My Journey:

I was raised by a single mom in the general So Cal area, with no siblings. I was brought up in the Catholic Church and went to Catholic school through 8^th grade, but stopped going to church at around 15 years old. I joined the Navy at age 18 as a Quartermaster (working with navigation) for 4 years and made 6 trips across the Pacific between San Diego, California and South East Asia.  After the service, I worked in carpentry for about 6 months in Aptos, California.  I had a motorcycle accident and moved back to So Cal. I started working at Hughes Aircraft Co. and started going to school pursuing a Physics degree.

I got married and had my beautiful and amazing daughter Jessica.

I wound up getting my B.S. Degree in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering.  Note, I was still not a Christian at this point.

I got laid off from Hughes and got divorced.  I opened a Triathlon Sporting Goods / Bike Shop called Dolphin Tri Sports.  That went under after a couple years.

I wound up getting a job with the City of Torrance where I currently work as an I.T. guy (I don’t have any passion for computers, but it’s a living!).

Okay, that’s all the mundane stuff (except of course for my amazing daughter!).

I always had an interest in religious things but no belief in any particular religious system.  I would probably have classified myself as having been an atheist or agnostic depending on the day, but my motorcycle accident at age 22 started changing that.  I began thinking about the possibility of there actually being a God. 

In approximately 1996, a good friend gave me a One Year Bible to read.  I wasn’t reading it to discover the truth; I just wanted to know what it said so I’d be better equipped to argue about it later. Soon into it however, I felt what I was reading was true.  I took 2½ years to finish it and decided shortly thereafter that Christianity was true. I wanted to become a Christian so I went forward at a pastor’s altar call.  However, being the slow moving person I am, I didn’t get baptized until January 28, 2001.  Although I considered myself to be a Christian, it was that day as I was about to be baptized, that I knew something was missing.  The vital link I realized was I hadn’t given my life to Christ.  I believed in all the core doctrines but hadn’t made Christ first in my life.  That day I knew I had to do that if I was actually going to be a follower of Jesus.

I only had a glimpse of what that was going to mean.  After that day, my life got turned upside down in an incredibly beautiful way.  Being a “middle aged” guy at this point, I was terribly behind the curve understanding what Christianity was really all about, so I enrolled in Biola’s Masters in Apologetics program.  Where before I was reading the Bible to better argue against it, now I was studying how to argue for it.  Given my scientific background, apologetics perfectly fit my desire for knowledge, logical thought, and especially knowing the truth.  The most beautiful benefit in learning about our awesome God was that my personal relationship with Him grew (and is always growing) strong and close.  I developed (and still have) an insatiable desire to serve Him in every aspect of my life. 

I graduated from Biola in 2004.  I wanted very strongly to work in ministry.  I had been assisting in Torrance First Baptist’s college group and then became a co-teacher in TFB’s SonSeeker group.  An opening came up for a Pastor of Outreach and Discipleship at TFB.  I applied for the position, the job got scaled back to part time, and I got the job.  The position then got restructured to its current form of Director of Discipleship.

I love apologetics, I love discipleship, and I love helping fellow believers grow in their faith.  I have a passion for evangelism and I teach a small group class on it.   I have plans to write several books and have started the first one.  I love God most of all!  My heart’s desire is to serve God in any way He can use me and to help people come to have a relationship with God or to strengthen the relationship they currently have.

Favorite Scripture:

The whole thing!  Okay, there are a few favorites.

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.  We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

“So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” John 8:31-32

I also like the books of Luke, Romans, Hebrews, and the parables.

Spiritual Pursuits:

Studying and practicing the “spiritual disciplines”

Secular Pursuits/Hobbies:

Triathlons/bike riding, photography, scuba diving, working on the house and in the yard

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