Minister of Music
My dad loved to say, "That's just the way the ball bounces." Guess he knew early on that one of my loves would be basketball. You might wonder what my journey to become the minister of music at Oakmont has to do with a bouncing ball or basketball,but in my mind-there's definitely a connection.
I learned to first play ball, as well as the piano and cello, while growing up in Knoxville, Tennessee. When my coach (my piano teacher) suggested I major in piano at college, I began a regiment of study, practice, and life-time learning at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville that continues to serve me well.
A bounce of the ball, a LONG bounce, took mefrom Knoxville to Los Angeles after graduation to attend the University of Southern California. It was there that I initially opened myself up to God's will in my life by working in a small church in the areas of youth and music. An invitation to make a trip to San Francisco by my pastor, who had just graduated from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, became a major pivotal point in my life. For it was on that trip that God clearly spoke to my heart and life, leading me to attend seminary at Golden Gate. I had always heard that God worked in miraculous ways and now, looking back, I see God led me to California to attend seminary, to become His instrument of change and to re-define who I would be making music for.
God, in His perfect plan, has allowed me to be "in the game" at only three different churches. Three years at Robertsville Baptist Church in Oak Ridge, Tennessee was followed by eight years at First Baptist in Kingsport, Tennessee. If the first two churches constituted the first half of my ministry, Oakmont has been the second half.
It was in 1993, that my wife, Donna, and our two children, Ryan and Stacey, joined me as I began what has been an enjoyable and richly-blessed ministry at Oakmont. It has been a period of growing spiritually, developing a network of loving and caring friends, and joining God in what He is continuing to do at Oakmont.