In the iconic courtroom scene from A Few Good Men, Colonel Jessup bellows, “You want answers?” to which the response comes, “I want the truth!” His retort is chilling: “You can’t handle the truth!” Satan whispers a similar lie in our ears, shouting that we can’t handle the truth. But that’s a deception. You can handle the truth—because the truth is not just a concept; it’s a person. Jesus Christ declares in John 14:6 (NKJV), “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Let’s unpack this powerful statement and discover why Jesus is the only path to true freedom, purpose, and eternal life.

Jesus didn’t come to establish another religion; He came to reclaim His family. He introduced us to God not as a distant deity but as our loving Father. While there’s beauty and even elements of truth in various religions, they don’t all lead to the Father. Religion often focuses on what we do—follow rules, perform rituals, earn favor. But a relationship with Jesus is about what He has done for us.

Religion says, “If I do good, God will love me.”
Relationship says, “Because God loves me, I am able to do good.”

Religion feels like a burden of “having to.” A relationship with Jesus is the joy of “getting to.” He is the way—not a way, but the way—to a life connected to the Father, filled with purpose and love.

Jesus doesn’t just speak truth; He is the truth. In the Greek, the word for truth, aletheia, implies dependability, reliability, and freedom from error. Jesus is unwaveringly trustworthy. You can count on Him. As John 8:32 (NKJV) promises, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
C.S. Lewis famously said Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord. There’s no middle ground. When you embrace Jesus as the truth, you embrace true freedom—freedom from sin, shame, and the lies that hold you captive. Satan, the thief, comes to “steal, and to kill, and to destroy,” but Jesus comes to give life abundantly (John 10:10, NKJV). This is a life designed for freedom, not chains.

In Greek, the word for life in John 14:6 is zoe—not just bios (biological life, a pulse), but a life of quality, abundance, and purpose. The Bible uses zoe over 130 times to describe the vibrant, eternal life Jesus offers. Life isn’t just something Jesus gives; it’s who He is. He is the master of life, the source of all purpose and joy.
Every one of us will live forever—the question is where. As John 11:26 (NKJV) asks, “And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” Many of us plan for the next five years, but how many plan for the next 6,000 years? Your spirit, described as “the candle of the Lord,” never goes out—it goes on eternally. Where will you spend eternity?

Jesus was no ordinary teacher. His life backed up His words. He lived with purpose, abundance, joy, and transformation—and He was contagious. Unlike other great teachers, Jesus has the power to impart His life to you. He was always right, yet never self-righteous. He was humble yet powerful, approachable to all—prostitutes, tax collectors, and fishermen felt at ease in His presence.
Today, some who strive for righteousness can become unapproachable, pushing others away. But Jesus, the greatest truth-speaker who ever lived, stood firm in truth while inviting seekers to draw near. People flocked to Him because He was full of truth and the most fully alive person they’d ever seen. As John 3:16 (NKJV) declares, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” This is zoe—not just a pulse, but a purpose.

Jesus didn’t die to give you a better version of yourself; He died to make you a new creation. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV) says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” Without the Way, there is no going. Without the Truth, there is no knowing. Without the Life, there is no living.
Ignoring Jesus is like ignoring GPS directions and then blaming the map when you get lost. God’s direction is clear: Jesus is the only path to the Father. There’s no other way, no other truth, no other life. Combining religions or picking and choosing paths won’t lead to the same destination. Jesus alone is the way to heaven.

Father, we come before You, seeking Your truth. You are the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Help us to reject confusion and the lie that all paths lead to You. Today, we choose to follow Your direction. We choose Your way, embrace Your truth, and receive Your zoe life—abundant, purposeful, and eternal. Transform us into new creations, not just better versions of ourselves. Thank You for Jesus, the only path to You. Amen.

I invite you to consider Jesus for who He is: the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He’s not just a teacher or a prophet—He’s the Savior who died to give you purpose, freedom, and eternal life. Will you choose His path today? Don’t settle for just a pulse. Embrace the abundant zoe life Jesus offers, and let Him lead you to the Father.

One morning I awoke from a disturbing dream, and immediately fell to my knees to pray.
After prayer, I woke my wife to tell her this dream and it goes a little like this:

I was floating from house to house watching people get ready for church. They were putting on
fake trees, and these trees had all kinds of fruit on them. Some of the trees had apples and
oranges on the same tree. And some even had grapes and bananas on one tree. They were
wiping down the leaves and brushing off dust; oiling them down to make them look good.

The dream jumps to various scenes where the same people are walking into churches, grocery
stores, shopping malls and gas stations. I was watching these people come and pull from their
trees and eat from the fruit that was hanging from the limbs. I saw them eat from these trees and not even realize that the fruit was fake! They could not tell from the taste, texture, smell and even the meat of the fruit that it was fake.

Yet again the dream skips to the homes of these people- sitting there unfulfilled. I saw some
sitting in poverty, in family dysfunction; some were holding their stomach still hungry. They
were empty- having nothing to fill them with the necessary strength to be able to stand in their
situations and circumstances.

In the dream, I began to laugh at these people; saying to myself, "You should have known better. Don't you know what real fruit taste, smells, and feels like?"

And suddenly it hit me- and this is was the disturbing part of the dream. Some people have never tasted real fruit! Some people have never partaken of the fruitful words that come from an anointed worship team, usher, leader in children’s church, nursery leader, pastor or other
ministries. What some Christians take for granted; some people have never had! God help your
people! Matthew 5:17-20 states, "Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears
bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree
that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”

We have all worn a fake face before- the "fake it 'til you make it" type of idea. And this dream
made me examine myself, to make sure I was not doing this to people. It is one thing to be fake
to yourself; but letting people eat fake fruit from your fake trees is reckless. You're not giving
people the real sustenance they need. We should build real roots and bear real fruit so we can
give them what they need. And then where can we direct people to find what they really need?
To the One who sits at the right-hand of God. His name is Jesus!

John 15:4-5 NKJV
"Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine,
neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in
Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands. - Psalm 138:8

Sometimes I forget the work of my hands. I get distracted easily. I move on to something before I finish the task before. I walk to the fridge and forget why I went there, walk away and then remember "Oh that's what I needed." I can't blame it on age either; it's been like this forever. When I was little, my mom called me "Pokey" after the pokey little puppy who always got distracted on the way home. It can be funny, but it can also be frustrating. Taking twice as long for something to happen.

It can sometimes feel that God is distracted in the middle of the work you're waiting on Him to finish. It can feel like He got sidetracked blessing someone else or taking care of something "more important" or just plain forgetting about you. I use the word feel because this is, in reality, just a feeling and this verse reminds us of it's fallibility. He will fulfill His purpose. He will finish what He started. His love is steadfast and He will NOT forsake the work of His hands.

He's not sidetracked or distracted. He is intentional: Fully aware and involved. He is actively working. If the process is taking time, there's a reason. He is infinite, but He is very aware of the finite. He knows every detail about the work and He is taking the time to accomplish every purpose, every lesson, every opportunity for You to see His glory, and everything you need. Usually things you didn't know you needed, too. He will finish the work. Stop putting a timeline on a timeless God. He is active. Trust him.

While your waiting, don't forget to walk slowly through the journey. Notice the little things He's already doing: Learn every lesson. Love every person. Worship Him for His intentional act. He is for you. He knows what He's doing, let Him do it.  

This is February, the month of love. I hope your life is a love experience... For those that follow Jesus, it definitely should be. If not, here are some questions to ask yourself:

What are you doing to make sure that part of your journey with Jesus is nurtured? 
Would you say it’s all it needs to be, or that you’re still working on it? 

As men that are called to lead we must be continually putting the required seeded nutrients in, to produce the best crops. I promise I’m not getting off-topic, even though I’ve jumped ship to gardening. The truth is, our life is going to produce something and we are given the choice in what that will be. How amazing is that?! 

My challenge to you is this: Make Jesus the Gardener of your thoughts and emotions so that your crop of love will be abundant. This doesn’t mean all the weeds will be removed from your life; it simply means you will know how to remove them without killing all the beautiful flowers that are also in the garden.

Men, I pray that you have an amazing week. I will be praying for you as I pray for Jesus to continue to lead my life so I can produce only the things that will give Him glory and remove the things that give me glory. Keep growing love!

[12] And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as
we do to you,
1 Thessalonians 3:12 NKJV

After God created the Heavens and the Earth, the sky and seas, day and night, birds and animals, He made Adam. And then God said that it wasn’t good for man to be alone, so He created Eve from Adam. And after God created their union, they had children.

As I’ve gotten closer to God, I have continually gained a better understanding of the value of family.

God has shown us through His actions of creation and His Word that family is important to Him.

Sometimes, we forget what’s important to God and that means that we forget that family is important to Him, which in turn means that we don’t value family more.

We allow time to lapse where we don’t speak to family members.

We hold grudges from years past to shape our present relationships.

We miss family dinners and holidays because of extracurricular activities.

We bring our work home in efforts to have more family time, but what our family actually gets is a distracted and not fully present loved one.

We send mixed signals about our faith to our loved ones.

We choose not to engage and embrace some family members.

We leave our families.

We hurt our families.

That was never the plan God had for families.

Since we know that God values family so very much, what can we do to value our families more?

Have family nights?
Apologize?
Worship together?
Serve together?
Cook together?
Be more trustworthy for them?
Plan trips together?
Visit family together?
Choose healing?
Communicate with one another?
Study His Word together?
Eat dinner together with no TV and no phones?

Our charge now, in this very moment  - is to CHOOSE - choose ONE thing (either from the list above or find your own thing) and begin to do it.

Schedule it.
Set a reminder on your phone.
Mark it on your calendar.
Put a sticky note on your fridge.

Feed and nurture whatever you CHOOSE.

Let’s not allow excuses, life, our pasts, our hurts, or distractions keep us from being better stewards of the gift of family God has blessed us with and trusts us to care for.

Now, more than ever, society has a huge impact on our children. Everywhere we turn, the world is sending messages to our kids about their identity, future, sexuality, and life in general. They are pressured to do certain things, be in specific friend circles, dress a particular way, and engage in activities and conversations that were never intended by God.

There is a fight for our babies.

Who are we really fighting? The television producers? Social Media? Our children’s rebellion?  The friends who are "bad influences" ?

Scripture is clear: our fight is not against people.

Our children are purposed by God. We are purposed by God. The enemy knows it. His purpose is to steal, kill, and destroy…to do anything he can to try to prevent us from walking in that purpose.

It is so easy to fight what is right in front….what we can see, hear and feel.

Our children are in front of us….they are not the enemy. Social media is not the enemy. Television is not the enemy. The radio is not the enemy. School is not the enemy. Yet, the enemy can and does use all these things to distract and destroy.

We must remember that the enemy is the father of all lies.

He is the author of confusion. He is the deceiver. The slanderer. The accuser. The manipulator.

As a parent, it is our responsibility to be rooted in the Word and in communion with Jesus, first so that we can recognize the enemy’s tactics. Then, we are to teach our children the truth of Jesus Christ so that they too can be armed and ready.

We can do more for our children by locking arms with them and leading them through life’s battles, unified against a common enemy. Praying FOR them. Praying WITH them. Remind yourself that your children are unfinished people (just like you!). They need help, guidance and direction navigating life. Do not fight them! Instead, unify with them and fight the enemy together.

It’s a word I’ve heard a lot in church; however, I can’t say it’s something I’ve witnessed much of in the world around me. I guess I figured that it was an attribute of God that we just hadn’t yet managed to emulate. When things get hard, we permit ourselves and others to give up- take a break, leave the relationship, just do you. So naturally, as I searched for the word steadfast and its occurrence in the Bible- I thought I would come across Scriptures referring to the steadfastness of God; His faithfulness and His unfailing love toward us. I was surprised to read that the majority of the Scriptures containing the word steadfast were actually referring to us- God’s people.

I traced back the Hebrew and Greek words associated with steadfast (side note: you can do this too at Biblehub.com or by using a concordance). The Hebrew word aman refers to a root, and the Greek word bebaios refers to a basis. Both words deal with a firm support. The Hebrew word discussed nourishment (like a root nourishes a tree), and the Greek word discussed an unshakable foundation, absolutely dependable. Again, many of these Scriptures were not referring to the faithfulness of God, but to His people. You and me. God is undoubtedly and absolutely dependable. Am I?  

The first two occurrences that I discovered were about Moses and Abraham- two of the men whom God called His friends:

The next Scriptures were written by the leaders of the early church:
Like Abraham and Moses, Paul was steadfast, firm, sure, and absolutely dependable to continually believe that God is who He says He is and He will do what He said He will do. There’s a reason we hear so much about these men: This is what He desires from us. Steadfast hope. And when it looks impossible, hope. And when you don’t get it, believe. And when it hurts, have faith. And when others tell you that you have the right to give up, remain steadfast.

My prayer for whoever reads this:
Holy Spirit, help us to believe regardless of what we see or feel. Prepare the roots of our faith to withstand whatever storm may come. You are steadfast. Teach us to be the same, so we can deepen our relationship with you, and be an example of who You are to those around us. For Your Glory. Help us to imitate you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Wow. If you didn’t catch that, go back and read it again. Go ahead…. I’ll wait.

I’ll give you some context. Paul is talking about Abraham. He is talking to the believers in Rome at the time, and as with the rest of the book of Romans, he is explaining the basics of our faith. Chapter 4 is actually discussing what it is that saves us. Is it what we do (how well we follow the rules) or is it our faith (how convinced we are in what we believe)? That’s another blog in itself.
Basically, Abraham was a fantastic example of faith. God counted his belief as righteousness. There are a few instances in the Bible where someone’s faith actually impresses God. And God continually calls attention to these people; to give us an example of the kind of faith He is looking for. One in particular is the centurion in Matthew 8:5-13. Jesus even “marveled at his faith.”
But Paul is calling attention to the depth of Abraham’s faith. Sometimes we read the Bible like these weren’t real people in a real world with real issues. We think, “Well of course he had faith- he was Abraham.”
Abraham didn’t know “he was Abraham.”
Abraham had seen God lead him, yes. But he didn’t have a whole lot of reference other than that. He didn’t have a Bible to read. If you didn’t know, Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible- 400 years after Abraham lived.
So, God tells Abraham that He’s going to have more descendants than the stars in the sky. And Abraham believes.
Paul writes it like this:

I hope you read that more than once; because there’s so much in there.
God told Him. He believed. Done.
He was old (and gee Paul… way to word that, “as good as dead” - ouch). His wife was barren. Didn’t matter. God said it. It would happen.

God called special attention to Abraham and to the other heroes in the faith throughout the Bible so that we might see what He’s looking for. And instead of working hard to be the perfect [insert here] that we think we need to be, we need to be looking at our faith. Are you fully convinced that God is able to do what he promised? Are you fully convinced that God raised Jesus from the dead after he took care of your sins and made you right before God? Don’t let unbelief make you waver. Trust what God has done for you.
Did you see how he grew strong in his faith? It’s there in verse 20. “but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God.” As you give glory to God, focusing on who He is and what He is capable of, you will grow strong in your faith.
Abraham didn’t know he was that Abraham. Maybe you don’t know you’re that [your name here]. But wouldn’t you like to be counted among one of those people with impressive faith? If so, get ready; that’s not necessarily a safe prayer. But the world around us needs some dangerous pray-ers. Those you influence, Your descendants (spiritually or physically), need to see some heroes of the faith. Not for your sake, but for theirs.  
When He says it. Believe it. Done.