Todd Friel > Quotes

“The biblical math could not be simpler; if a person who professes to be a Christian lives like the devil, he is of the devil.”
― Todd Friel, Judge Not: How A Lack of Discernment Led to Drunken Pastors, Peanut Butter Armpits, & the Fall of A Nation

“The Bible doesn’t miraculously make everything better simply by reading it. The Bible is meant to be studied, believed, and applied. As we do that, the Holy Spirit progressively changes us into the image of the Son. Do not be discouraged if your anxiety doesn’t immediately disappear”
― Todd Friel, Stressed Out: A Practical, Biblical Approach to Anxiety

“The next time an unbeliever tells you they would believe in God "if He would just do a miracle," you will know that is not true. Miracles do not convert people, God converts people.”
― Todd Friel, Jesus Unmasked: The Truth Will Shock You

“Judge not lest ye be judged” has become the battle cry not only for biblically illiterate secularists, but for professing evangelicals as well. Postmodern hypersensitivity is not a malady merely for unbelievers; Christians are downright allergic to judging.”
― Todd Friel, Judge Not: How A Lack of Discernment Led to Drunken Pastors, Peanut Butter Armpits, & the Fall of A Nation

“Pleasure, so called, is the murderer of thought. This is the age of excessive amusement. Everybody craves for it, like a babe for its rattle.”
― Todd Friel, Judge Not: How A Lack of Discernment Led to Drunken Pastors, Peanut Butter Armpits, & the Fall of A Nation

“God’s wrath and love are most vividly on display at the Cross. If you ever doubt God’s settled anger at sin, look at the Cross. If you ever doubt how kind, good, and loving God is, look at the Cross.”
― Todd Friel, Jesus Unmasked: The Truth Will Shock You

“Never forget, God is more interested in our holiness than He is in our happiness. The next time you feel the sting of God’s correction, ask yourself the question, “Of what do I need to repent?” When you do, God will forgive. That is the way He is.”
― Todd Friel, Jesus Unmasked: The Truth Will Shock You

“It is safe to say that the majority of evangelical churches today are busy teaching their flock how to be better goats, but they are not preaching Bible-centered messages that grow religious affections.”
― Todd Friel, Judge Not: How A Lack of Discernment Led to Drunken Pastors, Peanut Butter Armpits, & the Fall of A Nation

“We also hate lying because it is more than just fibbing, it is a personal slight. It is the liar’s way of saying, “I don’t respect you.” That is precisely what we tell God when we lie. Lying is our special way of saying to God, “I hate the truth. I hate you.”
― Todd Friel, Jesus Unmasked: The Truth Will Shock You

“We should always judge with a humble attitude acknowledging that any correct understanding we have of the Bible is a gift from God.”
― Todd Friel, Judge Not: How A Lack of Discernment Led to Drunken Pastors, Peanut Butter Armpits, & the Fall of A Nation

“Every atheist who believes in morality, gravity, and does math is a closeted believer.”
― Todd Friel, Jesus Unmasked: The Truth Will Shock You

“We are born in sin. When we are born again, God changes our hearts and desires. More than that, He actually changes us into His image. . . . since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him (Colossians 3:9–10). How does God change us to be like Him? By giving us true knowledge. Where is true knowledge found? The Bible.”
― Todd Friel, Stressed Out: A Practical, Biblical Approach to Anxiety

“You might think your life is a mess right now, but God doesn’t. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified (Romans 8:28–30). The world wants one thing for you; God wants another. z The world offers you finer wine; God wants you to act like His Son. z The world offers you a bigger house; God wants you to think like His Son. z The world offers you a fancier wardrobe; God wants you to be clothed in the righteousness of His Son. The world offers things that are relatively easy to obtain. God offers you profound things that require more effort than online shopping. The world wants you to conform to its image. God wants you to be transformed to think and act the way human beings were created to act: like image bearers of Almighty God. To accomplish this, He is causing all things to work together for your good.”
― Todd Friel, Stressed Out: A Practical, Biblical Approach to Anxiety

“Whatever the reason, if we don’t read the Bible and see God’s love for sinners, we miss one of the greatest truths in the Bible. To be clear, the Bible is about one thing and one thing only: the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. From Genesis 1 to Revelation 22, the Bible relentlessly points to the Cross. God sent His Son to die for sinners to demonstrate His mercy, grace, and loving-kindness. Everything in this universe exists to serve Him and bring Him glory. However, if we overlook God’s love for us as we read the Bible, we miss the very thing He is trying to demonstrate. We also miss a lot of comfort, security, hope, and joy. It is easy to fall into one of two ditches when we read about God’s love. We can focus only on how much He loves us and conclude the universe exists for us. Unfortunately, we can fall into the other ditch of forgetting that God really does love us and we can become rather despondent. In order to appreciate God’s true love for us and remain humble, we must read our Bibles with balance.”
― Todd Friel, Stressed Out: A Practical, Biblical Approach to Anxiety

“Instead of beseeching men to be reconciled to God, we find ministers wasting their time in giving Sunday lectures about all kinds of subjects. Rome is burning and Nero is playing his fiddle. Souls are perishing and minsters are amusing them.”
― Todd Friel, Judge Not: How A Lack of Discernment Led to Drunken Pastors, Peanut Butter Armpits, & the Fall of A Nation

“God created places and things in the Old Testament to teach us about Jesus in the New Testament. These pictures are so simple, even a child can understand them. God graciously babbled at us so we can learn complex truths.”
― Todd Friel, Jesus Unmasked: The Truth Will Shock You

“Turning on the lights doesn’t make cockroaches appear; the light merely reveals their presence. Similarly, college does not cause anyone to become an unbeliever; college merely reveals that a person was never a genuine believer to begin with.”
― Todd Friel, Judge Not: How A Lack of Discernment Led to Drunken Pastors, Peanut Butter Armpits, & the Fall of A Nation

“Such are the people who today, with sickly kindness, will tolerate teachers of error in our pulpits because they are such smooth-mannered and amiable gentlemen. They would rather allow error to be preached and souls to be deceived than hurt the preacher’s feelings. Let Baal be worshipped rather than drought come! Let the cancer kill its victim rather than the cruel surgeon use the knife! … The best thing that could happen to some so-called Christian ministers of today is that they should be denounced in God’s name by their hearers.”
― Todd Friel, Judge Not: How A Lack of Discernment Led to Drunken Pastors, Peanut Butter Armpits, & the Fall of A Nation

“We don’t need “trip to heaven” books. We have an actual God-ordained vision of heaven and future events.”
― Todd Friel, Jesus Unmasked: The Truth Will Shock You

“Difficult circumstances should not cause us to be anxious, they should cause us to trust God more.”
― Todd Friel, Stressed Out: A Practical, Biblical Approach to Anxiety

“Are you still trying to please God with your own works? Isaiah makes it clear, your efforts cannot purchase what you need. You need living water. You need Jesus.”
― Todd Friel, Jesus Unmasked: The Truth Will Shock You

“What you believe and how much you believe it is the key to victorious Christian living.”
― Todd Friel, Stressed Out: A Practical, Biblical Approach to Anxiety

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18). When you and I stare into the face of Jesus by studying His words, we are actually changed “from glory to glory.” We progressively become like the object we are studying.”
― Todd Friel, Stressed Out: A Practical, Biblical Approach to Anxiety

“When we fail to heed this command, we demonstrate we have little faith in Him because we are the idol of our own lives. And that is when big anxiety kicks in. Anxiety says, “I’ve got this. I am trusting myself.” God says, “I’ve got this. Trust me.” When you submit to God and allow Him to reign in your life, you cannot descend into anxiety. Here is how that works: z You read, study, and ponder God’s Word. z Your Bible teaches you to do what you can do to address the situation but trust God for the outcome. z Something challenging, hard or scary happens. z You remember that God is sovereignly controlling every single detail of your life. z You are calm in the storm. z The storm rages harder and you begin to worry, but you remind yourself that there is no need to be anxious because your King has all things under His sovereign control. z You are acting like the obedient servant whom God loves as He reigns in your life. z You have peace knowing that God works all things for your good and His glory. Perhaps you think this is too simple. Well, perhaps you have simply made your anxiety issue more complex than it needs to be.”
― Todd Friel, Stressed Out: A Practical, Biblical Approach to Anxiety

“There is a fine line between sinful anxiety and planning for the future. We can and should prepare for the future; we just can’t sin as we do so. To be sure, there is much that can cause anxiety these days, but Christians are called to fear not (Luke 12:23). z We are commanded to not be anxious about the future (John 14:1). z We are called to have our emotions under control (Galatians 5:22–23). z We are warned that anxiety about the future is an insult to God (Matthew 5:25–39). While we might be comforted by the fact that every human being on earth has committed the sin of anxiety, that does not let us off the hook. We are accountable for our emotions. Fear of the future is common, but it is not acceptable. That is why you must be aware of which feeling you are actually having. If you are sad because of sin, death, or disaster, that is fine. If you are sad because you are worried about tomorrow, that is not fine.”
― Todd Friel, Stressed Out: A Practical, Biblical Approach to Anxiety

“God-given emotions can be enjoyed rightly or abused sinfully. It is up to us to make sure we act like God by having the right emotion at the right time for the right reason. And know this, when you cross the line into sinfully anxious, then God has already forgiven you and He stands ready to help you grow and not think like that again. Why? Because you have a sympathetic high priest who wants to fix your thinking so you can have the same joy that He has (John 15:11).”
― Todd Friel, Stressed Out: A Practical, Biblical Approach to Anxiety

“Charles Hodge once wrote, “The Bible is so simple that small children can understand it, and it is so profound that studies by the wisest theologians will never exhaust its riches.”
― Todd Friel, Stressed Out: A Practical, Biblical Approach to Anxiety

“God literally parted a Red Sea for His glory and so you could be saved. When you read that God provided manna in the wilderness for the Jews to survive, He did that so His Messiah would come out of a holy people. But He also performed that miracle so you could have your sins forgiven by that Messiah. Don’t fall into a ditch thinking that God exists to serve you, but don’t fall into the other ditch that says that God does not genuinely care about you. God does everything for His glory, but don’t forget that God loves you so much that He also organizes every single event in the universe so you can know Him and be saved by Him.”
― Todd Friel, Stressed Out: A Practical, Biblical Approach to Anxiety

“That is the One God wants to conform you to. Can you imagine how it would feel to be more like Jesus? If you would like to be more like Him, then study Jesus in the Word and you will become like Him.”
― Todd Friel, Stressed Out: A Practical, Biblical Approach to Anxiety

“Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow could cleanse people’s bodies from ritual defilement. Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our hearts from deeds that lead to death so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.”
― Todd Friel, Jesus Unmasked: The Truth Will Shock You