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QUESTION #1: ACQUAINT

There’s much more to food than palate and preference. How does a go-to meal at your favorite hometown restaurant reveal the true you behind the web bio?

Even though I’ve spent half of my adult life running through airports and catching Ubers, my favorite meal is at my kitchen table at home. I was blessed to marry my wife, Christina, a woman with a strong Italian heritage. That means her family has passed down recipes from generation to generation, and cooking has always been a priority and a means for making memories.

To be completely honest, I don’t have just one favorite meal. For me, it’s about walking to the kitchen table with a meal that has been given much thought and preparation and having our family gather around and enjoy it together. 

Another meal that comes to mind is more specific. When my wife and I have the chance to get away, we love to eat good pizza and drink an ice-cold Coke out of a glass bottle. I remember one time when we were staying in a nice hotel in New York City during Christmastime. We had the opportunity to go to a nice restaurant, but she looked at me and said, “You know what sounds good? Pizza, Coke, and pajamas.” So we stayed in our fancy hotel room, ordered local pizza and sat there watching the snow fall outside. 

For me, food has always been a way of making memories and facilitating a healthy community.

QUESTION #2: REVEAL

We’ve all got quirky proclivities and out-of-the-way interests. So what are yours? What so-called "nonspiritual" activities do you love and help you find spiritual renewal?

I love going fishing with my kids! We live out in the country in an area that has been affectionately referred to as cow country. It’s easy for us to get to the water. Our favorite thing to do is to go down to the lake and just catch fish until we are tired and can’t do it anymore.

Living in Central Florida usually means there’s quite a bit of scenery, my favorite of which is the Spanish moss that hangs over the old oaks and the eagles and ospreys that catch more fish than we do. I feel like I am a better dad, better husband and all-around better leader if I have a healthy rhythm of getting outside and enjoying nature. Fishing with my kids just seems to be the easiest way to do that in this phase of life.

You can’t put a price on watching a kid catch a fish on their own and then listening to them tell the story over and over again, exaggerating it each time until the small brim turns into a large bass. 

QUESTION #3: CONFESS

Every superhero has a weakness. Every human, too. We're just good at faking it. But who are we kidding? We’re broken and in this thing together. So what’s your kryptonite and how do you hide it?

Discussing one’s weaknesses with strangers on an online platform is a bit of an odd exercise. But we live in an age in which our lives are on full display through social media, so I guess it makes sense to be incredibly honest and transparent with you online as it does sitting with a friend over coffee. 

One of my weaknesses is struggling with self-sufficiency. It’s amazing to me when I think about that as a weakness. I’ve spent over 20 years preaching that I am not sufficient, and yet in my weakness, I tend to lean on what I can accomplish. In other words, when things get hard or stressful, my first reaction is to just work harder, be more proficient and expand my capacity.

Over the last year and a half, our family has expanded from five people to eight as we opened our home and adopted three kids. Until that moment in time, I had continued in my self-reliance, buying into the idea that I can always work my way through any challenge or difficulty.

What I’m discovering now is that sometimes God wants me to wait on him, to pray more and to carry less on my shoulders. In a world of self-reliance, the gospel teaches us that we don’t have to qualify to receive quality. That is to say, we don’t have to work ourselves into the good graces of God. The way forward is to trust God completely and to be obedient to him daily.

QUESTION #4: FIRE UP

Tell us about your toil. How are you investing your professional time right now? What’s your obsession? And why should it be ours?

For the last year and a half, I have focused much of my research and attention on understanding God’s paradigm for challenging times. In an effort to understand God’s paradigm, I have focused my energy on Jesus’ teachings, particularly as they relate to the uncertainty of this world.

It was this effort, that led to my new book “Ten Steps to Your Best Life: Connecting the New Normal to the Ancient Wisdom of Jesus.” After a year of research and writing, there are two things I know for certain. The first is that God's provision for any time will be his presence all the time. In other words, the faithfulness of God is more than just a theoretical idea we hear about on Sunday mornings. It is a daily experience that becomes richer and more meaningful with time.

The second discovery I made is that God has a practical plan for those who want to experience his presence. I was shocked to find that the majority of Jesus’ teachings were incredibly practical. It’s a refreshing and beautiful feeling to know that God both redeems us and shows us how to live redeemed in a way that makes sense.

QUESTION #5: BOOST

Cashiers, CEOs, contractors, or customer service reps, we all need grace owing into us and back out into the world. How does the Holy Spirit invigorate your work? And how do you know it's God when it happens?

I spend most of my time and energy leading a ministry called Student Leadership University. The mission that motivates us is helping students tell a story with their lives. In those stories, redemption is the central theme and Jesus the Redeemer is the hero.

There’s an ancient proverb that says, “At the end of life, all we have is our story.” While I’ve never been able to find the source of this proverb, I do believe it holds a truth that’s relevant to all of our life. The Lord, in his good graces, allows each of us to tell a story with our lives.

In her book, “What the Bible Is All About,” Henrietta C. Mears calls this storytelling the “autobiography of the soul.” It’s amazing to think that with every day that the sun rises and sets, we are writing the autobiography of our own souls.

That’s why, when I feel the Spirit in my work, I find it so encouraging when a former student comes to me and starts telling me the story of their lives. The opportunity to have played a small role in the story that they will tell is one of my greatest sources of motivation. At the end of the day, listening to well-told stories of others’ lives is humbling and motivating. 

QUESTION #6: inspire

Scripture and tradition beckon us into the rich and varied actions that open our hearts to the presence of God. So spill it, which spiritual practice is workin' best for you right now?

When researching God’s paradigm for living through challenging times, it was fascinating to discover a rhythm of rest. Jesus actually teaches in his disciples in Mark 6:31 that there are strategic moments where they should go with him “by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest” (NIV). 

So one of the biggest and richest traditions or spiritual disciples that I am working toward is experiencing God in quiet places.

I’m learning that to experience God in quiet places, we have to create margin and be intentional. In other words, we have to get in a boat and go away to a lonely place every now and then. I’ve got a long way to go before I can truly establish a rhythm of rest, but I feel as though, for the first time, I’ve got a clear understanding of its purpose and practice. 

QUESTION #7: FOCUS

Our email subscribers get free ebooks featuring our favorite resources — lots of things that have truly impacted our faith lives. But you know about some really great stuff, too. What are three resources that have impacted you?

As someone who values leadership, I believe self-leadership is one of the most important disciplines. That being said, investing in the right resources has a high strategic value to me.

The first is books because every leader needs to be an avid reader. I read a wide range of subjects, but one of my favorites is biographies and historical leadership. Two books that have had a tremendous impact on my life recently are “A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War” by Joseph Loconte and “My Life, My Love, My Legacy” by Coretta Scott King.

Another resource that has proven to be one of the most refreshing and impactful in my life are close friendships. Over the last 10 years, I
have been part of a community of pastors who are constantly seeking to be the best husbands, parents and leaders they can be. This community has been paramount in my development and growth.

A third resource I love is documentaries. We live in an age where not every documentary is well done and takes a well-rounded approach to a subject, event or person. A good documentary focuses on primary sources, correlates facts and covers the breadth of the story. My favorite in recent years is “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”

We all have things we cling to to survive (or thrive) in tough times. Name one resource you’ve found indispensable in this current season — and tell us what it's done for you.

I struggle to think of anything else but my wife. The book of Proverbs teaches that “he who finds a wife finds a good thing and obtains favor from the Lord” (Proverbs 18:22, ESV). I’ve been married almost 20 years, and the longer I know my wife, the more I love, respect and look up to her. Through every challenge of life, whether it be a pandemic, trying to start a new ministry or figuring out how to adopt three kids in one month, she has been a portrait of steadfast love.

Her conviction to always choose love has equipped her with the necessary tenacity and creativity to help our family navigate every season. Our relationship and the privilege of being married to her is the greatest blessing God has given me outside of my salvation.

QUESTION #8: dream

God is continually stirring new things in each of us. So give us the scoop! What’s beginning to stir in you but not yet fully awakened? What can we expect from you in the future?

In the next five years, I’ll be strategically shifting my focus to building and equipping a team that will help a generation of students think, dream and lead at the feet of Jesus. I am more aware than ever that pursuing Student Leadership University’s vision and mission will require a renegade, eclectic and multifaceted cohort of collaborators.

In “Wilberforce,” author John Pollock concluded, “Wilberforce is proof that a man can change the times, but he cannot do it alone.” I hope that when my life and leadership are done, there are hundreds of thousands of students who are seeking to tell a story with their lives that have redemption as the theme and Jesus as the hero.Prayerfully, I’m not arrogant or naive enough to believe that somehow I’m the only person who can serve in this capacity. Instead, I emphatically believe that the right team can see that dream come to fruition. What’s next doesn’t sound explicitly creative or trendy. Simply put, I want to help build a team that will impact an entire generation for the glory of God.

We love how Brent teaches the next generation to see their lives through the lens of story — a story of redemption with Jesus Christ alone as the true hero.

Brent’s example forces us to stop and ask ourselves, “Is that how I view my life? How would I share my story of redemption with someone else?”

“Redemption” might sound like a heady, theological word. But all it means is that Jesus paid your ransom, purchasing your freedom with his sacrifice on the cross. That’s a simple yet life-changing truth.

Because of that, all of us who belong to Jesus have a redemption story. So what’s yours, friend? And who can you share your story with today?

Brent Crowe is vice president of Student Leadership University in Orlando, Florida. He and his wife, Christina, have six children: Gabe, Za’Riah, Charis, Mercy, Zi’Yon and Aryanna. Brent holds a Doctorate in Philosophy, a Master of Divinity in Evangelism and a Master of Arts in Ethics from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. He’s written several books and Bible studies, including Moments 'til Midnight: The Final Thoughts of a Wandering Pilgrim, Ten Steps to Your Best Life: Connecting the New Normal to the Ancient Wisdom of Jesus and Philippians: Learning to Lead as a Disciple of Jesus.

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