Truth Be Told

A friend of mine told me once that I am like an "Evangelist for frozen mango." This was about the weirdest comment I've ever received and so I had to ask about it and consider the statement. It's true, I do love frozen mango. It's one of the greatest snacks in the world. It's just something that makes me happy. When people find this out about me, many are intrigued. It seems like such an odd thing...

How can I look at the HOUSE of God and feel like it's a HOME? Every time I look at the sections of Scripture that talk about the House of God, I remember that those verses often look directly at the Temple or Tabernacle structures as foreshadowing God making His home with us. While the presence of God, is absolutely a thing I love and desire, looking at the physical buildings that were representat...

Christian content creator,  @johnmarkdyer7  and I had an awesome conversation about Christian evangelism and social media. The discussion ranged from preaching the Gospel across generations to cultural starting points for sharing your faith. So many are divided over opinions on Christian social media. How effective is it? Is it watering down the Gospel? Isn't it just a little too performative? In...

When we meet new people we often learn about them through a mix of how we perceive them, what others say about them, and what they communicate to us through their words or actions. Many times, when considering God, we only consider our own perceptions and what others say about Him. We forget that God inspired and compiled the entire Bible which speaks to us about Him. Throughout the pages of Scrip...

For modern Christians who have spent their entire lives studying Scripture, surrounded by Church life, very familiar with the "vibe" of Christianity, it can be very easy to forget that, Jesus said some really strange things. Without the benefit of 2,000+ years of theological research, amazing Christian lives lived, and acquaintance with the person of Jesus through Scripture, we miss what it might...

Going through difficulties in life, suffering, and facing consequences of sin are difficult parts of life. Painful, harmful, and traumatic circumstances happen to all of us and they can cause us to question God's goodness. Why would God allow me to go through this? Didn't He know it would hurt me? Eventually, we learn that those situations and circumstances were designed and/or used to teach us go...

Ok, ok.. before you get all up in arms - No. I'm not saying Jesus was a woman. The term Messiah just means Anointed One, and refers to one who saves Israel. Many people were smaller versions of Messiah before Jesus appeared, prefiguring in part all that He would accomplish. Interestingly, in THIS story that we cover from 1 Samuel, it's a woman who steps into that role. However, she isn't saving al...

When the world becomes chaotic, Christians flock to the Scriptures to determine read prophecy. We read about end time events and, naturally, have a little fear when we consider that we might have to live through some of it. Some people prepare by saving drinking water, hoarding food, equipping bunkers, and keeping extra batteries on hand. While there's absolutely nothing wrong with being cautious...

We all know someone who isn't Christian, and many of us probably know someone who has died without coming to Christ. Are those people who have died in ignorance eternally damned? In David Platt's book, "Something Needs to Change," he discusses his emotions at witnessing the burial rites of those who have died in the remote areas of the Himalayas. While the book itself is fantastic, his conclusions...

A few weeks ago, it was brought to my attention that my friends Brad and Ryan have started a new project called, "Reacting to Truth," that, essentially, is a reaction channel to my podcast/YouTube channel.  This news really took me by surprise. Were they making a joke about it? Was it a prank I wasn't aware of? Why didn't they tell me they were doing it? Surely they wouldn't go through all this ef...

**PLEASE READ DESCRIPTION** This episode is the 2nd in a series that I'm slowly working through, dedicated to analyzing the potential for division in the Church that runs along age lines. While I don't see any wild amount of disunity between the different age groups currently, there are differences in experience, thought, understanding, and preferred methodology that could quickly turn into divisi...

Are you in danger of having an Us vs. Them mentality when it comes to those who aren't Christian? Is this even all that wrong? In Joshua 5, we get a really unique story in Israel's history regarding the Commander of the Army of the LORD. This story sits between Israel's wandering in the wilderness after their liberation from Egypt and the fall of Jericho as the first of the conquests of the Promis...

It often gets stated by skeptics that the Bible is "full of contradictions." Even Christians will stumble across verses that get a bit confusing sometimes. Whenever this conversations comes up, it seems like it results in hostility and frustration most of the time. There are a few things we need to keep in mind before we even THINK about getting into these types of conversations. It's important to...

The birth of our Savior is one of the most important events in human history. It is the fulfillment of prophecies, it is the answer to prayers, it is the beginning of hope. God became flesh and dwelt among us.  While, personally, I don't celebrate Christmas (I don't think there is any chance this is remotely close to the actual birth of Jesus), to ignore this story in an effort to distance yoursel...

Job is one of the more well-known books of the Bible. It struggles through huge topics like human suffering, the spirit world, and God's goodness. This book also presents several questions that Job, in his suffering, petitions God about hoping for an answer. Why is this happening to me? What have I done wrong? Won't you give me a fair trial? Why is there no mediator between God and man? This last...

Stories have been a part of human culture since its beginning. We learn about morality, emotions, differences in people, virtue, struggle, and how the world works all through the telling and retelling of stories. The Bible contains what literary scholars call, "The Greatest Story Ever Told." The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has everything that the best stories desire to have: dyna...

Eve, the mother of all mankind, gets an incredibly bad wrap. We read her story in Genesis 3 and pin the state of the world on her shoulders to, probably, an unfair degree. Sure, submitting to the temptation of the serpent, eating of the fruit in disobedience to God, and giving to her husband to eat as well are incredibly misguided actions that had dire consequences. But we forget that her story co...

Sodom and Gomorrah is a classic story of God's judgement. These cities have become bywords to represent evil and sin and their destruction acts as a cautionary tale to all who would disobey God. But is that all there is to it? Upon further reading, we might be surprised to know that this story is actually an amazing representation of God's mercy and estimation of human life. How, you might ask? Fi...

The story of the prodigal son is one of the most well-known in the world. After centuries of telling and retelling, preaching and writing, expounding and studying - what more could we possibly take from this short section of scripture? Let me ask you - when, in the story, do you think the prodigal son repented? Some might place it at the moment he "comes to himself" and prepares a speech on his wa...

Last week's video was a wild one. I really did hope to have an even-toned discussion regarding the merits of the Christian claim of the sinless life of Jesus Christ. It turned into QUITE a bit more than that and I had comments as wide-ranging as requests for me to prove the supernatural, accusations against the validity of the manuscript evidence of the Bible, and flat out name calling. In amidst...

Atheists, I am truly trying to come to you respectfully and with humility. I have no desire to call you out or to get into a shouting match in the comments. I do, however, have a challenge for you: So often Christians and Atheists spend a lot of time debating the plausibility of the resurrection of Jesus. Let's take one step back from that and discuss the Christian claim that Jesus lived a sinless...

Certain verses in the Bible act as summary verses for some of the complex and nuanced commands of God. They aren't meant to oversimplify or ignore the depth in the rest of Scripture but, in my view, to reorient the reader to the broader principles that we're being directed to. One such passage is Micah 6:8 where God is talking to wayward Israel and tells them the 3 basic things He called them to -...

Our relationship with God is one of the "already" but the "not yet." Yes, God lives in His people via His Holy Spirit in an intimate relationship. But also, we're waiting for the time when He will FINALLY dwell with mankind and we can see Him as He is. In a way, then, our relationship with God is similar to a long-distance relationship. We have to make time to spend with Him. We have to plan out o...

When I take an honest look at Scripture, I don't see anywhere that the food laws of Leviticus 11 were abolished. I realize there are some verses that people will often use to defend that belief but, looking at them in context, rules that out as an option. Jesus Himself said that He didn't come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it, and most Christians would agree that sin (i.e. transgression of the...

The 5 Love Languages (physical touch, quality time, words of affirmation, gifts, and acts of service) are categories meant to help people understand which acts of love are the most effective in making those around them feel the most loved. In this theory, love is a form of communication. It's a language. Knowing how someone communicates helps understanding to flourish. If your wife appreciates gif...