William P. Smith

My friend Brandon once told me, "When I was growing up, I thought the point of life was to build the biggest database of information about God that I could." So he did. He went to church, read his Bible and studied at a Bible college. He stuffed as much information into himself as possible, but his spiritual life became unbearably dry. The problem is that no one relates to a database. No one develops a friendship with information. You can't get close to cold disconnected facts or trust them. As Brandon's relationship with the Lord grew colder it affected his relationships with people as well because he treated them the same way - as objects to study instead of people to love. My twofold passion in life fits Brandon's need. I long for people to see and experience Jesus in ways that they haven't; not just learn things about him. I also want them to see what's gotten in the way of being friends with him; what's kept them from seeing and experiencing him. Those passions energize me whether I'm counseling, pastoring, consulting, speaking or writing. I love seeing the unexpected ways that God interacts with people in scripture and I love unpacking those experiences with his people.