When Faith Has to Become Personal
Beneath the Surface helps you slow down and take an honest look at your faith—not just what you believe, but what may be influencing, limiting, or shaping it. As you work through the questions, you’ll begin to identify your own roadblocks and overcome them.
Guilt
Sin can make you feel like you have
failed God too many times to
come back and begin again.
Uncertainty
You have real questions about faith,
but not having clear answers can
leave you frustrated or stuck.
Shallow Roots
You believe in God, but your faith
may not feel deep enough to hold you
steady when life gets hard.
Church
Hearing the same Scriptures can make
you feel like you know the Bible, even
when you’ve never studied them in
context for yourself.
Depending on Others
It can feel easier to depend on
pastors, teachers, or other people to
explain Scripture instead of studying
the Bible for yourself.
Routine
Church can become familiar without
becoming personal. Going deeper means examining what you believe and
knowing God for yourself.
Exhaustion
Life gets busy, and studying Scripture
becomes one more thing that keeps
getting pushed to the side.
What Feels Spiritual
Not everything that feels spiritual
comes from God. Emotions still need
to be tested against Scripture.
Discouragement
Past struggles, unanswered questions,
or failed attempts can make you
avoid trying God again.
Fear
Hard questions can feel threatening
when Scripture may challenge what
you’ve always believed.
Beneath the Surface helps you slow down and take an honest look at your faith—not
just what you believe, but what may be influencing, limiting, or shaping it. As you
work through the questions, you’ll begin to identify your own roadblocks.
Beneath the Surface helps you slow down and take an honest
look at your faith—not just what you believe, but what may be
influencing, limiting, or shaping it. As you work through the
questions, you’ll begin to identify your own roadblocks.
Do you see yourself in any of these scenarios?
Guilt
Sin can make you feel like you have failed God too many times to come back and begin again.
Uncertainty
You have real questions about faith, but not having clear answers can leave you frustrated or stuck.
Shallow Roots
You believe in God, but your faith may not feel deep enough to hold you steady when life gets hard.
Church
Hearing the same Scriptures can make you feel like you know the Bible, even when you’ve never studied them in context for yourself.
Depending on Others
It can feel easier to depend on pastors, teachers, or other people to explain Scripture instead of studying the Bible for yourself.
Routine
Church can become familiar without becoming personal. Going deeper means examining what you believe and knowing God for yourself.
Exhaustion
Life gets busy. Studying Scripture becomes the thing that keeps
getting pushed to the side.
What Feels Spiritual
Not everything that feels spiritual
is coming from God. Feelings still need to be tested against Scripture.
Discouragement
Past struggles, unanswered questions, or failed attempts can make you avoid trying God again.
Fear
Hard questions can feel threatening when Scripture may challenge what you’ve always believed.
Here's A New Perspective
Going deeper starts with looking
closer and letting Scripture confirm
or challenge your assumptions.
Explore A Closer Relationship
The goal is to help
you know what you believe as a Christian, understand why it's true, and commit to walking it out with God.
Explore A Closer Relationship
The goal is to know what you believe as a Christian, why it is true, and
commit to walking it out with God.
I Challenged Myself
to Break Through
What Held Me Back
When my mother walked away from Christianity, it forced me to confront something I was not prepared for: I realized that I did not know as much about the Bible as I thought I did, and I could not adequately defend my faith.
What made it even harder was the fear that there could be some truth in what she believed. I had to ask myself what that would mean for my spiritual foundation, my understanding of God, and my relationship with Him.
I could no longer rely on what I had always heard, been taught, or assumed. I had to do the work I am now preparing you to do: go back to Scripture, examine what shaped your beliefs, and find out what the Bible actually says.
That's were it all began. The journey ultimately led to Beneath the Surface because I realized
how easy it is to live on inherited beliefs, familiar teaching, and assumptions without
ever examining them for yourself.
But first, you have to identify your roadblock.
What has kept you from growing further?
I had to evaluate myself. Now I want to help you do the same. Amen?
Why I Challenged Myself to Dig Beneath the Surface
When my mother walked away from Christianity, it forced me to confront something I was not prepared for: I did not know as much about the Bible as I thought I did, and I could not adequately defend my faith.
What made it even harder was the fear that there could be some truth in what she believed. I had to ask myself what that would mean for my own beliefs, my understanding of God, and my relationship with Him.
I could no longer rely on what I had always heard, been taught, or assumed. I had to do the work I am now preparing you to do: go back to Scripture, examine what shaped my beliefs, and find out what the Bible actually said. That's were it all began.
The journey ultimately led to Beneath the Surface because I realized how easy it is to live on inherited beliefs, familiar teaching, and assumptions without ever examining them for yourself.
I had to do that work. Now I want to help you do the same. Amen?
Read the Bible Beyond the Surface
Can we talk for a minute? Listen: You can praise God, serve faithfully, and still carry the quiet fear that you're missing something. I know that feeling because I've lived it.
After years of serving in ministry, one conversation with my mom exposed how much of my biblical understanding had been borrowed. I walked into that conversation thinking I was prepared to defend Jesus Himself. I walked away realizing I could hardly explain what I claimed to believe.
I thought I was defending my faith. Looking back, God was exposing what was missing. I didn't read the Bible to know God more. I started studying because my feelings were hurt. I could not meet the moment, and I was scared of losing my religion because I didn't know what I would find.
People I loved embraced ideas that challenged everything we grew up believing. I went looking for verses to defend my position. Instead, I found something unexpected—Context.
The more I read entire chapters instead of isolated passages, the more I realized I'd been trying to solve a puzzle without ever seeing the whole picture. That's why I am here today. Life forced the issue.
I created this guide not because I have all the answers, but because I know what it's like to mistake someone else's understanding of the Bible for your own. At some point, you've got to open God's Word for yourself, wrestle with it, and seek the Holy Spirit's guidance.
My prayer is that this guide helps you do exactly that.
— The Keeper
Read the Bible Beyond the Surface
Why I Challenged Myself to
Dig Beneath the Surface
When my mother walked away from Christianity, it forced me to confront something I was not prepared for: I did not know as much about the Bible as I thought I did, and I could not adequately defend my faith.
What made it even harder was the fear that there could be some truth in what she believed. I had to ask myself what it would mean for my own beliefs, my understanding of God, and relationship with Him.
I could no longer rely on what I had always heard, been taught, or assumed. I had to do the work I am now preparing you to do: go back to Scripture, examine what shaped my beliefs, and find out what the Bible actually said. That's were it all began.
The journey ultimately led to Beneath the Surface because I realized how easy it is to live on inherited beliefs, familiar teaching, and assumptions without ever examining them for yourself.
I had to do that work. Now
I want to help you do
the same. Amen?