PROV 3:6 “IN ALL THY WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM AND HE SHALL DIRECT THY PATHS.”

      I’m not sure I believe in writing a “bio” section about myself. On one hand, I really believe that we are supposed to “humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up.” So, my hope is that you will be more interested in our project here than you ever will about me. On the other hand, I’m a pilot…formerly a fighter pilot in the Air Force.

      The old story goes like this: the young fighter pilot was impressing a young lady with all the amazing feats he had accomplished as the “greatest pilot in the world.” At the end of one particularly long tale, he realized he was losing her interest. He responded with, “enough about flying, let’s talk about me!”

      Above everything else, I amazed at how much the Lord has blessed my life…far beyond my talents and far greater than I ever deserved. Without bragging too much, let me see if I can summarize how I got here.

      I grew up in the home of a preacher and pastor, Don Matthews. I learned so much from him about the Bible, preaching, teaching and becoming a man. I left home at 18 to attend the U.S. Air Force Academy. Four years later, I graduated and married the love of my life, Cheryl Kay Meurer.

Yep, that is my very red hair that stayed with me for most of my young life! Cheryl and I traveled around the world for the Air Force. While attending pilot training at Vance AFB in Oklahoma, I discovered that one of my greatest passions in life was flying. I spent many years in the Air Force as an instructor pilot, fighter pilot in the F-111, and even flew a couple of British jets for the RAF on one of two tours in England. It was during those years I was in the Air Force that I received training in speaking and writing and fell in love with them both. I was also a commander and operations officer, learning all the leadership skills the Air Force could teach me.

One thing a good fighter pilot swears is that he will never become a “heavy driver.” Sure enough, after 23 years in the Air Force, United Parcel Service offered me a deal I couldn’t refuse. I spent the next 22 years flying Boeing 727s, big heavy MD11s around the world and retired in 2017 as a captain in the Airbus A300. Despite my reluctance to be associated with “heavy” pilots, let alone cargo pilots, my years at UPS proved to be some of the most enjoyable years of my life.

I started preaching my freshman year at the Academy and have been preaching and teaching for the last fifty years or so. I learned a lot of technical writing in the Air Force, but this is my first time to attempt a self-published book.       While I was at UPS, I also got involved in politics. I was the mayor of a little town, Greenville, Indiana, a precinct committeeman and am currently a township board member. While serving as the County Republican Party Chairman for twelve years, I led our party and county back to Republican dominance in elections and conducted numerous public events. The photo above was taken of our Governor and subsequent Vice President Mike Pence one of the times he spoke at our Lincoln Day Dinner. We were auctioning off a flight in my private airplane and had a pair of sunglasses to present to the winner. When I introduced Mike, he put the glasses on and posed as my own private secret service agent. Mike is a great man.

I come from a big family. I had four brothers growing up, Dan, Dale, Duane and Darren. Duane passed away from cancer at an early age and my mom, Doris shown above, just recently went home to be with the Lord. Cheryl gets most of the credit for raising our four children so well. Chris, Andrea, Josh and Nathanael are all adults leading great lives and loving the Lord.

I retired after my last flight as a captain at UPS in 2017. I still fly my own planes as often as I can and love still doing acrobatics in that little RV4. However, age is catching up with me and the one thing I have learned is that getting older isn’t for “sissies.”

It may be hubris or maybe just the desire for another challenge. But I feel like I still have some things to say, I like writing and I hope the Lord gives me enough time to complete this project. As I said in my intro, I have always loved memorizing the Word, recalling it at critical and important times and continuously applying its truths to my life. I have to think there are lots of other Christians out there who either already know that or might just have a hunger for more of the Word that can only come through hiding it in their hearts.       Whatever the Lord decides to do with “Hide the Word” it is His Word, they are His life lessons He wants us to learn and at least I will enjoy continuing to commit them to my memory for all the times He wants to use them in my life. I hope you will too. He has certainly proven many times that He blesses us way beyond what we deserve. I hope He blesses you too!         God bless,           Dave Matthews

   Return to Contents