In John 5, Jesus calls upon one more witness to His Godship and His deity. After using a physical testimony like John the Baptist, the miraculous testimony of the works in His ministry, and the spiritual testimony of God the Father, Jesus finally calls upon the scriptural testimony of God’s Word.

Of course, at that time, He would have been talking about the Old Testament. But this Jewish law is something that the religious leaders were well versed in. The Old Testament was something that they knew backwards and forwards; knowledge that they used on a daily basis.

I knew someone once that adamantly said that she didn’t understand the importance of ‘theology.’ She always said, “Why can’t we all just love Jesus and let go of all the details?” I think what she really was trying to say was that some people can get so caught up in the intellectual ins and outs of theology that they distract from unity with other believers and the importance of the gospel itself. But regardless, whenever the word ‘theology’ came up she was very quick to throw the conversation out the window.

I prayed the sinner's prayer when I was about 10 years old, or at least, that’s the first time I remember praying it with a full realization of what I was doing and committing to. Before that, I was parroting along the words my teacher asked us to repeat during Sunday school “altar calls.” I went to the same church until I was 25. I sat under the same pastor, worshiped in the same building, and learned most of what I knew about the Bible in that church. I feel it’s very important to note: I love that church. I still have nothing but deep gratitude to the man that pastored that church while I was there and led a community where ultimately, I found a place of my own.