At the age of 5, my relationship with my dad was very estranged and I don’t remember having any interaction with him at all. I knew then that something was different about me as well, but really didn’t know what to call it. I do however, remember having an infatuation with the next-door neighbor boy and enjoyed being around him all the time. It was also then I had my first “on stage” performance, in the lead role of a play called City of the Bells. I still remember enjoying performing, but also remember that my Mom used a permanent felt pen on my face to draw a moustache for my character. To this day, I’m certain that I still have some red marks hidden under my real moustache, where my Mother tried to, painfully, remove the permanent ink by scrubbing it hard, with an abrasive washcloth. In Junior and Senior High School, I was involved in musical plays and choir, following my passion of performing and singing.
At the age of 13th, while going through puberty, I knew then I was homosexual. My relationship with my mother was relational, but my relationship with dad was simply empty. He treated all three of his kids very well and was a great provider, but his goals remained selfish and he was gone or preoccupied most of the time. My world was surrounded by female companions and I was very comfortable in the role. During this adolescent time, instead of finding girls attractive, I grew closer to them emotionally, not physically. Since I did not have the “average” relationship with my dad or boys, I started losing confidence in my boyhood behavior and instead of wanting to be a buddy to my guy friends, I started becoming attracted to their strength and physical bodies.
From the age of 13 to 21, I carried around my dark secret, believing there was no hope for my burdened life. At the age of 22, I moved away from home after my parents split up and started my new life. I quickly found myself in a dysfunctional, 10 year relationship with another male and fell into depression. I was introduced to alcohol during this time and used it as an escape from my burdened empty life. I also got involved with a church that stood on a foundation proclaiming that “All Roads Lead to Heaven” and Jesus was simply one of many ways to get there”. No sin, no accountability and all roads leading to the same place, sounds too good to be true. Count me in! However, even after hearing all of this, I still found myself questioning where this God was that could give me peace.
At the age of 33, my mother and oldest sister introduced me to Jesus of the bible. My sister had just asked Jesus into her life, became “born again” (what ever that meant), and got saved. Although, I thought at that time I knew who Jesus was, I certainly did not believe the bible’s theory that God was going to send me to hell when I believed He created me homosexual to begin with. This was not a God I wanted to serve. So, I continued living my watered down faith, drinking alcohol like a fish and lived a life according to my needs not God’s. During this time in my life, I met Connie Costello. She was very supportive of my lifestyle and was not walking right with God either. We both were crying out for peace.
Then In October of 2002 at the age of 37, my whole life changed. It was during a camping trip with my mother, her husband and sister that God set the stage for my life change. During one rainy day, while sitting under cover, I heard a Christian tape from Pastor Chuck Smith, founder of Calvary Chapel. In this tape, God used the Pastor’s sermon on the Book of Revelation to speak to me about sin, the fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and how Satan is currently the god of this world. It was at that moment I knew I was not created gay, but born a sinner like everyone else. I realized that God was speaking to my heart for years, asking me to turn from a lifestyle He did not create or approve of, and obey Him. I then fell to my knees, repented of all my sins, including my homosexual lifestyle, and gave my life to Jesus.
As time went on, and God was changing my heart, I found myself heavily involved with a local church in my town. As I became more involved with church and learning God’s word, He delivered me from the desire for same sex relationships. In March of 2003, God introduced me to a wonderful person I worked with, in the Children’s Ministry at our church, and in October of 2005, after 9 months of dating, I asked Pauline for her hand in marriage. She accepted and we were married December 18th 2005. Praise God!
I have come to realize in my relationship with God, that He wants to bless us, teach us, and give us the desires of our hearts. All he asks in return is obedience to His truth, trusting Him for all that we do, and loving His son Jesus more than our own lives. The moment I found my greatest sacrifice in obeying God, was the precise moment His greatest and most miraculous blessings to me flowed like a river, which has never run dry. I also realize that there is nothing God will not do for those who will dare to step out in faith, into the unknown trusting, in Him. As I took that first step, it’s then I found the rock of Jesus Christ beneath my feet and my assurance fell upon Him. I am a living testimony that God can change the heart and mind of anyone who obeys His word and accepts Jesus’ death on the cross as a sacrifice for their sins.
As for CHOSEN, I had always dreamed of having a band of my own. I realized however, it would require a lot of time, hard work and dedication. In the summer of 2006, I started seeing God’s divine providence orchestrating a chain of events that would result in the formation of this band for His purpose. Then in December, He gave me the name "CHOSEN". Since then, the Lord has blessed our band with 6 musically talented, God loving people who share the same desire in reaching people with the “Good
News” of how anyone can have a personal relationship with Jesus.
Today, my wife and I give all the Glory to Jesus for our lives and know that through Him, all sins are forgiven. His love and Mercy is sufficient. We are saved by Grace and trust in Him for all that we are, will do, and will accomplish for Him on earth, until He calls us home and we rest in His presence for all Eternity. I stand in awe of what He has done in my life and will serve Him always.
