For most of my childhood and young adult life, I proclaimed myself to be agnostic, though in practice I was an atheist. I was curious about church and religion, though mostly in an intellectual sense. My family practiced many of the superficial customs of both Christian and Jewish traditions; for example, we celebrated Christmas and my dad often took me to church for Christmas Eve services, and we also lit Hannukah candles. I valued them as family traditions, but didn’t really have any personal investment beyond that.

In college, I got connected with a number of people on my dorm floor who were born-again Christians. We had many interesting discussions and debates, and for the first time in my life, I ran into people who actually lived what they believed but didn’t try to hound me into becoming one of them. That started a long and winding process of research and exploration that took many years.

As a logical, rational person, I couldn’t just go on “faith.” I needed proof. I was also fairly sure I wouldn’t find it. But the more I read about the history of the Bible and the facts around Jesus’s life and death, the more convinced I became that Christ was exactly who he said he was: the son of God. But I wasn’t ready to jump into the pool yet.

Early in my marriage, my wife asked me to join her in attending a new church she wanted to check out. She didn’t want to go alone, so I gladly went along, just to keep her company. My first impression of the place was that they really worshipped God there. The music was lively, the teaching was honest, and the people were about as real as I’ve ever seen anywhere. Within two months, I was attending regularly on Sundays and Wednesdays. I was also continuing my search for knowledge, and finally realized that I couldn’t put it off any longer. On June 16, 1993, I made a decision for Christ.

It wasn’t long before I was greatly involved in ministry. I wanted to learn everything I could about God and the Bible, and I wanted to connect with other people who had the same hunger. I served my church as part of the technical teams, running video projection for services and designing the lighting for our annual productions.

My life since then has of course had its ups and downs, but every day I learn more about God and every day I want to find ways to grow closer to Him. I decided a couple of years ago that I wanted to document more about my journey on a regular basis and I started my first blog. If you’re interested in more of the recent details, you can read it there. Though I don’t write as often as I’d like, that blog is where I work out a lot of the things that I wrestle with, and I value the give-and-take of conversation and comments. Because it is so intensely personal, I ask people to register before reading it, but anyone is welcome to join the dialogue.