Ruben Chavira has been saved and an avid student of the bible since 1989. He is a veteran Marine and a retired Police Officer as well as an usher at his church for over 20 years. He was instrumental in helping to improve the Usher's Ministry, creating an Usher's Manual and an Emergency Procedure's Manual as well as creating his churches emergency response team.
Further having drawn on life experience and drawing on scripture he has taken up the task of sharing scripture and what it means in today's world to any and all who will take the time to listen.
He was born in El Paso, Texas to Mexican immigrants but his family moved to the Los Angeles area before he was a year old so he knows very little of Texas. He was raised in South Central Los Angeles during tumultuous times which included the 1965 Watts riots. He left Los Angeles when he joined the United States Marine Corps in 1971. While in the Corps he served on both U.S. coasts then closed out his career spending a year and a half in Sasebo, Japan, a Naval base about 50 miles from Nagasaki.
He attained the rank of Sergeant and was awarded the Navy Marine Corps Medal, the highest award for heroism one can receive in the Naval service without being in combat. He feels it was an honor receiving such a prestigious award, though to this day he only remembers snippets of the events he was credited with performing, Although he received such a prestigious award he believes it was more of an honor to be made a Sergeant of Marines.
Upon completing his military service he returned to the family home in Los Angeles. He quickly got a job as a public transit bus operator and soon moved out of L.A. and spent the next few years in the South East Cities area of Los Angeles County, suburbs of L.A. After 7 years of driving a bus he attained a desire he’d had since leaving the Corps, He became a Police Officer. He spent two years as a Transit Police officer then transferred to the wonderful City of Pasadena, moving to the San Gabriel Valley area northeast of Los Angeles. 20 years later he retired due to injuries sustained on the job, something not unusual for a working policeman.
After retiring he started spending a lot of time with an obscure hobby he had, writing. For several years he had written a column for his police association newsletter titled "Musings", obscure thoughts and ideas he had heard or thought of. He had also written several short stories which he never published. He finally stretched a short story into his first book, a novelette, “In This Is Love”, a modern day depiction of the sacrifice of the Good Friday story, which he published in 2005. In 2015 he released his second book, “No Turning Back: The Road to Salvation”, an inspirational evangelical book designed to bring people to know who God really is. He is currently working on a third book.
He also spends a lot of time serving at his church as an Usher using the skills he learned as a Marine and Police Officer to enhance and provide security and comfort at the church.
Ruben is also an avid firearms enthusiast and instructor. He founded the Christian Firearms Fellowship in 2005 holding group shooting events 3 times a year at the Burro Canyon Shooting Park in Azusa, California
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Ruben is available for books signings or consulting on Church security/ushers ministry by contacting him via E-mail at [email protected] or Face Book at Ruben Chavira.