Meet Douglas Gwinn
Greetings to you in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I am Douglas Gwinn and you've come here to find out a little about me. The roses you see in the background are a little bit like our backyard rose bushes, two of which reached nine feet tall last year! But you should see our Pine tree, planted in 1999 at the immense height of 18-inches, it is now over 25-feet tall.
First of all, you should know that I love the Lord Jesus Christ and that I honor His Word. One of my favorite passages of Scripture is 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 from the pen of the Apostle Paul:
I am the first born son of Bill and Colette Gwinn.
(please read about my Dad by clicking here).
As a young man, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior at the suggestion of
my mother, asking Him to forgive my sins and come into my heart. I endeavor
to live each day under the sovereignty of God and to grow in the grace and
knowledge of His Son. But as Paul said in his aforementioned letter to the
church at Thessalonica, and as Larry Norman said, I'm only visiting this
planet!
I grew up in Mount Hermon, California, a Christian Conference Center, where I served on Summer Staff three times: Accounting Assistant at the Conference Center, Counselor at Redwood Camp, and Counselor at Ponderosa Lodge. The summer at Redwood Camp was the most growing and stretching experience of my life spiritually. Of all the staff there, I probably most enjoyed the friendship of Peggy Ruiter.
Three of the happiest years of my life I spent in the second grade [just kidding]. At San Lorenzo Valley High School in Felton, California, I played golf competitively, lettering three times including as a freshman. I was Most Valuable Player for the golf team as a sophomore and as a senior. I graduated 19th academically out of 186 students in my class.
Our church home was the University Baptist Church of Santa Cruz, California, pastored by Rev. Marvin D. Webster. In 1997 they changed the name to High Street Community Church. I was baptized by immersion there by Pastor Webster as an act of obedience to Christ. Since 1991, my church home has been Lake Avenue Church in Pasadena, California.
I graduated from Seattle Pacific University with a B.A. in Business Administration. While at Seattle Pacific, I attended Mercer Island Covenant Church and learned much under the teaching of Pastor Bud Palmberg. My college years were very much a time of growing in the Lord and of learning to strengthen my heart by examining the Scriptures, committing the Bible to memory, making friendships that are centered on Christ, and cultivating my musical and worship gifts. My best friend in college was Jann Wagner. Jann later invited me to her wedding at the Crystal Cathedral, but not as her groom!
One semester while I was in college, I was privileged to study and travel throughout Europe with Westmont College. Probably the most memorable 16 days were spent in Israel under the tutelege of Dr. Perry G. Phillips at the Institute of Holy Land Studies (now called Jerusalem University College). We walked where Jesus walked and felt His presence there. Together we sang my favorite song,"Sing Alleluia to the Lord", several places in the Holy Land. I also studied at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School one year.
One summer I worked at Wolf Mountain Christian Camps. I had come to Wolf Mountain for four basketball camps in previous summers. Twice, I got a plane ride up there as Dave Jenks accompanied me to camp and his dad, John Jenks, was the pilot. Those flights were a thrill and a blessing! Another time, my brother and his friends came to camp. Yet another time, some of my friends from high school came along. I remember that Bud Schaeffer of Overseas Crusades was usually one of the camp leaders. He was a great B-ball player! One time, Bud was on my team and he loved to create "fast breaks." At one point in the game, I was up ahead of Bud and he passed the ball to me despite the fact that I wasn't looking at him. It was MY mistake. You should be looking for the ball. Bud's pass hit me right smack in the posterior and hard. I can still remember the stinging of that ball hitting me. I believe Bud did it on purpose to get my attention. It taught me several lessons, but namely to keep my head up, know where the ball is, and expect it to come my way. "Ain't it just like a friend of mine to hit me from behind?"
Working at Wolf Mountain the whole summer was a fantastic experience. Keith Brown was our camp director and did a swell job. He was very good at delegating. My favorite moment was when Keith asked me to play the piano, to serenade him and a visiting nurse lady so Keith could dance with her. He had me play "Moonlight Sonata" by Beethoven, and then said to play it again. You had to be there. Another favorite moment that summer was when I accompanied (on the piano) a young lady named Anita Ames as she sang, "How can I say thanks, for the things You have done for me...", a song entitled, "My Tribute", by Andrae Crouch. That girl could really sing!!!
I loved the basketball week especially. My own team did not fare so well — not much skill. I tried my best to make the campers on my team look good, to have fun, and give them opportunities to score. But when it came time at the end of the week for the "All-Star" campers to play against the staff, I found myself able to score more often. It was a blast! The staff beat the campers handily, though that was not always the case at Wolf Mountain Basketball Camps. I scored in double figures and I remember one camper from my own team coming up to me and asking, "Doug, why didn't you play that way during the week for our team?" I told him it was my job to dish out assists to him and the other boys so they could score, to play unselfishly and have fun, not hog the ball in the hopes of mere winning. But I was glad that someone noticed I could put the ball in the hoop.
The longest stint I had as a song leader was four months when I was at Army Officer Candidate School. I volunteered to be the Choir Director for the Sunday morning Protestant chapel service. We had between five to seven people in our choir each Sunday morning, and had a marvelous time singing praise songs to the Lord, accompanied by me on the guitar and Alex on the banjo (you had to be there). You see, the chaplain seemed to prefer that we BE the music (like performers), but I was able to change her perspective about us and make us more into a "worship team" to lead the congregation. She gave me a certificate of appreciation upon graduation from OCS. That's right, the chaplain was a woman. If you want to see a Biblical rationale for women as preachers and Bible teachers, please check out a book that I host online entitled A Woman's Place: Leadership in the Church.
Before we leave the subject of music, just wanted to mention how much I enjoy two Christian radio stations that broadcast live online: KCMS in Seattle and KSBJ in Houston. I enjoy listening to the praise music as it lifts my spirit and points me to Jesus. You can listen too, on your computer — if you have headphones or speakers — from anywhere in the world.
Lest anyone reading this page get the impression that Douglas Gwinn is some kind of spiritual giant, don't even think about it. I'm not. If two words could be put together which summarize my life, it would be two that were coined by a friend of mine in college, Roy Salmond. He wrote a song where he describes himself as "stumbling heavenward." I'm telling you that it's like God is dragging me into the Kingdom kicking and screaming. This is because my sin nature — not to be eradicated until we are changed "in the twinkling of an eye" — often wants to rebel against the Lord who bought me. This is a life-long challenge and I'm sorry to say I have "dropped the ball" too many times. I keep wondering when I'm going to learn? When will I stop thinking that sin is fun and that nobody will know or that it doesn't matter? The saying is true: Who you are when nobody is looking is the real you. I keep confessing my sins to the Lord, and thankfully, He hasn't given up on me. I need to continually be transformed by the renewing of my mind as I present my body, soul, and mind to Jesus each day as a living sacrifice. I need to "practice the presence of God," and to get to know and love Him intimately, even as He already knows and loves me.
This is a good picture of me (taken 2004) at the Grand Canyon bookstore next to a plaque which depicts a Bible verse about God's creation. That picture was taken by my beautiful wife Linda. Here's a picture of the two of us at Mount Hermon....
Other special events or places I've been to include an Amy Grant concert, two James Taylor concerts (You've Got a Friend), Noel Paul Stookey, Larry Norman, Michael W. Smith twice, a seven-day cruise of the Mexican Riviera, Yosemite National Park, Lake Tahoe, Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks, Seattle and British Columbia (Butchart Gardens), and two trips to the Olympics: Atlanta (1996) and Salt Lake City (2002). I've traveled to about 15 countries including Japan, the Philippines, and much of Europe, plus I've been to about 33 of the beautiful 50 United States.
When I was in the Army, as a lieutenant, I once ran a mile in 5 minutes,
50 seconds. While I'm on this subject, I was a Signal Corps officer, which
is to say, communications. I trained at Fort Dix, Fort Benning, Fort Gordon,
Fort Eustice, and Fort Sill, then spent a year in South Korea
— with 8th of the 8th Field
Artillery (8th/8th FA) at Camp Stanley in the 2nd Infantry Division
— and then finished my service at
Fort Lewis. Camp Stanley is near Uijongbu, and on Sundays I would catch a
taxi and attend worship services at Liberty Christian School. In addition,
several Christian guys would gather on like a Tuesday evening at the Camp
Stanley Chapel and we studied the Bible together, taking turns leading it.
The chaplains would often join us and that was very encouraging.
One of my best friends in the Army was Theresa Roy. She was a member of the
LDS Church and we spent a lot of time talking about what each of us believed.
She gave me a copy of the Book of Mormon which I read cover to cover and
she invited me to her ward meetings in Tacoma. She later got married to John
Merrill. My interest in things LDS (thanks to Theresa) led me to spend fifteen
of the most memorable months of my life living in Utah, home of the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. To this day, I enjoy talking with my
LDS friends whenever I get the chance, and especially LDS missionaries. Most
of all, I teach them what the Bible says about the sufficiency and completeness
of Christ's vicarious Atonement for us on the Cross, that we are incapable
of adding anything to what He already did for us. "All our righteousness
is as filthy rags," the Bible says, yet Mormons try to stop sinning and are
told by their leaders they need to "get perfect." Rather, our only righteousness
is Christ alone, imputed to us through faith in His blood, complete faith
in His work on the Cross
(sola fide).
My new avocation is to enter the texts of contemporary Christian books onto
web sites. Be sure to check out The Evangelical Christian
Library: Online Books for the Whole Family. Visitors to the Library will
find more than 130 online books by such authors as Jill Briscoe, J.I. Packer,
Chuck Swindoll, Anne Ortlund and John Fischer among others. On
THIS PAGE you can see all of our books listed
with a short description about them. The worldwide influence of this project
with the online books continues to grow, not only with new Christian books
we are adding, but (more importantly) in the number of readers and "page
views." For example, by January of 2012 we were receiving 20,000 visitors
per month from more than 150 countries. This project replaces golf in my
life and you can see why if you read this.
You know how sometimes when you visit a web site you find out that it
is "under construction"? Some of my own sites are this way. There's a spiritual
parallel here. In Philippians 1:6 we read, "Being confident of this, that
He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the
day of Christ Jesus". This is great news, isn't it! A follower of Christ
is always under construction by the Master Carpenter. He is busy chiseling
away our rough spots, forming us to be like Himself. None of us has ever
"arrived", least of all Douglas Gwinn. I constantly stand in need of God's
mercy on account of my sin. But on the Day when Christ returns or when He
calls us to be with Himself, His work in us will be finished and we will
be like Him for we shall see Him as He is. "Everyone who has this hope fixed
on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." [1 John 3:3]
Brother, do you have this hope? Sister, are you eager to see Christ? This
is one of the marks of a true Christian, an anticipation of and a longing
for the return of Christ [Hebrews 9:28].
The Bible says, "...he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed." [Proverbs
11:25] Ask me a question or refresh me with an email. May the
Lord extend His grace to you and peace through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Let me close this bio page with the benediction which Pastor Henry Hutchins of Lake Avenue Church so often used to close the worship services there.....
May a dying Savior's love,
A risen Savior's power,
An Ascended Savior's prayer,
And a returning Savior's glory
Minister to us all both now and forever, Amen.
Updated January 26, 2012
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