At a minimum, it would be safe to say that Wild at Heart answered questions I wrestled with since I first heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Realizing that God wants to make peace with me, personally, and wants me on His team continues to be the most wonderful thing I have heard. Discovering that I have an active enemy explained so many difficulties that contradicted the Bible and my own behavior and experience. I am encouraged by the news that the LORD has a place for me on His team! It is a rare day when someone just wants me on their team, usually they don’t want me at all, or they have a qualifying test for me to pass first…then maybe I will be invited. Comprehending and accepting Jesus’ unconditional invitation was liberating and healing to me.

Wild at Heart gave me a framework, a replacement filter, for seeing the world in place of the legalistic religious training I received earlier in life. It is comforting to know that God does not expect me to ‘get it right’ on my own! So many decades of my life were lost to such ‘training’, it seemed like fifty-two Sundays and Wednesdays every year were spent learning tips and techniques. Acknowledging that some of those disciplines are helpful; most left me feeling like an escalating failure as a Christ-follower and as a man. I wondered why so many other boys and men could get it ‘right’ while I was failing to overcome any sin? The harder I tried to stop sinning, the more grotesque, degrading, and immoral my behavior became. I came to believe that I was a more effective sinner after praying the so-called, “Sinner’s Prayer,” than I was beforehand…and that was just humiliating to me.

After embracing the idea that I should look to Jesus and trust Him to work out the details I noticed the volume of besetting sins dropped off like an iceberg breaking away from a glacier and falling into the sea. I was no longer under the burden of proving I was worthy of Him; I no longer had the duty to get good enough for God as though any human could. At the same time, the LORD made it clear that my sins were little more than my attempt to get life from something other than him. This breakthrough allowed me to go to Him and ask, “Why do I do that?”, then to receive answers! Often, those responses took me to long buried hurts, wounds, defensive agreements, and other methods of self-protection which were robbing me of the life Jesus promised to his disciples. Please understand I am not completely, “fixed,” rather, I am allowing Jesus to reveal and heal the wounds that provided fertile fields for Satan to plant the seeds that steal, kill, and destroy my life.

Anyway, my life has purpose and direction. I have a part in Jesus’ story and an irreplaceable role to play. I am not just counting time until I die and go to Heaven! Instead, I am actively fighting to rescue other men taken captive by a wily, dangerous, and invariably deadly group of enemies. Where I once lived a life of quiet desperation and endless learning I now live an adventure lead by the original Adventurer.  ~d