Gresham Hill

I came to know Jesus personally when I was very young. Just five years old. My father had preached the sermon that Sunday and I asked my mother if I could bring Jesus into my heart. She and dad lead me to the Lord that day.

Knowing Jesus is the most wonderful thing in life. I realized this early and walked with him through ups and downs of legalism, theological confusion, stubbornness, and pride. But that was just today. I was wrestling with sin from day one and I'm confident the Holy Spirit is not through with me yet.

My relationship with Jesus grew deeper in college. I clung to Proverbs 3:5-6 during a difficult freshman year and came to realize the powerful truth that verse holds. Christ poured out his grace and strengthened my faith during this time and began to prepare me for this ministry.

I graduated from King College in Bristol, TN in 1996 with a double concentration in business administration and economics. I was ready to go into the banking industry in Charlotte but decided to take a summer "sabbatical" in Birmingham, AL leading a children's ministry at Briarwood Presbyterian Church. I had already worked part time in youth ministry in Wytheville, VA for two years and liked it. This summer excursion was never intended to be my jumpstart into fulltime ministry. Yet, it was.

God directed my path to fulltime youth ministry in a small town called Brewton, AL where I led a group of about 30 in a small church in a football town until August of 1998. It was then that I decided to leave ministry to get my Masters in Business at the University of Alabama (most people, including me, thought I would get my M. Div., not my M.B.A but once again, God was leading). While at Alabama, I got permission (and class credit) from my professors to assist my good friend, Brad Fogarty, in starting a Christian non-profit organization called Armored Outreach. When I graduated in 2000, Armored was already six months old and running out of an apartment in Birmingham. I became the official Executive Director and hoped that one day a paycheck would follow (I mean, hey, make some crazy money or go work out of somebody's tiny apartment. I chose the glamour. :)

Armored had its ups and downs as it tried to find steady footing and a clear ministry strategy. In October of 2001, the name was changed and after two hard months, it found its stride. Strong and established ministries with integrity began to come to us and our outreach began to grow. A year later, in 2002, I stepped down from my position on the board of directors in order to establish real accountability for my role as Executive Director.

God has been good. I remember working in my apartment in 2001 and praying for God to pour life into our struggling ministry as we broke our necks to reach 100,000 people with the gospel that year. It was an exciting time. In 2005 (just four years later), more than 400,000 heard the gospel through our ministers at live events. It's such a joy to see God working through such a ragamuffin team of believers.

In 2008, I was able to start Reach Your City Ministries and focus my full attention on the proclamation of the gospel. My hope is that Reach Your City would be able to expand its focus to serve the Church in her efforts to disciple believers and spread the gospel of Jesus Christ in more unique ways.

So with all that boring stuff out of the way, here are some random facts about myself. I love tennis and went to King College on a tennis scholarship. Though I don't play much anymore (call me if you live in Nashville and love tennis!) I've begun running about nine miles a week with my wife Josie. I am considered a phlegmatic introvert (if you believe in that personality stuff). I am not an avid reader but I still manage to force down about a book a month. My favorite authors include Charles Spurgeon, C.S. Lewis, John Piper, RC Sproul, and Jarrod Jones. My favorite magazines are Inc. and World magazine. Most people miss my age by about five years (I was born in 1974 but look younger), but my parents have repeatedly told me that this is a compliment (although it was definitely sad in college when most of my peers thought I was in high school and even the high school girls thought I was too young).

I've lived a lot of places too. I was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, moved to Bristol, VA (and Tennessee) in 1979, moved to Charlotte in 1982 (where I went to Charlotte Christian School), went to college in Bristol, TN in 1992, Birmingham, AL followed quickly by Brewton, AL in 1996, Tuscaloosa, AL in 1998, Cincinnati, OH in 1999 where I worked for Procter & Gamble (no, they are not satanic, don't believe everything you hear people!), to Birmingham in 2000, to Franklin, TN in 2006 and to Nashville in 2007.

The best part of my story is where I will end. I met "The One" (as Jarrod would say) in 2003 and married Miss Josie Emerson on June 24, 2006 in Collierville, TN. She is the best thing about my life apart from my relationship with Jesus.

Thank you for reading this far and since you did, I'd love for you to pray for me, my wife, and this ministry when you remember to. Go ahead and send me an email to let me know you did. It means a lot to me.