I think the greatest introduction I ever received was at a conference when my friend and spiritual mentor introduced me as a "recovering moron."
I quickly grew to appreciate the truthful significance of that introduction and I have made it a standing introduction from then on.
I was born Lance E. Nielsen in September of 1972. Angel Dean is actually a nickname I was given when I was going to college in Denver. They called me "Angel" because I didn't hide the fact that I was a Christian, and the "Dean" tag came from my friend who also knew I had the heart of a rebel, like the movie star "James Dean."
I chose to perform and record under this name to remind me that I am both spirit and flesh? a work in progress. Plus, I think it sounds cooler then "Lance Leather Pants" which is the other nickname my friends tried to brand onto me. Yes, I used to wear leather pants earlier on in my career.
I had my first encounter with God in a dream when I was only four years old, while I was growing up in a small house in Sioux Falls, SD. I was too young to understand the calling on my life at that time, though I never forgot the vivid and haunting realness of my dream, which didn't even begin to make sense until much later in my life.
My upbringing was pretty normal for kids in South Dakota. I had a loving family that included my mom, dad and three sisters. Unfortunately, like most families, my folks got a divorce when I was in the second grade. Both parents did the best they could, given the circumstances of the time. As newly single parents they found themselves working twice as hard to make ends meet, which left me with a lot of time to myself.
I began to spend more and more time away from home, hanging out with my friends and just being a kid. Over the years I started to be heavily influenced by the people with whom I hung out. Even in grade school I remember testing boundaries by stealing and hurting other little kids through twisted games and cruel jokes.
By the time I hit junior high, I was rebelling against most authority figures and became angry and then power hungry. I wanted something more then what I could see or touch, something that would give me the ability to control my own destiny. By this time, I really started resenting my life.
When I was approaching high school, I started dabbling in psychic phenomenon. By age 16, I was in trouble with the police for stealing, I had lost most of my friends and was officially flunking out of school. I was no longer living at home, instead I was living with my alcohol buyer. I remember him sitting around smoking dope from a crushed Coca- Cola can while encouraging me to read the Satanic Bible and practice witchcraft.
My parents had no choice and took me to court to place me in foster care. That's when I hit rock bottom.
About six months after being placed in a foster home I had made the decision to end this chaos and commit suicide. I thought, "You know, if there is a God in Heaven I hate him for making my life what it is."
Late in the evening of March 23, while the snow was still falling, I called the only friend I had left in the world, and she was a Christian. She picked me up because I needed a ride out to a Dam that was close by, where I was going to kill myself. I was going to jump from the causeways so I would not be able to chicken out and swim back to shore before hyperthermia would set in.
I know now the Holy Spirit was speaking intensely to her because she took me instead to a church. There I was introduced to a crazy youth minister named Dave Kinsman and his friend Janine Kern who was an assistant attorney general at the time. They were hosting a lock-in retreat at the church for junior high kids. By the end of that night I experienced something miraculous. I encountered God? The one true God!
It was in that moment God reminded me of the calling He placed on my life when I was only four years old. Of course, I am leaving out all the sweet points of my conversion until we meet in person.
Now, I had no time for Christian fads or nice lofty spiritual ideals. On the contrary, I was on a mission to find out if God was who He said He was? or He wasn't. I tested God through His own promises in scriptures for months to see if He really was a God of miracles. How could this same God love a man who once chose to be his enemy? I was baffled. It went against everything I ever knew, but God continued to reveal himself until I was unconditionally convinced.
So I committed the remainder of my life to helping people find their way to the loving arms of Christ. I have dedicated my life to breaking the chains that bind us and to remind people of their potential in Christ Jesus. I am simply called to love and encourage my brothers and sisters.
I have now lived more years with Christ then without Him, and the life that Christ has granted me is far greater then even the hopes of my wildest imagination. The countless miracles and amazing opportunities, not to mention the outrageously gifted and talented individuals I have met along the way, are far greater then the life I once chose for myself.
Because of this, I always say, "We only get one life, why waste it chasing after things and stuff which don't matter in the end, why not spend it chasing the author of dreams and live life to the fullest!"