Having been a Pastor for over 35 years (Christian school principal for nine of those years), saved for forty-three years, and married for almost fifty years I have quite a bit of real-life experience upon which to draw. I was wonderfully saved by the grace of God when I was twenty-six years of age and God completely changed my life. I had a 5-year-old son and a four-month-old daughter at that time. I grew up in the ’50s and ’60s, graduating in 1966 and entered the Army in 1968 serving one of those years in Vietnam as a Sergeant.
I was raised in farm country in Northwestern Ohio and loved everything about farm life, the hard work, driving tractor, working ground, bailing hay, caring for live stock; from milking cows to shoveling (yep, that too). I had my share of broken bones and stitches. I lettered in High School football and baseball. I have fond memories of Thanksgiving Day at my Uncle Paul’s farm where we would feast on homemade noodles, turkey, vegetables, stuffing, homemade pies and cakes. We would all go hunting afterwards and usually limit out on pheasants and rabbits. Yes, I am one of those rabid gun owners. I am also an NRA certified pistol instructor, still teaching classes almost every week. I even have a ten point buck “shoulder mount” hanging in my Church office that I shot with a bow. I was vice president of Field and Stream Bow Hunters club and won first place with a compound bow. I built a “Potato Gun” and a “Carbide Cannon.” I loved cars and drag racing and learned to rebuild engines blind folded. To my wife’s chagrin I was picked up for speeding doing 142 mph. The cop even let me look at the radar “read out” because he had never caught anyone going that fast. I didn’t have the heart to tell him I was slowing down. I learned auto body work thanks to a local body shop where I worked part time, but I loved mechanics the best. I loved every aspect of life and lived it to the fullest. My father-in-law taught me to weld and I put myself through college welding in a large factory, building nuclear pressure vessels and coal crushers. I am certified in mig, tig, and stick welding. I do blacksmithing and make custom knives. I was also a Red Cross and YMCA certified life guard. I grew up swimming in every water hole available.
God has blessed my life and given me seven grandchildren which I dearly love. I built a large tree house for them with a zip line that everyone got hurt on. What a joy it is to have grandchildren. My son and I put together a seventeen foot flat bottom fishing boat with a ninety horsepower jet drive motor. (fish fear my name.) I am a bee keeper (yes I get stung), licensed pilot (don’t tell anyone, but I buzzed our house so low it scared my wife half to death) and worked as an IT specialist in hospitals setting up Radiology networks and PACS systems, including Windows and Linux servers. I installed and maintained digital x-ray equipment having traveled all over the United States for schooling. I owned and flew a twin engine para plane and had to land in a field behind my house when one of the engines quit working – very interesting. I built and installed a “vacuum tube” solar heating system in my home and installed my own central air conditioning system. I also built my own wind generator from scratch. After being discharged from the army I worked for a contractor building sixteen homes and a thirty two unit apartment building in one year. I ran a five man carpentry crew for a few years until going to work for Whirlpool Corporation, eventually working my way up to a department manager. It was while working at Whirlpool that a man approached me and asked me if I knew for sure if I would go to heaven when I died – I didn’t.
I have been in Japan, Canada, Mexico, England, Scotland, France , Vietnam and a few foreign countries in the USA, such as West Virginia, Manhattan and California. Born and raised in Ohio, with nine brothers and sisters, I have been in the majority of the states including Alaska. I drove an average forty thousand miles a year for over 20 years and travel to Rossville Georgia at least once a year for a mission’s candidate school, of which I am on the board of directors.
After pastoring for many years, I decided to further my education and received my Master of Theology and Doctor of Theology degrees graduating Suma Cum Laude with a 4.0 grade average. I have been an avid reader for years, reading an average of at least one book per week. I love teaching and preaching the Word of God and constantly read and study the Bible finding it inexhaustible.
Why am I telling you all of this? Not because I think I am somebody, but because most people think a Pastor, or a Christian for that matter, doesn’t know anything about real life. They think we live in a bubble and are out of touch with reality. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Having lived for over sixty-nine years my perspective will be well rounded, but it will be based primarily on God’s Word from which all true wisdom comes. I hope you will enjoy my page.