About me
Jerry A. Smith, PhD
This is my journey with God, and my journey connecting His Word with what research is learning about how we are made.
First things first: this project is not really mine. Without God I wouldn't be here, and without His leading I wouldn't have the ability to do any of the work you see on this site. What you're reading is part of my journey with Him. It's the story of a man trying to love God with all his mind as well as his heart (Matthew 22:37).
My path here has not been a straight line. I began in the U.S. Navy, first as a nuclear engineer selected by Admiral Hyman Rickover, then as a jet pilot flying from aircraft carriers. Both jobs teach you that the details matter and that you check your instruments before you trust them. I went on to earn a PhD in Computer Science, and for 35 years I've built technology for a living. In recent years that has meant artificial intelligence: I've built AI practices from the ground up inside six global firms, and I still write code. That work taught me to read research carefully. I ask how big a study was, what it actually measured, and what it can't tell us.
On Thursdays I meet with a men's group at my church to study the faith together. When we started working through Tony Evans's No More Excuses, the theme was simple: take responsibility for how you live. As we read, I kept noticing something. The disciplines Scripture asks of us (rest, gratitude, forgiveness, guarding our thoughts, staying close to one another) kept showing up in the research on stress, sleep, habit, and relationships. I began writing those connections down for the men in our group, and the notes grew into the paper, then into this site, and now into a twelve-week book.
I hold to one rule throughout: convergence, not proof. When two honest maps of the same ridge line up, you note it and let it sharpen your attention. I try to say plainly what each study found and where it falls short. If I've gotten something wrong, I want to know.
My hope is simple. I want these pages to help you take one practical step closer to God this week, and to see that the life He calls us to is not arbitrary. It's how we were made.
To God be the glory.
Get in touch
If something here helped you, raised a question, or got something wrong, I'd like to hear from you. You can email me at jerry@drjerryasmith.com or call me at 484-678-3518.