Outpost Stories
Greg Brooks: God is Good All the Time
Greg Brooks grew up without a true understanding of God and faith. He had a father who didn’t want him and used performance, pornography and idols to fill in the gaping holes left behind. But God found him in his darkest moments and in kindness and grace brought him to a faith-filled life with a true Father who has always loved him. Read on to see Greg’s story of grace.
Read the full story
Greg grew up in New Mexico with a mom who was single most of his childhood and a dad in prison which he found out about in elementary school.
Greg: My brother and I found out our dad was in prison through a kid on the playground when we were in first and second grade. This led to a journey of disappointment as we slowly found out who he was.
My dad was going to get out my freshman year of high school so after eighth grade I wanted to attend New Mexico Military institute which was in Roswell, where my dad would be living. I was so excited. We were going to finally get to do all the things he told me about in his letters over the years.
Greg started military school and began seeing his dad. He came to a few games and had Greg over a few times before slowly fading out of his life.
G: There really wasn’t any space for me in his life. I felt more like an intrusion, like I was forcing my way in. That was really tough for me. I’d looked forward to this time for years and it was shattering before my eyes.
Not having guidance, I started acting out at school. I got into drugs, pornography, fighting and resistance to leadership. I was in enough trouble that the institute asked me not to come back.
Greg’s stepdad was stationed in South Carolina where they moved and began attending a Southern Baptist church.
G: I wouldn’t consider my family a believing family. We weren’t regularly attending church, reading the Bible or talking about God up to this point. I was very unfamiliar with it. At the time I was hiding a pornography addiction and very severe depression to the point of feeling suicidal. It got worse because I had very few friends and fractured my tibia which led to sitting on the couch all summer. I felt so alone.
One day a group of kids from the youth group at the Baptist church asked Greg to come to an amusement park.
G: I was in a full length leg cast sitting in a wheelchair and was like, “No thanks.” They said, “Well, we already bought you a ticket.” So I went the next day. It turned out to be a Baptist youth event with live music and a message at the end. I’m not a big Casting Crowns fan but when Mark Hall shared the Gospel it felt like the first time I had heard the Good News. It was like fresh water on my dry and broken soul. That day I gave my life to Jesus and began the long road to sanctification.
Greg left that event and knew early on that he wanted to serve Jesus full-time somehow.
G: My first thought was missions. My mom used to make me fill out college scholarships online and when she’d leave the room I’d get on mission’s websites and fill out applications. I got zero scholarships and zero invitations for missions.
After high school Greg went to work at a Christian camp where he met Bonnie and was first discipled. Beginning full-time work after his sophomore year of college, Greg and Bonnie were married in 2010 and continued to live at the camp.
G: At this time I really began to learn the Bible and what it actually says. It helped me grow, and our marriage helped me grow as well. Behind the scenes I was still struggling with pornography. In our marriage Bonnie was struggling with my love for rock climbing which was a full-time idol.
God was so kind to us in this season. In spite of trying to fill the gap in my heart with pleasure and performance, God continued to grow us as followers and as a family. It was at this time Olivia joined us. Soon after, we felt God stirring us to leave camp.
At this time I did not want to be a pastor nor did Bonnie want to be a pastor’s wife. After a lot of prayer and encouragement from others we decided to look for youth ministry jobs.
"For the first time in my life, I felt like I was getting to see what I longed for. But this vision came at a price. What I mean is, I quickly realized that in order to be the church I was going to need to address deeper issues in my walk with God"
- Greg Brooks
Cody CMA hired me as youth pastor in May 2014. The Lord did beautiful work in our hearts and lives during our five years of serving there. He also revealed many things to me. My desire to be a missionary was transformed into a desire to pastor. This came as a pleasant surprise and it was due mainly to the discipleship of my lead pastor at the time, Mark Price. His leadership in my life was God sent.
But after Mark’s reassignment in New Jersey to lead another church, I was still left with questions about what it means to be the church, and a deep longing to see Cody further reached with the Gospel and discipleship.
A few years later Greg was introduced to a book called Come and See by Todd Wagner. This book had a profound impact on him and eventually led him to join the Watermark Institute in Dallas, Texas from 2019-2020.
G: Since the beginning of my journey with Christ, I was always put off by the way the church operated. Over time I was more able to articulate the gap between what I read in scripture and what I saw in church. But I didn’t really know how to fix it. I couldn’t understand why I and others continued to settle for less than what it seemed God was trying to invite us into.
In my time at Watermark, I was deeply encouraged by what I saw. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was getting to see what I longed for. But this vision came at a price. What I mean is, I quickly realized that in order to be the church I was going to need to address deeper issues in my walk with God. Here, not only was my performance, pornography, and idolatry addressed, but also, the sins in my past that still haunted me with shame.
At Watermark I heard story after story of people who were being set free and strengthened in the relationship with God through confession, repentance, and discipleship. I knew these were important, but I had never seen the end result. It was beautifully challenging, and it inspired me to share sins from before becoming a Christian that I had planned to take to the grave. I was met with a grace and love that can only be described as Christ-like.
Continuing to sense a call to Cody, Greg and his family joined two other families to plant a church there.
G: Feeling refreshed, encouraged, trained and empowered, I was excited to come back and share what God had showed me. We didn’t desire to replace other churches, nor did we seek to be better. Our aim was simply to be the church that God calls us to be in scripture. Over time, this proved much harder than I expected.
Prior to planting I was second, third, or even last in command. For the first time I was leading from the front in almost every way. This revealed that I had the gift of leadership. But also, that I was compromised by a performance narrative that sounded like, “If I’m good enough, I will be loved. If I’m loved, I’ll be safe.” But leadership is never safe.
After four years of leading the weight of ministry, with all its demands, began to weigh on him. The result was a deep feeling of being overwhelmed and a compromised integrity.
G: The surface of my life was cracking. I could feel it but I kept trying to manage. To get by. To get to the next season. But every season ran into another season. For a long time I thought the problem was about everyone else. But after my sin in January, God sweetly revealed that regardless of what everyone else has to work through, I have my own stuff that needs His loving help.
In the last seven months, God has revealed that I don’t have to perform to be loved. I am loved. I was loved when I was dead in my trespasses. How much so now? And when I fail, the Father has convinced me that, unlike my dad, He will never leave me nor forsake me. I have a long way to go. But I’m grateful for the love, mercy, and grace of the Father. And because he won’t leave me or forsake me, I have hope.
“God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”
Hebrews 13:5-6
Outpost Stories
Greg Brooks: God is Good All the Time
Greg Brooks grew up without a true understanding of God and faith. He had a father who didn’t want him and used performance, pornography and idols to fill in the gaping holes left behind. But God found him in his darkest moments and in kindness and grace brought him to a faith-filled life with a true Father who has always loved him. Read on to see Greg’s story of grace.
Read the full story
Greg grew up in New Mexico with a mom who was single most of his childhood and a dad in prison which he found out about in elementary school.
Greg: My brother and I found out our dad was in prison through a kid on the playground when we were in first and second grade. This led to a journey of disappointment as we slowly found out who he was.
My dad was going to get out my freshman year of high school so after eighth grade I wanted to attend New Mexico Military institute which was in Roswell, where my dad would be living. I was so excited. We were going to finally get to do all the things he told me about in his letters over the years.
Greg started military school and began seeing his dad. He came to a few games and had Greg over a few times before slowly fading out of his life.
G: There really wasn’t any space for me in his life. I felt more like an intrusion, like I was forcing my way in. That was really tough for me. I’d looked forward to this time for years and it was shattering before my eyes.
Not having guidance, I started acting out at school. I got into drugs, pornography, fighting and resistance to leadership. I was in enough trouble that the institute asked me not to come back.
Greg’s stepdad was stationed in South Carolina where they moved and began attending a Southern Baptist church.
G: I wouldn’t consider my family a believing family. We weren’t regularly attending church, reading the Bible or talking about God up to this point. I was very unfamiliar with it. At the time I was hiding a pornography addiction and very severe depression to the point of feeling suicidal. It got worse because I had very few friends and fractured my tibia which led to sitting on the couch all summer. I felt so alone.
One day a group of kids from the youth group at the Baptist church asked Greg to come to an amusement park.
G: I was in a full length leg cast sitting in a wheelchair and was like, “No thanks.” They said, “Well, we already bought you a ticket.” So I went the next day. It turned out to be a Baptist youth event with live music and a message at the end. I’m not a big Casting Crowns fan but when Mark Hall shared the Gospel it felt like the first time I had heard the Good News. It was like fresh water on my dry and broken soul. That day I gave my life to Jesus and began the long road to sanctification.
Greg left that event and knew early on that he wanted to serve Jesus full-time somehow.
G: My first thought was missions. My mom used to make me fill out college scholarships online and when she’d leave the room I’d get on mission’s websites and fill out applications. I got zero scholarships and zero invitations for missions.
After high school Greg went to work at a Christian camp where he met Bonnie and was first discipled. Beginning full-time work after his sophomore year of college, Greg and Bonnie were married in 2010 and continued to live at the camp.
G: At this time I really began to learn the Bible and what it actually says. It helped me grow, and our marriage helped me grow as well. Behind the scenes I was still struggling with pornography. In our marriage Bonnie was struggling with my love for rock climbing which was a full-time idol.
God was so kind to us in this season. In spite of trying to fill the gap in my heart with pleasure and performance, God continued to grow us as followers and as a family. It was at this time Olivia joined us. Soon after, we felt God stirring us to leave camp.
At this time I did not want to be a pastor nor did Bonnie want to be a pastor’s wife. After a lot of prayer and encouragement from others we decided to look for youth ministry jobs.
"For the first time in my life, I felt like I was getting to see what I longed for. But this vision came at a price. What I mean is, I quickly realized that in order to be the church I was going to need to address deeper issues in my walk with God"
- Greg Brooks
"For the first time in my life, I felt like I was getting to see what I longed for. But this vision came at a price. What I mean is, I quickly realized that in order to be the church I was going to need to address deeper issues in my walk with God"
- Greg Brooks
Cody CMA hired me as youth pastor in May 2014. The Lord did beautiful work in our hearts and lives during our five years of serving there. He also revealed many things to me. My desire to be a missionary was transformed into a desire to pastor. This came as a pleasant surprise and it was due mainly to the discipleship of my lead pastor at the time, Mark Price. His leadership in my life was God sent.
But after Mark’s reassignment in New Jersey to lead another church, I was still left with questions about what it means to be the church, and a deep longing to see Cody further reached with the Gospel and discipleship.
A few years later Greg was introduced to a book called Come and See by Todd Wagner. This book had a profound impact on him and eventually led him to join the Watermark Institute in Dallas, Texas from 2019-2020.
G: Since the beginning of my journey with Christ, I was always put off by the way the church operated. Over time I was more able to articulate the gap between what I read in scripture and what I saw in church. But I didn’t really know how to fix it. I couldn’t understand why I and others continued to settle for less than what it seemed God was trying to invite us into.
In my time at Watermark, I was deeply encouraged by what I saw. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was getting to see what I longed for. But this vision came at a price. What I mean is, I quickly realized that in order to be the church I was going to need to address deeper issues in my walk with God. Here, not only was my performance, pornography, and idolatry addressed, but also, the sins in my past that still haunted me with shame.
At Watermark I heard story after story of people who were being set free and strengthened in the relationship with God through confession, repentance, and discipleship. I knew these were important, but I had never seen the end result. It was beautifully challenging, and it inspired me to share sins from before becoming a Christian that I had planned to take to the grave. I was met with a grace and love that can only be described as Christ-like.
Continuing to sense a call to Cody, Greg and his family joined two other families to plant a church there.
G: Feeling refreshed, encouraged, trained and empowered, I was excited to come back and share what God had showed me. We didn’t desire to replace other churches, nor did we seek to be better. Our aim was simply to be the church that God calls us to be in scripture. Over time, this proved much harder than I expected.
Prior to planting I was second, third, or even last in command. For the first time I was leading from the front in almost every way. This revealed that I had the gift of leadership. But also, that I was compromised by a performance narrative that sounded like, “If I’m good enough, I will be loved. If I’m loved, I’ll be safe.” But leadership is never safe.
After four years of leading the weight of ministry, with all its demands, began to weigh on him. The result was a deep feeling of being overwhelmed and a compromised integrity.
G: The surface of my life was cracking. I could feel it but I kept trying to manage. To get by. To get to the next season. But every season ran into another season. For a long time I thought the problem was about everyone else. But after my sin in January, God sweetly revealed that regardless of what everyone else has to work through, I have my own stuff that needs His loving help.
In the last seven months, God has revealed that I don’t have to perform to be loved. I am loved. I was loved when I was dead in my trespasses. How much so now? And when I fail, the Father has convinced me that, unlike my dad, He will never leave me nor forsake me. I have a long way to go. But I’m grateful for the love, mercy, and grace of the Father. And because he won’t leave me or forsake me, I have hope.
“God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”
Hebrews 13:5-6
"For the first time in my life, I felt like I was getting to see what I longed for. But this vision came at a price. What I mean is, I quickly realized that in order to be the church I was going to need to address deeper issues in my walk with God"
- Greg Brooks
"For the first time in my life, I felt like I was getting to see what I longed for. But this vision came at a price. What I mean is, I quickly realized that in order to be the church I was going to need to address deeper issues in my walk with God"
- Greg Brooks
Outpost Stories
Greg Brooks: God is Good All the Time
Greg Brooks grew up without a true understanding of God and faith. He had a father who didn’t want him and used performance, pornography and idols to fill in the gaping holes left behind. But God found him in his darkest moments and in kindness and grace brought him to a faith-filled life with a true Father who has always loved him. Read on to see Greg’s story of grace.
Read the full story
Greg grew up in New Mexico with a mom who was single most of his childhood and a dad in prison which he found out about in elementary school.
Greg: My brother and I found out our dad was in prison through a kid on the playground when we were in first and second grade. This led to a journey of disappointment as we slowly found out who he was.
My dad was going to get out my freshman year of high school so after eighth grade I wanted to attend New Mexico Military institute which was in Roswell, where my dad would be living. I was so excited. We were going to finally get to do all the things he told me about in his letters over the years.
Greg started military school and began seeing his dad. He came to a few games and had Greg over a few times before slowly fading out of his life.
G: There really wasn’t any space for me in his life. I felt more like an intrusion, like I was forcing my way in. That was really tough for me. I’d looked forward to this time for years and it was shattering before my eyes.
Not having guidance, I started acting out at school. I got into drugs, pornography, fighting and resistance to leadership. I was in enough trouble that the institute asked me not to come back.
Greg’s stepdad was stationed in South Carolina where they moved and began attending a Southern Baptist church.
G: I wouldn’t consider my family a believing family. We weren’t regularly attending church, reading the Bible or talking about God up to this point. I was very unfamiliar with it. At the time I was hiding a pornography addiction and very severe depression to the point of feeling suicidal. It got worse because I had very few friends and fractured my tibia which led to sitting on the couch all summer. I felt so alone.
One day a group of kids from the youth group at the Baptist church asked Greg to come to an amusement park.
G: I was in a full length leg cast sitting in a wheelchair and was like, “No thanks.” They said, “Well, we already bought you a ticket.” So I went the next day. It turned out to be a Baptist youth event with live music and a message at the end. I’m not a big Casting Crowns fan but when Mark Hall shared the Gospel it felt like the first time I had heard the Good News. It was like fresh water on my dry and broken soul. That day I gave my life to Jesus and began the long road to sanctification.
Greg left that event and knew early on that he wanted to serve Jesus full-time somehow.
G: My first thought was missions. My mom used to make me fill out college scholarships online and when she’d leave the room I’d get on mission’s websites and fill out applications. I got zero scholarships and zero invitations for missions.
After high school Greg went to work at a Christian camp where he met Bonnie and was first discipled. Beginning full-time work after his sophomore year of college, Greg and Bonnie were married in 2010 and continued to live at the camp.
G: At this time I really began to learn the Bible and what it actually says. It helped me grow, and our marriage helped me grow as well. Behind the scenes I was still struggling with pornography. In our marriage Bonnie was struggling with my love for rock climbing which was a full-time idol.
God was so kind to us in this season. In spite of trying to fill the gap in my heart with pleasure and performance, God continued to grow us as followers and as a family. It was at this time Olivia joined us. Soon after, we felt God stirring us to leave camp.
At this time I did not want to be a pastor nor did Bonnie want to be a pastor’s wife. After a lot of prayer and encouragement from others we decided to look for youth ministry jobs.
Cody CMA hired me as youth pastor in May 2014. The Lord did beautiful work in our hearts and lives during our five years of serving there. He also revealed many things to me. My desire to be a missionary was transformed into a desire to pastor. This came as a pleasant surprise and it was due mainly to the discipleship of my lead pastor at the time, Mark Price. His leadership in my life was God sent.
But after Mark’s reassignment in New Jersey to lead another church, I was still left with questions about what it means to be the church, and a deep longing to see Cody further reached with the Gospel and discipleship.
A few years later Greg was introduced to a book called Come and See by Todd Wagner. This book had a profound impact on him and eventually led him to join the Watermark Institute in Dallas, Texas from 2019-2020.
G: Since the beginning of my journey with Christ, I was always put off by the way the church operated. Over time I was more able to articulate the gap between what I read in scripture and what I saw in church. But I didn’t really know how to fix it. I couldn’t understand why I and others continued to settle for less than what it seemed God was trying to invite us into.
In my time at Watermark, I was deeply encouraged by what I saw. For the first time in my life, I felt like I was getting to see what I longed for. But this vision came at a price. What I mean is, I quickly realized that in order to be the church I was going to need to address deeper issues in my walk with God. Here, not only was my performance, pornography, and idolatry addressed, but also, the sins in my past that still haunted me with shame.
At Watermark I heard story after story of people who were being set free and strengthened in the relationship with God through confession, repentance, and discipleship. I knew these were important, but I had never seen the end result. It was beautifully challenging, and it inspired me to share sins from before becoming a Christian that I had planned to take to the grave. I was met with a grace and love that can only be described as Christ-like.
Continuing to sense a call to Cody, Greg and his family joined two other families to plant a church there.
G: Feeling refreshed, encouraged, trained and empowered, I was excited to come back and share what God had showed me. We didn’t desire to replace other churches, nor did we seek to be better. Our aim was simply to be the church that God calls us to be in scripture. Over time, this proved much harder than I expected.
Prior to planting I was second, third, or even last in command. For the first time I was leading from the front in almost every way. This revealed that I had the gift of leadership. But also, that I was compromised by a performance narrative that sounded like, “If I’m good enough, I will be loved. If I’m loved, I’ll be safe.” But leadership is never safe.
After four years of leading the weight of ministry, with all its demands, began to weigh on him. The result was a deep feeling of being overwhelmed and a compromised integrity.
G: The surface of my life was cracking. I could feel it but I kept trying to manage. To get by. To get to the next season. But every season ran into another season. For a long time I thought the problem was about everyone else. But after my sin in January, God sweetly revealed that regardless of what everyone else has to work through, I have my own stuff that needs His loving help.
In the last seven months, God has revealed that I don’t have to perform to be loved. I am loved. I was loved when I was dead in my trespasses. How much so now? And when I fail, the Father has convinced me that, unlike my dad, He will never leave me nor forsake me. I have a long way to go. But I’m grateful for the love, mercy, and grace of the Father. And because he won’t leave me or forsake me, I have hope.
"For the first time in my life, I felt like I was getting to see what I longed for. But this vision came at a price. What I mean is, I quickly realized that in order to be the church I was going to need to address deeper issues in my walk with God"
- Greg Brooks
“God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”
Hebrews 13:5-6