Austin Baker
Austin in Austin
Email Austin
[speaking of the restoration of God's people] "Therefore, behold, I will allure her, bring her into the wilderness and speak kindly to her."
--Hosea 2:14
Born
December 12 in Houston, TX
Siblings
Barbara, younger sister who is going to be a freshman at A & M in the fall (’07) and David, younger brother who will be a freshmen in high school. My sister is the brains of the family and my brother is the soul. They have been incredible blessings in my life and have shown me time and time again that God will always be bigger than our minds can fathom.
Heroes (other than Jesus)
"My parents are my heroes, for their passion for Christ and the exaltation of His name and their passion for each other."
Usually Orders at a Coffee Shop: "I'm often a victim of the seasonal latte, isn't that sad?"
Favorite movies: Life is Beautiful, Legends of the Fall, A River Runs Through It, The Four Feathers, Blood Diamond, The Good Shepherd, Chariots of Fire
Favorite bands: Nickel Creek, Dave Matthews, Norah Jones, John Mayer, Caedmon's Call and many a good soundtrack
If you could spend an evening with anyone who lived in the last 1000 years...
"It would either be C.S. Lewis or Davy Crockett. I’m pretty confident I’ll get to spend eternity with Lewis. I don’t know about Davy, so I’d probably pick him. A night with Davy would be really exciting, it’d probably include a brawl downtown, definitely a bear hunt and who knows what else! Davy Crockett has always been a favorite of mine. A true wilderness and frontiersman, he is probably the Webster definition for the word “man”. The guy was rough and tough and willing to die for people and a land that wasn’t his. I mean if we wanted to get crazy we could say that if it hadn’t been for Davy we might not have Texas and then we might not even have The Austin Stone!"
Life Story
"Several of the pastors at The Austin Stone Community Church have mentioned that the greatest moments in history have taken place when things have been completely hopeless until God in His sovereignty has intervened. We call these instances, '… but God …' moments. The story of God saving me is an amazing story not because I had a crazy past and then an awesome 'but God' experience, like what happened to Paul on his way to Damascus; but rather my testimony is amazing because my life is full of 'but God' stories and it has taken many of them to get me to where I am today. God’s faithfulness is the only thing that is amazing in my story.
From early on in my life, God began working in crazy ways. Yes, I was born into an amazing Christian family, raised in Houston, grew up in church and several private Christian schools, 'but God,' saw it fit to show me at the age of 6 that He was alive and active in my life. It had been easy for me as a child in my environments to understand that God existed and to believe what the Bible said about Him was true. Initially I was under the impression that it was us believing in the right things that saved us. It had not been easy for me to understand how God was engaged in our lives and that what He desired was a relationship with us. This all began to change when my younger brother was diagnosed as an infant with the worst form of Cerebral Palsy (CP) the doctors in Houston had ever seen. We were told that he was physically incapable of ever being able to communicate or walk.
As we received the news that my brother would never be the same, I knew that my family would also never be the same. Things seemingly began to go downhill fast, 'but God' in His grace, healed my brother after the faithful prayer of the elders from my home church. The healing was so extensive that to this day, the doctors cannot explain how my brother is physically capable of walking and talking (two things he has since that day done way too much of)! The life we have lived with my brother has shown my family that God is intricately involved in the details of our lives and that tragic incidents are not merely events but rather they exist for a purpose and that He is working through the triumphs and tragedies to bring about His glory in our lives.
There some crazy 'but God' stories in my life ranging from financial provision in full-time missions to physical protection during the poisoning of my entire family to the point of death while on mission; to the spiritual salvation of many friends in desperate need of Christ. But as I ponder my life, I cannot get away from the fact that God still pursues me, despite the fact that I constantly turn from Him and try to run. To me the greatest 'but God' thing in my life is that He is still God and He continues to pursue me. He has used trials and tragedy in my life to shake me from complacency, He has used relationships in my life to teach me truth, and He has used desperate situations, to battle over the affections and desires of my heart."
Vision for The Austin Stone
"My prayer for this church is that we will always be a people that never lose sight of the things that are eternal; our relationships with God and each other."
Anything else people should know about you?
"I’m always looking for another cycling buddy."