By Lois Hewitt

What’s your background?  What makes you qualified to write the things you do?  I have been asked this, and it’s a good question. So let’s clear the air, shall we.

I have absolutely no qualifications. None whatsoever.  Unless you count that I was (still am) a sinner who desperately desired redemption and salvation.  Theoretically, my sole qualification is my sin nature.

I did not grow up in the church. My parents did not care for any type of organized religion. Anytime the subject came up, they deferred to the argument that it’s my decision when I get old enough to decide.  Blessed that they both became believers later in life.

Luckily, I had a friend who was a Christian from a strong Christian family. So I got to see glimpses of what that meant. Accepted Jesus as my Savior at 16 years old and then went right on living my sinful life.

My main influences came from Moody radio (WCRF) in Cleveland. I listened to sermons by Charles Stanley and Charles Swindoll.  I read books by James Dobson.  But the one person who changed my life then and still to this day is Tony Evans. I cannot imagine where I would be without his teachings.

To this day, I am either reading one of his books, listening to a sermon series, doing an online study or all of the above. 

I went to a couple good churches in my day but my anxiety has kept me mostly away. Today I have two wonderful teachers at the church I work at, but Sunday service is still difficult for me.

Since I knew the majority of my Christian teachings were not going to be in-person, I was very selective. I followed a few people that after some time, I thought better of it and cut ties.  There are a lot of false or misguided teachers out there, so I stuck to the ones I trusted.

Earlier I said that I kept sinning, we all do, but I meant I was drinking and acting a fool a lot of the time.  Truth be told though, I had long stretches of time where I studied the Bible intently.  I did many studies and readings.  These times gave me a strong foundation in my faith.

Today, I am way blessed to have a life that is full of Jesus. I try to work on my understanding every day.  Do I succeed?  No!  A resounding no.  But I try to make it a priority. I work on my prayer life, my knowledge of the Bible and putting it together into a life that is worth living.

So…Am I qualified to write the things I do?  Probably not. But I hope my life serves as not only a cautionary tale (the sinning part) but a tale of someone who wants to know the Lord and did it in different terms than most.

Can you learn to be an engineer without going to school?  No, but you can learn concepts and basic skills. Can you learn to be a minister without Theology training? No, but you can learn and apply God’s perfect teachings to your life and work to be better. 

When it all comes down to it, that’s all I want. A close relationship with the One that brought me from a world of sin and to be a better person.  That desire comes from within, no book or sermon can teach that. 

Be true, be discerning and be open and you can be better and in turn make the world better. It is a rough road at times, but oh so worth it!

Those are my qualifications.