Our Story

When Belief Isn’t Enough

I had spent years thinking deeply about faith, meaning, pilgrimage, and following Jesus outside of institutional structures. I had plenty of “grape jelly”—the sweetness of my pilgrim reflections, my searching, my wandering with God.

But I was missing the peanut butter.

The sticky, messy, sometimes inconvenient substance of actually serving.

Somewhere along the way, James’ words stopped being something I agreed with and became something I had to live:

“But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”
— James 1:22 (NKJV)

That moment with Rose fused something in me that had been floating separately for a long time: simple church, simple gospel, and simple ministry outreach.

I finally understood what James was getting at when he wrote:

“But someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’ Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”
— James 2:18 (NKJV)

Not as a debate.
Not as a doctrine.
But as a way of living.

I realized something important: I couldn’t keep separating “church” from “ministry,” or “belief” from “action,” or “Sunday” from the rest of my week. They weren’t meant to be compartments. They were meant to blend—like peanut butter and jelly.

When the Walls Came Down

That conversation changed how I understood "church" and "ministry."

Church was no longer something that happened once or twice a week inside a beautiful building. It became something that happened seven days a week—in places clean or dirty, neat or ragged, planned or completely unexpected.

I started to see every day as a potential divine appointment.

Not because I was special, but because God is faithful.

Ministry was no longer limited to a food pantry, a Bible study, or a men’s breakfast. Sometimes it looked like delivering bottled water to flood victims. Sometimes it meant sitting with a veteran in a nursing home or a suicide survivor. Sometimes it was simply being present on a park bench or in a coffee shop with a couple of fellow believers, talking about life and faith.

No agenda, or script, or program.

Just show up!

Where Simply Walking With Jesus Was Born

Simply Walking With Jesus grew out of that realization.

Not as a project, a brand, or a strategy.

But as a way of walking with Jesus every day.

I stopped trying to fit into someone else’s version of church and started following Jesus the way He actually walked—with people, in ordinary places, through real conversations.

I discovered that ministry doesn’t need to be complicated. It just requires willingness. Willingness to listen. Willingness to show up. Willingness to serve when the need appears—wherever that may be.

That’s what Simply Walking With Jesus is about.

Just walking with Jesus - one step after the next.

Why I’m Here

I share this with you not because my story is special, but because I suspect parts of it might feel familiar.

Maybe you’ve felt out of place.
Maybe you’ve wondered if faith has to look the way you’ve been told it should.
Maybe you love Jesus, but struggle with the structures built around Him.
Maybe you’re tired of the same old, same old.

If so, you’re not alone.

This space exists for people like us—pilgrims who are still walking, still listening, still discovering that Jesus often shows up in the most ordinary places.

And if you’d like to keep walking together, I’d be glad to.

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