I’m Joan C. Thomson, a writer, artist, Bible teacher and speaker but most of all, I’m a follower of Jesus and all that I am flows from there. I used to parrot what I heard in church and the American culture but the more I read the Bible, the more questions I had. I saw that a lot of what I heard didn’t add up with what I had read (though some did). Somewhere along the way, God gave me the gift of knowing when something doesn’t add up—or when it does, along with a drive to find out what the Truth is. I’ve been studying the Bible personally and in many classes for over forty years but my understanding jumped into a higher gear when I took a Bible institute introductory Hebrew and Greek class. There I learned to use Biblical reference books to see what the Bible truly says.

I invest a lot of time and Biblical research into everything I believe, write—even in many of my art pieces. I put everything that comes my way through the filter of Jesus’ teachings (the New Testament of the Bible). Like an archaeologist, I dig into the Word and report what‘s there and sooner or later, I’ll probably step on everyone’s pet teaching. Why go to all that trouble? First, it’s what I do, it’s who I am as a follower of Jesus and I am utterly convinced that it’s crucial to believe the right thing (Biblically) and then live it. It can be a matter of life and death—spiritual or physical. And freedom from the unnecessary heavy weight of false teachings—well-meaning though they may be, gives freedom to take up Jesus’ teachings.

Though I’ve participated in quite a few denominations over the years I don’t identify with any denomination, nor with “conservatives” or “liberals”—I’m simply a follower of Jesus.

My hope for this blog is that you too, will want to know what the Bible truly says on a given subject and that you will read what I have written as a prompt to dig more deeply yourself, as a signpost of where to look. I encourage you to be like the Bereans, who “examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” (Acts 17:11) Don’t take my word for it, look it up! Paul wasn’t threatened, nor am I—preachers shouldn’t be either.