Rooted & Reckoned

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  • No, It’s Not Contradictory

    Matthew 4:18–20

    While walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.

    Luke 6:12–13

    In these days He went out to the mountain to pray, and all night He continued in prayer to God. And when day came, He called His disciples and chose from them twelve, whom He named apostles.

    Luke 24:1–11

    But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. As they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how He told you, while He was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” And they remembered His words, and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.

    Matthew 28:1–4

    Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow.

    Mark 16:1–5

    When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint Him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed.

    John 20:1–3

    Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb.

    I have a wonderful lady at my church who asks all sorts of theological questions. I love this—because I’d much rather answer questions people actually have than teach topics they aren’t thinking about. In other words, it’s not helpful for me to teach you differential calculus when your question is about American history.

    That’s also why I don’t choose blog topics randomly. These conversations help guide what’s actually useful.

    Recently, she asked about the first two scripture passages and how they aren’t contradictory. That one’s fairly straightforward—but it reminded me of something bigger: most people who say “the Bible is full of contradictions” can rarely name one. And when they do, the so-called contradictions often turn out to be different perspectives or separate events.

    Let’s take the Gospel accounts of the resurrection, for example. Are they contradictory?

    In a word: no.

    What we usually see are either:

    1. Separate events (like the differing accounts of Simon and Andrew’s call), or
    2. Different details being highlighted by different authors—not contradictions.

    Some say appealing to different perspectives is lazy. I don’t think so.

    Consider this: on September 16, 2023, I attended the first Backyard Brawl in Morgantown since 2011, joining about 60,000 other blue-and-gold-clad fans at Mountaineer Field. I went with three other people. If I later say, “I went to the game with my cousin, her husband, and a friend,” am I contradicting myself for not naming them all earlier?

    Of course not.

    No one expects me to name everyone I sat near, talked to, or saw. I could say I saw certain players or mention that I saw Noel Devine in the Blue Lot. All of these things are true. But I might just as easily say, “Yeah, I got to go to the Brawl. It was a great time,” without listing anyone.

    That’s how people talk. Yet many won’t extend this same grace to biblical writers.

    Now consider the Gospel accounts:

    • Luke first refers to “they,” later naming Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James.
    • Matthew names only Mary Magdalene and “the other Mary.”
    • Mark includes Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome.
    • John mentions only Mary Magdalene.

    Contradictions? Not at all.

    This is just like me choosing to mention my cousin, her husband, or our friend at different times. Leaving out names isn’t the same as contradicting yourself. The full group included Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Joanna, and Salome. The disciples were informed afterward. Each Gospel writer emphasized different details—but none contradict each other.

    If someone is honest and open, these differences are easy to reconcile. But we must be prepared. For example, people will argue that Jesus couldn’t have been born during Herod’s reign because Herod “died in 6 BC” (or so they claim).

    But where in the Bible does it say Jesus was born on December 25, 0000?

    It doesn’t. The exact year isn’t specified. What is clear is that Jesus was born before Herod died. Luke suggests it was a couple of years earlier, which places His birth around 7 or 8 BC. That’s one reason why the term BCE (Before Common Era) actually makes more sense. Also, it’s unlikely shepherds would have been tending flocks in the middle of winter—this suggests Jesus likely wasn’t born in December. The December 25th date came from a pagan celebration that the early church repurposed. Nothing more, nothing less.

    So, as Scripture says, be ready in season and out of season—and the only way to do that is to stay rooted in the Word.

  • The Genuine Reveals The Counterfeit

    Titus 1:9

    He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

    1 Timothy 4:13–16

    Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

    2 Timothy 4:1–4

    I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead… preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching… they will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

    There are times when I like to ask people, “What is the primary job of the Secret Service?” or “Why were they created in the first place?”

    Almost everyone answers: “To protect the president.”

    Yes, they do protect the president and other officials. That’s the job most people recognize—ironically, because it’s supposed to be invisible. But even that duty largely involves coordinating with other agencies: local police, National Guard, etc.

    So what is their original, primary function?

    Protecting the United States’ financial system.
    The Secret Service was founded shortly after the Civil War to combat the rampant counterfeiting that threatened to destabilize the economy.

    Here’s the key insight: to learn how to detect counterfeit money, agents don’t study the fakes—they study the genuine article. Fakes come in endless varieties, but there’s only one authentic. Know it intimately, and the phony versions become obvious.

    The same goes for Scripture.

    We’ve all heard people quote, “God won’t give you more than you can handle.”

    Can you find that verse?

    Take your time—I’ll wait.

    You won’t find it. It’s not there.

    Same with Matthew 7:1. People love to quote, “Don’t judge, or you will be judged,” but they often ignore the rest of the passage. While the command is indeed a caution about judging, Jesus adds a qualifier: You’ll be judged by the same standard you use on others.

    So if you’re hyper-focused on someone else’s sexual sin, maybe keep your own browsing history accountable. If you’re vocal about alcohol, take stock of your own intoxicants—whether that’s prescription meds, food, social media, or even your pride.

    This isn’t about being flippant, and it’s not an argument for moral relativism.
    But it is a reminder: these verses are directed first and foremost at believers.

    Let’s get real: if your way of expressing love to someone is by metaphorically beating them with a Bible-bat, don’t be surprised when they recoil. Many people who are far from Christ already know they’re off-track. Most don’t feel great about it. They don’t need help feeling worse.

    They need to see hope, mercy, and truth—and those only come from someone who has been changed by the Word.

    Before we go around correcting people, shouldn’t we first have a real encounter with Scripture ourselves?

    Being “ready in and out of season” isn’t just a catchy phrase—it’s a calling that takes work.
    Daily study. Daily surrender. Daily transformation.

    The beautiful part? When you immerse yourself in God’s Word, it changes you. You become spiritually saturated—“baptized” in the truest sense of the word (Greek: baptizó means “to submerge, to dip into”). You begin to carry His aroma, and that becomes attractive to others without you forcing it.

    And when error comes—and it will—you’ll be ready. You’ll recognize twisted truth, ear-tickling messages, and shallow clichés because they won’t sound like your Shepherd.

    That’s why I encourage people to ask others to show them chapter and verse when a “scripture” is quoted. You’d be amazed how many so-called “verses” simply don’t exist. What’s even more concerning is how often real Scripture is weaponized—used not to convict or correct in love, but to abuse, exclude, or control.

    If your use of Scripture is about keeping people down—women, LGBTQ individuals, alcoholics, whoever—you’re using it wrong.

    What’s the overarching message of Scripture?

    Love God. Love people.

    Immerse yourself in that truth, and the counterfeits won’t stand a chance.

  • Overcoming Overzealous Apologetics Syndrome

    1 Peter 3:15–16

    “But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.”

    1 Corinthians 2:4–5

    “My speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

    2 Timothy 2:24–26

    “And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth…”

    I make no secret of the fact that I thoroughly enjoy reading and listening to Dr. William Lane Craig and other apologetics heavyweights in the Christian faith. When I first came to know Jesus, I thought that apologetics would be the tool to convince the world—“Jesus is real,” “He was who He said He was,” and so on.

    Then I grew up spiritually.

    One thing that helped shift my thinking was actually something Dr. Craig said: “We’re not here to win arguments; we’re here to win people.” That might not be word-for-word, but it stuck with me. Because if you can argue someone into the faith, someone else can argue them right back out.

    I have two Master’s degrees in theology—one in Practical Theology from Ohio Christian University, and the other an MA(TS) from Nazarene Theological Seminary. Because of that, I’m especially sensitive when people misuse Scripture, twist it, or take verses out of context to make them say something they don’t.

    One of the most often misapplied verses in apologetics circles is 1 Peter 3:15. It’s often held up as the definitive call to apologetics. And while it certainly supports the practice, many people miss the nuance.

    Let’s look closely:

    “Always be prepared to make a defense…”
    Yes—but it says to make a defense for your faith, your hope. Not necessarily to argue the faith in every possible direction. Answer people’s questions. Don’t launch a theological assault.

    If I come at you with:
    “How can you not believe?! Jesus is a historical figure! Here’s the cosmological argument, the fine-tuning argument, the moral argument…”
    I’ve already put you on the defensive—and defensive people generally don’t listen.

    The second half of that verse—“with gentleness and respect”—is even more important, and often ignored. When Peter adds, “so that when you are slandered,” he’s warning that unbelievers are watching for Christians to slip up. If we come across as arrogant, aggressive, or overbearing, we’re not only ineffective—we become the stereotype they expected.

    Yes, the Bible supports apologetics. But notice how it’s used:

    • Always in response to genuine questions.
    • Often as encouragement for those who already believe.

    For example, in Luke 24:27, Jesus walks with disciples and explains how the Scriptures point to Him—after they’ve already been shaken by the crucifixion. He’s building them up, not proving a point to strangers.

    And as for using Paul as the apologetics model—yes, Paul was incredibly intelligent and knew the Law inside and out. But when he addressed the philosophers at Mars Hill (Acts 17), he didn’t know every god they worshiped. What he did know was how people behaved. He observed the culture, found a relatable entry point, and pivoted to Christ.

    And when Paul reasoned “from the Scriptures,” he was in the synagogue—in other words, with people who already believed in the authority of the Scriptures.

    So, What’s the Point of Apologetics?

    The defense of the faith is best used:

    • To strengthen believers.
    • To answer genuine questions from seekers.

    It’s not meant to be a first strike or a debate trophy.
    It’s certainly not meant to feed ego.

    We should absolutely study cultural context (and I’ll be writing more on 1 Corinthians 14:34–36 soon—spoiler alert: it’s not a ban on women speaking or leading). But apologetics should never be our first step.

    That would be like answering questions no one asked.
    If I start telling you all about John Wilkes Booth, but you were asking about Calvin Coolidge, I’m not helping—I’m just talking.

    So What Is Helpful?

    Know your Bible. Know it intimately.
    And live it.

    That’s what makes the biggest difference.

    Not how clever your arguments are.

    Not how many books you’ve read.

    Not how many debates you think you’ve won.

    If you want to represent Christ, you don’t need to be the smartest person in the room.
    You need to be the most humble, the most honest, the most Christlike.

    And that’s how we overcome Overzealous Apologetics Syndrome.

  • Full but Malnourished

    “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”
    —2 Timothy 4:3

    “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land—not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.”
    —Amos 8:11

    We are full—but we are malnourished.

    Our churches are packed with content, not conviction. We’ve got podcasts, playlists, devotionals, memes, and merch. The shelves are stocked, the screens are lit, and the attendance might even look strong.

    But we are living in a famine.

    Not of volume.
    Not of visibility.
    But of truth.

    Like junk food, bad theology fills you without feeding you. It tastes good going down, but it won’t sustain you when the trial comes. It won’t produce endurance. It won’t grow discernment. It won’t train righteousness.

    The Word we need isn’t just λόγος (logos)—the written Word—it’s also ῥῆμα (rhēma)—the living, spoken, piercing Word that convicts, corrects, and calls.

    You can live your whole life spiritually bloated, full of feelings but starved of faith.
    Because you were never feeding on the Word—just snacking on the echo of your own desires.

    What we need is not more spiritual snacks.
    We need the feast that only comes from hearing and heeding the Word of the Lord.

    Don’t settle for what tickles the ear.
    Feed on what strengthens the soul.

  • When Jesus Says, ‘I Never Knew You’: A Wake-Up Call to the Church

    Luke 3:17 – “His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
    Matthew 7:21-23 – “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven… Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”
    Revelation 3:14-16 – “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”

    These verses aren’t aimed at atheists. They’re not for people who reject God outright. They’re for us—those who claim to know Him. Those who say, “Lord, Lord.”

    Jesus often reserved His harshest warnings for the religious. He called the Pharisees a brood of vipers. He chastised Nicodemus—a Sanhedrin member—for not understanding what it meant to be born again. So what makes us think His warnings don’t apply to our churches?

    Revelation 3 isn’t a “come to Jesus” altar call—it’s a “return to Jesus” cry aimed at a dead church. Hot water has value. Cold water refreshes. Lukewarm? It gets spit out. It’s not useful for anything.

    So yes—these warnings are for the church. For the people who say, “I know Jesus.” But do you really? The word Jesus uses in Matthew 7:23 is γινώσκω (ginōskō). It doesn’t mean, “I’ve heard of you.” It’s not about recognition or surface-level faith. It’s the word used to describe deep, personal, intimate knowledge. The same verb often used in Scripture to refer to the act of marital union—“Adam knew Eve.”

    That’s the kind of relationship Christ wants—not fans in the stands, but disciples in the field. Not people who checked a salvation box, but people who were transformed, discipled, and sent.

    There’s a well-worn truth in church life: 10% of the people do 90% of the work. And many in that 90% think they’re fine because they show up, said a prayer once, or avoid the “big sins.” But they remain unchanged. And true saving faith always changes you.

    Here’s the part that should really shake us: on judgment day, many will say, “But I sang on the worship team!” “I taught Sunday School!” “I gave to the poor!” And Jesus will respond—not “I forgot you,” but “I never γινώσκω’d you.” Never knew you at all.

    And that man or woman you silently judged—the one with the tattoos, or the one who struggles, or the one you thought was beneath you? They may walk into eternity to a “Well done, good and faithful servant,” while others are left stunned outside the gate.

    Let that sink in.