The First Post

Welcome to On My Way To Faith, a blog I have created to catalog my thoughts about faith and my personal journey.    

The journey is a long one.  My first exposure to "religion" was through some friends in high school.  They were pretty heavy-handed with their beliefs and frankly it was difficult for me to grab onto the idea in the beginning. My only experience was going to the Church of Christ on Easter Sunday.  Later, they asked me to go to their church and it was my first exposure to people speaking in tongues.  I thought the guy was heckling the preacher! They had saxophones, drums, guitars, the works.  I never saw musical instruments in church before and wondered what my mom would think.   I was 18 and didn't know anything, but it did get me thinking about the whole idea of religion. Eventually, the friends moved away, along with my thoughts about religion. But, I always seemed to feel the presence of God and decades later I discovered Joel Osteen on television and began to watch him on a regular basis.  Late in 2004, I bought his book, and totally absorbed it.  Here was a way toward faith I could understand.  

I enjoy gospel music and while listen to Alan Jackson's outstanding recording of Softly and Tenderly, I was saved. Right there with the CD playing in my car on the way to work, I felt a great trembling inside me, my eyes filled with tears and I felt the hand of Christ.  My journey began anew.  

I continued to read about faith.  Books by CS Lewis and Billy Graham were added to my library. Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life is one I just finished (A great book, but one I think you have to be "ready" for);  Other books I have found helpful have been American Gospel by Jon Meacham, The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel, a little book I found in a bookstore in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma (McHuston Booksellers; www.mchustonbooks.com) called Self Understanding by Seward Hiltner, written in 1951.  I don't know if the book is still available, but it is worth trying to find.  I usually have several books going at the same time and this is one that I look at periodically.  I am now reading Osteen's new book Becoming A Better You and I recently ordered the writings of Martin Luther.  There are seven volumes, a lot of material, and I will simply choose a volume, open it up, and begin reading.  I also like history and biographies, but my reading lately has been concentrated on the subject of faith.  I have other books on faith in my reading pile, but these are the books I have read or I am currently reading.

This blog is to simply get me thinking every day and hopefully writing something on a regular basis.  It is not to promote a particular point of view.  It is just to catalog some thoughts I have on faith and other topics I find interesting.  

Your comments are welcomed and encouraged.

DL 02/07/08