Randy L. Allen

Pastor. Prayer. Author. Coffee Roaster. Private Equity Manager.

With experience as an artist, oil field roustabout, flour mill sweeper, engineer, attorney, director (of boards not movies), and other interesting occupations.

Through this odd collection of experience I have discovered that, while pay raises, fancy titles and big offices are extremely nice, they do not convey the sense of satisfaction I thought they would. As I slogged through day after day, in job after job, I often wondered what is the point of it all? Over the years I have sought to make sense of this gift of life we share, and I have found that writing is part of my thinking process.

As a boy, while standing alone in the sun-filled atrium between the sanctuary and fellowship hall enjoying quiet stillness, I felt God’s unmistakable presence. I knew He was with me, welcoming me, loving me. Over the next twenty-five years I did my best to forget the encounter. Without even considering a career in ministry, I earned an engineering degree and a law degree and quickly jumped into the grind of life as an associate in a law firm in Denver. Through a series of seemingly unrelated events, I found myself stranded in an empty concourse waiting after a canceled flight. I finished all the work I had in my bag and read two newspapers and in bored desperation I dug through my briefcase searching for something to read and I found, tucked in the bottom of a rarely used pocket, a thin copy of the New Testament that a man had handed me months earlier as I walked along a street in Denver. With my left thumb I fanned the pages from the back, saw the word Revelation and stopped to read. Sitting there in an empty concourse, I felt apprehensive wondering what people would think of me if they saw me reading the Bible, but I continued and as I read I felt God’s unmistakable presence once again. His living word came to life. Since that day I have continued reading His holy word and He continues to respond.

I serve as assistant pastor at First United Methodist Church of Tuscaloosa, and I pray that my writing, videos and podcasts help us fashion a dialogue as we progress together along the path to satisfaction.