In May of 2000, I started writing a bi-weekly email Bible study/devotional shortly after the baptism of my friend Wes and his family. The baptism was a great day for me, because it is so rare to see a friend come to Christ along with his whole family. At our “celebration” luncheon, Wes asked me if I could help him learn more about Jesus and the Bible. He knew nearly nothing about the Bible. He had been convicted solely by the Holy Spirit! I agreed, and we thought that twice a week was about right. We also agreed that email would be the best medium. I asked my pastor, Mike, and my dad, also a pastor, if they could make sure I didn’t lead Wes astray. I asked some friends if they wouldn’t mind being copied as well. They didn’t. The list kept growing until I switched jobs and had to give up writing these devotionals in December of 2001.
I really enjoyed doing these studies because many of my own struggles and questions were answered as I wrote. My goal was to explain concepts so that a new Christian like Wes could understand it, but I also wanted to make the studies apply to our daily lives, and challenge us all to grow as Christians.
These devotionals are now being “reprinted” on the Mt. Olive website, and I am quite excited to see them go out again. I pray that they will touch more lives.
As far as personal stuff goes, I’m a PK (preacher’s kid) and the oldest of six kids (three adopted) in my family. My folks had a penchant for travel, and my dad was in the Navy, so as a youth, I saw much of the US and Asia. I came to know Christ at the age of five at my first VBS (Vacation Bible School) when someone in our general assembly asked us if we wanted to receive Jesus into our hearts. I raised my hand. Living in a Christian home strengthened my belief as I grew up. When my parents left me behind in California (yes, they left me!), and I had started to attend college, I began to teach Sunday school. My prize student that year would eventually become my wife, Barbara. Together, we did Sunday school, VBS and a weekly children’s ministry for our church at Moffett Field. It’s no wonder that my wife became a teacher. While both of us were dating, we were attending college, working retail, and I was playing in a cover band at night. We were able to get married about the time I graduated, thanks to Maxine Rowley who allowed us to live in her home while we got our careers started. I somehow landed a job as a chip designer even though I was looking towards either architecture or the Air Force as a career. Barbara got that teaching career she wanted. We moved out a few years later and switched churches because Moffett Field was closing (and we had become burnt-out volunteers). North Valley Christian was a terrific church, and Pastor Dan Griffith was awesome. We went there for a year, but Barbara, Maxine and I felt lead elsewhere, though we didn’t know where. The answer came one night when my life insurance lady, Vikki, told me that in order to keep my “Lutheran” life insurance (AAL, now Thrivent), I should really be in a Lutheran church. I explained that the Lutheran style of worship was “stuffy” and that I preferred a contemporary style of worship since I had been playing guitar and/or bass in non-denominational contemporary churches for a few years now. She explained that though it wasn’t her personal style, there was this “other” Lutheran church in Milpitas that had a band. By the way, Vikki Hall turned out to be the wife of our interim pastor, Rod Hall, during Pastor Mike’s “sabbatical.” She wound up liking contemporary worship, go figure. Now Pastor Rod has his own contemporary service at St. Mark’s, Sunnyvale.
Anyway, Barbara, Maxine and I went to Mt. Olive, but this young kid named Mark Eiken was leading the service (now Pastor Mark in Florida). The pastor was out of town. I mentioned that I played bass to Mark at the end of the service and Mark was ecstatic. Apparently, the contemporary band was scheduled to play the following week, but the bass player was out of town. I was an answer to prayer and I played the following week. I have been in the band “Shekinah!” ever since. A few years later, Barbara and I wanted to start a family, but we also wanted one last fling before we got tied down. We had planned for Hawaii, but somehow wound up in Europe. I loved the art and culture so much that when we got back, I decided to pursue a degree in art history. For some reason, God was calling me to do this. Our son Jeffrey was born a year later and Courtney two years after that. Recently, I got my degree and you know what? I may never use it professionally and I am thrilled! Through this degree, I have learned to study, research, and write a good paper. I had to read the Bible a whole lot because European art is mostly Christian, and I had to constantly defend myself from the non-Christian intellectuals around me. Along the way, I have also learned about the early church, medieval philosophy and the great reformers. Isn’t God Awesome? Looking back, I can truly see His plan for my life and the people He put in my way to make it happen. Now I’m looking foreword to my next adventure!
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.