Cowboy Dave is proud of his "hillbilly" roots referring  to his growing up in the Turtle Mountains.  When asked about the name "Cowboy" David shares that the (Cowboy Dave) is a nickname, he picked up many years ago as he helped form the "Gang of Good People" a nonprofit group that formed citizen patrols and block clubs in the inner city of Minneapolis fighting drugs, violence and prostitution.

David Ronning is the son of the late Pastor Mark Ronning and Joanne Ronning who now resides in Iowa. Pastor Ronning  was the director of Camp Metigoshe between 1966 -1983.  One of his fathers many projects with the guidance of the Lutheran congregations was the Lake Side Christian Center and Adventure Anchored in Christ or Metigoshe Ministries where people experience and celebrate the gifts of God in a life together.

David's love of music and Jesus started early in life, singing in concert choir, attending classical voice lessons at Minot State college, learning how to play the guitar and singing during the camp season. He now enjoys the solitude of living with nature in the Turtle Mountains of northern North Dakota. David has written a song called "Sweet Jesus" and is currently working on a CD, hopefully to be available some time in the near future.

One of the main goals of the "Sweet Jesus" project has been to make this experience to be very "inclusive" in nature, therefore everyone can have the same experience. David shares his experiences on his web sites thru stories and blogs. The original web site www.Cowboyforchrist.com  is targeted primarily for dial up users. Its designer, Gary Wendell, did a wonderful job capturing the essence of "Sweet Jesus" that can be enjoyed and viewed  with those that do not have high speed internet connection. Just recently David has created a high speed site,  www.cowboy4christ.com that is able to play the complete concert video that Gary filmed at the Lakeside Christian Center. Both web sites play the song to be enjoyed by all that come to the web sites and from the very beginning the focus has been to make this powerful song available to any that wish to listen.

Another section of the web site is devoted to blogging" his Mountain man "Walking Close to God" experience in the woods.  Cowboy Dave updates the blog daily by sharing his day to day adventures, heating and cooking with wood, cutting and bringing in wood, bringing water up from the lake, bathing in a wood fired hot tub and sauna and his famous "Outhouse prayers" while living simple life reminiscent of the early "hill folk".  "We hope you enjoy the "Sweet Jesus, Cowboy4christ Experience" and  his web site at Cowboy 4 Christ