: confessions of a religious addict

“We’re all explorers. We’re all in pursuit of fundamental truths. That’s what exploration is all about.” Those are the words of Explorer and Titanic Discoverer Robert Ballard but they are words that have come to characterize my life as a Christ-follower.

My journey in pursuit of “fundamental (or at the risk of alienating some at the outset of our trek “absolute”) truth began nearly ten years ago when I entered what I call my religious recovery. My name is Dave Wahlstedt and I am a recovering religious addict. My addiction to religion was all about discovering and following the maps the institutional church had drawn for me. My recovery began when I realized that no one could map my faith journey for me. I began to study the Ancient Scriptures, from the story of beginnings in Genesis to the end of time in the prophetic writing of the Apostle John in the Revelation. No where in the vast expanse of history covered in this sacred Book will you find God’s way of working with man reduced to a singular formula or colorful map. In the words of one of my spiritual mentors, Len Sweet, I had to become a mariner and discover God’s unique map for my life.

I’ve been exploring God’s truth and His destiny for my life every since. My journey has brought me from religion—which is all about rules and regulations— to relationship with God in the person Jesus. It was playwright Henry Miller who said, “One’s destination is never a place, but rather a new way of looking at things.” I would modify that to say our destination is not a place but a person and that person—Jesus—must become the North Star by which we navigate. I am honored to be the navigator on our journey following The North Star. I look forward to the journey that is before us.