I suppose it’s possible to compartmentalize life, but I’m not convinced of that. I’m curious how your early faith journey gave birth to your awakening understanding of ministry. Where did it all start with you?
My family did not attend church at all. We weren’t even “ChrEasters.” We didn’t go ever. But when I was in 7th grade, my sister who was two years older than I, and was going into her freshman year, got caught smoking weed. Actually, she told my parents she did it. She really could have hidden it, but her conscience was so strong. So my parents really kind of freaked out. Up to that point they thought, “We don’t need church. We can teach our kids whatever.” And then they realized, “Oh my gosh, our family’s going to pot—literally.” [Laughter] We’ve got to do something. So all the sudden, Sunday morning it’s like, “Wake up! Get ready. We’re going to church.”
So we started going to these churches. My mom grew up Methodist and my dad apparently had grown up going to some Baptist churches. So we’re in the small town of Mustang, in the Oklahoma City area, and we start going to the Methodist church; we start going to the Baptist church. And as a summer-before-7th-grade kid I was captivated and almost obsessed right away with trying to understand faith.
How’d that happen?
I showed up to a youth group at the Baptist church and all these people I had known my whole life were there. I had no idea that they would be there—and they were having fun. I’m like, “You guys have been doing this your whole lives? How come you never invited me?”
In my little brain I was like, there’s a party that’s been happening and no one has ever invited me. And I’ve been really missing out, so what have I been missing out on?
Of course, I quickly put it together: If you want to go to heaven, then this is something you’ve got to do. And I’m like, “Well, that’s kind of a big deal.” [Laughter] No one bothered to mention this before?
So I started reading the Bible every night, and journaling through it. I don’t remember where I started. I’m sure it was in the New Testament. But I do remember specifically journaling through Acts between 6th and 7th grade. I don’t know if journaling’s the right word, but I was trying to figure it out. I wanted to know: What do I have to do to be saved? So I was writing it all down and somehow I got confused that only 144,000 people would go to heaven. [Laughter]
Wonder where that might come from?
I was no mathematician, but I quickly realized if only one person from my town makes it, that would be pretty good, considering only 144,000 are going to make it. [Laughter] Now, in this Baptist church the pastor was called Brother Bill. And I remember thinking, I’m going to have to be better than Brother Bill or I won’t make it!
So I don’t know what this says about me. Something was wrong with me. But I just pursued and chased after trying to get the right answers. Eventually I got to the point where I understood.
This was probably only a couple of months into starting to go to church. We went to this week-long revival every night at the Baptist church in town, and there was a traditional altar call. I was totally ready. My heart was beating out of my chest and I remember the song that was playing, “This Is Holy Ground.”
I walked down the aisle and even as a kid it was just a really powerful experience for me. I definitely felt the Holy Spirit just flood my body, and I felt like I could walk on water at that moment.
Your family was just kind of alternating between the Methodist church and the Baptist church? Or did you try one and it just didn’t quite make it?
My parents were basically church shopping and they went back and forth. The youth group was a little better at the Baptist church, and then the Baptist one had a revival just at the right time to capture the Farmer family. [Laughter]
So I walked the aisle, accepting Christ, and then my parents and sister followed and we wound up all getting baptized together within a couple weeks.
That was the beginning of a journey.
It’s pretty unusual for a kid to be so focused.
I look back now and both the spiritual sensitivity and following the spiritual hunger as a 7th grader—I wouldn’t have expressed it like this then, but I was chasing after God in a unique way. I can look back now and see that God just put a lot of hunger inside of me, and I was radicalized so quickly. [Laughter] You know, in that little Baptist church experience I saw some great things happen. Friends started coming, and they started bringing their friends, and we saw that youth group really grow. It was a fun season.
