Looking at this picture always fills me with wonder, because there was a time in my life that I felt so alone and empty that I was asking God to kill me. Three failed marriages, unable to keep a job, depressed and miserable, I had reached the end of myself in 2011. My Christian life since childhood was marked by miraculous stretches with God and then running as far as I could away from Him. I had been praying for two months that He would just end my life here on earth. Not knowing if I was even saved anymore, the events that would follow would set my future on a different course.

In February of 2011 I had a massive heart attack during a record-breaking ice storm that hit the Dallas/Fort Worth area. I was living with my girlfriend at the time and was outside smoking a cigarette when I began to cough uncontrollably. A short time later I was coughing up blood and had to make it in to the hospital through the icy road conditions. They admitted me for pneumonia because they found so much fluid in my lungs. It wasn't until many hours later, somewhere around 2am, that they realized it was not pneumonia. I had experienced the infamous widow maker heart attack and nobody understood why I was still alive. My heart enzymes were off the charts.

As I was being wheeled to ICU, I heard the still small voice of God say "Well, do you want to go or do you want to stay?" I had been praying that He would take me out of this world, but there was something inside me that said "If you choose to stay, I will be with you and give you a purpose". So, during the hour wait for the cardiologist to make it into the hospital I considered my options. I finally said, "Lord, I would like to stay if that is okay with you." But I had three conditions. I wanted to be remembered for doing something good, I wanted to LIVE everyday not just be alive, and I wanted to touch as many people as possible while I remained on earth. Upon sharing my requests with God, I heard in my spirit a very loud and resounding "SO BE IT!"

The hour that followed was nothing short of a miracle. Hospital staff watched from behind a glass wall as the cardiologist arrived and began the angiogram. I was awake for the whole procedure. He explained to me that one of my arteries was 100% blocked and the other 95% blocked. He wasn't sure stents would work because of where the blockage was, but after putting in three stents, my heart filled back up with blood. The staff cheered in amazement and I knew I was here for a purpose.

Immediately upon getting released from the hospital, I married my wife Cindy. My heart was so damaged that I needed a pacemaker/defibrillator to help it squeeze correctly, and I was left in a weakened state. Less than six months later, with nothing in the bank, one small paycheck still due to me, I quit my job to start a company that I felt the Lord was asking me to build. I had no experience as a business owner and was never even moved up into management in any job I had worked in the past. I had no money, no advisors, no management team, and no five year plan. ALL I had was my submitted will to hear God's voice and follow Him, no matter what that looked like.

God kept His word to me and, even though I only had 25% heart function and nothing on my resume to boast about, I built a company called The Good Contractors List in the DFW area. This business has funded multiple ministry initiatives and shared the Good News of Jesus Christ over the radio for more than a decade.

In July of 2022, another life-changing event happened. I received a heart transplant. We had the honor of meeting the donor family. His name to me was another sign and wonder. His last name was Wachal (Bohemian for "Watchman") and his first name was Christian. God had very literally given me the heart of a "Christian Watchman". Christian's family embraced Cindy and myself as if we were part of the family and we just fell in love with them. EVERY work that I accomplish here on earth will also be accredited to Christian, because of his desire to be on the donor list and his own love for Jesus.

At the beginning of 2024, the Holy Spirit started drawing me even deeper and I felt like He was asking me to build an "altar" where I could be alone and undisturbed with Him. I began telling my house church group that it feels like He is asking me to live an ALTARed Life. By the end of February I had a room built in my attic set aside for prayer and ministry work. In the same manner as The Good Contractors List, I couldn't stop thinking about what it meant to live an ALTARed Life. It was a life I had been living since the heart attack. I had realized that, even though I chose to stay, I chose also to "die". I wasn't staying because I didn't want to die, I was staying because He said that He would be with me and give me a purpose. I had nothing to lose by tuning everything else out and following Him fully. So, on the 14th of March, 2024 (10 years to the day that public advertising started for The Good Contractors List) The ALTARed Life LLC became a legal entity.

Many of the photos you will find for the products on this website include the members of my family you see in the picture at the top of this page. Cindy and I have watch how God took a broken man pleading for death, to a place where every step is walked out through faith in Jesus and by following the voice of the Holy Spirit (ALTARed). Now it is my passion to see everyone in the world who has ears to hear, to know and understand what it means to live an ALTARed Life. We are believing that the phrase "I AM ALTARed" will be spoken and worn by millions who will share their testimony with others. We will also be featuring many of these testimonies on our podcast "The ALTARed Life Podcast".

Thank you for taking the time to read our testimony and if you have an "ALTARed" story, please email it and a current picture of your family to info@TheALTARedLife.com