New Life'n : May I join you?

I'm an alcoholic who drank for fourteen years and who's been married to a woman for over thirty years who stayed with me thru the drinking. That's her on the left; Brenda -- she's worth knowing way more than me, but she doesn't like to draw attention to herself, so I won't. At age 35 I miraculously stopped drinking and then was rescued by Jesus Christ two years later (you can read all that HERE).

I've been part of morning radio shows for over twenty years, and have served churches during that time as a teacher and elder. I'm an unordained, uncredentialed, unschooled, ordinary guy who comes from a long line of ministering laymen. From that heritage of one-on-one discipleship I learned to try to be an example of an everyday Christian applying orthodox doctrine and biblical thinking to things that affect everyday living.

I was taught to take responsibility for my own growth and influence, and to take that responsibility seriously, so I suppose it's normal that I'm motivated to try do the same thing with others. I think the main way I can do that is to help you the same way I was helped. That is, to develop insight into the Bible, insight into people, and insight into the world, and to help you integrate those insights into a lifestyle of influence that will be a blessing to God, to your family, your church, yourself and the world. That's pretty much the kind of thing you've been reading on this blog, especially the last two months; I just haven't put it into words until now. But it seems only fair to tell you that's what I'm up to, so you can decide if you're interested, and also to warn you I'm going to try to be a bit more purposeful in that. Not much will change, but sometimes you may notice more of a theme, and of course everything you see here is from the point of view of the unschooled, ordinary guy.

It's easy to think if you're not officially accredited, licensed or endorsed that your influence and contribution is somehow less important. Since it seems less important, it's easy to cheat yourself and others by not taking your influence and potential contribution seriously. What a shame. There's only one you, and you were made by God to be used by him to make a difference. But you have to take personal responsibility for your own influence, and a great way to be an influence is to develop your insight into the Bible and people and things so that you're an influence no matter what you're doing. If you want to do that, I'd like to join you, and maybe help, as I try to grow in doing the same.