AWESOME GOD, ORDINARY MAN

I am a child of God, a husband and a father. If you are or aspire to be any or all of those, this book is for you. It’s taken years to complete because my journey as a Christian has taken years to develop to the point that I have been able to connect all that I have read in the Bible to my every day and to my responsibilities as a child of God, a husband and a father. In the beginning, it was intended as a testimony for myself. I needed some way to collect all of the thoughts that were buzzing around in my brain, particularly early in my faith journey. As I continued to build, it morphed into a testimony for my children. Something to hold close as they venture into adulthood and begin taking on these same responsibilities. But I found as I was assembling this material that it became valuable in every day conversations with anyone. At that point, it occurred to me that my story might also be valuable to people outside of my tight little circle.
Navigating the cultural philosophy that we have created for ourselves is confusing to say the least. Words don’t mean what they once meant. Offense is taken first and furiously and turned into the club we beat each other with. We don’t presume the best intentions anymore. We presume that people have agendas and will try to hurt us if we let them. So, we beat them to the punch and assume hurt that isn’t there. Why? Because we think life is hard. It’s not, if we are dependent upon God to steer us through the minefield and if we trust that God will protect us when those mines explode. They will explode. The question is, how will we respond when they do?
Christians will be judged, belittled, persecuted and extirpated from a society that has moved on. Publicly decrying our faith is risky business these days. The Bible, written thousands of years ago, has been called irrelevant today and we who adhere to it are becoming more outcast. America is still a predominantly faithful country, but the faithless are louder and more persistent than we and their voices are being heard more than ours. They think as a people that we are entirely different than the characters in that old book and the world we live in today is entirely different than it was back then. Not so. All we have to do is read it and we’ll see that we aren’t nearly as evolved as we think we are.
I’m just an ordinary man doing ordinary things, trying to live an ordinary life. My growth as a Christian continues and it will until the day that God calls me home. While I believe in exceptionalism and exceptional people, I don’t aspire to be one of them. This book is not an effort to enter that category. It’s nothing more than an opportunity to share my faith with those willing to listen and, God willing, help them both navigate the anxieties of this world and defend their faith first to themselves and then to others. Otherwise, I prefer to trust in God, live quietly and go about my business as though my life is mine to live. Because it is. And it’s easier than you think.