I’ve been a Christian since I was a sophomore in high school in the days of disco music – that was a long time ago. In the years since, I have served in multiple roles in para-church organizations and in various church positions. I have been married for over 25 years. We have four grown children and two grandchildren. I am a chemical engineer by training and experience and now work as safety manager for my company. My passion is to see people truly free by experiencing the power of transformation as they enter into a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ.
By now you would have thought that I would be pretty good at this Christian gig. I should have the jargon right, the look right, the politics right and the life right. What I’ve discovered is that I am a deeply flawed Christian. I keep wondering when I’m going to grow up and get my act together. I’ve also discovered that this thing we call the Christian life is more of a journey than a destination. Sure at some point we end up in heaven, but until then we are a work in progress and the more we embrace the Christian life as a journey the easier it is to deal with the bumps, roadblocks and detours along the way. I call this the Journey to the Center of the Soul. It is based on a book by a 17th century Christian woman named Jeanne Guyon. At the center of our soul is a Person and the journey there is a growing, living relationship with that Person.
What I want is a genuine, rubber-meets-the road kind of Christian life. I’m not interested in just going through the motions. Faith has to be real. It has to deal with the reality of life – the good and the bad. I don’t buy into the notion that if we just say we are happy and say that everything is good that it really is. Sometimes – a lot of the time – life isn’t so pretty and pretending that it is just doesn’t do justice to people’s reality or the Bible. I think that Jesus was a realist. He dealt with people where they were, as they were. He told them the truth. He used words and stories that people could understand. He never promised easy, instead He promised to be with us.
So my journey in this blog is simply an attempt think through what it means to pursue a genuine relationship with Christ; to share what I’ve learned and to continue to learn; to express Biblical truths in a way that is practical, real and maybe even helpful. This is my Journey to the Center of the Soul. Join me.
Like your Header! That looks like a bicycle path in a park, very inviting to start on a journey of discovery.
You do sound like me! Wishing I wasn’t so deeply flawed, but I am.
In some ways I probably have a harder time accepting it than God does. I keep wishing I could reform/explain/hide those flaws; He knows Jesus can erase them “whiter than snow.” We’ve read Jeanne Guyon’s book, too.
Yeah, I love that picure too. It is so comforting. Some of the saints of old were so wise. I love Guyon. I’m currently reading “The Dark Night of the Soul” by St John of the Cross. A bit more difficult to get through but well worth the effort.