I’m thankful to have grown up in a Christian home and due to the influence of my parents, I asked Jesus into my life at age 9. Looking back, I now realize I had just bought a “fire insurance policy” making sure I went to heaven when I died. The reason I say this, is I was still running my life and my goal was to be a professional athlete. I was passionate about sports and living the Christian life was something I only considered on Sunday’s.
At 17 years old, I was well on my way to achieving my athletic goals, but I still wasn’t satisfied. I thought if I got serious about God that He would send me to Africa and my dreams would a distant memory. With great reluctance, I agreed to go to a Youth Conference with my church the summer before my senior year of high school. At the Conference, I heard a speaker share a message of completely surrendering to Christ. This man was speaking directly to me, because I knew I had not given God everything–especially my sports career. Later that evening, I willingly gave God my entire life, fully realizing the implications.
When I got home, I began reading the Bible on a daily basis and I began to see so many changes in my thoughts and actions. Much to my surprise, God didn’t take away my athletic abilities. Instead, He allowed me to use my gifts for His Glory and not my own.
I ended up playing college football at Central Washington University, lettering and starting all four years. My final season, I made the Academic All-American team as a receiver. While my dreams of playing in the NFL, didn’t come true, I found a much higher calling on my life as I combined my love for the Lord and my love for athletics by serving on the staff of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) for many years both in the state of Washington and at the National Headquarters of FCA in Kansas City.
For the past 30 years, I have shared at hundreds of chapel services for professional, collegiate, high school, middle school and youth sports teams. This includes stints as Team Chaplain for the Seattle SuperSonics basketball team and the Kansas City Royals baseball team.
Today, I serve as the Founder/President of Character that Counts, a ministry that helps men, women and teenagers with “character, integrity and accountabilty” issues. I have written over 20 books and speak nationwide to a variety of audiences. I give God all the Glory!!