I was born in 1943 in Gary, Indiana. I grew up in a non-Christian home,
graduated from high school in 1961, and went on to college at Indiana University
in Bloomington, Indiana (IUB). I graduated from IUB in 1965 with an A.B. in
Industrial Sociology (minor in Labor Economics). In 1965, I enlisted in the
Navy, where I served five years (1-1/2 years enlisted; 3-1/2 years as an
officer), including a year in Viet Nam. I met my wife, Gail, in 1970 while
stationed at Great Lakes Naval Station in Waukegan, Illinois. We married in
1971. We have two adult children and three grandchildren.
I earned an MBA in Finance from Indiana University in 1975, worked in the
investment department for an insurance company in Nebraska from 1975-1977, and
moved to the Chicago area in late-1977 to work for an investment counseling
firm. I became a partner at that firm in 1983, holding the positions of
High-Yield Corporate Bond Fund Manager and Head of the Corporate Bond Research
Department. I retired (for health reasons) at the end of 1986.
By the late-1970s, my wife realized she had made a serious error -- she had
married a pagan; worse yet, an evolutionist pagan! So, by late-1984, Gail, and
some of her Christian women friends, began praying for my salvation in earnest.
But I had no reason to even "seek" God; my life was wonderful exactly
like it was. We had no financial problems, our children were relatively well
behaved, I liked my job, etc..
But God had other plans for me. Gail and I argued often about my evolutionist
views. So in early-1985, when the church she and the children were attending
announced that they were going to show the six-part Origins
film
series, I saw an opportunity to intellectually destroy all the arguments
that the film's producers might employ.
It was mid-February of 1985, when Film#1 -- "The Origin of the
Universe" -- was shown. I was prepared, legal pad in hand, to knock down
the silly creationist arguments I knew would be taught. I don't think the film
had been running more than five minutes when the Lord cut through my hard heart
and impressed upon me the truth of creation and the lie of evolution.
Was I saved at that point? No. It was a significant intellectual event, and even
somewhat emotional, but I had no concept of my lost condition nor what salvation
really meant. I seriously considered spiritual matters when I was hospitalized
in July of 1985 for aortic valve replacement surgery (at which time a brain cyst
was also discovered), but it wasn't until October of 1985, when preparing my
testimony to give at my scheduled baptism, that God brought me face-to-face with
my totally depraved, sinful condition. At that point, God granted me repentance
and I trusted Christ as my Lord and Savior.
At that time, I also came to realize that salvation is a miracle of God, in
which God
is totally sovereign. God didn't save me from a life of drunkenness or
debauchery; He saved me from a moral, clean-living lifestyle! I had no reason to
be saved -- in human terms. My life was about as perfect as it could be. But by
God's miraculous hand, He opened up my heart to the truth of the Gospel and
enabled me to believe on His Son! I became a new person, seeking after new
things -- spiritual things. My life has never been the same. I thank God every
day for His grace and mercy in saving me.
In mid-1987, we moved to Bloomington, Indiana, for the lower cost of living and
for the beauty of Southern Indiana. We moved back to Nebraska for a short 1-1/2
years (12/90-6/92), and then back to Southern Indiana until May of 2002. We now
live in Valparaiso, Indiana.
By late-1989, people would ask me what I could tell them about the teachings
of various religious leaders and organizations. Most wouldn't believe me when I
told them what I knew. So I started to compile and assemble the documentation I
had accumulated. That's how I got started doing exposés
of various teachers and their
organizations.
At first, I had an inventory of about 15-20 reports that I would give to people
when they asked. As the number of reports I compiled increased, I decided
to put them in a loose-leaf notebook (dubbed the Discernment Notebook)
and make it available to pastors or researchers free of charge. The Notebook is
now available free for viewing and or download to anyone having Internet access;
it contains more than 420 reports in HTML format (many of those being off-site
links to, or the re-posting of, the articles and reports of others). It is now
called the Computer
Discernment Notebook.
What do I believe doctrinally? Click on the Statement of Faith link on the BDM home page. What are my views on exposing false teachers and their teachings, go to the Introduction section of the Discernment Notebook, which can also be found by linking through the BDM home page, and read the reports/articles found there. If you'd like to contact me about anything I have compiled, you may do so at <rambdm@csinet.net>.
