My Journey of Faith

In my own spiritual journey, countless people, events, churches, songs, books, sermons and ideas have shaped my beliefs. The path that has led me to my present state has been quite an adventure. I’m still a work in progress (and always will be on this side of heaven), so I’ll use this paper as a means to outline where I’ve been, where I am and where I’m going by the grace of God.
I grew up as what I refer to as an “accidental spiritual anthropologist”. I know that seems like a strange, self-imposed title, so let me explain. My family moved around quite a bit during my formative years and each time we landed in a new location, we would start the process of finding a new church. My parents always gravitated to the places where they connected most with the people, so they never seemed overly concerned about “brand loyalty” towards a particular denomination. As a result, I grew up as a charismatic Assemblies of God, Nazarene, Baptist, Non-denominational Christian.
I suppose that this type of bouncing around should have caused a spiritual schizophrenia in my young mind, but on the contrary, I believe that God ordained this eclectic path to bring me a more holistic picture of His Kingdom and His purposes. I didn’t realize how I was being shaped by these vast and varied experiences at the time, but now I find that I am able to have natural and comfortable conversations about spiritual matters with nearly anyone. I believe that my journey has given me a very unique perspective and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.
While my church background has been a huge aspect of my own spiritual formation, it pales in comparison to the impact my faith has had as a result of growing up with two very Godly parents. My Mom and Dad gave roots to my faith in many ways. They modeled the Christian walk and they lived (and continue to live) with integrity and purpose in all aspects of their lives. They gave me a solid foundation and I’m so thankful to have been raised and discipled by such sincere Christians.