I am a former atheist and college philosophy instructor. GOD showed Himself to me during my 20s and 30s, which led to a total breakthrough in Christ. Everything changed in my life at that point. Darkness turned to light; fear turned to joy; confusion turned to peace; hate turned to love.
GOD called me into jail and prison ministry in 2017, and just before our family relocated back to our hometown of Kalamazoo. Before we even completed our move into our new Kalamazoo home, the LORD brought me to the right connections in Kalamazoo, where I was on the jail floor talking to inmates before I even unpacked a box in our home. WOW!
After serving as a chaplain in the jail ministry, I was moved to the Van Buren County Jail, where I was made the Lead Chaplain, all through the heart of the pandemic. It was a miraculous time in jail ministry! In 2022 I returned to Kalamazoo County Jail to serve as the Lead Chaplain, where a year later, KJM was formed.
I taught philosophy at Western Michigan University, University of Michigan (Dearborn), Grand Valley State University for 16 years (CV). I am an author, and a church praise band drummer. I have been married to my wife, Amy (Lead Chaplain Amy Grupp), for over 30 years (we dated in high school), and we have four children. I enjoy time with my family, academic study and publishing, gardening, discovering new and deep philosophy and theology, creating art (poetry and film), and playing the drums. I am a Kalamazoo native, winter is my favorite season (especially very snowy winters). My favorite post-Biblical theologian is Francis of Assisi, and my favorite movies are, Francesco (director Michele Soavi), Brother Sun Sister Moon, Divine Interpreter, and The Gospel of St. Matthew (directed by Pasolini).