As a farm boy from Indiana living an hour from downtown Chicago, I was afforded many opportunities. My father, as a principal, taught me practical school philosophy with an emphasis on Christian ethics from my earliest memories.

At seventeen, I walked the aisle at church and was saved. Soon, I started serving God and was called to ministry. God led me to Hyles-Anderson College where I received a B.S. degree in 1979. I started teaching in my home church after college, serving there for fourteen years. In 1993, I came to Capitol City Baptist to teach. Over the course of the next fifteen years, I was slowly moved into the role of principal.