Brooks Driver leans on foundation of faith established at Loganville Christian Academy
In the more than a decade and a half after graduating from Loganville Christian Academy, Brooks Driver has done a lot. He has recently written a book and, today, works at an action sports ministry in Florida.
What set Brooks up for success, though, was the experiences he gained while attending LCA all four years of high school.
While he stressed that he was not a believer while roaming our hallways, Brooks credits LCA with helping build a foundation of faith.
“They planted seeds and watered them. And it was a big deal because I really think that God used all of the teachers, and all the teachings that we got to point me towards him,” Brooks said. “I know that I've mentioned this to some people at LCA before, but the Bible that was given to us as seniors, that's the Bible that I read and really became a believer through it. I think LCA did a lot in the formation of my faith.”
Brooks graduated LCA as part of the class of 2009. He attended Young Harris College in Young Harris, Georgia, for two years. Then, Brooks went on to obtain a bachelor’s degree in Biblical Studies from Anderson University in Anderson, South Carolina.
It was during college — and when Brooks came to know Jesus Christ himself — that he realized the significance of that basis.
“I didn't realize how important it was until after I became a believer. How it really set me up because I see people doing ministry in my line of ministry all the time that have no idea anything about the Gospel,” Brooks said. “I have to start from square one talking about how there's a creator. They believe in the big bang and believe that, whatever they've been told in school. And so I think having that foundation of knowing the creation narrative, knowing what the Bible teaches about who God is and who we are, it's huge.”
Currently, Brooks is the Director of Outreach with Ride Nature. It is a ministry that utilizes action sports, such as skateboarding, surfing, wakeboarding and snowboarding, to help minister to people in Southwest Florida and beyond.
While at LCA, Brooks was a competitive wakeboarder. As a result, Brooks feels working with Ride Nature is a “match made in Heaven.”
“When I found Ride Nature, it felt like it was the perfect combination of what God had created me to do,” Brooks said. “It was [to] use my gifts and talents for wakeboarding and skateboarding and surfing, but also to use it for God's glory and not my own. And so with everything from going to school for biblical studies, to being a youth pastor, to having this passion for action sports, all come together to work for Ride Nature.”
Brooks is married to Lauren and they have two sons, Zephyr and Reed. Together, they enjoy going to the park and spending time with other young families. When discussing his family, Brooks stressed that it is his family that he considers his most important ministry.
Recently, Brooks also wrote and published a book, “Jesus Was Different.”
The book’s overall message is doing things the “Jesus way,” which includes ways that are quite different from the world around us. Its aim is to encourage you to make a change in order to grow to be more like Jesus.
After longtime aspirations to write a book, Brooks described what it was like to have it shared for everyone to enjoy.
“It has been a labor of love to write this book, to write and serve those people,” Brooks said.
“They planted seeds and watered them. And it was a big deal because I really think that God used all of the teachers, and all the teachings that we got to point me towards him.”
Overall, the main passion for Brooks is to pour into people and help them anyway he can. And that includes giving back to his alma mater.
That is why Brooks stressed there’s an open invite for any current students or recent graduates of LCA to reach out to him. People can connect with Brooks via Facebook.
“My best advice would be just to read the Bible and do what it says. The Bible's so good. It's perfect. And God truly loves all of us,” Brooks said. “And hearing that from a teacher is amazing, but hearing it from God Himself in the Bible will bring you to tears because it's so true how much God loves us and that He paid for our forgiveness.”
