A personal letter

About the Author

Doug Blair — Creator of the Christian Field Guide

Dear friend,

I want to tell you a little about how the Christian Field Guide came to be, and about the journey that led me here.

I was nine years old, sitting in a folding chair at Vacation Bible School, when I first said yes to Jesus. I didn't know then what that decision would mean, but looking back, I can see it was the beginning of everything. I grew up in a Christian home, which I've never taken for granted — it gave me a foundation before I even knew I needed one.

But I'll be honest with you: my walk with the Lord hasn't been a straight line. There have been seasons where my faith felt solid as bedrock, and others where I wasn't sure I believed much of anything. I used to think that made me a bad Christian. Now I think it just makes me an honest one. My whole life has been a continual learning process — my faith gets refined and deepened a little more with each season, each struggle, each answered (and unanswered) prayer.

A few verses have been with me through all of it. Proverbs 3:5-6 reminds me to trust God even when I can't see where He's leading. Romans 6:23 keeps me tethered to the simple truth of the gospel when I start overthinking things. James 1:2-8 has taught me — slowly, and sometimes the hard way — that trials aren't detours from faith, they're where faith actually grows. And Romans 8:28 has been my quiet anchor, the promise that God is weaving good out of things I still don't fully understand.

I want to be clear about something: the Christian Field Guide wasn't my idea. I felt the Holy Spirit put this on my heart — a growing conviction that believers need real, practical tools to stand firm in a world that's grown more hostile to what we believe. First Peter 3:15 says it best: always be ready to give an answer for the hope you have, but do it with gentleness and respect. That verse is the heartbeat of everything in this series.

I should also be upfront about who I am — and who I'm not. I'm not a theologian. I'm not a biblical scholar. I don't have a seminary degree or a string of letters after my name. I'm a regular guy who felt called to dig in, and so I did. I took a deep dive into Scripture, church history, and the questions that real people actually ask about faith. What you'll find in this series isn't the work of an academic — it's the work of a fellow believer who took the research seriously because the stakes felt serious.

My hope for you, and for anyone who picks this up, is simple: that you'd feel more confident in your faith — not because you can win an argument, but because you know what you believe, why you believe it, and how to share it with grace. If this guide helps even one person stand a little steadier in their faith, it will have done exactly what God intended.

Verses that have shaped this work

A few of the scriptures Doug mentions in his letter.