I was born in Belen, New Mexico in 1954 into a family of 12. I have 2 brothers and 7 sisters, all currently alive. My parents, both deceased, raised us in a very stable loving environment where I received a very solid foundation for my faith. My father was a hard-working laborer for the Bureau of Reclamation, which meant a very modest income raising a family of 12. Growing up, we as a family never once ate out at a restaurant or ever went on a vacation; but here is where the old adage comes in, "You don’t necessarily want what you don’t have”. That being said, we were, at least I was, pretty much always happy and free of worry or care.
     As I mentioned previously, I received a solid foundation for my faith in God. He was always real to me, but I always had this nagging thought of the afterlife, heaven or hell. As I was finishing up my senior year of high school I listened to the message of the Gospel and how salvation was a free gift of God, and it could me mine if I would forsake my sin through repentance and submit my life to Him. I never felt so free in all my life! That’s when my life changed for the better. A few years later I met the girl of my dreams, and we were married after a 3-month courtship in the summer of 1975. At the time we were very much involved with our church and life pretty much revolved around Jesus and His teachings. We went on to have 5 children of whom we now credit our 11 grandchildren and one great grandchild.
     The majority of our first twenty years of marriage consisted of making a living (at times I worked three different jobs) and serving the Lord through our church. It was then after 20 years that we came to a crossroad and decided that the Lord was moving us out of a comfort zone we had built, and it was time to move on. We checked out a church in Los Lunas named Los Lunas Christian Church and after attending a few Sundays we never looked back. Since that time, we built lasting relationships, got involved with missions and eventually I was selected for a position as an Elder.
     The church (Los Lunas Christian Church) went through some rough times, and after a series of different Pastors, I was asked by the Elders in the year 2006 if I would pray about filling the vacancy of Senior Pastor. Chris and I prayed and said yes to the Lord. I retired from both my position as a high school instructor and as a general contractor and never looked back. I’ve been pastoring this body of believers with the help of a wonderful God-fearing board of elders for 14 years and it has been a truly rewarding experience. I know that the days ahead are going to be challenging, as I am a firm believer that we are living in the last days as prophesied in the Scriptures, but I am confident that we will see almighty God’s hand in all we do and will continue to experience His abundant love and guidance in all we do.

Thanks for reading, I hope you were able to get to know me a little bit; I in return would love the opportunity to get to know you! Be blessed and Maranatha!

I have attended Grace NM since I was 19, when my now wife of 10 plus years and I started attending the youth group. We have two beautiful boys, Jedidiah and Luke, who you will most assuredly see running around with an energy most of us could only dream of. I have been involved in various ministries throughout the years while attending Grace NM, and after a brief stay in Oregon, my family and I felt that the LORD was calling us back to New Mexico to join the pastoral staff. This fulfilled a calling I believe God placed over my life when I was saved as a teen. I am so grateful for the LORD's timing and direction, and I am humbled to be given the opportunity to spread the Gospel!