Well lets see, the basics. I am 26 years old and I am from the Northern Virginia area. I work full time as a data architect, and go to school at Reformed Theological Seminary. I have a deep love for God’s Word and communicating its truth to others.
When I’m not working or going to school, I also really enjoy good music (non-pop Christian alternative, Christian Hip Hop, swing, big band, 90’s alternative..). When my body isn’t completely broken, I love working out and competitive kick boxing.
I have a three year old lab named Beau, and he is my best friend (other than my wife). I am married to the most beautiful woman that I absolutely do not deserve; she is my encourager and partner-in-crime.
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I struggle with how much information to put on this page. Do I add personal information, or stick with the basics? I feel that some of “my story” is relevant to the direction of this blog, so I’ve contained the bare essentials in the following paragraphs.
I was born and raised in the great state of South Dakota. My home town growing up had roughly 20,000 people in it - when school was in session. It was a great little town, and I have fond memories of long drives through endless fields of soybeans and summer afternoons eating ice cream at the Zesto stand.
At the age of ten, my parents made the move from South Dakota to Washington D.C. I guess at the time I was still young enough for this not to have a huge impact on me. We settled in the Northern Virginia area, and it quickly became home for me.
This is the Beau-man. He’s a beast.
The following year, my parents were divorced. The year after that, my older brother (who had just turned 30) fell into a deep depression and we lost him to suicide in 2000. He was a tireless humanitarian, working as a peace keeper during the Bosnian peace negotiations, working on the Native American reservations to establish reading programs, and countless other efforts in the greater DC area. His overwhelming care for the individual has had profound impact on the course of my life.
I was raised ELCA Lutheran, and I could count the number of Sundays I missed church until the age of 16 on two hands. I was actively involved in the youth group, going on all the mission trips, playing in the church band and the whole nine yards. I’m not sure if the two churches I grew up in never took the time to explain the gospel and the Christian faith to me, or if I genuinely just didn’t care. I think it was probably a mixture of both. Either way, I am confident that if you had asked me at the age of 16 what the gospel was - I probably would’ve failed to be able to tell you, despite my very active attendance at church.
During my senior year in high school, two of my pastors were accused of some pretty hefty charges that left me devastated. I do not know the full details of those charges, but I do know it was enough to convince an already angry teenager that the Christian faith couldn’t be real. I hit the age old question like a Big Rig with no breaks - how could a loving God allow bad things to happen to good people?
So just like that, I was out. Atheism seemed like the most admirable choice, perhaps on a good day I thought I was agnostic. All roads must lead to the same place. Every body has a little bit of the truth, and when we are all nice to each other everything ends up working out. I thoroughly believed I had the market cornered on truth.
The next four years in college were a pretty radical shift for me. I discovered alcohol the summer after high school, and the lusts of the flesh were simply too much for me to ignore. Without going into saturated detail, I can say that I most closely relate my lifestyle to the works of the flesh in Galatians 5:19-21. The pursuit of those things dominated my life for four years. During this time, I began to have solid Christians speaking into my life. I did of course think they were all crazy. I remember going to a service with a friend once where everyone had their Bibles out taking notes on the sermon - unlike anything I’d ever seen before - surely these people must all be brainwashed!
This lifestyle did not stop after college. I graduated and began working in the software field making excellent money for a 21 year old. The number of Christian influences increased at this time, and I had more and more people taking me to church. Truth be told, I was really only doing it to impress a girl. I’ll go, I’ll sing some songs - that’s what it’s all about right?
That all changed in the summer of 2010. After a night of “works-of-fleshing”, I was in a make-it or break-it mindset on God. Unlike similar mornings waking up from a debaucherous night, this time was different. I realized I didn’t enjoy it anymore, and in fact it actually pained me. My soul weighed heavy with a guilt I’d never felt before. I arose that Sunday morning thinking that I would go to church and get this whole God thing settled once and for all.
Now, keep in mind that for the few years leading up to this night I’d had numerous people speaking the love of Christ and the gospel into my life. It never resonated with me. But on this night, it was like Paul on his bed in Damascus “..And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight” (Acts 9:18, ESV). I’ll never forget the sermon that was preached that night - not only was it on the very sins I’d committed the night before, but it completely reflected my outlook on life. As long as I’m not “that bad”, I’ll be OK right? Wrong. Like an unquenchable flame the truth of the gospel was made known to me (this, by the way, is one of the reasons why I so closely associate myself with the doctrines of grace).
Since 2010, God through his faithfulness and the indwelling of his Spirit has brought about a complete life change in me. My wants, desires, and actions have completely changed. I was never much of a reader or academic, but a deep hunger for God’s Word and theology began to grow. In the summer of 2011, I was called to step into part time Kids ministry at my church. It was here that God not only validated the internal call he had placed on my life, but also the external call through others at my church. Like Paul, God had revealed Christ to me and completely altered my way of living. Where I was once an unreconciled enemy of God, I am now to go and preach the gospel to all the world through the gifts he has endowed me with.
And that is, how they say, the cookie crumbled. At the beginning I said this would be “my story”. The truth is, “my story” is merely a miniscule part of God’s greater redemptive story working in and through my life.
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I am old enough to have been raised in the ALC; this joined with the LCA and ELC to form the ELCA. I left a few years after the merger, primarily because there was no “there” there. I often refer to ELCA as “Lutheran Lite” — it’s certainly less filling. So I am not surprised that you grew up without a good foundation in the basic tenets, because the ELCA doesn’t actually teach much. I never found another Lutheran sect that “matched” what I’d come to believe after long study. The closest I came was the LCMS. Their main saving grace (no pun intended) is that they will forthrightly tell you what they believe, and they will explain _why_ they believe it. You may not agree with them (I don’t), but you’ll understand them. It’s also why almost every LCMS congregation has a school attached; they believe in teaching above all. But I’m glad your path brought you to His presence; I believe that is the _reason_ there are so many denominations. God comes to us in whatever form allows us to find Him. And like the widow who lost her coin, He sometimes trashes our entire house looking for us.
Jeff,
I routinely pray for the ELCA. I have fond memories of friends growing up in that church, but I’ve been increasingly saddened as I learn more about the direction they are headed. Many people speak negatively about denominations, but I am thankful for them as they allow us to settle in a place where our convictions are at ease…so long as we still understand and teach that we are all united in Christ and the gospel. I am grateful for the LCMS. They are on the list of denominations I would happily send people to if they were looking for a local church.
The direction the ELCA is headed was apparent to me not more than two years after the merger. I attended the Synod Convention in LA as one of two lay representatives for our congregation. And by listening to the discussions in the meetings, I learned that 1) the merged church was deeply divided (ALC was fairly conservative, and ELC was so liberal as to be nearly atheist), and 2) the leadership had some very specific doctrines they wanted to establish, none of which I agreed with and most of which were incompatible with Luther’s teachings.
I still can’t believe the LCMS allowed me on the Board of Elders, because I made no bones about my disagreements with official teachings. They believe in withholding Communion from those who the Pastor decides aren’t worthy. (Which, in my book, sort of defeats the whole _purpose_ of the Sacrament .) And I was foursquare behind the ordination of females, which is nearly heresy to the LCMS. Surprisingly, I was welcomed and appreciated as an Elder anyway. I suspect the local congregations are far less doctrinaire than the Synod itself.
Speaking of Luther, I see you have his commentary on Galatians on your reading list. I would add to that his commentary on Romans, as it’s really the crux of his teachings. His epiphany came while pondering one verse in Romans. While in the privy, which has been excavated as an historical site, since this essentially began the Protestant Reformation.
And if you want a real peek at Luther, you _have_ to read “Table Talk”. These are a collection of his teachings to his family while at the dinner table. It is very, uh, “earthy”; but it covers matters that he wouldn’t have put into a formal manuscript so there are lots of good things tucked away.