I am a passionate follower of Jesus.

That was not always the case. Growing up, I went to church early and often — my dad was a Christian Education pastor. I remember learning that I was to love God and love other people. Given a choice in high school, I happily dropped out of church. I could do those two things on my own — and get to sleep in on Sundays .

At the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign I met some people who talked about religion in a new way to me — about having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It was not just a bunch of do’s and don’ts. They showed me where the Bible said that Jesus, God’s son, came to earth to die for me so that I could know God personally.

This was different. I talked about it and argued with them (I was a political science major). “So you mean to say,” I asked a friend, “that if I don’t believe just like you do I will not get to go to heaven?” “Yes,” they said, “that’s what the Bible clearly teaches.” Without thinking, I replied, “That’s a hell of a choice.” Then we both laughed.

At the end of my freshman year at the University of Illinois, I finally came to the understanding that I could — and wanted — to know Jesus personally. So, I asked God to forgive me and make Jesus the boss of my life. No lightning bolts came. Nothing. Until a few days later when I went to a church service with my friends. The Bible was alive! It all made sense. It was relevant to my life. I was now a child of the living God. Not because of my good works — his standard is perfection, I am nowhere near it — but by receiving the free gift of God in Jesus.

Turns out I don’t have a religion, I have a relationship with the living God. It’s way better.

So, I believe that the Bible is completely true (Get the New Living Translation (NLT) — the easiest to read translation out there. It is available at Amazon, Borders, etc.) I believe that a person can only be made right with God by trusting in His one and only son, Jesus, who died for our sins (he did not have any) and rose again (what we call Easter). Jesus is alive at this very moment. Now, I do things hoping to please God out of gratitude for the forgiveness he has given me by my faith in Jesus not hoping he will let me into heaven. It is a life of freedom and purpose.

Pamela, who was later to become my wife, studied the book of John (the fourth book of the New Testament) at a different dorm her freshman year at the University of Illinois. Within months of me, she too came to put her faith in Jesus.

Getting married to Pamela is the second best decision I have made in my life. Trusting in Jesus is number one.

By the way, your ceremony can be as religious or not as you two want it to be. Most couples I marry have some kind of religious upbringing but are not so practicing. (If they were, they would get married in a church or other house of worship.) That’s OK. I will not force my “religion” (actually, my relationship with Jesus) on your ceremony.