Pastor Alex Horton is the founder of The Heart of What We Believe, an online Christian ministry dedicated to helping people understand what it means to follow Christ in today's world. Through sermons, devotionals, Bible studies, and honest conversations about faith, Pastor Alex focuses on making deep biblical truths approachable, practical, and personal for everyday life.

He is also the author of From Wandering to Walking: A Testimony of God's Love, a book centered on redemption, grace, and the transforming love of God. Drawing from personal experiences, Pastor Alex shares how faith reshaped his life and how God meets people even in seasons of doubt, failure, and wandering.

With a heart for teaching and discipleship, Pastor Alex is passionate about encouraging believers to move beyond surface-level Christianity into a deeper understanding of the Gospel, spiritual growth, and authentic relationship with Christ. His work often centers on foundational themes such as love, grace, faith, repentance, hope, and the Kingdom of God.

Whether preaching, writing, or speaking on podcasts, Pastor Alex's goal is simple: to point people toward Jesus with honesty, clarity, and compassion, while helping others see that faith is not just something we believe, but something we live."

The website link is: www.theheartofwhatwebelieve.org

The YouTube is: https://www.youtube.com/@Pastor_Horton

The Spotify is: https://open.spotify.com/show/1ISTvKiOGp9AFUuNnciH4H

The book is: https://www.amazon.com/Wandering-Walking-Testimony-Gods-Love-ebook/dp/B0FVL3BHC3/ref=sr_1_1?crid=8VPAANAQ1IIU&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.jAFGwR5ffa4ZK3BljXK3NpaKTb0kmTQQqjdO1tZos9YjNjw_aYRQMQsWEvS8CHQBUgpqJ4yBVFdNcyG-aumgr4rUDhKEftjEWLUk_tDVn_xIEjnepisDEZxJCi3E5oAfS7qvnP8Q-EbaFj1fR4XTl7sNhQomRsiv88TPq9mW04wB2IeFYfitt6RRu4sxZQX4WTyWoXLmfpCo_ATsQZqBFJpRh-ylu9lZxi_6oc92VIs.Vc5BXGV5C5Gh5kknclYNiIrndP5khHX2AaYxZL65A3Q&dib_tag=se&keywords=from+wandering+to+walking&qid=1778288958&sprefix=from+wander%2Caps%2C189&sr=8-1

Hi, I'm Angel.

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Praise God for you, Alex Horton, Pastor Horton.

It's a great pleasure to connect with you.

What part of the world are you in today?

Yeah, thank you for having me on.

I'm calling in from Omaha, Nebraska in the United States.

Wonderful.

How did you come to meet Jesus?

I came to meet Jesus a couple of times, but this last time was really the time when I opened my heart to him.

I was trying to officiate my brother's wedding and then realized I was curious.

And from that curiosity, the Holy Spirit just worked in me and he came on in.

He started working and since then I've been devout.

Oh, is he older or younger than you?

He is my twin, actually.

Wow.

What an amazing honor to officiate a twin brother's wedding.

Very cool.

So how did we even get there to you being the person who picks up that mantle?

I told him I wanted to and he said, fine by me.

And so I did a little bit of research.

I got ordained and that was that.

But after a little while, I switched the organization that I was ordained with because I didn't necessarily agree with the practices that they had.

That's a big thing though.

Do you both do those types of things for each other growing up?

No, not really.

At least with this, it's always kind of just been me.

But he looks out for me in other ways.

I mean, you know, he kind of had my back when I was a kid.

So you become a pastor.

What's his reaction to the fact that it's connected to the beginning of officiating a wedding?

He thinks it's cool, kind of makes him chuckle every time.

But yeah, it's a real fun story.

I'm telling you, I've never heard one like it before.

Yeah.

So what happens as a result of your curiosity?

Yeah.

So as a result of the curiosity, like I said, I was ordained.

I'm a pastor now.

And I've actually published two books.

One of them is a memoir.

One of them is a workbook for Ephesians.

And then I've been doing sermon series, devotionals, reflections, all kinds of stuff, just because I was curious.

And I realized if I have these questions, other people might too.

And from that, I've kind of come up with five separate book series that I'm going to be writing, as well as all kinds of different sermon series and all that kind of stuff.

Hmm.

Do you believe that the seed was always in you, or the seed was only deposited after making a decision to follow through with your curiosity?

It was always there, whether I realized it or not, because so many things in my life led up to this.

My great grandma and great aunt, they put me into storytelling kind of workshops.

And that helped with public speaking.

I've always been an avid reader.

And that has helped with my literary analysis.

And my grandpa will tell you, when I was seven years old, I was reading the Bible.

And he said, you know what, I think he's going to be a pastor someday.

How has it affected other people that you've encountered in terms of bringing them to Christ?

What are you seeing as patterns that are occurring for those attracted to Christ because of you?

Well, it's kind of a divide.

Once people realize that I'm a pastor, it's either they want to know more, or they're already, you know, kind of stuck in their ways for the time being.

And at that point, it's just, you know, help the ones who are asking for help, be there for the ones who aren't ready yet.

Has that been challenging to navigate in terms of you being Alex versus being Pastor Alex and what you would have experienced with people simply meeting you as Alex?

Yeah, it has.

A lot of people, you know, they don't like the faith.

And so that causes some hate.

But then also, you know, one of the big sections of life where it changes things is in relationships.

You know, friendships are kind of weird, but then also dating, or marriage, or that kind of stuff.

It's, you certainly, you suddenly have these different criteria that you're searching for.

And in today's day and age, not a lot of people fit that criteria.

Yeah, it's intriguing, the conversation I had, one of the conversations I had today, I pulled out this scripture verse, right, that popped into my mind.

In fact, I needed to, I was like, is this in the Bible with narrow is the way?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Is this in the Bible?

And it is, right?

It's in Matthew seven.

So do you think that we're set up incorrectly for the reality of what it means to carry the Christian brand or the Jesus believer brand?

No, I think we're set up perfectly for it.

So that's a question I've heard variations on a few times.

And we are set up perfectly to be faithful individuals.

In the beginning, we were made and we were made very good.

And from that, we, we had no sin, we didn't die.

But then the fall, you know, Eve ate the apple, handed it to Adam, and there was, you know, the fall, the introduction of sin.

And then we had to kind of relearn our faithfulness to God, relearn what it means to be human in a broken world.

But ultimately, humans were still made very good.

And from that, we have the ability to carry our cross daily as Christ did, and live as Christ wants us to live.

Whose life is resonating the most with you in the Bible for this season of your life?

Paul, definitely Paul.

Because I went from, you know, the worst of the worst.

I'm, I am unworthy to be called Christian, but I don't have to be worthy.

It's by Christ that I am made worthy.

And from that I get to spread His gospel, spread His word, and help others come to Christ.

Message in a bottle, five years from today, listening to this conversation, what's a message you'd leave for Alex Horton?

Stay on track.

You're doing great things.

And no matter what, no matter where life takes you, at least somebody is proud of you.

Who is that somebody?

Well, myself, my grandpa, and the good Lord.

There you go.

Of course, links are in the show notes.

So if he's caught your ears and you want to find out more, you can also check him out.

There's a ton of interviews that this guy does, goes deeper, loves the Bible.

Pastor Alex Horton, a pleasure, a treasure.

Thank you for being on What Is Inspired by 12 and Economist.