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I have a wife and 2 kids. We live in Florida and are enjoying family and ministry. My wife and I have been married for almost 7 years. Our two daughters are almost 2 and 3 years old. I grew up throughout the eastern United States. I was born in Kentucky, lived in Cleveland for 5 years, then to Tampa for 2 and finally to South Carolina for 8. After high school, I returned to Kentucky to

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I have a wife and 2 kids. We live in Florida and are enjoying family and ministry. My wife and I have been married for almost 7 years. Our two daughters are almost 2 and 3 years old. I grew up throughout the eastern United States. I was born in Kentucky, lived in Cleveland for 5 years, then to Tampa for 2 and finally to South Carolina for 8. After high school, I returned to Kentucky to continue basketball and attend college. At this time, my parents moved to Charlotte. After marriage, my wife and I moved to North Carolina for graduate school at which time my parents moved to LA to help my younger sister pursue professional acting. Now, the rest of my family lives in Oregon where they enjoy the beautiful weather. But

I grew up in a good family. Though my parents divorced when I was 2, they worked hard to ensure that I experienced an enjoyable childhood, full of fun memories and loving years. A few years after my parents divorced, my mother remarried and we enjoyed the birth of my sister. Throughout my formative years, I lived with my mother, step-father, and sister and enjoyed breaks from school with my father. Regardless of where I was, life was good.

Throughout much of my life, I was taken to church. While at home, we attended Methodist and Presbyterian churches and when visiting my dad, we attended Catholic mass most Sundays. During these years, I slowly began to form opinions about myself, God, and life. I quickly came to the conclusion that if I could live a good life and try my best to be a good person, I would be guaranteed a fulfilling life on earth and everlasting life in heaven. So, I worked hard at being good. I read the Bible, said my prayers, loved my parents, achieved good grades, worked hard at athletics, and picked good friends. I did the best I could to be a good person. Unfortunately, my plan failed. No matter how hard I tried, I could not be a good person. To be honest, I broke each of the 10 commandments by the time I was 17 (hate being equivalent to murder). I just couldn’t do it. For someone who set out to be a “good person,” I sure did use a lot of profanity, hated a lot of people, expressed an explosive anger, and wanted everything my way. No matter what I did, I fell short of being genuinely good. Even after all my hard work, I ended up a mediocre student, mediocre athlete, and mediocre friend. Practically speaking, I was quite mediocre. Even worse, in the midst of it all, I was unfulfilled in life. I had many friends, most of whom were popular, but I was still lonely. Though I tried my best in school, I never did very well. Though I worked hard at sports, I never achieved greatness. How sad. My life’s work was such a disappointment. Sure, I helped a few people along the way and was well-liked by my peers, but isn’t there more to life? Then…



On June 21, 1995, everything changed. In a moment, my unfulfilled mediocre life changed forever. I remember that day well because it was the day that I gave away my heart. You see, during that week, I began to see things much more clearly. In fact, in many ways, I began to see my life from God’s perspective. How? Through a very powerful book. It was during this week that I began to see myself in the Bible and it was during this week that a great journey began.

You see, when the Bible was opened for me and I began to find myself among its pages, I found myself to be what the Bible calls a sinner. Basically, a sinner is someone who has not lived up to God’s standard. Obviously, God, being good and just, desires for His creation, me, to live in a certain way. I had chosen to live contrary to this way. Like I said before, though I new God’s basic standard, the 10 commandments, I had altogether ignored and blatantly broke them. This failure on my part defined me as a sinner. This was bad for me. After all, God is good. I was not. Therefore, my sin had separated me from God. I imagine this is why it never seemed like my prayers were answered and I often felt so alone and empty. I was far from God. In addition, the bad got worse. Since God is not just good, but also just, He could not allow my sin to go unpunished. Instead, he had to make it right. In this, I was amazed to learn that God had set a great price for sin in that “the wages of sin is death.” This meant that the punishment my sins deserved could not be met through purgatory or even earthly pain. Instead, my sin deserved eternal death in hell. Like I said, this was the worst news. But wait…there was more.

Not only did I find myself in the pages of the Bible, but there I also found God. He was dying on a cross. You may say, “what? God can’t die. He’s God.” Oh, yes He can. He did. When I found God in the Bible, I found Him sending to earth His Son, who was completely divine and completely man. He was called Jesus Christ of Nazareth. History records, as undeniable fact, that Jesus lived on the earth 33 years and was executed. He claimed to be God and performed many miraculous wonders, proving His character and nature. Because of His claim to Deity, He was captured and punished to death by crucifixion. Three days later, He rose from the dead in triumph over sin and death. As the Bible explains, He now offers forgiveness of sin and eternal life through faith in Him alone. On June 21, 1995, I placed my trust in Jesus Christ and I have not been the same since. This is what is most important about my life. I hope you too will consider what the Bible says about the salvation which is only possible through Jesus Christ. If you have questions, I would love to help answer them. Truly, there is nothing better than a personal relationship with God. You can have one by becoming a follower of Jesus Christ. Well, that's my story. Contact me whenever you life at rush@mynameisrush.com.

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