Michael Stewart
Stew, Wesley Grant, Kimberly and Sally
Married to Kimberly
Children:
Wesley Grant and Sally
What else do you want us to know about you?
Ever heard the phrase “he married up”? That would be me. There’s no place in here to talk about my wonderful wife. She’s amazing. She’s beautiful. She’s way more godly than me. She’s faithful. She’s humble. She’s got an incredible heart for God and His purposes. There’s just not enough space in here to extol the wonders and beauty of my wife.
If Stew could spend an evening with anyone who lived within the last 1000 years, "Since Jonathan Edwards seems to already be taken by so many others on staff, I’ll go with the close second: John Owen – solid leader, towering Puritan theologian, loved Jesus, finished strong and left a lasting legacy."
Favorite Bible verse:
Exodus 14:14 “The LORD will fight for you. You need only to be still.”
Life Story
Sovereign change. Those are two words I would use to describe my path growing up, specifically and my life in general. From age 4 to age 17 I attended more than 14 schools. Transition and change were normal, even expected. Change was the only constant.
As I continued in school it became apparent that I was drawn to musical performance. Everything involving music came easily. It was like breathing. From the 6th grade on I received award after award for music. Music would not only give me an outlet, it would also draw my relational and professional boundaries. I continued to pursue music which led me to the University of North Texas. I quickly gained recognition for talent, but I did not know that it was character that comes from a life in Christ that should have been the goal. I threw myself into percussion, most of the time practicing between six and ten hours a day. But it was at the beginning of my senior year in college that God got my attention. He broke me. He broke me of the idolatry of relationships. He broke me of the idolatry of being driven to success. And He reminded me and caused me to trust in the Gospel that He had planted in my heart when I was a child. The idols that I had once trusted were now just as broken as I was. Then He submersed me into a community of vibrant believers within the college ministry of Denton Bible Church.
It was also during this time that my cause and God’s purpose for my life was established. Almost immediately I began serving by starting an inner-city Bible club for children. I also began serving in the college ministry. It was at this time that I took my first mission trip, discovering my spiritual gifts among a swarm of children in a remote Mexican village on the backside of a mountain.
Since then I’ve had the opportunity of living in the inner-city of Memphis, serving children in the largest slum in Africa, seeing the beginnings of a church planting movement started in a Muslim country, watching the beginnings of the birth of a spiritual revolution in Spain, and been a part of seeing what God is doing in China, Ecuador, Mexico, Kenya, Europe, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Cuba and other countries.