Well you're exactly right. Relationships
are the most powerful thing that there is and whether that propels you to where
you want to go or takes you from where you want to go is entirely on how the
force gets applied. I broke my femur in a snowmobiling accident. Snapped it in half
and that's the harm of power you know. Snowmobile has 112 horsepower. That's the power of 112 horses using that power in a
negative way but the same power applied in the right direction can, you know,
save a life on a snowmobile. Everyday on ski hills people's lives get saved
because the same exact snow machine and so that's what that book, "Swipe Right,"
is all about. And in that book I do share a lot of my story and journey
coming to faith in Christ, you know, in my life I grew up in a Christian home
my both my mom and dad were believers attended church. But it was something
that I did on the weekends and emotions I went through without really having a
personal transformation. And that event, just like the the collision on that
snowmobile that day that left me with a scar literally, my collision with Jesus
personally left me a different person in the right direction because of just the
realization of God's love for me, His plan for my life and the ability to
find forgiveness and find hope and peace through having that personal
relationship. But people are always interested in saying, "So how did that actually happen? Was it
you kneeling down at your bed before night, was it a church service.
You know it was a journey I think like like it is for us all where there's you
know progressions and the story moves forward.
Probably the most dramatic moment just came from embracing the community
of faith you know in the people around me. I think God shows His love to
us through people. Middle-school, high-school years were challenging for
me but the people around me made a huge impact on me. And then I think it was
just sort of the having it dawn on me that going to Church didn't make me a
Christian any more than going to Tim Hortons makes you a doughnut, you know?
You have to have an engagement on a personal level and that having my eyes
open to that kind of caused me to realize you know there's no guilt by
association when it comes to the church it's either you're in or you're out.
So that was probably the most dramatic moment. Now you talk about this
irresistible pull towards ministry once you gave your life to Christ. Explain
that, where did that take you? Well I would say even before I gave my life to
Christ, I sensed that there was a call in my life to preach the gospel and to be a
Pastor and to communicate God's Word. That was always there and you know it
wasn't as much like this is what I want to do with my life, as much as I sensed
that's what was supposed to happen and I could try and fight it if I wanted to,
but that was really what I was built to do. And so there's never really been at
any point on my journey anything else I even considered as real viable option.
So this is before you gave your life to Christ, you felt this inner pull that someday you're going to be this communicator of the Gospel. Yeah, it was just in the back
of my mind I guess sort of an inevitability, you know, and I think
I ran from it at certain points along the way. But it helped a lot to get saved
but you know I say that mostly joking. But I think there's two days
that are the most important days in your life: the day that you're born and the
day you figure out why. And so really for me figuring out why God built me has
been instrumental to what you know I get out of bed each day ready to do.
