Balancing Word and Spirit

"All Spirit and no Word, you blow up. All Word and no Spirit, you dry up. Word and Spirit, you grow up."

- someone smart

Grow your confidence in God's Word, and experience the power of the Holy Spirit:

✅ Hours of theological research condensed into easy-to-read articles.

✅ Powerful insights from leading biblical scholars, theologians, pastors, and influencers.

✅ Authentic answers to tough questions like suffering, women in ministry, and violence in the Old Testament.

✅ Practical equipping for a supernatural lifestyle.

Each article strives to:

👉 Engage with multiple opposing perspectives without tearing down other brothers and sisters in Christ. Anger, slander, and veiled judgments aren't biblical.

👉 Offer a clear biblical path forward amongst opposing viewpoints, with sound biblical reasoning. Let's not just throw up our hands and say "I don't know", but pursue Him!

👉 Incorporate ancient, cultural context AND modern-day application. Let's pay attention to the smart dudes and ladies who know more than us about the Bible.

👉 Discuss impact on church culture and God's global mission. Let's actually talk about how the topic in question affects our relationships and our churches.

Why does God allow suffering? Does He even care about suffering?

Why does God seem violent in the Old Testament, but nice as Jesus? That seems weird.

Is God sexist and does He prevent women from leading?

What does the Bible have to say about end-times prophecy and Israel, and the "Rapture"? Will my spouse disappear, and I'll be "left behind"?

How do we hear the voice of God, supernaturally? Hearing God seems so mystical and weird.

How can we biblically but powerfully engage in spiritual warfare? How do demons actually affect my life?

How do we live a supernatural lifestyle?

How do we understand the Bible in light of science?

Should we interpret the Bible literally or metaphorically?

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Articles also attempt to provide constructive criticism, and encouragement of modern-day charismatic church culture, which is in need of critical thinking and theological depth. My articles are not meant to tear down, but to build up and provide a clear path forward for healthy and vibrant church culture that is Word-centered, Spirit-empowered, and values spiritual and practical integrity in using the gifts of the Spirit.

With the number of charismatic Christian leaders "falling" and being exposed, it's time that we get honest about our church culture. We need to be able to speak frankly about issues. It is not "tearing down" to call someone's teaching bad; it's tearing down to viciously attack their character without good evidence. It's not "tearing down" when calling out "prophets" who declare to the world on the Internet a prophecy, that turns out to be completely false.

God has commanded us to test prophecies, and the Lord commanded us to be aware of false teachers. You can't do that unless you actually have an opinion on someone's teaching.

It is true that some "heresy hunters" build their entire lives around trying to "help" God by attempting to expose bad doctrine, prophecies, etc. But most of the time, these "heresy hunters" don't just attack false teaching, but viciously assualt the character of anyone that disagrees with their view of Scripture. To this degree, in my opinion, is the degree to which they themselves have become false teachers, because they teach people through their example to create division, and degrade others through highly speculative judgements on the character of a lot of people.

Some have valid reservations about public criticism of others; why evaluate other people's teaching, when you don't even know them? I'm not responsible for someone else's ministry. Paul himself had this attitude (Rom. 15:20, 1 Cor. 3:10), but the landscape today is different. Ministries everywhere post online, and now the pastor or teacher from far away is influencing people in churches near and far. Christian leaders need to realize that their people are being influenced by all kinds of pastors and teachers.

In light of the social media landscape, then, public criticism is important, and becomes our responsibility now that there is a world stage for anyone. If I'm a pastor and my congregation has access to the internet, someone across the world can be teaching them. It would be my responsibility to know about these things, and shepherd them accordingly. And, because anyone who posts online is essentially giving their teaching to unknown numbers of people, we have an obligation to be aware of these things and offer godly criticism. This is required to be a faithful shepherd of our brothers and sisters in Christ.