About Jerry

I am a conservative, confessional Lutheran married to Valerie. We have four children: Ryan, Rachael, Aaron and Nora.

In my unusual walk of faith (whose walk isn't?), I was confirmed, married and baptized -- in that order -- at Redeemer Lutheran Church in Peoria, Ill. Now, I understand that Lutherans don't normally do it that way, but I did, some how. Actually, I had always thought I had been baptized in a Roman Catholic church when I was an infant. But in the back of my mind I always wondered when, and where. I asked Mom, and she honestly couldn't remember. "Must of been in Cherry Point," she'd say. So, I decided to go searching for my baptismal record. Catholic churches are pretty good about keeping these kinds of records. But alas, searches at a number of parishes there proved fruitless, so I had my pastor seal the deal on July 1, 2012, more than 21 years after I had been married, and 34 years after confirmation. I am baptized!

I was a professional journalist for most of my life, starting in 1984 when I enlisted in the Marine Corps. I began working at the Journal Star in Peoria, Ill., in August 1990 when I answered an ad in the paper to answer phones in the sports department for minimum wage ($4.25/hour in those days). The paper looked at my background and made me a writer instead. Afterwards, I became a paginator (think page production specialist), copy editor, lead features designer and online editor (think webmaster) before returning to copy editing, until I finally resigned my position at the end of May 2015 to move to Fort Wayne, Ind., to attend Concordia Theological Seminary.

I started this blog initially as a journal of my Bible readings, at the urging of my pastor, while preparing for seminary. I discontinued using during my first year of seminary, although I did post some papers from time to time, and shared a few thoughts from time to time. I first felt the desire, or at least vocalized the desire, to go to seminary in about 1995. (Dad will tell you that I have been talking about this since I was a boy, although I don't remember it that way.) But I clearly wasn't ready then.

The motto of this blog comes in part from a quote my grandmother used to say: "Nothing beats the three Cs: coffee, cigarettes and conversation." She and I, like most of the Smith family, spent hours and hours sitting at her kitchen table talking about religion and politics, drinking an endless pot of coffee and smoking cigarettes. She was right ... nothing beat it, until I became a nonsmoking Christian.

God certainly blessed me with Grandma. She showed me through her actions the joy of reading the Bible every day. She quite literally wore it out, reading the New Testament, especially the gospels. I still have it today; it has been bound in duct tape multiple times. It's a fitting image: Her faith stuck better than duct tape. It took me too many years to gain the study habit, but today I understand why now. The Word is as Hebrews 4:12 says, "living and active, sharper than a two-edged sword, dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow." It is, as John 4 says, living water. It is the Word of God, that was in the beginning, that created the heavens and the earth, that is defeated death, and is alive today. It is our faith.

Join me in reading your Bible every day. When you do, God will change your life in the most beautiful ways. He certainly continues to do it to mine.