I think there's pressure when you're a pastor that you have to have all the answers, and if you don't, your faith is built on sand. For me, faith is about believing in those things you can't see and at times can't understand. I've been really blessed to have people who are open to that and stick around. Not everyone does stick around, though.

I had a lot of gay friends and even had some congregation members who were gay, and I just wasn't sure where I stood. In my heart, I was like, "How can I condemn these people for their love of one another?" I started looking deeper into the Bible and studying and then I went to a gay-affirming church. It all came together at one point.

The more I follow grace, the more I'm drawn to him (God), the more I'm willing to stand up for people being persecuted. .. This sounds so churchy, but I felt like God spoke to my heart and said '(homosexuality) is not a sin'.

Well, these tattoos aren't really rebellion. These tattoos are all tattoos I've had since I have been a pastor.

Don't let the bastards get you down. Christians aren't God. Religious people aren't God. God loves you, just where you're at... just the way you are, no matter what you've done. God loves you whether you love him or not and there's nothing you can do about it. As far as the negative and judgmental stuff goes, realize that Jesus has a crappy fan club. Just don't give up

I always thought I had to earn God's love and approval. I kept trying, but it never seemed like I could do it, and I thought, "Man, what's wrong with me?" A friend of mine was like, "Man, you're full of it. You're trying to do what Christ has already done: You're trying to earn your salvation and you can't - it's a free gift." It sounded too good to be true. He said, "You need to start reading the Bible for yourself and stop taking everyone else's word for it." When I really started to do this, I realized God loved me no matter what.

I love New York. It's made me realize that God's a lot bigger than I thought he was. It's a really interesting crowd. We have an agnostic person who comes on a regular basis, a transgender person who said that they found our church because they we're looking for a church that wouldn't hate them. The congregation is really great.