New Staff Members Jake Finley and John Neff

Jake Finley

Where were you born and where did you grow up? Where would you call "home?" North Carolina, Chicago suburbs, Chicago

When is your Birthday? 7-18

Let's talk about your family. Do you have a wife, girlfriend, kids, and/or pets? None of the above!

I bought a car not too long ago, but what was your first car? 1987 Porsche 944

Do you prefer skim or 2% Milk? 2%.

Living in Chicago, we experience all four seasons pretty distinctly. What is your favorite thing to do on a rainy day? Read and play Monopoly

I can safely say that I am a right-brained person and so I love words. As an accountant though, do you have a favorite word, or do you have a favorite number instead? Karis is my favorite word. I don’t love numbers.

I'm sure you've traveled to various parts of the U.S. What would you say is your favorite place in the USA? The South. South Carolina

I'm sure you make a number of runs to the grocery store. Do you prefer paper or plastic? Plastic, but I go to the grocery store less than once a month

Let's go back a few years to when you were in elementary school. Did you have a nickname? Findog

I recently heard that caffeine is good for the body. However, I've heard the exact opposite from legitimate people too. Do you prefer tea or coffee? Coffee with extra cream and Splenda.

If you weren't at KHNM, where would you be now? Africa

Do you prefer receiving email or a real letter? Email, but a real letter every once in a while is nice.

What is your favorite time of day, and why? Early morning (6am) so much time left to produce in the day

How did you come to a saving knowledge of Christ?
I grew up being taught right from wrong, and that there was a God. I grew up going to church on
Sunday mornings and rejoicing the Sunday mornings that for whatever reason we weren’t going
because that meant more time to play outside. I grew up with amazing, loving parents who were
God-fearing people. I grew up never being forced to believe in something, just simply taught about
what my parents believed. I always felt like I had a choice. I had a choice to believe in the
Christian God or to discover something else. I remember lying in bed at night thinking there was
no reason for me to “live for God” now and that someday when I was older I would repent, accept
Jesus and be “saved.”
It was the spring of my freshman year of high school when my parents struck a deal with me,
knowing how much I disliked attending Sunday morning church. The church we were attending
had a vibrant and growing youth ministry that met Sunday nights so they decided that if I went to
youth group Sunday nights then I didn’t have to go Sunday morning with them. As excited as I was
not to attend Sunday morning, I was equally not excited to go to youth group. It was a time when I
didn’t really enjoy going places where I didn’t know anyone. It was here where I first saw kids my
age acting different. They loved each other, they cared for each other and they accepted new
people, including myself. I think that above all else this was what changed my perspective on
becoming a Christian. It was seeing life lived intentionally combined with the truth spoken that
changed my opinion on Christianity. It was then and there where I first met Jesus.
I attended Wheaton Academy, a Christian high school my junior and senior year and then Taylor
University for three years. I believe that once we are written in blood in the book of life Satan’s
main goal is to distract us. To keep us from living an intentional life. To keep us from becoming an
ordinary radical. To keep us from making a difference. To have us wake up one day when we are
65, look back and say “what did I do?” I have experienced this first hand. High school, college and
post-college in my professional career. It was a roller coaster type of spiritual life for me. In early
2006 I had one of the highs and for the first time met the Holy Spirit. I believe that the power
available to us was revealed to me for the first time, because it was the first time I ever looked for
Him. It was an amazing time that lasted for a few months before I returned to the daily grind.

It wasn’t too long ago that a good friend sat down with me and discussed these distractions. I think
that my passion for work, for success was partially a good thing. I wanted to be excellent! I want
excellence in my life and I believe we are called to it. However, the thought that being excellent for
the world and in the world can someday lead to enough power or money to affect change was my
distraction straight from Satan. It was my excuse. I have had a passion for ministry, missions and
Kingdom-expansion for years but I always told myself that I couldn’t really do anything about it until
I had enough power to money to make a difference. A lie.
This revelation was life-changing for me. Grace that has been given to me despite abusing it in the
past has changed the way I see my professional life and relationship with the Lord. The roller
coaster approach to living has been erased. Years ago I remember hearing that success and
money won’t fulfill you and we leave you only wanting more and unsatisfied but I didn’t really
believe it. It was living that life that showed me the truth. I believe that we are called to greatness;
I believe that we are called to glorify the Lord in all that we do. I also believe that I am to use my
gifts and talents for the Kingdom. I have decided that that capitalistic approach to a career isn’t
necessarily wrong; it’s just not what the Lord wants for me.

What is/are your favorite Bible verse(s)? 2 Peter 5-7

What are your hobbies and interests? Golf, working out, snow skiing

Anything else you'd like to tell us about yourself? Nope!

 

John Neff

Where were you born and where did you grow up? Where would you call "home?" Born in Chicago, grew up in Chicagoland. The Netherlands is where I would call home.

When is your Birthday? Sometime in February

Let's talk about your family. Do you have a wife, girlfriend, kids, and/or pets? Wife Lori and our 15 year old babies, K.C. and Maxwell…. Meow.

I bought a car not too long ago, but what was your first car? 1977 Mercury Monarch, Super-Manual clutch, meaning you had to pull the clutch out with your foot every time you shifted ‘cause it stuck. It also had a hole in the floor in the back seat and pretty much everything was being held together with duct tape.

Do you prefer skim or 2% Milk? 2%.....    Skim is like saying “would you like some milk with your water?”

Living in Chicago, we experience all four seasons pretty distinctly. What is your favorite thing to do on a rainy day? Watch movies.  I also like to do this on sunny days as well.

I'm sure you've traveled to various parts of the U.S. What would you say is your favorite place in the USA? Chicago

I'm sure you make a number of runs to the grocery store. Do you prefer paper or plastic? Plastic… really, who uses paper?

Let's go back a few years to when you were in elementary school. Did you have a nickname?
Nope, not until after school did I get a nickname.

I recently heard that caffeine is good for the body. However, I've heard the exact opposite from legitimate people too. Do you prefer tea or coffee? Both, the same.

If you weren't at KHNM, where would you be now? Collecting unemployment…..

Do you prefer receiving email or a real letter? Email….. Real letters get scanned into the computer and then discarded.

What is your favorite time of day, and why? Night time….. Because it’s not daytime and most people are at home…. And all the crazy people are out…. Wait, does that make me crazy?

How did you come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ? I was very young and put it all together from Sunday school and my parents example….  Fell apart towards the later end of the teen years, then got back on track just in time for  adulthood.

What is/are your favorite Bible verse(s)? Romans 3:23

What are your hobbies and interests? Video, audio, and anything in between.

Anything else you'd like to tell us about yourself? No, I’m pretty boring.