I grew up in the Chicago suburbs.  My family was Catholic, but we really were not very good Catholics and rarely went to church.  I really knew nothing about God, and I felt as if we only went through the motions.  It was very structured. Repeat this phrase, sit, stand, kneel, etc.…

It was not until I went away to college that I was really introduced to Jesus.  I was in the dorms where there were two rooms that shared a bathroom.  The other 3 roommates were 2^nd and 3^rd year students.  I was surprised when I was hearing all this rock music that I had never heard of before.  I asked them the names of the bands, and they were REZ band, Petra, and others that I can’t remember.  I found out later that they were Christians.  My roommates were always asking me to come next door to their Bible study, but I did not want to be one of those “weird Christians” so I always declined.  They would sometimes bring over a Scripture and would ask me what I thought that it meant. We had several more discussions and I learned about how Jesus had loved me and paid my price for my sins.  I had accepted Jesus as my Savior and was baptized.

After graduating from college, I tried to walk that gray line. I wanted to have the spiritual side as well as not being one of those extreme “Christians”.  Unfortunately, I let my spirit be quenched by the world.  I tried to fit into what most people thought was a balanced life.

A job transfer relocated us to North Carolina in 1994. We started attending a good Bible-believing church where the Gospel was continually preached.  We would just attend a service on Sunday mornings. I remember discussing with my wife, “let’s not hold back lets commit even further to this and learn more about Jesus.” So we would attend Sunday school, Sunday morning service, and Wednesday evening services.  Basically, if there was a service going on at church, we were there.

I have always preferred to serve behind the scenes. I don’t want to be recognized by others; I am there to give my best for the Lord.  While nothing I can do could ever be enough to repay the Lord for what He has done for me and my family, I feel as I need to be serving somewhere.  I got interested in running live sound and cassettes and CD’s for the church, and have been doing that pretty much since 1998 at a couple of churches. Meanwhile, my wife got plugged into teaching Sunday school for the kids.

Things have not gone according to my plan but God is faithful.  I went through a number of downsizing and career changes in the last 20 years, but God has seen us through it.  While we were struggling financially, our small group blessed us and gave us a Christmas for our family.  We have been given a car, had an air conditioner replaced, and had help with our bills. Though all these trials, God has taught us to be humbler and more appreciative of what we have. We no longer try to keep up with the Jones’s for material things. We prefer to store our treasures in heaven.

I helped to start a church eight years ago in Concord, and had been running the sound pretty much every week for a number of years. We had some people step up and get involved, so I decided to step down in September 2019 for a bit, take a break, and “just sit in the pews”. Then while I was on vacation in late September, I saw a Facebook ad that LIFE Fellowship was looking for a Technical Director.  I applied and came on board.  I am happy to serve the Lord with you guys here.