My Story

Raised in the mountains of Southwest Virginia and serves as Pastor-Teacher in the mountains he loves at Glamorgan Chapel in Wise, Virginia. Nearly 30 years of service in the loving community of faith has taught me the joys of the Christ-life lived out in the lives of the people God has graced my life with.

I came to trust Christ for salvation as a teenager. I heard and saw the life-change that happened in our family when my dad trusted Christ and church became a part of our life. He passed away when I was very young leaving a hole in the heart of my mom and our family. But, we knew dad was with Christ whom he loved deeply.

Mom would later remarry, and as a teenager I was able to see grace and love lived out in a godly step-father, who embraced me as his own. He happened to be a preacher and pastor and was carrying the gospel like his father and grandfather. I connected his love for me to his love for Christ and his love for reading and studying the Bible. On a warm summer evening in July 1976, I trusted Christ as Savior and Lord, and was baptized in Clear Creek, in Norton Virginia along with 17 other young people with the lights of that church van shining through the darkness upon us. My life was changed and a direction and course was being set.

I realized from that moment on, I wanted to live for Christ and I had a thirst for understanding His Word.So much so, that I asked my high school English teacher if I could do a book report on the Gospel of Matthew, which she encouraged my effort. I was growing in my new found faith. The next year, I began serving in a music ministry with a cousin, where I learned the joy of serving through playing guitar and singing. We traveled regionally from church to church and encountered God's blessing on the ministry.

One evening during youth group, we found our small class without a teacher or a lesson. I reluctantly filled-in that evening, and taught from a sitting position on the front pew. I was now in college and studying Old and New Testament survey's along with courses for a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business.

Called into Ministry

I had other career plans than vocational ministry. I planned to be an accountant. I sensed a calling and desire for teaching ministry but I found myself resisting the Holy Spirit's compelling. Needless to say, I yielded to call to ministry in October 1982 at age 21 and was ordained October 1984.

I also met my wife Teresa in that February 1983 and we married in March 1984, and I graduated college that May. She married a preacher and I found that surprising. She was so supportive and remains so as a faithful wife with a ministry of encouragement and ladies speaker.

As a bi-vocational minister, a desire for systematic study of Scripture deepened, so I enrolled in the Wise County Institute of Biblical Studies, and completed a three year certificate in Old & New Testament and Theology in 1987.

Pastor & Teacher

In September 1991, I preached my first message at Glamorgan Chapel entitled "The Love of God", and have been privileged to serve and grow, with the encouragement of the church leadership to continue in my educational pursuits. I knew that packing up and moving somewhere far away to seminary was not feasible for me or the family. The practical lab of ministry is fertile soil for real life education which I appreciate. However, I desired a firmer academic foundation to become a better pastor and serve the church, so I enrolled in Luther Rice Seminary (Georgia), in their external program for a Master of Arts in Ministry which I completed in 1998.

External programs include some on-site classes lectures and audio lectures, textbook reading as well as a tremendous amount of writing for each course. I knew it would be an arduous and lengthy process that would require disciplined writing for successful completion. After graduation, I needed a break from study. I was teaching and leading a Bible Institute for adults as a part of Tennessee Christian Education Board I was serving. I also began writing a manuscript on Bible Interpretation geared for church members, that I completed that year. But, I knew that there was more to be studied, researched and written.

In 1999, I enrolled in Trinity Theological Seminary (Indiana) with the goal of completing their curriculum for a more academic study in Theology. This was a rigorous study in apologetics and theology. The reading demands were much broader and interaction with the material required more critical analysis and thought-out development. Of course even more lectures, and grappling with apologetic and theological issues with more focused writing topics. After completion of most course work, I entered into the most demanding stage of the doctoral program, and that was understanding academic research and gaining an approval of the dissertation committee on a topic. This was a lengthy process just to begin viable research topic that might contribute something scholarly in the field of study.

I was finally approved to research the glory motif in the Gospel of John for an apologetic purpose and method. I successfully defended my thesis Toward and Apologetic Purpose and Method of the Glory Motif in the Book of Signs, John 1-12. I graduated in 2005 and awarded a Ph.D. in Theology ! I am thankful for my wife Teresa her faithful support through the years, and benefit from her gift of encouragement and gifted insight.

With the complications of life today, much is required for a minister. I know the answers are still packed in the ancient wisdom of Scripture. As I grow in faith, I remained convinced that I have not even "scratched the surface" of the depth of the blessed book. I am further convinced that people need the clear message of the gospel through Bible-based, Christ-centered, and Spirit-filled preaching and teaching . In the inescapable eternal questions asked, I pray that God uses me in some way to display the matchless person of Jesus Christ (the living Word of God) as revealed in Scripture.