Hello, today is my 64th birthday, and I thought this would be a great opportunity for you to learn a little about me.
I was born at 9:00 p.m. on May 15, 1957 at the 6407th United States Air Force Hospital, in Tachikawa Air Force Base, Japan.
I am a six-foot-two-towering, 203-pound weighing, brown eyes-seeing, black/gray hair-crowning, (we’ll see how long I sport this) goatee-growing man.
I am a parents-caring, three-sibling-relating, family-loving, avuncular-mentoring, celibate-adhering, never-been-married-existing, son, brother, nephew, cousin, brother-in-law, uncle and great uncle.
I am a LORD-obeying, Jesus Christ-following, Holy Spirit-leading, glossolalia-speaking, hand-clapping, praise-singing, arms-raising, melodic-whistling, LORD-worshipping Christian who accepted the gift of salvation, confession, repentance, transformation, sanctification and glorification from my Heavenly Father in 1968.
I am a Bible-reading, Bible-hearing, Bible-believing, Bible-adhering, Bible-studying, Bible-teaching, Bible-writing Bible-scholar.
I am a citizenship-appreciating, passport-holding, U.S. Constitution-revering, Bill of Rights-benefitting, Second Amendment-valuing, flag-saluting, Old Glory-waving, traditional marriage-venerating, nuclear family-esteeming, strong-defense-promoting, military-respecting, pro-life-preaching, fiscal-conservative American Patriot.
I am a Louisiana State University, Shreveport-attending, Sacramento City College-graduating, California State University, Sacramento diploma-earning, Capital Bible Institute-learning, Fuller Theological Seminary-studying lay minister and communications professional.
I was a Rancho Cordova Grapevine Independent-reporting, a California Newspaper Publishers Association-publications editing, a Governor’s Office of Emergency Services-reserve information officer staffing, a University of the Pacific (Stockton)-alumni publication-editing, a Department of Toxic Substances Control-environmental cleanup community organizing, a Department of Motor Vehicles-employee newspaper producing, a California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office-spokesperson representing and I am now a California Department of Public Health-information officer working.
Since 1994 I have produced the life of Jesus Christ, Moses and the exodus, Joshua and the Jericho conquest, Samson, Gideon, the entire book of I. Samuel and Jonah in newspaper format (titled The Testament Spectator); plus wrote five paperback books (available in five ebooks), and narrated/recorded four audio books.
My favorite book is The Holy Bible. My favorite King James Version study Bible is the Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible. My favorite Psalms is Psalm 91. Four favorite New Testament passages are I Corinthians 13, Ephesians 6:10-24, Hebrews 11 and Romans 11:34-36, which reads: “For who hath known the mind of the LORD? Or who hath been His counselor? Or who hath first given to Him, and it shall be recompensed unto Him again? For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever, Amen.”
My favorite children’s book is Dr. Seuss’ “Green Eggs and Ham.” My favorite orchestra and choral composition is George Frideric Handel’s “Messiah,” favorite musicals are “Fiddler on the Roof” and “Sound of Music.” My favorite classical composer is Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and my favorite color is burgundy.
My favorite sites in Israel are the Negev Desert, the Judean Desert, Masada and Qumrān, plus the dark, one-third mile, S-shape, ankle cold water deep Hezekiah’s Tunnel. My favorite terra firma natural wonder is the Grand Canyon. My second terra firma natural wonder is Australia’s Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock.
My favorite United States World War II military figure is Gen. Douglas MacArthur. My favorite World War II American enemies are Germany’s Field Marshall Erwin Rommel, and Japan’s Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto.
My favorite western is “The Big Country,” favorite science fiction is the 1953 “War of the Worlds,” favorite prison movie is “Cool Hand Luke” and favorite Cold War movie is the 1964 “Seven Days in May.” My favorite Bette Davis movie is “All About Eve.” My favorite Humphrey Bogart movie is “Caine Mutiny,” and second favorite Bogart movie is “Key Largo.” My favorite Richard Burton/Elizabeth Taylor movie is “Cleopatra,” and second favorite Burton/Taylor movie is “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” My favorite epic trilogy (especially to watch in subtitles) is “The Lord of the Rings.”
My favorite actor was the late John Charles Carter (1923-2008), or Charlton Heston. Some of my favorite Heston cinematic storied characters are the two-fisted ranch foreman Steve Leach in “The Big Country;” the silver-haired stately Gen. Andrew Jackson in “The Buccaneer;” the commanding Moses in “The Ten Commandments;” the noble Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, a Castilian medieval Spanish knight, in “El Cid;” the Chinese Boxer Rebellion siege survivor Maj. Matt Lewis in “55 Days at Peking;” the vengeful Judah Ben-Hur in “Ben-Hur;” the combatant Chrysagon de la Cruex in “The War Lord;” the devout Christian English General Charles George Gordon in “Khartoum;” the cynical Col. Taylor in the “Planet of the Apes;” the solitary Robert Neville in “The Omega Man;” the brave airline pilot Capt. Henry ‘Hank’ O’Hara in “Skyjacked;” the crime solving Detective Thorn in “Soylent Green;” the adulterer/yet heroic Stuart Graff in “Earthquake;” and the self-sacrificing Will Penny in “Will Penny.”
My favorite fish is salmon. My favorite sweets are chocolate chip cookies and lemon meringue pie.
I am a blueberry pie-consuming, blueberry muffin-nibbling, blueberry pancakes-partaking, blueberry syrup-licking, blueberry yogurt-spooning, blueberry shake-slurping, blueberry smoothie-drinking, blueberry scone-chomping foodie.
I am a 2021 Can-Am Spyder RT LTD Sea-To-Sky-three-wheeled motorcyclist.
I am an accommodating, artistic, clutter, confident, conservative, comical, creative, disorganized, emotional, empathetic, gentle, goofy, intellectual, intuitive, loyal, mild-mannered, modest, passionate, perceptive, proud, self-sacrificing, sometimes lazy, sometime insecure, spiritual, tentative, verbose and tenacious person.
Well now you learned just a more about the man who the LORD called to teach the Bible through writing.
Thank you for reading!
Oh —one thing about this blue polo shirt photograph. Note to my left on the bookshelf. There’s a black and white framed picture of a young man sitting in the front seat of a 1950s car. That’s my Dad before he was my dad. Photo credit goes to Ronald F. Owens Sr. for taking this photograph…
…My next blog will be about a soldier in Joshua’s army. Putting myself in the sandals of this fictitious soldier he will reflect what happened and what he was thinking while walking around Jericho for seven days.