I grew up in San Jose, not far from where I live now. Raised in a loving home with my parents and an older brother and sister, my earliest memories of church were of my Dad making us go to Catholic Church with him every Sunday morning. I remember being bored to death and not understanding anything; but I still sensed that God was real. This was our regular routine until one day my parents had a conflict with the church, and suddenly we stopped attending. My early adult years were spent pursuing fun, with no thought of spiritual things. My life revolved around surfing, partying, playing guitar in a rock band and chasing girls. But that suddenly changed when I was reacquainted with an old school friend named Jasmine (who I had a crush on since 7th grade). I flipped for her immediately and we began dating. Jasmine was a follower of Jesus, and invited me to a Bible study she attended. I agreed, more to spend time with her than anything else, but God began softening my heart. Then on Easter she asked me to go to a special church service which involved a play about the life and death of Jesus.
The play moved me deeply with how Jesus lived and loved, even while being mistreated and brutalized. At one point in the play Jesus was carrying a cross while being whipped, beaten, and insulted, and I started weeping uncontrollably. At that moment I prayed, (I think for the first time): “God, why? Why is this happening? If Jesus is really God and has the power to stop this, why doesn’t He?”
In that moment God spoke to me. He said, “For you Dave, for you. He’s paying for your rebellion and selfishness so that you can be forgiven, because I love you and want you to be with Me.” After that I was a complete mess, full of sorrow and joy at the same time: sorrow for what I has caused, yet incredible joy that He saved me. I gave my heart and life to the Lord that night and it has changed me forever.
Now, my life centers around relationship with Jesus, loving, worshiping and serving my Lord. He has blessed my life in amazing ways. Jasmine and I have been married for 25 wonderful years, and we have two awesome boys, Noah (19) and Samuel (16). I’ve had the privilege of being a worship leader and musician at 3 churches over the last 21 years. I've been the Worship leader at Mercy Hill for 12 years and have led the High school ministry since 2009. I have a passion to see Jesus worshiped and glorified for who He is and what He’s done. I also love to seriously “rock out" and am so grateful we do both at the same time here at Mercy Hill.
