Dear Reader,

I really thought I was a Christian! I did Christian things. I went to church on Sundays and contributed to the offering. I followed my religious teachings, observed required religious holidays, said a blessing before meals and obeyed the Ten Commandments. I believe in God; did good works and I love Jesus! Oh, and did I mention, I did good works! I was Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes, a Mister Nice Guy.

A lover, not a fighter kind of person.

However, I had an unexplained hunger, spiritually. Something was missing from the picture and I needed to find out what it was. So I started a "Search for Truth," a personal quest, you might say. I trusted in a scripture "seek and ye shall find, knock and the door will be opened unto you."

I even challenged God's existence and our purpose on earth in a prayer. I said aloud, "God, if you are real, I want to know what the true relationship is between God and man, and what the true relationship is between man and man, because where that intersects is where I want to be, in my life."

Was He real? Would He respond? What would He tell me? Wow, boy, did He!

He responded first with "There's a way that seems right to a man, and appears straight before him but the end of it are the ways of death!" (Proverbs 14:12). I likened that to a boxing glove punching me in the face. No beating around the bush, right? It definitely got my attention!

I share the results of that search. What I learned, and the answers to my questions.

I found out that I was playing church and if the rapture happened, I would have been left behind.

Very truly yours,

DJ Redding, RN