Born and raised in Macon, Georgia, Steve returned there in 1984 to pastor his home church, Mabel White Memorial Baptist Church, a church which had led the Georgia Baptist Convention in baptisms and evangelism in the 1950’s and early 1960’s but was in severe decline when Steve arrived. Tenderly and graciously God used Steve and a faithful remnant of people to “resurrect” this once-vibrant fellowship of believers. The membership grew spiritually and numerically during Steve’s 18 ½ year tenure as senior pastor. It relocated from the inner-city to the suburbs in 1999 and the blessings of God were abundant in many ways.

Meanwhile, Steve struggled personally with anger, lust, fear, and control issues which kept his personal life and thirty-year marriage to Connie in turmoil and jeopardy. Outwardly successful, Steve led each of his four pastorates to “new heights and greater depths” as a gifted leader and outstanding preacher and a loving, faithful pastor. Through a weekly television broadcast, Steve was renown as a spiritual leader and esteemed highly for his strong moral leadership in the community and among fellow Baptists.

However, in 2000 the headlines of his hometown newspaper revealed that he had been viewing internet pornography on his computer in the church office. Steve confessed and gave his resignation to the church leadership. The leadership refused the resignation and graciously retained their beloved pastor. During a four month leave of absence Steve and Connie received extensive restorative counseling, both secular and spiritual, and both found healing in their hearts and their home

This crisis happened while Steve was experiencing a new revelation of God’s outrageous grace in his own heart. His life and ministry were drastically changed as the Lord revealed to Steve and to others through his preaching that we are “loved unconditionally, forgiven totally, and accepted completely just as we are” by our loving Heavenly Father. Literally hundreds of lives have been transformed through this message. Two years later Steve resigned his pastorate to begin Reformation Ministries.

Steve believes with every fiber of his being that the Gospel of Grace which has delivered him, restored his marriage, and set him gloriously free emotionally and spiritually is the message of truth that could bring a much needed new reformation to the modern church which has lost this distinctive message of the pure grace of God.

Steve is a graduate of Mercer University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has served as Vice President of the Georgia Baptist Convention, a trustee of Mercer University, on the Board of Directors of First Presbyterian Day School, Macon’s International Cherry Blossom Festival, Macon Partnership 2000 for Excellence in Education, and in various leadership positions in Baptist life in Georgia and Texas. He is the father of three grown children, John, Carrie Beth, and Katie who know their dad best and love him most.