A Journey Toward Conviction

Book overview

A quiet drift, a hospital room, and a settled answer.

For most of his life, Ted Pugh believed in God. He never denied the truth of the gospel, but faith remained in the background, acknowledged more than practiced.

A health crisis in 2020 forced a more personal question: not merely “Do I believe in God?” but “Where do I stand with Him?” This book traces that movement from assumption to surrender, from passive belief to active conviction.

Written in a plainspoken and direct voice, the book is meant for readers who may recognize themselves in background faith: people who believe the right things, yet have not honestly examined whether they have surrendered their lives to Christ.

Core themes

The questions beneath the story.

Belief and surrender The difference between knowing what is true and entrusting your life to it.

Assumption and assurance The danger of drifting through life convinced that background faith has settled everything.

Faith in ordinary life A testimony rooted in work, marriage, family, church service, and the daily evidence of conviction.

Sample chapter excerpt

Chapter 1: Growing Up Around Faith

I don’t remember a time when I didn’t believe in God.

But I also don’t remember faith being part of our home.

My parents didn’t go to church. Not occasionally. Not regularly. They simply didn’t attend. If I went, it was because I was dropped off or went with a friend. Church was something I experienced mostly on my own.

There was no prayer at home. No Bible reading. No discussion about what faith meant or why it mattered. God wasn’t rejected in our house — He just wasn’t present in any active way.

Looking back, I think that shaped me more than I realized at the time.

As a child, I didn’t question much of it. I believed in God. I believed Jesus was real. At a young age, I accepted Him as my Savior. I meant it in the way a child understands meaning something.

But belief without guidance doesn’t grow very deep.

There was no one modeling what daily faith looked like. No one showing me what surrender meant beyond a moment in time. No connection between Sunday and the rest of the week.

So faith remained isolated.

It was something I visited.

Not something I lived.

About the author

Ted Pugh

Ted Pugh is a husband, father, Baptist Christian, and active member of his local church. After spending much of his life believing in God without fully living surrendered to Him, a health crisis in 2020 became the turning point that led him from assumption to settled conviction.

Professionally, Ted has spent more than three decades in enterprise technology, including 32 years in IT at ConocoPhillips before continuing his work in IT with Phillips 66. He also serves through church technology and leadership support, using practical skills to strengthen the body of Christ.

A Journey Toward Conviction is his personal account of moving from passive belief to active surrender, written to encourage others to examine their faith with honesty and clarity.

Bartlesville, Oklahoma Christian testimony Faith, family, service

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