God alone knows that one. I did the accept-Jesus prayer when I was four (for my parents' benefit), and rested in the assurance that God's favor was upon me due to my obvious superiority to my two-year-old brother. It was probably quite a few years later before God gave me new birth and put my moralistic little religion out of its misery.

As for my walk these days, to paraphrase Newton, I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be, but I am not what I once was, and by the grace of God I am what I am.

It was my senior year in high school before I begrudgingly admitted, no longer able to ignore the biblical evidence, that God is God and has the audacity to act like it. It took another year to actually treasure these doctrines, but when I did, it increased my capacity for wonder in worship, peace amidst trial, desire to know God better, and more.

Nothing elaborate; I follow the counsel John Stott once gave when asked the secret to thriving as a Christian: “Read your Bible and pray.” For 2012 I'm using Carson's companion volume to the M'Cheyne Bible-in-a-year plan.

This is mostly coincidence, but I admire the disciple Andrew. In the Gospels, you see him pointing people to Jesus and then fading into the background. Good motif.

Single or married, God is enough. That's my conviction and experience.

With that established, the thoughtful observer might note how I have joined a personals site and start to infer things. Accurate things, even.

I am especially passionate about the local church. It is the most important and powerful institution in the world, it is the best context for ministry and discipleship, and it is center stage for God's ongoing display of His glory among the nations.

Evangelism and the pro-life cause might also count, but I don't have too many outlets for either at the moment.

I reject your singular and substitute a plural!

2004: a roommate who exemplified godly living better than I had previously witnessed among guys my age, who brought me to his phenomenal local church, and who introduced me to the other names on this list

2005: John Piper, whose Desiring God exposed me to the idea of Christian Hedonism and caused me to love my developing Reformed theology

2006: Jerry Bridges, whose The Discipline of Grace taught me about the daily applicability of the Gospel to the Christian life

2007: the elders at said church - whose preaching and hours of one-on-one informal teaching reflected a lot of New Covenant Theology and Biblical Counseling knowledge - set me loose on Scripture looking for its Christ-centered metanarrative and profound applicability to the human heart.

ha, this question sounds like euphemism for “So, you're 26 and single. Got relational baggage?” Answer: less than would fill the front pocket of a small carry-on. My prior relationships are few, cleanly over, and featured no instances when our conduct then would warrant shame now.

“My song is love unknown, my Savior's love for me;
love to the loveless shown that they might lovely be:
but who am I, that for my sake
my Lord should take frail flesh and die?”

- Samuel Crossman

Sub-creation, as Tolkein would put it. Since graduating college (2008) I've been a mechanical engineer, designing welded structures for mining machines. Best. Job. Evah. I get to participate in the creation of lumbering, roaring dirt-movers reminiscent of God's own power and grandeur.

Find a job I enjoy where I can do useful work to the glory of God (encouraging progress there). Join a healthy local church and serve like crazy (ditto). Live simply. Be generous. Find someone to love 'til death do us part. Raise kids in a Psalm 145:4 sort of way. Remain faithful in all these arenas. Finish the race like Paul and not like Hezekiah.

I can and have enjoyed a wide variety of activities, depending on weather, geography, and who's present at the time, but I most often spend leisure hours reading, conversing with friends, cycling, or working on / playing with my Jeep.

I was born in West Michigan and lived there until college, which was plenty long enough to make me an identifiable member of its unique subculture. Travels include much of the United States, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, and, most recently, Honduras. Latin America and the Spanish language are pretty fun.

I love my parents and brothers! Few things are more enjoyable than spending time with them, but they live four hours away already, so that doesn't prevent me from relocating again. However, my job and church – both of which I also love – would make a move prohibitively difficult in the near future.

Enough for now - thanks for reading my autohagiography!