Author: Van Barrett

FAITH. By the grace of God, I am a Christian.  I don't mean the superficial, thanking-God-after-winning-an-award-type Christian either.  This is real to me.  I was a mess of an individual (by God's standards) whose only hope was redemption through Jesus Christ.  Currently, I am a faithful member in good standing at a local church. FAMILY. I'm a husband and father by God's grace.  I have the greatest wife on the planet and a daughter whom I adore.  This doesn't mean we always get along, but I know I've been given far more than I deserve as it relates to them.  EDUCATION. I have an undergraduate degree in business management and a graduate degree in theological studies. Jesus, theology, evangelism, ministry, and apologetics are passions of mine, so the blog generally centers around those topics. Writing is a way for me to formulate my thoughts as not to drive my family insane since I probably border somewhere between an over-thinker and contemplative. So, there's a little bit about me, a little background that I hope will provide insight into blog posts.  Just another flawed individual seeking to be used by God. -Van Barrett (pseudonym)

Not Going Beyond What is Written

ByVan Barrett November 3, 2024 0 Comments
 Brief post here, but I want to express something that I’m increasingly realizing about society and myself as a Christian and that is, how it’s important to have clear guidelines about what Scripture says and what it does not say. Recently, I’ve seen Christian social media posts and videos where the post passes off a relatively good activity as some sort of biblically-mandated...

The Death of Porn: Men of Integrity Building a World of Nobility (Brief Review)

ByVan Barrett September 15, 2024 0 Comments
The Death of Porn: Men of Integrity Building a World of Nobility by Ray Ortlund. Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2021. pp. 144. $16.99. Paperback. There’s no shortage today of books available on the topic of pornography, especially from Christian sources. It is without a doubt the scourge of Western society the past 50 years or so. Enter Ray Ortlund’s The Death of Porn: Men of Integrity Building a...

How Should We Assess and Respond to Church Scandal?

ByVan Barrett June 23, 2024 0 Comments
 If you’re like me, you’re probably annoyed, saddened, and tired of hearing about some immoral misconduct on the part of church leaders. It’s 2024, and there’s no shortage of reports of corruption, embezzlement, drug abuse, alcoholism, bullying, marital affairs, sexual encounters with minors, and undercover homosexual acts being committed by seemingly God-fearing Christian...

The Pornographic Distortion of Reality

ByVan Barrett May 27, 2024 0 Comments
 (***Warning!!! This post contains mature subject matter***) Some of this post contains an excerpt from a created-but-never-published post from 2016. The contents are as true today as they were back then. I want to address pornography but not in the traditional way. Without being salacious, I want to address its effect on men (primarily) and society. This writing won’t be lengthy or...

What is Repentance?

ByVan Barrett April 15, 2024 0 Comments
 If you’re like me and have some familiarity with “Christian-nese,” you’ve probably heard various definitions seeking to explain what repentance is. Perhaps you’ve heard it means, “to change one’s mind” or “to do a 180 degree turn” or “being sorrowful about your sin” or “a change of heart that results in a change of action.” Now, I’m not here to refute any...

“One Thing You Lack…”

ByVan Barrett March 10, 2024 0 Comments
 Luke 18:18-23 retells the encounter of Jesus with a rich young ruler (NOTE: while his wealth is mentioned in this passage and the other synoptic gospels, his youth is unique to Matthew’s account. Reference Matt. 19:20). As a possible local synagogue official or member of the Sanhedrin, he was a pious individual who had undoubtedly heard of Jesus’s fame and ministry. In this encounter,...

Misunderstanding (or Misrepresenting) the Bible – A Social Media Post Review

ByVan Barrett February 11, 2024 0 Comments
 This post is from Facebook and was posted by a left-leaning political activism organization called The Other 98%. I’m not generally interested in the political aspects of their organization or any organization, but when an acquaintance, who at one time professed to be Christian, shared this, I thought it’d be a good address the merits of this post on my blog (NOTE: I’ve hidden the...

Commonly Misused Bible Verses #10 – Prov. 18:16

ByVan Barrett January 21, 2024 0 Comments
“A man’s gift makes room for him and brings him before great men” - Prov. 18:16 This verse isn’t quoted verbatim as much as it’s used in general. Usually, the first half of the verse is professed as, “Your gift will make room for you.” If you’re like me, you probably first heard or restated this “verse” without ever seeing it in Scripture. The verse has been heard in sermons,...

Godly Men Needed

ByVan Barrett December 18, 2023 0 Comments
 Recently, I was thinking about the importance of good, godly men within the context of family. Whether a husband, father, son, or brother, men play an important role in the family and perhaps none more important than the father (NOTE: I would argue the husband is an equally if not more important role, but the impact of the husband, both positive and negative, is hard to capture in...

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