Why First Savvy Church of Christ Exists

The World Kids Are Growing Up In

Boredom has haunted humanity since Adam and Eve

When I was a kid in the early 60s, boredom was cured by stickball in the street and jump rope on the sidewalk.

We made up games.
We burned energy.
We went home when the streetlights came on.

Today, boredom looks very different.

Kids carry the world in their pockets.
Instead of inventing games, they scroll.
Instead of imagination, they prompt artificial intelligence.

Boredom is still there.
But now it’s quieter.
Deeper.
And far more dangerous.

When I was a kid, parents worried about their kids being kidnapped off the street by a stranger.
Today, parents worry about strangers online kidnapping their child’s mind.

The danger has changed.
It has moved inside the house.
Onto the screen.
Into the mind.

This isn’t fearmongering.
It’s honesty.

That's the world kids are growing up in.

Today, more than ever before, kids need a break.
They need grounding.
They need help making sense of the world they're growing up in.

They need a little help from a friend.

Jesus.

But they can't meet Him through half-answers.

Why Kids Are Being Shortchanged by Churchianity

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It is my conviction that kids exposed to a self-accountable relationship with Jesus live more grounded, resilient, flourishing lives.

I’ve seen it.
I’ve watched it.
I’ve been part of it.

It is my conviction that we should do everything possible to give kids at least one honest opportunity to meet and understand the real Jesus of the Bible.

Not a version shaped by convenience, tradition, or doctrine.

When given an honest opportunity to learn about Jesus of Nazareth, kids naturally discover for themselves just how utterly amazing He is.

Kids deserve the chance to decide for themselves whether an honest relationship with Jesus
is meaningful, trustworthy, and worth building their lives around.

Most will, including your kids, when they're given an honest chance.

Entering into and living a relationship with Jesus leads to a flourishing life.
It really does.
Kids recognize the difference.

Every step we take walking the narrow path that leads to life—even the hard ones—helps us all, but especially kids, face life with clarity, courage, and direction.

You may be thinking, I’ve heard this before.

If a real relationship with Jesus leads to a flourishing life, why does so much of life feel anything but flourishing?

Why are churches shrinking rather than growing?

Why has the word “Christian” become something people hesitate to trust—or even want to avoid?

Twelve years of disciplined, text-driven study of Scripture answered that question for me. It led me to an answer I did not expect.

Much of what I was learning from the Bible was not what I was hearing preached in church, sung on Christian radio, or repeated in prayer groups. My deep dive down the biblical rabbit hole uncovered just how wide the disconnect had become between Scripture read carefully in context and what is commonly preached today.

I’ve come to call this

Churchianity bamboozlement.

This bamboozlement has been quietly turning Christianity into Churchianity for far longer than most of us realize—my whole life.

One of the clearest examples of Churchianity bamboozlement is what most Christians think, and what non-Christians think we think, about life, death, and judgment.

While alive, we try to live a good life, make good decisions, and keep our noses clean.
And when we die, we’ll meet God and be judged.

Hopefully with mercy.
Heaven if things go well.
Hell if they don’t.

You may be nodding along, thinking,
“That's exactly what I believe.”

I did too.

I didn’t know what I was missing, because I was living off what had been preached to me—rather than what I had learned for myself.

That's not what the Bible is about.
Neither is it reflected in Jesus’ life or His words.

The Bible is not about humans going anywhere.
It is about God coming here.

Judgment is real, but the Bible’s center of gravity is the Kingdom Jesus announces, not a simple ‘die and go somewhere’ story.

It is about God getting Hell out of us.

It is about God stepping into human life through Jesus, restoring what we broke, and inviting people, especially kids, into a relationship with Him now.

A relationship that opens the door to life in the Kingdom of Heaven—right here, right now, and into eternity (life unto the age).

I will share with you and your kids, step by step, what a decade of teaching 4th and 5th graders in Sunday school—where kids actually want to come—together with twelve years of disciplined, text-driven study of Scripture, has taught me about walking in a real, life-changing relationship with Jesus in today’s world.

Kids are remarkably good at sensing when something doesn’t add up.
They notice contradictions quickly.
They know when answers are vague.

And that's when they walk away.

Kids are deeply curious about life and about who Jesus really is, especially fourth and fifth graders, and they love exploring His life honestly and deeply.

That’s why it matters so much that kids encounter Jesus without the bamboozlement,
before natural curiosity fades and they become set in their ways.

First Savvy Church of Christ is a shared learning environment where kids are taken seriously, adults are challenged, and faith is never hidden behind jargon.

In today’s James Webb Space Telescope world, Churchianity bamboozlement doesn’t just confuse kids—it confuses the whole world.

It is my conviction that if people encountered the Bible as it reads when approached carefully and honestly in context, far more people would find Christianity compelling rather than confusing.

Let’s face it.
Kids have never accepted half-answers.
And neither did Jesus.

It’s time us grown-ups stopped settling for half-answers too.

Why First Savvy Church of Christ Exists and What You’re Invited Into

So that's the problem. Here’s what I’m building in response and why.

It is my calling to introduce kids to Jesus and show them what an honest relationship with Him looks like—because I wish someone had done that for me when I was a kid.
And that isn’t possible in a church built on biblical bamboozlement.

That's why I’m church planting the First Savvy Church of Christ in Fort Thomas, Kentucky.

After twelve years of disciplined, text-driven study of Scripture, and looking back over my seven decades of church life, I realized that half-truths and distortions were present in every church I attended—even when taught sincerely and without malice.

As an example, chief among them was the idea that heaven is merely a place we go after we die.

The Kingdom of Heaven is not simply a distant place we go after death.

It is God’s reign breaking into the present—right now—made visible as people take Jesus’ words to heart, and live into them here on earth.

Most of us have been biblically bamboozled into thinking otherwise.
Not out of malice.
Out of habit.

Half-true faith may feel harmless and even fill seats, but over time it leads people, especially kids, away from Jesus and into shrinking churches.

In today’s cultural climate, that drift has helped turn “Christian” from a faith claim into a label now often used as an insult or a slur.

The Gospel according to Matthew records a sobering warning from Jesus:
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” (Matthew 7:15, NIV)

Jesus then presses the warning even further later in the same sermon:
“I never knew you. Away from me.” (Matthew 7:23, NIV)

These warnings aren’t aimed at careless people.
They are aimed at sincere people like you and me who believed we were on the right road, but were quietly misled by the teaching we trusted.

Kids see this kind of bamboozlement a mile away.
Often quicker than most adults around them.

Bamboozling kids doesn’t work.

Bamboozling adults is far easier.

Over time, we absorb misleading narratives, and without careful, patient engagement with Scripture, we begin navigating faith through the lens of Churchianity bamboozlement—often leading to quiet disengagement.

Kids need Christian adults who will walk with them patiently, honestly, and biblically toward the real Jesus.
In a world that is shaping them faster than we realize.

Before confusion hardens into disengagement that can last a lifetime.

The Core of FSCC

Jesus-centered.
Youth-focused.
Biblically accurate.

We take kids seriously.
Which means we take faith seriously.

We refuse vague answers—not because we have everything figured out, but because Jesus deserves honesty, and kids demand it.

You are invited to come, listen, ask questions, and explore—without pressure or expectation.
There’s good coffee if you’d like.

A Simple Invitation

If you care about your kids’ relationship with God.
If you, too, have been bamboozled by fuzzy answers and half-true faith.
If you’re curious about Jesus and want to understand His life and words more clearly.

Then reach out.
Not someday.
Now.

Because kids need this.
And they won’t wait forever.

The Bible is not simple.
A real relationship with Jesus is not easy.

But both are more honest, more joyful, and far more life-changing

when they are lived and learned together.

That's why FSCC exists.

Everyone is welcome.

No one is left where they started.

Walk with me.

I'll show you what I mean.

And then you tell me.

Start Here