Who I Am:
Jesus follower since 1979
Son of Paul & Margot
Brother to Patty, April & Steve
Husband to Colleen since 1986
Dad to 2 tremendous sons since 1995 & their wives (2019 & 2021)
Opa to Alinna, Maisie, Matthew, Michaela, Evie Mae, and Joseph
Uncle to 12 nieces & nephews
Friend to many
Bluegrass Music Lover
Honda Goldwing Rider
Home DIYer
YouTube Mechanic
Football Fan of Michigan Wolverines, VA Tech Hokies, Detroit Lions & Dallas Cowboys
What I Do:
Ordained Pastor, The Foursquare Church
Board Certified Pastoral Counselor
Director of Center for Spiritual Renewal
Sheriff Chaplain, Montgomery County, VA
Emotionally Healthy Discipleship Course Coach Director
Founder, Pastor For Life
I served over 29 years as a Pastor at one church until I came to my current full-time role as a Board Certified Pastoral Counselor, and the Director of Center for Spiritual Renewal in 2015. I served as a Chaplain at the Simi Valley (CA) Police Department for 15 years (2000-2015), and am now a Chaplain with the Montgomery County (VA) Sheriff’s Office (since 2018). I also currently serve as an Emotionally Healthy Discipleship Course Coach & Director of EHD Course Coaches for Emotionally Healthy Discipleship.
It used to be that when people would ask me to tell them about myself, I would start with the phrase, “I’m a Pastor ….” and then continue on with the other descriptors of what I do. I didn’t realize then that God loves me just for who I am, not for what I do.
In February of 2001, I had a run in with burnout. It didn’t happen overnight, nor did I come out of it overnight. It was a gradual process on both ends.
One of the things I learned on my journey out of burn out is that who I am is not defined by what I do. It was a painful lesson. A lot of my own self-worth had been derived from what I did with my life.
I have since learned that first and foremost, I am a son of the Living God. I learned that through all of my brokenness, God never loved me any less. I learned that…
Nothing I could ever do can make God love me any MORE than He already does.
Nothing I could ever do can make God love me any LESS than He already does!
Those were, and still remain, life-transforming lessons. Simple, but so deeply profound. When I forget those truths, I get lost, busy, distracted and tired. When I live in them, I remain focused, calm, centered on Jesus and find myself more able to live in the trenches of life on God’s strength when I get tired.
What led me to burnout is a lengthy and complex story. I’ll share that soon on the website.
If the message of Pastor For Life connects with you, or you just need someone to talk to about where you’re at, I’d love to hear from you and connect with you. You can connect with me in the following ways: