Hello! Since I'm writing this bio, I'll go ahead and dispense with the formalities and write in first person. For those of you just interested in the vital stats, here they are: I married my college sweetheart, the former Janet Hall, in December of 1995. Together we have four children: Chloe Anna (7), Abbey (5), John Caedmon (4), and Kassidy (9 months). I went to school at Samford University, graduating in 1994 with degrees in History and Philosophy. Following that, I then attended seminary, first at Beeson Divinity, and after a ten year break, finished at Liberty Theological Seminary, graduating in 2006 with a Master of Arts degree in Biblical Studies. I have been in ministry since 1992, when I first served as the Junior High Youth Pastor at Hilldale Baptist Church. Since then I have served at four other churches in the Birmingham area before coming to Agape Baptist in March of 2008. Janet taught high school math and French for six years (First at Minor, then Clay-Chalkville) before taking a break with the arrival of our first child in 2001. She currently home schools our kids through Agape Academy http://agapeacademy.info/index.htm . The rest of this bio is a bit longish, sometimes silly, and contains long lists of things I like. Continue reading at your peril.

                  Growing up, my number one goal in life was to join the FBI and catch bad guys. When I graduated from college, with that goal still in mind, I went to Criminal Justice grad school at the University of Alabama. During my first semester there, I became aware of a gnawing on the inside - a dissatisfaction with what I was doing, though I was enjoying my classes and still focused on joining the FBI. At the time, I was involved with a college group at Hilldale Baptist Church in Birmingham, and as they prayed with me through my dissatisfaction, I began to sense that God might be calling me into ministry. After more prayer and confirmations with other leaders and pastors that I knew, as well as Janet (my fiancé at the time), I began attending seminary in September of 1995. I cannot currently comment on the rumor that I still fight crime on the side, under the assumed name of “Captain Christian” while wearing a modest spandex outfit, and carrying my trademark weapon, the Shield of Faith.

                    Shortly after beginning seminary, I began working as a full time youth pastor at a Methodist church in the Chalkville area, and Janet taught French and Algebra at Clay Chalkville High. I served there as a youth pastor for 3 years and then joined the Christian and Missionary Alliance as a church planter. Following that, I served almost 7 years as an assistant pastor, children's pastor, and youth pastor (all at different times), at a church in Irondale, completing my seminary degree in 2006. In March of 2008, I was voted in as the pastor of Agape.

                    Hobby wise, Janet and I enjoy doing outdoor activities like hiking, camping and exploring. I enjoy a wide mix of hobbies, such as: football (playing and watching…Roll Tide!), fishing, softball, spelunking, and tennis. I used to have a larger list than that, but having four kids tends to put hobbies off to the side – a fact of life that I am totally fine with. As a side note, being a father has been one of the most amazing and wonderful things I have ever experienced! I have a background in computers and the internet, and currently do a weekly radio show called Tech Talk that airs every Saturday on WAPI 1070, as well as a semi-regular tech segment for Fox 6 news that airs on Thursday nights. You can read more about that at www.ChaseandSam.com . I’d also like to say that I’m an aspiring writer, but I haven’t aspired to write very much yet.

                    Janet spends a lot of time with our kids, but she has some hobby type interests as well. She enjoys reading, particularly Christian fiction (like Francine Rivers, Frank Perretti and Ted Dekker), going for long walks in the woods, playing sports (soccer, tennis and ultimate Frisbee), and pursuing her ongoing research on developing warp drive capability. I made that last one up. She also enjoys photography and writing and blogs from time to time at www.ChaseandJanet.com . She is generally considered by most people to be quite a bit nicer than me, and she almost always smells better, so you should get to know her!

                    As far as my ministry influences go, I really like to read/listen to:  John Piper, Wayne Grudem, Gary Habermas, Lee Strobel, Michael Brown, Mike Bickle, Albert Mohler, C.S. Lewis, Leonard Ravenhill, Jim Cymbala, David Platt, Darrell Bock and Thom Rainer. And yes, I realize that those people represent a very wide theological spectrum, though they are all Evangelical. I love books on: apologetics, prayer, revival, and evangelism. My heroes of the faith are: Adonirum Judson, Charles Finney, John Wesley, George Whitfield, John G. Lake, Keith Green, John “Praying” Hyde, David Brainerd, C.T. Studd, William Booth, Rhees Howells and George Mueller.   These folks all have widely ranging theology, and I certainly don’t agree with all of what they say/teach, but they all share a genuine and unusual passion for Jesus and a commitment to the Word. God give us more people who are truly on fire for Jesus in word and deed, and committed to keeping the truths of scripture, even when they are controversial and disliked in the world!!!

                    Some of my favorite individual books are: Why Revival Tarries (Leonard Ravenhill), Whatever Happened to the Power of God (Michael Brown), The Case for Christ (Lee Strobel), The Historical Jesus (Gary Habermas), A Tale of Three Kings (Gene Edwards), Surprised by the Power of the Holy Spirit (Jack Deere), Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire (Jim Cymbala), Systematic Theology (Wayne Grudem), Jim and Caspar go to Church (Jim Henderson), They Like Jesus but not the Church (Dan Kimball) and Let the Nations be Glad/Desiring God (John Piper). I also like to read Fiction, and as such enjoy Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series, Lewis’ Narnia series, as well as the Space Trilogy, which is quite a bit under-read and underappreciated.

                    Music wise, I enjoy a pretty eclectic mix of worship, alternative and some heavier stuff. My favorites include: Keith Green, Jason Upton, Caedmon’s Call, Misty Edwards, Derek Webb, Third Day, Everyday Sunday, Todd Ganovski, Robin Mark, Kent Henry, and Tim Hughes.

                    If you’ve read this far, I feel that I should apologize – it is quite an awkward thing to write a personal bio. Maybe I should give you a free chocolate bar for going through the trouble to get this far! Then again, maybe I’ll just eat it myself, as I’m a bit hungry.

                 If you’d like to contact me, my Myspace page is: www.myspace.com/chaseathompson and Janet’s page is: www.myspace.com/janetthompson  . I also have a Facebook account, which I actually use more than Myspace: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=55712641 . Of course you can use the contact page here to reach me via email also.

Grace and Peace to you!

 Chase A. Thompson

 John 15:5