Shows
Speaking Truth PodcastChrist's Bride & BodyEphesians 5:29“After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church.”Maybe you haven’t noticed, but I am a month behind in my typical writing schedule. Many things in life have been happening at once, which has thrown a wrench in my usual newsletter routine. With that said, today I’ll be picking back up on the topic of why Christians need the Church. After this series, I plan to take a break from my bi-weekly posting schedule. I hope to continue...
2025-07-0708 min
Speaking Truth PodcastWe Are a Family1 John 3:1“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!”Most people would agree that families are not perfect. While ideally families should be safe places full of love and care for one another, that is not many people’s experiences. Families come full of conflict, disappointment, and even abuse. Some families know what it means to trust one another, while others have never earned it. Whether your experience with family has been mostly positive or mostly negative, I think you’d still agree with me that you...
2025-05-2406 min
Speaking Truth PodcastChurch Isn't PerfectMatthew 9:12-13“…Jesus said, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick… For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.’”In today’s post, I want to acknowledge something that is common knowledge to all people who’ve ever been in, around, or who’ve known a church: churches are not perfect. I believe it’s important for us to study this fact when considering why Christians need the Church, since many believers choose not to be a part of the Body of Christ because of the people in it. I started thi...
2025-05-1006 min
Speaking Truth PodcastChurch Is Worth ItPhilippians 2:1-2“Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.”This next series of posts will be all about why Christians need the Church. In a world that seems to become more divided and divisive every day, I want to encourage other believers to value their relationships with brothers and sisters in Christ. My goal...
2025-04-2606 min
Speaking Truth PodcastReflecting on the HardEphesians 3:20-21“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”Before I move onto another series for this newsletter, I wanted to write a post reflecting on what God has done in me and for me over the past year—and on the beautiful truths He’s been teaching me in this season of life. Most of what I’m goin...
2025-04-1207 min
Speaking Truth PodcastCalled to LoveJohn 13:34-35“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”In my introductory post on this topic of “What Is Love?", I gave my three-fold answer: love is an emotion, an action, and a part of who God is. Over the past several posts, I’ve shared some of the ways the Bible describes God’s love: His love is faithful and just; it’s a gift; and His love is...
2025-03-2908 min
Speaking Truth PodcastRedeeming LoveEphesians 1:7-8a“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us.”Today I want to focus on the hope of God’s redeeming love because of what He did for us in Christ Jesus. You will notice that the verses I want to study with you in this post do not necessarily have the word “love” in them. However, I believe that these New Testament passages clearly demonstrate the message of God’s love toward us by illustrating h...
2025-03-1506 min
Speaking Truth PodcastLove Is a GiftJohn 3:16“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”Are you a gift giver? Or do you prefer to receive gifts? We commonly use gifts as a way to show our love for someone, yet I think we often take for granted that love itself is a gift from God. God’s faithful and just love is embodied through the ultimate Gift—Jesus Christ our Savior. In John 3:16, the word “gave” demonstrates God sacrificially giving His love to a whole p...
2025-03-0106 min
Speaking Truth PodcastLove & JusticeExodus 34:7 NLT“I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin.But I do not excuse the guilty. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children and grandchildren;the entire family is affected— even children in the third and fourth generations.”Today I’ll be talking about ways we see the justice of God’s love in the Old Testament and how it is intertwined with His faithfulness. If you recall, I opened my last post with Exodus 34:6, where God described Himself as compassionate, merciful, slow to anger, and filled...
2025-02-1506 min
Speaking Truth PodcastFaithful LoveExodus 34:6 NLT“The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out,‘Yahweh! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy!I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.’”While there are so many different things I could focus on when trying to write about the love of God, two aspects stick out in my mind especially as I read through the Old Testament—God’s love is faithful and just. There are so many passages and psalms of praise to go to for those two characteristics of the love of God! However, I w...
2025-02-0107 min
Speaking Truth PodcastWhat Is Love?1 Corinthians 13:13“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” Surprisingly, my choice in this next topic did not come from the approaching Valentine’s Day holiday. Though stores are now filled with red, pink, and heart decor, candies, and cards, that’s not why I chose to write on the topic of “What is love?” Instead, I felt led to study this topic biblically as I wrestled with different relationships and situations going on in my own life. You see, I know God’s Word has much to say about l...
2025-01-1808 min
Speaking Truth PodcastIdolatry HurtsExodus 20:3“You shall have no other gods besides me.” To end this series on how sin hurts, I want to focus on the sin of idolatry. All of us sin in this way by idolizing and worshipping things, goals, or people other than the One True God. And because of that, we all experience in differing degrees the pain that idol worship brings. I also wanted to finish with this sin because we often give into other sins based on what we’re idolizing. I plan on demonstrating how harmful the sin of idolatry is by dig...
2025-01-0407 min
Speaking Truth PodcastGossip HurtsEphesians 4:29“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” This is a post that really stings for me. You see, I love words, and I love using my voice to talk and write. But all too often, the words that come out of my mouth are more like the “unwholesome talk” that the opening verse from Ephesians is talking about: gossip, slander, cursing, backbiting… these are just a few of the ways the Bible...
2024-12-2109 min
Speaking Truth PodcastPride Hurts Proverbs 11:2“When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” What is pride? Is it a good thing or a bad thing? And can pride really hurt us? Today’s culture likes to paint “pride” in only a positive tone, and you can see this by looking at the first two definitions of the word found in Merriam-Webster’s Online Dictionary: “reasonable self-esteem : confidence and satisfaction in oneself” and “pleasure that comes from some relationship, association, achievement, or possession that is seen as a source of honor, respect, etc.” Most people don’t think about the third...
2024-12-0708 min
Speaking Truth PodcastAnger Hurts Psalm 37:8“Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.” Anger—we’ve all experienced it, but how would you describe it? Frustration, rage, annoyance, displeasure, getting upset, an emotional response to a wrong done… Most of us would agree that anger, while commonly experienced, does not feel good. I think of phrases like “that makes my blood boil” or “I just get all fired up when…” or “I’m seeing red” that try to describe what it feels like to be angry. Today I want to look at what Scripture has to say no...
2024-11-2310 min
Speaking Truth PodcastLusting Hurts 1 John 2:16-17“For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” Do you ever think much about the sin of lust? When I say that, I mean, do you often evaluate your own heart and mind for ways you might be lusting? To lust, as in the opening verses of 1 John 2:16-17 means to have a very strong desire for some...
2024-11-0907 min
Speaking Truth PodcastStealing HurtsEphesians 4:28“Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need.” Ephesians 4 is such a rich, convicting, and powerful chapter of the Bible. If you have a minute, I challenge you to go and read the entire chapter now before finishing this newsletter. It gives instruction on how to preserve unity in the church, a call to grow in spiritual maturity, and practical steps to live out those exhortations. Verses 22-24 are well-known for the dire...
2024-10-2610 min
Speaking Truth PodcastLying HurtsColossians 3:9-10 NLT“Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.” In my last newsletter I explained that this next series will be diving into the topic of “how sin hurts,” and I started by discussing the biblical reasons why sin is painful. The first specific sin I want to focus on is lying and how it causes pain. I mentioned this example briefly in my prev...
2024-10-1209 min
Speaking Truth PodcastWhy Sin HurtsRomans 6:23“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Why is sin so bad? Besides the fact that God tells us in His perfect Word that it is bad, the repercussions of sin display why it’s bad for us too—sin hurts. It hurts us, and it hurts those around us. The opening verse, Romans 6:23, spells it out just how much sin can hurt—it can kill us. It is killing us in our natural state. “The wages of sin is death.” Sin reaps pain...
2024-09-2808 min
Speaking Truth PodcastFriends, Fear, & FaithPsalm 33:18“But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love.” So far in this series, I’ve discussed the purposes for friendship based on what the Bible tells us about relationships, as well as how unbiblical expectations can affect how we act as friends. I’ve also mentioned throughout this series what a blessing friendships are, especially when they reflect their God-given design. Then I spent time looking at two difficult parts of having friends, relational hurt and loneliness. Today I am going to be en...
2024-09-1409 min
Speaking Truth PodcastIs It Just Me?Psalm 27:10“Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close.” I know it’s not just me—no one likes to feel lonely. Even though friendships can lead to hurt and disappointment, most of us still have a desire to seek out friends because we want companionship; we want to be welcomed; we want to feel known—our hearts long to not be lonely. Today, that’s the topic I want to address regarding friendships: handling loneliness biblically. In a world that is more connected than ever because of the internet and soc...
2024-08-3107 min
Speaking Truth PodcastWhen It HurtsPsalm 55:22 NLT“Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.” Oh, how often I need that reminder! To give my burdens to the Lord and to remember and trust that He will take care of me. I chose to open with Psalm 55:22 because it comes from an honest, heartfelt prayer in the Psalms regarding the hurt from the betrayal of a friend. In my last newsletter, I shared about how our expectations in friendships impact our hearts towards God and othe...
2024-08-1708 min
Speaking Truth PodcastFighting ExpectationsPsalm 23:1“The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.” I’ve always found that little verse so convicting. Maybe you’re used to hearing it a different way: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” No matter the version I read it in, I’m always faced with the fact that this verse is so often not true about myself. Even though I know the Lord is my shepherd, provider, caretaker, Savior, etc., I still find myself thinking I do lack something—I do still want! More often than not, the things I believe are miss...
2024-08-0309 min
Speaking Truth PodcastWhat Are Friends For?Proverbs 27:17 (NLT)“As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” What is the purpose of friendship? Why did God create us to be relational and to have friends? Well, as the opening verse states, we are to sharpen one another “as iron sharpens iron.” If you’re like me, you may not be able to picture what that looks like very easily. It helps me instead to think about how we sharpen dull knives. We use something else that’s very hard, like another knife or a specific type of stone, to sharpen our dull, us...
2024-07-2010 min
Speaking Truth PodcastYou've Got a Friend in MeProverbs 17:17 “A friend loves at all times,and a brother is born for a time of adversity.” “You’ve Got a Friend in Me” by Randy Newman is such a fun, nostalgic song from my childhood that always comes to my mind when I think about the topic of “friendship.” I love the picture of a friend that that song paints: no matter how far away you are from someone (time or space), no matter what troubles may come your way, the love of a friend can still remain. That pictures goes hand in hand with P...
2024-07-0610 min
Speaking Truth PodcastPreparing WellProverbs 6:6-8Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise!It has no commander, no overseer or ruler,yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.Over the last several posts I’ve addressed the topic of change and dealing with the coming and going of life seasons from a biblical perspective. This has been a helpful topic for me personally as I’ve been seeking God’s wisdom on how to handle really big, upcoming life changes. The truths we’ve already examined from God’s Word hav...
2024-06-2211 min
Speaking Truth PodcastAnticipate JoyfullyRomans 12:12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Why do people enjoy roller coasters? Even though coasters can be scary because of the crazy heights, speed, and twisting turns, people still look forward to them! They enjoy the excitement, the rush, and the happiness that flow from our physical feelings being stimulated. As humans, we often live for thrills like that to entertain us. We anticipate them gladly, not with dread or worry, because we are intentionally seeking out that kind of emotional high—and because we know it is temporary. So wh...
2024-06-0810 min
Speaking Truth PodcastOur Anchor in ChangePsalm 73:25-26Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.Why are those words so hard to believe? So often, I don’t think of God like the psalmist describes in those verses. He’s not the only thing I’m desiring in heaven or on earth. In fact, so often all the other things I’m desiring get in the way of me seeing God as who He is—as “t...
2024-05-2509 min
Speaking Truth PodcastWhen Change Is HardLamentations 3:25The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him.Too often in life we equate things that are hard or difficult with things that are bad. Even as I prepared my last post about contentment in waiting, I realized how often we think of waiting as bad simply because it is hard. This week I want to continue the topic of how to deal with the changing seasons of life biblically by addressing the difficulty of accepting change in our lives. First, I want to look at...
2024-05-1109 min
Speaking Truth PodcastContentment in WaitingJames 5:11 Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.In my last newsletter I discussed this fact of life: Change always comes. I talked about the inevitable changes and seasons we experience in life using the context of Ecclesiastes chapter 3. Those verses demonstrate the biblical truths that we can always expect change to come and that God is sovereign over it all. He knows where we’ve been, where we are, an...
2024-04-2710 min
Speaking Truth PodcastA Time for EverythingEcclesiastes 3:1-8There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to...
2024-04-1308 min
Speaking Truth PodcastForgiving OthersEphesians 4:32Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.What is forgiveness? How would you explain forgiveness to someone if asked? How would you explain it to a child? The command to forgive is what we’ll be exploring in today’s newsletter, and while nothing I share will be groundbreaking or new per se, I pray it helps you love your Savior more deeply and desire to obey Him more fully.Being told to forgive others is extremely common if you grew up in a...
2024-03-3011 min
Speaking Truth PodcastHow to Glorify God1 Corinthians 10:31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.If you have been in a Bible-believing, Bible-preaching church for long, I’m sure you have heard that verse quoted or taught in some way, shape, or form. Maybe you were told this by a biblical counselor or a mentor, or maybe just by a Christian friend, to encourage you to live for God in specific areas of your life. Maybe it was even in a Sunday sermon, calling us as believers to give glory to God in...
2024-03-1611 min
Speaking Truth PodcastLove Your Neighbor as YourselfRomans 13:8-10Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.In today’s post I’m going to be talking about the command to “love your neighbor as yourself.” My goal is that the study of...
2024-03-0209 min
Speaking Truth PodcastRejoice Always!Philippians 4:4-7“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”In my last newsletter, I looked at one of the most commonly quoted commands found in many forms throughout Scripture: “Don’t worry.” Today I want to continue looking at the reasons we...
2024-02-1708 min
Speaking Truth PodcastDon't Worry1 Peter 5:7“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”I love how consistent and repetitive God’s Word is. Have you ever noticed that? I thank the Lord that it is! He knows our human hearts and tendencies and how we need to be constantly reminded of who He is and the way He designed us to live. I love how in both the Old and New Testaments we see a steady representation of the One True God and His faithful love towards His people. The way the Bible corroborates itself in these...
2024-02-0308 min
Speaking Truth PodcastA Balancing ActDeuteronomy 4:2“Do not add to what I command you and do not subtract from it, but keep the commands of the Lord your God that I give you.”My last series of posts was all about how we need to be actively pursuing objective, biblical truth both as individuals and with one another. The next topic I want to share about is how to apply God’s Word to our lives. Now of course my hope is that every newsletter I write or record displays ways we can be practically applying biblical truth. In this series...
2024-01-2007 min
Speaking Truth PodcastUnited in TruthPhilippians 2:1-2“Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.”So far in this series on pursuing truth, I’ve talked about why need objective truth, why we can’t trust or follow our hearts, and practical ways to fight for and pursue truth actively in our lives. I want to end this series today by...
2024-01-0610 min
Speaking Truth PodcastStanding Out“Stand up, stand up for Jesus,stand in his strength alone;the arm of flesh will fail you,ye dare not trust your own.Put on the gospel armor,each piece put on with prayer;where duty calls or danger,be never wanting there.”George Duffield, 1858As I sat down to write this newsletter, I couldn’t get the words of that popular old hymn, “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus,” out of my head. I grew up in a small church where I learned many classic hymns by heart, but I think this was one of my...
2023-12-2310 min
Speaking Truth PodcastFight for Truth2 Timothy 2:15Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.Today I want to talk about why it’s important that we constantly fight for truth. And when I say, “fight for truth,” I mean standing on the firm foundations of the Christian faith even when it’s hard or unpopular. I also want to emphasize that by “truth,” I’m talking about objective truth. As I’ve stated in the last two posts in this series, we need...
2023-12-0910 min
Speaking Truth PodcastDon't Follow Your HeartJeremiah 17:9The heart is deceitful above all thingsand beyond cure.Who can understand it?One of the first big questions I want to address in this series on “pursuing truth” is “Why can we trust the Bible?” The opening verse from Jeremiah 17 gives a simple yet harsh answer to start this conversation—because we cannot trust our own hearts. I want to give you several key verses from the Bible today that talk about the nature of the human heart as well as verses that talk about who God is. Ultimately, I want to build up your tr...
2023-11-2509 min
Speaking Truth PodcastWe Need TruthPsalm 19:7-11The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul.The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple.The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart.The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes.The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous.They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold;they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb.By them your servant is warned; in keeping them there is great reward.
2023-11-1108 min
Speaking Truth PodcastThe Discipline of Goal-SettingProverbs 16:1-3, 9 "To humans belong the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the proper answer of the tongue. All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord. Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.…In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps."As a Christian, should we or should we not set goals? Today, I’d like to explore some beneficial reasons why we should be motivated to set goals for ourselves in different areas of life. In...
2023-10-2811 min
Speaking Truth PodcastA Reflection on Self-DisciplineColossians 3:23-24 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.These next two newsletters will be a standalone, mini-series written in a much more reflective, free-flowing style. They’re going to sound and read a little differently than my usual writings, but I wanted to share these reflections through Speaking Truth because they’re focused on two areas of self-discipline I’ve been growin...
2023-10-1409 min
Speaking Truth PodcastGrowing Your Prayer LifeColossians 4:2 “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.”In this last newsletter on prayer, I want to discuss how to grow our prayer lives practically. I want to take the truths about prayer that I’ve previously discussed and share some of the ways I’ve applied them in my own life. Some of these may be helpful to you, and some may not be your style. No matter what, I hope this email encourages you to look for ways you can grow your own prayer life. Take a few seconds to go back...
2023-09-3006 min
Following with Tracy RhinehartIntroducing Adaptogens | Leah Rachelle, LSW + Functional Medicine Health CoachThe health + wellness industry is jammed packed with information + advice + products + opinions....enough to make your eyes gaze over. And that can certainly be the case when it comes to Adaptogens. I mean, exactly what are adaptogens anyway?This conversation is short + sweet + straight to the point:What are adaptogens + how can we simply add them to our daily routine?Leah's experience with these health-bombs is right here for your consideration. The latte is Mucuna Cacao Reishi Latte by Brynda Bechtold at ashevillevegans.orgAnd yup! The mucuna, raw...
2022-11-1617 min
Speaking Truth PodcastWhat is accountability?Hebrews 10:24-25 "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together..." In this first newsletter, I wanted to share a little about accountability. For me, it’s one of the main reasons I want to start writing and sharing with others regularly. I want to encourage other believers in the importance of keeping each other accountable through speaking truth to one another.Accountability is a word that is often used in Christian circles. We are told that accountability is important and necessary for our spiritual gro...
2022-08-2207 min