Chase was born in the bustling metropolis known as Aberdeen, South Dakota at the age of 0. He was raised in what he would describe as a “nominally” Christian household at the time. His family attended the Catholic Church on Sundays, but throughout the rest of the week Jesus was rarely brought up in conversation, if ever.
Chase grew up living together with his mom, grandma and grandpa (moms side), sister, and uncle. His parents had separated when he was very young. He would go on to move several times with his mom and sister. The first move was to Wahpeton, North Dakota where they lived for two years, just long enough for Chase to graduate with high honors from Preschool and Kindergarten. From there they packed their bags and moved to Fargo, North Dakota. During this time, Chase and his family rarely went to church and almost never talked about Jesus. Chase didn’t even know who Jesus was or what he had done.
Chase has described his spiritual journey at this time as a “slow burn”. Looking back, he can see a few events in his life, prior to coming to Christ, that seemed like a work of the Spirit. This spiritual journey towards Christ started when he was in 8th Grade. During that time his sister started dating her now husband Cody. Cody invited Chase’s family to attend Church with him. Chase’s mom began bringing him and his sister to this new church called Sovereign Grace. Sovereign Grace was a Southern Baptist Church and Chase was amazed at how different it was from the Catholic Church. To his surprise, he finally understood what the pastor was saying! By God’s grace, it seemed Chase’s mom was saved almost right away. She had discovered a zeal about Christ that she brought into her everyday life. Chase’s life now went from not caring or talking about Christ to hearing the gospel preached every Sunday, and nearly everyday of the week from his mom.
As Chase continued through school, now attending Church regularly, he noticed that there was an underlying desire to know Christ and to love Him. However, Chase was still too in love with this world. Battling with addiction to video games and pornography, Chase’s affections for Christ never grew and he only thought of God as a judgemental deity despite hearing the Gospel repeated so often in his life.
Chase tells the following story as one of the main acts of the Spirit at this time in his life. “I came home from Church one Sunday and was filled with anger and irritation because I wanted to stop going to Church so I could play video games instead. I didn’t like waking up early. It was at this moment, when I was alone in my room, that I verbally said to no one ‘I don’t even believe in God!’ And oh boy, I have felt fear in my life before but this was a different fear that overtook me. I started weeping and then said, ‘No I can’t say that! God is real!’ I then began weeping because I didn’t know what to do.” Chase attributes the fear he felt in that moment to the Spirit warning him of his need for Jesus Christ. “Without Christ, I knew I would suffer the punishment for my sins in Hell.”
Chase’s life didn’t truly change much from that event, but looking back he can still see a deep rooted desire for Christ that was hidden in the bedrock of his soul. However, his life would continue to look the same; addicted to video games and porn, trying by his own might to save himself, and not really caring about Christ. It wasn’t until his sophomore year at DSU that he would encounter Christ and finally see his need for a savior.
During Chase’s sophomore year in college, he had become acquainted with a woman whom he very much liked. He continued to pursue this woman because she began showing romantic interest in Chase. This was the first time in his life that a woman had shown this kind of affection towards him. Chase, being all-wise in his own eyes, decided to throw all his eggs in one basket. He became emotionally dependent upon this girl and began to idolize her. This led to a whole month of anxiety centering around whether or not they would end up dating. During that month, Chase threw up every morning in the shower, completely nervous that he might ruin things with this girl. Eventually, the girl told Chase she wasn’t interested in him. Chase’s life, and everything he had cared about for the past few months, had been completely destroyed.
Following this devastating life event, Chase became extremely depressed and overwhelmingly angry, bitter, and resentful towards this girl. His mom would call him every day and talk for hours. The calls usually consisted of him crying his eyes out, cursing this girl, and Chase’s mom preaching the gospel to him patiently and pointedly. His least favorite part about these calls were that his mom was making him confront his own sin. She was using the Gospel to reveal the true deadness of his heart. One night, while on the phone with his mom, Chase asked her what to do. Chase’s mom told him to get on his knees and pray, asking for forgiveness because Jesus is here to forgive our sins and give us life. Chase did just that. He got on his knees, wept, and cried out, “God please help me, forgive me.” It was then that he felt much better, like a weight was lifted off of him. It was that moment that changed his life forever.
During college, Chase began attending West Center Baptist Church and has now been attending for 5 years, married a beautiful woman named Anna, and continues to seek after Christ and grow in holiness! He is very thankful for all the people who have helped him in his spiritual journey. Pastor Sam and Pastor Scott from Sovereign Grace poured into him during his time in middle and high school and still continue to provide spiritual guidance. Pastor Justin and Pastor Trevor at West Center Baptist have helped Chase mature spiritually by giving him opportunities to serve the Church and by pouring into him through preaching and discipleship. Kyle Steffen from CRU discipled Chase for a year and helped him see the importance of leading others spiritually. The amazing friends he has made in Church and at School have been a constant source of encouragement and have been good company on this pilgrimage. Chase’s mom continues to preach the gospel to Chase even when it hurts his pride.
In February of 2022, Noah and his pal Chase launched The Pontification Pals Podcast with the hope of bringing deep Gospel truths to Madison and the surrounding area.