Title: Poor In Spirit

Gender: Male

Age: 42

Location: Mahomet, IL

I'm the father of three great girls, ages 11, 13 and 15.  My wife and I have been married for 14 years.  I'm currently a student at Lincoln Christian Seminary were I'm working on a dual masters in divinity and in pastoral care.  I currently serve as a chaplain for a Christian nursing home in Decatur, Illinois.

I love to read, although I'd like to read someting not assigned for a change, and I love to preach.  I wasn't always in the church, though.  I struggled with substance abuse and mental health issues (bi-polar) for the first thirty years of my life.  I came to know Jesus Christ personally on July 31, 1997 and have been sober and in recovery for the past 10 years.

I'm also a licensed substance abuse counselor.  I want to give back to others what was freely given to me and share a gospel of healing the broken and restoration of relationships with God, others, and creation.

I'm as conservative as they come but I don't find myself affiliated with the religious right.  Those guys just don't get it.  I guess that is just the pastoral side of me.  Jesus loved people and so do I.  He didn't come to legislate morality, nor did he petition the Jewish leaders or Rome to make laws.  He hung out with regular people and taught.

As far as political affiliations, I would say that I'm an independent.  I live as a social conservative and an economic democrat.  I might even be accused of socialism at times.  I think that profit for profit's sake is one of the largest evils in American culture.  The reason that our armed forces are in Iraq instead of Darfur is because we don't have any economic gains in Darfur.  This countries track record on humanitarian issues is in the garbage.  We need to change that.

I'm a Christian activist.  Not activist in terms of forcing my perception of morality on others, but an activist in terms of social justice, including poverty, healthcare, the global AIDS crisis, clean water for Africa, and the hurting and poor right next door to me.

Member Since: Thursday, July 26 2007

Last Visit: 720 days ago.

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