I finished my fourth year of my theological degree then acquired a part time job as a chaplain at a juvenile prison. Here I got to see teenage prisoners who were suffering from many things and most of all suffering from spiritual bankruptcy. Then I went onto be a parish pastor for sixteen years. During this time, I served as a chaplain at an inpatient alcoholic and drug treatment center. Again, I worked with more patients who were also suffering from spiritual bankruptcy. Many of these people were striving to make sense of their lives but did not have the two gears that were needed in their live, the two gears that I discovered in my residency, Christian Spirituality and psychological theories.
Then in 1991 God opened the door for me to reach my dream of serving Him as His assistant in carrying out the work of being a Christian Counselor. During this time, I have had the opportunity of traveling to Japan and being a Lecturer and Consultant for the Diakonia Center in Sakura City, Japan. I saw the same thing happening in God’s people in Japan as was happening in the United States. God’s people there and here, needed the peace that comes from God through Christian Spirituality and psychological theories.
I Love my work as a Christian Counselor, for me it is the best job in the world. Seeing God’s light illuminate the face of my clients and lead them in a new direction is a“priceless” experience for me.
After more than 16 years as a parish pastor and a Christian Therapist, I have tools that may help you and your family find the peace and light you are searching for today.
My Story
I was raised on a farm in South Dakota with my family raising grains, pigs, sheep, beef and dairy cattle. I started driving farm equipment when I was in grade school.Being the son of a farmer meant a four-letter word "WORK." My cousins use to come and visit us on the farm. They thought that being on the farm was a three-letter word "FUN." At one time we had about 1,400 acres and normally about 600 sheep. One year we had 2,400 sheep. We raised the wheat that went into Wheaties, the corn that went into Corn Flakes and corn syrup. I learned a lot about nature and raising food to feed to the world. It was a great experience to feel close to God and feel close to His hand of nature.
Still, there was something missing within me on the farm. I got tired of hearing the "Hum" of the tractor for hundreds and hundreds of hours. It was okay but it was not what made me happy in my need to serve God and Christ.
I did not feel called to be a farmer, like my Dad. I felt called by God to go into Christian ministry. I decided that a degree in Psychology would be a good Bachelor’s Degree before graduate school at a theological seminary. I studied under many different psychologists but never had one psychology professor that made me feel like, “I want to be like him or her.” There was something missing for me as I listened to countless hours of lectures on psychology. I came to the conclusion that if I did not want to be a clergyman, I surely did not want to be a psychologist who did personal and family counseling. When, it was time to move on to my four year graduate degree in theology, something happened to me. During my third year, which is a year of residency, I had the opportunity of doing my residency as one of four chaplains at a large level one hospital trauma center. This experience was an awesome awaking of what is happening in the world. I experienced many of the traumatic experiences of life at the hospital where I worked. The work was long hours, working with the real problems that happen every day in our major city hospitals.
The greatest opportunity that I had in my residency was to be Blessed with the opportunity of working under the guidance of the head chaplain. He showed me the importance of and howto put the two most important gears together in helping people. That connection was the gear of Christian Spirituality with the gear of psychological theories.The two gears came together and a bright light bulb came on for me that would change the direction of my personal and professional career. This awareness did not come over night. It was such a great awakening that continued to become clearer throughout my residency and it has continued to grow throughout my life.
It was easy for me to admit that the reason that I never wanted to be a counselor during my psychology studies was because I was missing the most important part in counseling,Spirituality, and for me that meant Christian Spirituality. While I was in my residency I became aware that my ideal dream of serving God would be to be a Christian counselor.
Then, I was on to finishing my fourth year of my theological degree and I acquired a part time job as a chaplain at a juvenile prison. Here I got to see teenage prisoners who were suffering from many things and most of all suffering from spiritual bankruptcy. Then I went on to be a parish pastor for sixteen years. During this time I served as a chaplain at an inpatient alcoholic and drug treatment center. Again, I worked with more patients who were also suffering from spiritual bankruptcy. Many of these people were striving to make sense of their lives but did not have the two gears that were needed in their live, the two gears that I discovered in my residency, Christian Spirituality and psychological theories.
Then in 1991 God opened the door for me to reach my dream of serving Him as His assistant in carrying out the work of being a Christian Counselor. During this time, I have had the opportunity of traveling to Japan and being a Lecturer and Consultant for the Diakonia Center in Sakura City, Japan. I saw the same thing happening in God’s people in Japan as was happening in the United States. God’s people there and here, needed the peace that comes from God through Christian Spirituality and psychological theories.
I Love my work as a Christian Counselor, for me it is the best job in the world. Seeing God’s light illuminate the face of my clients and lead them in a new direction is a“priceless” experience for me.
After more than 20 years as a parish pastor and a Christian Therapist, I have tools that may help you and your family find the peace and light you are searching for today.
