John 3:16 says “For God so loved the world that He gave his only Son…..” That’s what I wrote next to my name on the dance floor where I left a “4 inch” wide burn out. When Becky, Ernie’s sister , asked me if I would bring my H-D Motorcycle on the dance floor at Ernie’s Bar and leave a mark I had no earthly idea that this one act would forever change my life.

In 1996 I launched what I thought to be the first Biker Sunday. I had never heard of such an event before and I didn’t know what to call it. I just wanted to have one Sunday Service where it was not about church people but just about people, “real” people....... “No perfect people allowed!

Wow did it grow! It grew from a humble beginning of 40 or so bikers meeting on a weekend to hear the “Good News” of God’s grace to several years later having nearly 8,000 people gather in a stadium celebrating three days of incredible evangelistic activity. As the popularity of this event grew special guest like Michael Franzees, Michael W. Smith, and Charlie Daniels joined this annual celebration.

Preparing for one of our biker weekends I felt a prompting from God to visit Ernie’s Bar to give a personal invite to Ernie and his friends to attend our upcoming biker weekend.
They came; We had a great weekend. Bikers attending “religious” events is not common protocol and word quickly spread on the street that Ernie attended our biker weekend. He hadn’t been in church in over 20 years.

Just one month after attending our event, Ernie was killed tragically on his motorcycle. It was 10:30pm Tuesday night in our home town.
I had the incredible honor of performing his funeral. 1,500 people attended. God provided much grace that day. In what seemed to be a senseless death, God was at work bringing hope. At Ernie's funeral I was able to meet people from all walks of life, it opened doors for me to help marriages, drug addict, alcoholics, those who were tired, broken and beat up from the challenges we all face in a broken world. For the first time in my ministry, I was right where I could make the greatest impact.

A few months after Ernie’s death, I was on my bike riding through town. As I approached Ernie’s Bar I noticed an unusual amount of bikes and cars at the bar. Not one to miss a party, I stopped in and greeted some of my new friends. JR pulled his motorcycle in the bar and did a burn out on the dance floor, Buford followed, and I stood in awe at this strange ceremony as some explained this as an initiation rite for the local group of bikers .

As I prepared to leave and say goodbye to my new friends, Becky approached and began to thank me for blessing her and the good people who frequented Ernie’s bar.
She said to me, “Steve we would like for you to bring your bike in and Leave A Mark! You don’t have to twist my arm to do things like that so without hesitation I pulled my bike in the bar and left about $20 of my back tire on the dance floor. The noise from the motorcycle, the crowed, the smoke, the smell, filled the room. All the while I heard a voice deep within me saying, ‘this is what I want you to do with the rest of your life; Leave a mark.’

After 10 years of Biker Sunday’s all over the country, I God placed on my heart to start a church. It began in my living room, with just 12 people in February of 2007. Now three years later, we are leaving a mark on our community averaging over 700 people a weekend and growing weekly. Souls are getting saved, lives are being changed and people are being set free from addictions and the bondage of sin.

Leave A Mark Church is a body of people committed to being the church as described in the book of Acts chapter 2 in Bible using innovative ways to reach people who don't go to church. We are a place where “real” people, are serving a “real” God, to make a “real “difference in our community.