There are a lot of people who come to Calvary Chapel Las Vegas and assume I’ve been a Christian my whole life, mostly because I’m a pastor. That certainly is not the case. Although, I was raised in a family where there was a consideration for God I began to experiment with drugs and alcohol in middle school. This became a lifestyle. In fact, when I moved into my dorm at UC Irvine, I had the fridge stocked with beer and the walls of my dorm room plastered with beer posters. When John, my new roommate, came in he took a poster and put it on the one open spot left, right over my bed. The poster was a picture of waves crashing against the rocks quoting John 3:3, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” My thought was that if there were gods they must be against me! I couldn’t believe my roommate was a born again Christian.
For the next 9 months, he was vocal about the Gospel. Even though we became friends and I respected him, it was literally light against darkness. Galatians 6:7-8 says, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life”. I have that memorized to this day because John put that Scripture on our door forcing me to read it every time I entered the room. God was using His Word and John’s example to soften my heart. I was vocal against John’s beliefs and even blasphemous towards His God, but in all of that God was working in my life. I was so arrogant, that at times John would read his Bible before bed and I would say, “Why don’t you read that to me and I’ll tell you what your Bible means?”
The next school year things were only getting worse. I was living in Newport Beach consumed by darkness-crossing lines I never thought I would cross. It all came to a head on New Year’s Eve when I was with my friends in San Francisco. We had been partying all night when a riot broke out in Union Square. The darkness that was consuming my life was making me angrier and violent. Finally, as I was walking past a row of riot officers with their guns and shields all that aggression was released as I attacked one of the officers. Within seconds I was cuffed and being taken to jail. When I got to the cell and I couldn’t believe my life had come to this. My sin was a like a prison and it was becoming clear that there was only one way that I could be freed. At that moment, I called an officer over and told him I didn’t belong in the jail. In what had to be a miracle, he came back five minutes later, opened the door, gave me a yellow slip and said, “We’re just giving you a warning, we aren’t pressing any charges against you.” I went back to college the next week realizing I needed to give my life to Christ. I asked my Christian friends to take me to church and that Monday June 27, 1992 they took me to Calvary Chapel Cost Mesa. When the invitation was given by the preacher I was the first one up. As I look back it was like God had picked me up Himself and carried me to the altar.
God began changing me from the inside out, taking away my desire for drugs and alcohol. I called my old roommate John to tell him that I had given my life to Jesus. He didn’t believe me at first, but then could tell God was working in my life. My reputation on campus changed as I had a heart to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with other students.
It was becoming clear that God was calling me to the ministry. I went to Calvary Chapel Bible College where He began to refine that calling. One Sunday night at a church service I sensed the Lord speaking to me and impressing on my heart that He had given me the gift of teaching. I thought, “That can’t be, I don’t even like to speak in public.” At that moment the pastor stopped the service and said, “God has just told me that He has given someone the gift of teaching.” Knowing that God was moving in my life I committed to serve Him and teach His Word whenever and wherever He called me to.
And here we are at Calvary Chapel Las Vegas. He’s blessed my life abundantly over the years. I have the most amazing wife, Rachel and three beautiful kids Alec, Hanna, and Levi. We are so thankful to serve God in a city where the need for the gospel is so great and where Jesus is making more God stories every day, just like mine.
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