Writer Introduction – Chad Brooks

Today is the last day of our Writers Introduction feature. Today we meet Chad Brooks:
Chad, how did you come to know the Lord?
I am the son of a Southern Baptist preacher so that should give you some sort of a background. I grew up around God, but had no distinct realization of Him until I was in college. This is when I dropped my habit of using “church” to get what I wanted regarding relationships and opportunities to play music. During college there were many instances of me learning that salvation is an extremely active and constant thing.

Why did you decided to go to seminary?

I felt a call to the ministry when I was around 19, but I really thought that it was just to be a Church sound guy. I had some pretty disappointing encounters with Christianity and Church so I was running solo for a long time. Before I got married a college minister at the school I was at asked me what I was doing after the wedding and my reply was “Selling used furniture”. He ended up offering me an internship and that turned into the best 15 months of my life. Both of my directors had gone to Asbury, so it was more of a “I want to go to Asbury” rather than “I want to go to seminary”. But now I look back on my nights of bible study and prayer all throughout college and realize that God was developing me for a time of theological education.

What has been the hardest part of seminary for you?
Probably learning that everyone here is not as honest and open to new things as I am. Seeing some people come just so they can be ordained was pretty disappointing at first, but I have learned that we all have our own selfish reasons for being here sometimes.

It has also been hard to see my great wife struggle spiritually while I am surrounded by “God-talk” all the time. Seminary has really taught us some lessons about being a couple in ministry.

What has been the most rewarding part of seminary for you?
The relationships that I have made, both in work and in friendships. I work in the chapel office at Asbury leading the Worship Design Team and that has been extremely rewarding. I also have encountered people that I would have never had relationships with before I came here and realized that they are some of the best friends that I have ever had.

How’d you start blogging and Why do you Blog?
I started blogging back in 2001 because I saw a few other people doing it. My first blog was really stupid—I am comfortable saying that. It was usually along the lines of “I don’t like school and the new Black Crowes record is great”. Later on I was involved in a group of pretty intense friends that would go to great spiritual depths in their blogs, but religion was taboo in face to face conversations. It was at that time that I realized that blogging was a means of grace, and a form of communication that Christians really needed to learn how to do.

I blog to communicate with people that I can’t see anymore and to meet people from all over the place that are interested in the same things as me. I guess my blogging philosophy is pretty much the same as my thoughts regarding my call to ministry-that is to help people go through the hard things involving God that I have already been through, and to hopefully guide them along so they don’t have to make the same mistakes I did.

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Written by
Ryan Burns
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Written by Ryan Burns
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