From January 2005 until Hurricane Katrina arrived, Bruce Lee Smith was the director of Development and a teaching pastor at Uptown Church in New Orleans. Since the storm, Bruce has focused his energies on writing and speaking about God's providence. He is the founder of StormKat Ministries, an organization devoted to critical thinking, speaking, and writing with the aim of engaging people who desperately need the message of hope revealed in the Gospel.
When Bruce Smith was a teenager, his young (twenty-seven-year-old) stepfather died a painful death from an untreatable form of cancer. As a result, Bruce became a father to his much younger sister and the primary emotional support system for his mother. Rather than turn toward destructive habits and lifestyles, Bruce
found his hope in God.
Active in his high-school youth group, Bruce preached for the first time when he was only sixteen years old. He felt called to a theological education in college after a back injury crushed his aspirations of a major collegiate and professional tennis career.
Upon completion of his degrees in preaching and pastoral ministry, which was accomplished while married, raising two children, working in church ministry, and holding down extra jobs, Bruce went on to study at the Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando and Wheaton College Graduate School outside Chicago. During this period, Bruce spent time ministering in a variety of church settings, including Assemblies of God, Presbyterian, Methodist, and others. His focus for
his master's thesis research centered on an intensive evaluation of Willow Creek Community Church.
Since his days in theological education, Bruce's journey has included a number of entrepreneurial adventures, including design, sports memorabilia, and art. For his investment work over most of the last decade he has gained notoriety as &ldquothe top rare coin broker in the country.” In 2004 he gained worldwide recognition for his sale of the 1913 Liberty Head 'V' Nickel for a staggering sum of $3 million. He has appeared on numerous radio and television news programs,
including The Tony Snow Show and The O'Reilly Factor, and was featured on NPR's Weekend Edition with Scott Simon.
A native of New Orleans, Bruce is the father of three children and two Labrador retrievers. He spends his free time, when not playing the role of chauffeur, on the tennis court, collecting art and sports memorabilia, pursuing his interests in amateur photography, and enjoying
numerous competitive sports. Twenty-five percent of the author's profits from Soul Storm will be donated through faith-based organizations to New
Orleans rebuilding efforts.