Mark A. Griffin I have always considered myself a “Religious” person. Having been raised in the Catholic Church through High School and even College, I felt on the right track spiritually. In High School I considered becoming a Priest, and prayed about it considerably but felt too driven to be a father and husband than to lead a life of celibacy. I married my childhood sweetheart at a relatively young age 19, Gail was 18. In hindsight I believe it was because we were much in love, but also wanted to live honorably in the eyes of God.

Gail and I have raised two wonderful children. We raised them in the Catholic faith up until 2003. Gail and I were invited to attend a Christmas presentation at Northridge Church in Northville Michigan. I admit that it was the first time in my life that I heard the salvation message in such clear and concise terms. I was smitten with excitement to what I had heard, however overwhelmed with anxiety and fearfulness that I would no longer need to trust in “acts” and “penance” for my eternal salvation.  One important part of my journey included reading The Gospel According to Rome, which helped to put many of my fears to rest.

It was within a year after walking into Northridge and hearing Pastor Brad Powel’s message, that I fell to my knees and accepted Christ as my Savior. It has been a fabulous journey during both pre and post “Saved” time frames.

Before I had accepted Christ I was very selfish to my community, my family and in some respects, to myself. I have slowly metamorphosed into a new persona that is empathetic, less concerned with worldly materialism and somewhat evangelical. I now find myself volunteering with the gifts that God has given me. I have been involved in a Career Ministry at LCBC for 6 years now. This is something I would have never done prior to being saved, and it just was not in my make up. I also approach employee relations issues in the workplace with greater compassion, yet firm accountability. I have found myself gravitating towards more time in the “Word”, and definitely more time utilizing the power of prayer- which I had never done on a consistent basis before. I also have partnered with several couples in a life group, that has helped Gail and I steer through life’s treacherous obstacles, and to also volunteer together in the community. I have attended Men’s Fraternity for two seasons at LCBC Church led by Pastor Keith Walker and have enjoyed the development in becoming a better husband, father, and leader.

In my journey for a closer relationship with God I have been committed at a greater level to live a life of praise and prayer.  I have been blessed to have found Gateway House of Prayer which has been instrumental in my quest to learn more about prayer and its significance in walking with God.  Connecting there has provided additional and sustained encouragement to me in regards to for my desire to help companies get Christ into the workplace.

From a career perspective, I have made a wonderful impact in bringing Christ into the workplace at two Christian owned companies. I have managed to get the message of Christ to employees in a way that was not offensive. I have also presented to many CEO’s of Christian companies on how to go about doing this. These CEO’s were located in both Lancaster County and Philadelphia. Being outward with my faith and helping others to do so has changed my life. It has taken several years of walking with Christ to be fully confident in doing so because I was raised in environment that shunned talking about faith.

Having worked for public and private companies, I feel God is now directing me to use my talents to help upgrade HR practices for Ministry oriented organizations. I am excited to see where God takes me on this journey. I also have in my heart to help Christian owned organizations become better at reaching their employees with the salvation message. I am currently working on a book and developing a seminar to help business leaders be brave in getting Christ into their workplaces.

I am not sure what tomorrow will bring. I do know that Christ is in my heart, and that is an awesome, makes me want to jump up and down feeling! My personal plan over the next few years is to increase my effectiveness of life change by Christ in the workplace where I am employed. This would include not only the employees but the clients and the employees’ and clients’ families as well. I would like to reach vendors, contractors and donors as well. I also will devote myself deeper into prayer, Bible study and the continuance of developing deeper trusting and supportive relationships with others.

I am a Life Changed by Christ.