops of the United Methodist Church, but he represented Tarrant County (2.1 Million People). Meaning, he was the grandmaster of one of the largest counties in America. This guy was a baller of bishops!

I was completely out of my comfort zone since I was raised in the Baptist denomination, and at that moment attending the largest Southern Baptist Seminary in the world. To me, bishops were something found on a chess board, or a Catholic dude in a large pointy cap. His assistant walked me into his office, which had impressive diplomas on the wall from Southern Methodist University, and more books than a small town library. He was a man likely to be in his mid 50s, and I quickly got the feeling he was not excited about our get together. I didn’t even request the meeting! I was working as an assistant to the pastor of a small methodist church, and somehow or another I got the invite. I still don’t know how or why!

I wasn’t quite 40 at the time, and I was honestly a little intimidated, which I think he picked up on and may have enjoyed. After some small talk he got right to the point, “Tony do you know the problem I have with your seminary (and denomination)?” I could think of about 50, but he didn’t wait for a response…it was a rhetorical question. “You think the Bible is the word of God” he said with a touch of anger in his voice. I quickly stood up and screamed, “Not today Satan!” No, I just paused for a moment to see if he was going to break into a sermon, or if it was my turn to ask questions. He wanted questions.

I shook my head as if to say I got his point, and then simply asked, “How do you feel about Jesus?” He loved Jesus. I followed up, “Do you believe in heaven and hell?” He replied with something that would not fully resonate with me for over 10 years. Being an empath, I could feel his pain in my heart and soul when he replied with, “I have been divorced so I know that hell exists.” I had one last question, “Do you think the Bible was inspired by God?” He quickly replied while pointing at his impressive leather bound books, “I believe there are a lot of books inspired by God.”

If you’ll notice I did not respond to his statements about the Bible, because what he didn’t know…what no one knew about me at that time was that I was struggling with the Bible. I loved it, but there was a battle brewing in my spirit. It started on the very first day of seminary.

And as always, I’m going to have to take you back a few years and then work our way forward to my first day of seminary. In the next post we’ll cover how I went from a psychotherapist, to a DJ, and then to a Pastor. We may get to why I started the insurance agency as well. This will be a fun ride for you. And I honestly think it’ll give you some insight into why (unfortunately) I’m single. If you feel overwhelmed by all the change then think how the women in my life have felt. Unfortunately, many don’t realize thats my past and not my present, but speaking of women!

You are going to learn a couple more secrets about me like…I’ve been married twice! I’m not proud of that fact, but I’ll tell you about my first marriage (at 25), which was so short I should’ve returned the gifts. In my defense, the second marriage lasted 18 years so I’m getting better at it! However, in the next post let’s go back to 1998 when I sold my home, my sports car, and gave away my 50% of a private practice. I did all that to move to Wichita Falls, Texas to pursue a radio career! My parents were thrilled!

I love you,

Tony