In 1947, a young Bedouin shepherd threw a rock into a cave near the Dead Sea and heard something break. What was inside those clay jars would become the most significant manuscript discovery in modern history — and would take decades of scholarly struggle, controversy, and one very persistent librarian to finally reach the rest of the world. This is Part One of What the Desert Kept: The Unbound Word, a five-part deep dive into the Dead Sea Scrolls — their discovery, their contents, the community that preserved them, and the Scriptural threads that held across nearly two thousand years of silence.
Tag Archives: scripture
When Leaves Aren’t Enough: The Real Work of Spiritual Formation | Daily Bread
Spiritual appearance comes naturally. Showing up, saying the right things, checking the right boxes — from a distance, it all looks like faith. But Jesus wasn’t fooled by a leafy tree with nothing underneath, and He isn’t fooled by us either. In this promised deep dive from the Leaves but No Fruit post, we get honest about the gap between looking formed and actually being formed — what creates it, why it’s so easy to miss, and what real transformation actually looks like from the inside out. Spoiler: it’s slower, harder, and more honest than most of us expect.
Soul Over Ego: In the World, Not of It | Daily Bread
The church is witnessing a profound spiritual battle in 2026, where the struggle between ego and soul is reaching a fever pitch. This isn’t just a debate; it’s a dramatic confrontation, exposing deep-seated divisions rooted in our spiritual identity.
We’re observing an age-old contest between who we are in the flesh and who we’re called to be in Christ, amplified by current cultural and political pressures. This isn’t a comfortable reality, but it’s crucial that we confront it openly and honestly.
Authenticity Unveiled: When Winning Isn’t the Point
What’s the real reason I share anything I share? That question snuck up on me recently — not from someone else, but from myself. The honest answer turned out to matter more than I expected.
This post is about that question, and what it revealed when I started looking around at how faith gets performed online versus how Scripture actually models it. The Bible is full of people who questioned God, fact-checked apostles, wrestled all night, demanded evidence, and were honored for it. Truth doesn’t need a bodyguard. It thrives in the open.
So here’s my invitation: push back. Ask harder. Say “but what about ____?” That’s not a threat to what I believe. Growth is the point. Not winning.
Sunday Sessions: When You Actually Go Look | A Deeper Dive + Follow-Up
I used to take the Bible at face value, or dismiss it just as quickly. Then I started going and looking. Really looking.
What I found surprised me: forty-plus authors spread across three continents and fifteen centuries, writing in exile, dungeons, wildernesses, and royal courts. Most never met. Most never coordinated. And yet they produced one unbroken story.
Creation. Fall. Promise. Rescue. Restoration.
That’s the arc, and it’s held throughout fifteen centuries, three continents, and forty voices who never once compared notes
The promised seed in Genesis 3:15. The lamb provided by God in Genesis 22, echoed in the Passover, fulfilled in John’s cry: “Behold, the Lamb of God.” Prophecies specific enough to name the details centuries in advance: thirty pieces of silver, a donkey, pierced hands and feet, a birthplace called Bethlehem.
No committee could have engineered that.
The more I studied the geography, the manuscripts, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the languages, the sheer improbability of the coherence, the harder it became to wave away.
Questions still remain. I expect they always will. But they don’t push me out anymore. They pull me deeper in.
This is what happens when you actually go look.
Sunday Sessions: What I Heard in the Quiet, and What I’m Still Wrestling With
“If you’ve turned your back on Israel, you hate your own Savior.” A meditation-born truth that won’t let go. Honest reflections on Jesus’ Jewishness, biblical contradictions, Paul’s challenging passages, and why some questions stay with us until the other side.
Alarms Are Sounding: Grief Over the Great Falling Away and Deception Regarding Israel
Amidst the rising tensions, believers face the profound responsibility to be watchmen of truth. As Ezekiel foretells, we must sound the alarm against deception, even when met with hostility. The weight of this duty stems not from our own faith but from the deep bonds we share with fellow believers. Those who turn away from God’s will risk eternal separation, as prophesied by Matthew. It is imperative that we honor God’s gifts and remain steadfast in His plans, avoiding any alignment with falsehoods.
Leaves but No Fruit: When Jesus Calls Out Spiritual Show for What It Is | Daily Bread
In Mark 11, Jesus hungers, spots a leafy fig tree promising fruit, finds it barren, and curses it. It withers from the roots.
This story offers us a prophetic sign: outward religion without inward transformation withers. His call isn’t performance, it’s abiding in the Vine.
Jesus doesn’t just expose fruitless leaves. He invites us back to the Vine. Judgment on pretense is mercy in disguise: it clears space for real growth. Slow, often painful, but alive.
“Abide… let the Spirit prune.”
Where do you need renewal today?
Simplifying “The Alarms of Prophecy: Elam in the Headlines” | By Request
This post explores the recent strikes against Iran on February 28, 2026, through a biblical lens, highlighting parallels with Purim and the Book of Esther. It examines the fall of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the context of divine sovereignty, drawing connections to historical figures like Haman, Pharaoh, and Nebuchadnezzar. The post emphasizes patterns of God’s justice, divine reversal, and the enduring relevance of Scripture in understanding current events.
The Alarms of Prophecy: Elam in the Headlines and the Call to the Harpazo | Daily Bread, Sunday Session
Recent and unfolding geopolitical events echo Jeremiah’s prophetic warnings about judgment. This post connects those signs to Scripture and urges readers to consult Scripture, repent and seek salvation in Christ before it’s too late.
Twin Tree Project 