The Bible

The Allure of a Lie

3 Comments / February 19, 2026

There is one particular thing that I’ve encountered over and over again as I seek God through His Word and compare what I see in the world to what I read in the Bible.

And that being: An unwillingness of certain people to even have a thoughtful discussion.

So many people toss out something you’ve studied at length with a quick word given with ridicule. In fact, “study” has become a word that is viewed with disdain in a lot of ways. Particularly if it comes to the Bible and comparing what it says, both for our lives today and for what it says regarding the future, to the things we are encountering in the world around us—particular the world that calls itself “Christian” or “evangelical”.

A pastor by the name of David Nelson (1793-1844) wrote a book back in the early 1800s that addresses this unwillingness to study for oneself:

We do suppose that of all the scoffers who were to come in the last day and who were to be wilfully ignorant, there is scarce, one but would be willing to receive historic knowledge, at least, provided an angel could just grasp it in his hand, and throw it into his brain, without any exertion on his part. But the toil of research he never encounters. He may snatch at some plausible objection to truth, as he hears it repeated: but to impartial investigation he is an utter stranger.

As Pastor Nelson implies, we do find that people who are unwilling to study for themselves, are, however, eager to grab on to and repeat a lie that promotes what they want to believe.

I say “they”. But, honestly, we can all be in danger of this, including myself. It is so much easier and alluring to believe an appealing lie than to face an unpleasant truth.

David Nelson goes on to say this about the one who would prefer to believe a lie—

still it is true, that one small cunningly devised falsehood will influence him further than one hundred plain and forcible arguments in favour of Revelation.

It is true, isn’t it? A cleverly devised falsehood will be most influential in the one who does not love the truth, and a mountain of Bible verses, facts, or documentation given as proof that his belief is not true will not change the mind of one who does not love the truth.

I’ve been thinking a lot about 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 over thee past few months, in regards to this:

And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

This is speaking specifically to the day when the world will fall for the deception of the antichrist. But there is a lesson for us all in these verses: If we do not love the truth, we will be vulnerable to deception.

A genuine love for truth is the only thing that will protect us.

And this genuine love for truth will only be developed in the one who, by the power of the Holy Spirit, takes the time to pray and study the Bible. Not just read it, but study it.

Horatius Bonar has the best wisdom about our own personal study of God’s Word—

The Word must be studied in all its fullness. Over its whole length and breadth we must spread ourselves. Above all theologies, creeds, catechisms, books and hymns, the Word must be meditated on, that we may grow in the knowledge of all its parts, and in assimilation to its models.

Our souls must be steeped in it, not in certain favourite parts of it, but in the whole. We must know it, not from the report of others, but from our own experience and vision, else will our life be but an imitation, our religion second-hand, and therefore second-rate.

Another cannot breathe the air for us, nor eat for us, nor drink for us. We must do these for ourselves. So no one can do our religion for us, nor infuse into us the life of truth which he may possess. These are not things of proxy or merchandise, or human impartation. Out of the Book of God and by the Spirit of God must each one of us be taught, else we learn in vain. Hence the exceeding danger of human influence or authority.

Just like another cannot breathe the air for us, nor eat for us, nor drink for us, so no one can do our religion for us nor infuse into us the life of truth.

Oh, how many Christians rely on others for their growth? I used to do this myself, to be honest. I’ve shared that here often. I feel like my Christian life was status quo and without vigor until I picked up God’s Word for myself and began to study it on a regular basis.

I am a testimony of its power working to steadfastly transform an undeserved, sinful woman into the image of Christ, little by little.

This doesn’t mean we won’t continue to have blind spots that keep us from seeing ourselves as we really are. It doesn’t mean we will be perfect or that we will never fight sin or worldliness again.

What it does mean is that God, through our daily study of His Word and time spent in prayer, will open our blind eyes and then enable us to fight against the sin and worldliness that He has revealed to us. That’s it. All glory to God.

I want to be careful here. I have not “arrived”, by any stretch of the imagination (just ask my family!!) I am serious when I say any change in me is by God’s grace. But the Word is changing me. And it will do the same for you.

But it is only through our daily study of God’s Word that we will be filled with a love for the truth and be transformed into the image of Christ.

And this can only happen if we are willing to see ourselves as we really are. It can only happen if we are willing to see the people we love, the people we struggle to love, the world, and all that is happening in the world around us as they really are.

If we hold tightly to a lie—to our own reality that doesn’t represent truth—well, then, we will never change. And we will never be all that we can be for God’s Kingdom.

Oh, to be believers that love God’s Word—all of it in its entirety. Oh, to be believers that study the Bible, all of it—not just the parts that we like or find comforting. Oh, to be believers that will keep ourselves from deception and delusion because we dearly love the truth.

It’s Not One or the Other

1 Comment / February 11, 2026

I’ve had an interesting past week, which included visits to a surgery center and the hospital. As I reflect on these visits, I realize they are a great analogy as to how we are to approach the “love vs truth” dichotomy we find in Christianity today.

A nurse or doctor who is loving and kind is worthless if they won’t do the hard stuff. If they won’t give us the medicine that we need because it will make us “feel bad”, they can be as nice as can be but we will understand their complete incompetence, won’t we?

As we grow sicker and sicker—or even lose our life—their “love” will mean nothing. In fact, we will recognize that it wasn’t love at all that drove their actions, but rather a self-love that made them want to avoid our “bad feelings”.

On the other hand, a nurse who is mean and gruff who gives us the right medicine, in spite of how it will make us “feel”, is certainly not the blessing they could be. They can do everything right, but if they do it with a frown on their face and a mean spirit…well, love is important, isn’t it?

Love and truth aren’t enemies. They are the greatest of friends.

I’ve noticed a really strange dichotomy in the recent years and I really want to encourage my readers to avoid it. It seems that many Christians are drawn only towards the “love and grace” posts, podcasts, sermons, and books. While another group is drawn only towards the “truth and discernment” posts, podcast, sermons, and books.

This ought not to be. As believers, we need to highly value both. I strive very hard to be balanced here because God has clearly shown in scripture that BOTH are important. I am well aware I don’t do this perfectly but I am trying.

If we step back and really think about it, we will recognize that there is no genuine love without truth.

Truth, no matter how it’s spoken, will save your life. To confirm the salvation of someone who has no fruit and zero interest in repentance or being more like Christ is not true love. No matter how that truth is spoken, if someone who has been deceived repents and believes on the name of Jesus Christ, they will receive eternal life.

But love does change everything. It makes [some] hearers much more willing to listen and plants many more seeds than a harsh, critical word. I write “some” in brackets because, at this juncture, we find many who have no interest in hearing the truth, no matter how lovingly it is said.

We are told that people will turn from the truth in the last days (2 Timothy 4:3-4). We are told there will be many false “Jesus”s in the last days and they will deceive many (Matthew 24:5). We are told that there will be perilous times in the last days with people following their lusts and calling it godliness (2 Timothy 3:1-9). And we are told that people will be deluded in the last days because they did not love the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:10-11).

No matter how close we are to the actual return of Christ, we are most definitely seeing these things the Bible warns us of. Christianity is getting more and more confusing every day because so many things are done in the “name of Jesus”.

But is it the real Jesus? When we compare this “Jesus” to scripture, we can see most definitely it is not our beloved Savior who died for us and calls us to forsake our sin and the world and follow Him.

The Bible is true or it isn’t. Our faith is either based on the Bible or it’s based on human philosophy and opinion.

We can’t just define Jesus to be the way we want Him to be and then call ourselves a “Christian”.

Honestly, I think many of us Christians thought we would be in jail by now, being persecuted for standing up for the true, biblical Jesus.

Instead, we find ourselves being persecuted and rejected by those who either profess a different Jesus or are deceived to think all of the “Jesus”s are the same person.

So let me go back to the beginning of this post. As genuine believers, who desire to follow Christ wholeheartedly, we need to understand that there is a very concerted effort to move the world towards a one world religion (which is exactly what scripture tells us will happen! The Bible is 100% true!)

This is something that can’t be done without taking the eyes of the people off of God’s Word. And so there has been a real effort to move the hearts and minds of Christians from the Bible and to, instead, value more highly human opinions and their own personal experiences.

As we live in the midst of this crazy, confusing migration of “Christians” from Bible-believing religion to mysticism (let’s call it what it is), we must be passionate about both truth and love. We cannot—we dare not—eliminate either one in this very dangerous time.

And by doing this, God will use us to plant seeds for His Kingdom. He is still working in the midst of the “Christian” chaos and He is still using His people here on earth. We don’t want to be deceived into unbiblical thinking or a wrong focus, lest we be rendered ineffective. We don’t have to choose one or the other because, as believers, we must choose BOTH, just as Jesus shows us so perfectly in scripture.

We won’t change the world, but one day at a time, we can make a difference in the lives we touch. May we be courageous enough to speak the hard truths of scripture with love and grace. May we love others well and stand boldly in the swelling tide of apostasy.

A Look Back

Leave a Comment / January 13, 2026

The other day, while searching for something on Amazon Prime, a movie was suggested on the screen that we had watched years ago. We wouldn’t watch that movie today as God has so kindly been gradually convicting us of the things we set before our eyes since that time. There are many things I “used to watch” that I wouldn’t choose to watch today.

Sometimes I can find myself thinking even today, “oh, it probably wasn’t that bad” and turn something on for nostalgia’s sake. However, I almost always end up turning the movie or show off because I realize now that it simply doesn’t please the Lord. Sometimes it’s hard to turn something off. Mostly, I don’t miss my old entertainment but I need to be honest with you—sometimes it’s hard.

But when we saw that specific movie on the screen, my husband and I started talking about some friends that had encouraged us to watch it along with other things that were simply not beneficial to any believer. We had a period of time where we watched a lot of popular tv and movies and the reason for this was because of these friends, as we had mostly avoided it earlier in our lives.

When we started to drift apart from these friends, we were very, very sad. We had appreciated our friendship with them. However, we got used to life without them in it and moved on.

It wasn’t until we saw the movie pop up on the screen the other evening that we realized that God took something that was sad and hurtful to us, which certainly didn’t seem “good” to us at the time, and He used it to protect us and to move us away from something that was hurting us spiritually. We never really thought of that before.

And I have been thinking of two things to consider from this look back at our lives…

First, it’s a vivid reminder that God really does work all things for our good (Romans 8:28). But it doesn’t always feel good. And it doesn’t always seem good. And we might not know for years and years later of any good that came from it. Perhaps we may never find out. But we need to trust Him. We need to trust that God is good and that He will fulfill His promise: If we love Him, then all things will work for our good.

Second, it’s a convicting reminder to be the kind of friend that encourages and builds up our friends in the Lord, rather than the kind of friend that leads people towards worldliness and sin.

It’s not just about entertainment—although that is a sadly overlooked problem among those who profess Christ. It IS a big deal and it changes us, whether we believe it does or doesn’t.

I can’t even begin to express how much difference it made in my walk with God as I intentionally began to remove worldly entertainment filled with bad language, sexual immorality, violence, and vain humanistic philosophies (the most subtle of all! and found in even the most innocuous entertainment) from my life. Not that I ever watched, listened to, or read really bad stuff. We can always rationalize, can’t we?

Even today, I can still catch myself trying to rationalize. Thankfully, I am now at least aware that I need to really pay attention to what I am allowing in my mind. I really encourage you to do the same.

Entertainment of all kinds—what we watch, listen to, and read—is a big old open door for Satan to implant his philosophies and perspectives in our minds. It’s just so dangerous. NONE of us are so spiritually strong that we can withstand the barrage of wickedness that comes through entertainment. There will be some kind of collateral spiritual harm. There always is, whether we are willing to admit it to ourselves or not.

But, it’s not just entertainment. We can also, if we aren’t careful, lead people in things like gossip, anger, and grudges; in encouraging people in humanistic and psychological philosophies; we can be a stumbling block by drinking alcohol; we women can tempt a man to lust by wearing immodest, revealing clothing.

Another very common way we lead people towards the world is by only discussing the temporal things of this life—the news, work or career, sports, our children and their doings, fashion, celebrities, etc. There is nothing innately wrong with discussing these things but when God and His Word rarely, or never, come up in our conversations or when these things are not discussed in light of God and His Word, it shows something about where our hearts are and it leads people towards the world, rather than towards Christ.

There are a lot of ways we can lead people away from Christ instead of towards Him.

Honest self-examination is the first step to determining if we are helping God’s kingdom or hindering it.

Of course, none of us will help 100% of the time. That’s never the goal because it’s not even possible.

But may our lives, as a rule, lead people towards Christ. Jesus says we are His friends if we do what He commands (John 15:14). May we be shining examples of leading a life of submission and obedience to God and His Word, rather than leading a life of “doing just enough to get by”, while clinging to the world or our sin.

And so there are two things I’ve been reflecting upon as I have been thinking about those cherished friendships that simply…disappeared. I have no idea where those friends are today and how the Lord has led them in the area of entertainment. Perhaps He has led them on a similar journey.

One thing we can be sure of—the Lord will lovingly and faithfully lead anyone who seeks Him. One step at a time, He will conform us into His image and use all things for our good and His glory.

May we be faithfully examining ourselves and seeking to humbly obey Him as we take the path of growing in Christ.

Never Satisfied with Status Quo

1 Comment / October 15, 2025

A few weeks ago, I was delighted to return to a church that has welcomed me as a speaker for several years now. This year my topic was about aging and beauty. What exactly does scripture have to say about these things?

The topic was my idea—as I had been wanting to dig into the Bible and see what it has to say about these things for a long time. We hear so many things about this topic but what does the Bible actually have to teach about them? That’s what I wanted to know. And I hoped the ladies at the church would be interested, too. Thankfully, they were! No matter who we are or what age, we women especially, find this topic particularly relevant to our daily lives in one way or another.

This morning, I’d like to share just one point of that presentation. This point has continued to personally cause me much consideration, reflection, and conviction.

There is a little verse at the end of I Corinthians 10 that says—

Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

Whatever we do, we are to do to the glory of God. Do ALL to the glory of God.

I don’t know about you, but I find myself doing so many things with myself much more in mind. Our flesh cries out not only for glory, but for love, comfort, convenience, indulgence, popularity, fairness, justice, revenge…to name just a few.

And we make choices with these things in mind. Many times, without even realizing it.

For example…

We may choose not to speak truth because we desire to be loved more than we desire to glorify God.

We may choose to eat too much or buy too much because our flesh wants to be indulged and that’s more important than glorifying God.

We may choose to wear something (or allow our daughter to wear something) that is utterly inappropriate because popularity is more important to us than glorifying God.

We may choose to say something sarcastically or make a snide remark because fairness and revenge take priority over glorifying God.

We may choose to watch, read, or listen to something for so many reasons—popularity, wanting to be liked or loved, indulging our flesh… we have so many reasons (and excuses and rationalizations) as to why we fill our minds with wicked entertainment.

We may… well, you get the idea. It is the nitty gritty of the Christian life. It encompasses life-altering choices and the smallest decisions of every single day.

Do I want to glorify God most? Do my choices and decisions reflect the fact that glorifying God is more important than anything that has to do with ME?

I’ll just be flat-out honest (since those who know me already know this, anyway). The answer to that question is: NO. I don’t.

I’d rather guess that you may have to answer this the same way. We believers are so far from perfect, it’s scary. And we know it, too. It’s why we are so grateful for Jesus. He is perfect so we don’t have to be.

But, that being said, we want to, right? We want to make decisions to glorify God instead of to fulfill some fleshly desire.

And we make more decisions based on this than we used to. We can see how God is growing us and changing us. So we need to be grateful and not wallow in a pit of discouragement. We are not the same people we used to be. Praise be to God, we are not the same as we used to be!

But there is always so much room for improvement, right? The further along we walk in the Christian life, the more we comprehend how far we have to go.

I don’t know if you ever noticed the tagline for Growing4Life. It is “never satisfied with status quo”.

It is so tempting to be satisfied with status quo in our current culture. To just do enough to be considered “Christian” without making any sacrifices; while still fulfilling our flesh.

But this is not what God calls us to. Over and over again in scripture we read of God’s call to deny self, turn from our fleshly desires, offer our bodies as a living sacrifice—to live as a new creature.

We are going upstream in a downstream world. We live a totally different life because God has changed us and is changing us into a totally different person.

I don’t know about you, but I find that I can lean into status quo far too easily and just live day to day without really considering these things. Ignoring verses like I Corinthians 10:31 (not purposefully) as I go about my day to day activities.

That speaking engagement really made me stop short and start paying attention to why I do what I do. And while it has been a rather discouraging exercise, I am thankful. Thankful that the Lord has, yet again, opened my eyes to see myself as I really am.

These things tend to keep us humble and full of grace for others who are on the spiritual battlefield beside us, as we realize we aren’t “all that” and have so much further to go in pleasing our Lord and Savior.

I know this isn’t the feel-good, touchy-feely kind of post that people tend to be drawn to these days. But sometimes we just need to face the cold, hard truth about ourselves, don’t we? Or we will never change. We will never look more like Christ.

Instead, we will be caught up in the endless quagmire of “status quo”, always and only trying to do just enough to be called a “Christian” while still fulfilling our own fleshly desires.

Oh, may this never be said of us. May we never be satisfied with status quo. May we get in the habit of asking the question: What will bring glory to God?

May we keep moving upward and onward, one choice at a time.

The Butterfly Method

2 Comments / September 9, 2025

I enjoy a well-written novel. Always have. Sometimes it’s just wonderful to lose yourself in a good story. Of course, the challenge is finding one that doesn’t dishonor the Lord and His Word. And quite a challenge that is.

A few weeks ago, I decided to read a Historical fiction novel that is labeled “Christian”. I don’t have particularly high expectations with this label anymore and I am always curious to see if it really IS Christian. Most skirt around the Gospel and remain pretty vague but, thankfully, they aren’t filled with offensive content.

This particular novel, however, was interesting in that it basically promoted the belief that everyone is saved (what is called universalism). The author basically took all the happy and comforting promises from scripture and applied them to everyone.

Jesus’s death saved every person in the book and, thus, they were all entitled to God’s wonderful promises. There was no sin. No repentance. No Gospel. No indwelling of the Holy Spirit. No sanctification. God loves everyone and, therefore, everyone is going to heaven. Sure, it’s because of Jesus that everyone can feel so loved but why Jesus even had to die if there is no sin is simply never explained.

A few days later I was listening to an exposition on Ezekiel (I have been trying to understand this book at a basic level as I was reading it) and the teacher, in order to help us understand the context of the book, told us to turn to Jeremiah 29. In the midst of that, he asked how many people love verse 11 and have embraced it as a promise to themselves personally—

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. (Jeremiah 29:11)

He went on to say how it is such a bad practice to take these Old Testament verses that are specifically promises for Israel and apply them to ourselves.

He then went on to call this the “Butterfly Method” of reading the Bible. People just flit and float to the happy verses and take them for themselves. They imbibe the pleasant promises and the verses that bring good feelings. And then completely ignore the hard-to-understand and the unpleasant.

In fact, they even flit to promises that weren’t for them because they are such happy promises. The promise in Jeremiah 29:11 is not for us. Admittedly, there is a principle behind the promise that is repeated in the New Testament (Romans 8:28-29) but we mustn’t pull verses out of context in the Old Testament and apply them to ourselves. A lot of false teaching has been a result of this practice. As serious Bible students, we need to understand the difference between a specific promise and a principle.

If we take a step back, we can see why it is so tempting to use the Butterfly Method of scripture study. We live in a culture that thrives on the pleasant and the good. We love a good happy ending. To focus on anything unpleasant or negative has become one of the greatest sins in this culture.

We have been steadily brainwashed with the message that “positive is good” and “negative is bad”. This is a very destructive message.

And here is the thing…

Is the Bible true or is it false? Either the entire Bible is true. Or the entire Bible is false.

We simply cannot just pick and choose what we like from the scriptures, while ignoring or changing the passages we don’t like.

That is simply intellectually dishonest. And it is self-serving.

The Bible is inspired, inerrant, and infallible. It is cohesive throughout and proves itself over and over for the serious student who takes the time to actually study it.

The entire Bible IS true. We may not understand it all and we may even abhor some of its messages, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s true.

Oh, that we may be courageously willing to accept the difficult messages while, at the same time, embracing the wonderful promises. It isn’t an either/or. It is always AND. We need to study and accept both.

May we be wise and courageous Bible students who trust in God and His Word—every single word of it.

How Do I Know if a Teacher is False or Just Confused?

3 Comments / August 5, 2025

So how do I know if a teacher, preacher, author, or songwriter is false? What if they are just confused? Does it matter?

Over the past year or two, I’ve noticed a cacophony of voices growing louder and louder. None of them are saying the same thing but, as a rule, they are mostly pointing away from God’s Word and pointing towards man’s opinions and experiences.

The one thing that makes this so VERY confusing is that most of these voices have lots of good (and even biblical) things to say. So unless you know what your Bible says, you will fall prey to the false teachings that creep into their messages—often unnoticed.

It’s a confusing, scary world where the church is no longer a safe space (actually…I am uncertain that it ever was a safe space in my lifetime, as I look back from this vantage point.)

But let’s go back in history for a moment before we continue on…

In the early 300s, Satan brought his tactic of syncretism to the Roman church through an Emperor named Constantine. Most of us remember hearing of Christians killed by lions in the Roman Amphitheaters or used as lights while they burned at the stake at Nero’s parties. Satan has been behind the cruel, torturous death of believers throughout the ages. That continues today in some areas of the world.

But in 312, he implemented something new in the church, as Constantine joined Rome’s pagan religion with the Christian religion. It became a religion that was a conglomeration of worship of “God” and worship of pagan deities.

If you are reading along with me in the Bible Reading Challenge this year, you will remember how God feels about syncretism. The Old Testament contains several stories of Israel combining their worship of the One True God with the pagan worship of the nations surrounding them. God hated it.

Well, this is, in essence, what the Catholic Church is. It is the amalgamation of Christianity with pagan religion. Do some research if you don’t believe me. Most saints are directly connected to a pagan deity.

So what is my point?

Satan has achieved tremendous success using this model of religion. He doesn’t care if someone is moral or upright. If they never turn from their own works and to Jesus alone for salvation, he still has them for eternity.

And, so, throughout the ages, he has worked hard to compromise any biblical church, organization, and institution with false doctrine and syncretism. It’s fairly easy to see if we take the time to look back over history.

Today, we can see this in living color, as we watch Satan try to marry biblical Christianity with mysticism. Once you see it, you can never unsee it. It’s so clear. But it’s also so very subtle.

Peter tells us that the devil is a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (I Peter 5:8) and Paul reminds us that we wrestle not again flesh and blood but against powers of darkness and spiritual wickedness (Ephesians 6:12).

Really consider those truths for a moment. We don’t like to dwell on them. And we don’t need to, necessarily. But we must be aware of them. We are targets of Satan and he’s working hard to a) gain worship for himself and b) to render Christians ineffective.

Okay, what does that mean for us right now in our daily lives?

It means that we can’t just read any old book labeled Christian and call it good. We cannot just turn on a Christian radio station or watch a “Christian” movie and check our brains at the door. It means we have to use discernment for our new Bible Study book, the “Christian” bestseller recommended by a friend, the “Christian” show that everyone’s raving about, and, yes, the “Christian” band that sings those catchy tunes.

We have to be actively engaged in thinking “is this true according to scripture”? All the time. This takes so much work. But, given the truths from I Peter 5:8 and Ephesians 6:12, it’s vital for our spiritual protection (as well as for the spiritual protection of our precious children and grandchildren).

So back to my original question (which you are probably thinking that I totally forgot by now!)

How do I know if a teacher is false or just confused?

I just don’t think it matters. Whatever they are, we need to keep our distance from them as soon as we realize they are off.

The deception is growing by leaps and bounds. It can be exhausting to spot it. And ignorance is way easier to live in for the short term. But the damage will be great if we stay in deception.

Thankfully, God gives us the help we need for this time in His Word. Yes, evil men will grow worse in the last days. That is clearly true from the Word and from our experience, right?

So how do we discern the truth about all that swirls about us? Paul, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, gives us the answer to this question—

But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:13-17)

Scripture is the key. At the end of the day, why someone is teaching a false doctrine and leading their followers astray is fairly irrelevant.

The important and quite relevant thing is to be aware that someone is leading us astray. And this will be done only through knowing God’s Word and recognizing its authority in the life of every believer.

It’s a crazy, confusing Christianity we find ourselves living in. And when you realize the level of deception that has infiltrated even the most solid of churches, it can be discouraging and exhausting. Situations come up and you wonder if you should say anything. Books are recommended and you just smile while inside you shudder to think of the deception that the book is teaching. Someone invites you to a concert or to hear a speaker and you have to say no but you know that if you explain why, the person who invited you won’t understand and maybe even get angry at you.

It’s no easy thing to follow hard after the truth. And, in fact, earlier in 2 Timothy 3, Paul reminds us that we will be persecuted if we do so.

The encouragement I offer to you as I close today is to be in the Word and in much prayer, as you seek to discern in this age of deception. God will give us the wisdom to discern and the courage and love to speak up when we are given the opportunity. We must rely solely on the Lord to fill us with His wisdom, His love, and His grace as we live in these spiritually confusing and troubled times.

The Truth Will Mess with Your Peace (and that’s a good thing!)

2 Comments / July 29, 2025

Once upon a time, a man (we will call him John) went to the doctor due to a severe headache that wouldn’t go away. As the doctor examined him, he told him it could be due to a number of different reasons—some even fatal.

“What would you like to be the cause of your headache?” Asked the doctor.

Not expecting that response, John said wryly, “well, it doesn’t really matter what I want it to be, now, does it?”

“Well,” responded the doctor, “we are trying a new method—one where we let the patient decide what is wrong. This way we don’t mess with their peace or make them upset. We just assume that what they say is true and treat from their diagnosis.”

Silly story. And, yes, it’s just a story. (I wrote a longer post about this called Lindy’s Headaches, you can read that here.) But have you noticed that, while this would never happen in the medical world, it happens all the time in the spiritual world? As if we can all just decide what is sin and what isn’t. As if we can all just decide for ourselves what is truth and how we get to heaven.

And if we don’t like what someone says or they don’t agree with us, we can just unfriend them, delete them from our lives, and move on.

A friend told me he saw a meme on Facebook awhile back. It said this:

“If it messes with your peace, it’s not worth it.”

Have you noticed that this is the philosophy of so many today?

But here’s the thing: The truth will mess with your peace. It just does.

I can look back over my life and recall many times where someone told me the truth about something and it made me very uncomfortable and, sometimes, even angry. But, looking back now, I am so very grateful for those people who were willing to speak the truth to me.

After all, how do we grow if we only surround ourselves with people who are just like us and will never say anything that offends us? How will we grow if we are determined to do things our way, without wise counsel of godly, older people? How will we grow if we refuse to listen to anyone we don’t agree with? How will we grow if we ignore everything in God’s Word that we don’t like??

Well, we won’t. Approaching life this way will lead to looking inward towards self for strength and wisdom. Rather than looking towards God, His Word, and godly men and women that have walked the narrow path ahead of us, so many are looking to self (and to those who agree with self).

And, listen, that is the world’s way. Frank Sinatra released the song “I Did it My Way,” in 1969. The world has been on a the runaway train of self-esteem, self-improvement, self-promotion, self-strength, self-wisdom, and self-glory ever since.

It’s taken the Christian world awhile to follow after the world, but here we are. Most everyone today believes this:

If it doesn’t encourage me or make me feel good, it’s not worth it.

This is probably the main reason families and the visible church are in such a shambles. If someone makes me uncomfortable, it’s not worth it. If the relationship takes work, it’s not worth it. Truth and biblical doctrine can make us uncomfortable. Serving others sacrificially does not always make us feel good.

How much easier is it to run away from the hard? How much more fun and entertaining is it to go to a concert-like worship experience and then listen to a few shallow minutes of encouragement?

Of course, we can’t change this. We can’t change where the secular or the Christian culture finds itself these days.

But we can evaluate our own lives and we can, by God’s grace, intentionally determine not to be SELF-obsessed.

I am currently reading a biography of a missionary. As she has been describing her life, I have grown more and more disturbed. Would I have been willing to do what she did? I don’t think so. If I am honest, I have to say I don’t think so.

And it makes me realize that I, too, have fallen for the cult of self. I, too, put self on a higher pedestal than God all too often.

I think we all struggle with this at some level. As my daughter-in-law said recently: Do we ever do anything with a pure motive?

It is disconcerting to think about, isn’t it? But God knows this and I am so thankful for His grace and His mercy. Jesus came to die for us to pay the price for every sin, every insincere act of service, every time we didn’t do what was right and didn’t even realize it.

Praise the name of Jesus!

But it is my prayer that this short post, in the midst of a tsunami of internet information that will tell you the opposite, will encourage us to love God more than self. That it will bring awareness that this love for self is something we must fight and never embrace. That love for self is the antithesis of true, biblical Christianity. That this love for self is really part of our sin nature and it is called our “flesh” in scripture.

Look, we aren’t going to always agree with others. Even if we both love the Lord with all of our hearts, we will not agree on everything. I don’t expect you to always agree with me and I won’t always agree with you. But what a joy it is to have relationships where we can have open, honest conversations without malice and rancor and bitterness. What joy it is to talk about God’s Word and to grow together with those who also hold the Bible as their anchor and final authority.

Recently, I had the privilege of watching two of my best friends play this out right in front of my eyes. I watched one speak the truth in love and I watched the other one hear the truth with love. It was a beautiful thing. It is how it is supposed to be for us believers. Iron sharpens iron (Proverbs 27:17) and it is a wonderful encouragement when we can have this kind of relationship with someone.

Hearing the truth is a good thing! Being called away from self and towards God through our reading of God’s Word and the counsel of godly family and friends is a great thing!

May we, as believers, be willing to turn from self, experience discomfort, have our “peace messed with”, and hear the truth with love—so that we will grow in our faith and become more Christ-like as the years pass by.

Judgements, the Bible, and Incomplete Information

1 Comment / June 10, 2025

We all make judgments. We make judgments about what is beautiful and what isn’t. And about what is “normal” and what “isn’t normal”. We make judgments about whether someone is doing something right or something wrong; And about whether someone is doing something wise or something foolish. We all do it. And we all do this quite naturally, whether we speak our judgments aloud or not.

But there are two things that we believers really should consider before we pass judgment. Before I go on I’d like to mention that this is something God has been teaching me, oh so gradually, over the course of my lifetime and I am definitely not the same person I used to be. But I am still growing in this area. It’s so easy to write about something the Bible teaches, but learning to live it out takes a lifetime.

The FIRST thing for our consideration is this: Is my judgment based on God’s Holy Word or is it based on my opinion?

If it’s based on my opinion then does it really matter? What makes one opinion better than another?

Here’s a silly example (albeit a practical one). Let’s consider a woman’s shirt. Let’s say I notice a co-worker’s new shirt and I just don’t like it. It’s bright and loud in a color I do not care for and I find it very unappealing. Why is my opinion about that shirt better than the wearer’s opinion? And does it really matter?

Now, let’s take that same shirt and let’s say that it is cut very low and is very immodest. The Bible tells us to dress modestly (I Timothy 2:9-10). So now I am making a judgment between right and wrong which, in fact, we are supposed to do (Matthew 7, I Thess. 5:21-22, and others).

Judgments that are based on our opinions don’t always need to be said. But sometimes they do need to be shared. For example, in committee meetings or family gatherings, when a plan is being developed or a vacation planned. At that point, we speak up with the understanding that there is really no “right” or “wrong” in the situation but that our opinion is simply based on preference.

But what we do with our biblical judgments? Are we to speak each one? This is probably worth a post all its own but, for the sake of time and space here today, let’s just nutshell it in this way: True love discerns, through prayer, when speaking truth is appropriate and is willing to confront when necessary. A lot of harm has been done by parents, pastors, teachers, and others who were simply unwilling to speak biblical truth into the lives of others because they were worried about offending.

This leads to the SECOND thing which we must consider: Are we are aware that we may have incomplete information as to why someone made a choice?

This is not regarding the actual making of judgments but, rather, about our attitudes that accompany our judgments.

When we make biblical judgments, we make them based on our own life experiences. This leads many of us to give no grace, no mercy, no lee-way for other life experiences.

So, for example, someone growing up in a Christian home will naturally know the Bible better than a baby Christian who just got saved as an adult and is learning. Do we have grace for the baby Christian who is just learning?

Or another example is that perhaps someone made a decision for a very good reason but you, looking from the outside, are not privy to the reason for that decision and are judging them for doing something unwise based on your incomplete information. We don’t always know the facts and perhaps they didn’t do anything unwise at all.

Do we give people the benefit of the doubt? Or do we fall prey to having a “holier than thou” attitude?

We only have our life experience from which to form judgements. But it’s so important to recognize that our life experiences are not the gold standard. Only the Bible can and should inform all of our judgments.

And this should lead us to grace and mercy as we remember our life is not their life. And they may have challenges about which we have no idea at all. This doesn’t mean we don’t talk with them when we see sin or worldliness. It just means we have a humble, loving attitude that acknowledges we may not know everything.

So… what if a judgment is based on scripture and you find yourself concerned about someone you love? What to do?

Our natural response is to gossip or to make sarcastic, passive-aggressive remarks letting others know how we feel. The godly response is to keep quiet and go to that person personally and find out the whole story; find out why they made the choice they did and lovingly and kindly point to the scripture that shows that it is wrong.

Can you see why correct interpretation and honest hermeneutics of God’s Word are so critical to life? There are so many manmade “rules” and “laws”—rules and laws that man has created that are simply not in scripture. And there are also so many principles and commands that go completely ignored and neglected by professing Christians who love the world.

And can you see why it’s so important to be able to recognize an opinion-based judgment from a scripture-based judgement?

I have been judged for many things throughout my life. One that sticks out in my memory is being judged for drinking orange juice with my pop-tart instead of milk. Someone made me feel like a fool because of this decision.

As I reflect on that experience, which is over twenty years ago now, I find it such an unnecessary judgement. It’s a silly example but there are so many just like it that happen every day.

Judgments like this build walls instead of building unity. They create division instead of creating a loving, safe place to grow together.

Oh, that we may recognize the difference between our subjective, opinion-based judgments and objective, scripture-based judgments. May we handle any judgment in a loving, biblical manner that will support and encourage God’s family, rather than tear it down.

The Wheat and the Tares

Leave a Comment / May 31, 2025

Recently, I decided to research some reviews for something we are preparing to buy. Reviews can be tricky because some people are never happy. But you can generally find a trend if you look hard enough.

But this got me thinking. Have you considered that religion is the one thing you are not allowed to honestly review? It’s the one thing that is considered off-limits to critique, evaluate, or examine.

Why is this?

It’s because religion, in all its forms, has become completely and utterly subjective. The individual gets to decide what is right for them (they are the judge), rather than God deciding what is good and right (He is the judge and has given us His Word to show us what is good and right).

While lots of people calling themselves Christians would never admit that they believe in universalism (everyone is going to heaven), they do believe in a form of it (everyone who “believes in Jesus” is going to heaven—no matter if their Jesus is in direct opposition to the Jesus of the Bible; no matter if they utterly ignore God’s Word; no matter that they live in sin and worldliness without conviction.)

I am not sure I realized until just now how we have been so deeply affected by relativism. Of course, I knew at some level. But it has so exponentially exploded so that you aren’t “allowed” to criticize anything. And if you do, you are the worst of the worst. You are the unloving, unkind one. YOU are the wicked, evil one.

It doesn’t matter if you have Bible verses in context as an argument. How dare you argue against someone’s opinion or feelings?

But opinions or feelings never inform true religion. My opinions and feelings are irrelevant to how Christianity is defined and lived out. And so are yours. I am no judge. None of us are. Our desire should be to proclaim the Word of God in its entirety. The Bible contains the most beautiful promises for God’s redeemed child. It also contains difficult commands that are not pleasant to my flesh. It has painful truths and delightful encouragement. Every single word of it is true and we don’t get to pick and choose what we want.

The Bible is what makes Christianity an objective religion. We don’t get to just go by our feelings, wherever they lead us. And, honestly, would we even want to? Oh, thank the Lord, we are not dependent upon our feelings for they will always end up leading us astray and away from God.

Many truths of scripture do not feel good. Many lies of the devil feel great. We can’t go by what we feel.

I was talking to one of my daughters last night and we were talking about how this subjectivity has infiltrated the churches—almost all churches— now. To the point that there are few Christians who don’t subscribe at some level to this feelings-oriented “Christianity”.

Who is saved? Who isn’t? The wheat and the tares are basically indistinguishable now (Matthew 13:24-30) and I certainly don’t know. But what I do know is that scripture is the basis for true, genuine Christianity and it will continue to be my guide, my litmus test, and my anchor.

If what someone is saying doesn’t line up with the Bible, I will be skeptical. If some famous celebrity is claiming to know Christ while boasting about still living in sin, I will assume he is lying. If some new trend comes on the scene to help me experience “God’s presence”, I will run.

Just because someone names the name of Jesus does not make them a genuine Christian. Remember—even the demons believe and tremble (James 2:17). Anyone can say words. It is our actions that prove our words.

So where does grace come in? Grace is an important word here because many people are blind to certain things. In fact, I would venture to say we are all blind at some level, no matter how much we love the Lord. It is the nature of humanity.

The other thing to remember is that true believers can resist certain truths because of what following the truth would cost them. I resisted a certain truth for 15 years. My conviction of it would come and go through those years, while I continued in a pattern of something that was not pleasing to my Savior. I praise the Lord for His patience with me over those years.

And so, we must have grace. True believers can be blind and can resist certain truths. We are not the judge and we are not God. We can’t know what is going on in any heart.

But the one thing we can do—and we can do with fervency—is pray. Ask God to save them or to grow their faith—He knows which is needed. Pray for those you see who are blind or are resisting the truth. Pray that God would open their eyes and soften their hearts.

And then, while we are at it, let’s pray the same thing for ourselves. Oh, that our eyes would be open and our hearts be teachable to the things God tells us in His Word.

We must just continue to do the next right thing as we endeavor to avoid the works of the flesh, walk in the Spirit, and crucify our flesh (Galatians 5). And this lifestyle is not burdensome to us because we have a new heart. It is the genuine Christian’s heart’s desire to live in this way and to please our Heavenly Father. Oh, our flesh may argue with us sometimes but, deep down inside, we want to be righteous.

May we not allow anyone to hoodwink us into thinking that we can worship or act any old way we want to and still follow Jesus. That is just not true, according to scripture. God has given us very specific guidance on what our lives should look like after salvation and those who are genuinely saved desire to follow this guidance.

May we hold onto the Bible with all our might as we live in the midst of this relative, subjective, groundless religion called “Christianity” (which clearly isn’t Christianity at all).

The Representative

1 Comment / April 8, 2025

In the past week, I ended up at the same restaurant two different times. Interestingly enough, I had two very different experiences.

During the first visit, my group was served by a waitress that was fantastic. She was there before you knew you had a need. With a smile and a pleasant word, she checked in with us often. She boxed our leftovers and gave us extra bread to take home with us. She just made the whole experience very pleasant.

The second visit was not as pleasant. The waitress wasn’t terrible but she wasn’t great either. I found myself searching the room for her several times, wondering if she had forgotten about us. She completely forgot one request and we didn’t ask again. She was pleasant enough but she seemed a bit scatterbrained and generally uninterested in the people at her assigned tables. I wondered if she is perhaps just not really cut out for waitressing.

Waitresses are the representatives of their restaurants. Like it or not, restaurant owners are putting their reputation in the hands of these people. We do the same with our landscape company. Employees represent their companies.

Sometimes, as in our first waitress, that is a wonderful thing. They represent well with stellar service and a smile. Sometimes, as in our second waitress, they are just okay. They don’t necessarily damage the business owner’s reputation, but they also don’t do anything to help it. And, sometimes, employees do irreparable damage to the reputation of a business. Lacking wisdom and only caring about self, they bring a carelessness of deed and tongue to their job that gives the company a bad name.

In all three cases it’s the same business. The same owners desire to have employees that treat their customers well. Unfortunately, they cannot always control how their employees treat customers and sometimes do not even know until it’s too late that there was a problem.

It’s just the way it is. It’s the way it has always been. It just is.

Do you see a similarity here to Christianity? Believers are representatives (lights) and we should represent our King well. What people think about God is often based on what they think about us.

Some represent Him very well—they speak the truth in love; they love and obey His Word; they love others well; and they strive to live holy, pure lives unspotted from the world.

And then there are others who don’t necessarily hurt Christ’s reputation but they certainly don’t help it, either. They struggle with worldliness and sin; lacking courage, they know they should speak the truth of God’s Word but they are are afraid ; they aren’t necessarily selfish but they aren’t really unselfish either, as they tend to things in their own little world.

And then there are those who profess Christ (only God knows the truth if they are saved or not) who claim to love Him and yet continue in sin and worldliness with not even one niggling conviction; they are self-focused instead of God-focused; they aren’t even thinking about speaking truth because they are too worried about what others will think. This last group does irreparable damage to the name of Christ.

(Parenthetically, I’d rather guess that many genuine believers vacillate between the first two types of representatives. Sometimes we do so well and we have courage and love well and then other times we get so distracted and fearful or caught up in some besetting sin that we need to battle. Probably none of us are 100% in one of the first two categories all the time. I know I am not. Praise God for His marvelous grace…!)

But, in the end, Jesus is Jesus. His weak (or even false) representatives do not change who He is.

I’ve heard of so many people who walk away from the faith because of the “hypocrites in the church”. Or use it as an excuse not to go to church or “get involved with religion.”

And I just want to say: Of course, there are going to be hypocrites in the church! Just as there will always be lousy employees.

People are people are people. Some things never change.

We should not judge a business based on one bad experience. And we certainly should never judge God based on His human representatives, genuine or otherwise.

We have to keep our eyes on Jesus. We can’t get mired in the broken, sinful world around us, wondering if what we read in the Bible is true and basing that belief on those who claim to represent Him here on earth.

The Bible IS true and if someone isn’t representing Jesus and what is written in the Bible with integrity and righteousness, we must turn from them, rather than turning from the One they claim to be representing.

𝘠𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥. (Matthew 5:14a)

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