About the Founder of The Baptist Muse

I was raised in Amboy, IL, a small rural community in the northern part of the state. I was raised by my father as a single child until I was thirteen years old. It was during that time, that I received Christ as a young child at vacation Bible school at the First Baptist Church in Amboy, IL.

I lived with my father only until I was thirteen because he was a very violent man. He was a very hard drinker and often succumbed to very violent fits of anger. He was abusive both mentally and physically. My childhood was anything but easy.

Due to these difficult circumstances in my home, it was at that time that my Aunt and Uncle adopted me into their family. When that transaction took place, I gained two brothers and one sister. I also later found out that my mother remarried and had two daughters who I have yet to meet.

From the time I was in the eighth grade until the time that I graduated high school, I had the privilege of attending small private schools. During my freshman and sophomore years of High School, I attended the Young Men’s Leadership Academy in Letts, IA. This was a military styled Christian school with much emphasis on leadership, responsibility, and learning various vocations. During my Junior and Senior years of high school, I attended the Amboy Baptist Academy. It was at this school where I was trained in what is considered to be a classical education. I was taught linguistics (Spanish both years, Latin both years, and French one year), logic, rhetoric, formal debate, physics, algebra, and grammar.

After high school, I attended Commonwealth Baptist College in Lexington, KY. It was there that I received my Bachelor’s degree in General Studies. My areas of focus included pastoral leadership and missions. I was able to graduate without taking on any student loans by working a full time job during my college years.

After college, I joined the United States Army. I entered the United States Army in February of 2007. When I raised my right hand and took the oath of enlistment to protect the Constitution from all enemies, I did so for three reasons.

First, I joined the Army to honor the service of my cousin who valiantly served for six years in the United States Army and received a purple heart and other medals for actions that took place at the Battle of Fallujah, Iraq.

Second, I joined to reclaim my family name. My father received a dishonorable discharge after serving for approximately twelve weeks in the United States Navy. The dishonor that he brought upon our family name will stop at my generation.

Third, and most importantly, I joined because I genuinely wanted to serve and defend my nation and my loved ones. Often I felt as if patriotism was a faddish movement in our nation. People would wear patriotic hats or shirts. People would stand up at the playing of the national anthem. Many of those people, however, did absolutely nothing to contribute to the success and greatness of our nation. I did not want to be counted in their ranks. I would rather make my patriotism known with my actions…so I joined the United States Army.

While in the military, I hope to continually challenge myself to grow and expand in all areas of my life. I hope to better myself in terms of self-discipline, leadership, self-confidence and many other areas. I hope to provide a solid home life for my wife and whatever children the Lord will give me.