people through his music! Remember the “man and his guitar?”
Well, that man was about to meet himself: head on! Picture it:
there was Russ, racing down the road with Jesus at the wheel...
leading him, inch by inch, foot by foot, year by year...right into
his destiny we now call, “THE ROCK BOX.” And what a story...THAT is!
Looking back through this amazing chain of events, it is clear
that the moment Russ entered the church in Fort Worth, he
knew Jesus was leading him. He would pray for specific things
to manifest, and many times they would! In 1986, he had a successful band in Dallas that recorded Rock n’ Roll music. He
actually wound up participating in the beginning of the music
video craze! But as much as Russ loved recording music, he
missed the live musical performances. Somehow he knew this
was how God wanted to use his ministerial gift. He lived a very
laborious life. Russ would work in the recording studio all day,
then rush to the stage to perform at night. Russ states: “It was always about the music: Elvis, The Beatles, Rock n’ Roll. Somehow I was able to take the seminary, theology, and music, and
use them altogether for the same purpose: ministry. These three
venues walked the same path, right into life. All I did was follow. I lived out Psalm 37:4 which states: ‘Delight yourself also
in the Lord; and He shall give you the desire of your heart.’ I
pleaded, to God, “How do I apply this to your calling?” I never
knew God would give me the answer, step by step, person by
person. It was like He was weaving an unseen thread through
the lives of all the people I met. Imagine! I have had the same
drummer for over twenty years. That is relatively unheard of in
the music industry! We had our own band for over 13 years, and
are still together today! I met my wife Wendy in 1986 when she
became part of our band. We fell in love and married in 1990.
We continued to perform together and we are still performing
today! But our greatest performance of all came in 1997, with
the birth of our daughter Faith.”
“Back in 1986, our band was playing ‘showrooms’ which are
now a thing of the past. Showrooms like, The Summit Hotel,
Barney Oldfield’s, and The Fairmont in Dallas, were where I
learned the in’s and out’s of entertaining an audience. With no
plans other than to follow God’s lead, we moved from Dallas
to ܘ[