I grew up in church in the Southern United States and from a very young age, I genuinely loved the Lord. I wanted to please Him. I was a rule follower. And because of the denomination I grew up in, combined with my sincere desire to “do the right thing,” my faith slowly became less about relationship and more about rules.

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I believed that if I followed God’s commands closely enough, everything in life would work out the way it was supposed to. Obedience became a formula. Faith became transactional. And without realizing it at the time, I became shackled by religious legalism.

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As the years went on, something began to trouble me. I watched people who openly rejected God and religion, people who clearly weren’t following the rules, living lives that looked freer than mine. They seemed unburdened. Alive. Meanwhile, I was doing everything “right” and quietly waiting for God’s justice to fall on them like a hammer. But it never came.

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I told myself it would come eventually. Or that it would come at the final judgment. Then I encountered the story of the thief on the cross, someone who lived selfishly, broke every rule, and yet encountered grace in his final moments. That story didn’t feel comforting to me at the time. It felt unfair. And if I’m honest, it exposed how deeply I viewed God as a rule-maker rather than a loving Father.

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What followed was a long season of internal conflict. I heard Scripture speak of freedom in Christ, abundance, joy, and life, here and now, yet I experienced faith as something to endure until heaven. I felt condemned more than free. I believed my sins disqualified me from experiencing the goodness of God in this life, even while believing those same sins were fully forgiven for the next life.

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That contradiction eventually became impossible to ignore.

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What I came to realize, and what changed everything, is that God is far better than I had been taught to believe. He is not standing over us with a clipboard, waiting to withhold His goodness. He is a good Father who desires freedom, growth, and life for His children. Jesus didn’t just free us from the penalty of sin, He came to free us from the religious systems that keep us bound long after forgiveness has already been given.

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This site exists because I believe many sincere, God-loving people are still living under burdens they were never meant to carry. My mission is simple: to share the Gospel in a way that truly sets people free, not only from sin, but from fear, condemnation, and religious legalism, so they can find their God-given purposes and dreams and live the abundant life God intended.

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To God be the glory for the things He has done.

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In servitude of Christ,

David Eckels