Meet Your Hosts, Rick & Jonathan

Meet Rick:  My personal Christian experience is as long as my life, as I was raised by parents whose dedication to serving God through Christ was as apparent as the nose on one's face.  Even as a teenager, while most were in a rebellious stage of life, I always had a drive towards God and chose to dedicate my life to walking in Jesus' footsteps at the age of 16.  It was the most major decision of my life, and as my dad always says of his own Christian walk, "I never looked back." I married my best friend, Tricia, the day before my 22nd birthday.  Over the last 32 years, we have become parents to three now amazing adults:  Tim, our oldest, serving in the Coast Guard; Emily, our oldest daughter, an emergency room nurse at a busy hospital; and Amy, our youngest, a teacher and mother of Domenic, our totally awesome five-year old grandson, who is one of my favorite topics of conversation ever, anywhere, anytime! Even though I love coffee, I can only drink decaf.  Caffeinated coffee messes up my brain and makes me talk like Alvin the Chipmunk.  I love chocolate in any form, but dark chocolate is by far the best - and because studies have shown that it is good for you, I say, bring it on!  I love the New York Giants and I am an avid New York Yankees fan.  I love going to a game or two each year with my family.  Yankee Stadium is an awesome place.  And for the record, I was a Lord of the Rings fanatic long before the movies came out.  I read the books many, many times throughout my teenage years.  They inspired me to engage in the fight of good against evil. The flexibility of running my own business has really helped with the development of Christian Questions.  Volunteering (yes, we are all volunteers here!) as host of CQ has been the most significant and life-changing privilege of my entire Christian life.  Through no thought or action of my own, this opportunity opened up about 15 years ago.  I happened (by the grace and overruling of God) to be in the right place at the right time to participate.  I LOVE to share the Gospel message.  I LOVE to study each week to prepare.  I LOVE to talk to callers and I LOVE to work with the 20-30 other volunteers in this weekly effort to spread the hope and love of Christ.  Basically, I LOVE the entire CQ experience! One of my greatest heroes is the Apostle Paul.  His undying devotion to the Gospel, his deep desire to truly serve God through Jesus at any expense, and his "never stop moving forward" discipline truly inspire me to always keep working.  Matthew 6:33 has become a theme for my life:  "Seek first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you."  It is my deepest desire to follow Paul as he followed Christ and to bring the "good tidings of great joy" to any who will listen. Meet Jonathan:  When I was in my 20's, I had some difficulties in my life and felt like I hit bottom.  I prayed to God for direction in my life.  The LORD introduced me to an independent, non-denominational group called the Bible Students several months later in 1987.  As I grew in understanding of God's word, I truly understood that God is love.  I dedicated my life to serving Him. For several years, Rick and I would get together at Bible conventions and discuss how we desired to find a way to witness God's plan of salvation for all mankind.  We would throw around all kinds of ideas.  In 1998, the Lord presented me with a radio talk show concept from a friend, and I got very excited.  A few months later, I received a phone call from a radio station asking if my business would be interested in advertising with them.  While in the station discussing business, I asked how hard it would be to start a Christian talk radio program.  The manager stated, "That's easy!"  It would be offered to us at no charge for the first year. I left the building and called my good friend Rick, who had to hold the phone away from his ear because I was so excited.  And what did he tell me?