The driving force behind the Maryland Coalition of Men's Ministries is Jesus in the hearts of men. Nothing more, nothing less. Not that I have an exclusive connection with Him but I do have a new life, a new family and a new purpose - something I could not have imagined even 7 years ago. My hearts desire is to be used by God in helping other men find what their life has been missing.

I am 52 years old, married to a wonderful woman and proud step-father to 2 great kids in their early-mid 20's. I am a self-employed biochemist (Virusys Corporation), I love to read, hike, camp and travel. Since I accepted Christ as my Savior, my wifes faith has blossomed, my marriage has become everything I wished it could be, several members of our family have found their faith and I have found a purpose and passion that far exceeds anything this world could ever offer. It is truly a wonderful life! 

My life "pre-Jesus" was consumed with competition. The feeling that I always had someone in my way or someone to surpass before I would finally find satisfaction. Or maybe recognition. It just seemed that whatever I accomplished, there was always one more hurdle before me, another ladder to climb before I could ever really be happy - before I could say that I had achieved or found what I was pursuing. It never ended.

Easter 2001 was when that (and a few other things) started to change. I went to Streetlite Christian Fellowship with my wife. She was invited by a friend of hers at work. I was surprised at how the people there seemed happy and actually glad to be there. The service was contemporary - my first experience with that - people clapping, singing and praising like I had never seen. It was a little unsettling at first but I came back since every word the Pastor spoke seemed to be directed at me. My life was beginning to change.

A few months later, in June of that year, I went with my wife's friends husband to Promise Keepers. That was the event that sealed the deal so to speak. That was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had - 13,000 men praising the Lord together in song and prayer. Brings tears to my eyes even now as I remember that time. I have been back every year since and the Lord is still using PK to shape me.

I went on to get very involved in serving the church in Mens ministry, developing the website and working with them to get over some challenging hurdles in the area of budgeting and general administrative issues. It became obvious that the Lord had placed me there for "such a time as this". Five years later, job accomplished, the Lord began to lead me to ministry outside the confines of a single church. The pastors at Streetlite provided a letter of recommendation that you can read here: http://www.marylandmen.org/Recommend.pdf.

My dream is that Maryland Coalition of Men's Ministries would develop into an online community of encouragement and faith and in so doing, spread the passion of discipling men with the Word of God to every church in the state of Maryland. Not so we can all show off our faith and our knowledge but that we share our hopes, our struggles and our successes in living transparently and obediently. Through this we develop relationships and begin to develop better marriages and become better husbands, better fathers and better friends. This becomes our light for all to see and God's Kingdom is advanced - one man at a time.