Salvation

I was fortunate to be born into a Christian family. Both my mother and father were professing Christians. When I was ten-years-old our pastor came to our home and told me and my two younger brothers about God's love. Using a blue pocket New Testament, he explained how Jesus died for us on the cross and rose again to give us new life. Without any pressure, he told us if we wanted to place our faith in Christ we could pray to Him and trust Him as our Savior. Several days later, in the privacy of my bedroom, I prayed to God: Dear Lord, I believe Jesus is real, not a myth. And right now, I place all my faith in Jesus. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. Please come into my life and save me. It was not an emotional experience, but I did feel a sense of relief. Shortly thereafter, I professed my faith openly in church by following the Lord in water baptism. Has anything like this ever happend to you?

Calling

The next year, during special services at our church in Corvallis, Oregon, I became convinced God was calling me into full-time Christian service. When the preacher, a professor from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, stopped, I went forward and told everyone that God was calling me into the ministry. Although initially hesitant, I eventually fully surrendered to the Lord, and I'm glad I did, because He truly put my life on an amazing trajectory.

Family

When I was twenty-two-years-old the Lord gave me an amazing life partner. For all of our married life, my wife and I have served the Lord side by side. God blessed us with two wonderful children: a son and a daughter. They are grown now, and they also both love and serve the Lord.  

Ministry

Through the years my family and I have met a lot of people, and been a lot  of places. Literally from Canada to Mexico and from Hawaii to the east coast I've ministered in all kinds of settings among diverse races and cultures. I've concluded we are all basically the same. We are all hungering for God, whether we realize it or not. 

In 2008 I began working for the Mid-South Baptist Association. Approximately 175 churches work together to make Christ known to the 1.4 million residents of the Memphis metropolitan area. 

Heritage

I was mostly raised in Oregon and much of my early ministry occurred in the western United States. But in 2001, in an unexpected move, the Lord moved us to the Bible-belt. My great-great-grandfather was born in Tennessee. He later moved west and became a Baptist pioneer. This makes me a 5th-generation Southern Baptist. It is an honor to carry the gospel forward. Pray that I remain faithful. 

Stubblefield Chapel on the campus of Oklahoma Baptist University is named after my great-great-grandfather, Cortez Stubblefield.