Obsessions

  • Nitro Cold Brew
    Cafe con Leche
    Espresso Old Fashioned
  • Harry Potter
    Stephen King
    Ready Player One
  • Cajun
    Cuban
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Baby Jonathan, doo doo doo doo doo doo (1985)

I was born on Super Bowl Sunday, at around the time the 49ers finished beating the Miami Dolphins.

You’d think I’d be more into sports, but alas…no.

Years later, my dad was invited to pastor a tiny church in rural Texas. At one point during a church service, a deer was hit outside, and four guys jumped out of their seat. They were sending people home with freshly butchered deer meat at the end of the service. 😳

Guatemala is Not a Dip (1991)

Rescued from church plant life, we went to Guatemala. It was going through a civil war, but missionary kid life still felt better than pastor kid life. Besides falling raw open sewage and getting attacked by monkeys on four separate occasions, I look back on this time fondly.

Photo taken moments before things went horribly wrong.

Just a Small Town Boy (1997)

My dad was running a missions agency called CTEN, and it outgrew our ability to run from Guatemala. So we moved back to Kerrville, Texas, where I learned the art of magic and web design.

My first job was doing search engine optimization and web design at a local company. I sold two hideous websites for $500 and $5,000, and used the money to buy a computer that isn’t even a tenth as powerful as my phone.

Pastor's Kid Pt. 2 (2000)

The church: 50 years old.
Attendance: 75.
Debt: 1 million.

Faith Temple had just gone through a massive split, former members were suing the current pastor, and they invited my dad to come and take over the church. He said yes. 🙄

So we moved to Corpus Christi, Texas.

College (2002)

Confession: I experimented a lot in college. Marketing was my primary drug. I worked for the student newspaper in ad sales and design. I even wrote a few articles, because why not? I thought one day I’d be Don Draper in gazing out my skyscraper window, holding a glass of scotch in my hand.

I didn’t do that. But I did get my Bachelors in Business Marketing.

Pastor Jonathan (2006)

Right after college, I started working with my dad at that church. Burning the sermon onto CDs, designing, shooting video, leading worship, running production… I did a bit of it all, including stage design. We even rebranded.

My dad almost fired me a few times. The pastor who took over for my dad almost fired me once. Eventually I learned my lesson and became slightly easier to work with.

The church grew, and even moved into a larger building two weeks after I moved to Dallas. I’m not bitter I didn’t get to enjoy the new space… 😬

Who's That Lady? (2007)

This is when I met my future wife. Her family was from Argentina, and I learned in International Business how much Brazil and Argentina were rivals.

My opening line? “What do you think about Brazilian soccer?”

Not sure how that didn’t put an end to the relationship before it even started.

I proposed to Carolina a couple of years later on her birthday. I was really sick that night. We married 9 months later.

So I Have an Idea (2010)

I started a site called ChurchStageDesignIdeas.com. When it reached 100 people in a single month, I thought I’d arrived. Turns out, that was a drop in the bucket.

Big D (2012)

In Dallas, my wife went to school, I started an online magazine called SundayMag.tv, and I got to direct the last Echo Conference. Over 1,000 church creatives in one space, and I got to decide who they’d hear from, what they’d eat, and even what type of games we’d entertain them with. What a time and what a team!

Writing and Riverwalking (2014)

Physical Therapy school for my wife meant San Antonio for the both of us. My first book, Created for More, came out that September, with my second book, Unwelcome, coming out one month later.

My wife tries to read my books. She got about 25 pages into Created for More, which might have been a record.

I Have Another Idea (2016)

One of my best friends, Joe Cavazos, designs for some pretty legit clients. I approached him with the idea for Sunday Social, a library of social media graphics for churches to use. A few months later we launched.

The Hidden Option & The Christmas Option (2017)

Oh, we also got a puppy.

The Come Back Effect (2018)

Loved getting to write this one with my friend, Jason Young.

The Come Back Effect (2020)

Baker asked us to write a book for volunteers. But we wrote two! The Volunteer Effect for leaders, then The Volunteer Survival Guide for volunteers!

Franco (2021)

My world got turned upside down by the tornado that is a newborn.