Pastor Ryan Mount at his 2nd annual crawfish boil in Portland, bringing his Louisiana roots to the Pacific Northwest. He is the Executive Pastor at Mars Hill Portland.

He’s a busy man, and I have great options for Pastors who could do my wedding, but here are 10 reasons why Pastor Ryan is my top pick.

1. When he talks about Jesus, there is a blood-urnest look in his eye that scares the crap out of me.
2. He used to be a Navy lieutenant driving multimillion dollar ships around the world. At our church he is sometimes referred to as lieutenant Pastor.
3. He’s from Louisiana, and within the first two weeks of meeting him I participated in my first crawfish boil per his enthusiastic request. (See photo above)
4. Traveling around the world with the Navy, while his shipmates bought prostitutes, he bought presents for his future wife to give her on their wedding today, and that’s exactly what he did.
5. I was the chauffeur for he and wis wife on their last wedding anniversary, and her constant refrain all day was, “Ryan, I am so glad you married me.”
6. He and his wife let me live with them for 7 months, and invited me deep into their lives. My fears, doubts and anxiety about the possibility of marriage faded into the background of their display of grace with one another.
7. He has cried in front of me more than once. He’s a hard man with a soft heart.
8. He knows how to kill.
9. I’ve had a front row seat to watching him passionately and faithfully help plant a growing church in the least churched city in America while growing his passion for Jesus and deepening his marriage.
10. More than any friend I’ve ever had, he has modeled what it looks like to repent of sin and trust in Jesus often, and call others to do the same without fear. I have never learned so much from one person in such a short amount of time.