Rethink Faith with Nelson Jackson III

Nelson Jackson III

Many of the spiritual tools we inherited are breaking under the pressure of today’s reality. It is not that they were all false—but they may be wrong for you. To be who God called you to be, your faith must be your own—not inherited, but investigated. Rethink Faith with Nelson Jackson III is dedicated to separating what the Bible actually says from what we have been told it says. Faith is often filtered through two lenses:• Cultural Alterations: Changing the text to fit the times.• Traditional Interpretations: Twisting the text to fit the narrative. We are dedicated to the third option: Context. Join us for an honest investigation into history, original language, and authorial intent. We are here to help you trade a borrowed tradition for a biblical reality.

  1. 1d ago

    Salvation Restored More Than Your Soul | Here’s What We’ve Been Missing

    Salvation is usually explained as something that happens to your soul. You are forgiven. Your relationship with God is restored. Heaven becomes your destination. But what if salvation restored more than that? What if it also reconnects you to the identity, purpose, and responsibility humanity was given before anything went wrong? Most of us were taught a version of faith focused on avoiding what is wrong and trying to do what is right. We learned about sin, forgiveness, and becoming better people. But we were rarely shown a clear picture of what our lives were originally designed for. That may be why so many people struggle to find their purpose. It is difficult to recognize your God given purpose when you were never given the full assignment. In this episode, Nelson Jackson III returns to Genesis 1:28 to rethink salvation, Christian purpose, biblical dominion, the creation mandate, and what it means to build a life around what God has genuinely entrusted to you. Be fruitful. Multiply. Fill. Subdue. Have dominion. This is not about becoming more religious, working harder, or building something impressive. It is about asking a more honest question. Are you building what was actually yours to build? Because you can be fruitful in the wrong field. Multiply the wrong seed. Fill a space that was never yours. You can even become successful and use that success as proof that you chose correctly. But success can confirm the machine without confirming the assignment. If you have been trying to understand your calling, find your purpose, or make sense of why the life you built still feels incomplete, this conversation is for you. Be Part of the Conversation: Subscribe to the podcastFind weekly episodes on YouTube [LINK]Join our "Weekly Unlearning" newsletter for exclusive insights and reflections [LINK]

    16 min

  2. Jul 4

    I've Been Managing People Instead of This: What Genesis 1:28 Really Means

    I've Been Managing People Instead of This: What Genesis 1:28 Really Means Genesis 1:28 told humanity to subdue the earth, not image-bearers. But when we refuse to govern the ground inside us, we start managing people. And we call it leadership. I'm recording from a hotel room in Fort Lauderdale while on tour. My calendar looks like it lost a fight. But my relationship with God is why I'm in these rooms—and sharing what I'm learning keeps me grounded. THE PATTERN: Cain wouldn't rule what was crouching at his door, so he removed Abel. When we don't subdue our insecurity, we end up controlling people who make us feel unseen. That's not subduing the earth, that's refusing to govern the ground. THE FIVE COMMANDS (GENESIS 1:28): • Pārāh (be fruitful) - Produce something real • Rābāh (multiply) - Release the seed • Mālāʾ (fill) - Occupy the space • Kābash (subdue) - Bring ground under care • Rādāh (have dominion) - Govern as steward THREE QUESTIONS: 1. What ground has been ruling me? 2. Who am I trying to control instead? 3. What would faithful order look like this week? SCRIPTURES: Genesis 1:28, Genesis 4:6-7 Be Part of the Conversation: Subscribe to the podcastFind weekly episodes on YouTube [LINK]Join our "Weekly Unlearning" newsletter for exclusive insights and reflections [LINK]

    17 min

  3. Jun 27

    You've Done the Work. So Why Does Everything Still Feel Empty?

    Most high-achievers never stop to ask the right question. Not "am I producing enough?" but "am I actually filling the space my effort created?" This episode unpacks mālāʾ, a Hebrew word from Genesis 1:28 that most people skip right past, and why it reframes everything about presence, legacy, and what you leave behind in every room you walk into. You can be productive. You can build things. You can pour into people for years. And still leave every room half-empty. In this episode: • Why fruitfulness without filling leaves the people around you in an empty room • The difference between expanding and filling and why most leaders never make the shift • Why presence cannot be delegated, automated, or performed from a distance • How unexamined patterns become the fruit you never meant to grow • What intentional occupation looks like for entrepreneurs, parents, and mentors This is part of an ongoing series on Genesis 1:28, exploring pārāh (be fruitful), rābāh (multiply), and mālāʾ (fill) as a framework for stewardship, purpose, and the kind of legacy that actually stays. If you have ever done the work and still felt like something was missing, this episode names it. Subscribe, leave a review, and comment one word: FILL. Be Part of the Conversation: Subscribe to the podcastFind weekly episodes on YouTube [LINK]Join our "Weekly Unlearning" newsletter for exclusive insights and reflections [LINK]

    15 min

  4. Jun 20

    Fruitfulness Is Not the Finish Line — The Command After "Be Fruitful" That Changes Everything

    Most people stop at fruitfulness. They produce something good, someone benefits, and they call that obedience. But Genesis 1:28 doesn't stop at be fruitful. The very next command is multiply — and in Hebrew, those are two completely different words with two completely different assignments. Pārāh is the apple. The thing you carry, the thing you build, the thing you pour yourself into. But Rābāh — multiplication — is what happens when you stop hoarding the seed inside the fruit and finally let it go. In this episode, we unpack why so many people mistake confirmation for the finish line, why we keep feeding the one person in front of us while throwing away the seeds, and what it actually means to steward something versus control it. The apple was evidence. The seed was always the assignment. Topics covered: The five commands in Genesis 1:28 and why most Christians only operate in oneThe Hebrew distinction between Pārāh (fruitfulness) and Rābāh (multiplication)Why the person who benefited from your work is not your destinationThe difference between stewardship and controlWhy your most important seeds won't always look like workBe Part of the Conversation: Subscribe to the podcastFind weekly episodes on YouTube [LINK]Join our "Weekly Unlearning" newsletter for exclusive insights and reflections [LINK]

    16 min

  5. Jun 13

    Are You Waiting on God — or Just Afraid to Start? | Genesis, Fruitfulness, and the Gifts You're Sitting On

    Most of us know we are supposed to build something. A course. A book. A community. A resource. A conversation that needs to happen. And most of us have been sitting on it — and calling that wisdom. In this episode, Nelson sits with the uncomfortable gap between what we know we are made to do and what we have actually released into the world. Drawing from Genesis 1:28, he unpacks the Hebrew word parah — be fruitful — and why it arrives in Scripture as a command, not a reward for a perfected version of humanity. This is not a productivity episode. It is a question about identity. What you will hear: Why "waiting on God" can quietly become a theological hiding placeWhat the Hebrew word for fruitfulness actually means — and why most translations flatten itThe three kinds of fruit: organic, conventional, and artificial, and which one most of us have learned to produceHow fear learned to wear the language of wisdom, preparation, and stewardshipThe practical difference between wisdom that produces movement and fear that produces stillnessWhy this generation carries a specific responsibility that no previous generation has carried in the same wayHow to name the thing you have been holding that was never meant to stay in your hands"Wisdom produces movement — even if it is slow. Fear produces stillness — and calls it patience." Christian purpose, waiting on God, Genesis 1:28, fruitfulness, fear vs wisdom, spiritual procrastination, Christian calling, Hebrew Bible, faith and action, obedience, gifts and calling, Christian growth, rethink faith, imago dei, purpose, identity, Christian podcast, Bible study, theology, Nelson Be Part of the Conversation: Subscribe to the podcastFind weekly episodes on YouTube [LINK]Join our "Weekly Unlearning" newsletter for exclusive insights and reflections [LINK]

    16 min

  6. Jun 6

    God didn't make you to adapt. He made you to build.

    In this episode, you'll learn why Genesis 1:28 gave humanity 5 commands before sin ever existed—and what that means for your calling today. Before the world existed, God chose you (Ephesians 1:4). Before you were formed, He knew you (Jeremiah 1:5). Then Genesis 1:28 gave humanity 5 commands before the fall: • Be fruitful - Produce what's inside you • Multiply - Make it grow beyond the first moment • Fill the earth - Occupy your assigned space • Subdue it - Bring order to chaos • Have dominion - Govern as a steward, not a tyrant This isn't about hustle culture. This is about image-bearing. Animals adapt to their environment. Humans were made to shape it. IN THIS EPISODE: The Checklist Was Never the Assignment Some of us inherited a path: go to school, get the degree, get the job, be respectable, be stable, go to church, serve somewhere, don't make noise. None of those things are wrong—but a checklist cannot produce what your hands were designed to build. God Thought About You Before the World Existed Ephesians 1:4 says God chose you before creation. Jeremiah 1:5 says He knew you before you were formed. Your life didn't begin with other people's expectations. Your assignment didn't begin with the job market. Genesis Starts With a Builder Genesis 1 doesn't open with a lecture. It opens with creation. God brings order to chaos. The first thing Scripture shows us about God is not that He maintains what already exists—it's that He builds what didn't exist yet. The First Assignment Was Not Passive Genesis 1:28 contains 5 commands wrapped in a blessing. Before sin. Before the fall. Not one of those words is passive. The AI Bridge: Ancient Assignment, Modern Tool God gave this generation a tool called artificial intelligence. We should ask ethical questions about truth, privacy, deception, bias, and exploitation. But if all we do is fear the tool, we'll miss the assignment. Remember Exodus 4: God asked Moses, "What is in your hand?" Moses had a staff. Through that ordinary tool, God moved a nation. So the question is not only "Is AI safe?" The question is "What is in your hand?" Animals Adapt. Image-Bearers Shape. God made the animals on the same day He made humanity. Day six. But He never gave the animals Genesis 1:28. Animals adapt beautifully. Human beings plant gardens, build cities, write songs, design tools, tell stories, start businesses, create systems, and bring order where there was chaos. That's not an accident. That's image-bearing. A Pastoral Word About Restlessness Not all anxiety is calling. Not all depression is unused purpose. Some restlessness needs care, prayer, counsel, support, treatment, rest, and community. But also don't ignore the possibility that some of what you've been calling restlessness is the image of God in you refusing to make peace with mere survival. The Question in Your Hand AI didn't create your calling. But it may expose your excuses. It may reveal that the thing you keep saying you can't start is closer than you thought. What idea? What skill? What burden? What platform? What tool? What relationship? What knowledge? The real question is not whether you have what it takes. The real question is: What are you waiting for? SCRIPTURES REFERENCED: • Ephesians 1:4 - Chosen before the creation of the world • Jeremiah 1:5 - Known before you were formed • Genesis 1:26-28 - Made in God's image, given dominion • Exodus 4:2 - What is in your hand? Be Part of the Conversation: Subscribe to the podcastFind weekly episodes on YouTube [LINK]Join our "Weekly Unlearning" newsletter for exclusive insights and reflections [LINK]

    16 min

  7. Jun 6

    What Religion Did With A Word That Was Never About Shame

    The Hebrew word for sin appears in the Bible long before it means  what religion taught you. And once you see where it actually starts,  the whole conversation about guilt, shame, and your relationship  with God changes completely. Chata (חָטָא) — the Hebrew word translated as "sin" throughout  scripture — first appears in Judges 20:16 describing elite slingers  who would not miss their target. Not moral failure. Not divine  punishment. A trajectory problem. Which means the original question was never simply, "What sin did  you commit?" The original question was: what happened to the shot? In this episode Nelson walks through: → Why certainty is more dangerous than rebellion → The difference between striving toward acceptance vs. growing     from acceptance (Hebrews 10:14) → What chata actually means in Hebrew — and why it's a trajectory     question, not a character indictment → What Jesus said about religious leaders who load people with     weight they won't carry themselves → Romans 2 and the leaders whose private lives contradict their     public preaching → David refusing Saul's armor — and what that means for the     borrowed theology you're still wearing → What it looks like to fight in equipment that was actually     fitted for you The invitation isn't to try harder. It's to examine deeper. Drop "SHOT" on YouTube or Instagram if this hit something real. Still unlearning, Nelson 🎥 Watch on YouTube → @rethinkfaithwithnelson Be Part of the Conversation: Subscribe to the podcastFind weekly episodes on YouTube [LINK]Join our "Weekly Unlearning" newsletter for exclusive insights and reflections [LINK]

    23 min

  8. May 23

    Did God Really Say That? How Bent Interpretations Keep You Stuck

    Most people who love God and still feel stuck aren't failing — they're  building on a foundation that was quietly bent before it ever reached them. This episode traces one of the most overlooked patterns in all of scripture:  The moment interpretation replaces revelation. It starts in Genesis 3 — not  with the fruit, but with a question. "Did God really say…?" That single  question didn't erase God's words. It bent the meaning. And humanity has  been repeating that pattern ever since. From the judges to the prophets, from the Pharisees to the modern church —  The issue was never access to God's word. The issue was what kept happening  to the understanding of it. In this episode, you'll explore: • Why generations inherit distorted theology without realizing it • The difference between reading scripture and actually studying it • How oral tradition shaped what most believers know about God • Why positions in the church can feel like growth but replace transformation • The question Jesus asked Peter — and why your answer matters more than    anything you were taught This episode is for anyone who has quietly wondered if the version of God  they were handed the full picture. Question the narrative. Honor the text. Be Part of the Conversation: Subscribe to the podcastFind weekly episodes on YouTube [LINK]Join our "Weekly Unlearning" newsletter for exclusive insights and reflections [LINK]

    17 min
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Many of the spiritual tools we inherited are breaking under the pressure of today’s reality. It is not that they were all false—but they may be wrong for you. To be who God called you to be, your faith must be your own—not inherited, but investigated. Rethink Faith with Nelson Jackson III is dedicated to separating what the Bible actually says from what we have been told it says. Faith is often filtered through two lenses:• Cultural Alterations: Changing the text to fit the times.• Traditional Interpretations: Twisting the text to fit the narrative. We are dedicated to the third option: Context. Join us for an honest investigation into history, original language, and authorial intent. We are here to help you trade a borrowed tradition for a biblical reality.

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