I’ve spent the past 25 years speaking and writing about how to Live Well. Sometimes I believe that I am too oblique about how strongly my faith guides my life. Today I was reminded of the important of clearly communicating about where I stand.
I am a Christian.
I am a pastor.
God, my Father, started a small church, a gathering of intense believers through the ministry of my wife and myself. Early on, dear friends and personal disciples Chris Delaney and Matthew Porter joined my side to see what God would do through us.
We are now into year 12 of this ministry, Numinous Inc, and 10 years as a functioning community of faith.
I want you to live well, to learn how to navigate life successfully. Whether you are a Christian or not, I believe that I can help you. My writing tries to steer you towards a path of success. Yet, at the end of the day, the most important thing I can tell you is to find truth in the words of Jesus Christ. God does indeed have a wonderful plan that involves your life. It is hard. It is intense. It can cause many tears or times of deep introspection. In some senses, it is like a war; Jesus himself talks at length about the deep struggle that the spiritual life will entail.
Yet, I believe this is the path of life. It is the only true way to live for something larger than yourself. Yes, there are wonderful things you can participate in, Christian or not, that helps others. And yes, that is living life larger than yourself. However, at the end of life, seeing the face of God through redeemed eyes is the only thing that will really make all of life make sense.
Today, all three of my daughters made an open profession of their own faith in God through Jesus Christ with their baptism into the faith. As young girls, they have grown up under the umbrella of a family of faith—just as my sister and I did. Today, they have taken a clear step as thinking young adults, teens, to claim this faith as their own.
I hope you have that experience. I want you to know the same things that I know.
I would love to tell you more or try to answer any questions you have about this path of life that I have chosen. I didn’t come to this easy. In fact, I should blog about that journey as it may help others. My own struggle of faith has led me to search for answers and proof, things that I am confident I have found. There have been pointed and clear times when I was seriously ready to turn by back on the Christian faith. Yet, my investigation led me to answers, to what I believe is intellectual and logic proof that goes “hand in hand” with faith. So, if you are curious, I think I can answer your questions or concerns.
I don’t want to argue with you. I don’t plan to twist your arm, emotionally or intellectually. I just want you to see what I have seen. And, if in the end, you choose to disagree with me, we can still be friends. We can still work together in you finding the best possible path to Live Well.
We are on an interesting path as a nation and perhaps a world. I have no idea if the world is ending. I don’t pretend to tell you that “you’d better get right with God or you’ll get left.” I think it is highly probable that we’ll all still be here 40 years or 400 years from now. My faith is that I know who holds the future. But, as we live through whatever is to come, I do not believe that my faith and connection to God will somehow protect me from “whatever.” Rather, that faith gives me hope to stand, makes my life make sense.
I hope you’d like to chat about it.