Like many, I walked down that center aisle when I was a young lad. I'm fortunate to have grown up in a christian household where my family found themselves in church most of the times the doors were open. We were involved in many of the extracurricular activities as well, so many of our friends were from church. In August of 1974, when I was 10, I gave my life to Christ...or thought I did. Until recent years, I thought that was when I'd become a "Christian," but I realize it was an emotional reaction and there really was very little change in my life. For many years, I did little more than pretend to walk with Christ. Obviously, it's easy to see now, but not then. Calling myself a christian probably kept me out of some things, but not all because there was no life change.
The summer before college, I got mixed up in experimenting with drugs--marijuana. I never really did it much, but I turned to it because the guys in my band were using it and I didn't have the will power to keep saying no. Once I actually got into college, it got worse. I gave up the drugs pretty much by the time Christmas rolled around. I'd pretty much given up on the "faith" thing. Further, colleges are not really a haven for Christians, and I was surrounded by folks who pretty much had no relationship at all with Christ. Sure, many of them claimed to be "Christians," but they didn't know the first thing about it, and I wasn't one who could tell them.
I transferred to USM in January of 1986. By this time, I'd pretty much stopped going to church except when I went home. I met Steven and Mitch (mentioned on the main page of my bio), and quite honestly, got caught up in seeking fame and fortune in comics. You can also read about that on my front page.
While an editor, out in California, I pretty much found myself fully immersed in the world. Though I'd given up the drugs, I submitted to the pressures of social drinking. Many folks that I worked with at the time might say to you that I was a "good and honest" person. But it was this very thing that caused me to begint to question my own salvation. Why hadn't I shared Christ with any of them? Not a single person did I share with. Again, it's easier to see now: hindsight 20/20 and all that.
Then He took it away. BJ and I had started feeling the desire to come home and get away from the life I'd dragged us into in California. Brittany was born out there in 1995 and we didn't want her raised there. So we began looking for a way to get home. We figured anyplace CLOSE to Mississippi would be better than where we were.
Then Marvel shut down the Malibu offices and close to 200 people lost their jobs...including me. Looking back now, it's easy to see that God was just helping us along. We did NOT see that then, I assure you. But God continued to smile on us and in about 6 months time, we were able to move back to Starkville, Mississippi.
We visited around churches in Starkville and found a church home. God was really working on us and we began to try to put Hod back at the center of our lives, but it was tough. I tried to fill my life with good people, people I knew had Christ in their own lives. But I still was missing the main ingredient--I wasn't putting God in my own life. Sure I was surrounding myself with people who had Christ, but I wasn't putting Him in my life. I was still sorta going through the motions.
Then BJ (wife) got a job at The University of North Alabama, and while she wasn't quite finished with her PhD, we decided it was well worth the move. We moved to Florence, Alabama in September of 1998! We visited around for churches again, determined to find a good strong one. We did. God led us to First Baptist Church of Muscle Shoals where we were immediately placed under strong Bible teaching. At first, I was very hesitant because it was such a big church. BJ and I are both accustomed to medium sized churches, but this was a big one--probably the biggest in the Muscle Shoals area.
I rededicated my life in February of 2000. The men of the church went to a men's conference in Jackson, TN where there were several good sessions. I was under the word for two straight days. God really convicted me and showed me what I needed to do: true repentance and salvation. Yep, that's right. I got saved. With salvation came true life changes. First thing I did was give up secular music. Completely. I was big into music (as a kid I wanted to be a musician) and had a sizeable collection of music on vinyl and a decent cd collection. I got rid of it all. I don't even listen (not by choice, that is) to secular music on the radio anymore. I still enjoy music, but I'm still learning about the Christian artists that have come around the last few years.
Then we shut off our cable tv. Yep. Just turned it off. It was difficult for a while, and I especially missed it from September to January (football season), but it caused BJ and I to grow much closer together and closer to God. Something about not having that idiot box on all the time just really worked. Oh, we still have a tv and we watch movies. But we stopped watching rated R movies (the Passion being an exception) as a rule. The kids were still able to watch Veggie Tales and Disney stuff, etc. But it was an incredible gift for us.
Then, in December of 2004, we moved up to Loretto, Tennessee, and were blessed to be led to another very strong Bible preaching church. It wasn't long before an evangelist visited the church for a revival. I knew I'd been saved back in '00, but I wasn't baptised after. I'd been baptised as a kid and didn't think much about it. But he said it was worth it to "get yer baptism on the right side of your salvation." So, I was baptised there. BJ quit her job in December, just as we moved, because we both felt like God was telling us for her to stay home and be Mom. Then, a few months later, my employment ceased. We never worried. God has a plan for us, we rest assured in that. What that plan is, well, we don't really know. We know that He's led us in our decisions and we know that He'll take care of us. That's enough for us. We're closer to God now than we've ever been.
We now find ourselves in Piggott, Arkansas, where my extended family has been since 1860--that's right, since Lincoln was elected. I took a job as a newspaper editor and moved up here. We've joined FBC of Piggott and are steadily getting involved in our new Church family.