Once upon a long time ago, I was a kid. I was born in New Lenox, Illinois, a small town somewhere between Joliet and Chicago.
My parents loved me and we lived a quiet, middle-class lifestyle. My dad was an editor for a trade magazine, my Mom was a homemaker and held several part-time jobs. We were a "christian" home, but not really a "Christ-centered" home.
Sure, we said our prayers at mealtimes and bedtimes,
but we never really talked about, you know, The Big Three: religion, sex or politics! (I would need help with all 3 before it was over!)
I guess you'd say I was raised as a "church kid" but I wasn't a "Jesus kid." I enjoyed going to church, a little.
Though our parents made us go, I did enjoy those cool Bible stories and fun VBS times.
Still, I really had no clue what it all meant for me.
No one told me that I needed to receive Jesus for myself. So, church was mostly boring.
I watched alot of TV, mostly cartoons. I listened to my radio and record
player, mostly rock & roll. And I played alot of sports, mostly baseball. From little league to daily pick-up games, I was always riding my bike around town trying to round up some players. But mostly, I kept alot to myself and spent alot of time alone, mostly drawing & daydreaming. Oh yeah, and I read tons of comic books, mostly super heroes.
Then, in the 7th grade a future love was born: I joined the school band and learned to play the drums! It was my Dad, a weekend drummer himself, who encouraged my music. It was mom who encourged my art.
Then came high school. At Lincoln-Way HS I dove totally into my sports, so I had no time or interest in church. I had a little athletic ability but alot of desire. I played 4 years of basketball & baseball. I was also discovering girls, but I was too much in training and a little too shy for much socializing. Yet, I was beginning to feel my old childhood independence turning into a real loneliness inside. I also lost interest in the school band and became a drummer for a succession of local rock bands, one appropriately named The Dark Ages!
I graduated with honors, got a scholarship to Illinois State University and began studying to be an art teacher & PE coach. I made the freshman college basketball team as a walk-on. But by this time, I was spending more hours listening to my music than hitting the books. We were getting some good paying gigs for The Krosswinds, a local college band. My grades were declining, my friends were becoming the more weird & hippie variety. My Mom had threatened: "If he comes home from college with a beard, I'll kill him." It wasn't long before I did-- but fortunately, she didn't.
After 2 years, to my parents' dismay, I dropped out of college to be a full-time rock&roll drummer. I loved the creativity of writing songs, the thrill of the stage, the applause of the crowd and just the fun of making music. (for my whole music saga, click Music Dept.)
By now I had completely left any remnant of my moral roots
for the pleasures & playthings of a lost generation. My spirituality dwelt mostly in my head but never traveled those vital 18 inches to my heart. My new studies became: drugs, sex & rock-n-roll.
What a recipe for self-deception and self-destruction! Like many of my freaky friends, we had too many wars inside to change a war torn world! We'd rejected all authority: church, government, parents... And what were we left with? --Our Feelings, as we chanted: "If it feels good, do it!"
I remember sitting under a tree on campus watching the students hustling on their way to...where? For the first time I wondered: Who am I? and Why am I alive? But I got deeper into my music, hallucinogenic drugs and the cosmic circus that was the hippie lifestyle. I knew I needed to change myself first. I knew I needed something. But since Christianity seemed irrelevant & boring, I thought I'd try eastern religions and began practicing yoga meditation and following new-age gurus.
It was the Summer of '69. We met some crazy new friends
who were “Jesus Freaks”-
street preachers
who were all into Jesus.
They convinced us to look into the Bible seriously.
They told us about a real Jesus, who was more than guru, wizard, holyman or hippie hero. More than: "I got a friend in Jesus!". But this Jesus was the only Son of God, the Lamb killed for sin and raised from death, the one way to Heaven! We had lots of intense debates, as we argued with them about Buddha, Mohammed and our new-age ideas. But when no one was around, I'd feel it again-- that gnawing soul hunger. a sense of loneliness and emptiness...
Then in 1970 it happened. One day, while meditating in my yoga-prayer-closet,
I felt some huge questions swelling up in my heart. I began to question my gurus, my lifestyle, myself.
I began to wrestle with a bigger question than “Who am I".
I found myself getting out of my yoga position, falling on my knees and crying out:
"Oh God: Who is Jesus?!”
And I heard these words clearly in my mind:
All Authority is given to Me in Heaven and earth.
I hold the keys to hell and death.
I hadn't read it, but I knew Jesus had said it. (Mat.28:18, Rev.1:18) And the lights went on! God showed me myself and my need for Jesus.
God showed me Himself, His Word,
and His unconditional love for me in Christ. So I admitted my sins and my emptiness,
and I gave my heart to this God who was calling me.
And He forgave me and began to change me
from the inside out!
He took me to the cross where I saw
what my sins had cost.
He showed me what His Son’s awful death
and awesome resurrection meant: that His death was my death, and His life was my life! Now my fears were turning into faith, my lusts & loneliness were turning into love, and a monster was turning into a minister! I felt like a child again!
The other guys in our band were also finding Christ.
That summer we were all converted, reborn... saved! Instead of our candle-light meditation sessions, we began praying and reading our Bibles together. We all got baptized to show our death and destiny in Jesus. We were so hungry for God that we'd go to a different church or store front service almost every night!
Those were incredible Jesus days! We didn't know it, but we had become part of the "Jesus Movement" that was rocking America and rescuing thousands of wayward children like ourselves. And suddenly, our band had became
one of America’s first Christian rock bands! We called ourselves "E" which stood for Emmanuel. We rocked for Jesus in churches, colleges, high schools,
rallies in the parks and festivals! And we saw hundreds of
our peers turn to this same Jesus who had
revolutionized our lives! Our one passion became to tell the world His story!
I praise the Lord for the last 35 amazing years
of adventures & fun, blessings & friendships, ministry & miracles as His servant, His musician, His husband & father...His kid! What an awesome ride it's been! God has given me sweet gifts & grace! As I've painted my signs, He's used me as a sign! As I've drawn my cartoons & art, He's made me His funny masterpiece! As I've sang for Him, He's made me His song!
He's helped me be a friend because He's the only True Friend! As a prison & children's minster, I've had the privilege of sharing His freedom & childlike faith with multitudes of prisoners, children, families and mostly, with guys like me. Any success I've had has been because of His mercy working in my life and in the lives of those who've loved me and I've walked beside.
But it's not been all glory. No, Jesus has taken me through many heartbreaks, dark times, mistakes & lessons: A failed marriage, several failed ministries, 3 slipped discs, financial reversals, the loss of a loved one...
But it's all been about Jesus and His tansforming grace at JCU! He's been teaching me that the deeper the wound, the deeper His Grace...that He is Lord and I can trust Him.
Through many dangers, toils & snares I have already come.
Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
and grace will lead me home...
I'm so blessed to have raised 5 incredible kids! One is Aaron, who has "graduated" to Heaven. He had Down Syndrome & Diabetes, but was hit by a car in 1990. God used Aaron's birth, life and death to teach me up close & personal most of what I know
about being a child before Him, about keeping the big ideas of God simple & real. I can't wait to see my buddy someday soon...
So here I am, much older now, and yet I love to tell people I'm 58 going on 12!
Why? Because it's true! and it's a joy to be His child... forever!
Dave lives in Wylie, TX with his wife Diane and 4 kids:
Jeremy, Bethany, Jonathan & Charity.
They own Eden Signs & Murals.
Diane also works at Wal-Mart.
They attend New Hope Christian Church in Wylie.
Dave creates cartoons & articles for the local newspaper
and on several websites. He is also a songwirter and
public speaker. He travels to other churches & prisons
for ministry or to paint murals.
Some good sites for Down Syndrome---
National Down Syndrome Congress
National Down Syndrome Society
International Mosaic Down Syndrome Assoc.
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Click here to download
Radio Interview
with Dave.
Dave talks of the
70s Jesus Movement,
E-Band,
and his musical life.
2006
The Archive
FM90.3 WJTL Lancaster, PA
Host: Terry Phillips |
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