I accepted Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior in early June 1969 at the age of the 12, at my parents' home in Virginia Beach, VA, while watching Billy Graham on TV...and I have my late maternal grandmother, who was there at the time, to thank for that. I went a number of years (1982-1995) in my life during which I did not walk closely with my Lord, until the summer of 1995, when I had a bad case of heat exhaustion, followed by what I initially thought was a heart attack but what turned out to be a loss of my body's ability to handle the caffiene in all the Diet Mountain Dew that I used to drink...that was my "ground shaking" experience. In late January 1996, I got down on my knees, confessed all my sins, and came back to a close relationship with my Lord...and it was around that time that Maria and I began going to Victory Christian Fellowship ("VCF") in Fremont, OH. Since then, I have finally learned that I DO belong, that God CAN use me, and that I really am loved for who I am!

I am very much involved at VCF...I sing in the worship choir on VCF's music team, and I am also involved in other areas there. I am a guitar player...I play electric, acoustic, and classical guitars. I am also an avid weather watcher, and I have done some storm chasing in my lifetime. I enjoy going for long walks...best exercise in the world for ya! I also like going for scenic drives. Throughout most of my life, my favorite place to visit has been the NC Outer Banks, and one could say that I am an islander at heart. I do enjoy humor, and I am particularly prone to puns, and I can be corny...but I always keep it clean. I very much enjoy writing, and I feel that I often can better express what is on my mind and on my heart by writing it out than by speaking it. Employment-wise, I work as a lube technician/valet/custodian at an automotive dealership.

I very much enjoy meeting and getting to know people, especially my beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord. I love people, and I believe in them.

My primary musical leanings are contemporary Christian music (and especially contemporary praise and worship), and also smooth jazz...and I have an affinity for Spanish/Latin music and what I like to call "island music". But I can and do enjoy any and all styles of music, from popular to hard rock/alt rock/blues to soul/urban/hip-hop to country/bluegrass/tejano to classical, as long as they are free of offensive lyrics, and especially if they feature excellent guitar playing.

As for my own guitar playing, I play electric guitar (2003 Fender Stratocaster Standard, sunburst with a rosewood fretboard, plugged through an Alesis GuitarFX into a Carvin SX-100 amp), acoustic guitar (2003 Ibanez V70CE-NT, plugged into an Ibanez IBZ10A acoustic amp), and classical guitar (2005 Ibanez GA6CE, also plugged into the IBX10A). I first learned to play guitar back in 1976 (I am self-taught), although I've been serious again about my guitar playing only since 2003, when I got my '03 Fender Strat. The tone and style of my guitar playing can most closely be compared to that of Russ Freeman of The Rippingtons.

Some of my favorite contemporary Christian artists/groups include Hillsong Music Australia (and also Hillsong United, as well as Darlene Zschech as a solo artist), Phil Keaggy, Cheri Keaggy, Iron For Clay, Nicole C. Mullen, Israel Houghton and New Breed, Ron Kenoly, Martha Munizzi, Rebecca St. James, Parachute Band, The Katinas, Mercyme, Parachute Band, Petra, Ginny Owens, Gateway Worship, Salvador, Kelly Willard, Jeremy Camp, Out Of The Grey, Seawind (featuring Pauline Wilson), 2nd Chapter of Acts (and also Annie Herring and Matthew Ward as solo artists), Sanctus Real, Ross Parsley, Kirk Franklin, Fernando Ortega, Chris Tomlin, Anointed, Todd Agnew, Rachel Lampa, Mary Mary, Passion, Watermark, Nicole Nordeman, Delirious?, Yolanda Adams, Selah, Chris Rice, Paul Baloche, Avalon, Matt Redman, Resurrection Band (aka REZ; featuring Glenn Kaiser and Stu Heiss on guitars), Glenn Kaiser Band, 4HIM, Phil Driscoll, SonicFlood, Jaci Velasquez, and all the wonderfully gifted musical artists and groups here on Shoutlife (including Tammy Trent, through whom I found out about Shoutlife). Some of my favorite smooth jazz/instrumental artists include The Rippingtons (featuring Russ Freeman on guitars), Acoustic Alchemy, Benoit-Freeman Project, Special EFX, Pat Metheny Group, Brian Hughes, Larry Carlton, Steve Oliver, Wind Machine, Al DiMeola, Torcuato Mariano, Strunz and Farah, Keola Beamer, Spyro Gyra, Keiko Matsui, Marc Antoine, Kittyhawk, David Boswell, Crusaders, Return To Forever, Wil Ackerman, Wayne Johnson Trio, Alex De Grassi, Jukka Tolonen, Joachim "Max" Sune (Iceberg, Pegasus), Michael Hedges, and Billy McLaughlin. Some of my favorite artists from other musical genres include Orianthi, Steve Morse (Dixie Dregs, Steve Morse Band), Carrie Underwood, Santana, Dan Fogelberg, Jeff Beck, Steely Dan, Brad Paisley, Allman Brothers Band, Martina McBride, Gloria Estefan, Rush, Earth Wind & Fire, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Selena, Marvin Gaye ("What's Going On"), Lorie Line, Tish Hinojosa, and Shania Twain.

My earliest childhood musical influence can actually be found in the Lawrence Welk Show, thanks to my late maternal grandmother.

First and foremost, the Bible...the translation that I primarily use is the New American Standard Bible ("NASB"). Other favorite books include "Extravagant Worship" by Darlene Zschech, "The Purpose Driven Life" by Rick Warren, "My Spiritual Inheritance" by Juanita Bynum, and "Godchasers" and "Godcatchers" by Tommy Tenney. I also enjoy reading books, magazines, and periodicals about the weather. I have in the past enjoyed reading novels based on the TV series "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (my favorite: "Imzadi"), although it has been years since I last read one of those. I also like to read periodicals that I get from Dr. Hilton Sutton and Dr. Mark T. Barclay (both of whom have preached at VCF). For the same reasons that I don't watch much TV, I generally don't have much time to sit down and read a book, although I do make sure that I regularly read my Bible.

Some of my all-time favorite movies include "The Passion Of The Christ", "One Night With The King", "The Nativity Story", "Evan Almighty", all the "Star Trek" movies (including the new one), all three of the "Back To The Future" movies, all the "Left Behind" movies, "Shall We Dance?", "Forrest Gump", "Selena", "Charlotte's Web" (the newest version), "The Lake House", "Paulie", "Twister", "The Perfect Storm", "Cast Away", "Groundhog Day", "The Notebook", and "Titanic". Basically, I enjoy movies that are clean and have happy endings, and I do enjoy romantic comedies and the so-called "chick flicks". I shy away from movies (and TV shows) that contain excessive violence and/or sexual content, and I DO NOT watch horror/scary movies.

I generally don't watch much TV outside of The Weather Channel...too busy with life and especially church. Some of my all-time TV shows do include "Touched By An Angel", "Star Trek: The Next Generation", "Happy Days", "Batman", "Eight Is Enough", "Knots Landing", "Leave It To Beaver", "Ugly Betty", and pretty much all programming on The Weather Channel.

Some of my favorite actors/actresses include Marina Sirtis, Jennifer Lopez, Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Wanda Sykes, Mary Steenburgen, Michael J. Fox, Morgan Freeman, and America Ferrera.