Christian Almanac: Where Faith Meets Real Life
Episode 20 Transcript
Transcript: Truth, Darkness, and the Power We Give Them
Click on the 
in each section below to read the podcast segments
In this episode, Jacquelyn talks about Christian discernment, the danger of giving darkness or deception too much power, and why truth is foundational to Christian faith and everyday integrity.
A while back, I shared a joke on Facebook that I thought was funny. Not everyone who saw it shared my sense of humor.
It was a picture of a greeting card. The interior had a photo of a man, next to him a speech bubble with “Let’s stay in touch!” written in it, and on the other side of the card was an image of a Ouija board. The caption said, “At my funeral, I want everyone to get one of these.”
It made me laugh, and I clicked share without thinking much about it.
Some of the people who watch my feed gave it more thought than I did, and they objected to it. A couple of them ordered me to take the post down. I chose not to engage with those people directly, but then I decided the issue would make a good discussion about living our faith in real life.
Before I go further, let me say that I believe evil is real. And I believe it’s out there, trying to infiltrate the lives of everyone in any way it can.
I also know a lot about the occult and spiritualist practices, because these things were a part of my life when I was in my teens and twenties.
It’s kind of interesting that many of the people I knew who routinely held seances to communicate with the dead and get advice about situations in their lives also dismissed Ouija boards as a way to do that.
The Bible clearly forbids our involvement in the occult. Deuteronomy tells us:
… never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. And do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord. (Deuteronomy 18:10-12, NLT)
If you engage in these practices, what you’re doing is turning away from God. That’s apostasy. You’re not trusting God. You’re looking for power in something other than him. And it won’t end well.
The New Testament also tells us to be clear-eyed about darkness without being controlled by it. Paul wrote,
“Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” (Ephesians 5:11, NIV)
But back to the Ouija board joke. This may be more than you wanted to know, but here’s some history. In the aftermath of the American Civil War, grieving survivors were searching for ways to connect with loved ones who were killed, and they consulted mediums who held seances. What was known as “talking boards” became common as a supposed way for the dead to spell out messages for the living.
Two businessmen decided to capitalize on this, and they founded a company to manufacture these boards on a commercial scale. The Ouija board was developed around 1890 and patented in 1891 as a parlor game.
The board itself is nothing but wood, paint and plastic. It has no power other than what we choose to give it.
And there are many other items used in occult practices that we also use in our everyday lives.
Consider candles. We use them for ambiance in our homes and businesses. But they’re a popular element in modern occultism. So are crystals and stones, herbs and oils, and even salt.
It’s all about intent.
This doesn’t mean we should be careless. If something tempts us, if it troubles our conscience, or if it leads someone else toward something that’s spiritually dangerous, we should pay attention to that. Discernment is not the same thing as fear.
Here’s another point to keep in mind. For many people, the occult is mysterious and intriguing. But if you shine a light on it, especially a light through a Christian lens, it’s not mysterious. It’s not intriguing. It’s just silly.
Think about a séance. You’ve got a group of people in a darkened room, and a medium starts saying things like, “I have a man here, his name starts with B, he has white hair.” Well, given any random group of ten people, don’t you think at least one of them will have a deceased male friend or relative who was old enough when he died to have white hair and whose name or nickname starts with a B or similar sound?
I think as Christians, we have a responsibility to understand the things we’re not supposed to do. Not understanding them gives them power.
We also need to always remember that as believers, we don’t need mediums in any form, whether it’s someone leading a séance or a so-called talking board. We have a direct line to God through prayer.
And when we need wisdom, we are told where to go to find it. James tells us clearly:
“If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking.” (James 1:5, NLT)
I think it’s absolutely okay to poke fun at the occult. It’s okay to point out the absurdity of burning green candles because we want money or red candles because we want romance.
Back to my Facebook post: If I were using a Ouija board to seriously try to communicate with the dead, I would understand the response from my Christian brothers and sisters. But I was sharing a joke.
When we don’t talk about things that are evil or have the potential to be evil, they gain more power. If we don’t understand them, they gain more power. And if we don’t make fun of them, we give them power. And that’s what we don’t want.
We are not commanded to fear the occult, we are commanded to not practice it. There’s a difference.
God expects us to use the gifts he gave us, and those gifts include intelligence and discernment.
We can take evil seriously without being intimidated by it. We can reject occult practices without acting as if every mention, joke, or object connected to them has power over us. Our power does not come from pretending darkness doesn’t exist. It comes from belonging to the One who has already overcome it.
When we come back, we’ll move from the power we sometimes give darkness to the foundation that should shape every part of the Christian life: truth.
Most leaders don’t struggle with believing—they struggle with applying.
Christian Business Almanac bridges that gap.
This page-a-day resource brings Scripture, wisdom, and practical perspective into the real decisions you face at work and in leadership—day after day, all year long.
No fluff. No shortcuts. Just steady, biblical guidance for people who want their faith fully integrated with how they lead, work, and live.
Discover more and find purchase links at ChristianAlmanac.com.
That’s ChristianAlmanac.com.
Welcome back.
I recently read about taqiyya. I wasn’t familiar with the term, and the author of the piece said it referred to Muslims being allowed to lie to convert people to that faith.
It didn’t take much research to find that what I had read was not accurate. What taqiyya actually refers to is the practice of concealing one’s religious belief and duties under the threat of injury or death. That’s an important distinction. It doesn’t mean every Muslim is allowed to lie whenever it’s useful or convenient, and it certainly should not be used as a blanket accusation against Islam.
And that got me to thinking about truth and how it’s the cornerstone of Christianity.
Think about the claims of Christianity.
It claims God exists. It claims Jesus is the Son of God. It claims he died, was buried, and rose again.
It claims sin is real, salvation is necessary, and eternal life is found in Christ Jesus. If those things are not true, Christianity collapses into sentiment, symbolism, or self-help.
Christianity is not built on wishful thinking. It’s built on the truth of who God is, what Christ has done, and what that means for every one of us.
One of the most popular Bible verses is John 14:6:
“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” (John 14:6, NIV)
Jesus is the truth. That means truthfulness is central to how Christ followers live. It’s part of the Christian character.
Isaac Newton put it well. He said,
“Plato is my friend. Aristotle is my friend. But my greatest friend is truth.”
Why does truth matter?
Truth matters because God is truthful.
Numbers 23:19 tells us, “God is not human, that he should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind.” (Numbers 23:19, NIV)
God does not manipulate, exaggerate, or deceive. If we belong to him, our lives should reflect his character.
Truth matters because lies damage trust.
A lie may seem small in the moment, but once trust is broken, the damage can last far longer than the lie itself. Truth builds the kind of relationships, businesses, ministries, and communities that can bear weight.
Truth matters because dishonesty always serves some other master, such as fear, pride, self-protection, greed, control, image management, or manipulation.
When we lie, we are usually trying to protect something. Our reputation. Our comfort. Our advantage. Our escape from consequences. But truth asks us to trust God with the outcome.
And this is where truth becomes more than an idea. It becomes obedience.
In a worldly sense, Jesus didn’t have to be crucified. He could have lied to avoid that horrible end to his earthly life.
As believers, of course, we know that he had to fulfill the prophecies. He knew what he was sent here to do, and he faithfully did it.
But he could have decided to disobey God. He could have said, “I think I’d prefer to skip over the pain and humiliation and just go back to being a simple craftsman in Galilee.”
Instead, he was honest and obedient. He told the truth, and the truth led to his crucifixion.
The Bible also tells us of people who lied to protect innocent lives. There were the Hebrew midwives in Exodus who refused Pharaoh’s order to kill Hebrew baby boys. There was Rahab in Joshua who hid the Israelite spies.
Christians have wrestled with those passages for centuries. Some believers would say lying is always wrong, even in extreme situations. Others would say deception may be permissible when it’s used to protect innocent life from evil.
But most of us are not usually facing that kind of choice. Most of the time, when we’re tempted to be dishonest, it’s not because a life is at stake. It’s because our pride, our comfort, our money, our image, or our convenience is at stake.
Dishonesty comes in many forms. Yes, there is a clear and outright lie, saying something that is factually false. But that’s not all.
It’s dishonest to hide something that should be disclosed. That might be failing to tell a customer about a known problem with a product, or leaving out information in a business agreement because we hope the other person won’t notice.
It’s dishonest to exaggerate to manipulate people. That might be inflating results to make a ministry look more successful than it is, or overstating a crisis to get donations, attention, or sympathy.
It’s dishonest to use technically true words to create a false impression. That might be saying, “I never said that,” when we know we implied it, or using careful wording that lets someone believe something we know is not accurate.
And since we talked recently about the occult and the danger of giving darkness too much power, this connects. We should not exaggerate evil to make a point, and we should not misrepresent other people’s beliefs to make our own faith look stronger. Truth does not need our embellishment.
Let’s be clear that being truthful does not mean that every private matter must be disclosed. It doesn’t mean that every person is entitled to every piece of information. There’s a difference between discretion and deceit.
Being truthful means we can be trusted. That we are people of honor.
At the same time, truth shouldn’t be used as a weapon.
Some people use “I’m just telling the truth” as an excuse to be harsh. But being truthful doesn’t give us permission to be cruel.
Ephesians 4:15 tells us to speak “the truth in love.” That’s important. Truth without love can become a club. Love without truth can become sentimentality. Christian truthfulness requires both courage and kindness. We should be willing to say what’s true, but we should care about the person hearing it
So before we speak, post, teach, sell, promote, or share our faith, we can ask a few simple questions: Is what we’re saying true? Do we know it’s true? Are we leaving out something important? Are we creating a false impression? Are we using truth to serve love, or using facts to wound or manipulate?
Truth is not an accessory to Christianity. Truth is the foundation. Jesus doesn’t merely tell the truth. He is the truth.
So if we belong to him, everything about us—our words, our witness, our business dealings, our relationships, and our private and public lives—everything should reflect him. We may not always get it right. We may be tempted to shade the truth to protect our comfort, our image, our advantage, or to escape from consequences. But the standard does not change: we are called to be people of truth because we belong to the God of truth.
I’ll be back in a moment with this week’s real life tip.
What if the most meaningful gift you gave this year wasn’t a gadget… but guidance?
Christian Business Almanac delivers daily, practical wisdom for leaders and professionals who want to integrate faith with real-world work.
It’s a thoughtful gift for managers, team members, customers, colleagues, and students—encouragement they can return to all year long.
Bulk discounts are available when you order 10 or more copies.
Strengthen your culture. Invest in your people.
Visit christianalmanac.com/bulk to learn more and order today.
This week’s real life tip is about what you should do when you need to write a word you don’t know how to spell.
Accurate spelling is important. Language skills are seen as a reflection of a person’s attitude, capabilities, and skills. There are hiring managers who will toss a resume that contains a single spelling mistake. There are potential customers who will question every detail of a proposal if any words are misspelled.
When I was growing up and wasn’t sure how to spell a word, I was sent to the dictionary and told to look it up. That always frustrated me. How could I look up a word if I didn’t know how to spell it?
With today’s technology, it’s a lot easier. If I’m typing, I can start the word and hope autofill completes it for me. I can use voice to text and hope I’m pronouncing it correctly.
But what about the times when you don’t have quick and easy access to technology?
Here are some quick tips for how to spell words you don’t know:
First, write the word the way you think it sounds. Then look at it. Sometimes seeing it on paper will help you recognize what looks wrong.
Second, break the word into smaller parts. If you’re trying to spell “responsibility,” don’t think of it as one long word. Think: re-spon-si-bil-i-ty.
Third, think of a related word you do know how to spell. If you’re not sure how to spell “decision,” think of “decide.” If you’re not sure about “musician,” think of “music.” Related words can give you clues.
Fourth, try a different word. If you’re writing something important and you can’t verify the spelling, choose a word you know how to spell that means the same thing or close to the same thing.
And finally, keep a short personal spelling list. We all have words that trip us up. When you find one, write it down. Review the list occasionally. It’s a simple habit, but it works.
The goal is not to become a walking dictionary. The goal is to care enough about your message, your reader, and your professionalism to get the words right.
Thanks for being here. See you next week.