Ministry Update - I’m back! – How can God’s Word become a distraction?

I never understood who God was until I read Scripture. I have been tossed around enough in life to develop serious distrust toward humans. Let’s be honest, He has been clear about this point: Psalm 118:8 – It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans. So, when people told me about their God and their rules, I became a bit jaded.

It wasn’t until I read the Bible myself that I started to understand. He is there. He always has been. The hard life lessons were learning opportunities. Did it really even hurt? The world now seemed painted in a divine set of colors. Primary: red, blue, yellow. Spiritual: prayer, Scripture, relationship.

So when I finished my master’s, I knew I wanted to make an impact. An impact? Yes! I didn’t want to be famous. I have never really focused on money. I wanted to help anyone and everyone flip their script and see the world through God’s eyes. In my mind, there was only one way to do that—by reading the Bible.

I am not a great student. I pushed myself hard in school just to be average. Once I was in college, I became an A student because I developed an incredible set of tools to get me through, but none of them were based on IQ. I don’t read well—hahaha—I am slow as molasses, and even if I try my hardest, I have to read something two or three times to get it.

I learned that hidden behind a lot of shame were many adults struggling in the same way. So how could something as important as reading the Bible be limited by this skill? I set off on a journey to create a program to help people get through it.

Let me tell you a bit about it. We divided the Bible into 16 modules. Each module has a lead pastor who teaches a live class at the end of each module. We call the program One Year, One Faith.

Students are assigned a daily reading and take a short five-question quiz on the platform Canvas. We can see in real time as students complete their work. More importantly, we can see when they fall behind. We can be there to pick them up and get them back on track.

Along with the daily reading, I send out a daily devotional. I have spent all year writing these—339 days. I want to be perfectly clear: I love our Bible program. For the last 339 days, I have been tasked with this, and yesterday I finished. Freed from this divine responsibility, I can now share my voice.

Today—Day 1.