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About me

Gender	Male
Industry	Education
Occupation	College music teacher
Location	Springfield, Missouri, United States
Introduction	Music has been my life. Probably even before I began piano lessons as a kindergartener, I was surrounded by music: dad and mother both sang and played instruments. Dad sang continually! He was a “walking church music library.” Music played in the house via the radio or records and piano practice by “the boys.” We sang all the time at church. From grade school, including having to learn solfege in the sixth grade when we moved to Massachusetts, through college and then into a career in Church music and now college teaching, music has been central in my life. My philosophy of Church Music is very simple: “Music is a vehicle to bring us to God.” The vehicle is not the “end-all,” but God is. To know God is to know life. At this point in my life, I am dedicated to educating the current and next generations of church musicians who will use music and the other creative arts to bring people to know God.
Interests	God, my family, piano, organ, music history, ethnomusicology, basketball, golf.
Favorite music	All kinds: church music (the whole spectrum), piano, symphonies, classical music on radio stations such as WCPE, theclassicalstation.com. There are other good internet stations, too.
Favorite books	The Bible, particularly the Psalms (Psalter). Too many to enumerate! Several older books that have impacted my life: “Life Through The Cross” by Marcus Loane. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1966. “Evidence That Demands a Verdict” by Josh McDowell. Campus Crusade for Christ, 1972. “Autobiography of God” by Lloyd John Ogilvie. Ventura: Regal Books, 1981. “Fearfully and Wonderfully Made” by Paul Brand and Philip Yancey. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1980. “In His Image” by Paul Brand and Philip Yancey. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984. “The Body of Christ, A Devotional Study of Christ’s Church” by J. Robert Ashcroft. Springfield, Missouri, 1990. “Worship: Rediscovering the Missing Jewel” by Ronald Allen and Gordon Borror. Portland: Multnomah Press, 1983. “The Heart of the Artist” by Rory Noland. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1999. Any of a number of books on worship by Robert Webber. “God Songs, How to Write and Select Songs for Worship” by Paul Baloche, Jimmy and Carol Owens. Lindale, TX: leadworship.com, 2004.