Comments:
After graduation I worked for Morley Bus Co. and attended Lakewood Community College. After a summer in Africa on a Christian missions trip, I moved to Chicago in 1983 to attend Moody Bible Institute. I worked with Young Life in the Chicago's Cabrini Green housing projects and graduated from Northeastern Illinois University with a major in Inner City Studies and a minor in social work.
I met Anne at church and we were married in 1986. Anne taught at a Catholic school in Cabrini Green and I began teaching in the Chicago Public Schools in 1989. We bought a house on the south side (near Comisky Park - White Sox - if you know Chicago) in 1989, and we still live here. I taught until 1998 when I left Chicago Public Schools to become director of a youth center I had renovated and began a new Young Life group there. I did that until 2007 and am now back teaching.
I am now learning Spanish and endorsed as a bilingual teacher. Anne teaches art and is also the counselor at her school, just a few blocks from our house. We have 3 kids. My oldest son Jonathan is an art teacher at the Chicago High School he graduated from. Hannah and Sammy are twins, in their junior years of college.
I became a Christian at a Young Life camp in Colorado in the summer before my senior year at Forest Lake. Of course I was young and immature in my faith and sometimes set a bad example of what it means to be a Christian, but like all believers, I am a work in progress and God isn't finished with me yet!
What does it mean to be a Christian? Obviously, Christians aren't perfect, but they are forgiven! The Bible says that after we die each of us will stand alone before God's judgment throne. We will be held accountable for every time we have broken His commandments. Unless you are a perfect person, you have not honored Him as Almighty God. Instead, we are lawbreakers who can't earn God's favor by doing good deeds, because God is just, and His justice must be served. God loves people, but He also loves justice. Our "good deeds" - that He rightfully expects of us anyway - can't be used as a bribe for God to ignore justice. Each of our sins will not be ignored. The hard truth is, we are morally bankrupt. We deserve Hell, not Heaven.
But the good news is that although God is just, He is also merciful. God does not want you or I to go to hell. He has made a way for his justice to be served and for us to have a right relationship with Himself! He gave His Son, Jesus Christ, who took our punishment by dying in our place on a cross. Jesus rose from the dead and proved that he alone has the power to forgive our sins. The only road to Heaven is to confess our sins, repent (turn from our sins and live for God) and put our faith in Jesus as our one and only hope for salvation.
I am much aware that many who read this have already come to saving faith in Jesus - praise God! Others will scoff and think I'm a fool - and you would be right - a fool for Christ, and a sinner who has been forgiven. I have wonderful memories of high school and when I look through my yearbook I have mostly wonderful memories of each of my classmates. I truly believe all that I've written here, and even if I'm wrong and there is no God and this life is all there is, please don't blame me for wanting to see you all in heaven one day!
Lately I've changed from a more relational approach to sharing my faith, as I did in Young Life, to just talking with people more directly about their beliefs and what the Bible says. I often write stories about these conversations on my blog at www.EverydayClub.blogspot.com. I also have about 200 videos of people who have graciously agreed to allow me to record the conversations. They can be seen on my YouTube Channel at YouTube.com/c/jeffreiman. I invite you to check it out and leave a comment, or call/write me at 312-316-6604 J.Reiman464@gmail.com
PS - You may be interested in knowing about my Dad. He retired from coaching and teaching in 1996? - the same year the Ranger wrestlers won the state championship. He and my Mom do a lot of traveling and spend a lot of time in the summer at their cabin in Cross Lake and a few months in the winter down in Alabama near the coast. They still live in Forest Lake.
