Update: Jeremy

Well I didn't intend on taking this long to update everyone on what's been going on, but I suppose that's how it goes sometime. Honestly, I have not known what to say other than to recount the mundane happenings of life, but here's a try...

So after graduating in May, I felt like I slipped into that place you find yourself in during transition times where you ask a lot of questions about the future. I guess the relentless four year cycle of working, school, relationship and a little music put more pressure than I realized on my mind and heart. Although it took a while to settle down, I'm starting to relax and feel like I'm actually not a robot!

Work is going well. I split my work time up between graphic design and title work for the summer and early fall, and now I'm mostly doing design. Check out our space www.coalescedesign.com. We're still working on some features of the site. I'm learning a lot and enjoying the work.

But I suppose the real story behind what's going on is the change in my approach to Christianity. When I decided four years ago to not return to ministry, I didn't know where the decision would lead. I had been jaded by what I had seen in my Charismatic exposure to faith, and was lamenting a loss in my Christianity. It seemed to me that following Christ had become a religion; not what made people, including myself, give up all and follow. What I had lost was Jesus himself. My years of service and striving were not centered around the person of Christ, but my ability to be a better human whether by psychology or discipline. I'll have to admit that in my thoughts and affections, I came close to walking away from anything Christian, but I found that the center and source of faith was in Christ, not my ability to be good. I know some of you are probably saying, "that's just the gospel," but other things were emphasized to me in my early years of faith. Performance and good behavior were exalted above truthful maturity, and I expended the lion's share of my efforts on being "good enough." I'll have to say that the real breaking point for me, the reorganization of my faith, came through Randy and I reading The Reason for God together this summer. Keller helped me realize that my questions were not only valid, but necessary if I wanted a faith and belief I could build my life on.

So that is a feeble attempt at summing up the recent months and past four years of my journey. My prayer is that Jesus will be the center, that he will affect the thoughts and actions of my life, and I pray the same for each of you.