Surfing the Inner N8

This Sunday at CrossWay the message will be shared by Butch Marvin.  To help you get to know Butch a little better, here’s a brief interview:

Q: Where do you live?

A: I live in Quarryville, Lancaster County, PA, and have lived there for the last 19 years.  Our youngest son was born and has always lived in our current home.

Q: What’s your job?

A: I am the general manager of BB’s Grocery Outlet.  I am responsible for the daily operation and future development of our company.  I have been here for 15 years with a few years as part time when I planted and pastored a church in our area.

Q: Are you married?

A: Yes.  My wife Mary and I have two children, 32 & 18, both boys.

Q: What other basic info should we know about you up front?

A: I am blue collar guy in a white collar job and love people, projects and challenges.

Q: Where did you grow up?

A: I was born in Chester, PA and went through primary school in southwest Philly.  My parents were divorced when I was 11 and we moved to Chester County, PA with my mother and 4 siblings.  I am the middle child and from age 12 I have lived in various boarding situations away from home. I have been working full time and making my own decisions from about age 12 and never really knew what a real family was like.

Q: How and when did you become a Christian?

A: In 1989.  We moved to our current home in June of 1988 and a couple came to our door in September and invited us to church.  We attended with them the following February.  They approached us when we visited their church the second time with the idea of starting a Bible study with us in our home.  We agreed and that started in April of 1989.  Through that study I asked Jesus to be my Savior in May of 1989, the month before our youngest son was born.  Two interesting facts:
The first time I went to church was in February 1989 and I invited and took one neighborhood family with us.
The very first Bible study I ever attended was in April of that year.  I invited several neighbors to attend as well and they did.

Q: What are your God-given passions and gifts?

A: I have a passion for sharing the love of Jesus with lost people and sharing the victory found through Jesus with the church. I truly enjoy encouraging the church to step out and reach the lost. I love to preach, you will have to decide for yourself if it is a gift or not. I seem to be gifted in administration and problem solving.

Q: How did you initially become associated with CrossWay Church?

A: In the early nineties Melville Nafziger asked me to fill in for him one Sunday and we enjoyed the church.  Over the next few years we attended when vacationing in the area.  I also filled in a few more times on Sunday mornings.  Then I received a call from LJ and he asked if I could fill in some Sundays while they were looking for a pastor.  After prayer and conversation with Mary we felt led of the Lord to offer to fill in Sunday mornings once a month until they hired their new pastor.  We feel as though God blessed us with the opportunity to help this church grow and it was an awesome experience for us.

Q: What are one or two of your favorite Bible verses, and why?

A: Psalms 37:4 as it really helped me to understand His hand on our lives. Philemon 6 &7.  Verse 6 is an incredible truth that God has carried out in my life and verse 7 is how I feel about the churches we have served with.

Q: What’s the wildest ministry adventure you’ve experienced?

A: Preaching in an open air crusades in Kenya and seeing God reach down and touch hundreds with the love of Jesus Christ.  It was incredible and Satan and the powers of this world tried with all they had to stop the crusade, but God was glorified and He received the glory as many were changed!

Q: Tell us a little bit about the message you’re sharing with CrossWay this Sunday.

A: Back in March I shared a message at Crossway “You Could Be The One” and this new message is building on that theme.  “You Are The One” is the title and it focuses on Isaiah 40:21 and asks the question, have you answered these questions in your heart and mind. (Please note this is subject to change by the leading of the Holy Spirit)

Q: What are your favorite websites?

A: I do not really have one.  I do not spend much time surfing the web, I use it more for information.  Pastors.com is one that has been a great encouragement and I enjoy Crosswalk as well.

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to share with us?

A: Thank you for the opportunity to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with Crossway and we have grown to love this congregation very much.