I was born and raised in Southern California where I spent much of my life at the beach, in the mountains, or near a skatepark. Growing up my family didn’t go to church, nor can I remember ever hearing the gospel before my early 20’s... My view was, if God is real, he’s constantly disappointed in me and I knew I didn’t want to go to “hell”. So, I decided to pick myself up by my bootstraps and be a better person; this endeavor was met with constant failure. The harder I tried the more I realized what a vain pursuit this was. Through the love of my friends at a local surf/skate shop, and the grace of the Holy Spirit, I got to hear over and over that “God doesn’t help those who help themselves”. Rather, I heard that, “God helps those who KNOW they can’t help themselves!” As I wrestled with this thought, The Lord showed me that He loved me and that I didn’t love Him. I finally recognized my need to admit to Jesus that I had sinned against Him with my heart and my hands and that I needed Him as a Savior. I realized that the Lord had changed my whiskey soaked, cigarette stained, pride-filled heart when a neighbor was expressing how terrible their life was going. It was in that conversation I realized that I had become a Christian because the first thing I offered her was Jesus instead of trying to help “fix” her. From that moment on I’ve sought to grow in my relationship with Jesus and repent in those times I get derailed. 

 

The second major joy of my life comes as a young Christian when He put on mine and Noelle’s hearts to get married back in 2011. We were both working in restaurants, we were born brand-new Christians, so like any poor couple in love, we went to courthouse and got married. To this day we would both say it’s the best $76 we’ve ever spent! A little over a year later we had a precocious and kind little boy named Benji. Then 22-months after that our witty and joy-filled daughter Abbey Love was born! And then, 103-months later (9 years), we were blessed with a happy, yet very serious boy, Sammy, or Ham-Sammich to his friends. We did have a sweet baby that went from the womb at 12 weeks to be with Jesus on June 8th of 2022; we can’t wait to meet her/him! Our family lives in Fairview wayyy down Old Fort Rd. 

 

In addition to my salvation and my family another joy of my life came in January of 2023 when the congregation of Fairview Christian Fellowship voted to call me as their next solo pastor. I love these people as my own family and consider it a humbling and immense privilege to point them to Jesus and remind them of the Gospel week in and week out. Many rollercoasters, ups and downs, and sideways and byways of life have led us up to this point. From earning my Master of Divinity from Erskine Theological Seminary, to having my former Baptist pastors encourage me into a presbyterian denomination, serving churches in Southern California and South Carolina... it’s all led to this very place... And for that, Noelle and I are grateful to the Lord everyday!

 

If I’m not hanging out with my church/biological family you can catch me going fast down the side of a mountain on my bike, reading a book (very slowly), or scouring the shelves of a used bookstore. 

 

These are things “about me”, but if you would like to get to know me, you have questions about the church, or you just want to talk life, please feel free to give me a call or send an email/text message.