Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
From Courtroom to Cross: Niko LaHood on Truth, Justice, and the Cost of Conviction
About this episode
Former Bexar County Criminal District Attorney Nico LaHood joins Philip Cameron for a bold, unfiltered conversation about biblical worldview, the justice system, and what it truly costs to stand for Christ in public life. Drawing on his years as a prosecutor, magistrate judge, and criminal defense attorney at LaHood Norton Law Group in San Antonio, Texas, Nico brings a lawyer's eye for evidence to the claims of the Christian faith — concluding that the life, death, and empty tomb of Jesus Christ demand a verdict no honest mind can ignore. Nico argues that the church has been "mealy-mouthed for decades" and challenges believers to stop seeking the world's approval: "We'll never live beyond what we believe." He unpacks why the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19 is itself a political statement, why James 4:4 draws an unmistakable line between friendship with the world and enmity with God, and how Proverbs 23:7 explains the 78% recidivism rate he witnessed firsthand in the justice system. Nico also opens up about his own story — a drug arrest in his youth, his brother's murder, raising a son diagnosed on the autism spectrum — and how each trial pruned him toward a deeper, evidence-based faith. He is completing a new book, *Our Rated Christian*. For legal representation, visit lahoodNorton.com.
Part of our Faith collection of conversations.
Quotes worth sharing
“The human condition, under surrender to God, creates travesty. And we have evidence of that. You don't have to take my word for it.”
“Politics, from the word polity, just means a set of ideas advocated by a group of people to affect the lives of others. Let that sink in — a set of ideas advocated by a group of people to affect the lives of others. What does that sound like to you? To me, it sounds like Matthew 28:19, the Great Commission — go to all nations making disciples of all men. The Christian movement is political.”
“If I believe that Jesus Christ, God himself, hung naked on a cross for me, how can I not stand for him no matter how uncomfortable it is? What I respect about our King is he is not a hypocrite. He doesn't say do as I say, he says do as I did. And I can like that all the way through hell and to heaven.”
What's Discussed
Former Bexar County Criminal District Attorney and LaHood Norton Law Group partner Nico LaHood delivers a sharp, evidence-driven case for bold Christian faith. He argues that a 78% recidivism rate in the justice system proves that lasting life change requires a renewed mind rooted in Scripture — citing Proverbs 23:7, Matthew 28:19, James 4:4, and 2 Corinthians 4. Nico contends the Great Commission is inherently political and that the church's silence has cost it credibility. He shares his personal journey through a drug arrest, his brother's murder, and raising a son on the autism spectrum — each trial deepening his conviction that Jesus Christ, examined as historical evidence, demands a verdict. He is completing a new book, Our Rated Christian.
- Evidence-Based Faith and Legal Worldview
- Recidivism and Renewing the Mind
- Great Commission as Political Statement
- The Murder of Christ as Legal Verdict
- Church Silence and Salt-and-Light Responsibility
- Nico's Personal Testimony and Pruning
- Prison Ministry and True Life Transformation
- Our Rated Christian Book Preview
Scripture in this episode
You adulterers and adulteresses, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
for as he thinks about the cost, so he is. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.
For our citizenship is in heaven, from where we also wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?”
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you fall into various temptations,
Episode Transcript
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Intro
Philip:Welcome to Daily Faith today. My name is Philip Cameron and I am delighted that you are here with me today. We have got a great program for you. I believe the Lord has a — the older I get, the more I understand the wisdom and the ability of the Lord to move you to where you've got to be at a certain time. I'm writing a book just now. It's almost finished. I can't wait to get it written and printed. And it's called Moments. You are the accumulation of the moments of your life. And God is moving that — a chorus I can't get out of my mind: He works in ways we cannot see, He will make a way for me. And I'm here to tell you, I'm here to speak directly into your life, that God will make a way for you.
Philip:Where there is no way, God — any rivers an old hymn says are uncrossable, God — any mountains you cannot tunnel through, God specializes in things thought impossible. The more impossible things are, the better it is for God, because he specializes in impossible things.
Philip:Talking about impossible things. 35 years ago, my dad in Scotland called me and he says, there are babies dying. I says, what on earth are you talking about? He was watching the BBC and they were reporting on the revolution that was taking place in an eastern European country called Romania. And every day he would call me with his report of babies dying and the catastrophes. He himself was recovering from cancer surgery. And he would weep on the phone and say, Philip, what can we do? And then it changed to, what do you wanna do?
Philip:And I'm saying, Dad, I'm not doing — you are sick, I'm busy, leave this alone. He literally forced me to go to Romania and I got there. Here's a moment. And we got to this orphanage and we walked in with stuff and whatever. We went around the bottom floor. It was unbelievable. The kids were covered in their own waste. It was just beyond anything I could ever imagine. And I says, okay Dad, let's go. It is time to go. Let's go. We've been here long enough, let's go, let's go. And he looks up and there were steps. And he says, no, let's go upstairs.
Philip:I says, Dad, it's the same, leave it. He climbed up the stairs and walked into salon number five. And I walked in behind him and passed him into the room. And right in the middle of this room, there's a wee boy in a crib on his tiptoes looking up towards me, filthy, covered in waste. And the Holy Spirit spoke to me and he said, that's your son. Clear as I'm talking to you. That's your son. I went into the room, picked him up, and I said, I don't know who you are, but I'll never stop until I get you.
Philip:It took me a whole year to finally get him out of that country. And in the meantime, they had no toilets, so I replaced the toilets. The roof leaked, I replaced the roof. The beds were painted with lead paint with horsehair mattresses, and I replaced all the beds, 200 of them. And all the time God was working me and moving me in my heart. I was on TV all the time. A book I'd written had sold 300,000 copies. All the stuff that I wanted to do, I was getting to do.
Philip:And he took me to this backwater, back-of-beyond, filthy place. And he says, this is where I want you to grow and bloom. That started a 35-year calling. And most recently, for the last 20-odd years, we've been in a country called Moldova, which is right next door to Romania, was once part of Romania. And we rescue kids and bring them to our village. We've got the most gorgeous place called Vatra Village. It is on the largest lake in the country. And the kids come there out of the orphanages and we put them back in school and tell them that if you are born, God has a plan for your life.
Philip:And these kids, these ridiculous orphan kids, turn from being orphans into sons and daughters. Every girl you see in this video is worth $300,000 a year to the trafficker. And we bring them and put them back in school. And Jesus comes into the heart. And these kids, these orphans, have turned from orphans to sons and daughters to missionaries.
Philip:And they have amazing youth camps. All through the summer, during the wintertime, they feed widows, they go to broken homes, they go to villages that you wouldn't even want to go and visit — no street lamps, no sidewalks, no running water. And God has allowed us to help them find their voice. My granddaughters, Allie and Kara, 16 and 13, spent the summer there this year living with the kids in Vatra Village and helping work with them in our youth camps. And my 13-year-old granddaughter, Kara, while she was there, made a video for me and for you to watch. Watch this.
Kara:Hi, I am Kara. I have been in Moldova for five weeks and I've been to two camps so far. At these camps, we taught kids about the word of God and the love of Jesus. Now, yes, there was a language barrier between me and them, but it still touched me to be able to hang out with the kids and entertain them, since this is something that they wait for through the entire year. It was definitely a different experience compared to other camps I've been to. Showers were outside, cold. We ate meals with everybody outside. It was a really fun experience though, because it is something completely different to what I experienced in America.
Kara:I feel absolutely honored to be able to have that opportunity to go to these kinds of camps, to help kids and get such an experience that it'll leave an impact on me for the rest of my life. I saw how a lot of these kids lived and it really just broke me to see that such poor conditions is what those kids have to stay in for most of their lives. And compared to the camps, I feel like it seemed like some kind of luxury paradise for them. Some of the kids came in the same clothes every day because they didn't have anything else really to wear. So the fact that they can come and learn about God and how they're loved by God really just makes me feel — I'm just happy those kids get a chance. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be here in Moldova. It has been such an experience that has made such an impact on my life that I will remember these days for the rest of my life.
Philip:I love it. She came home and the first thing she said to her granddad was, granddad, I wanna go back for longer next year. If your grandkids have a hunger to go and tell the lost about Jesus, I think you're doing something right. And we are just delighted. And we need your help in prayers. Every time we open a new home, it takes 300 people giving a dollar a day to make it happen. We are working right now on a new place, a brand new place on the western side of Moldova, right on the Romanian border.
Philip:Literally, you could walk two or three minutes across the border. And what happened was this last year, a young girl was brought to us and she was underage to be allowed to come into our village. But her family situation was so terrible that we took the risk to take her in. And the authorities discovered her and we had to put her back. And she went back and was gang raped and lost her mind, literally lost her mind. And it so hurt us that we have been looking and we have found a place.
Philip:We bought two houses on this farm, and each of these houses will house 25 kids between the age of four and 16. And there's a great big barn on this place, so we're gonna turn it into a youth camp, so we'll have our own youth camp. I am determined to make a place where young folk will come from all over that area, from Romania as well as Moldova, and allow our kids to share the gospel with them, because Jesus is the only answer.
Philip:Two houses need 300 people to give a dollar a day. And I'm asking if you would like to help us make this miracle happen. And I believe God will bless you as you do so. You can contact us at the Orphan's Hands, PO Box 25, Clinton, Tennessee 37716. You can also go to DailyFaith.tv — that's ground central for us — and there's all kinds of information there. And you can also call us at 833-DAILY-FAITH.
Philip:Just dial Daily Faith on your phone pad and a real life person will talk to you about your giving. We appreciate you so much and your gift can help us. We're still believing God for the funds to buy these houses and this land and this farm. And if you'd like to help us, we're looking for sponsors. And God can speak to someone's heart today. I know God is able and we are just delighted to be used of God.
Philip:In fact, I heard today that a great man of God — his name just slipped my mind — he passed away today, and he was James Dobson. Of course, he was part of the adoption miracle of my son Andrew, that I write about in the book I wrote, Andrew's book, called Our Bummer Lamb. And James Dobson helped us get that boy out of Moldova. And we just give him blessing and honor as he receives his eternal reward today.
Philip:I am delighted today to have Nico LaHood with me today on Daily Faith. And when I read through his life — by gracious, this man has been and done just about everything. He is a former criminal district attorney for Bexar County in Texas. He's been a magistrate judge. He is a criminal defense attorney. He has his own law firm called LaHood Norton Law Group. But the thing that impresses me most about him, he loves Jesus and he's a follower of the Lord Jesus. And I'm just delighted to have him with us today on Daily Faith. Nico, thank you for joining me today. God bless you. How are you doing?
Evidence-Based Faith and Legal Worldview
Nico LaHood:I'm blessed. Thank you. It's an honor to be with you, and thank you for trusting me with your show here. We can talk and go wherever you want to go. You know me, I'm an open book and I just wanna talk about Jesus. I love to litigate for the Lord. So you lead me.
Philip:You are highly qualified — I mean, in the top upper echelon of lawyers in our country. And I believe that the wisdom and education that you have must give you a unique perspective as to what is going on. We see it — we consume news on a very basic dimension. Whatever they tell us, we just accept it. But when you're in the legal field, everything that you see — you must look at it like — I'm a preacher, I go to church and I hear another someone else's preaching. I can't enjoy the message for thinking about the stories he's missed out and the scriptures he hasn't told. Are you the same way as a lawyer? Do you look at these things that are unfolding in front of us — all these legal moments coming out with the Trump situation and Russiagate and all this stuff — do you see it from a different paradigm than we do?
Nico LaHood:Yeah, I do. I look at evidence, and so I look at evidence for a living. When I was district attorney, as you mentioned, I literally made life and death decisions based off evidence. And so we look at the world through a prism, through a worldview. Somebody may be Islamic, somebody may be Hindu, may be Buddhist, agnostic, atheist, whatever. I have a biblical worldview. I'm a Christ follower. So that shapes everything. It gives me the answers to all the problems. And one of the problems we deal with is the problem of the human condition. The human condition, under surrender to God, creates travesty. And we have evidence of that. You don't have to take my word for it.
Nico LaHood:And so I'm intricately involved in the social experiment called the justice system. Everyone has an idea of how they wanna live their life. They implement that idea in their life, and then they come in and out of the justice system to the tune of a 78% recidivism rate, meaning we do the same stupid stuff over and over again.
Recidivism and Renewing the Mind
Nico LaHood:And so I think to myself, okay, well how do you change your life? How do you change your behavior? You change the way you think. I didn't know at the time that it was Proverbs 23:7, but it is — as the man thinks in his heart, so he is. What does that mean? We'll never live beyond what we believe.
Philip:Wow. And so we have to ask ourselves what do we believe. And what I feel as I'm watching the events unfolding in front of us — I mean, we're living in massive days. This Russia-Ukraine thing is very close to our heart. We have a house there. But it seems that everything that will be shaken — the Bible tells us is gonna happen — everything that will be shaken will be shaken. And we are losing our credibility and we're losing our faith in government. We're losing our faith in the legal system. We are in a situation where everything that we've depended upon — well, you know, a judge won't lie, a judge wouldn't make a political decision — and we're watching these things hitting us one after the other. How do you maintain your faith and your belief when you know about the system that you are having to swim in, this pool that you swim in, and yet you keep your eyes on Jesus and you keep true to your faith in the middle of such compromise?
Great Commission as Political Statement
Nico LaHood:Well, I'm not the first person who swam in it. And I'm not gonna be the last. And Jesus swam in it. He dealt with the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Sanhedrin. He had to deal with the political class also. And I think the church needs to do a better job of dealing with politics. I think the worst advice we got growing up was the two things you don't talk about in public — religion and politics. Horrible advice. What does politics mean? Politics, from the word polity, just means a set of ideas advocated by a group of people to affect the lives of others.
Nico LaHood:Let that sink in — a set of ideas advocated by a group of people to affect the lives of others. What does that sound like to you? To me, it sounds like Matthew 28:19, the Great Commission — go to all nations making disciples of all men. Teach them to obey all that I've commanded. A set of ideas — all that I've commanded — advocated by a group of people, Christ followers, to affect the lives of others, teaching them to obey. That statement in Matthew 28:19 is a political statement. I didn't say it was partisan. I'm saying it's a political statement. The Christian movement is political.
Nico LaHood:The ideas of heaven — we're ambassadors for Christ. Second Corinthians 5, Philippians 3:20. This is not our home. We're not citizens of this world. So we are supposed to be advocating for something outside of us. Now, how I wade through the stew of politics is I am fully persuaded that I'm gonna stand before that first-century Jew when I'm called off this earth. And I'm gonna give an answer. And if I think to myself — if I believe in the most famous murder scene of anybody, which is the murder of Jesus Christ, that first-century historical fact — if I believe that Jesus Christ, God himself, hung naked on a cross for me, how can I not stand for him no matter how uncomfortable it is?
Nico LaHood:So what I respect about our King is he is not a hypocrite. He doesn't say do as I say, he says do as I did. And I can like that all the way through hell and to heaven.
The Murder of Christ as Legal Verdict
Philip:That's profound. I've never thought, as you mentioned it, about this murder that took place. And as a legal mind, you look at it as a legal mind and you conclude this guy was murdered for me. And that really brings it into a modern-day perspective. The church has been so quiet, and I don't know if it's a Scottish saying or not, but we call it someone being mealy-mouthed. When someone is mealy-mouthed, it means they're not clear and crisp in what they say. And the church has been mealy-mouthed for decades in this wishy-washy world of trying to make ourselves popular. Popularity will not win the world for Jesus. It's the message of the cross that will win the world for Jesus.
Nico LaHood:Absolutely. Which scripture calls double-minded. James 4:4 says if you're friends with the world, you're an enemy with God. Now I know people say, what do you mean? I thought God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. What they mean by the world is what First John talks about — I think it's 2:16 — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, the world's ideology. If you're friends with the world's ideology, then you are in opposition to Christ. And that makes sense. We're not gonna be accepted by the world. The world doesn't look at Christ's way and God's way of doing things as good. Their definition of good is different.
Nico LaHood:So we have a choice to make. And here's what I challenge people. If you believe you're an eternal being — because we all are — it's whether you spend eternity, that's another story we're gonna get in trouble with. In the history of our eternal life, we're gonna get in trouble. We have to decide, are we gonna get in trouble with the world, or are we gonna get in trouble with the architect of the universe, God, the only God, the God of the Christian Bible? And I can't make that choice for people. I always tell people in the justice system, you can pick your choices, but you can't pick your consequences. And I don't say that to scare somebody.
Nico LaHood:I just tell someone that I studied the historical life of Jesus Christ before I bowed my knee to him as Messiah. I studied because even the atheist scholar will tell you that a first-century Jew that went by the name Yeshua walked this earth. And so I studied that life, evidence-wise. And when I looked at the evidence of that first-century Jew, and I looked at the murder scene that he allowed to happen, and I studied the empty tomb, I came to the conclusion that other people have come to before — what am I gonna do? I gotta contend with the fact that I believe that this man was God incarnate.
Nico LaHood:What do I do with that? So you better see fruit. If I say that I'm persuaded that Christ is King and that he is God incarnate, then you should see the evidence of that proclamation in my life. Not perfectly, but what we're seeing today in the church is there's too much — you're not entitled to a secret life. You're entitled to a private life. I don't wanna see you go to the bathroom or be intimate with your spouse. But a secret life, meaning a life that you're embarrassed of, a life that you don't want other people to know about — that's what we're seeing too much in the church. And it's because we're not real, we're not raw, we're not authentic. And we're not relatable to people. And we don't understand what we believe. Actually, the church is not even teaching systematic theology. The non-Christians are telling Christians what they're supposed to believe and we fall for it because we're not equipped. And I don't mean that to be disrespectful.
Church Silence and Salt-and-Light Responsibility
Philip:No, it's right. It's true. We've got to know what we believe and we've gotta be able to defend it. The church has become so seeker-friendly and we want the world to love us. And that is completely against what the scripture teaches. You and I are to be salt. Ever had salt rubbed into a wound? Salt is a painful moment. And light will go into the corners of our world and light up areas. And unless we understand that our job is not to pacify the world, our job is to confront the world with the truth of the gospel.
Philip:What will you do with this man? When Jesus hung on that cross, he literally took away any middle ground. He said, you're either for me or you're against me. You're either mine or you're not mine. There's no grey. If you're watching us today and you live in a twilight-zone Christianity, where you're just enough saved to get to church on a Sunday, and once in a while you might walk down to the altar, but that's about as far as you want to contend for the faith — let me tell you something, Jesus will require of you and me and all of us, what have you done with this Savior?
Philip:And I love the fact that here you are in this profession that has got such a reputation for half-truths, and to have a man talk so clearly about faith, that there's only one way and Jesus is the only way. And how you submit yourself to him and let him use you is what is paramount in the world today.
Nico LaHood:Well, you know, when you mention salt and light — as you know, salt was a preservative back then. And what are we called to preserve? We're called to preserve the truth. And I think it all boils down to Matthew 16, really, when Jesus says, who do they say that I am? Well, they say you're Elijah, they say you're John the Baptist, some say you're a prophet. And then Jesus asked Peter that question, what about you? Who do you say that I am? How you answer that question will determine how you live your life.
Nico's Personal Testimony and Pruning
Nico LaHood:Truly. When you answer that question — for me, as you know, and you kind of alluded to it at the beginning, I was arrested for selling drugs when I was young and stupid. My brother was murdered in my driveway. And I walked out two seconds later to pick my mom up off the ground over her dead son's body, to load his body on the gurney, to help my pop wash my brother's blood off the driveway, to deal with the condition of being self-diagnosed a functioning anger-aholic. I was angry at God, but I didn't have the guts to tell him. So I held him in contempt and I took it out on everybody else. You can't give what you don't have.
Nico LaHood:Matthew 22:36 says love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. And equally as important, love your neighbor as yourself. What if I don't love myself? It's a capacity issue. And I didn't have that. And then I had a son diagnosed on the spectrum of autism after I gave my life to Christ. Where's God now? And then the devil comes whispering in your ear — this is how God pays you back. Did he really say that you turned your life around? Does he love you for that? And we have to take our thoughts captive, Second Corinthians 10, and make them submissive to Christ. And we have to do that. But it can only happen if we're fully persuaded that that first-century Jew absolutely was God.
Nico LaHood:If we're fully persuaded that, God willing, the 95 years that we're given on this side of heaven — that this is not what we're playing for, that we're playing for eternity. If we're fully persuaded by that, as Jesus says, and Second Corinthians 4 and James 1:2 through 4 and Romans 5, that these light and momentary afflictions — this persuasion, we have to be persevering — it's worth something. It far outweighs anything that you can go through. Hallelujah. Eternal glory, if we're persuaded by that. And if we're not, well then we're gonna see that in our lives ultimately.
Philip:Oh my goodness. Well, when they gave me the rundown sheet for today, I thought, what can I talk to Nico about today?
Nico LaHood:Whatever you want. We need an hour. We need more time.
Philip:You are such a blessing, my goodness, to have someone with such a clear perception of what we should be in the world today. I live in the world of the church. I know a lot of preachers that don't have that clarity in their mind and their spirit.
Nico LaHood:But the Lord pruned me. He pruned me through all this stuff I've been through. Look, when you've dealt with hatred and anger and unforgiveness — and the world, we're addicted to victimhood. We receive this idea — so if I were to receive the labels of drug dealer, criminal, you're a victim versus being victimized, you raise your special needs son, and then going through politics and testing all that out and all this bombarding — I thought to myself, but God pruned me through all of that. And then I see the experiment called the justice system. And I do prison ministry. I've seen the only way that you turn a life around is if you bow your knee to the architect of the universe. That's the only way. Everyone has an idea, but not all ideas are the same. And some ideas don't work.
Prison Ministry and True Life Transformation
Nico LaHood:God is the only way. Christ Jesus, who dealt with the murderer, who dealt with the sinner, who dealt with the adulterer, who dealt with the conniver, who dealt with the violent person — he's the only way. And when we submit ourselves to him and do things his way, I've seen true miracles on earth when you have a renewed life and a renewed mind, and then ultimately renewed living. And for that I give glory to God. Because what I believe in my heart is what the scriptures say — the angels rejoice. They rejoice when one says yes to Jesus. And I envision that in my mind when I preach the gospel.
Philip:You are almost finished with a book called Our Rated Christian?
Nico LaHood:Our Rated Christian. Yes, sir.
Philip:Whenever you get this back from the printers, will you please come back on Daily Faith and let's go through this?
Nico LaHood:Be honored.
Philip:We need more of your voice in our world, I'm telling you. Nico is one of the partners of LaHood Norton Law Group in San Antonio, Texas. And the website there is lahoodNorton.com. And if ever you need someone that will stand for you in justice — do you practice around the country or are you limited to one area?
Our Rated Christian Book Preview
Nico LaHood:Federal work we can do around the country, but in-state work we do locally in Bexar County and the surrounding area.
Philip:Well, I am looking forward to making you my friend over the years to come. We've got stuff to do for the kingdom of God. Thank you for being with me today, Nico. We appreciate you so much. Thank you for watching Daily Faith. We hope you've been blessed and challenged to walk closer to Jesus. We'll see you again. Bye-bye.
For over 25 years, the Cameron family has been changing the lives of orphans in Romania and Moldova — from providing running water, flushing toilets, and clean wells, to coal for heat, new windows, as well as food and clothing. They champion the physical needs of the orphans in these broken and desolate countries. Many of Moldova's orphans are saved from the horrors of trafficking through homes founded by the Camerons. And in the process, orphans become daughters and sons. They come to know their heavenly Father and are forever changed by the love of Jesus.
God help the Camerons lift these amazing young men and women out of darkness. Now no longer orphans, they wanna return and invade that very same darkness with the light of Jesus Christ. The Orphan's Hands equips these daughters and sons to become missionaries. Your monthly gift of $31 will allow us to rescue and take in more girls and boys, saving them from the hell of human trafficking. Your monthly partnership will allow us to care for those in the Orphan's Hands homes in Moldova and the Ukraine. If you want to join Philip and Chrissy in taking care of these precious young people, please contact us today by calling 833-DAILY-FAITH. You can also give by going online to www.DailyFaith.tv, or by writing to Post Office Box 25, Clinton, Tennessee 37716. So many lives depend on what we do. Thank you for loving the lost.
Common questions
How does Nico LaHood's legal background shape the way he looks at faith and evidence?
LaHood says he looks at everything through an evidence-based lens — as district attorney he made life-and-death decisions based on evidence. He applied that same approach to Jesus, studying the historical life of the first-century Jew named Yeshua, examining the 'murder scene' of the crucifixion and the empty tomb, and concluded that the evidence pointed to Christ being God incarnate.
Why does Nico LaHood think Christians should be more involved in politics, not less?
LaHood argues that the common advice to avoid talking about religion and politics is 'horrible advice.' He breaks down the word 'politics' to mean 'a set of ideas advocated by a group of people to affect the lives of others' — which he says is essentially the same language as the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19. In his view, the Christian movement is inherently political, and staying silent is a failure of the church's calling.
What personal hardships did Nico LaHood go through before fully committing his life to Christ?
LaHood was arrested for selling drugs when he was young, his brother was murdered in his driveway — and he walked out moments later to help his mother and wash his brother's blood off the driveway. He describes himself as a 'functioning anger-aholic' who was furious at God but didn't have the courage to admit it. Later, after giving his life to Christ, his son was diagnosed on the autism spectrum, which he says the devil used to whisper doubts into his ear.
What does Nico LaHood mean when he says the church is living a 'secret life'?
LaHood draws a distinction between a private life — things that are simply personal — and a secret life, which he defines as a life you're embarrassed by and don't want others to know about. He says too many people in the church are living that way because they aren't authentic or equipped in what they actually believe, and as a result they aren't relatable or credible to the outside world.
What convinced Nico LaHood that surrendering to God is the only thing that truly changes a person's life?
LaHood points to his direct experience doing prison ministry and working inside the justice system, which he calls 'the social experiment called the justice system.' He notes a 78% recidivism rate as evidence that human ideas alone don't work, and says the only genuine life transformation he has witnessed comes when someone bows their knee to God — because lasting change starts with changing how you think, which he ties to Proverbs 23:7.
Topics
nico lahoodbiblical worldviewjustice systemchristian convictiongreat commissionevidence for faithlaw and gospel