I grew up outside of Washington, D.C., and enjoyed many privileges that a good family and many friends can bring. But undoubtedly, the greatest gift I received was an early understanding of the importance of being connected with Jesus. Since I was ten-years-old I have had this bed-rock conviction that life centers around the forgiveness and love of a compassionate God. This understanding helped stabilize my teenage years during the turbulence of 1960’s and 70’s.
I attended college at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, but the core of my life revolved around sharing my faith with hundreds of teens in varieties of settings, large groups, small groups at retreats and in back yards–teens in search of answers but finding few solutions. It was during this period that I became convinced I needed further training for I was destined to go into full-time service for Christ.
My next stop was Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. Here I gained an education, met and married a pastor’s daughter, and was licensed to preach. My first church in Trade River, Wisconsin had suffered a severe split, and I spent five years as a healer and restorer of ministry. My next church in Valparaiso, Indiana had suffered an even more severe split and, once again, I took on the role of spiritual physician.
While the ministries healed and grew, unbeknown to me my sixteen-year marriage was coming undone. By May of 1991, it split apart. When I finally realized what was going on, I remember falling into a fetal position and crying out “God no! God no! God no!” The pillars of my life–marriage, family, home, job, finances, and future were violently rocked and in many ways toppled. But one support remained secure—my faith in the love and compassion of Jesus. To that beam I clung with all the strength I could muster…and here I found hope.
I kept thinking and then preaching about a God of second chances…first to myself, and to my children, and then to a new set of teens at a residential treatment center in Wheatfield, Indiana. I became the Spiritual Life Director to some 70 highly dysfunctional young people and learned to love them and the new work God gave me to do. To large groups, small groups, in counseling sessions and on retreats, the message remained the same, “I care for you and respect you, but incomprehensibly, God loves you and has a purpose and plan for your life.” For ten years I preached, and taught, and counseled and wrote that sermon at Christian Haven. I thought this was going to be my lot forever.
But on October 13, 2000, life changed rather dramatically for me when I met and married another Virginia native, Ann Finley. Soon after our wedding, I sensed God calling me back to the pastoral ministry and then back to Virginia. More specifically, the call was to start a church for those who had been upended in life and for young people who had been lost in the shuffle — a refuge of hope for those in severe need. In June of 2002, HarborPointe Community Church was conceived. Miracle led to miracle and then in January of 2004, HarborPointe was given birth. I pray that here those who are weary and worn down will find a safe place to listen to his voice of comfort, encouragement, and joy and in the process we will discover together God’s will for our lives.