Essays

Essays and articles on Scripture, theology, and the Christian life.

Topics
Sep 26, 26 Jesus in a Box
Sep 26, 26 How to Argue with the Devil
Sep 21, 26 The Devil Did Not Make You Do It
Sep 16, 26 Borrowed Power
Sep 11, 26 Satan is not God
Sep 06, 26 Devil on a Leash
Sep 01, 26 God's Devil: Introduction
Aug 17, 26 Grace is Not Fair
Aug 10, 26 Your Donkey Said What?
Jul 28, 26 Elisha and the Two Bears
Jul 27, 26 Just Trying to Help
Jul 26, 26 Weird Bible Stories: Introduction
Jul 26, 26 Are You a Fig Tree?
Jul 21, 26 Bible Study is Boring
Jul 15, 26 The Dwelling Place
Jul 13, 26 Weeds in the Cracks
Jul 13, 26 The Blank Spaces
Jul 13, 26 How to Spot a False Teacher
Jul 13, 26 Do Not Believe It
Jul 13, 26 Where the Bible Is Silent: Introduction
Jul 11, 26 In That Number
Jul 06, 26 When was 'In the Beginning'
Jun 13, 26 The Big Words: What Preachers Mean When They Use Them
Jun 13, 26 Choose Jesus
Jun 12, 26 I Am Not Perfect
Jun 10, 26 I Do Not Know
Jun 03, 26 It's Too Late!
May 20, 26 What's In a Name?
May 12, 26 The Heaviest Word in the Bible: Fake Heavy
May 11, 26 The Heaviest Word in the Bible: Maximum Shame, Maximum Glory
May 10, 26 The Heaviest Word in the Bible: The Word That Never Lost Its Weight
May 09, 26 The Heaviest Word in the Bible: The Most Useless Word in the English Language
May 08, 26 The Heaviest Word in the Bible: The God Particle
May 08, 26 The Heaviest Word in the Bible: Introduction
Apr 29, 26 I Hate My Neighbor
Apr 29, 26 All You Need Is Love?
Apr 28, 26 What is Prayer?
Apr 20, 26 Did God Really Say?
Apr 09, 26 Which Books?
Apr 09, 26 Which Bible?
Apr 08, 26 Can the Bible Be Trusted? (Introduction)
Apr 03, 26 He Is Risen
Apr 02, 26 Relationship
Mar 31, 26 The King Has Come
Mar 29, 26 The Shifting Date of Easter
Mar 29, 26 The Upper Room: Where the Old Covenant Ended and the New Began
Mar 28, 26 Holy Week: Introduction

Gods Devil

Collection · 5 parts
Sep 06, 26 Devil on a Leash
Sep 11, 26 Satan is not God
Sep 16, 26 Borrowed Power
Sep 21, 26 The Devil Did Not Make You Do It
Sep 26, 26 How to Argue with the Devil
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Jesus in a Box

September 26, 2026 Dewayne VanHoozer

John the Baptist baptized Jesus with his own hands and still sent a question from prison, asking if he had gotten it wrong. The Messiah he built from Scripture and the man he was hearing about did not match. The mismatch might be yours too.

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Grace is Not Fair

August 17, 2026 Dewayne VanHoozer

The men who worked all day were right. It was not fair. Neither is anything else God has ever given away, and that is the only reason there is anything in it for you.

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Weird Bible Stories

Collection · 4 parts
Jul 26, 26 Are You a Fig Tree?
Jul 27, 26 Just Trying to Help
Jul 28, 26 Elisha and the Two Bears
Aug 10, 26 Your Donkey Said What?
Begin reading →

Bible Study is Boring

July 21, 2026 Dewayne VanHoozer

Bible study feels boring when sixty-six different books get read in one flat voice. Read each aisle of this library the way it deserves, and studying Scripture stops being boring and starts being the craft Paul calls it.

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The Dwelling Place

July 15, 2026 Dewayne VanHoozer

God made space and time for us to live in, which means he lives outside both, holding the universe in the palm of his hand. So why has he spent all of history moving closer? From the garden to the torn curtain to the human heart, this is the story of where God lives, and how far he came to be with you.

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Where the Bible Is Silent

Collection · 5 parts

Scripture leaves some things unsaid on purpose. This collection traces what happens when confident voices — cults, conspiracy theories, sincere believers chasing certainty — try to fill those blank spaces anyway, and what it looks like to let God's silence stand.

Jun 10, 26 I Do Not Know
Jul 13, 26 The Blank Spaces
Jul 13, 26 Weeds in the Cracks
Jul 13, 26 Do Not Believe It
Jul 13, 26 How to Spot a False Teacher
Begin reading →

In That Number

July 11, 2026 Dewayne VanHoozer

"The elect" is not a sealed roster drawn up before creation with most of us left off. It is one more name for the believers (the saints, the brothers, the Way), a jersey the church wears. The five-century fight between Calvin and Arminius dissolves the moment you remember that God does not stand inside time: he has all knowledge, not foreknowledge. The door is still open, and everyone who calls is in.

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When was 'In the Beginning'

July 6, 2026 Dewayne VanHoozer

How old is the earth? Two camps of faithful believers answer with elaborate machinery, and neither answer touches the arc of God's love. The honest word is "I do not know," and laying both machines down is relief, not defeat.

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The Big Words: What Preachers Mean When They Use Them

June 13, 2026 Dewayne VanHoozer

Plain-English explanations of the theological terms preachers use most, from Gospel and Sin to Eschatology and Pneumatology.

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Choose Jesus

June 13, 2026 Dewayne VanHoozer

You are not an accident. Explore the four questions every human heart asks, and the one answer that changes everything.

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I Am Not Perfect

June 12, 2026 Dewayne VanHoozer

Jesus said be perfect. You already know you are not. The command is real, but perfection in His mouth means something different from what you think.

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It's Too Late!

June 3, 2026 Dewayne VanHoozer

The thief had seconds. The prodigal had wasted years. Manasseh had fifty-five years of deliberate destruction. Scripture presents all three, and the answer was the same.

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What's In a Name?

May 20, 2026 Dewayne VanHoozer

Juliet called names arbitrary. Scripture calls them declarations. Every name given to Jesus reveals who He is, and God has kept one more name in reserve. Yours.

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The Heaviest Word in the Bible

Collection · 5 parts

The word "glory" has been used so carelessly for so long that it has lost all practical meaning. This five-part collection recovers it — going back to a Hebrew word with a physical definition that will reframe everything you thought you knew about God, sin, the cross, and what it means to live differently because of all three.

May 08, 26 The Heaviest Word in the Bible: The God Particle
May 09, 26 The Heaviest Word in the Bible: The Most Useless Word in the English Language
May 10, 26 The Heaviest Word in the Bible: The Word That Never Lost Its Weight
May 11, 26 The Heaviest Word in the Bible: Maximum Shame, Maximum Glory
May 12, 26 The Heaviest Word in the Bible: Fake Heavy
Begin reading →

I Hate My Neighbor

April 29, 2026 Dewayne VanHoozer

It is the honest confession most Christians won't say out loud. Jesus heard it too, from a lawyer trying to limit his obligations. The answer He gave is more demanding and more surprising than anyone expected.

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All You Need Is Love?

April 29, 2026 Dewayne VanHoozer

The Beatles said the word "love" 96 times in four minutes and never defined it once. That vagueness is not just a pop music problem: it is a spiritual one. The Bible uses at least six distinct words where English uses one, and the differences change everything.

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What is Prayer?

April 28, 2026 Dewayne VanHoozer

Jesus assumed his audience already knew what prayer was. We may not. This article traces prayer from the garden of Eden to the letters of Paul, recovering a definition that is simpler and deeper than most of us have been told.

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Did God Really Say?

April 20, 2026 Dewayne VanHoozer

The first question in the Bible came from the serpent, not from God. He is still asking it, and the only defense against his distortions is knowing the God whose words he keeps misrepresenting.

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Can the Bible Be Trusted?

Collection · 2 parts

A series of essays for the skeptic who wants honest answers before opening the book.

Apr 09, 26 Which Bible?
Apr 09, 26 Which Books?
Begin reading →

Holy Week

Collection · 5 parts

Walking through the final days before the resurrection — from Palm Sunday through the empty tomb.

Mar 29, 26 The Shifting Date of Easter
Mar 31, 26 The King Has Come
Mar 29, 26 The Upper Room: Where the Old Covenant Ended and the New Began
Apr 02, 26 Relationship
Apr 03, 26 He Is Risen
Begin reading →

Gods Devil

Collection · 5 parts
Sep 06, 26 Devil on a Leash
Sep 11, 26 Satan is not God
Sep 16, 26 Borrowed Power
Sep 21, 26 The Devil Did Not Make You Do It
Sep 26, 26 How to Argue with the Devil
Begin reading →

Weird Bible Stories

Collection · 4 parts
Jul 26, 26 Are You a Fig Tree?
Jul 27, 26 Just Trying to Help
Jul 28, 26 Elisha and the Two Bears
Aug 10, 26 Your Donkey Said What?
Begin reading →

Where the Bible Is Silent

Collection · 5 parts

Scripture leaves some things unsaid on purpose. This collection traces what happens when confident voices — cults, conspiracy theories, sincere believers chasing certainty — try to fill those blank spaces anyway, and what it looks like to let God's silence stand.

Jun 10, 26 I Do Not Know
Jul 13, 26 The Blank Spaces
Jul 13, 26 Weeds in the Cracks
Jul 13, 26 Do Not Believe It
Jul 13, 26 How to Spot a False Teacher
Begin reading →

The Heaviest Word in the Bible

Collection · 5 parts

The word "glory" has been used so carelessly for so long that it has lost all practical meaning. This five-part collection recovers it — going back to a Hebrew word with a physical definition that will reframe everything you thought you knew about God, sin, the cross, and what it means to live differently because of all three.

May 08, 26 The Heaviest Word in the Bible: The God Particle
May 09, 26 The Heaviest Word in the Bible: The Most Useless Word in the English Language
May 10, 26 The Heaviest Word in the Bible: The Word That Never Lost Its Weight
May 11, 26 The Heaviest Word in the Bible: Maximum Shame, Maximum Glory
May 12, 26 The Heaviest Word in the Bible: Fake Heavy
Begin reading →

Can the Bible Be Trusted?

Collection · 2 parts

A series of essays for the skeptic who wants honest answers before opening the book.

Apr 09, 26 Which Bible?
Apr 09, 26 Which Books?
Begin reading →

Holy Week

Collection · 5 parts

Walking through the final days before the resurrection — from Palm Sunday through the empty tomb.

Mar 29, 26 The Shifting Date of Easter
Mar 31, 26 The King Has Come
Mar 29, 26 The Upper Room: Where the Old Covenant Ended and the New Began
Apr 02, 26 Relationship
Apr 03, 26 He Is Risen
Begin reading →