You’ve seen the row of potted plants in the garden section of your local home improvement store. Row after row of flowers, succulents, bushes, evergreens. They are nestled together for hours. Rubbing shoulders for days.

But are they together? Are they connected? Not at all. Sure, they are next to each other, but they aren’t connected in the soil, they aren’t sharing the spray from the hose. Their roots are restricted. They don’t pull and tug when one is moved.

After writing Humble Calvinism, I should have seen this coming. But, I didn’t. My bad. I frequently get asked questions about Calvin, the person, and Calvin’s various views on things.

Let’s clear some things up real quick:

I’m no historian. Nor am I a church history buff. Sure, I like it, but I don’t know a ton about it. Just because I wrote a book on the five points of Calvinism, that doesn’t mean I’m an expert on John Calvin’s life, theology, and writing.

It’s that time of year when you hear preachers say, “The Devil thought he won on Friday, but he didn’t know about Sunday!”

It preaches well. But I don’t think it’s true.

My new book, Humble Calvinism: If I Know The 5 Points But Have Not Love…, is now available.

Humble Calvinism isn’t an oxymoron. It’s no mythical being like Nessie or Big Foot. A humble Calvinism is the only real Calvinism. Everything else is a sham; a misunderstanding of the doctrines of grace.

I wasn’t sure why my friend invited me to breakfast. Walking up to the locally loved but overrated breakfast spot, I noticed another friend, John, an older mentor, was here too. Hmm, why’s he here. I joined them at the booth, ordered coffee, and it happened.

If you haven’t seen Gillette’s video on the epidemic of toxic masculinity that exists in the USA—and the world—watch it. It’s a solid 1:48.

We’ve heard their tagline for years, “The Best a Man Can Get,” and like many company slogans, it reaches higher than it could ever achieve. I mean, after all, it’s only metal blades for cutting face hair. But with their new video, new website, and new commitment—they want to see men be the best a man can be. More than products, they are promoting person.

Life is loaded. Add up the ingredients of a routine day: getting kids ready for school, packing lunches, getting ready for work, traffic, co-workers, projects, meetings, helping with homework, kids extracurricular activities, exercise, church functions, and more. And this recipe alone doesn’t make it difficult to regularly read the Bible.

It’s hard to read the whole Bible in a year. Some of it is tough sledding. And if you aren’t familiar with all of the terrain, it can be daunting. But don’t give up.