Spiritual Life –

           My earliest memory of God came from my grandmother. In my mind’s ear I can hear her singing “In The Garden” and remember wondering who was meeting her there. She was more than happy to explain to me who was meeting her there but this still remained a mystery to me. I have many fond memories of my mother reading scripture to me and my siblings growing up, especially those scriptures which related to the rapture of which she was particularly fond. But, still God remained a distant “out there somewhere” kind of thing, I just didn’t understand why I needed to care about this. I really began to have a greater understanding when I went to vacation bible school. I received the gospel of Christ and my first bible (which I still have). Though I am certain that my mother and grandmother had related the truth to me prior to this, this is the first time I really considered what it meant. It was not until I was an early teen that I began to really realize who God was and His message to man kind. I readily accepted Him at that time and requested to be baptized (should have seen my mother’s face). It was not many years after this that my spiritual life took a terrible turn for the worse. Though it would be years before I would publicly disown Christ and criticize those who believed such nonsense I had internally turned my back on Him. During young adulthood I actually wrote several songs that I performed publicly criticizing Him and anyone who believed. During public meetings such as weddings or the like I absolutely refused to bow my head in prayer or hold any pretense with regard to my feelings about Christ. It was the birth of my first son that got me to thinking about life and the miracle that it truly is. During this time a faithful servant of the Lord had been witnessing to me regularly and He and I had many discussions regarding Christ, God’s word and related subjects. Though I adamantly refuted his every word, at night I would secretly fish out the first bible I had received and have a look. I felt like a kid sneaking candy. I hid it from everybody even my then to be wife. I distinctly remember taking a walk one night and saying to God,”ok, so they say you are real, if you are then show me!”. It was within weeks of this time that Ginger and I decided to be married. I insisted on marrying in the church (hmmm). So we set out to find a pastor that would marry two previously married folks. We were refused by one pastor but was referred to another. Upon meeting with Him regarding our wedding plans he presented the gospel too us. For reasons that I can not explain the truth of the gospel hit me like a two ton heavy thing. My eyes were opened in that one moment and I accepted Christ into my life. It was truly the most significant moment in my whole life and the Lord has changed my heart, my mind and my whole life. I am truly amazed by the grace that saved a sinner like me. Praise be to God forevermore. Amen!

 Music –

I, like my brother Aaron, was introduced to music by my uncle Victor and came to absolutely burn with desire to play primarily through his influence. He had an old guitar which I think he got through an old Sears catalog which he gave to my brother and I when I was ten. I loved that thing so much! My brother and I would fire-up the 8-track and pretend to be rock stars for hours and hours on end. Then my brother received an acoustic guitar for his birthday and that just drove the nail home as it were. He accurately describes his having to pry the thing from my greedy little hands over and over again. I then began lessons which did not last but a month or so but served as a grounding. A year or so later I got a guitar of my own from my uncle Victor (sorry for hogging your’s Aaron J) and absolutely loved to play the thing. My parents used to have to make me stop playing to eat. I would run upstairs wolf down my food and be right back down stairs as fast as I could. I played in several bands in h.s. which was just a blast. I played in several bands after leaving h.s. each having varying degrees of success. I entered the Maine ’s Best Rock Guitarist competition and to my surprise came in third. After several more bands I decided to study music a bit more seriously. I took music classes at USM which really rounded out music theory for me. Then I decided to study classical guitar. I studied with two prominent guitar teachers for a few years before deciding to return to the Rock Music venue. I also played the violin for a bit but my first love was the guitar. I have played with the “CBC Praise Team” for the last 6 years. I currently serve as the Music Director for CBC. I have written and arranged music for guitar, piano as well as voice. I have both written and arranged for full orchestra, String Quartet and Quintet (though I would stress that I am an armature). The long and short of this story is God has given me this gift and the burning desire to use it. I intend to do so to His glory as long as He strengthens these bones to do so.

God Bless –