I'm Samuel.

I've led teams of musicians and production crews, youth members and youth leaders, and congregations of old and young in song and preaching. As if I've ever had it figured out, it feels like I'm figuring it out all over again.

I'm grateful for the years I spent at Lee University studying music, business, theology and Scripture. I'm grateful for the years I spent as a pastor in Chicago, where my three children, Ephraim, Eden and Eshton were born.

My wife, Lindsey, and I took a daring leap and resigned from my position there. We're residing in Battle Creek, Michigan where I'm learning the grace it is to just be "Samuel."

Samuel Marks: a melancholy melodious boy in a mango tree. A product of the Evangelical church and my dad's Beatles' records.

I hold a Bachelor's degree in Music Business and a minor in Bible. My claim to fame is liking U2 long before it was cliche, leading a ragamuffin band called "Free Refills" as a teenager, and holding my breath for three underwater laps of my parents' pool. I hate mayonnaise and anything that hosts it as an ingredient. I cry when talking about the beauty of God, love, my wife and children, and when I'm on to writing a really good song.

I'm prone to interrupting people on accident in conversation, losing my keys and making messes that rival my two year old daughter's.