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I accepted
Christ in Taiwan at a Sunday morning
service at the age of 5. The
Sunday was near Easter, and I remember
feeling overwhelmed with the
realization that Jesus had died for me
on the cross. I cried all day as I
embraced my decision. Shortly after
accepting Christ, I was baptized by my
dad (a missionary and pastor)in a
swimming pool.
As my early
years continued, I learned more and
more about the characters of the Bible
and living a Christian life from my
parents and our church. My
parents each night would have a family
Bible and prayer time that influenced
my spiritual growth greatly. In
fact, my wife and
I make it a daily priority to pray and
read a Bible story each day with our
children before bed.
At the age
of 9, after asking my mother numerous
questions about the Baptism of the Holy
Spirit and speaking in tongues, I asked
my mom to pray for me. I received
the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and
spoke in tongues. Throughout my
time at home, I continued to learn more
and more about the Christian walk.
In the 5th grade, I began playing
trumpet in our worship band at church,
and I began to understand more and more
of what it meant to praise and worship
God.
I never
went through a rebellious period in my
teenage years (I am grateful to God--by
His grace) and after graduating from
high school, I decided to attend Oral
Roberts University in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
In my junior year, I began to have
second thoughts about my major--as all
college students are prone to do-- and
I began to feel frustrated with the
idea of trumpet performance being my
fulltime career. I had always
grown up in a ministry setting and had
a desire to work in ministry, but
really wasn't sure what God was
directing me to do.
After
several months of reflection and
prayer, I decided to stay at ORU after
graduation and enroll in seminary and
seek God about what he wanted me to do
with my life. During my first
year in seminary, God clearly showed me
that He had called me to be a pastor.
At the
start of my last year of seminary, my
father was murdered at his church
office in Huntsville, Alabama.
God's grace kept my wife and I --and
our entire family-- through this
difficult ordeal. That year, I
finished seminary and returned to
Alabama to be with my family and serve
in ministry. Through the time that I
spent there, God continued to
grow and develop me as a person and as
a minister. As I approached the
end of my 8th year in ministry in
Alabama, I really felt that God was
stirring me to transition to a new
ministry and continue my growth and
development. Through a series of
events, I ended up moving to Stafford,
VA in October of 2002 to serve as
associate pastor of Horizons Community
Church.
God has
revealed His love and grace to me over
and over again in my life and I desire
to continue to serve Him wherever He
leads. I am a charismatic
believer and I believe in the
supernatural signs and wonders of the
Spirit. Devotionally, I pray both
in English and in tongues, read
Scripture, meditate Scripture, and sing
and play praise and worship to God on a
regular basis. God continues to
challenge me to yield more and more of
myself to Him. When I do, He always
changes me to be more like Him.
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