Spirit Wheels Ministry

Thank you for visiting my sermons. I pray that they will encourage and lift you up. Below is an introduction that I usually give before preaching in guest appearances at churches to make people more at ease with my disability.

Good morning!

It is a joy, to be here, at your church.

First, I would like to begin by telling a little about myself so you will be able to look pass my wheelchair and see what the spirit, has to say. The Lord has given me an incredible life and I like sharing it to boast about, him.

In 1947, I was born with cerebral palsy, seriously affecting my arms, legs, and speech. The doctor was drunk when he was supposed to deliver me and pinched my head with a pair of forceps. Afterwards, a pediatrician who diagnosed me at two years with the birth injury that sent wrong signals to my body. He told my parents that I would never be a watchmaker, but I would certainly be a contributor to society. That is how I picked out the name of my book,

More Than a Watchmaker that you can purchase after this service.

The first years of my life were hard. The elementary school that I attended concentrated on giving me therapy instead of my education. Everyday was spent in doing painful exercises, and I hated them along with the school. A teacher even classified me as being mentally retarded. Her wrong evaluation was based on my being so exhausted from therapy before entering the classroom. By the time I attended high school, I was placed on the Second grade level. But the teachers saw in my eyes that I had a brain to think. Hallelujah!

So, they tried to get me to communicate anyway I could. The principal said that he didn’t care if I used my nose to use a typewriter. He was half way kidding, but this gave me an idea. Very dangerous! I thought that I could press keys on an electric typewriter by a headband with a pointer attached to it. It worked! That’s what you call using your head!

By typing, I could tell everyone what I was thinking. Extremely Dangerous! Since I could communicate for the first time, my teachers taught me what I missed earlier, and I jumped ten grades in three years, even earning a High School diploma.

After the big accomplishment of graduating from high school, I had a let-down of sitting at home in complete boredom with nothing to do except watching TV. Without knowing why, I enjoyed watching the Billy Graham Crusades, where I became aware of another kind of disability, far worse than my cerebral palsy. I assumed that I was a Christian because my grandfather, four uncles and a cousin were pastors of churches. I thought that I had it made! Couldn’t they simply say a good word for me in heaven? When watching Billy Graham one night however,

I love sharing in different churches like yours. I am one of the pastors for Green Oak Ranch Healing Community near San Diego, California. The ranch is a rehabilitation center for people with substance abuse. They are broken but hungry for the Lord and it is such a pleasure to minister to them every Sunday morning.

You are hearing me speak with a DynaVox. I am a consultant for DynaVox Systems Incorporated, which makes my augmentative device that I am speaking with. The company flies me all over the country to speak at different conferences.