With new friends in Papua, Indonesia
Early Life
My name is Jay Hopkins. I grew up in a typical American family that was nominally Christian. We attended church (usually Episcopalian) most Sundays, and said a quick grace before dinner, but other than that I do not recall any spiritual discussion, Bible reading or prayer in our home. My confirmation in the Episcopalian Church was a matter of rote memorization of the Baltimore Catechism, rather than spiritual discussion and prayer.
I attended a private Episcopalian high school where we went to chapel once a day and twice on Sundays. I was quite a spiritual kid, attending voluntary early morning communion services and serving as an acolyte, but still received no encouragement towards a deep personal faith in Jesus Christ. In college I did not take part in any organized religious activity, but I was still searching spiritually. I remember being impressed by the spirituality of Sufi poetry, and my senior year I was hanging out with a Baha'i group. After college, I had no further contact with organized religion. I got married and had two kids, supporting my family by working as a photographer, and then as a flight instructor.
Opening my Heart to Christ
At the age of thirty and after a failed marriage, God "reeled me in" in the most amazing and humorous way possible in a Baptist church in Tucson (see Reeled In By God ). Through His grace He led me on a path of total surrender to Him that made me familiar with a variety of Protestant churches - including Episcopalian, Baptist, Nazarene, and Lutheran. I also led several long-term small groups using Navigator discipleship training materials. I strongly believe in the unity of all baptized Christians, so in my mind I was always a "Christian attending" whatever denomination I was involved with at the time. Less than a year later God led me to marry a woman who had five children, so we had seven including my two, and then added two more for a total of nine (another amazing "God story" - see An Arranged Marriage). As I write this, we now have 15 grandchildren and one great grandson.
My wife was raised Catholic, and I wanted to be able to receive communion in the Catholic Church, so about eight years after my baptism in a Baptist church, I completed the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) and the annulment process for my first marriage, and was accepted into the Roman Catholic Church. However, in my mind I did not become a Catholic, but was now a Christian who could receive communion in the Catholic Church. During the ensuing years we moved numerous times and would attend whatever church, Catholic or Protestant, we liked that was close to us.
Called to the Catholic Church
About 20 years later I was driving home from the Catholic Church we attended in Cave Creek, Arizona, when I "heard" in my mind God saying to me, "Jay - I'm not calling you to attend a Catholic Church, I am calling you to the Catholic Church!" When God speaks, I listen and obey, so at that moment I became a Catholic. I currently attend St. Bernadette Catholic Church in Scottsdale, Arizona. In addition to my own extensive personal study, I have completed the two-year course of study at the Kino Catechetical Institute in Phoenix.
Prepared to Serve
When God called me to the Catholic Church, He also made it clear that everything I had done was in preparation for serving His Church. This included:
Writing – God gave me 21 years’ experience as a contributing editor to Flying magazine, during which I wrote 254 articles on human factors in aviation.
Courseware Development – God has given me a particular skill at pulling information together, simplifying it, and presenting it in a practical and easy to learn format. In addition to developing instructor-led seminars and workshops, in 1984 I got an early start on Computer Based Training when I was in charge of developing thirteen 40 hour courses for corporate jet pilots using PLATO, which was the first generalized computer-assisted instruction system.
Training – I have been a flight instructor, seminar leader and public speaker, and have trained over fifty thousand people on Preventing Human Error, including military aviation training units, major corporations, government agencies, and missionary aviation personnel around the world.
Protestant or Catholic?
At the basic level of a deep faith in Christ, I have experienced no difference between Protestant and Catholic faith. I developed much of this material when I was a Protestant, but often using Catholic sources. Thus, while all lessons and prayers are intended to be in accordance with the Deposit of Faith and the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, with references to the Holy Scriptures and the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), everything presented here will be just as helpful to Protestants, Orthodox, or anyone else seeking a deeper relationship with God and His Son Jesus Christ through the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Which Bible?
Now that I am Catholic, my favorite version of the Bible is the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE), however, for the first 35 years of my walk with God I used the New International Version (NIV), so that is the version I know best, and that was the version I used when originally developing the material for the Lessons on Total Surrender. I will also occasionally use the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE), but generally don’t like that version as well.
Sharing God's Work in my Life
God has taken me on quite a journey, and people have often told me I should write a book about my life. While I do not feel led to do that, I will share certain parts of my story that serve as an example of God's loving guidance and protection. I will also include examples from the lives of other Christians, and hope that those who make use of this website will use the Contact page to share their own stories of how God has worked in their lives.
Photos
Other than the Home Page, all photos are my own.
This is a brief overview—for the full story, please see “The Surrendered Life”.
My name is Jay Hopkins. I grew up in a typical American family that was nominally Christian. We attended church (usually Episcopalian) most Sundays, and said a quick grace before dinner, but other than that I do not recall any spiritual discussion, Bible reading or prayer in our home. My confirmation in the Episcopalian Church was a matter of rote memorization of the Baltimore Catechism, rather than spiritual discussion and prayer.
I attended a private Episcopalian high school where we went to chapel once a day and twice on Sundays. I was quite a spiritual kid, attending voluntary early morning communion services and serving as an acolyte, but still received no encouragement towards a deep personal faith in Jesus Christ. In college I did not take part in any organized religious activity, but I was still searching spiritually. I remember being impressed by the spirituality of Sufi poetry, and my senior year I was hanging out with a Baha'i group. After college, I had no further contact with organized religion. I got married and had two kids, supporting my family by working as a photographer, and then as a flight instructor.
Opening my Heart to Christ
At the age of thirty and after a failed marriage, God "reeled me in" in the most amazing and humorous way possible in a Baptist church in Tucson (see Reeled In By God ). Through His grace He led me on a path of total surrender to Him that made me familiar with a variety of Protestant churches - including Episcopalian, Baptist, Nazarene, and Lutheran. I also led several long-term small groups using Navigator discipleship training materials. I strongly believe in the unity of all baptized Christians, so in my mind I was always a "Christian attending" whatever denomination I was involved with at the time. Less than a year later God led me to marry a woman who had five children, so we had seven including my two, and then added two more for a total of nine (another amazing "God story" - see An Arranged Marriage). As I write this, we now have 15 grandchildren and one great grandson.
My wife was raised Catholic, and I wanted to be able to receive communion in the Catholic Church, so about eight years after my baptism in a Baptist church, I completed the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) and the annulment process for my first marriage, and was accepted into the Roman Catholic Church. However, in my mind I did not become a Catholic, but was now a Christian who could receive communion in the Catholic Church. During the ensuing years we moved numerous times and would attend whatever church, Catholic or Protestant, we liked that was close to us.
Called to the Catholic Church
About 20 years later I was driving home from the Catholic Church we attended in Cave Creek, Arizona, when I "heard" in my mind God saying to me, "Jay - I'm not calling you to attend a Catholic Church, I am calling you to the Catholic Church!" When God speaks, I listen and obey, so at that moment I became a Catholic. I currently attend St. Bernadette Catholic Church in Scottsdale, Arizona. In addition to my own extensive personal study, I have completed the two-year course of study at the Kino Catechetical Institute in Phoenix.
Prepared to Serve
When God called me to the Catholic Church, He also made it clear that everything I had done was in preparation for serving His Church. This included:
Writing – God gave me 21 years’ experience as a contributing editor to Flying magazine, during which I wrote 254 articles on human factors in aviation.
Courseware Development – God has given me a particular skill at pulling information together, simplifying it, and presenting it in a practical and easy to learn format. In addition to developing instructor-led seminars and workshops, in 1984 I got an early start on Computer Based Training when I was in charge of developing thirteen 40 hour courses for corporate jet pilots using PLATO, which was the first generalized computer-assisted instruction system.
Training – I have been a flight instructor, seminar leader and public speaker, and have trained over fifty thousand people on Preventing Human Error, including military aviation training units, major corporations, government agencies, and missionary aviation personnel around the world.
Protestant or Catholic?
At the basic level of a deep faith in Christ, I have experienced no difference between Protestant and Catholic faith. I developed much of this material when I was a Protestant, but often using Catholic sources. Thus, while all lessons and prayers are intended to be in accordance with the Deposit of Faith and the Magisterium of the Catholic Church, with references to the Holy Scriptures and the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC), everything presented here will be just as helpful to Protestants, Orthodox, or anyone else seeking a deeper relationship with God and His Son Jesus Christ through the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Which Bible?
Now that I am Catholic, my favorite version of the Bible is the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE), however, for the first 35 years of my walk with God I used the New International Version (NIV), so that is the version I know best, and that was the version I used when originally developing the material for the Lessons on Total Surrender. I will also occasionally use the New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE), but generally don’t like that version as well.
Sharing God's Work in my Life
God has taken me on quite a journey, and people have often told me I should write a book about my life. While I do not feel led to do that, I will share certain parts of my story that serve as an example of God's loving guidance and protection. I will also include examples from the lives of other Christians, and hope that those who make use of this website will use the Contact page to share their own stories of how God has worked in their lives.
Photos
Other than the Home Page, all photos are my own.
This is a brief overview—for the full story, please see “The Surrendered Life”.