My Bible Study Pet Peeve December 1, 2025 One of my biggest pet peeves in group Bible studies or when I am talking to someone about a passage of Scripture is when someone says, “Well… I think this passage means…”   I don’t want to know what we think it means. Scripture doesn’t bend to our opinions. The Bible has a single meaning, given by the Holy Spirit who inspired it.   The Spirit both inspired the text (He gave it meaning) and illuminates the text (He makes it personally significant). Without Him, we turn the Scriptures into moral advice, political commentary, or a self-help book. With Him, we see Jesus — because all of Scripture points to him (Revelation 19.10).   There are two essential mindsets we must bring to every passage:   MINDSET #1 – The Bible is a unified story that points to Jesus Jesus repeatedly asked the scholars of His day, “Have you not read…?” (There are at least thirty-four times he did ...READ POST

My obligatory thankfulness post… for Thanksgiving! November 24, 2025 I know what you’re thinking: “It’s Thanksgiving week, so of course Nathan is writing a post about gratitude.”   100%.   But it’s also much more personal than a holiday reminder — this has become survival for me.   Over the last couple of months, I’ve had to reclaim the habit of intentional gratitude because my own thought-life was drifting toward disappointment and discouragement. And when I stop practicing intentional thankfulness, my mind gets negative real fast. But when I return to the habit of thankfulness, the enemy’s whispers of frustration and weariness slowly begin to fade into the background.   Science reveals this reality as well.   Studies from UC Davis, Harvard Health, and Greater Good Science Center show that regular gratitude practices reduce anxiety and depression, improve sleep, strengthen resilience, and even decrease stress hormones in the body. Gratitude literally rewires the brain — strengthening the neural pathways for hope, peace, and joy.   God knew this, which is why ...READ POST

Is God in Control — or Just in Charge? November 10, 2025 For most of my life, growing up in the American-Christian culture, I heard well-meaning Christians say, “Don’t worry — God’s in control.” It sounds like a comforting platitude, but for a while now, it has raised some troubling questions for me: if God controls everything, then what’s the point of prayer? Why would Jesus teach us to ask, seek, and knock if everything were already decided? And, if God is in control, then there are a lot of evil things taking place that should make every Christian question their loyalty to Him?   As I have read and studied the Scriptures, they seem to paint a richer, more relational picture of God. He is in charge — He reigns over creation — but He isn’t a micromanager. He is sovereign enough to give His creation genuine freedom, choosing to work within humanity’s boundaries rather than controlling it like a puppet master. His ...READ POST

Don’t Worry About Israel — Jesus Already Fulfilled It November 3, 2025 I’ve been watching, like many of you, the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine over the past few years. It’s one of those topics I’ve intentionally avoided writing about for a while. But with all the recent peace talks and renewed attention, I felt it might be the right time to share something that’s been on my heart.   I’ve already gone much deeper into this subject in my podcast series on the book of Galatians.   There’s been a lot of noise lately about Israel — headlines, political unrest, “fulfilled prophecies”, and global speculation. But if we’re not careful, that noise can distract us from the simple truth: Jesus has already fulfilled what historical Israel was always meant to point to.   When God formed Israel, it was never meant to end with geography or ethnicity — it was meant to point to a people who would reveal His kingdom to the world. That promise ...READ POST

Is Control A Disguise for Maturity? October 27, 2025 For years, I had a special mechanical pencil I loved — a perfectly weighted, smooth-writing, irreplaceable tool that helped me map out my perfectly articulated theological prose and soliloquies. Whenever I misplaced it, I’d turn the house upside down in an effort to find it. My wife, in a frustratedly, exhausted (yet completely unhelpful) manner, would just follow me around saying, “Stop looking for it. It will show up eventually.”   That pencil taught me something about myself — perfectionism, anxiety, and overwhelm all come from the same place — the need to feel in control. They whisper, “If I just try harder, plan better, or think longer, I’ll finally feel peace.” But the truth is, those things only show what happens when we try to live without the Holy Spirit.   Control says, “If I can just figure out how to manage this, I’ll have peace of mind.”   The Holy Spirit says, “If you ...READ POST

Struggle Isn’t A Setback — It’s How Faith Grows! October 20, 2025 When I was a kid, I spent a lot of time in the hospital because of cystic fibrosis. Long sleepless nights, loads of needle pokes, and a constant flow of nurses and respiratory therapists coming in at all hours became normal. What wasn’t normal — or at least what hurt the most — was being there without my parents. Not always, but without my brothers or mom and dad constantly there, it felt lonely. I found it exhausting to constantly fight the lie that I was rejected. As a child, I desperately wanted to be understood in my struggle. I wanted someone to “get it.” But what I eventually realized was that wanting to feel understood by others was an unreasonable expectation.   No one can fully understand the details of someone else’s struggle — not the exhaustion, the pain, or the hidden fears that come with it. People can, however, relate ...READ POST

Is the World Getting Darker or Lighter? October 13, 2025 Over the course of my life, I have had several medical procedures. The worst one was a few years ago for an emergency resection of my colon. I’ll spare you the gory details, but needless to say, the recovery was LOOONG and excruciating. I still have a weird, balbous and lumpy abdomen as a result.   If you’ve ever had surgery, you know the healing process can be painful, slow, and at times, discouraging. I’ve never had cancer or a tumor, but depending on the location or how much it has spread, even in a successful removal, the healing process can take months.   But a difficult recovery doesn’t mean the tumor is still there. That’s how Jesus’ Kingdom works. When he came 2000 years ago, he performed the surgery the world desperately needed — he removed the cancer of sin, death, and the enemy’s power. And just like a body slowly heals after ...READ POST

We Crave Connection Yet Run From Vulnerability. October 6, 2025 I’ve been told many times — by men’s ministries and well-meaning mentors — that my wife shouldn’t be my accountability partner because she is the “weaker vessel” and can’t carry the weight of my struggles. But that has never made sense to me (unless I am trying to get away with something). She is my wife. We are one. If I can’t be most vulnerable with her, then who should I be? For me, she is my primary accountability partner, and I believe that’s by God’s design.   The Hebrew Scriptures back this up. In Genesis 2.25, the word for “naked” is ‘arummim — meaning exposed, open, vulnerable. Adam and Eve were naked and felt no shame. They were exposed and open, vulnerable with one another for the purpose of being fully known. But in Genesis 3.7, after the garden rebellion, the word shifts to ‘erummim — still naked, but now it carries ...READ POST

Friends, Followers, and Socializing September 29, 2025 We live in the most “connected” moment in history, and yet loneliness, anxiety, and depression are at record highs. Social media promises community, but what it actually delivers is an endless scroll of comparison, outrage, and curated highlight reels. It’s a counterfeit form of relationship.   Research shows that heavy social media use increases depression, disrupts sleep, and rewires the brain to crave the dopamine “hit” of scrolls, likes, and notifications. Ironically, the very people who built these platforms know the dangers and designed them into their code and algorithms.   Social media designers and executives often do not allow their own children to use the platforms they create. This practice is widely reported among leaders in the tech industry, who are aware of the addictive design features and potential harms associated with social media. For example, executives at Facebook, TikTok, and other major platforms have stated they restrict their children’s access to these ...READ POST

God Told Me… September 22, 2025 In Bible school, I had a friend who claimed that God told him he would marry at least five different women during his time there. Coming from a conservative church background (where I was never really taught how to hear God’s voice), his week-to-week “revelations” didn’t exactly build my confidence that God actually spoke.   Almost 25 years later, and after 21 years of marriage, I’ve realized that hearing God’s voice is actually a lot like being married. At first, I thought I understood my wife pretty well. And while I can usually read her now, she’s still full of surprises. Relationship takes time, trust, and daily practice.   Hearing God works the same way. It’s not about getting it perfect — it’s about growing in relationship.   Here are a few things I’ve learned about hearing God’s voice and learning to walk with Him:   Pray Specific Questions. Instead of “God, bless me today,” try, “Holy Spirit, what ...READ POST