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Biography (courtesy of Forefront Records)

eLi was born and raised in southern California. His dad left home in eLi's early childhood and he grew up in a blended family with his mother and stepfather who tried their best to instill values that he strongly rebelled against. "I attempted a career as a runaway, became an addict using both alcohol and drugs and looked for validation in everything and everyone but whom I was truly created for." ELi says.

"I know what it is to be hungry and I know what it is like to brush your teeth in a public water fountain. I am the guy who says out loud what everybody else is thinking but too afraid to say. I am your brother, your son, the guy next door or the homeless punk on the street you pray your daughter never brings home."

He is Abba's child. Saved, loved, forgiven, and sanctified. He knows there are many who thought He would never make it this far, including himself. "I am in my thirties now. I still laugh at things I shouldnt, shop at thrift stores, and I still want peanut M&M's for breakfast or cherry licorice bits depending on what day it is."

A friend's mother from the church he was attending by the time he was 20 handed him a guitar and suggested that he write and play music. He thought to himself, oh yes, right after I finish building the space shuttle. But he picked up that guitar and he took it home and started playing. He really only wanted to worship God with it. It just came to him. Eli has a talent for writing and communicating beautifully through song.

As eLi says, "In life it takes a lot of manure to grow a beautiful rosebush. God has the ability to transform our lives and purify us through what happens to us everyday and though it's rough at times, it's incredible to feel and notice the change that is taking place in my life. It is my hope to always share with you who and what I am, warts and all." He is a grown man who continues to grow and reach toward his heavenly Father. Any who experience eLi live or through his music are blessed to take part in his journey.

"My first CD on Forefront Records, Things I Prayed For was a hopeful revelation. My second CD, Second Hand clothing, was therapy of sorts. My last studio release, Now the News, brought forth a mixture of what I see and what I think against the backdrop of Media Vs God's Word. We are shaped by what we see, by what we read, what we do, say, and listen to."

Eli's take on the songs:

I know that God is bigger and far more reaching than the church. He is working everywhere in every situation. I find myself saying to Him, "Never knew you looked like that, God!" Would you still be Jesus' friend and servant if everyone else turned their back on Him and His truth? The song "Some Say" is my hope and prayer to my Savior, telling Him that even if none go with me…still I will follow.

We are all "Beggars" at some point or another in our lives. Unworthy and broken with no way to put our selves back together. "At the Master's Feet" we find soothing ointment called Grace and Forgiveness that God offers the disheveled and awkward ones the world forgets. "Better Day" and "Million Bucks" rejoice in the fact that as followers of Jesus Christ our joy can be bigger than our circumstances. Faith is the evidence of things hoped for but not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

After traveling the United States and abroad it has become clearer than ever to me that we are all just "Pilgrims" here. Jesus is waiting and preparing our home as we wait to enter our final rest. Until then, I will share with you some advice I received that cut me to the core…"Do What You Said You Would Do." The Bible says faith without works is dead. (James 2:17) So, if I say I am a disciple of Christ but I dont obey his commands, then I am a liar.

What are His commands? To love, feed, serve, and to "Do." We have built enough churches, made enough money, and have sung enough songs. We are running out of excuses as to why we cant do the work of a disciple. Now the News is for me to put up or shut up…and I cannot be silent. I will sing these songs as a testimony of God's great love and calling on each of our lives. Now may God always be glorified as we serve Him and give Him all the glory and honor, whether in private or in public I am called to give my life, crucify the flesh, and live a holy and acceptable life as a living sacrifice, pleasing to God.

I'm moving forward. I want to get old one day. I want my skin to catch up with my experiences," he says. "I want to continue to drink of life." To do that, he picks up where the liner notes of Second Hand Clothing left off. There he left a message for fans—"To everyone who has ever fallen down, I pray that you remember to get back up and keep running." Without even realizing it, eLi has done just that. "I've learned a lot. I have lived a hundred lives. There are things I'm not proud of, but…good has come from everything, and that strengthens my faith." Now that's a story worth telling.

eLi's last studio release Now the News was a challenge to take a second look at the world in which we live…the things that influence usand, perhaps most of all, our own decisions and actions. "We've come to a time and place where people aren't thinking for themselves. I see the slants on TV and radio—it's like, wheres the truth in any of this? I'm appalled at what people believe sometimes."

Now the News, is an album that places God's word against the backdrop of the ever-present media of the new millennium. "We are shaped by what we read, listen to, say and do," eLi explains.

His fear is that the media has become so pervasive that we turn to it for direction and guidance, even though we know both can only truly be found in God. "I'm someone searching for the truth," says eLi as he encourages the rest of us to do the same. "This is the real world—get in there and mix it up a little."

I am just asking, if a news anchor tells us "stock in Jesus is falling," should we blindly beLieve it? eLi suggests we get a better grasp on our perspective and learn to use it or lose it.