When I was 12, I accepted Jesus one night after a series of circumstances convinced me He had left me behind in the Rapture! When I was 17, at a Word of Life summer campfire service, God called me to a life of full-time Christian ministry (is there any other kind?); and in my freshman year at what was then Liberty Baptist College, God called me to use my creative gifts -- theatre, music, and writing -- to serve His Kingdom purposes. When I asked Him what that would look like, He simply said, "I'll show you," and He's been showing me for the last 45 years!

I have been a junior high language arts teacher for two different Christian schools; a professional actor, director, costumer, front office, box office, and house manager for the A. D. Players in Houston, TX; a senior high English teacher for three different Christian schools as well as a music/drama team director and speech team coach; a worship, music, and/or drama director as well as a Christian education director, youth pastor, and associate pastor in numerous churches of varying denominations; a professional actor in community and regional theatre; a professional actor for Sight and Sound Theatres in both Lancaster, PA, and Branson, MO; a professional actor at the Miracle Theatre in Pigeon Forge, TN; and a full-time university theatre professor as well as an adjunct, both on campus and online, at Southeastern University, North Greenville University, and Regent University.

In the midst of all that, God led my wife Sandy and I to create Paraclete Productions in 1996 to offer music, drama, and writing services to individuals, churches, communities, schools, organizations, and businesses. After 21 moves and now in our fortieth year of marriage, we find ourselves moved to middle of the Great Woods in the northern end of the Mitt of Michigan. Sandy has retired and is currently suffering from pseudo-dementia caused by difficult-to-treat depression and anxiety. As I care for her and my aging dad, I find myself far from my life-long goal of being a university theatre professor during the school year and writing in the summers.

I have, however, found a wonderfully supportive writing community here and am much encouraged by both them and the Holy Spirit to continue to invest in the lives of young believing artists through the written word and to share my poetry, stories, and thoughts with the world at large.