Happy Sunday,

The following is a draft section of my book, Broken News, scheduled for release in ~Fall 2027. 

I add/revise/cut content based on feedback from this newsletter each week, so if something stands out as wrong, confusing, or wow-that-actually-helped-please-don’t-change-it… hit reply and let me know!

Scriptural Basis
“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.”

Proverbs 3:5

How I Know I’m Wrong
Let me share the clearest evidence I have of my judgment being unreliable: I disagree with God.

There are things in the Bible that, if it were up to me, I’d change. There are commands I dislike. There are things God has done that, when I read about them, I feel He got wrong. My life would be easier if certain Bible verses didn’t exist, so I’d like them removed. This line of thinking prompted, in my opinion, one of the greatest quotes of all time.

“This is God’s universe, and God does things His way. You may have a better way, but you don’t have a universe.” — J. Vernon McGee

I have a list of grievances against God, but I keep slamming into that same wall: I don’t have a universe. He does. He made it, sustains it, and gets to set the rules—including the rule that I am the creature, and He is the Creator.

When I look at it like that, it makes perfect sense that I disagree with God on at least some things. It would be highly suspicious if I didn’t. If His every command and judgment lined up flawlessly with my own, it would indicate that I had quietly assembled a god in my own image, instead of getting to know the one, true God. God established what is true, right, and good, and He has not changed those standards. But my view of what is true, right, and good has changed; and I don’t just disagree with the people around me, I disagree with myself from a year ago. So, of course, my views don’t line up with God’s perfectly. The gap between us is exactly what I’d expect if He’s a real, unchanging, perfect God, and I’m a limited, still-learning, frequently wrong creature.

The question is what to do when that gap between my stance and God’s—or my stance and the truth of any kind—is recognized.

Someone with humility will submit, recognizing they have found one of the many areas where they were confidently wrong. They’ll admit their mistake, reorient, and move forward towards the truth. Someone who is arrogant will dig their heels in, refuse to accept that they were incorrect, lash out, deny, delay, or avoid the topic. 

This is why Proverbs 3:5 cuts so deep:

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.”

Not “lean a little less.” Not “supplement your understanding with His.” But, “lean not on your own understanding.” This single verse assumes the very thing I keep forgetting: my understanding is unreliable. I need to let go of my arrogant notion that I know what’s best, and trust that He knows better. I get things wrong, but I can trust in the One who never does.

Was this valuable? Was this heretical? Do you have a rebuttal? Should it not make the book?

Please hit reply and let me know! Your replies are genuinely a huge help and are massively shaping this book. I don’t have time to respond to each one, but I personally read every email.

Pre-Orders: The best way to support me and our mission is to pre-order my book. We’re doing a limited run, exclusive hardcover edition just for News Health subscribers.

Recommended*: So you just read the news… Now what? Its divisiveness gives Christians a chance to step into our role as peacemakers. In his book Embrace the Tension, Tommy Nixon encourages peacemakers to sit in what he calls the Radical Middle, resisting false political binaries and embracing a Christ-centered way of engaging with humility, conviction, and compassion in a polarized world.

Embrace the Tension is practical encouragement on how to engage with the world in a God-honoring way. It comes out Tuesday, so jump to the front of the line and grab your copy!

*I’m fortunate enough to be paid to promote products I actually use and genuinely recommend. Embrace the Tension is one of them.