The Years of Preparation

Naomi and I were married August 1, 1964, at Salem Park Wesleyan Methodist Church, in Indianapolis, Indiana. I was planning on attending Union Bible Seminary, a small Bible school run by people that had roots with the Quakers or Friends as they are called today, in Westfield, Indiana. Our first home was an apartment in Westfield. I went to Union Bible Seminary for 1 ½ years of their three year program. In the summer of 1966 we moved to Frankfort, Indiana, where I planned to attend Frankfort Pilgrim College. From 1966-70 I attended college in Frankfort, while I was there the school name changed to Frankfort Wesleyan Bible College. I graduated in June 1970 with an AB degree in Religion. Although both Union Bible Seminary and Frankfort Wesleyan Bible College were small schools I learned much about the Bible, theology, and the work of a minister, as well as receiving training in basic college courses. Also at Frankfort I make friendships that have lasted a lifetime. While I was in college we worked to support ourselves and pay for college. I worked in a grocery store and Naomi worked first in a factory then later in the college library.

Attending college at Frankfort Wesleyan Bible College was a leap from where I had come from. No one in my family put much value in education. My father had no more than a second grade education and could not read and write. My mother had a high school education but her narrow “spiritual” views had kept me in a very closed and legalistic environment. My parents were concerned about me attending Frankfort College. In their mind they thought I might become too “liberal” from my College education and training. Looking back on those days I have seen the providential hand of God at work getting me to Frankfort and Bible College. Although Frankfort Bible College lacked in many ways, it was what I needed for that time in my life.

My Teen Years

Before I was a teenager we moved, once again, back to the country, twelve miles northwest of Indianapolis. Although many households now had TV we did not. My teen years were spent playing outdoors, working mowing lawns and later in a grocery store, and going to church.

During those years I developed a love for sports, ball of any kind, and I could hold my own with my peers and then some. However my parents would not let me play organized sports. To this day I still love ball of any kind. Also in my teen years I developed a love for fishing and hunting and to this day still enjoy both very much.

My heart was always tender and open to God. My teen years were filled with the normal ups and downs of a Christian teen struggling to resist temptation and follow Christ. I had my share of ups and downs, although at times I would stray from God's way, I would soon return to the foot of the cross. In my mid teen years God spoke to me and I heard Him say, not literally, but I knew it was God, that He wanted me to be a preacher of the gospel. A short struggle followed, but I soon said “yes” to the call of God.

My parents were wonderful and I value my heritage. I don’t know where I would be today if it was not for Christian parents. However, my parents did get into legalism. In my early teen years our family left the church I had always known, and began a church hopping journey from one legalistic group to another. My mother in particular could not find a church that was "strict" or”spiritual” enough. I did not realize it then but during those years the legalism was having an influence on me that would shape my future and bring some tremendous struggles in later years.

I always liked girls and began dating early. Two months after graduating from high school I married “my love”, I have often said, “we were kids when we were married, we have raised each other.”