Miles McPherson was born in Brooklyn, NY, and raised on Long Island where he was one of five kids, and a son to a nurse and a police officer. He was a football star in high school and in 1978 was recruited to the University of New Haven where his stellar play earned him a spot on the all-American team.

Drafted by the Los Angeles Rams and later traded to the San Diego Chargers, he played four years in the NFL. His arrival into the league was the realization of his dream that he began to jeopardize by letting himself fall into a crushing cocaine habit.

After bingeing for an entire weekend, he felt the oppression of the drug over his life, called out to God and was delivered from the addiction on that day. He never used again.

In time, he became a youth pastor at a local church in San Diego, earned his Master of Divinity from Azusa Pacific University in 1991 and then started Rock Church in 2000. Today, the Rock has more than 18,000 weekly attenders across five campuses and Rock services can be experienced around the world through several media channels including radio, TV, online streaming and more.

The author of eight books, his latest, The Third Option, takes on the issue of racial reconciliation and posits that God’s way, honoring His image in all of us, is our best hope for healing.