educational background

Masters of Divinity

Drew Theological Seminary

Madison, New Jersey

May 1995

Bachelors In Business

The University of Nevada

Las Vegas, Nevada

May 1987   

Associates In Law

Community College of Southern NV 

N. Las Vegas, Nevada

May 1984 

Additional Education, seminars and other information 

Willow Creek Leadership Conference – 1999  

The Purpose Driven Church Simulcast – April 1999 

“Expert” in postmodern ministries on Askanything.com 

“Expert” in postmodern ministries on About.com

philosophy of ministry 

To Reach-Up {reach God - WORSHIP}   To experience God in Worship, and in our daily lives – Barna writes that over 40% of people attending church today do not experience God in the Worship Service – heartbreaking.  Reaching Up to God needs to be part of a solid Worship Service, contemporary in nature and Christ centered.  Our Reaching Up needs to be under the following Scriptural Guideline – “Suppose some strangers are in your worship service, when you are praising God with your spirit.  If they don’t understand you, how can they say ‘Amen’?  You may be worshiping God in a wonderful way, but no one else will be helped.” (1 Corinthians 14:16-18).    Worship must be God Centered and understandable to those who are not-yet-believers – so they can become a believer.   Music must be upbeat and relevant to the times.  Drama, Video and the Life Application Messages needs to meet the people where they are, not where we expect them to be, and bring them to where God wants them.

To Reach-Out {reach others - OUTREACH}  Ministries and outreaches need to reflect the current times, without compromising the Gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 9:22-23).  Leaders, not teachers, lead ministries – Looking outward means we have an honest Christ centered desire to grow and share the Gospel with those around us.  We need to replace the battle of words and requests with the vision of actions and ideas.  We need to develop leaders, creative people who accept the vision and are willing to do what it takes to implement the vision, to develop ministries.  We need to develop all ministries with the intention of growth and outreach.  Every ministry must have as it basis the intention of transforming people and lifestyles.  Planning for intentional growth of the church, ministries, activities and events is very important for us to bring Christ to the community around.  If not, if we have no goals, we are set for the fall; we find ourselves dancing with compliantly and procrastination, remember – excellence honors God.  In Matthew 10:1-16 Jesus sent out the twelve to minister – when he did he gave them a plan of action, we must do the same.  To say it boldly and plainly – NUMBERS MATTER, BECAUSE PEOPLE MATTER TO GOD, and stop playing the “numbers do not matter” game based on failed vision and lack of leadership.

To Reach-In {reach self - DISCIPLESHIP}   We must be an influence to others – We must look inward to see who we are in our walk.  Christians must confidently and without fear live a life that is reflective of our faith.  This means that we as Christians must clearly identify ourselves as Christians and demonstrate clearly that our faith is practical to life today.  We do this by our daily decisions, relationships and behaviors.  To influence others we must truly hold honest and sincere friendships with those who are not in relationship with Jesus Christ.  Jesus eat, drank and lived among the sinners of the world – loving and caring for them with all His heart, yet he did not become one of them.  We must be what I call, a “withness” to others.  A witness is one who states the facts and moves on, while a “withness” is one who states the facts and walks with the person and help them seek answers to the questions, and is an example of the faith (Romans 12:1-8).  When we are a “withness” people small groups become an important dimension to the church.  Developing people into disciples, visiting the sick and doing home visits is not only the responsibility of the Pastor, it is the responsibility of everyone who calls him or herself a Christian.  I do not believe in “Pastor as Chaplain.”  I believe that the responsibility of the Pastor is to develop leaders, and in turn encourage others to develop ministries that “chaplain” others.  Whole people make a whole church.  For this to be done, all Christians must take the responsibility to grow as Christians by being in God’s word, and participate in study at a deeper and meaningful level.  

doctrine

Theologians like to use $100 words to say the simplest of things, I don’t.  I believe in telling it the way it is, with words everyone can understand.  I am a man given to a helping people understand their relationship with a loving and caring God, I am not a legalistic pastor who demands strict adherence to meaningless human rules that have no Scriptural support.

> in God.  The Father, Son and Holy Spirit; Creator of everything.

> In Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.  Through Him I have a relationship with God.  In His virgin birth and His suffering death and Resurrection and in his personal return.

> In the power and might of the Holy Spirit, as our guide in faith, life and activities and in the joy the Holy Spirit has to offer.

> The Scriptures are alive and well today.  They teach us everything we need to know to live in relationship with God, with others, and with self.  Stephen King did not write the Scriptures, so we need not frighten people with what the Scriptures contains.

> We are saved through our faith in Jesus Christ, and that faith produces a desire to serve God and others, but salvation is through faith, and faith alone.  For people to truly understand who they are, and why they are here, they must live in a relationship with God and understand their sinful nature.

> The church is the Body of Christ on earth.  Its mission is to bring to the world the message that Jesus Christ is Lord and Savior, and that God loves them – Everyone

> All who accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior should live so people will want what they have, not run from who they are.  We need to be whole people in our relationship with God, and with others.  A spirit without a body is a ghost, and a body without a spirit is a corpse.

> We, as Christ did, must accept people where they are, not where we expect them to be.  We need to show the Love of God to all people and seek to welcome them into our homes (home groups), and into the church.  We need to be what I call a “Welcoming and Transforming” people, we welcome them in and allow God to transform them into what God wants, not what we want with our limited understanding.  To be a hospital for the sick, not a museum for the saints

> In the joy and excitement of being a Christian – it is fun and not a drag.  Being a Christian is an experience to be shared, not keep in a “locked cabinet” for personal use only.  Our relationship with Jesus is personal; it is not private.

> Worship is a joyful celebration of our relationship with a loving and caring God.  It is not a time to feel depressed, abused or neglected.  Worship needs to be designed so that we give the best to God.  Excellence Honors God, and Motivates People.  

my conversation

I find writing about my conversion simple; unfortunately I do not think it is what others expect.  Most people are looking for an exciting story packed full of emotions, superior preaching and quality gospel singing; a story where bright lights and blinding faith play a key role.  But, that’s not my story.  You see, I didn’t have a “road to Damascus experience.”  In fact, my story is more like, well “following the yellow brick road.”

I was born in the summer of my 27-year; no wait, that was John Denver.  I was born in a small log cabin in the heart of Brooklyn New York; it was not a Christian home; it was not filled with Christian teachings; I was not surrounded by Christian influences.  In fact, I had no, or little, religious experience at all – I am not counting all the “god terms” my father shared with me after a bad report card, or broken window.  While my family professed to be “Catholic” we seldom, if ever, attended church.  I grew-up as what I call “a neo-reformed pagan” a blank slate looking for spirituality in my life.

I searched all forms of spirituality I could think of – Buddhist, Hinduism, Krishna and others – looking for God and not seeing him.  I even spent a stint as an “Atheist” because I saw the hypocrisy of the church and those who claim to be Christian.  Looking back I am amazed at all the people I knew who claimed to be “Christian” and their total lack in sharing with me the story of Jesus Christ.  One day I found myself at a point of spiritual bankruptcy and hurting so deeply I could hardly stand the pain.  I had tried church, but was never made to feel welcomed – I was told I would not be welcome in “god’s house” until I got my life straightened out.  I was so lost, so hurting, so broken and so mad I had no idea what to do, then I did the only thing I could think of, I opened a Bible my mother had in her home (I first had to blow off the three inches of dust.  My mother got all upset, it seems I was not suppose to read “that bible” because it was for the “family.”  Go figure – what did I know)

Wow, smack me with a wet tuna and call me Sally.  I found that this “Jesus person” was not at all what I thought he was.  To my blessings, I read the Gospel of John (yes, I started there because my name is John) and did I ever have an awakening.  As I read I came to the story of Lazarus and realized – Jesus was so concerned by the emotional state of others, he wept; He understood their brokenness, and I needed to know more about the God who understood my brokenness.  I started to look for a church that would share with me more about Jesus, God and all this love I read about.  Boy was that hard.  I kept running into churches where people were more concerned with my cloths, my earring, and my hair than they were about teaching me about Jesus.  Other churches wanted me to “pledge my allegiance to the denomination, for which they stood” and not teach me about Jesus.  It took me two years to find a church that would welcome me without demanding I become something I was not.  Than, with the help of my sister, my brother-in-law and my wife I found one, Central Christian Church, a Willowcreek styles church in Las Vegas (there were 300 people at Central when we started to attend today there are over 6,000 attending).  Keeping in mind, I did not have any idea what “Willowcreek” was or meant – nor did I care.  All I knew is I was welcomed, accepted and encouraged to ask questions.  I started with 101 classes and soon found myself joining in at home fellowships.  No questions I asked, or mistake I made, was ridiculed or made light.  Over a one-year period at Central I came to know Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.  I accepted Jesus into my life in October 1988, and it’s been a life of commitment and study – I am always learning.