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James is a 2011 graduate from Kentucky Christian University with a Bachelor's in Bible and Preaching with a minor in Counseling Psychology. In September 2016 he finished his Masters of Divinity at Liberty University with the focus in Pastoral Counseling.
In 1992 James enlisted in the West Virginia Army National Guard as a transportation specialist. The fall of 1993 he enrolled at Kentucky Christian University attending for a single semester. That following April, 1994, he enlisted in the Active Duty component to eventually be stationed at Fort Knox, KY where he served for three years. During those years he attended a local church where he served in the worship ministry as a guitar player.
From 1997 to 1999 he was reassigned to Kaiserslautern, Germany. In the summer of 1999 he and several of his battle buddies went on to the Army wide Battle of the Band where he was judged as the Army's Best Guitarist.
During the winter of 1998 and 1999, the 66th Transportation Company (Heavy Truck), 28th Trans Battalion would find themselves serving with the United Nations by deploying to Taszar, Hungry to perform supply missions in and out of Bosnia.
In November of 1999 he would return to Fort Knox for two more years serving with the 233rd Transportation Company where he would eventually be promoted to Sergeant in November of 2000.
The summer of 2002 he would return to Germany to be stationed in Grafenwoehr with the 111th Transportation Company (HETT). In March of 2003 he would be deployed with his unit to Kuwait in Operation Enduring Freedom and eventually cross the Iraq board to support Operation Iraqi Freedom. As his unit moved towards Baghdad he would sustain injuries that sent him back to Germany that lead to two additional surgeries on his left knee and ankle.
In the late summer of 2004 he came on orders for Fort Campbell, KY where his enlistment would come to an end with a medical separation.
In October 2006 he was fortunate to re-enlist into the West Virginia Army National Guard to be a Chaplain Assistant. Then in the summer of 2007 his unit was preparing to deploy to Iraq and while in training he would again sustain injuries that kept him from deploying. Upon his return he transferred to a transportation unit where he received his retirement after fifteen years of service.
While serving in the National Guard James would return to Kentucky Christian University in January, 2007 seeking to finish his degree in Bible and Preaching. In April, 2011 he was ordained into the ministry by the Senior Pastor, Jerry Morris, and the Elders of Princess Church of Christ, where he also did his internship and served as their Youth Minister and Associate Pastor.
He began his studies in a Masters of Divinity from Liberty University with his focus in Pastoral Counseling in August 2012. Before graduating James sought out available ministry opportunities that lead him to fill in as the interim Pastor for four months at Clarksburg Christian Church in Vanceburg, KY.
On September 27, 2013, he and Courtney Hall became husband and wife. Together they have five children ranging from 29 to 15 years of age. Additionally they are raising their 9 year old niece who has lived with them for four and a half years. Currently Courtney has been promoted to the position of Directing Social Worker at Kings Daughters Medical Center in Ashland, KY. She has been employed with KDMC for over 22 years.
James completed one unite of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) as an intern Chaplain at St. Mary's Medical Center in Huntington, WV from March to July of 2018. The program exposed him to the world of being a hospital chaplain working in various areas serving both patients and staff. During his internship he participated in on-call rotations where he would remain at the hospital over night to answer calls for trauma in the Emergency Room. He would also answer to rapid responses calls that had him facing various situations of emergency care by offering support for the family members of patients during their loved one's time of need. James also faced issues of suicide prevention on a couple of occasions. The CPE challenged him to look deep into himself to deal with issues that he had not dealt with, to see himself in a different perspective in relation to his beliefs and to those he cared for regardless of the culture a patient came from.
July 2019 he was hired on at Cabell Huntington Hospital as a PRN Chaplain. Cabell Huntington Hospital is a trauma facility united with St. Mary's Medical Center offering care throughout West Virginia, Southern Ohio, and parts of Eastern Kentucky. While at Cabell Huntington he offered services primarily in the ER and ICU during his assigned evenings.
February 2020 a position as Chaplain for a residential addiction recovery care center in Louisa, Kentucky was made available. Here he worked with Clinical Counselors and Peer Support Specialist to offer a holistic approach to recovery from drug and alcohol addition. James offered daily devotional and lessons to encourage spiritual maturity by integrating daily life issues with Scripture and Theology, conducted personal studies through a Master's Study curriculum focused on a personal relationship with God and a refocus of life. James used various methods and resources to grab clients attention and interest that helps motivate them in seeking a personal relationship with God or rediscover what they may have walked away from before addiction.
June 2021 James moved to take another job with Gateway Community Action as a facilitator and job coach with the Fatherhood program. He works with men and women in residential addiction facilities and correctional facilities. He offers classes that are focused on bettering the lives of his clients that target on better living habits, relationship building and communication skills with their children, their children's other parent and gradians or their spouses, educating them in financial literacy, how seek to earn their GED or higher levels of education or job skill straining that will eventually lead to gaining employment in their desired area of employment. Recently he was asked to facilitate the Healthy Marriage program offering classes for residential rehab centers via Zoom virtual classrooms to teach the importance of healthy relationships, to Decide and not Slide into romantic relationships, to seek and develop Safe Environments for relationships, to seek and develop healthy Communication skills, how to set life goals, reasonable expectations, financial literacy, seeking additional job training and education, and to return to their community with a healthy outlook on life. Bottom line, he is a life coach.
In late September 2022 James was approached about going over to Healthy Marriage team, now called Life Elevated. He will continue to facilitate classes with women in residential drug rehabs and jails.
James enjoys reading biblical and Christian/ Church history and theology. Some of his favorite authors are Michael Heiser, N.T. Wright, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, C.S. Lewis, and Neil T. Anderson. He explores the world of 19th and 20th century Philosophy from authors such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Carl Jung, Soren Kierkegaard, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Arthur Schopenhauer, and Jordan Peterson, just to name a few. .
He is a movie buff at heart and among his treasured movies are Groundhog Day, Star Wars, Benny and Joon, Die Hard Series, The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit Trilogy, City Slickers, Back to the Future Trilogy, Schindler's List, and many more.
His favorite television shows are Everyone Loves Raymond, FRIENDS, The Big Bang Theory, King of Queens, According to Jim, Last Man Standing, M.A.S.H, and Band of Brothers.
He also enjoys the outdoors from fishing to camping, playing golf and visiting different places. The city he has visited that he considers to be his most favorite is New York City, especially during Thanksgiving. His bucket list includes visiting Israel, Japan, and The Great Wall of China. He would also like to take a trip to England, Ireland, and Scotland.
In 1992 James enlisted in the West Virginia Army National Guard as a transportation specialist. The fall of 1993 he enrolled at Kentucky Christian University attending for a single semester. That following April, 1994, he enlisted in the Active Duty component to eventually be stationed at Fort Knox, KY where he served for three years. During those years he attended a local church where he served in the worship ministry as a guitar player.
From 1997 to 1999 he was reassigned to Kaiserslautern, Germany. In the summer of 1999 he and several of his battle buddies went on to the Army wide Battle of the Band where he was judged as the Army's Best Guitarist.
During the winter of 1998 and 1999, the 66th Transportation Company (Heavy Truck), 28th Trans Battalion would find themselves serving with the United Nations by deploying to Taszar, Hungry to perform supply missions in and out of Bosnia.
In November of 1999 he would return to Fort Knox for two more years serving with the 233rd Transportation Company where he would eventually be promoted to Sergeant in November of 2000.
The summer of 2002 he would return to Germany to be stationed in Grafenwoehr with the 111th Transportation Company (HETT). In March of 2003 he would be deployed with his unit to Kuwait in Operation Enduring Freedom and eventually cross the Iraq board to support Operation Iraqi Freedom. As his unit moved towards Baghdad he would sustain injuries that sent him back to Germany that lead to two additional surgeries on his left knee and ankle.
In the late summer of 2004 he came on orders for Fort Campbell, KY where his enlistment would come to an end with a medical separation.
In October 2006 he was fortunate to re-enlist into the West Virginia Army National Guard to be a Chaplain Assistant. Then in the summer of 2007 his unit was preparing to deploy to Iraq and while in training he would again sustain injuries that kept him from deploying. Upon his return he transferred to a transportation unit where he received his retirement after fifteen years of service.
While serving in the National Guard James would return to Kentucky Christian University in January, 2007 seeking to finish his degree in Bible and Preaching. In April, 2011 he was ordained into the ministry by the Senior Pastor, Jerry Morris, and the Elders of Princess Church of Christ, where he also did his internship and served as their Youth Minister and Associate Pastor.
He began his studies in a Masters of Divinity from Liberty University with his focus in Pastoral Counseling in August 2012. Before graduating James sought out available ministry opportunities that lead him to fill in as the interim Pastor for four months at Clarksburg Christian Church in Vanceburg, KY.
On September 27, 2013, he and Courtney Hall became husband and wife. Together they have five children ranging from 29 to 15 years of age. Additionally they are raising their 9 year old niece who has lived with them for four and a half years. Currently Courtney has been promoted to the position of Directing Social Worker at Kings Daughters Medical Center in Ashland, KY. She has been employed with KDMC for over 22 years.
James completed one unite of Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) as an intern Chaplain at St. Mary's Medical Center in Huntington, WV from March to July of 2018. The program exposed him to the world of being a hospital chaplain working in various areas serving both patients and staff. During his internship he participated in on-call rotations where he would remain at the hospital over night to answer calls for trauma in the Emergency Room. He would also answer to rapid responses calls that had him facing various situations of emergency care by offering support for the family members of patients during their loved one's time of need. James also faced issues of suicide prevention on a couple of occasions. The CPE challenged him to look deep into himself to deal with issues that he had not dealt with, to see himself in a different perspective in relation to his beliefs and to those he cared for regardless of the culture a patient came from.
July 2019 he was hired on at Cabell Huntington Hospital as a PRN Chaplain. Cabell Huntington Hospital is a trauma facility united with St. Mary's Medical Center offering care throughout West Virginia, Southern Ohio, and parts of Eastern Kentucky. While at Cabell Huntington he offered services primarily in the ER and ICU during his assigned evenings.
February 2020 a position as Chaplain for a residential addiction recovery care center in Louisa, Kentucky was made available. Here he worked with Clinical Counselors and Peer Support Specialist to offer a holistic approach to recovery from drug and alcohol addition. James offered daily devotional and lessons to encourage spiritual maturity by integrating daily life issues with Scripture and Theology, conducted personal studies through a Master's Study curriculum focused on a personal relationship with God and a refocus of life. James used various methods and resources to grab clients attention and interest that helps motivate them in seeking a personal relationship with God or rediscover what they may have walked away from before addiction.
June 2021 James moved to take another job with Gateway Community Action as a facilitator and job coach with the Fatherhood program. He works with men and women in residential addiction facilities and correctional facilities. He offers classes that are focused on bettering the lives of his clients that target on better living habits, relationship building and communication skills with their children, their children's other parent and gradians or their spouses, educating them in financial literacy, how seek to earn their GED or higher levels of education or job skill straining that will eventually lead to gaining employment in their desired area of employment. Recently he was asked to facilitate the Healthy Marriage program offering classes for residential rehab centers via Zoom virtual classrooms to teach the importance of healthy relationships, to Decide and not Slide into romantic relationships, to seek and develop Safe Environments for relationships, to seek and develop healthy Communication skills, how to set life goals, reasonable expectations, financial literacy, seeking additional job training and education, and to return to their community with a healthy outlook on life. Bottom line, he is a life coach.
In late September 2022 James was approached about going over to Healthy Marriage team, now called Life Elevated. He will continue to facilitate classes with women in residential drug rehabs and jails.
James enjoys reading biblical and Christian/ Church history and theology. Some of his favorite authors are Michael Heiser, N.T. Wright, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, C.S. Lewis, and Neil T. Anderson. He explores the world of 19th and 20th century Philosophy from authors such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Carl Jung, Soren Kierkegaard, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, Arthur Schopenhauer, and Jordan Peterson, just to name a few. .
He is a movie buff at heart and among his treasured movies are Groundhog Day, Star Wars, Benny and Joon, Die Hard Series, The Lord of the Rings and Hobbit Trilogy, City Slickers, Back to the Future Trilogy, Schindler's List, and many more.
His favorite television shows are Everyone Loves Raymond, FRIENDS, The Big Bang Theory, King of Queens, According to Jim, Last Man Standing, M.A.S.H, and Band of Brothers.
He also enjoys the outdoors from fishing to camping, playing golf and visiting different places. The city he has visited that he considers to be his most favorite is New York City, especially during Thanksgiving. His bucket list includes visiting Israel, Japan, and The Great Wall of China. He would also like to take a trip to England, Ireland, and Scotland.
Coming to Christ
I was born into a Christian family, but this did not make me a Christian. As far back as I can remember I cannot recall a time I was not attending church. My father is from Huntington, WV, where I was born. My mother was a child of an Air Force service member who's family was not far from Huntington, WV as well. While living in Huntington I recall mostly going to church with my grandparents. My father was in the Navy but during my early childhood we lived back and forth between Huntington and the Tidewater area of Virginia. I recall that during those times of living in Norfolk, VA my mother had a local church bus pick my younger brother and me up for Sunday School. When ever my father was in after a length of time out to sea, we would all attend church together.
In my mid-teens during the start of the summer of 1989 I ended up connecting with some young people from another church not far from where we lived. With my parents approval and the direction from my father that he did not really care where I attended church as long as I was in church every Sunday morning. So Sunday mornings I would catch the church bus and Sunday evenings and Wednesday evenings a couple of the guys in the youth group would pick me up for church.
On Wednesdays the youth would load onto a bus and would head out to some location in the city and divide into two. The teams would then head out in the designated neighborhood to knock on doors and invite people to church.
Now mind you, I was not the perfect teenager. I hung out with a rough group of people in school. We had long hair, listened to Heavy Metal music and many of us smoked. My parents did not approve of the crowd I hung out with. You would say I was the typical teenager; rebellious, arrogant, angry, disobedient, and disrespectful to my parents. My attitude reflected out towards the youth at the church as well.
After one of our adventures into the city we loaded the bus and headed back to church for Bible Study. As we were waiting to get started some of us were sitting in the youth minister's office. The youth minister asked me if I would like to attend church camp, which was about a month away. I told him we were preparing to move and I didn't know if my parents had the money for me to attend. (My father came on assignment to become a Navy recruiter in Pikeville, KY.) The youth minsters said not to worry about the cost, that everything had been paid for. So I called my mother to get permission, and I did.
About three weeks later we headed off to camp for a week, a long week. Camp wasn't all that frustrating but I didn't have the liberties I had when I was at home with my friends. At this time I was beginning to get into a new type of music, Christian Rock music. I enjoyed bands like Styper, Petra, Micheal W. Smith, Amy Grant, Rust Taff, and others. My parents did not approve of this type of music any more than the secular music I enjoyed. I do recall how much the visiting pastor also didn't have a tolerance for the Christian Rock music as well and this troubled me. I felt that he was merely being picky and judgmental. While I was there I was also confronted by the youth minister about my attitude and behavior towards some of the other youth. He informed me that I made threats of conjuring up evil spirits to attack the youth. I confessed that I had at one time dabbled with witch craft and the occult but I no longer found any interest in them for I found some of the people in those groups to be very controlling and demanding. I didn't wish to be in such a group. After our talk in advised me to be careful with what I say and what I do. He didn't come across as being overly protective and that he was building a wall before me to keep me at a distance. He continued to be open and loving towards me. That was early in the week and after our talk I never gave it another thought.
Finally, our final night. The weeks presented many experiences that lead me to believe and feel that I wasn't an outsider. People remained friendly and loving towards me. I do not recall the sermon presented that night but I do recall a strong conviction coming over me. I felt sad and unhappy with myself. I felt that I needed something, something I had been longing for but never finding. Before I knew it I was crying and on my knees. My youth minister came to me, put his arms around me and spoke to me more about the love of Christ. I had heard it all before but this time I was feeling that love. I then chose to give my life to the Lord and to be His disciple.
After all the emotions had settled down and everyone was back in their seats, the visiting minister asked if there was anyone who had a word to say or a testimony. One by one teens were standing up sharing what happened with them. I was then compelled to stand up and apologize for my attitude and asked for forgiveness for my behavior. When I sat down our youth minister stood up and announced to the group that if anyone needed to be at camp this week that person was me. He told them about our conversation and what I had revealed to him, I didn't mind. He then proceeded to tell another story. A story of a young man who had paid for his way to camp but due to circumstances that happened at his job he wasn't able to go. The youth minister offered to pay back the money but the young man refused telling the youth minister to send someone he felt that needed to go. I was that person.
Five years later, 1993, I was attending Kentucky Christian College in Grayson, KY. I was speaking to several of my friends about the subject of baptism. I was under the belief that baptism was not necessary for salvation and was an option. My friends lead them through Scripture to show me that the Lord commanded baptism. Later one November night we headed out to a local church and to our surprise found the door unlocked. We proceeded in where I and another young man entered a ice cold baptismal so I can complete what the Lord directed.
In my mid-teens during the start of the summer of 1989 I ended up connecting with some young people from another church not far from where we lived. With my parents approval and the direction from my father that he did not really care where I attended church as long as I was in church every Sunday morning. So Sunday mornings I would catch the church bus and Sunday evenings and Wednesday evenings a couple of the guys in the youth group would pick me up for church.
On Wednesdays the youth would load onto a bus and would head out to some location in the city and divide into two. The teams would then head out in the designated neighborhood to knock on doors and invite people to church.
Now mind you, I was not the perfect teenager. I hung out with a rough group of people in school. We had long hair, listened to Heavy Metal music and many of us smoked. My parents did not approve of the crowd I hung out with. You would say I was the typical teenager; rebellious, arrogant, angry, disobedient, and disrespectful to my parents. My attitude reflected out towards the youth at the church as well.
After one of our adventures into the city we loaded the bus and headed back to church for Bible Study. As we were waiting to get started some of us were sitting in the youth minister's office. The youth minister asked me if I would like to attend church camp, which was about a month away. I told him we were preparing to move and I didn't know if my parents had the money for me to attend. (My father came on assignment to become a Navy recruiter in Pikeville, KY.) The youth minsters said not to worry about the cost, that everything had been paid for. So I called my mother to get permission, and I did.
About three weeks later we headed off to camp for a week, a long week. Camp wasn't all that frustrating but I didn't have the liberties I had when I was at home with my friends. At this time I was beginning to get into a new type of music, Christian Rock music. I enjoyed bands like Styper, Petra, Micheal W. Smith, Amy Grant, Rust Taff, and others. My parents did not approve of this type of music any more than the secular music I enjoyed. I do recall how much the visiting pastor also didn't have a tolerance for the Christian Rock music as well and this troubled me. I felt that he was merely being picky and judgmental. While I was there I was also confronted by the youth minister about my attitude and behavior towards some of the other youth. He informed me that I made threats of conjuring up evil spirits to attack the youth. I confessed that I had at one time dabbled with witch craft and the occult but I no longer found any interest in them for I found some of the people in those groups to be very controlling and demanding. I didn't wish to be in such a group. After our talk in advised me to be careful with what I say and what I do. He didn't come across as being overly protective and that he was building a wall before me to keep me at a distance. He continued to be open and loving towards me. That was early in the week and after our talk I never gave it another thought.
Finally, our final night. The weeks presented many experiences that lead me to believe and feel that I wasn't an outsider. People remained friendly and loving towards me. I do not recall the sermon presented that night but I do recall a strong conviction coming over me. I felt sad and unhappy with myself. I felt that I needed something, something I had been longing for but never finding. Before I knew it I was crying and on my knees. My youth minister came to me, put his arms around me and spoke to me more about the love of Christ. I had heard it all before but this time I was feeling that love. I then chose to give my life to the Lord and to be His disciple.
After all the emotions had settled down and everyone was back in their seats, the visiting minister asked if there was anyone who had a word to say or a testimony. One by one teens were standing up sharing what happened with them. I was then compelled to stand up and apologize for my attitude and asked for forgiveness for my behavior. When I sat down our youth minister stood up and announced to the group that if anyone needed to be at camp this week that person was me. He told them about our conversation and what I had revealed to him, I didn't mind. He then proceeded to tell another story. A story of a young man who had paid for his way to camp but due to circumstances that happened at his job he wasn't able to go. The youth minister offered to pay back the money but the young man refused telling the youth minister to send someone he felt that needed to go. I was that person.
Five years later, 1993, I was attending Kentucky Christian College in Grayson, KY. I was speaking to several of my friends about the subject of baptism. I was under the belief that baptism was not necessary for salvation and was an option. My friends lead them through Scripture to show me that the Lord commanded baptism. Later one November night we headed out to a local church and to our surprise found the door unlocked. We proceeded in where I and another young man entered a ice cold baptismal so I can complete what the Lord directed.
