Brian Stone

I grew up on the west side of Houston, TX near Katy. My family believes in God but I don’t remember the scripture or church being a driving force in our lives. My parents were divorced when I was young but I had already begun to make bad choices. I began with no respect for my parents, adults or teachers and I ended with drug abuse and dropping out of high school my sophomore year. I had many negative experiences before I received Christ as Savior. I was immoral and impure, a liar and a thief, a law-breaker, violent and aggressive. I was a blasphemer and a persecutor, I was lazy, irresponsible and untrustworthy. I abused drugs to the point of a regular habit with cocaine and crack. I robbed even from my own family to support my habit. And the list goes on an on. I acted in ignorance and unbelief. I mistreated people, girls, friends, family and ultimately myself (1 Tim. 1:12-17).

I was 20 years old when I realized I was heading down the wrong path and needed to change.  I quit abusing drugs and hanging out with such negative influences and my dad to allow me to move in with him.  A year passed, but I still felt empty inside. My dad was about to remarry and was attending Second Baptist Church in Houston, TX. He often invited me to go but I always feared church. I though of church as the place that punishes sinners for all the bad things they do. It was a place where you go to face God and the result of your sin. Only “good people” go to church because God is not mad at them. I had a distorted view of church and people. However, in an effort to become a “good person” I decided to go to church. It was at Second Baptist Church in Houston, TX that I heard for the very first time that no one can be good enough, but Christ died for us “yet while we were still sinners” (Ro. 5:8) and he who believes in Christ receives eternal life as a free gift (Ro. 4:4-5; Eph. 2:8-9, John 5:24).

I struggled with the gospel for a while. I wrestled with the fact as John 3:16 states, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” This is when I first realized that Jesus came as an expression of God’s love for the world, not hate for the world. But it wasn’t until I understood John 3:17, which states why Jesus came with a revolutionary truth, “For God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.” Jesus came not to condemn people for their sin but to save people from the condemnation they deserve because of sin. This view of God changed my approach, calmed my fear, and encouraged me to run to Christ as Savior rather than run from Christ as punisher (Jn. 3:19). Then John 3:18 clarifies in no uncertain terms the sole condition to be saved, “He who believes in Him is not condemned; he who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” I finally understood the simple yet life-changing truth of salvation- Jesus gives eternal life as a free gift, all I must do (all I can do) is believe, depending solely on Him as Savior.  The next week I walked down front having received the gift of eternal life, believing in Christ alone as my Savior.  Since then, I have never been the same!

My life was forever changed by God’s grace. I completely turned from my previous lifestyle, earned my G.E.D, enrolled in community college courses, eventually transferred to Texas State University – San Marcos. I got involved in campus ministry and the local church.  I often worked with high school and college students to encourage them not to walk according to the world but to experience the life God has planned for them (Eph. 2:1-10). I shared my testimony on campus and passionately took the gospel of grace and the view of Jesus as Savior (Jn. 3:16-19) to as many places as I could. As this continued I had more and more opportunity to lead Bible studies and disciple others. After praying and seeking godly counsel about what to do after college, I felt God calling me to full-time ministry.  My gifts of teaching and leadership had been confirmed and I realized that nothing would give me more fulfillment.

After receiving my bachelor’s degree with a major is sociology, I attended Dallas Theological Seminary and earned two master’s degrees in Christian Education and Biblical Studies. I fell in love with the deeper truths of God’s Word, including His sovereignty and our responsibility. After Seminary I served as a full-time Chaplain at the Union Gospel Mission, a homeless shelter for men. It was a blessing to share my experience in life and the truth of God’s word with these men. Two years later I went to Stillwater, OK to serve as the college pastor at Countryside Baptist Church. The town was driven by Oklahoma State University and we had an effective ministry. This is when I met my wife, Holly. She was very active in ministry herself, especially in discipleship with women and college girls. We were married on Oct. 14, 2007 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. We understand that our marriage commitment is to God first and we have promised to love and respect one another out of our love for Him, our respect of His Word, and our desire to reflect Christ to one another (Eph. 5:33).  We had our first child on Dec. 31, 2009. Julia Grace has been a great blessing to our lives. We love being parents and look forward to training her to love God and others.

In 2008 we moved to Katy, TX to serve at Kingsland Baptist Church. I serve on the Adult Discipleship Team specifically working with college, singles, and single parents. We love Kingsland and I am learning everyday what it means to love God, love people and equip the generations one home at a time. God has done a great work in my life and I owe it all to the transforming power of the gospel (Ro. 1:16).