HOW I MET JESUS- THIS IS MY STORY.

There are 3 parts to my testimony below:

1. MY BREAKING POINT:

In 2002, I graduated from the University of Alabama and soon after was working for one of the best advertising agencies in New York City. I thought this was just the start of what it meant to “make it big” in life. However, Proverbs 16:9 says, “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”

Living on Long Island, I commuted 2 hours each way on the train to Manhattan so I left home before 6am each morning and didn’t get home most nights until after 9pm. As a result, I was basically non-existent to my wife Sarah and our new daughter Katelyn. During the morning commute on the train, I often eavesdropped on conversations around me to bide the time. Like me, the same business professional took the very same train to work and even sat in the very same seats! 

These were 20–30-year veterans of this arduous commute. It’s very common for New Yorkers to live on Long Island and make the long, daily commute to the city for their entire careers. I began feeling like Bill Murray in the movie Groundhog Day. 

The conversations I heard around me all sung the same tune: Unhappy marriages, miserable lives, shattered relationships, scandals, comparing possessions, boasting about the past evening’s alcohol consumption, etc. 

Hearing these stories everyday had a profound effect on my young mind. It made me think about my purpose in life. As I continued the exhausting commute daily, I began to think that maybe I wasn’t as prepared for the bright lights and big city as I thought. This was a great disappointment to me. I was caught way off guard by how tough, cut-throat, and competitive the advertising industry was and it affected my job performance. 

I started to sink fast. These voices kept filling my mind: You’re such a failure! You’re a disappointment! You are going to lose your job! You won’t be able to provide for your family!  With my job suddenly in question, I became depressed and suicidal. Sarah painfully looked on as I got worse. 

2. “LOST AND FOUND”:

In Jeremiah 1:5, the LORD says, “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you…”

My family growing up wasn’t spiritually sound so when thoughts of God started to enter my mind for the first time I became alarmed. I began talking with Sarah about the thoughts and she would pray for me and share bits and pieces of God’s Word. Sarah was already a Christ-follower. 

However, I wanted nothing to do with God, the Bible, religion, etc., I was an agnostic, mostly due to ignorance. Growing up, I never heard the gospel or read the Bible. As my situation got more desperate, Sarah courageously continued to share more about Jesus with me, but I wanted nothing to do with any of it. Surrendering my life to Jesus seemed ridiculous. Still, Sarah stuck by me faithfully. If it wasn’t for her who knows where I’d be today.

Soon after this point, I was unable to get out of bed. Depressed and suicidal, I hit rock bottom. Even though I didn’t know it, God’s hand was on me because what happened next changed my life and eternity forever. Years later, it is still crystal clear in my mind.

I fell to my knees in front of Sarah and cried out that I couldn’t live without God anymore. I confessed that I needed Him in my life. Right there, I surrendered my life to Jesus. I immediately asked Sarah for a Bible. This would be the start of a new life. I was born again.

When I became a Christ follower, the Lord started pruning me right away. It was very painful. I had so much hurt, insecurity, and pain deep inside. When I was 2 years old, my father had an affair and ran off to Texas, leaving behind a wife and 4 kids. I wouldn't find out until later that adultery and divorce went back generations in my family of origin. As a result, it was very tough growing up in my broken home. My childhood was filled with emotional neglect and abuse.

I recall being extremely depressed from a very young age while struggling with debilitating anxiety. Looking back, I honestly can’t believe I hadn’t hit rock bottom before my early 20s. After I became a Christ-follower I started to look deeply into the pain inside for the first time. In doing so, I could see how the Lord used it all to uniquely shape and mold me. 

With His help, the Lord gave me an intense desire to be a godly husband, father, and a determination to end the sin cycle that filled my family history. 

CALL TO MINISTRY:

Romans 10:13-15 says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?”

My calling as a shepherd started at the first church I ever attended, Calvary Baptist Church in Port Jefferson Station, NY. I served in various ministries and was baptized on June 19, 2004. 

One evening while I was serving at Awana Clubs, my pastor asked me to teach the Bible lesson to the pre-teens. I’ll never forget that night. It was like a light went off. My calling became clear. I came right home and told Sarah.

5 years later after much patience and many things miraculously falling into place, I moved my family to Lynchburg, VA to attend seminary at Liberty University. I graduated in 2014 with a Master’s in Theological Studies, was ordained that summer, and we relocated to PA so I could serve as the full time Assistant Pastor and Youth Pastor at Grace Baptist Church in York, PA.

We served in PA until very early in 2020 before the pandemic hit. God called us to relocate back to my hometown in NY as I accepted a position to serve as an Assistant Pastor back on Long Island. Unfortunately, COVID changed everything about 10 months into that assignment, so we moved back to PA during the pandemic. 

Shortly after we returned to PA, I became the full time Executive Director of a 501c3 Christian non-profit in Lancaster called CVCCS. In 2023, I re-entered pastoral ministry and became the Lead Pastor of Grace Community Fellowship. I currently serve in both capacities. 

My passion for shepherding Jesus’ Church is rooted in exegetical preaching, leading by example out of my marriage, counseling and discipleship that leads to genuine life change, effective community outreach, and slowing down my pace in life to make sure the Holy Spirit is always leading.