My story is one of redemption.

My father worked in the oil fields and we moved continually. As part of a family of four, I spent my first five years in a trailer that we pulled behind our car. Even when we were able to buy a house and added two brothers, we continued to move almost yearly.  I seemed to always be the “new kid” who never fit in to the new school.

I lost my childhood faith in God because of the hypocrisy I observed in the various churches we attended and because of the evil I observed and experienced around me. I did not believe a good and powerful God ruled over our world that to me was filled with evil. By my late teens, I was an angry atheist and substance abuser.

But by God’s grace, in college, I had an encounter with Christ, became a Christian and my life was transformed. I looked for Christians to help me understand what had happened and got acquainted with an amazing campus ministry that took me in, and discipled me.

After graduation, I received a Masters of Theology at Dallas Theological Seminary. I developed a great interest in original Biblical languages, and after graduation, was accepted into the PhD program at Cambridge University in England. I thrived in that environment, and found a specialty in Old Testament studies, especially the book of Isaiah.

Upon graduation, I taught Old Testament at Seattle Pacific University for 21 years. Then, through some unusual circumstances, I felt God calling me into prison ministry, which was something I had never considered before in my life.

After volunteering with Kairos, a fine international prison ministry, I launched Opening Blind Eyes in 2005 in response to inmates’ requests. My focus is on expository preaching, leading liturgy and music for 2-3 Sunday services a month, and weekly Bible study with the inmates. The Bible studies are rich and rigorous, as I teach them material on the same level as my classes at SPU. The inmates love grappling with the word of God, and then applying it to their lives. I also serve as a volunteer chaplain within the institution, and spend time most weeks doing hospital visitations. It is humbling and gratifying.

I’ve been married for over 40 years to Cathy, a retired teacher. We are proud parents of two sons and we have 3 grandchildren.

I praise God daily for the blessings he bestows on me. It is my joy to share his grace and mercy with prison inmates. I thank him that he uses me to help to decrease the evil in the world.