Dad Answers the Tough Questions

Dad, how do I?

Transcript provided by YouTube then edited with AI.

Dad Answers the Tough Questions: Introduction

Life’s Big Questions

What’s my purpose? Why am I here? Where did I come from? Why is there so much evil in the world? And how do I know what’s true anymore?

Hey kids, it’s honestly so great to see you all again. As you probably noticed, it’s been a while since I’ve made a long-form video. Some of you thought that I stopped making videos, but I’ve actually been doing shorts so that we can stay connected.

Despite the algorithm’s attempts to disconnect us, I’m still trying to keep that connection going.

But I’ve been away from long-form videos for a bit because I can’t get out of my head the fact that we really need to talk about some of life’s bigger questions. I’ve hinted that I wanted to do that for a while.

We live in a world that’s full of turmoil. The unrest in the Middle East recently is unsettling, and I’m saddened to hear about the depression and anxiety that so many young people are experiencing today.

I think at the core of this issue is a lack of hope.

For me, my faith actually gives me hope. Proverbs 12:25 says, “Anxiety in the heart of a man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad.”

If I believe I have a good word that might make you glad, or if I have answers that can help, how can I sit idly by and not share that hope with you? As a dad, I think that’s the most loving thing I can do.

What the Gospel Means

Do you know what the word “gospel” means? It means good news.

Think about that for a second. If you had some good news—the best news you’ve ever heard in your whole life—but you never shared it with me because you were worried I might be offended, what kind of friend would you be?

Or what kind of friend would I be if I did the same thing?

Honestly, I think the response would be something like, “You mean you knew this all along and you didn’t tell me?”

In my new series, Dad Answers the Tough Questions, we’re going to unpack what I mean by that.

I’ve been wrestling with the best way to go about this, and this introductory video is what I came up with.

A Dad Joke

Before I explain more, here’s a dad joke for you.

I was going to tell you a joke about existentialism, but there was no purpose. So I thought… what’s the point?

A New Series About Life

I’ll be starting a new series this Sunday called Dad Answers the Tough Questions.

No, this won’t be a game of “How can we stump Dad?” That would be far too easy.

Instead, this will be an honest discussion about life—similar to the conversations I’ve had over the years with my own kids and still do today. But now I want to have those conversations with you.

Because I’m a man of faith, I’ll naturally be sharing how I see life through that lens. If you don’t share my faith, that’s fine. I hope you still feel welcome here.

Think of it as listening in on a conversation and comparing my perspective with your own.

There’s a saying I like: people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. We’re about six years into this channel now, so hopefully I’ve earned enough goodwill with you that we can go a little deeper without scaring you off.

Helping People Who Are Searching

As a man of faith, we’re called to help the fatherless, widows, and orphans. I receive messages and comments from people in all of those situations.

When someone writes to me looking for answers, the first thing I usually tell them is to read the book of John and ask God to reveal himself to them.

Some people respond with, “Thanks, I’ll try that.” Others ask, “Do you have anything else you can share with me?”

That reminds me of a story in the Bible about a man named Naaman.

The Story of Naaman

Naaman was a powerful military commander, respected by everyone. But he had a serious problem—he suffered from leprosy.

A young servant girl told him there was a prophet in Israel who could help him. So Naaman traveled a long way to see the prophet Elisha.

Naaman probably expected something impressive—maybe a big prayer or a dramatic ceremony. But Elisha didn’t even come out to meet him. He simply sent a message:

“Go wash in the Jordan River seven times and you will be healed.”

Naaman was furious. He thought, “That’s it? I came all this way for that? Our rivers back home are better than this one.”

He was ready to leave angry and still sick because the answer seemed too simple.

But his servants said something wise: “If the prophet had asked you to do something difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? Why not do this simple thing?”

So Naaman humbled himself. He went down to the Jordan River and dipped himself in the water seven times. When he came up the seventh time, his skin was completely healed.

Sometimes the thing standing between us and the help we need isn’t the difficulty of the task—it’s our own pride.

Because sometimes the answer really is simple.

But we still have to be humble enough to do it.

A Quick Heads Up About the Series

In this series, we’ll be grappling with some of life’s most difficult questions, so some episodes may not be appropriate for younger viewers.

When I upload videos, I check the box that says “not meant for kids,” but I know a lot of younger people still watch.

Most of my videos are perfectly fine for younger viewers, but this series may be different.

Also, when I say “Hey kids” at the beginning of my videos, that’s just a term of endearment. I even have some 80-year-old kids watching me—which, of course, is biologically impossible.

Why I’m Starting This Now

The plan right now is to release these videos on Sundays, starting this Sunday, March 15.

I still plan to continue making my regular how-to videos as a resource for you, but this series will allow us to go deeper in our relationship.

At the very least, you’ll understand where I’m coming from and why I started this channel in the first place.

We’ll be tackling some of the big questions in life:

Where did I come from?
Why am I here?
What is my purpose?

A Personal Reflection

Last August, I had emergency gallbladder surgery. If you’ve ever had surgery, you know you have to sign forms in case something goes wrong.

Thankfully, I’ve never personally had complications. But I do know people who have.

A good friend of mine named Daryl, who was a pastor, went in for knee surgery about fifteen years ago. There were complications, and he never recovered from the anesthesia.

I’m not trying to scare anyone who might need surgery. I’m simply saying that moments like that remind us that life is fragile.

While I was recovering in the hospital, I found myself thinking again about my own mortality.

I’ve often talked about living life with an open hand—allowing God to place things in it or take things out of it. But when it came to my YouTube channel, I realized I might have closed my hand to him.

So I want to fix that by opening it again.

Because there’s more to life than fixing things around the house.

Searching for Truth

I’ll be turning 62 this year, so I’m entering what many people call the twilight years of life.

Over the past several months, while thinking about this series, I kept coming back to one thought:

I don’t want to wait until I’m on my deathbed to say, “Oh, by the way, here’s how I made sense of life.”

I’d rather talk about it now—so we can discuss it, debate it, and learn from each other.

Proverbs 27:17 says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”

Upcoming Conversations

To kick off this series, I recorded three conversations with my good friend and fellow dad, Abdu Murray. He’s an international speaker and author.

We’ll be discussing questions like:

How do I determine what’s true in a world of AI, deepfakes, and misinformation?
If God exists, why does he allow evil in the world?
Why am I here, and what is my purpose?

I hope you’ll join me as we explore these questions together.

One Final Thought

I encourage you to hold these conversations with an open hand until you have enough information to make a decision.

There are many questions, and we can’t cover them all in one episode. You might finish an episode thinking, “That makes sense—but now I have five more questions.”

And that’s okay.

Hopefully, as we reason together, some of those questions will slowly be answered.

You may not get every answer you’re looking for this side of eternity. But I believe there are enough good answers to take a step of faith.

Not a leap—a step.

If you have questions you’d like me and Abdu, or just me, to address, let me know in the comments.

Thanks for watching, and God bless you.

—

This post was previously published on YouTube.

Welcome to “Dad, how do I?” Here you will find “How To” videos by a dad who has raised 2 adults (and we still talk). I will do my best to provide useful, practical content to many basic tasks that everyone should know how to do. On this channel, you will find a variety of content like How To’s, Story times, Dad Chats, and more!

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