Quick history quiz. When the Founding Fathers put “the pursuit of happiness” in the Declaration of Independence, were they guaranteeing your right to a Friday night buffet and a six-season TV marathon?

No, sorry.

Jefferson was not thinking about the all-you-can-eat shrimp or binging on The Office or Squid Game until 3 am.

He was borrowing from the ancient Greeks, who had a much sturdier idea in mind.

To them, being happy wasn’t a mood. It was a way of living. It was essentially becoming the person you were made to be, and doing what is good even when it costs you.

Aristotle called it eudaimonia, which is a lot of letters for “a life that flourishes and adds up to something.”

The modern version of happiness is a lot easier to chase. It’s the feeling you get from the first bite of strawberry cheesecake, a new gadget, or a full day with no one needing anything from you.

It’s pleasant, but it’s gone by Tuesday.

That’s the trouble with building a life on good feelings. They’re like a church potluck. Wonderful while it lasts, and then somebody’s left washing a casserole dish by themselves.

Scripture has been saying this all along, just with a better word.

The Bible doesn’t talk much about happiness. It talks about joy, and joy is a different creature. Paul wrote his most cheerful letter, Philippians, while sitting in chains.

Nobody feels pleasant in chains. Consequently, he had something deeper than comfort that was holding him steady.

Jesus said the same thing in His own way. He never promised an easy road. He told us to pick up a cross, and then He said He gives life more abundantly (John 10:10).

The path toward joy is to get your eyes off of yourself and onto others.

“Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.”

~ Philippians 2:3-4

Self-absorption doesn’t bring happiness. Denying self (the cross) for the benefit of others (love) is what does.

Joy also comes from living for something bigger than yourself. It’s to live with purpose. It’s to exist for God’s glory.

Work (labor) is also an important piece to this.

Read 1 and 2 Thessalonians about the importance of working for a living and the end of Ephesians about its purpose.

Idleness and living off of others never brings joy.

So if you’ve been chasing happiness and still feel strangely empty, maybe you’ve been chasing a shadow when you could have been following a Person.

Jesus Christ and His purpose and ways are the path to fulfillment.

Pleasure is a nice guest. It just makes a terrible foundation because it has a bad habit of disappearing. Quickly.

Oh, if you’re older than 40, send this post directly to someone who is part of Gen Z or the younger end of Gen Y (Christians in their 20s and younger 30s). Or read it to them.

It may end up saving their lives.

For more on this subject, check out Saying Yes to God and Experiencing Joy.

Until next time.

Your brother,

fv

On Sunday, I shared about my recent ministry weekend in Texas.

The message I delivered Friday night was called “The Greatest Chapter in the Bible: Unveiling Romans 8.”

Based on the testimonials I received from attendees so far, it changed lives, leaving some speechless and others cheering.

I’m deeply humbled and thankful.

While we usually drop episodes on the CHRIST IS ALL podcast on Tuesdays, we’re dropping the messages I shared in Texas twice a week.

There are five in all with an additional Q&A session.

The message on Romans 8 is now available on the podcast.

If you’re not yet subscribed to CHRIST IS ALL, you’ll want to do so. It’s on all podcast platforms, and there’s no charge.

You are welcome to binge on the previous episodes as you wait for the new ones to drop also.

Here is the Romans 8 message on Spotify.

My intention was to rip a hole in the sky by the time I finished. You can decide if I accomplished that or not.

I look forward to hearing your reactions to it.

What follows is the transcript of the first four minutes of the message.

Enjoy!

fv

Transcript (First Four Minutes)

Romans 8 is the greatest chapter in the Bible.

It’s absolutely exquisite. It’s explosively transforming.

And if properly understood, it will intensify your desire for God, and it will set you free from so much.

There are two reasons why Romans 8 towers over everything else in Scripture. One is what it says, and two is how it says it.

Content and style, lyrics and rhythm.

Virtually every major theme in the New Testament shows up in these 39 verses.

It’s as though Paul took the whole sweep of Christian truth and compressed it into a single dense diamond.

And that’s what Romans 8 is.

Here’s what’s unpacked in Romans 8. I’m going to rattle them off quickly.

• The Incarnation
• The Crucifixion
• The Resurrection
• The Ascension
• God’s Law
• Redemption
• Adoption
• Salvation
• Justification
• Sanctification
• Glorification
• New Creation
• The Triune God
• The Holy Spirit
• The Indwelling Life of Christ
• Christ’s Intercessory Ministry
• The Holy Spirit’s Intercessory Ministry
• Union with Christ
• Election
• Divine Foreknowledge
• Predestination
• Our Calling
• Hope
• Love
• Peace
• Prayer
• Suffering
• Perseverance
• Assurance
• Inheritance
• Sonship
• Grace
• Freedom
• Victory
• Dying to Self
• Cosmic Renewal
• The Flesh versus the Spirit
• Deliverance from Sin
• Deliverance from Fear
• Deliverance from Death
• The Renewal of the Mind

All of that is in Romans 8.

Every one of those themes, brothers and sisters, is a mountain that we could spend a lifetime climbing.

Yet Paul stacks them all in this one spectacular chapter.

That’s the content. But content alone does not make something great.

What lifts Romans 8 into a category all its own is the style. It’s the way it moves.

Romans 8 rises and builds. It does not sit flat.

It escalates the same way a great anthem does.

Now, I love music. Matthew and I have talked a lot about music. He’s a musician

And there are certain songs that are called anthems and power ballads.

Some examples are:

Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin

Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd

Don’t Get Fooled Again by The Who

And Purple Rain by Prince

These are songs that climb and build until they detonate into something enormous.

And if Romans 8 were a song, it would follow that same arc.

It begins as a slow, deliberate build. Then it soars, note by note, until it erupts into a rapturous finale of triumph.

Consequently, brothers and sisters, if I deliver this message properly, and the Lord speaks through it, I expect you to be left breathless and standing on your feet in applause, praising God.

So stay with me, because the crescendo is coming.

Before I share my prayer request, a few words about prayer requests. Ahem.

I’m a firm believer in what I call “the prayer of agreement.” Examples of this kind of prayer can be found in these texts:

Matthew 18:19 – “Assuredly I tell you, that if two of you will agree on earth concerning anything that they will ask, it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven.”

Acts 4:23ff – “Being let go, they [the apostles] came to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. When they heard it, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord … They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness…

Acts 12:5, 12 – “Peter therefore was kept in the prison, but constant prayer was made by the assembly to God for him” … “[Peter, who was supernaturally released] came to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.”

Personally, I only request prayer from others when it’s a serious situation or I feel unusually impressed to issue the request.

I don’t make a habit of it. The exceptions are asking my wife and some very close friends to pray with me over various things. The reason why I am reserved on making prayer requests is because I view the prayer of agreement as the “nuclear option.”

By contrast, many in the Christian family have turned the prayer request into a cheap Hallmark card: technically kind, functionally empty.

Somewhere along the way “pray for me” became the spiritual equivalent of a status update. “I stubbed my toe, pray for me; my flight got delayed, pray for me. I can’t find anything on Netflix tonight, pray for me; I can’t open this olive jar; pray for me.”

Okay, maybe not that cheap, but pretty close.

When everything is an emergency, nothing is. And the muscle that’s supposed to fire for a real crisis atrophies from overuse on the trivial.

The early church wasn’t praying like this over parking spots. They were praying with their backs against the wall. They prayed together for an apostle about to be executed, with the kind of urgency that shakes rooms.

If you ask for prayer about everything, don’t be surprised when people believe you about nothing. Or that they’ll end forgetting to pray for you five seconds after you asked.

That’s all prelude. If you’ve been reading my articles for any length of time, you probably can’t recall a time when I asked for prayer. (Though I deeply appreciate and need the ongoing prayers of the saints.)

I’m sure I have made a request, but it’s been rare. Today, I’m breaking custom and asking for your prayers.

This weekend I’ll be speaking to a fairly large audience of hungry Christians.

In the space of three days, I’ll be delivering five messages. That’s not counting dinner conversations and a Q&A session.

So it will be intense.

The messages I will be bringing are those I’ve never shared before. Anywhere. (Which is usually the case when I speak publicly.)

I expect them to be among the most powerful I’ve ever delivered (God willing).

My sense is that the weekend will be a watershed moment for many. So I’m feeling the weight of responsibility and burden.

Consequently, here is what I’d like your prayer agreement on:

*Complete protection for me and those who attend the gatherings in every respect.

*Divine frustration on the interference of the enemy on all levels. A spiritual hedge around us all.

*God’s blessing on my speaking — His power and anointing on all the talks.

*Open hearts and spirits of those who attend.

*Eyes opened and hearts ignited. That the listeners would be stunned by the glories of Christ.

*The forging of new relationships in the kingdom.

*Major breakthroughs from the messages and interactions.

*The Lord would give me stamina, enlighten my mind, and keep me from becoming exhausted or ill.

*That nothing will interfere with the recording equipment and the messages will be recorded with no issues.

And anything else you can think of or feel led to pray for.

God willing, the messages will be recorded and posted on the Christ is All podcast in the coming days.

The official meetings begin on Friday and they’ll go through Sunday afternoon.

Thank you!

In this together with you,

fv

Psalm 115:1

You’re sleeping soundly and suddenly you awaken. It’s 3 am and a memory surfaces.

You wince. You sigh. What comes with it is worse than a wince and a sigh. It’s heavy shame.

Your past is a ghost trailing behind you. Forever, it seems.

But here’s what nobody tells you. The ghost of regret has no power over tomorrow. Your past mistakes can’t ruin your life with God.

If you’ve ever read Paul’s triumphant thunderclap in Romans 8:35–39, you know that the apostle seemingly lists everything he can think of that cannot possibly separate us from the love of Christ.

He talks about every conceivable thing in the present and future: trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, sword, suffering, life, death, angels, demons, principalities, the present, the future, every power, height, depth, and any created thing.

Paul then erupts declaring that none of them can break the connection of God’s love toward us.

Strangely, however, he never mentions the past. He doesn’t mention past sins. Past wrongs. Past mistakes. Past regrets.

Strikingly, he doesn’t mention sin at all in the list.

Paul’s past happened to be dark. And I’m sure he struggled with deep, agonizing regret over it.

So why didn’t he throw in past sins in his seemingly exhaustive list of elements that cannot separate us from the love of God?

My answer: He already did. In Romans 1 through 7, Paul covers the waterfront on God’s unfathomable mercy and unfailing grace in forgiving and cleansing us from all sins—present, future, and past.

And his thundering, triumphant opening in Romans 8 follows his argument:

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

~ Romans 8:1

If you are in Christ, there is no condemnation for your past. There is no condemnation for your present. And there is no condemnation for what’s coming down the pike. (Paul explains why in Romans 3:21 through 8:4.)

Consequently,  even your past cannot separate you from God’s incredible, unshakable, unbreakable love.

Listen to Paul’s own words about his past:

“For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it.”

~ Galatians 1:13

“Formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent…”

~ 1 Timothy 1:13

“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.”

~ 1 Timothy 1:15–16

Did you catch that last line?

God used Paul’s horrible-but-forgiven past as a model and an example for all of us who are in Christ.

If God could forgive Paul’s sins of destroying people and their families when he ravaged the church of the living God (Acts 8:3; 1 Corinthians 15:9), then surely he can forgive you and me for the regrettable things we’ve done.

I have a lot more to say about this subject, and I’ve done so in three places. So before you send me an email about what I left out, check these out first.

I hope they set you free:

Two Kinds of Regret

The Pain of Regret

Rethinking the Love of Christ

Until next time,

Your brother,

fv

I appreciate all the words of encouragement from last Sunday’s Deep Cuts article: “Why the Bible IS the Word of God,” especially from young leaders.

The words of Jesus are “spirit and life” (John 6:63). It is beyond dispute that the Bible calls Jesus the Word of God. It’s also beyond dispute that Jesus called Scripture the word of God.

Jesus repeatedly treated the Old Testament Scriptures as God’s own authoritative, unbreakable speech (Mark 7:9-13; John 10:34-35, et al.).

The Scriptures (the written word) reveal and point to Christ (the living Word).

On that score, it’s been my privilege to work with so many next-generation leaders who are being trained on how to wield the Scriptures to reveal the stunning glories and staggering wonders of our Lord—the word of God unveiling God’s Word.

Over on the Christ is All podcast, we’re in the midst of a new series called “A Frank Talk About Ministry.” The series is made up of never-before-released talks I delivered to next-generation leaders. We are up to part 6 with more to come.

Since every Christian is called to ministry in some capacity, the talks are for all believers—including you. (There’s no clergy-laity divide in the New Testament. Although we all have different functions and ministries, every genuine Christian is gifted, has ministry, and serves as a member of the priesthood of believers—human tradition notwithstanding.)

Now for today’s featured article. Back in February 2019, I wrote the following post on my website.

—

As I’ve pointed out elsewhere, kingdom citizens don’t think, react, or live like the world. However, it’s essential that we are continually reminded about who we are and the kingdom to which we belong.

This year, I created 6 spiritual affirmations that I currently read every morning.

These affirmations ground and center me as a kingdom citizen at the start of each day. I even printed out several copies to place in different parts of my home, just to “refresh” my mind in the afternoons and evenings.

They are:

1) Let go of how life ought to be and find joy somewhere in whatever your life currently is.

2) Ruthlessly eliminate all expectations of how your day should be.

3) Receive everything that happens today as passing through God’s sovereign hands before it gets to you.

4) All things that take place today — including the irritations and disappointments — will work together for your good. Romans 8:28 is still in the Bible.

5) You can’t control what others do, but you can control what you do and how you react.

6) Shift the responsibility on God to change the things you cannot. It’s His worry, not yours. 1 Peter 5:7 is still in the Bible.

Feel free to use these yourself. Or adjust as you see fit.

The Bible talks an awful lot about “renewing” our minds. Affirmations like these are part of that renewal process.

And no matter how seasoned a person is in the kingdom, we’re never beyond being reminded of who we are and where our allegiance lies.

—

Fast forward to February 2026, seven years later.

During that month, I created a new set of morning affirmations. I call them “Morning Statements.”

Why did I replace the previous ones?

Simple. Every spiritual practice eventually becomes tired and dry. Each one, given enough time, loses its edge. The only thing that stays fresh is Christ Himself. Therefore, I regularly switch up my spiritual rhythms and routines.

(By the way, I had no idea that it was exactly seven years to the month since I created the first affirmations until I recently checked the date of that previous post. Our steps are ordered—Psalm 37:23.)

Here are my new morning statements. They are designed to renew the mind with truth and rewire the brain:

*Today is going to be a great day for God’s glory

*Nothing can stop me from doing the tasks God has assigned me to carry out today

*God’s blessing is on my life

*The Lord uses me

*I am focused on my work and refuse to be distracted

*I meet adversity with strength and not panic because God is for me and with me

*All things work together for my gain and His glory

*No weapon formed against me shall prosper

*The Lord is faithful who will guard me from the evil one

*I meet noise with stillness and pressure with purpose

*I am a chosen vessel that God has elected for this hour

Feel free to use if you like and adjust as you see fit. Or create your own from scratch.

Until next time.

Yours in His unfailing grace,

fv

 “Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer.”

2 Timothy 2:3-4

Before I share today’s article, I’ve got important news. 2027 may be the last mastermind I hold for kingdom leaders (at least in its present form). Therefore, if you are a lead pastor, assistant pastor, youth pastor, Bible teacher, or preacher, apply right away here. This is the only mastermind I’m aware of for Christian leaders. And it’s transformed the lives of countless pastors, preachers, and teachers (you can read some of their testimonials on the application page.)

The Mission Matters: Surprising Lessons from a Marine

The following quote come from A.J. Pasciuti, a retired U.S. Marine. His words about life in the Marine Corps maps perfectly to what the New Testament envisions when it comes to a disciple of Jesus Christ doing life together with other disciples. Beginning of quote:

“[The Corps is] indoctrinating you into a culture of how to be and who to be as a person. What we do inside of the Marine Corps is we always give everything back to the team. Everything goes back to the unit, to the service, to the country.

So why we come together and why we work so well is because everybody’s green when you join the Marine Corps. You’re not black. You’re not white. It doesn’t matter where you come from. The mission is what matters and the Marine to your left and to your right.

What makes us unique is the fact that we come from so many different places, but we have a common mission [and] we don’t let anything come in the way of that.

And whenever you’re in a circumstance like that [where the enemy is trying to destroy you], you bond. Did the other young Marines buy into the vision or were they going, ‘I don’t know whether I should be here. This is way too hard.’”

End of quote.

Everyone who has been wrecked by God’s Eternal Purpose (the Mission for every Christian) and has lived for it with other believers in close-knit fellowship can resonate with Pasciuti’s words about life with others in the Marine Corps.

If your Christian experience is something other than this description, it’s not what Watchman Nee would call “a normal Christian life.”

It’s abnormal.

If you’re isolated and you’re not currently doing life with other Jesus followers who are living for the gospel of the kingdom and standing for God’s Eternal Purpose, check out A Recipe for Finding Fellowship.

It’s highly practical and should help.

Yours in the Mission,

fv

Not long ago, followers of Jesus were starved for real, live gathering. I’m not talking about the kind you get at a Sunday morning service where you listen to the same person speak for 25 to 45 minutes and shake the hand of the stranger in the nearby pew for three seconds. (“Not that there’s anything wrong with that.” HT to Seinfeld)

I’m talking about the conference, the mastermind, the convention. These weren’t line items on a calendar. They were pilgrimages that people were excited to attend.

People drew from their savings and burned vacation days to sit in a room under teaching and preaching that lit them on fire, to sing to the true God next to people who walked out as family, to be wrecked by something no download could ever hand them.

In-person presence was worth the price.

I remember the first conference I attended where my mentors Stephen Kaung (co-worker with Watchman Nee) and DeVern Fromke (co-worker with T. Austin-Sparks) ministered. The experience is forever burned into the circuitry of my brain.

I gladly paid the registration fee and drove from Florida to Richmond. (And I hate driving long distances worse than I hate poison).

But for me, it was well worth the inconvenience.

Today? The fire for in-person events has cooled to a flicker.

* There is little interest among today’s leaders in hosting a Christian conference on the deeper things of God.

* In the rare cases where there is one, registrations crawl. Even veteran leaders would rather stay home than book the flight.

* Most leaders—pastors, teachers, preachers—show little interest in ministry masterminds where they could connect with fellow leaders. Thank God some do. In my book, those are the elites in God’s work today.

What changed?

Streaming, YouTube talks, and podcasts have turned ministry into a vending machine. It’s available anytime, anywhere, no shirt required.

And convenience did what convenience always does. It whispered that showing up in the flesh is optional and that the same benefits could be secured simply by watching or listening on your phone.

Why drive four hours or fly across the country when the message lands in your earbuds in four seconds?

2020 really hit the brakes. The pandemic trained an entire generation to accept a glowing rectangle as a stand-in for the real thing.

Stir in exhausted schedules, zero margin, and a slow-drip individualism that treats faith like a private snack instead of a shared inheritance, and you get exactly what you’d expect.

Most Christians today consume more and share less. More content. Less life. Less transformation.

But something dies in that trade.

Transformation shows up stronger wearing skin. It comes through people you can see, touch, and get gloriously interrupted by. The hand on your shoulder mid-prayer. The testimonial spilled over a shared meal.

Listening and watching to someone preach down heaven live and in person.

When it comes to live spoken ministry vs. watching or listening to a YouTube talk, the difference is enormous. (I explained the difference in a recent article called The Supreme Artists.)

None of this travels through a fiber-optic cable or a Wi-Fi router.

So here’s the dare: Fence off your calendar for in-person gatherings that cost you something. Pay the registration fee. Book the plane ticket. Take the seat. Shake the hand. Smile at the face in front of you.

If you’re a pastor or church network leader, host a conference that focuses on the deep things of God. Lord knows we need them in this hour of profound shallowness.

Don’t play the game and invite the celebrities, but bring in those who major in the deeper life.

Human presence (in-person interaction) isn’t waste to be trimmed for efficiency. It’s the soil in which genuine discipleship grows.

A screen can inform you. But what happens in the room better forms you.

These testimonials from deeper life conferences illustrate my point.

Related:

A Full Immersion Conference (No Shallow End)

Live Seminars (upon invitation)

We just wrapped up something significant. A whole series. Done. Finished. Every single reference to the kingdom of God in the New Testament in chronological order. Covered, discussed, dissected, and set free into the world.

This was a project that’s never been done before. And now it’s available for you and the rest of the body of Christ.

All on The Insurgence Podcast.

I know, I know, endings are supposed to feel sad. But this one doesn’t. This one feels like finally remembering your new WiFi password without opening the router app.

If you want to know what’s next (and you do, trust me), listen to the final episode of that series (it’s below).

I’m not going to spoil it here because that would defeat the entire purpose of me making a podcast instead of just writing out a summary. The episode is only 7 minutes long.

Here’s a preview though. Come January 2027, we’re launching a brand new series called “The Kingdom and the Power” on the same podcast (The Insurgence Podcast).

So put it on your calendar. Or don’t, and just be pleasantly surprised when it shows up. That is, if you’re already subscribed (you should be).

In the meantime, if you’re not subscribed to the Christ is All podcast, what are you doing with your life? We drop new episodes every other week, and right now we’re deep into a series called “A Frank Talk About Ministry” which is exactly what it sounds like: me talking straight about things that matter with minimal nonsense.

And if you’ve been reading my work for any length of time, you know that the New Testament clearly teaches that ALL Christians are called to ministry of some kind.

So that series applies to every genuine believer.

Even you.

“The ministry is that which the Holy Spirit enables you to do in any sphere and occupation to which the Lord leads you.”

~ T. Austin-Sparks

Listen to episode 181 of The Insurgence Podcast, and you’ll hear what’s coming in January. And subscribe to the podcast if you haven’t already. Your future self will thank you.

Until next time.

Yours faithfully,

fv

I started blogging in 2008. Since then, I’ve written over 1,000 articles and launched three podcasts.

In 2023, we began distributing them through Substack.

Over the years, people have sent me lots of questions about the spiritual life and theology. They’ve asked questions about my work, but also questions that are on the minds of most serious Christians today.

What kinds of questions? Well, not things like, “How do I heal my paper cut?” and “Why does my stomach act like I’ve committed a felony every time I eat healthy?”

But more like:

*Is a revival coming?

*Which is correct—Calvinism or Arminianism?

* What is your view on aliens? Sophisticated known but secret technology, extraterrestrial beings, fake, or demonic?

*What’s your view on the Second Coming of Christ?

*How do I actually live by Christ’s life instead of my own?

*How do I find a real church with real Christians in my city?

*Do you still stand by your earlier books on radical church restoration?

*What’s an apostle and how do I find one?

*Do you believe the Bible is the word of God?

*I have a family member who I believe is possessed or taken over by a dark spirit. Can you help?

*Are you part of the New Apostolic Reformation? [Cough]

And hundreds more.

If a question is in my wheelhouse, I answer it.

To make it super convenient for you, we put all your questions and my answers on one page. And we recently updated it.

Whether you’ve been reading my articles for a while or if you’re just finding my work now, it’s worth a look. Some of the questions are super insightful.

Once you get to the page, you can explore the other resources in the top menu, including the complete article archive (which is massive) along with the entire book and podcast catalog.

The FAQ page is also searchable.

Go here to check it out

Enjoy!

Yours in His unfailing grace,

fv

—

If these weekly articles have stirred something in you, a hunger for more, a sense that there’s a deeper well you haven’t yet drawn from, then we want to invite you into something far richer. The Deeper Christian Life Network is where the real work happens.

While this newsletter gives you a taste, the Network is the full meal: exclusive Master Classes you won’t find anywhere else, monthly Q&A sessions where your most pressing spiritual questions get answered, eye-opening Scriptural Game-Changers, behind-the-scenes looks at Frank’s own spiritual practices, sneak previews of his upcoming books before they’re even published, free eBooks, and a genuine community of believers who are serious about a real walk with Jesus—not a performance of one.

This isn’t more of the same; it’s a different level entirely. If you’ve ever thought “I wish I could go deeper than this,” that’s exactly what the Network was built for. Join the wait list at thedeeperchristianlife.com and you’ll be alerted by email when registration opens. (You can cancel at any time.) Authentic faith, serious discipleship, and the kind of community that actually changes you shouldn’t be left on the table.

“If you want to build a ship, don’t herd people together to collect wood and don’t assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea.”

~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

If God is the great Artist, then His masterwork is not a canvas or a symphony but a Person—His Son, Jesus Christ, the ultimate object of beauty.

In Christ, “all the fullness of the Godhead dwells.” Our beloved Lord is the radiance of the Father’s glory, the exact imprint of His exquisite being.

Every color, every note, every proportion that stirs the human heart is a faint echo of the beauty that’s in the face of Jesus Christ.

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

~ 2 Corinthians 4:6

The Preacher, the Teacher, and the Writer

Consider, then, what this means for those who proclaim Him.

The one who unveils Christ in preaching, who magnifies Him in teaching, and who reveals Him through the written page is not merely transmitting information. They are handling and dispensing the supreme beauty of the universe.

Their medium is not oils or marble, but the living Christ Himself.

This makes the passionate preacher, the anointed teacher, and the gifted writer who is consumed with Christ the highest of artists.

The painter reflects a fragment of created beauty. The one who reveals Jesus communicates the uncreated Beauty from whom all fragments flow.

To make Christ visible, to render His glory in words until listeners behold and adore Him, this is the greatest artistry conceivable.

As one who writes and speaks to communicate the glorious riches and staggering beauties of Jesus, however imperfect my articulation, I’ve discovered that presenting Christ on the written page and ministering Him live through the spoken word are slightly different.

From the Perspective of the Artist

Writing a book that magnifies Christ is like building a cathedral brick by brick in silence.

Speaking at a live event to declare His riches is like stepping into the cathedral and filling it with music.

From the Perspective of the Reader and Listener

Reading a book that unveils Christ is like studying a finished painting of profound beauty up close.

Listening to Christ being revealed through the live spoken word is like watching the artist create the painting in real time.

May those who carry this calling steward it with reverence and awe, for their subject is Beauty incarnate.

Go here to listen to over 70 Christ-revealing conference messages and let the unfathomable beauty of Jesus ignite your heart, enlighten your spirit, and edify your soul.