Restitutio (Sean P Finnegan)

Apologetics 2: What Is Truth?

In order to establish any of the claims of Christianity, we must first make a case for truth itself. How can you hope to provide reasons for God’s existence or Christ’s resurrection if the person your talking to claims, “That’s just your truth, and I’m glad it works for you, but it’s not true for me?” Learn how to use the law of non-contradiction to help explain what an objective truth claim is. Although many prefer the mushy relativism of our age, in the end, as Christians, we are stuck with Chris who claimed to be “the way, the truth, and the life,” and that “no one comes to the father but through me” (John 14.6).

If you would like to take this class for credit, please contact the Atlanta Bible College so you can register and do the necessary work for a grade.

Notes:

pluralism/multi-culturalism definition:

1. a theory that there are more than one or more than two kinds of ultimate reality
2. a state of society in which members of diverse ethnic, racial, religious, or social groups maintain and develop their traditional culture or special interest within the confines of a common civilization

when Christians and non-believers are the only two options, life is simple

• throwing in Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists,
• Diana Eck’s four points on pluralism[1]
  1. First, pluralism is not diversity alone, but the energetic engagement with diversity. Diversity can and has meant the creation of religious ghettoes with little traffic between or among them. Today, religious diversity is a given, but pluralism is not a given; it is an achievement. Mere diversity without real encounter and relationship will yield increasing tensions in our societies.
  2. Second, pluralism is not just tolerance, but the active seeking of understanding across lines of difference. Tolerance is a necessary public virtue, but it does not require Christians and Muslims, Hindus, Jews, and ardent secularists to know anything about one another. Tolerance is too thin a foundation for a world of religious difference and proximity. It does nothing to remove our ignorance of one another, and leaves in place the stereotype, the half-truth, the fears that underlie old patterns of division and violence. In the world in which we live today, our ignorance of one another will be increasingly costly.
  3. Third, pluralism is not relativism, but the encounter of commitments. The new paradigm of pluralism does not require us to leave our identities and our commitments behind, for pluralism is the encounter of commitments. It means holding our deepest differences, even our religious differences, not in isolation, but in relationship to one another.
  4. Fourth, pluralism is based on dialogue. The language of pluralism is that of dialogue and encounter, give and take, criticism and self-criticism. Dialogue means both speaking and listening, and that process reveals both common understandings and real differences. Dialogue does not mean everyone at the “table” will agree with one another. Pluralism involves the commitment to being at the table — with one’s commitments.
• challenges of pluralism
  • compete for adherents, financial contributions, legitimacy, political influence
  • intermarriage (raising children), national identity, public education (Halloween for Christians), workplace (prayer time for Muslims, Sabbath for Jews)
• specific challenge to Christianity
  • is Jesus really the only way?
  • are all non-Christians going to hell? (more than 2/3 of the world)
  • isn’t it intolerant and bigoted to say we have the only right way to God?
  • cultures have their own moral standar

Apologetics 3: Theism, Atheism, and Pantheism

In Building Belief, Chad Meister uses a worldview comparison chart to simplify all the religions of the world into three broad categories: theism, atheism, and pantheism. This strategy will help you to compare and contrast five major aspects of these three worldviews, including theology, ontology, epistemology, axiology, and anthropology. Next, you can evaluate each of the three main possibilities on the basis of logic and livability. This way of looking at world religions can especially help you in talking to others about the faith.

If you would like to take this class for credit, please contact the Atlanta Bible College so you can register and do the necessary work for a grade. Here now is lecture three: Theism, Atheism, and Pantheism.

Notes:

worldview: “a collection of beliefs and ideas about the central issues of life…the lens through which we ‘see’ all of reality” (Meister, 39)[1]

1. theology: is there a God, if so what is God like?
2. ontology: what is ultimate reality?
3. epistemology: how do we acquire knowledge?
4. axiology: what is the basis for morality?
5. anthropology: who are we as human beings (Mesiter, p. 40)

origin, meaning, morals, destiny

• the worldview approach is so helpful because there are thousands of religions and no one would have the time to study and evaluate them all
• since they can be categorized into three main worldviews, we can immediately eliminate huge numbers of them if we can disprove or prove one of these to be correct
• According to Meister, there are three worldviews: atheism, theism, and pantheism
• common objection1: how do you know that Christianity is right and all the other thousands of religions are wrong? how can you be so arrogant?
• common objection2: all religions are just the same anyhow like the blind man and the elephant

atheism

description:

1. theology: no God or supernatural
2. ontology: naturalism (big bang + evolution) nothing outside of nature exists
3. epistemology: scientific method, empiricism

Apologetics 4: Teleological Arguments for God’s Existence

If someone asked you, “Why do you believe in God?” How would you answer? Sadly, most of us would flounder around, maybe talking about the bible or second-hand miracles. However, philosophers have long identified three classic approaches to reasoning about God’s existence: the ontological, cosmological, and teleological arguments. In this lecture, you’ll learn several versions of the teleological argument–evidence for intelligent design–so that you can reason from the complexity of creation to the existence of the creator.

If you would like to take this class for credit, please contact the Atlanta Bible College so you can register and do the necessary work for a grade.

Notes:

introduce three main arguments

1. cosmological: cause and effect
2. teleological: order and design
3. ontological: reason alone

general approach for teleological arguments:

1. the universe exhibits a certain level of order and design
2. a design requires a designer
3. a designer of the universe exists

what proof is there that a painter exists? a painting

what does a building prove? a builder exists

what about a tree? it is more complex than a painting or building, doesn’t this prove a tree-maker exists

• relating to design or purpose especially in nature (m-w.com)
• it is based on order and design
• Romans 1.18-20 and Psalm 19.1-4

Advantages to the teleological argument

• It is very easy to prove because it is in experience
• The argument uses well established scientific facts to prove the existence of God
• True science will always lead to God. In the end science it the study of the creation and thus an indirect study of the Creator.
• “The conflicts between ‘science’ and ‘religion’ occur in historical science, not in operational science.” (Answer’s Book, p. 21)

classic formulation:

William Paley’s Watchmaker Argument

• Suppose you were walking along the beach and saw a watch on the ground…
• How many parts are in the watch?
• biological complexity, cosmic complexity, the just right conditions for earth (distance from sun, etc.)

Cell Complexity (Biological Teleological Argument)

Consider a human cell

1. blood-clotting mechanism, the bacterial flagellum, photosynthetic apparatus, pupal transformation from caterpillars to butterflies, complexity of human brain,
2. “The most reasonable inference from such observations is that outside intelligence was responsible for a vast original store of biological information in the form of created populations of fully functioning organisms. Such intelligence vastly surpasses human intelligence…” (Answer’s Book, p. 29)

Information in DNA (Origin of Code Approach)

• it is an encoding/decoding system
• the sequence represents something other than itself (i.e. the genes contain the information about what an organism will be)
• It has an alphabet and a syntax (the combinations of letters mean something)
• A DNA sequence can be copied and stored on other media without a loss of information (only language has this property)
• In fact even committed atheists will refer to it as the DNA code (code is a language; think of Morse code or computer code)
• The DNA code contains information which is neither matter nor energy (though it is stored/transmitted/encoded/decoded by matter and energy)
• Language comes from a mind (there are no languages that do not come from a mind)
  • this argument hinges on this assertion
  <

Apologetics 5: Arguments for God (Part Two)

In this lecture, you’ll learn four more reasons for God’s existence, including the cosmological argument, moral argument, miracles argument, and the ontological argument. These are each quite different from each other, which is great because it increases their cumulative effect. Last of all, you’ll learn about “Pascal’s Wager,” which is really just an appeal to self-interest, so you can share your faith effectively with skeptics.

If you would like to take this class for credit, please contact the Atlanta Bible College so you can register and do the necessary work for a grade.

Notes:

First Cause (Cosmological Argument)

Here are all the possibilities for thinking about the beginning of the universe:

Three step argument

• Everything that has a beginning has a cause of its beginning
• The universe has a beginning
  • 2nd law of thermo (Meister, p. 93-94)
  • big bang theory(Meister, p. 96)
  • cannot cross an actual infinite series of events (Mesiter, p. 99)
• The universe has a cause of its beginning
  • The universe did not cause itself because it did not exist before its beginning
• The cause of the universe must be external to it (i.e. super-natural)
• This cause must be sufficiently powerful to bring the universe into existence
• There are only two kinds of causes: personal or impersonal processes
  • If a process caused the universe to come into existence then how does one explain the fact that the universe did not always exist? Can an impersonal process one day begin to do something? Thus the cause must have been personal (i.e. a being or beings with a will(s))

Two drawbacks to this argument

• it does not rule out multiple gods
• it does not rule out the possibility of an infinite succession of gods

Who made God?

• God was always there. Since he does not have a beginning he does not need a cause.
• then the universe could have always been here and we don’t need to posit the existence of a god to explain it
• theoretically this is correct except for one thing: all scientists now agree that the universe did not always exist (2nd law of thermodynamics)

Argument from Morality

Some actions are morally wrong (like torturing children for the fun of it)

• These actions are moral absolutes
• If there are moral absolutes there must be some moral law by which they can be determined
• If there is a moral law then there must be a moral law giver or else it must be produced by natural processes
• Assuming naturalism one social “law” becomes apparent: might makes right (also called survival of the fittest)
• If this is the true law by which morals are to be determined then it is moral to do anything one wants so long as he or she is strong enough to accomplish it
• This legalizes rape, murder, genocide, and torturing children for the fun of it
• But we have already said that torturing children for the fun of it is absolutely morally wrong
• Thus, morals are not determined by nature and there exists (or existed) a moral law giver who is itself the locus of true morality
• this doesn’t mean athiests are not moral people, they may be, they just don’t have a grounding or foundation for being moral

God Experiences

• miracles
  • defined as an event that could not happen based on the laws of nature
  • there are many claims to miracles throughout time and also in our own day

Apologetics 6: Historical Jesus

Have you ever heard of the Jesus mythicists? They teach that Jesus never existed, that he’s a myth. How would you go about debunking this claim? Are you aware of what historical sources mention Jesus and early Christianity? In this lecture you’ll learn what’s out there from biblical authors, historians, and hostile witnesses. The cumulative case for the historicity of Jesus of Nazareth is nothing short of staggering.

If you would like to take this class for credit, please contact the Atlanta Bible College so you can register and do the necessary work for a grade.

Notes:

New Testament is not one witness. It was not originally published as a single volume.

Pre-Pauline Quotations

• 1 Corinthians 15.3-4
• Philippians 2.6-10

Paul (wrote between a.d. 51 and 62)

• earliest written documents that mention Jesus
• written 20 – 30 years after death of Jesus
• born of a woman (Gal 4.4; Rom 1.3)
• had disciples (1 Cor 15.5)
• had brothers (1 Cor 9.5; Gal 1.19)
• Lord’s Supper (1 Cor 11.23-25)
• crucified (1 Cor 2.2; 11.23; Gal 3.1)
• put to death by Jews (1 Thes 2.15)
• buried (1 Cor 15.4; Rom 6.4)
• raised from the dead (1 Cor 15.21)
• ascended into heaven (Eph 1.20-23)

James (a.d. <62)

• slave of Jesus (1.1)
• Jesus is Lord Messiah (1.1)
• he is coming back (5.7)
• coming is near (5.8)

Peter (a.d. <62)

• Christ suffered, sinless, bore our sins, did not revile (1 Peter 2.21-24)
• eyewitness of his majesty (transfiguration) (2 Peter 1.16-17)
• he is coming back (2 Peter 3.2-4)

Jude (?)

• slave of Jesus
• several mentions of him, but not historical, mostly future

Mark (a.d < 62)

• got his gospel from Peter
• miracles
• some sayings
• passion narrative
• resurrection stated
• Simon of Cyrene (Mark 15.21)…as if his audience knew Alexander and Rufus

Matthew (after Mark)

• eye-witness
• birth narrative
• extensive teachings
• miracles
• passion narrative
• resurrection appearances

Luke (after Mark)

• investigator, second hand
• birth narrative
• extensive teachings
• miracles
• lots of dinners
• passion narrative
• resurrection appearances
• ascension
• continuity with the church (Acts)

Hebrews (after 62 before 70)

• mostly theological concerned with making the point that Jesus is superior to angels, Moses, Aaron, etc. because he is priest after Melchizedek, better covenant, better promises, etc.
• Christ died (9.26; 10.12; 12.2)
• tempted yet sinless (4.15)
• made like his brethren in all things (2.17)

John (<a.d. 100)

• eye-witness
• pre-ministry miracle (wedding at Cana)
• miracles as signs
• attending festivals
• self-revelatory (“I am… statements)
• resurrection appreances

Flavius Josephus (a.d. 93)

• first non-Christian to write about Jesus
• Passage 1 (about James)
  • “but this younger Ananus, who, as we have told you already, took the high priesthood, was a bold man in his temper, and very insolent; he was also of the sect of the Sadducees, {a} who are very rigid in judging offenders, above all the rest of the Jews, as we have already observed; when, therefore, Ananus was of this disposition, he thought he had now a proper o

Apologetics 7: Evidence for the Resurrection

During this lecture, I played a video of William Lane Craig making a case for the historicity of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.  What’s so brilliant about Craig’s approach is that he doesn’t assume the bible is true to make his case.  He treats the Gospels and Paul’s letters as normal historical sources and uses the standard historiography of skeptics and atheists to establish this ancient miracle.  He employs the minimal facts strategy, arguing that (1) the honorable burial, (2) the empty tomb, (3) the appearances, and (4) the resurrection belief are agreed to by critical scholars.  Thus, the hypothesis, “God raised Jesus of Nazareth from the dead,” is the best historical explanation of facts.

If you would like to take this class for credit, please contact the Atlanta Bible College so you can register and do the necessary work for a grade.

Notes:

Four Historical Facts Agreed upon by Most Historical Jesus Scholars

1. Honorable Burial: Jesus was buried by Joseph Arimethea in a known grave

• attested by very old tradition in 1 Cor 15
  • uses technical rabbinic terminology for tradition
  • formulaic
  • Paul received this within 5 years of his crucifixion
• burial story is part of an old source used by Mark when he wrote
  • most of Mark is like pearls on a string, but once we get to the passion narrative it is smooth and chronological….which suggests that the passion narrative was from an actual written source
  • gospels don’t diverge until after the burial account
• as a member of the Sanhedrin, Joseph of Arimathea is unlikely to be a Christian invention
  • strong resentment toward Jewish leadership responsible for the execution of Jesus so it is highly improbable that Christians would invent that a member of the very court that condemned Christ would be the one to give him an honorable burial
• no competing burial story exists
  • no controversy over the issue
  • if it were false, we should expect to find some historical trace of what really happened

2. Empty Tomb: On Sunday after the crucifixion women found the empty tomb

• empty tomb is in pre-Markan passion source
  • Mark’s source did not end with burial but with empty tomb
• old tradition in 1 Cor 15 implies an empty tomb
  • “that he was buried and that he was raised” clearly implies an empty grave was left behind
• apostolic preaching in the book of Acts
• Mark’s story is simple and lacks signs of legendary embellishment
  • compare to Gospel of Peter (from 2nd half of 2nd century)…tomb is surrounded by Roman guard and by chief priests, Pharisees, and a huge crowd….suddenly during the night a voice rings out….three gigantic figures come out of the tomb with heads reaching to the sun….the cross comes out of the tomb and speaks
• women’s testimony was less trustworthy than men counts in favor of the women’s role in the discovery of the empty tomb
  • Josephus says, “due to the levity and temerity of their sex, women should not be allowed to serve as legal witnesses in a court of law”
  • any later legendary account would have made male disciples like Peter and John to be the first to discover the empty tomb
• earliest Jewish allegation that the disciples had stolen Jesus’ body presupposes that the body was in fact missing from the tomb

3. Appearances: on multiple occasions and under a variety of circumstances, individuals and groups of people experienced appearances of Jesus after his death

• list of eyewitnesses quoted by Paul in 1 Cor 15
  • Paul actually knew these people

Apologetics 8: More Evidence for the Resurrection

Because secular historians don’t accept the inspiration of the bible, they don’t trust the Gospels as reliable witnesses about Jesus. Consequently, they’ve come up with various “criteria of authenticity” to sift the sayings and deeds recorded in the Gospels into historical and mythical categories. Last time we saw how Jesus’ resurrection still passes with flying colors when employing such a skeptical approach. This time we’ll discuss another historical consideration under the able guidance of N. T. Wright. He enumerates seven mutations within Judaism that cry out for an explanation. In the end, history seems to have a hole in it about the size and shape of an actual resurrection. The most plausible explanation is that God really did intervene in the middle of history and perform a miracle.

If you would like to take this class for credit, please contact the Atlanta Bible College so you can register and do the necessary work for a grade.

Notes:

Criteria secular historians use to determine authenticity:

1. multiple attestation: the more independent witnesses the better
2. dissimilarity: if something is dissimilar from Jewish historical context and later Christian tradition it is more likely to be historical
3. embarrassment: if something would have been embarrassing it is more likely to be historical (i.e. disciples not getting what Jesus is saying, Peter cutting ear off,
4. aramaisms: sayings that align with Aramaic: “straining out the gnat (galma) and swallowing a camel (gamla)”
5. coherence to Jewish context
6. coherence to early Christian tradition
7. coherence with other authentic material
8. anachronism

Two indisputable facts about Jesus (according to Paula Fredriksen)

1. Jesus died by crucifixion
   • attested by Paul, Gospels, Tacitus, Josephus
   • Romans were involved w/ his death
2. None of Jesus’ followers were crucified with Jesus
   • pulls in the opposite direction

Jesus as apocalypticist (Ehrman, Fredriksen, Sanders, etc.)

• Fredriksen, “w/o apocalyptic framework a conviction of resurrection is incoherent”

N.T. Wright has articulated seven mutations from the Jewish understanding of resurrection in the early Christian communities which cry out for an explanation. It turns out that the explanation of the missing event which would make sense of these mutations takes the exact shape of a grave-emptying bodily resurrection. His seven mutations are as follows:

1. Though the early Christians came from a variety of backgrounds there was virtually no spectrum of belief about what resurrection meant to the early Christians. In Judaism there were quite a few different views, that of the Pharisees, that of the Sadducees, that of Philo, and so on. However, the Christians leave no room for speculation as to what resurrection means and what it looks like.
2. Resurrection has moved from a peripheral idea to the central focus of the early Christian community. The word “resurrection” appears 43x in NT as opposed to none in the OT.
3. In Judaism it is often rather vague regarding what sort of body the resurrected will possess but in Christianity there is unanimous agreement that the body will be a transformed physical body which will use up the matter of the old body though it will itself also possess new properties.
4. The Christians saw The Resurrection as having been split into (at least) two stages—first Messiah is raised and then the rest at his return.
5. The resurrection means that God’s future (the resurrection is always seen in the OT as an end times event) has arrived early in the person of Jesus. This means that now his followers are i

Here’s the original paper in pdf form.

I presented this talk at the 18th Theological Conference held near Atlanta, GA.  In it I present a case for the radical practice of loving our enemies.  Whether you believe Christians can and should use violence to defend themselves or others or if you think more along the lines of Christian pacifism, this talk will familiarize you with the main reasons why some Christians hold to nonviolence.  Essentially, my case finds its roots in taking Jesus’ command “love your enemies” literally along with the apostles instructions to never return evil for evil.  My case is couched in proleptic ethics such that Christians are now, even before the kingdom arrives in all of its magnificent glory, embodying the kingdom in whatever ways we can.  In other words, I believe God calls us to live the way we will live then now as a testimony of what is to come.  Lastly, I tackle the issue of early Christian history and demonstrate that the writings we have from the first few centuries testify that the church was nonviolent.  Please do not judge my position on this as liberal or cowardly (the two most common charges), but realize that I’m basing my beliefs on the testimony of scripture and that it takes a heck of a lot more courage to love one’s enemy than merely reciprocate violently.

Below is the paper that went with this presentation along with a detailed set of responses to common objections.

Introduction

Is it right for Christians to volunteer in the United States’ military?[1] Should followers of Jesus join the police force? Can one who has been redeemed find employment as a security guard? Should disciples keep a loaded gun in the house in case an intruder enters? Is there ever a time when violence is justified? These questions and many like them, for Christians, center on whether or not we interpret the New Testament teachings to prohibit violence or permit it. This work seeks to provide a clear biblical theology for this critical subject.[2] From the title it is clear that my perspective falls on the side of those who see Jesus and the Apostles as teaching something new—the idea of nonviolent enemy love.

Now, I realize that the moment I suggest that violence is wrong for Christians, a whole slew of questions and “what ifs” come to mind. Let me start by saying that these types of questions have good answers and we have collected a number of answers to difficult questions on our website.[3] However, it would not be prudent to handle all of the “objections” prior to laying out the case for nonviolence biblically, logically, and historically. Therefore, it is my intention to present both the clear biblical teaching on this subject and the theological framework into which this teaching fits.

Though adherents to nonviolence are still unquestionably in the minority, as of late more and more leaders from non-Anabaptist[4] traditions are beginning to speak up. As I have researched this subject, in an effort to gain answers to the tough questions that face Christian pacifism, I have been surprised to find how central kingdom of God theology is to this topic.[5] It’s as if one cannot talk about nonviolence without talking about the kingdom. But, what is it about the kingdom of God that inspires peace-making rather than war-making? In order to see how Jesus understood and applied the kingdom of God theology to his life and ministry, we need to first look at how the kingdom was understood in the Hebrew Bible.

The Kingdom of God in the Hebrew Bible

Thou

Apologetics 9: Old Testament Transmission

What reasons do we have for believing the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) was reliable transmitted from antiquity to today? This lecture provides four arguments: (1) Jewish scribes were competent, (2) people memorized large portions of the text, (3) the consequences for false prophecy, and (4) the Dead Sea Scrolls function as a time capsule. The Old Testament is excellently preserved, especially in comparison to other ancient texts.

If you would like to take this class for credit, please contact the Atlanta Bible College so you can register and do the necessary work for a grade.

Notes:

Introduction

1. Circular reasoning: Why do you believe that there is a God->the Bible says so->How do you know that the Bible is true?->God wrote it
2. This is the fundamental question of Christianity: “Anyone who knows the content of the Bible knows that its reliability is the single most important question in the history of humanity.” (Can You Trust the Bible by Ralph Muncaster, p. 4)
3. Remember 1Peter 3.15
4. Question:=>Too many translations, how do you know which is right? The Bible was written in Greek, translated to Aramaic then to Latin then to German and then to English. Answer:=>We have more than 5,000 manuscripts extant today and there are several million people who speak the original language. We do not depend on a translation. (Pass around the Hebrew and Greek Bibles) a. OT written in Hebrew b. NT written in Greek

OT Manuscript Tradition

• manuscripts (hand written)
• Hebrew
  • Aleppo Codex (a.d. 920)
  • Leningrad Codex (a.d. 1009)
  • Dead Sea Scrolls (250 b.c. to a.d. 70)
• early translations
  • Aramaic
  • Targum (5th c. a.d.)
  • Samaritan
  • Samaritan Pentateuch (11th c. a.d.)
  • Syriac
  • Peshitta (5th c. a.d.)
• Greek
  • Septuagint (fragments from 2nd c. bc, complete from 4th c. a.d.)
  • Theodotion, Aquilla, Symachus (before 3rd c.) (extant?)
• Coptic
  • Crosby-Schoyen Codex (3/4th c. a.d.)
• Latin
  • Codex Amiatinus (5th c. a.d.)
• critical editions
  • Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia
    • based mostly on Leningrad Codex but with variants from other sources as well
    • last updated1997
  • Biblia Hebraica Quinta
    • incorporates Dead Sea Scrolls
    • 20 volumes
    • partially published since 2004, to be completed in 2015
  • Oxford Hebrew Bible Project
    • extensive critical edition underway at Berkeley, California

Scribal Argument

• Only master scrolls were used for duplication
• Scribes were highly trained (noble profession)
• Held in training until age 30
• Ceremonial washing before copying Scripture
• Any time the name of God was written a sanctification prayer was said. (6,824 times in the NASB)
• Memorization was a problem so they visually confirmed the letters one by one
• Each letter was counted and compared to master
• Each word was counted and compared to master
• The middle letter in each scroll was located and compared to the master
• If there is one mistake, the scroll was discarded
• Scrolls are buried ceremonial when they wear out

Memorization argument

• Object Lesson: driving laws
  1. What do you do when school bus stops and you are driving towards it?
  2. What do you do at a stop sign? Yield sign? Green, yellow, & red lights?
  3. What do you do at a four way stop?
  4. What is the cell phone law?
  5. Why do you have all of t

Apologetics 10: Old Testament Trustworthiness

Last time we looked as reasons to believe the Jewish scribes reliably transmitted the Old Testament so that what we have today is what they actually wrote. This time you’ll learn five main reasons why we believe the Hebrew bible is true: (1) archaeology, (2) medical insights, (3) unflattering honesty, (4) predictive prophecy, and (5) martyrdom. Although some of these are stronger than others, cumulatively they establish the veracity of scripture quite convincingly.

If you would like to take this class for credit, please contact the Atlanta Bible College so you can register and do the necessary work for a grade.

Notes:

Five reasons to believe the bible is true:

1. archeology
2. medical insights
3. brutal honesty
4. predictive prophecy
5. martyrdom

Reason #1: Archeology Supports the Bible

• Archeology is a soft science based on hard evidence. The clay pot is hard evidence but when it is dated and what it means are based on interpretation. The longer that archeology exists the more detail we get on antiquity
• Why would the author take the time to report so many things accurately and then make up a story in between?
• Many times when Israel had conflict with other nations we can look in the secular history and find corroborative evidence of the event
• Sennacherib’s Prism
• chart on pp. 140-141 in Building Belief

Reason #2: Miraculous Medical Accuracy

• Leviticus continues incredible medical insights far ahead of its time
• http://www.apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=13&article=2024&topic=102
• 8th day circumcision http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=13&article=1118

Reason #3: Brutal Honesty

• If they made it up, why would they paint themselves so true to life (moles and all)? Consider the heroes of faith and their recorded failures:
• Noah gets drunk (Genesis 9.20-24)
• Abraham is deceptive about Sarah (Genesis 12.19; 20.5)
• Moses disobeys and speaks presumptuously (Numbers 20.7-12)
• David’s sin with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11.1-27)

Reason #4: Predictive Prophesy

• Prophecy is an objectively testable criterion that could prove the bible true or false. Objective is true no matter who believes it; Subjective is true depending on how it is perceived. Amazingly, the bible repeatedly predicts historical events before they happen! This is the strongest argument for the bible being true because it is testable. The bible is made falsifiable by predictive prophecy.
• Some allege that it is easy to predict the future.
  • Try predicting the weather, stock market, gambling, lottery ticket (and don’t forget that if you are wrong once, then you are stoned to death!)
  • Nostradamus made extremely vague prophecies. For more information on what he prophesied and how it has to be twisted in order to fit modern events see EvangelicalOutreach.org/nostradamus.htm
  • “Jeane Dixon’s supposed “prediction” about John F. Kennedy’s election and assassination. In reality, her prediction in Parade magazine in 1956 said that “a Democrat” would win the election and would “die in office.” This was far less specific than predicting “John F. Kennedy would be assassinated,” as some later retold the “prophecy.” Just how amazing was this prediction?”
    • Let’s figure out the odds here: Dem

Apologetics 11: New Testament Transmission

With the New Testament we can’t argue for a reliable transmission on the basis of meticulous Hebrew scribes. More often, especially early on, the Christian scribes focused more on quantity than quality so they could get the word out as quickly as possible. However, the sheer number of manuscripts that survived and the relatively early date of several ensure that we can employ a range of strategies to recover the original text with 99.5% accuracy. In fact, when we compare the New Testament to other ancient literature it is almost embarrassing how much better it is than the others.

If you would like to take this class for credit, please contact the Atlanta Bible College so you can register and do the necessary work for a grade.

Notes:

How To Determine Reliable Transmission

• Two factors that need to be tested to prove reliability
  • number of copies
  • time span between extant copy and autograph
• extant means the existing copy
• autograph means what was originally written

A Wealth of Manuscripts

• extant means currently in existence
• Uncial manuscripts
  • all-capital Greek letters
  • 306 manuscripts dating to as early as the third century (200’s ad)
  • Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus (both date to around ad350
  • about 250 years between the completion of the NT and the first full copies of it
• Minuscule
  • Cursive writing emerged in ad 800
  • 2,856 manuscripts
• Lectionaries
  • Contain NT Scripture in the sequence that it was to be read in the early churches at appropriate times of the year
  • 2,403 manuscripts
• Total Greek Manuscripts = 306 + 2856 + 2403 = 5,565 currently (according to Bruce Metzger)
• Also there are ancient translations
  • Approximately 10,000 copies of the Latin Vulgate
  • 9,300 copies in Ethiopic, Syriac, and Aramaic.
• Grand Total = over 24,000 manuscripts
• critical editions
  • NA28  \ all modern translations for the NT are based on one of these
  • UBS4 /
  • Stephanus[1] (KJV was translated from Stephanus) see footnote and next page
    • originated from Erasmus’ 1516 critical edition and complutensian polyglot of 1522
    • based on 20 to 25 mss, mostly medieval 8th c. or later
  • notable differences
    • Comma Johanneum
    • two later additions that still appear in our Bibles are Adulteress woman and long ending of Mark
• resources
  • Bruce Metzger’s A Textual Commentary of the Greek New Testament
  • NET Bible
• Translations
  • major strategies
    • formal equivalence (word for word)
    • dynamic equivalence (thought for thought)
  • translations using outdated Greek manuscripts
    • KJV, NKJV, YLT, ASV, Amplified
  • range of Bibles from most literal to least
    • NASB
    • HCSB
    • ESV
    • NRSV
    • NET
    • NAB
    • NJB
    • NIV
    • NCB
    • GNB
    • CEV
    • NLT
    • Living
    • Message

Time Between Autograph and Extant Manuscript

• see chart on pp. 142-143 in Building Belief
• The John Rylands papyri manuscript found in Egypt, which is a small portion of the Gospel of John, is dated from ad 117-138. This means that we have a manuscript within nearly 30 years of the autograph. (Only 30 years between Gospel of John and P52 – John Ryland’s Papyrus)

Variants between Manuscripts

• If we

Apologetics 13: Problem of Evil (Objection 1)

Now that we’ve established the existence of God, the historicity of Christ’s resurrection, and the bible’s veracity, we come to objections commonly brought against Christianity. The chief classical question posed to Christians throughout the eons is, “How can you believe in God when there is so much pain and suffering in the world?” Thankfully, the bible provides a range of answers to that question though, it’s not always clear which answer applies to a given situation.  In what follows I address the logical argument against God’s existence before going on to cover 6 major reasons why God allows suffering, including: (1) the Fall, (2) the devil, (3) God’s judgments, (4) using suffering for good, (5) lack of faith, and (6) time and chance.  Lastly, I explore some of what the scriptures teach us about dealing with suffering.

If you would like to take this class for credit, please contact the Atlanta Bible College so you can register and do the necessary work for a grade.

Notes:

This is a serious problem

• I don’t have the problem of evil totally figured out, however this is the way I understand it right now. Your thoughts, doubts, and comments are appreciated.
• “The problem of evil is the most serious problem in the world. It is also the one serious objection to the existence of God. More people have abandoned their faith because of the problem of evil than for any other reason. It is certainly the greatest test of faith, the greatest temptation to unbelief. And it’s not just an intellectual objection. We feel it. We live it.” –Peter Kreeft[1]

outline

1. show how this objection fails to disprove God’s existence
2. explore reasons why God allows evil
3. consider how to deal with suffering

1. How the POE Fails to Disprove God’s Existence

The problem stated and some possible solutions

• the problem of evil is “If there is a God then why is there so much pain and suffering?”
• Proof against God’s existence
  • God is all-loving
  • God is all-powerful
  • Evil exists
  • \There is no God

Some suggested solutions

• God is not all loving: He really can stop all evil but he doesn’t care enough about our puny lives to put forth the effort.
  • he is distant (deists)
  • hard predestination (you’re a worthless maggot to whom God owes nothing)
  • molinism (God’s arranged the proper amount of suffering to maximize the number who would freely choose him)
    • his focus is not on individual but the group (utilitarian)
  • God is not all-powerful:
    • Harold Kuschner: “God does not reach down to interrupt the workings of laws of nature to protect the righteous from harm. This is a second area of our world which causes bad things to happen to good people, and God does not cause it and cannot stop it”[2]

reformulating the proof

• proof
  • God is all-loving
  • God is all-powerful
  • evil (still) exists
  • God has not eliminated evil yet
• can’t prove God doesn’t have some reason(s) for allowing evil
  • a world w/ minimal suffering might not be best from God’s perspective
  • a world w/ constant gratuitous evil would probably crush people’s faith
  • a world w/ lots of suffering, lots of beauty, lots of kindness would probably maximize the number of people who turn to God and freely choose to put their faith in him

evil points to a source of evil

• shouldn’t presume the absence of a source of good<

Apologetics 12: New Testament Trustworthiness

For the New Testament we can employ several of the same lines of reasoning as the Old Testament, though there are a couple more to consider like internal evidence and messianic prophecies that help bolster the case. Furthermore, many people’s lives have been changed by reading and believing the words of the New Testament. No other book has such a legacy for radical life transformation.

If you would like to take this class for credit, please contact the Atlanta Bible College so you can register and do the necessary work for a grade.

Notes:

Reason #1: Archeology Supports the Bible

• Handout from Skeptics Search for God pages 227 to 234
• Handout from Case for Christ pages 92-99
• Building Belief, pages 145-146
• In Defense of the Bible ed. by Cowan and Wilder pages 236-239

Reason #2: Unflattering Honesty

• Consider the heroes of faith and their recorded failures:
• If they made it up, why would they paint themselves so true to life (moles and all)?
• Peter’s denials (Matthew 26.69-74)
• Paul’s persecution of the church (Acts 8.1-3)
• All of this is evidence that the Bible is legitimate—it honestly chronicles what happened. And if we can trust it when people would be inclined to change it for the sake of embarrassment, we can certainly trust it on matters such as the kingdom and the crucifixion/resurrection of Christ.

Reason #3: Changed Lives

• There is an old story about an atheist who challenged a Christian to a debate. The Christian responded, if you can provide me with one person who has been delivered from alcoholism, drug addictions, sexual perversion, violence, or another significant vice by atheism then I will debate you. And I will bring a dozen who have drastically changed as a direct result of their belief in the Bible.

Reason #4: Preservation

• Antiochus Epiphanes tried to destroy the Hebrew bible and Jewish practices
• The Roman Emperor Diocletian, following an edict in ad 303, attempted to destroy every New Testament
• 25 years after Diocletian, the next emperor, Constantine, paid for 50 more bibles to be copied
• Voltaire (18th century) predicted within a hundred years the bible would be gone, but 50 years after he died, the Geneva Bible Society used his house and printing press to produce many more bibles
• Today the bible is available in more languages than any other book (over 500)
• This reason alone does not prove the bible is true, but it coheres with the idea.  In other words, if the bible were from God, we would expect he would have his hand on it to preserve it throughout the centuries

Reason #5: Internal Evidence

1. What sort of books are the Gospels?
2. What did the writers think they were doing?
3. Luke 1.1-4; 2 Peter 1.16; 1 Corinthians 15.6
4. they claim to have reported historical facts accurately

Reason #6: Messianic Prophesies

• Ralph Muncaster has calculated the odds of 118 non-messianic historical prophecies being true to be 1 chance in 10118. Thus it is more likely that the Bible is true than this pen will hit the floor when I drop it! In other words, to not believe in the Bible is more suicidal than to jump off a cliff and think that the law of gravity will not take effect!
• Promise to Abraham
  1. (Genesis 12:3, 18:18, 22:18)
  2. (Acts 3:25-26)
• Prophet like Moses
  1. (Deuteronomy 18:15-19)
  2. (Acts 3:22-23, John 1:43-49, 6:13-14)
• Raised from the dead
  1. (Psalm 16:10)
  2. (Acts 13:33-37

Picking up where we left off last week, we continue discussing the Christian work ethic and, in particular, delve into Max Weber’s “Protestant work ethic” hypothesis.  Next Rose shares about her own career path, including graduating with a 4.0 in graphic design and her two year struggle to find a career job.  After that, we looked at three criteria for honorable work:

1. Does your job require you to sin?
2. Are you contributing to something that causes harm?
3. Is it dishonest work?

If you can say, “No,” to each of these, then you’re in good shape.  However, considering that the most common jobs in America are retail salespersons, cashiers, food preparers, and office clerks, all of which pay well under the mean wage, how should a Christian feel about such work?  We talk about how we have to be careful to find our identity in Christ rather than in our job, no matter how well or poorly it pays.  Drawing on the work of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi we talked about ideal jobs that produce enjoyment, enable a team mindset, and better our world.  Last of all, we addressed how we as Christians should think about unemployment.

Apologetics 14: Science (Objection 2)

Although our culture commonly pits science and faith against each other, as if they’ve been at war for centuries, the truth is that faith gave birth to science.  In this lecture, you’ll learn about some of the main science objections that skeptics bring against Christianity and how to respond to them.

If you would like to take this class for credit, please contact the Atlanta Bible College so you can register and do the necessary work for a grade.

Notes:

Why Isn’t God’s Existence Obvious?

• no scientific test you can use to prove God’s existence
• “Confronted with the Almighty, [Bertrand Russell] would ask, ‘Sir, why did you not give me better evidence?'”[1]
• Isaiah 45.15 talks about the hiddenness of God
• Dembski’s point in In Defense of the Bible ch 14 is that
  • God is hidden enough not to coerce belief
  • God is visible enough to be found by those who seek him
  • “This seems to be the pattern in God’s revelation of himself: provide enough evidence to convince those who are honestly seeking truth but not so much evidence as to force belief on those who prefer to believe a lie.”[2]

Theists Pioneered Most Branches of Science

• belief in God led to
  • belief in rational universe
  • belief that external world cohered w/ our observation/perception
  • belief that God used stable physical laws
  • belief that studying creation was a good b/c it indirectly extolled the Creator
• Copernicus, Kepler, Newton, James Clerk Maxwell

“To know the mighty works of God, to comprehend His wisdom and majesty and power; to appreciate, in degree, the wonderful workings of His laws, surely all this must be a pleasing and acceptable mode of worship to the Most High, to whom ignorance cannot be more grateful than knowledge.” –Nicolaus Copernicus, the mathematician and astronomer (1473-1543) who formulated a heliocentric model of the universe

“…Those laws are within the grasp of the human mind. God wanted us to recognize them by creating us after his own image so that we could share in his own thoughts.”  –Johannes Kepler, the German mathematician and astronomer who discovered the laws of planetary motion

“If you study science deep enough and long enough, it will force you to believe in God.”  —Lord William Kelvin, who was noted for his theoretical work on thermodynamics, the concept of absolute zero and the Kelvin temperature scale based upon it.

“In the absence of any other proof, the thumb alone would convince me of God’s existence.” “I have a fundamental belief in the Bible as the Word of God, written by those who were inspired. I study the Bible daily.”—Sir Isaac Newton, who is widely regarded to have been the greatest scientist the world has ever produced.

“There can never be any real opposition between religion and science; for the one is the complement of the other. Every serious and reflective person realizes, I think, that the religious element in his nature must be recognized and cultivated if all the powers of the human soul are to act together in perfect balance and harmony. And indeed it was not by accident that the greatest thinkers of all ages were deeply religious souls.”  —Max Planck, the Nobel Prize winning physicist considered to be the founder of quantum theory, and one of the most important physicists of the 20th century, indeed of all time.

“The gift of mental power comes from God, Divine Being, and if we concentrate our minds on that truth, we become in tune with this great power.”  –Nikola Tesla, the inventor and futurist scientist known for nume

Apologetics 15: Gender and Sexual Ethics (Objection 3)

This lecture covers some basic Christian sexual ethics, including marriage, divorce, pornography, homosexuality, cohabitation, and adultery.  Sadly, since this was the last lecture, time did not permit a thorough analysis of these subjects.  Even so, I touched on each briefly and biblically in an effort to stake out a Christian position on each and give some evidence to equip you to give an answer to those who critique us.

If you would like to take this class for credit, please contact the Atlanta Bible College so you can register and do the necessary work for a grade.

Notes:

on all of these controversial issues

• comes down to whether or not the bible is true and authoritative
• how to interpret the bible
• statistics of success/failure
• reason from creation (again depends on scripture)
• remember Satan is working on culture to make it hard to understand the gospel (Mt 13.19) and to blind people’s eyes from seeing it (2 Cor 4.4)

Marriage

• live together before marriage
• divorce of you don’t get along
• God invented sex for marriage
  • who do you think designed our genitals, packing them with a ridiculous concentration of erotogenic nerve endings?
  • God’s vision of the world included: naked vegetarians living in a garden making lots of babies
  • God proclaimed the first two people married (Gen 2.23-24)
• Jesus speaks on divorce & remarriage
  • “whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery” (Mt 19.3-9)
• Paul speaks on singleness vs. marriage (1 Cor 7.1-17)
  • good to be single
  • wife does not have authority over her own body..husband does not…
  • don’t deprive each other of sex except for a time of prayer otherwise Satan will tempt you b/c of your lack of self-control
  • remain single
  • better to marry than burn (with passion)
  • Lord says: wife should not separate from her husband
    • if she does anyhow, she should remain unmarried
    • or be reconciled to her husband
  • if spouse is unbeliever, don’t divorce him/her
    • spouse is made holy by believer (and kids too)
  • if unbelieving spouse separates, let it happen
  • marriage represents relationship between Christ and the church (Eph 5.31-33)

three views of marriage

• western: it’s good so long as I’m happy or at least not miserable
  • the individual is at the center of the western cultural view towards marriage
• traditional: it’s good so long as it helps the family/clan
• biblical: my marriage is a living illustration of Christ and the church

Sex Outside of Marriage

God designed sex for marriage in the beginning. Thus, sex within marriage is godly and holy and enjoyable and not shameful.

• problem is when someone takes sex out of this boundary
• it’s like a nuclear reactor
  • so long as it is contained behind a lead barrier
  • w/ plenty of cooling systems functioning
  • all is well and this immensely powerful reaction does good
  • but take it out from that protected system and you have Fukushima or Chernobyl

Jesus on sexual purity

• Mat 5.8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
• Mat 5.27-30
  • don’t look at a woman w/ lustful intent
  • same as committing act of adultery
  • need to be extreme here (gouge out eye, cut off hand): he’s really talking about lust!

Paul on purity

1 Thessalonians 4.3-8 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you

by Paris Reidhead

One of the most famous classic sermons of all time, Paris Reidhead’s “Ten Shekels and a Shirt” calls into question why you serve God?  From his account of missionary work to his observations of historic Christian preaching to other movements occurring in his own day, Reidhead weaves together an inspiring and very convicting message relevant in any age.  Are you a Christian because of what God will do for you or do you serve him because he is deserves it?  Learn about the pervasive and subtle influence of humanism as well as the cure to such a blight.

This is now our third and last episode in our series on work.  We’ve talked about the Christian work ethic and honorable work (i.e., what sorts of jobs Christians should shoot for as well as avoid) and now today we are talking about work’s opposite: rest.  This is a really important topic to consider.  Listen in to the discussion with Sean Finnegan, Rose Rider, and Sean Kelly as we talk about the crazy pace of American life today as well as why we need to take breaks each day, each week, and each year.  What is the Sabbath?  Should Christians keep the Sabbath?  How can we lead balanced lives?

Today Hugh Knowlton joins Restitutio to talk about how to handle important doctrinal differences with other Christians.  So often such intra-Christian discussions generate more heat than light.  Does that mean we should all just ignore our differences, forcing smiles and hoping that no one peers beneath our thin veneer of unity?  Or should we charge headlong like a bull at the matador, eager to present our case and defeat all objections whatever the cost?  This interview will help you strike the balance between empathy and courage as Knowlton shows how he stood up for his monotheistic beliefs in a gracious way that refused to forsake kindness while disagreeing on a core issue.  In the course of the interview, Knowlton addresses five main questions from a biblical unitarian point of view:

1. Based on John 1.1, do you believe that Jesus is eternal?
2. Do you believe that Jesus is the creator?
3. Does Isaiah 9.6 refer to Jesus when it calls him “God” and “eternal?”
4. Why does Jesus receive worship if He is not God?
5. If you do not believe that Jesus is God, who is he?

Here is the text of the letter he sent:

Dear Ben,

As I have mentioned I don’t come from a traditional Trinitarian background and as a result, I have a different paradigm or way of thinking in regards to the relationship of God and His son, Jesus. Even though there is a difference I sincerely pray that what I believe will not bring offense or cause you to think that I am diminishing the Son if I believe, as I do, that he is not exactly the same (identical) as the Father.

You will surely agree that Christology is a massive subject! I don’t consider myself a theologian or a master on this subject but do enjoy studying it occasionally; more so during the last several years when I have been attending an orthodox church where the Trinity is not questioned and alternative beliefs as to who Christ is are not generally welcomed. I am not out to change the Christian world to my beliefs but do like to do “a check up from the neck up” to see if what I hold true still makes sense or whether I need to consider changes.

By fellowshipping with men like you, Larry and many others at PBC I have grown in my respect and understanding of your mindset and beliefs. It is good to gain understanding even if it does not end up with agreement on all points.

Before I address your questions I want to say that my answers are, in my estimation, more of a summary of what I believe; they are certainly incomplete and are not as full an explanation with all the reasoning, historical evidence and scriptural support that I would like to include. I think that would take writing a book, which I want to avoid! I am sure more questions will be raised and if we want to continue a dialog, either in person or by email, we can both share more.

In your email below you express a concern about ‘agreeing on His nature’. I don’t see a similar concern shared by Jesus, Paul, John or the other writers in the New Testament. I am not saying the concern does not exist but I don’t recall scriptures that place an abundant emphasis on it other than what I read in Math 16:13-17 where Jesus asks his disciples ‘Who do you say that I am?’ and Peter’s reply ‘You are the Christ (the Messiah), the son of the living God’. I think this is a great start for having common ground.

And this is where I would like to start by addressing your last question as who I think Jesus is. I believe him to be the son of God, the Christ, the Messiah, the promised seed, my redeemer and savior, the image of the invisible God, the first born of all creation, the resurrection, the way, the truth and the life, the bread of life, the living Word of God, He declared the Father and reveals

What does the bible teach about forgiveness?  Is it optional or mandatory?  Are Christians allowed to hold grudges?  Do we only have to forgive if someone apologizes?  Join us as we discuss four reasons why you should forgive: (1) if we don’t forgive others, God won’t forgive us; (2) forgiving others makes sense in light of how much God forgave us; (3) forgiveness offers an opportunity to testify; (4) forgiving is better for your health.  Forgiving others is simple but far from easy.  Even so, it’s something we need to become good at doing.

by Sean Finnegan

According to Jesus no one should call him “Lord” if he or she does not do what he says.  In other words, Christ says he wants followers not merely believers.  Although hippie Jesus, one-and-done Jesus, American Jesus, prosperity Jesus, poverty Jesus, and part-time Jesus all vie for all attention, we encounter the real Jesus in the Gospels, which have confidence in today because of the massive number of manuscripts that have survived from antiquity.  Following Jesus has massive benefits as well, including eternal life, forgiveness of sins, life transformation, and ultimate meaning for your life.  The reasons not to follow Jesus pale in comparison.  As a result, doesn’t it make sense to take the next step, to confess Jesus as Lord and begin following his teachings?

Two requirements of Christianity

1. Believe gospel
2. Follow Jesus

What it means to follow Jesus

1. Calling Jesus “Lord” means doing what he says (Luke 6:46-49)
2. Resisting the temptation to fashion a Jesus to suit our desires
3. Getting at the real Jesus through Scripture

Reasons to follow Jesus

1. Eternal life (Matthew 19:27-30)
2. Forgiveness (Ephesians 1:7-8)
3. Transformation (Matthew 11:28-30)

Reasons not to follow Jesus

1. Too much commitment
2. Don’t want to be called a Jesus freak
3. Don’t believe it is true

Taking the next step

Some say faith-healing is a charade, concocted by charlatans to build their empires on the backs of the afflicted and suffering.  Others think that Christians who reject healing contradict what Jesus said and did, preferring the comfort of tradition instead of unleashing God’s mighty power.  What do you believe about supernatural healing?  Listen in to this interview with Bill and Ann DeNenno to hear what they’ve learned in four decades of pursuing and practicing healing.  In this interview they discuss the benefits of keeping an open mind so that you can learn from others outside your own tradition.  They go on to talk about deliverance (casting out demons), including both some of the excesses they witnessed as well as the genuine results they’ve encountered.  Next they explain inner healing and how God can set us free from emotional wounds that happened long ago, but still push us around today.  Lastly, they share about Christ-centered healing, where they look to Christ as both the example and the active agent in healing today. You can contact the DeNennos directly via email at bdenenno@gmail.com.

Brian and Rochelle Allen of Vermont share their journey of faith, including how they became discontent with the traditional evangelical doctrines they grew up believing.  In this interview they discuss how recontextualizing the bible in its Hebrew thought-world opened their eyes to understand Jesus so much better.  He is the Jewish Messiah sent to redeem Israel, not an eternally generated, second-person of a metaphysical Trinity.  In addition, they discuss how they studied their way out of the rapture ideology, popularized by the Left Behind book series.  I think you’ll find their story intriguing and heartfelt, but even more compelling is their intellectual humility.  This husband and wife team is a true example of what it means to be a Berean in the 21st century.

What standards should Christians have when it comes to entertainment?  Can the bible offer any guidance for such a modern issue?  Every day shows, movies, books, and songs bombard us with all kinds of ideas and depictions that constantly nudge us in different directions.  Although, we like to think of ourselves as impervious to the subtle effects of violent movies, sex scenes, foul language, and so on, the truth is we are more like sponges than stones.  This is an important topic worthy of your consideration.

Steve Gregg vs. Tom Morris

Once you become saved can you lose your salvation?  Listen to this debate to hear both sides of this important question.  Admittedly, the debate does seem to be a bit of a mismatch, since Gregg is extremely well prepared and Morris could not answer many of Gregg’s points.  Even so, this debate showcases what scriptures those of us who believe in Conditional Salvation use to make our case as well as how to respond to at least some of the stereotypical texts that eternal security proponents employ to justify their position.  Overall the debate is cordial and worth your time.

In this interview with philosopher Dr. Dale Tuggy, I ask him questions about his personal spiritual journey.  Dr. Tuggy is an analytic philosopher who works on world religions and the doctrine of the Trinity.  He’s a tenured professor of philosophy at the State University of New York at Fredonia.  Furthermore, he runs a popular website called trinities.org where he blogs and hosts a podcast of the same name.  Dr. Tuggy also wrote the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article on the Trinity, an excellent read, including a very informative supplemental reading called “unitarianism.”  In what follows I interview Dr. Tuggy about his own journey of faith, including how he became a Christian, what got him into philosophy, how he came to doubt the traditional doctrine of the trinity, and where he sees the future of the biblical unitarian movement going.

To get in touch with Professor Tuggy, visit Trinities.org or his personal bio page.  Also, you can subscribe to his podcast on iTunes or Google Play and follow him Youtube.

In my previous interview with Professor Dale Tuggy, we discussed his journey of faith.  In this conversation I ask him to discuss logical and biblical problems with the Trinity.  This is a higher level conversation, but well worth the listen if you are at all curious about the Trinity or are interesting in hearing how analytic philosophers approach complex doctrines.

For more about Professor Tuggy and his work, including his amazing podcast, visit trinities.org.

Horror movies inspire fear, causing our hearts to beat faster and our adrenaline to flow.  Their monsters, murder, and jump scares have won them a dedicated following.  In this episode, we discuss whether Christians have any business watching horror movies.  We talk about where to draw the line and what exactly is problematic about this genre.  Furthermore, we talk about haunted houses and the idea of using such fear tactics to win people to the Lord.  Whether you love horror or hate it, this episode should help you to think through this issue from a biblical perspective.

by Sean Finnegan

What happens when people die?  In this sermon I mention show the biblical “evidence” for heaven, hell, purgatory, ghosts, and reincarnation before revealing the overwhelming number of texts supporting the sleep of the dead.  Focusing on John’s Gospel, I establish that (1) the dead are in their tombs asleep until they hear Christ’s voice to awaken in resurrection, (2) that resurrection will not occur until the last day, (3) that Jesus called Lazarus “asleep” when he was really talking about him being dead, and (4) that Mary was looking for Jesus not merely his body when she discovered the empty tomb.  In the end we must ask ourselves, “Why should there be a resurrection of the dead if no one is really dead?”

I used a prezi for this sermon, which you can access here.

Acts 17:11

Bereans are not only noble-minded but courageous as well. They did not immediately accept Paul’s message about Jesus, nor did they reject it out of hand. They listened; then they checked it against the Scriptures to see if it was valid.

What Happens at Death?

1. Heaven (stare at God, become a star, become an angel, watch over relatives)
2. Hell (tortured in a fire forever)
3. Purgatory (tortured in a fire until sins are purged)
4. Ghosts (live on earth among us without a body, possibly able to interact or possess)
5. Reincarnation (at death, one’s memory is wiped, and they are reborn)
6. Sleep (unconscious but able to be resurrected)
7. Gone (their thoughts, feelings, experiences, etc. are gone forever)

As Christians, we can test ideas to see which are correct by a standard − the Bible.

John 5:26-29

The dead are in their tombs asleep. However, when they hear his voice, they will awaken. This is resurrection.

John 6:38-44, 54

Four times over, Jesus clearly teaches that he will raise the dead on the last day, not the day of their death.

John 11:11-27, 43-44

When Jesus spoke of Lazarus’ death, he said he was asleep and that he was going to awaken him, and yet he was really talking about death and resurrection. Did Jesus tear Lazarus away from bliss in heaven to return to this old earth? No, he brought him back to life—woke him up!

John 20:11-18

Mary looked for Jesus, not merely his body. Jesus clearly says he had not gone to the Father in death. If Jesus did not go to heaven at death, then why should we think we will?

Why should there be a resurrection of the dead if no one is really dead?

Halloween comes from the ancient Gaelic festival of Samhain when the Celts believed the boundary between our world and the spirit world grew thin, allowing spirits, fairies, and disembodied souls to enter our realm. Consequently, they employed several strategies to appease and misdirect these nefarious ghosts from messing with them. However, in our secular age, most Americans who participate in Halloween neither believe in this ancient mythology nor are they even aware of it when they dress their children in costumes and ring doorbells for free candy. What’s a Christian to do? On one end, the purists refuse to participate and put signs on their doors alerting trick-or-treaters not to disturb them, and on the other, Christians decorate their lawns with grizzly scenes from horror movies and encourage their children to dress up as ghosts and monsters. Listen to this episode of Off-Script as we discuss this seasonal issue.

This election cycle American political discourse has sunk to a new low.  Rather than presenting facts and offering persuasive arguments based on policies, we’ve seen a whole slew of false claims and personal attacks.  The exchanges between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have been so caustic and shameful that when I discovered my ten year-old was watching one of the presidential debates with his mom, I immediately ushered him out of the room, muttering that such language and behavior was inappropriate for him to see.  (He had weaseled his way in to watch it on the excuse that he couldn’t sleep.)  What does it say about the way politics works itself out on national TV that I felt horrified that my son was exposed to such bickering and animosity among those who are vying for the highest and noblest governmental office in the land?

I could deal with all of this, but what I can’t handle is the fact that Christians don’t seem to carry themselves any differently than their worldly counterparts.  Social media channels and email boxes overflow with vitriol and exaggeration as each side shouts ever louder, trying to drown out the sound of the other.  In this episode of off script, we offer some suggestions on how to think and behave when engaging in political discourse as Christians.  We begin by discussing an episode of Ira Glass’ This American Life podcast episode “Seriously?” in which he addressed how misinformation and lies dominate political conversations.  Listen to the first 20 minutes to hear the part we discuss.  Also, we engaged with Justin Brierly’s Unbelievable? podcast episode “Should Christians vote for Trump?” where Republican John Zmirak and Democrat Christina Rees discuss what Christians should do.  For Zmirak’s “dead moose” comment, skip to 18 minutes.

Intro music: “Protofunk” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

by Paul Washer

In this convicting sermon Paul Washer exposes the unholiness that pervades much of Christian youth culture.  Although I do not agree with much of what Washer stands for, this message of his significantly affected my life.  It not only inspired me to live for God wholeheartedly, but also exposed the sneaky ways in which my culture subtly pulls me towards unholiness and sin.  This sermon is a wake up call.

Kegan Chandler grew up as a bible-believing Christian in Texas.  His grandfather, Pat E. Harrell, was a leader within Church of Christ who founded their Restoration Quarterly publication.  As a result of his grandparents’ and parents’ passion for God, Chandler grew up in a family steeped in bible study and theological reflection.  One day the Mormon’s came knocking and Chandler, the consummate apologist and champion of orthodoxy, licked his lips at the chance to set them straight.  However, in the course of that conversation, one of the missionaries asked Chandler, “Well, who do you say that Jesus is?”  Strangely enough, this one question caught him off guard.  The young man wasn’t asking, “Who do your parents, your pastor, or your seminary say that Jesus is?” but “Who do you say that Jesus is?”  The intensely personal nature of this question started Chandler on a quest to firm up his orthodox answer, which eventually led to a complete reconsideration of his beliefs about God, Jesus, and the spirit.  Over the course of several years, he came to see the bible from a more Hebrew perspective.  After intense bible study and a thorough investigation into church history, he discovered the God of Jesus.  Here is his story.

Notes and Links:

• The conference we met at was Restoration Fellowship’s Theological Conference.  Next year the date for this weekend is May 18-21, 2017.
• For “the Protestant burden” see Jason David BeDuhn’s book, Truth in Translation.
• Chandler referenced my presentation, “Five Major Problems with the Trinity.” (This video now has over 33,000 views.)
• Chandler’s book, The God of Jesus, is now available on amazon.
• Chandler’s websites include The God of Jesus and Buried Deep
• For J. Dan Gill, visit the 21st Century Reformation website as well as his voluminous youtube channel.
• For Anthony Buzzard, visit the Restoration Fellowship site or watch his videos on youtube.
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

Most Christians never give worshiping Jesus a second thought.  However, as biblical unitarians–those who believe the Father is the only true God–we do need to wrestle with this question.  Some have argued that worshiping Jesus is tantamount to idolatry since we should only worship God.  Others have taken the view that we can worship Jesus on a different level than God and that doing so is not only permissible but encouraged by God.  I go through some of the words translated worship and serve, list out worship acts, and handle objections and limitations in an effort to see what the bible actually says about this important practice.  Listen to the message to find out more.

This sermon has a corresponding prezi, available here.

Introduction

1. There is only one God; His name is Yahweh; Jesus is not God; Jesus is not Yahweh[1]
2. Be a Berean (Acts 17:11)
   • Neither accepted nor rejected the message
   • Until they checked it against the Scriptures
   • Whatever the Bible says is what I want to believe

Worship Vocabulary

1. Bowing: shacha (שָׁחָה) or proskyneo (προσκυνέω)
   • Of gods (Judges 2:12)
   • Of humans (1 Samuel 24:8; Revelation 3:9)
   • Of Jesus
     1. As respectful greeting (Matthew 8:2; 9:18)
     2. As submission/honor (Matthew 18:26; Mark 15:19)
   • Serving: avad (עָבַד) or latrevo (λατρεύω)
     1. Of God (Acts 24:14)
     2. Of a nation (Jeremiah 27:6)
   • Often used together
     1. Deuteronomy 5:8-9; Matthew 4:10

Worship Acts

1. Submission: bowing, kneeling, prostrating (Hebrews 1:6)
2. Adoration: love, devotion, gratitude (1 John 5:1)
3. Veneration: respect, reverence, fear (Ephesians 6:5)
4. Praise: recounting attributes, deeds, tongues (2 Peter 1:16-18)
5. Meditation: contemplating, communing, fellowshipping (1 John 1:3)
6. Sacrifices: animal, cereal, wine, candy, hair, money (Luke 8:1-3)
7. Sacred texts: reading, reciting, chanting, memorizing (~25 references to SOM in James)
8. Serve: follow laws, seek to please, lifestyle (Colossians 3:23-24)
9. Singing: to/about (Revelation 5:9-10)

Objections[2]

1. Isn’t worshipping anyone other than God idolatry?
   • Two definitions of idolatry
     • Worshipping a statue/representation of a god
     • Devotion that “takes attention away, detracts from, or takes the place of the glory of the only true God”[3]
   • God has exalted Christ to His right hand, above the angels (Ephesians 1:20-23; Colossians 2:10; 1 Peter 3:22)
   • Worshipping Christ actually gives God glory as the indirect recipient
     1. Philippians 2:9-11
        1. In light of Phil 2:9-11 and Hebrews 1:6, Patrick Navas writes, “In fact, it would be fair to say—in accord with Scripture—that the worship, honor, glory and respect attributed to Christ is something that God not only allows but commands, is pleasing to him, and God himself is glorified in this…Yet the honor and adoration given to Christ is, in the ultimate sense, an honor and adoration given through Christ to the Father, the ultimate source of every blessing in Christ.” [4] (1 Peter 4:11; Hebrews 13:15)
     2. Christ’s transparency
        • Christ’s words were really God’s (John 12:49-50)
        • Christ’s actions were really God’s (John 5:36)
        • Christ did the Father’s will (John 6:38)
        • Christ admitted he could do nothing on h

Kegan Chandler joins me once again to talk about the history of theology.  If you haven’t yet heard his story, check out Interview 8: A Restorationist Finds the God of Jesus.  In this episode, I ask Chandler about his book, The God of Jesus in Light of Christian Dogma.  If you are at all interested in the history of ideas that influenced what Christians in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th centuries believed about Jesus, this show is for you.  Chandler address the how Plato’s Greek philosophy influenced Christian theologians as well as how the Gnostics not only anticipated much trinitarian language, but also how they influenced “orthodox” theology.  After exposing the pagan influnences on the development of the Trinity, Chandler goes on to offer a better way of reading the New Testament–through the lens of second temple Judaism.  Instead of reading later ideas into scripture, why not read it in light of the Hebrew bible and contemporary Jewish literature, like the Dead Sea scrolls.

Notes and Links:

• Review Kegan Chandler’s The God of Jesus in Light of Christian Dogma: The Recovery of New Testament Theology on Amazon.
• Chandler’s websites include: thegodofjesus.com and burieddeepblog.wordpress.com
• R. P. C. Hanson wrote the definitive history of 4th century doctrinal development in his The Search for a Christian Doctrine of God.
• Richard Rubenstein wrote a much shorter, easier history of Trinity history in his When Jesus Became God.
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

What do you believe about holiness?  Do you view it as an impossible ideal?  Slogans like “I’m not perfect, just forgiven” and “I don’t want to be holier than thou” show how uncomfortable we are with this whole subject.  Even so, God calls us to be holy as he is holy.  We cannot ignore or dismiss such a calling.  There must be some way to live up to his ideals.  In this episode, Keith Daniel, the revival preacher and evangelist from South Africa, brings a convicting and much needed message about holiness.

Notes and Links:

• Other Restitutio podcasts with Keith Daniel
• Find more Keith Daniel sermons at Sermon Index
• To get more information about Winter Teen Camp in RI (Dec 28-30, 2016), visit http://livingfaithri.org/events/wtc
• For our young adult retreat, Revive, held in CT (Jan 6-8, 2017), visit http://lhim.org/register/?id=205
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

With this episode we are beginning a series on overcoming objections to Christianity.  To start with we want to address the criticism often leveled at bible-believing Christians today that our perspective on salvation is too narrow-minded and exclusive.  Who are we to say that all the other religions are wrong?  In order to tackle this issue, we begin with the words of Jesus himself who said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14.6).  If we remain committed to scripture then the question is not, “Is Christ the only way to salvation?” but “How is that fair?”  What about the old lady in Fiji who never got a chance to hear about Jesus?  Listen in as we explore five answers to this important question.

Notes and Links:

• For a masterful presentation concerning Christian exclusiveness, check out Tim Keller’s lecture at Berkley.
• See also Podcast 51: Pluralism, Post-Modernism, Relativism, and Truth
• Episodes in this series on Overcoming Objections to Christianity:
  1. Is Jesus the Only Way to God?
  2. Christians Are Hypocrites
  3. Why Does God Allow Suffering?
  4. The Bible Is Too Antiquated
  5. Christianity Is Lame
• Intro music: “Protofunk” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

In part two of our series on objections to Christianity, we look at the issue of hypocrisy.  Many are unwilling to even consider Christianity as a viable option because they’ve witnessed or heard about some horrible act of hypocrisy by a Christian leader.  It’s hard to deny that hypocrisy is a major problem in Christianity today.  Whether we look at child molestation among Catholic priests, evangelicals who fall into adultery, or prosperity gospel preachers who squeeze every penny out of their poor congregations, hypocrisy is a black eye on the bride of Christ.  How can we talk to skeptics and unbelievers about this issue?  How can we avoid hypocrisy in our own lives?  The cure lies in the teaching and example of Jesus.  Listen to this frank discussion and learn how to respond to this ubiquitous objection.

Notes and Links:

• For more on Rosaria Butterfield’s story, see this post.
• Episodes in this series on Overcoming Objections to Christianity:
  1. Is Jesus the Only Way to God?
  2. Christians Are Hypocrites
  3. Why Does God Allow Suffering?
  4. The Bible Is Too Antiquated
  5. Christianity Is Lame
• Intro music: “Protofunk” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

The youngest part of the bible is nearly 2,000 years old.  How can such an ancient book have any relevance to our complex and technologically advanced world?  How would you answer this objection?  It’s certainly undeniable that our world is so much different from the nomadic shepherds of three millennia ago.  However, science, political innovations, and technology have failed to generate a golden age of tranquility and prosperity.  Our world is just as fragmented and fraught with dysfunction and injustice as ever.  The internet has enabled us to access an unprecedented amount of information from all around the world quickly and cheaply.  However, the net effect has led to information overload as searchers find themselves paralyzed by all of the “authoritative” perspectives and “experts” clamoring for attention.   Increasingly people are turning to ancient analog faiths for answers in our digital age.  The luster of virtual reality has worn off for many as they find their souls empty and isolated after binging on the dainties of television shows and social media.  Many are looking for something real, something tried and tested, something with substance.  This is where the bible has fresh appeal for our age.  When we compare the scriptures to other historical books, they stand head and shoulders above them in that they are better preserved, more accessible, and more practical than the others.  Timeless moral principles, powerful motivation, and encouraging hope make the bible an elixir to the soul’s of countless readers worldwide.  Listen in as we discuss how the bible remains relevant and powerful in our time.

Notes and Links:

• Check out our Off Script episode on Progress where we talk about chronological snobbery and the invisible fictive force many believe is moving us towards a better world.
• More podcasts and resources on Apologetics available here.
• Episodes in this series on Overcoming Objections to Christianity:
  1. Is Jesus the Only Way to God?
  2. Christians Are Hypocrites
  3. Why Does God Allow Suffering?
  4. The Bible Is Too Antiquated
  5. Christianity Is Lame
• Intro music: “Protofunk” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

We take a break from our normal Off Script format to share some seasonal reminiscences and lighthearted banter about Christmas past and present.  In this somewhat silly episode you’ll learn what Christmas song Rose hates, Dan’s most cherished childhood present, and Sean’s Christmas-eve meal preference.  Other exciting topics discussed in this podcast include: why Handel’s Messiah is awesome, how to poach a Christmas tree from state land, and when it’s ok to start listening to Christmas music.  Additionally, Rose will reveal an ethnic secret about herself that you won’t want to miss.

In this episode, we pick up the conversation where the last lecture in my Apologetics class left off.  We review six reasons the bible gives for suffering as well as how to face pain and hardship.

By looking at Jesus and Paul, we see that God did not spare either of them from adversity.  Jesus came into this world as a hunted refugee, faced conflict and opposition his entire ministry, and then, in =the end, faced torture and execution.  Similarly Paul endured rejection, whippings, beatings, shipwreck, and martyrdom.  We can learn from these examples about how we can deal with difficulty in our own lives.

Also, we discuss the prosperity gospel and play a clip from John Piper who puts his finger on why such a theology is so dangerous.  Lastly, we draw inspiration from the words of the prophet Habakkuk who cried out to God to do something to deal with the rampant injustice of his day.

If you haven’t already, I encourage you to first listen to podcast episode 62: Why Does God Allow Suffering? before listening to this episode.  It should be the one right before this one.  Here now is off script episode 19: more on why God Allows Suffering

Notes and Links:

• Episodes in this series on Overcoming Objections to Christianity:
  1. Is Jesus the Only Way to God?
  2. Christians Are Hypocrites
  3. Why Does God Allow Suffering?
  4. The Bible Is Too Antiquated
  5. Christianity Is Lame
• Intro music: “Protofunk” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

Let’s say you are sharing your faith with a friend and they say to you, “Well, I’m glad that Christianity works for you, but it sounds like no fun to me.”  How would you respond?  Is Christianity no more than a set of restrictions we set on our lives like a straitjacket?  Listen in to this episode as we discuss how following Jesus is an exciting adventure worth pursuing.

Notes and Links:

• Episodes in this series on Overcoming Objections to Christianity:
  1. Is Jesus the Only Way to God?
  2. Christians Are Hypocrites
  3. Why Does God Allow Suffering?
  4. The Bible Is Too Antiquated
  5. Christianity Is Lame
• Check out Shane Claibourne’s book, Jesus for President: Politics for Ordinary Radicals
• Intro music: “Protofunk” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

by Sean Finnegan

What is the meaning of life? What is the reason to live? Why are you here? What are you living for? In what ways does your life make a difference? How do you lead a meaningful life?  Listen to this message to discover not only what happiness experts says, but, more importantly, what Jesus’ purpose statements were and how that can affect your purpose today.

Rick Warren’s Three Levels of Living

1. survival
2. success
3. significance

Martin Seligman’s Three Levels of Happiness

1. pleasant life
2. good life
3. meaningful ilfe

Both put purpose at the pinnacle of human experience.

Jesus’ Purpose Statements

• to preach the kingdom of God everywhere (Luke 4.43; Mark 1.38)
• to seek and save the lost (Luke 19.10; 1 Timothy 1.15; also Luke 4 in Nazareth)
• to call sinners to repentance (Mark 2.17; Acts 3.26)
• to give his life a ransom for many (Matthew 20.28; 1 John 4.10)
• to provide others with an abundant life (John 10.10)

As he was sent so he sends us (John 20.21)

We are his witnesses (Luke 24.46-48)

Our great commission (Matthew 28.18-20)

by Ben Witherington III

Have you heard about the controversial James Ossuary?  An ossuary is a small coffin, often made of limestone, that the Jews in the second Temple period used for the bones of their deceased loved ones.  Someone found an ossuary with the inscription “James son of Joseph, his brother is Jesus.”  Could this find be the actual ossuary of Jesus’ brother, James?  Join world class scholar, Ben Witherington, as he defends it’s authenticity.  If Witherington is correct, this archaeological find is the best material evidence of early Christianity.

Pastor Victor Gluckin of Living Faith Christian Church (Warwick, RI) shares about his journey of faith. He was Mr. Popularity in High School; everyone loved him.  However, he was spiritually dead and lifted up with pride.  His breaking point came when he left his small town and attended George Washington University in DC.  He planned to study political science before launching a career in public service, eventually culminating in his election as the president of the United States.  However, when he got to GW, he discovered that he was just one of many ex-high school presidents with big dreams.  God humbled him and showed him the truth about his heart.  Listen to this episode to hear the rest of his story as well Gluckin’s appeal to you to consider your own life.

Notes and Links:

• You can find more sermons by Victor Gluckin on his church website and on youtube
• For another episode with Gluckin, check out Podcast 24: Now Is Our Time to Speak
• Check out his classes Son of David and Kingdom Story
• You can follow him on Twitter @vgluckin
• Listen to more testimonies here
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

Martin Luther King Jr. day is on Monday, so I thought this would be a good time to replay a phenomenal debate on the question of whether or not Christians should use violence or participate in the military.  Peter Kreeft and J. Daryl Charles defend the classic just war position while David Bercot and Dean Taylor advocate for the Anabaptist view.  The debate is cordial and the recording is top-notch.  What’s more the speakers are evenly matched and the debate moves right along.  If you’ve ever wondered about whether or not Christians can use violence, this debate will give you a window into how sincere Christians on both sides explain their positions.

Notes and Links:

• Thank you to Followers of the Way for permission to rebroadcast this debate.  You can watch the full video on youtube as well.
• Check out Podcast 15: A Theology of Nonviolence, which includes both the audio of my presentation at the 18th Theological Conference as well as the full text of my paper.
• For more research and resources on Christian pacifism, visit loveyourenemies.wordpress.com
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

How are you at handling conflict?  Do you withdraw and avoid conflict at any cost?  Do you rush in headlong, eager to set the other person straight?  Are you a compromiser who looks at everything like a contract where both parties inevitably have to make trade-offs to get some advantage?  As with so many really important aspects of life, we rarely receive any instruction on how to confront one another or deal with conflict in a constructive manner.  In this episode, Dr. Jerry Wierwille reviews David Augsburger’s book Caring Enough To Confront, which will help you learn which of the four main postures towards conflict you hold as well five helpful strategies to help you improve your skills.

Notes and Links:

• Listen to Jerry Wierwille’s other interviews
  • Interview 1: Jerry Wierwille on Emotionally Healthy Spirituality
  • Interview 2: Jerry Wierwille on Hermeneutics
• Visit his website at JerryWierwille.com
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

Joe and Rebekah Martin have labored for twenty years in Africa to bring the gospel and humanitarian aid to some of the poorest people in the world.  They minister primarily in Malawi and Mozambique, though the work in Kenya is now gaining traction as well.  In this interview, you’ll hear how a single tract led to one believing family, which eventually resulted in more than 450 churches, 20 years later!  In addition, the Martins share several stories of what they’ve seen God do in the missionary field.  They’ve run missions trips virtually every summer with other pastors and students.  I went myself (with Ruth) back in 2004.  Now that they’ve reached the age for retirement, they’ve purchased a house in Malawi so they can spend even more time there each year.

Notes and Links:

• If you would like to get in touch to contribute to their work (financial or volunteering), you can reach Rebekah at rrebrn@yahoo.com
• For more about the Lord’s Harvest International (LHI), the missionary wing of the Church of God General Conference, visit their website or like their facebook page.
• For more information about the Atlanta Bible College where Joe Martin teaches, see this website
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

Did you make any new year’s resolutions this year? We are now three weeks into 2017 and I bet many of us have already reverted to our old ways. However, what I want to propose here is not a new habit or a trick to stop an old one. Rather, I want to encourage you to adopt a particular perspective. Whether you gain weight or lose it, whether you go to bed early or stay up late, whether you get consistent with flossing or not, everything you do can and should be done to the glory of God. What’s more, living with this perspective doesn’t mean you have to give up pleasure. In fact, just the opposite is true. When we live for God’s glory, we can enjoy our lives more than ever before.

Notes and Links:

“Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him by his grace to enable me to keep these Resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will, for Christ’s sake.

Remember to read over these Resolutions once a week.

Resolved, that I will do whatsoever I think to be most to God’s glory, and my own good, profit and pleasure, in the whole of my duration, without any consideration of the time, whether now, or never so many myriads of ages hence. Resolved to do whatever I think to be my duty, and most for the good and advantage of mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I meet with, how many and how great soever…4. Resolved, never to do any manner of thing, whether in soul or body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God; nor be, nor suffer it, if I can avoid it.” — Jonathan Edwards (c. 1720)

1 Corinthians 10.31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Westminster Shorter Catechism (1647)

• Q: What is the chief end of man?
• A: Man’s chief end is to glorify God,1 and to enjoy him forever.

1 Corinthians 10.31 Do all to the glory of God

Judges 6-7 God’s whittling down of Gideon’s army provides us a prime example of how important it is to God that he receives proper glory for what he does. He could have worked with thousands, but then they would have thought they had won the victory because of their own military prowess.

1 Peter 4.11 In everything we should give God glory through Jesus Christ. This is not limited to when we are here on Sundays or at other fellowships, but our whole lives.

Matthew 6.1-18 Jesus teaches us about doing righteous deeds for God not people

• pray to God in private
• fast secretly so God sees not people
• give to the poor secretly

Romans 16.27 To God be glory forevermore

Ephesians 3.21 To God be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus

Philippians 1.11 Righteousness comes through Jesus to the glory and praise of God

1 Thessalonians 2.4 We speak not to please people but God who tests our hearts

Jesus made his whole life about glorifying God

• Jn 5.41 “I do not receive glory from people”
• Jn 7.18 “The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent me is true, and in him there is no falsehood”
• Jn 8.50, 54 “Yet I do not seek my own glory…if I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’”
• Jn 12.43 “for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God”
• John 5.30 “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

How to glorify God in 2017: Love God and Love People!

• John Piper, “God Is

Dr. Joe Martin has taught at the Atlanta Bible College for over 25 years. He’s worked as an adjunct professor, full-time professor, academic dean, and the president. In this interview he talks about his favorite class to teach, his greatest challenge as a teacher, and his advice to those interested in going into ministry. He shares several stories about God’s mighty provision during his tenure as president, including one incident when he marched the staff around the building for seven days in prayer before a mighty miracle happened. His endearing spirit and passionate heart come through in this conversation along with his bold faith.

“I will live and die by the simplicity of the word of God rather than orthodox credal systems.”  –Joe Martin

Notes and Links:

• To watch Dr. Joe’s sermons and theological presentations, check out the 21st Century Reformation youtube channel or his own personal channel
• For more information about the Atlanta Bible College, see this website
• For more about Martin, see Interview 10: Twenty Years of Missions in Africa
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

What is the gospel?  Growing up, Jacob Rohrer heard about Jesus dying for his sins so he could go to heaven.  However, he’s come to see that this way of thinking is not only wrong, but goes against what Jesus himself taught.  Listen in to Rohrer as he explains the five elements of the gospel, including (1) repentance, (2) kingdom, (3) Jesus’ death, (4) Jesus’ resurrection, and (5) obedience to Jesus.  You may be surprised to discover that the gospel you received is not the whole message.

Jacob Rohrer is a 2015 graduate of the Atlanta Bible College who is currently interning at Cornerstone in Gatesville, Texas.

Notes and Links:

• Listen to Jacob Rohrer’s recent sermon from Revive 2017, “What To Do When You Fail“
• Watch a number of his sermons on YouTube, here
• If you want to get in contact, email Rohrer: thekingdomgospel@outlook.com
• You can read some of his work on KingdomUprising.com
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

What do you believe about baptism?  In this interview, I ask Ken LaPrade, a house church pastor in El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico, to share his baptism journey.  Coming from a Way International background, LaPrade learned that spirit baptism had replaced water.  As a result he had interpreted the water baptisms in Acts to be incidents where the apostles held to an outdated methodology.  Apparently, they had not realized that spirit baptism had replaced water.  However, when LaPrade went back through the book of Acts, he failed to detect any negative remarks about baptism in water.  He started to see how baptism in water and spirit actually went together in several conversion narratives in Acts.  After careful study and much prayer, LaPrade decided to take the plunge himself and was surprised when he received significant physical healing as well.  Whether you accept baptism or not, please take the time to consider LaPrade’s humble and honest-hearted approach to this important issue.

Notes and Links:

• You can get in touch with Ken LaPrade at ldc84jpm@yahoo.com
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

We hear a particular narrative over and over: “Gay teen courageously comes out to Christian parents and faces consequences.” This is the hero’s journey of the early 21st century. From gay pride marches to hit songs to movies and TV shows, this story is ubiquitous in our culture. For example, I used to listen to the Moth podcast and heard story after story championing the gay lifestyle and supporting the choice to live “out and proud.” In the hundreds of stories I listened to, not once did I ever hear a story of someone who came to Christ, even though it is a much more common occurrence. It’s hard not to absorb the impression that LGBTQ folks are courageous and tolerant while Christians, especially bible-believing ones, are repressive and unloving. However, could it be that there’s an alternative narrative that few are hearing?

Caleb Katenbach has an interesting story. He grew up with two moms and learned to hate Christians. However, when he unexpectedly became a Christian in high school, he had to “come out of the closet” to his moms. Were they supportive? Did they embrace his new sense of identity? Did they accept him for following his heart? No! They kicked him out and expressed intolerance. Of course, his story doesn’t end there. Listen to this fine interview between Darrell Bock and Caleb Kaltenbach to learn both how we as Christians need to repent as well a how we can reach the LGBTQ community.

Notes and Links:

• Caleb Kaltenbach’s book, Messy Grace: How a Pastor with Gay Parents Learned to Love Others Without Sacrificing Conviction, is available here
• Thanks to Darrel Bock for persmission to replay this episode. Check out his stimulating podcast, “The Table,” here
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

In this vintage message, Sir Anthony Buzzard makes the case that the gospel Jesus preached was about the kingdom. Although Jesus remains incredibly popular all around the world today, his message remains obscured even among many sincere followers. How can we call ourselves Christians if we are ignorant of Christ’s proclamation?  The kingdom is not living in heaven nor is it a clever way of talking about the church or Jesus reigning in your heart. Rather, it refers to the age when Jesus returns to fulfill all the prophecies of the Hebrew bible, bringing wholeness, judgement, and God’s reign to our world. We’ve substituted the gospel of Jesus for a gospel about Jesus. Of course, we don’t want to lose out the magnificent truths of his death and resurrection, but we dare not re-contextualize these within an overall scheme that defies Jesus’ kingdom announcement. According to Jesus, “This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Mt 24.14).  How can we hope to be faithful to Jesus’ commissioning here, unless we recover and proclaim “this gospel of the kingdom” that Jesus preached?

The gospel is the message we believe in that results in immortality (2 Tim 1.7-10).  If I were the devil, I would target the gospel message so that even if some Christians rustled up the courage to actually share it with others, they’d have a distorted or partial message.  In fact, scripture tells us that the god of this world blinds the minds of unbeliever to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel (2 Cor 4.4)!  We cannot just go along with the flow of evangelical or Catholic Christianity.  We need to examine the scriptures to see what the original gospel was.  When we do this, we discover a radically different message from what we hear on radio, TV, and in most churches today.  In this message I make the case for a gospel with a minimum of three elements: the kingdom, the cross, and the resurrection.  Take away or alter one of these and you no longer have the whole gospel.

Notes and Links:

Does Amos 9.11-15 seem strange to you?

Two Major Problems

1. most of us do not speak the gospel
2. those who do speak it know a partial gospel

Importance of Getting the Gospel Right

• Is the gospel like a paint color or a medical diagnosis?
• It is a matter of life and death (Galatians 1.6-9; 2 Timothy 1.7-10)
• the gospel is the pill of immortality, washed down with faith

Three Elements

1. kingdom (Matthew 4.23; 5.5; 6.9-10)
2. cross (1 Corinthians 15.3; Romans 5.8)
3. resurrection (1 Corinthians 15.4)

Four Reasons the Kingdom Matters

1. it is God’s idea
2. it was Jesus’ primary focus
3. it is gospel
4. promotes stewardship

Satan attacks the believing of the gospel (2 Corinthians 4.3-4; Matthew 13.19; Luke 8.12)

But just knowing isn’t enough!

1. believe
2. repent
3. persevere

• Check out Jacob Rohrer’s interview about his journey of getting the gospel right
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

What is true freedom?  We tend to think of freedom as the lack of restrictions so that we can do whatever we want.  However, I want to make the case that freedoms is not the lack of boundaries, but finding the right ones to enable us to be our best for God.  After God liberated the ancient Israelites form Egypt, they were free: politically, religiously, economically, etc.  However, they continued to distrust God and hold to an enslaved mindset.  We have much to learn from their example.

Notes:

Freedom: autonomy, independence, liberty, license, self-determination, self-governance, sovereignty

Exodus 3:7-8 God tells Moses His plans to deliver His people from slavery.

Exodus 6:5-8 God plans to rescue them so they can become His people and He can become their God.

Exodus 12:30-32 After the ten plagues, the Egyptians released the Israelites.

Exodus 14:27-31 God splits the Red Sea and then destroys the Egyptian army, freeing His people once and for all.

Exodus 16:2-4 Remember sitting by the meat pots and eating bread to the full?

Numbers 11:4-6 Remember the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic of Egypt?

Numbers 14:1-4 Let’s choose a leader and go back to Egypt!

Numbers 20:4-5 Why have you made us come up out of Egypt?

1 Corinthians 10:1-14 Let’s learn from their example and not desire evil or give ourselves to idolatry.

Hebrews 3:7-4:2 Do you trust God? The issue comes down to belief.

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” —Jesus (Mt 11:28-30)

• Check out this Off Script on tolerance for more on this subject
• Read more about a Christian analysis on tolerance here
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

Claudia Scott is one of the pillars of our church, a woman of faith who carries herself with dignity and poise. Growing up, she’s been an example to me of faithfulness and passion for God. Having only known her over the last twenty or so years, I was clueless about how much she had been through in her past. She suffered repeated sexual abuse for years as a child. Once she left the house, her life didn’t fair much better. When she met God and discovered his power to heal her, she began a journey that eventually led her to mental relief and peace of mind. This is her story.

Notes and Links:

• Check out Interview 4: Spiritual, Emotional, and Physical Healing with Bill & Ann DeNenno
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

How should Christians relate to the government?  In this sermon, Vince Finnegan works through Romans 13 to show how we should relate to the powers that be.  Ultimately God is in charge of raising up and tearing down regimes and nations over the course of human history.  Our goal is to love one another as examples of genuine faith rather than get overwhelmed with political concerns.

Notes:

Romans 13:1 – In order to stay constantly living for God, we must have the right mindset and proper behavior in relationship to the kingdoms of this world.

Subjection is very common. Wives to husbands (Ephesians 5:22-24), children to parents (Ephesians 6:1-3), servants to masters [employees to employers] (Ephesians 6:5-8), younger to elders (1 Peter 5:5), and believers to church elders (Hebrews 13:17).

Husbands tell wives to worship. Parents tell children to steal. Employer tells employees to lie. Church leadership tells people to have sex. Government tells clerk about marriage licenses to homosexuals.

Daniel 3:18; Daniel 6:10; Acts 4:18-20; 5:29

Deuteronomy 13:4 Submission in human relationships is commanded, but never when it breaks God’s commandments. We must obey God rather than man.

Romans 13:2 If we do not submit to the laws of the government, we will be judged by those laws. By no means is God saying to us that worldly governments are holy or that their reign is equitable, fair, and right. Governments are a temporary necessity in this present evil age to maintain a semblance of order until God’s perfect Kingdom comes.

The main danger was that the early Christians would err in refusing submission, even when it was proper, rather than in undue conformity to idolatrous rites and ceremonies.

Daniel 2:21; 4:17, 26, 34, 35 By God’s permission or appointment, those in office obtain their power. God often claims and asserts that He sets up one and puts down another.

Romans 13:5 – The word “minister” could also be translated “servant” as it often is in other translations. Kings, presidents, governors are God’s servants just as Pharaoh, Nebuchadnezzar, and Cyrus were. They were not serving us because they understood God’s Word and believed it, but because God is almighty and the supreme ruler of the earth.

7 – Mark 12:15-17; Matthew 17:24-27

8 – God does not want us to owe anyone because indebtedness may place us in a compromising position to be controlled or influenced by someone other than Him.

Genesis 14:21-24 Abraham refused to be indebted to the king of Sodom when he was offered great wealth. Nor would he accept the land to bury Sarah without paying, so he remained free from obligation to anyone other than God

1 John 3:16; 4:11 – We all love because God loved us, and He commands us to love others.

Romans 13:12 – We are to maintain an awareness of the urgency of our times. Each day, we are one day closer to his return or our death, whichever comes first.

Ephesians 5:14-16 – We cannot afford to fall into a lackadaisical slumber and squander the time we could have with God.

Romans 13:14

• Check out this Off Script on patriotism for more on this subject
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

Today we are starting a series based on Tim Keller’s book, Counterfeit Gods, wherein we’ll consider a number of idols that vie for worship in our society.  In this episode we consider Aphrodite, the ancient goddess of love, and her modern counterparts.  We begin by examining the somewhat dysfunctional love story of Jacob and Rachel in the book of Genesis.  We conclude that love and romance are goods God has given people, but they should not be our ultimate pursuit or what we look to for salvation.  In addition, Rose rebukes the tendency among Christians to hold out romance and marriage to singles as an ultimate goal to find completion.  Dan also shares some great advice about attracting a godly spouse.  Whether you are married or single, this Off Script episode will help you think through the proper place you should have for romantic love in your life.

Notes and Links:

• Episodes in this series on Counterfeit Gods:
  1. Worshiping Love
  2. Worshiping Money
  3. Worshiping Success
  4. Worshiping Power
  5. Worshiping God
• For an excellent overview of this topic, listen to Tim Keller’s talk on Podcast 41: Counterfeit Gods or watch it on YouTube
• To purchase the book, go here
• Intro music: “Protofunk” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

Back in Interview 11, Joe Martin talked about how he was soon to step down from his leadership position at the Church of God (General Conference).  In this episode, you’ll hear from Seth Ross, who has taken up the mantle and who casts his vision for the future.  You’ll learn about his background, his twenty years pastoring a church in Ohio, and how he came to be the executive director.  What I found particularly refreshing about Ross’ outlook is how non-sectarian he is.  Rather than looking at the Church of God as a denomination to be protected from hostile secularists, on the one hand, and heresy hunting evangelicals, on the other, he sees his role as a cheerleader and facilitator not only for his network of churches, but also individuals far and wide who are studying the bible and coming to discover God’s identity, the kingdom gospel, conditional immortality, and believers’ baptism.  Whether you are a member of the Church of God or not, this interview should get you excited about the future of what God’s doing in the world in our time.

Notes and Links:

• Participate in the Christian Workers’ Seminar in Pigeon Forge, TN on April 23-28, 2017
• Come to the Theological Conference in Hampton, GA on May 18-21, 2017
• Here’s a list of churches affiliated with the Church of God General Conference in the United States and Canada (see here for other countries).  Please note that there are several groups with the name “Church of God.”  To find out about Ross’ group, visit coggc.org
• Contact Robin Todd on the Worldwide Scattered Brethren Network to see he can connect you with someone in your area
• Get more information about Eric Chang and the Christian Disciples Church (mostly in Asia)
• Check out Interview 11: Joe Martin, Looking Back on His Service at the Atlanta Bible College
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

We all have competing impulses within us vying for our attention and expression. How do you know which ones to amplify and which to repress? How should we think of ourselves? Are we powerful and valuable creatures made in God’s image or accidental byproducts of time plus chance plus matter? In order to live out authentic humanity we need to grasp who we are and how God calls us to live. Only when we live in conformity with our designer and creator can we flourish and bring him glory.

Notes:

• For more on authentic Christianity, take a look at Rosaria Butterfield’s testimony
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

I bet you don’t think you struggle with greed. In fact, I’ve never met anyone who told me this was a problem for him or her. But greed is subtle. It sneaks up on you when you think you’re just working towards financial security or building your confidence or taking control of your life. In this episode we discuss how greed lurks in the shadows as well as how to slay the beast through gratitude and generosity.

Notes and Links:

• Episodes in this series on Counterfeit Gods:
  1. Worshiping Love
  2. Worshiping Money
  3. Worshiping Success
  4. Worshiping Power
  5. Worshiping God
• For more on money, especially consumerism, check out Off Script 6: Consumerism
• For an excellent overview of this topic, listen to Tim Keller’s talk on Podcast 41: Counterfeit Gods or watch it on YouTube
• To purchase the book this series is based on by Tim Keller, go here
• Intro music: “Protofunk” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

The history of Christianity can sometimes be really depressing, especially when we look at the “heresy hunters.” From Justin Martyr and Irenaues in the second century to Athanasius and Epiphanius of the fourth century, as Christians we progressively came to define ourselves on the basis of what we don’t believe.  As a result, so much energy focused on precisely defining and policing the boundaries of orthodox doctrine.  This tendency continued to develop throughout the middle ages, culminating with the Catholic Inquisition in Spain where the church interrogated, tortured, and executed “heretics” (typically Jews who had been forcibly converted to Catholicism).

In the sixteenth century, even Protestants executed heretics like the founders of the Anabaptists and Michael Servetus.  Thankfully, the world has changed so much from the days when one could be executed for thought crimes.  However, especially with the advent of the internet, the heresy-hunting impulse is alive and well within Christianity.  Across countless blogs, chatrooms, and youtube channels, self-appointed orthodox defenders continue to bully and blackball other honest-hearted Christians for their unwillingness to accept their list of essential doctrines.

In this eye-opening talk, Dr. Dale Tuggy discusses four approaches to heresy, including (1) Catholic, (2) Protestant, (3) “free” Protestant, and (4) apostolic.  He argues that there is such a thing as heresy, and we should take it seriously, but it has a lot more to do with divisiveness than doctrinal errors.  Ironically, the heresy-hunters are the ones guilty of causing αἵρεσεις (factions) in the body of Christ.

Notes:

• Find out more about professor Tuggy at his website and subscribe to his excellent podcast in iTunes or via RSS or check out his YouTube channel.
• Here’s a transcript of this talk (pdf)
• Watch the full video of this talk (posted by 21st Century Reformation)
• Watch Tuggy’s screencast version of this presentation (includes slides)
• For information about this year’s Theological Conference, including to register, go here.
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

Everyone enjoys accomplishment and achievement, but what happens when we take success and make it our ultimate goal in life?  When you reach the pinnacle of success in any field, it’s easy to get depressed, asking yourself, “Is this all there is?”  Furthermore, you may begin to fear that you won’t be able to maintain your position as other star-eyed would-be achievers are climbing to the top in an effort to push you off.  How can we guard against worshiping the counterfeit god of success without settling into complacency or laziness?  In this episode we answer this question by embracing the goodness and joy of achievement while recognizing that our ultimate worth comes from God’s gracious offer of love, demonstrated on the cross of his dear Son.

Notes and Links:

• Episodes in this series on Counterfeit Gods:
  1. Worshiping Love
  2. Worshiping Money
  3. Worshiping Success
  4. Worshiping Power
  5. Worshiping God
• Watch David Foster Wallace’s entire commencement speech
• For an excellent overview of this topic, listen to Tim Keller’s talk on Podcast 41: Counterfeit Gods or watch it on YouTube
• To purchase the book this series is based on by Tim Keller, go here
• Intro music: “Protofunk” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

Saint Patrick is one of the most courageous missionaries of Christian history. Although revelers mark his day with debauchery and drunkenness, he pursued holiness and risked his life to preach to the Irish barbarians. He held out to the ancient Irish tribes a promise of protection from their gods and demons, if only they would come to Christ. Not only is he an example of virtue and courage, he also shows how far forgiving and loving our enemies can go. After patiently waiting for years for his non-missionary-minded church to send him, he got to preach to the very people who had kidnapped and enslaved him as a teenager.  Learn who the real St. Patrick was and how his life can inspire you to live for Christ in our post-Christian society today.

Notes:

• Sources I used for research on Saint Patrick
  • How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill
  • Let Me Die in Ireland by David Bercot
  • Confessio by St. Patrick
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

by Craig Blomberg

This is one of those areas where, as a preacher, I can’t help but be very sensitive.  Although most pastors struggle with just enough to get by, a few have amassed great wealth or even embezzled people’s contributions.  Because of some very public bad examples, people tend to be leery of listening to pastors talk about finances.  However, it’s an extremely significant topic that the bible talks about quite a lot: both how to steward your possessions and how to give.  Join Craig Blomberg as he surveys the bible, basing his remarks on his book Neither Poverty nor Riches.  I think you will be surprised by the breadth of his presentation as well as gain some insight into this important topic.

The 19th century philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, believed that our desire for success, money, or love really went back to our “will to power.”  Whereas other philosophies focused on calibrating our internal state to accept reality, Nietzsche focused more on conforming reality to our desires.  Although it’s terribly out of fashion to admit one desires and pursues power, this counterfeit god is alive and well.  We can get so involved with a political party, a social justice issue, or advocating some cause that we begin to live for it rather than God.  We seek to make the world better and this often takes heroic sacrifice and commitment, which, in turn, can easily lead to removing God from the throne of our hearts and even defying how he says to live in the process.  The solution is not to divest ourselves of power, but to submit our wills to God.  Humility is the way God can redeem our influence for his purposes.  In his earthly ministry, Jesus was powerful, but he did not let it go to his head; instead, he constantly recognized that God was the source of his words and works.  In the end, God exalted Jesus, bestowing on him a name that is above everyone else.  This is our example.

Notes and Links:

• Episodes in this series on Counterfeit Gods:
  1. Worshiping Love
  2. Worshiping Money
  3. Worshiping Success
  4. Worshiping Power
  5. Worshiping God
• Check out Off Script 16: Christians Discussing Politics
• For an excellent overview of this topic, listen to Tim Keller’s talk on Podcast 41: Counterfeit Gods or watch it on YouTube
• To purchase the book this series is based on by Tim Keller, go here
• Intro music: “Protofunk” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

Now that we’ve worked through several counterfeit gods, including love, money, success, and power, it’s time to dig in a little deeper.  Do you understand your own heart?  Can you discern where you are tempted to idolize something or someone?  In order to figure this out, ask yourself these four questions:

1. What do you daydream about?
2. What do you spend your money on?
3. What happens when you don’t get an answer to prayer?
4. What instigates the most uncontrollable emotions within you?

Asking these kinds of questions can help you discover your own counterfeit gods.  However, even once you’ve identified and uprooted them, you still have to put God on the throne.  One of the best ways to do this is to recognize the incredible worth and value of God.  To that end, here are ten reasons why God is is worthy of worship.

10 Reasons Why God Is Awesome

1. Creation (dna, clouds, gravity)
2. God calls the underdog (Saul, Esther, Mary Magdalene, Peter)
3. The cross shows God’s love
4. In the resurrection God defeats death
5. When the kingdom comes, he plans to make everything wrong with the world right
6. God’s love, compassion, grace (kings of Judah)
7. Justice, wrath
8. Power (10 plagues)
9. His eye is on the sparrow (Matthew 10)
10. Forgiveness

Ultimately, we need to cultivate our relationship with God.  Worshiping him takes work and diligence, but it is grounded in God’s unfathomable love shown to us through the cross.

Notes and Links:

• Episodes in this series on Counterfeit Gods:
  1. Worshiping Love
  2. Worshiping Money
  3. Worshiping Success
  4. Worshiping Power
  5. Worshiping God
• Check out Kim Walker’s exhortation in the middle of this song on YouTube.
• For an excellent overview of this topic, listen to Tim Keller’s talk on Podcast 41: Counterfeit Gods or watch it on YouTube
• To purchase the book this series is based on by Tim Keller, go here
• Intro music: “Protofunk” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

Covetousness, self-reliance, and envy can rob us of gratitude and contentedness.  So much of our world programs us to feel restless, entitled, and discontent regarding our possessions, how we look, our work, and our relationships.  Have you ever asked yourself, “How much is enough?”  Taking his cue from the Apostle Paul, John Cortright shares the secret of being content: recognizing that what God has done through Christ is already enough.  In the end, Cortright concludes based on Psalm 73, that God is his chief good, his portion, his refuge, therefore, come what may, God is enough!

Psalm 73.25-28 Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.

My flesh and my heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; You put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you.

But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, That I may tell of all your works.

Notes:

• More podcasts with John Cortright on Restitutio
• Living Hope sermon archive for John Cortright
• Listen to Off Script 6: Consumerism
• Check out Off Script 24: Worshiping Money
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

No one joined the Pharisees out of desire to practice professional hypocrisy. They were the devout, the separated, the ones who took God and holiness seriously. However, by the time of Jesus, they had confused godliness with self-righteousness and lost compassion in the process. It’s so easy for us to root for Jesus as he calls them on their hypocrisy. Nonetheless, this same attitude–thinking we’re better than others–is not just a Pharisee problem. When we look within our own hearts, we see our own self-righteousness masking itself as moral outrage. What’s the cure? The way to heal a judgmental heart is with the medicine of grace and humility.

Quotes from This Episode

Dale Tuggy:

“God would rather have ten humble Trinitarians that are trying to follow Jesus every day, and act his teachings in their daily lives, he’d rather have ten of those guys than one constantly battling and self-righteous, angry, condemning, doctrine-obsessed unitarian, who’s got the correct theology. So…don’t be that guy. If we’re that guy, the movement’s doomed.”

Frederick Douglass:

“I find, since reading over the foregoing Narrative, that I have, in several instances, spoken in such a tone and manner, respecting religion, as may possibly lead those unacquainted with my religious views to suppose me an opponent of all religion. To remove the liability of such misapprehension, I deem it proper to append the following brief explanation.

What I have said respecting and against religion, I mean strictly to apply to the slaveholding religion of this land, and with no possible reference to Christianity proper; for, between the Christianity of this land, and the Christianity of Christ, I recognize the widest possible difference—so wide, that to receive the one as good, pure, and holy, is of necessity to reject the other as bad, corrupt, and wicked. To be the friend of the one, is of necessity to be the enemy of the other.

I love the pure, peaceable, and impartial Christianity of Christ: I therefore hate the corrupt, slave-holding, women-whipping, cradle-plundering, partial and hypocritical Christianity of this land. Indeed, I can see no reason, but the most deceitful one, for calling the religion of this land Christianity. I look upon it as the climax of all misnomers, the boldest of all frauds, and the grossest of all libels. Never was there a clearer case of “stealing the livery of the court of heaven to serve the devil in.” I am filled with unutterable loathing when I contemplate the religious pomp and show, together with the horrible inconsistencies, which everywhere surround me.

We have men-stealers for ministers, women-whippers for missionaries, and cradle-plunderers for church members. The man who wields the blood-clotted cow skin during the week fills the pulpit on Sunday, and claims to be a minister of the meek and lowly Jesus. The man who robs me of my earnings at the end of each week meets me as a class-leader on Sunday morning, to show me the way of life, and the path of salvation. He who sells my sister, for purposes of prostitution, stands forth as the pious advocate of purity. He who proclaims it a religious duty to read the Bible denies me the right of learning to read the name of the God who made me…

The Christianity of America is a Christianity, of whose votaries it may be as truly said, as it was of the ancient scribes and Pharisees, “They bind heavy burdens, and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers…Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint, and anise, and cumin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith; these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides! which s

Are you embarrassed of your non-traditional beliefs about God? Victor Gluckin says that it’s time to stand up for what we believe. Believing God is one (instead of three-in-one) is not some sort of fringe doctrine; it’s at the very heart of biblical faith. After all, Jesus himself identified the Jewish “shema” as the most important command.  He said:

The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ (Mark 12.29-30 )

Knowing that Yahweh our God is one and loving him (not them) with everything is paramount for authentic Christ-centered Christianity.

Drawing on the examples of the prophets of old, Michael Servetus, and John Biddle, Gluckin urges us to boldness:

“The testimony of scripture to the proclamation of the identity and personality of Yahweh is clear and consistent…Yet today many believers in the unity of God remain silent, afraid and ashamed. My brothers and sisters, things should not be this way. Our God and our Lord deserve more from their followers.”

Notes:

• Here’s the paper that accompanied Gluckin’s presentation
• Watch Gluckin’s sermons on YouTube or visit his church website: Living Faith Christian Church (Warwick, RI, USA)
• For another rousing appeal to proclaiming God’s oneness, see Podcast 43: Identity Theft (Vince Finnegan)
• To learn more about the Shema, listen to Podcast 44: The Immutable Shema (Sean Finnegan)
• Check out more biblical unitarian podcasts here
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

How does salvation work?  Is Israel still God’s chosen people or are they on the same footing as everyone else now that the Messiah has come?  In Off Script episode 17, Is Jesus the Only Way to God?, Brian wrote in, inquiring if a Torah-observant Jew could be saved even if he or she didn’t believe in Jesus.  He sharpened his question by pointing out how painfully aware many Jews are of how Jesus’ followers have horribly mistreated their people over the centuries. In this interview, Matthew Elton deftly works his way through several of Paul’s epistles, giving special attention to Romans 9 to find an answer.  Whether you are interested in Jewish-Christian relations or struggle to understand the doctrine of election, this bible-heavy interview is sure to stimulate your thinking on these important issues.

Notes and Links:

• Check out Off Script 17: Is Jesus the Only Way to God?
• Listen to another interview with Elton called Churchology vs. Christianity from way back when he was still in high school.
• Visit here to read a number of Elton’s theological articles, especially the one called “A Free Will Perspective on Romans 9 and Predestination“
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

The best chapter on resurrection in the bible is 1 Corinthians 15. In it, the Apostle Paul masterfully lays out the Christian position on resurrection while overcoming common objections in the culture. As it turns out, people living in Corinth thought the idea of resurrection seemed real bizarre.  Looking at tombstone inscriptions, Plato’s Phaedo, and Celsus’ criticism of Christianity, we can get a sense for why the Corinthians balked at resurrection.  However, there’s no way around it; if we get rid of our belief in resurrection, then Jesus himself is not raised and our faith is worthless.  But, since Jesus is risen, we know that resurrection is possible and it awaits God’s people on the last day.

Notes:

• More episodes on resurrection
  • Podcast 56: Evidence for the Resurrection of Jesus (William Lane Craig)
  • Podcast 57: More Evidence for the Resurrection (NT Wright)
  • Podcast 47: Resurrection Implications (Richard Hays)
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

Meet Becket Cook.  He’s a very well-connected gay fashion set designer who has traveled the world, attended the Oscars, Golden Globes, Emmys, etc., and rubbed shoulders with Hollywood’s A-list actors.  One day he saw Christians reading their bibles in a trendy coffee shop in LA and engaged them in conversation.  One of them invited Cook to church and he went to check it out.  That Sunday God encountered him in a spectacular way that instantaneously changed his life from that day forward.  God gave him a vision of his holiness and in a moment Cook knew that God was real, Jesus was real, eternal life was real and that homosexuality was wrong.  In addition to his testimony, I ask him what questions he gets asked, including:

1. Can you be a Christian if you’re gay
2. Isn’t it unfair that you don’t get to have a partner for the rest of your life?
3. Are you straight now that you’re a Christian?
4. Are people born gay?

Cook answers these questions confidently and biblically.  Throughout this interview his enthusiasm for God and life will draw you in.  Even though his conversion was nearly eight years ago, Cook says he wakes up every day “in awe of God and his holiness and his grace on me.” He’s just about to finish up his seminary degree at BIOLA (Talbot), working with JP Moreland and others.  His goal is to develop a ministry that helps the church understand homosexuality biblically, theologically, culturally, and personally.

Notes and Links:

• To get in touch with Cook or to book him to speak at your church or event, visit becketcook.com or email him becket@becketcook.com
• Watch his excellent talk at BIOLA from 2014 on YouTube
• Check out these other Restitutio posts on Christians who struggle with same sex attraction
• Also, watch these YouTube testimonies about Christians who’ve left the gay/lesbian lifestyle
  • Rosaria Butterfield
  • Christopher Yuan
  • Jackie Hill
  • Wesley Hill
  • Sam Allberry
  • Caleb Kaltenbach
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

What spiritual disciplines do you practice?  We’re all familiar with reading our bibles and prayer, but there’s so much more available.  In this interview, Blake Cortright guides us through his own journey into discovering ancient Christian disciplines that can help us today, including prayer, fasting, meditation, bible study, simplicity, solitude, submission, service, confession, worship, guidance, and celebration.  Pulling on the work of Richard Foster, Henri Nouwen, Dallas Willard, and John Eldredge, Cortright shares how these spiritual disciplines can help center us and sanctify us so we can live for God better today.

Notes and Links:

• Follow Blake Cortright on Twitter @blakecortright
• Books mentioned in this podcast: Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster, Way of the Heart by Henri Nouwen, Renovation of the Heart by Dallas Willard, Wild at Heart by John Eldredge
• Watch the epic “Trinity Schminity” song by Winterband here
• More on Dale Tuggy vs. James White here
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

Jackie Hill-Perry used to dress like a boy to go out and pick up girls. She ended up in a long-term relationship with another woman, but then she came to a sudden realization that she was living a lie. She’s completely changed her life and now embraces her femininity and even got married to a man (Preston Perry). She’s a poet, a hip-hop artist, and a powerful speaker.  This is her testimony.  Warning! This episode contains sexually explicit content and is not appropriate for children.

Notes:

• Watch”My Life as a Stud” on YouTube here and here.
• Listen to “The Art of Joy” album here
• Also, see a powerful piece about the conversation Adam and Eve may have had after the Fall
• Visit Jackie Hill-Perry’s official website at jackiehillperry.com
• More Restitutio posts about same-sex attraction
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

Is it a sin to be gay? What does the bible say about same-sex attraction? In this episode you’ll become familiar with the relevant scriptures that talk about homosexuality. You’ll also learn what arsenokoitai (ἀρσενοκοῖται) means in 1 Corinthians 6.9, a key battleground text for discussions of biblical sexuality. Here the Apostle Paul pulls from the Greek translation of Leviticus 20.13 as well as Roman sexual sensibilities to condemn both active and passive participants of same-sex acts.  Whether you believe in accepting gay lifestyles or think homosexual behavior is sinful, it’s important to get a grasp on what the bible says about this incredibly controversial subject.

Notes:

Creation provides the foundation for what the bible says about human sexuality:

Genesis 2:23-24 23 Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”  24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.

God’s original design was a man and a woman, complementing each other in marriage.  However, when our first parents rebelled, humanity fell from its original condition.  The serpent asked, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?’” (Gen 3:1).  After Eve confirmed God’s restriction not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the serpent said, “God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen 3.5).  He wanted the first people to distrust God, to think he’s holding them back, to imagine he’s restricting them from enjoying something good.  As a result Adam and Eve committed high treason against their maker in an act of open rebellion.  Consequently “fallenness” contaminated them and their descendants ever since.

Romans 5.12, 17, 18, 19 12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned…17 because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man… 18 one trespass led to condemnation for all men…19 by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners…

Today we are imperfect mirrors stamped with God’s image, but broken in all kinds of ways.  Some of us are tempted with losing our tempers, others with adultery, still others with greed.  Our fallen condition means that from birth we are out of tune with how God wants for us to think and live.  Of course, redemption is available in Christ today and ultimately complete restoration will flood our world when the kingdom comes, healing everyone from sinful impulses, physical sickness, and relational dysfunction.

Although the incident in Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen 19) is the first mention of same-sex desire, it’s not particularly helpful for figuring out the bible’s position on homosexuality, since the men of the city wanted to rape the visitors.  (Rape, of course, is condemned throughout scripture.)  Instead, we’ll begin in the Law of Moses with two texts in Leviticus.

Leviticus 18.22 You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.

abomination: something that causes disgust or hatred.  Example: “Although once common, torture is now an abomination to the civilized peoples of the earth.”[1]

Lest you think abomination is a radical word, solely used for sexual acts, here are some other abominations in scripture:

• for Egyptians to eat with Hebrews (Gen 43:32)
• the gold and silver on idols (Deut 7:25)
• child sacrifice (Deut 12:31)
• eating unclean animals (Deut 14:3)
• practicing magic or sorcery (Deut 18:9-10)
• prideful eyes, lying, shedding innocent blood, devising

In the last episode (Boundaries for Same-Sex Attraction), we looked at what the bible says about same-sex attraction.  In this one, we consider seven important questions about gay and lesbian Christians:

1. How should same-sex attracted Christians think of themselves?
2. Isn’t the Christian sexual ethic harmful to gays and lesbians?
3. Is having same-sex feelings a sin?
4. Can someone go from gay to straight?
5. Do people choose to be gay or are they born gay?
6. As a Christian, how should I treat gay people?
7. How can we support same-sex attracted folks who choose Christ over their sexual gratification?

Links:

• Becket Cook’s podcast, YouTube talk
• Sam Allberry’s book: Is God Anti-Gay?, website: LivingOut.org
• Rosaria Butterfield’s book: Secretly Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert
• Jackie Hill-Perry podcast
• Mark Yarhouse’s book: Homosexuality: The Use of Scientific Research in the Church’s Moral Debate
• Wesley Hill: Celibacy as a Call to Love (YouTube)
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

Notes:

Becket Cook’s story can help us think through some really tough questions related to same-sex attraction.[1]  Our culture pressures us through songs, movies, and stories about finding romance to believe singleness is inferior to relationships.  It’s easy to get the impression that to achieve human flourishing and experience humanity to its fullest, you need to get married (or at least be in a serious relationship).  What does that say about Jesus?  Are we saying he wasn’t a full human being?  Did Christ mope around, longing for romance?  Did the great missionary Paul think singleness was a curse?  Far from it, he wrote, “To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single as I am” (1 Cor 7.8).  He goes on to extol the benefits of celibate singleness, including freedom from worrying about how to please a spouse and freedom to serve the Lord better.  He concludes, “So then he who marries his betrothed does well, and he who refrains from marriage will do even better…Yet in my judgment she is happier if she remains as she is [i.e. single]” (1 Cor 7:38, 40).

Question 1: How should same-sex attracted Christians think of themselves?  Sam Allberry, author of Is God Anti-Gay, an excellent book, writes:

The gospel of Jesus is wonderful news for someone who experiences same-sex attraction.  I used the term “same-sex attraction” just then because an immediate challenge is how I describe myself.  In western culture today the obvious term for someone with homosexual feelings is “gay.”  But in my experience this often refers to far more than someone’s sexual orientation.  It has come to describe an identity and a lifestyle.

When someone says they’re g

Today we begin a new class on Restitutio on the Kingdom of God. Jesus said the kingdom was like a treasure hidden in a field—it’s so valuable it’s worth selling everything to purchase. He said to seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness above what we eat or wear. In this class we’ll spend a great deal of time exploring what the bible teaches about the kingdom, including hope, gospel, and way. We will also work through the main reasons why Christianity lost the kingdom before looking at how some Christians recovered it. This class will not only provide a panoramic and nuanced view of the kingdom, but it will also offer a cohesive proleptic ethic to aid navigating our complex world while remaining true to Jesus, the king of the coming kingdom.

In this first lecture we look at the bookends of the bible: Genesis and Revelation. By developing a robust creation theology we’ll have a better grasp on what the end will be like. In addition to looking at Genesis, we’ll consider some of the marvels of God’s creation, including relativity, quantum theory, the hydrologic cycle, and bees. In the end my goal is to convince you that God did a good job making our world so it makes sense that he would want to restore it in the end.

This is lecture 1 of the Kingdom of God class, originally taught at the Atlanta Bible College.  To take this class for credit, please contact ABC so you can do the work necessary for a grade.

Notes:

eschatology = study of the end

two key restoration texts

1. Matthew 19.28 Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
   • ἡ παλιγγενεσία: (1) state of being renewed with focus on a cosmic experience, renewal, (2) experience of complete change of life, rebirth
   • NASB: regeneration
2. Acts 3.21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.
   • ἡ ἀποκατάστασις: restoration
   • this is what the whole bible is about!

creation theology

• close your eyes and picture earth
  • ever since 1972 when an astronaut took this picture, called “The Blue Marble” during the Apollo 17 lunar mission, this is how we think of earth
  • if I asked an ancient Israelite to picture earth, they would think of soil, land, crops
  • so, we have to be very careful about reading our own assumptions into what the bible says
  • we need to adjust our thinking to the bible rather than the other way around
• the first book of the bible begins with a poem, detailing God’s creation of universe
• Genesis 1
• what repeats?
  • And God said
  • let there be
  • and God saw that it was good
  • and there was evening and there was morning—the ?? day
  • every stanza begins with, “And God said” and “let there be”
  • every stanza ends with, “and God saw that it was good” and “it was evening and morning”
• more patterns
  • God creates heavens on day 1
  • God populates heavens on day 4
  • God creates the waters on day 2
  • God populates waters on day 5
  • God creates the land on day 3
  • God populates the land on day 6
• orderliness of creation!
  • billions of stars, galaxies, and quasars and they move in totally predictable ways
  • millions of plant and animal species w/ highly specialized niches determined by insanely detai

Christians protecting Muslims while they prayed in Tahrir Square, Egypt in 2011

On January 27, 2017, President Trump issued Executive Order 13769, called “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States,” in which he banned immigration from seven countries, including Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.  This unpopular order caused much controversy throughout the US and led to significant litigation, delaying it’s implementation.  Much of the president’s motivation for this order (and subsequent revisions) is to protect Americans from terrorists posing as refugees.  In this episode we look at few significant biblical passages on sojourners (immigrants) and attempt to stake out a Christian position on this subject.  Whether you are for or against immigration, this episode should help you think through your position from a distinctly Christian perspective.

Links:

• 99% Invisible podcast on the Sanctuary Movement of the 1980s: podcast 1, podcast 2
• Washington Post article: ‘Now they live in the light’: A Syrian refugee family finds only love and compassion in America
• “World Poverty, Immigration, & Gumballs” by Roy Beck visually demonstrates how immigration cannot solve world poverty
• Jeff Palmer, executive director of Baptist Global Response: “Caring for Refugees from the Middle East” (interview with Darrell Bock on The Table Podcast)
• Info about Stan and Pam Chee’s ministry to Chinese students at the University of Toronto
• Intro music: “Protofunk” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

What role does doubt play in your life?  Do you think of it as something to push aside and ignore or do you pursue your doubts to get answers?  In this episode we examine the role of doubt for Christians, avoiding both extremes of refusing to engage with doubt as well as obsessing on it.  Our goal is to face doubt honestly and ask God for help as we do the hard work of getting good answers.

Links:

• See Sean Kelly’s Off Script on Resting from Work
• Apologetics Class podcast episodes (on Restitutio)
• Releveant.com articles on doubt
• Unbelievable podcast with Justin Brierley
• William Lane Craig’s apologetics site: ReasonableFaith.org
• Craig Blomberg’s Historical Reliability of the Gospels
• Tim Keller’s book Reasons for God and Making Sense of God
• Intro music: “Protofunk” by Kevin MacLeod.  Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

It’s impossible to understand the kingdom of God or Jesus without having a grasp of the history-changing promises God made with Abraham and David.  To Abraham God covenanted the land and to David, a descendant to rule.  Ultimately these two covenants find their fulfillment in Jesus of Nazareth–the Messiah.

This is lecture 2 of the Kingdom of God class, originally taught at the Atlanta Bible College.  To take this class for credit, please contact ABC so you can do the work necessary for a grade.

Notes:

defining a covenant

• בְּרִית: agreement, alliance, covenant, pact
  • The brit milah (Hebrew: בְּרִית מִילָה‎‎, pronounced [bʁit miˈla]; Ashkenazi pronunciation: [bʁis ˈmilə], “covenant of circumcision”; Yiddish pronunciation: bris [bʀɪs]) is a Jewish religious male circumcision ceremony performed by a mohel (“circumciser”) on the eighth day of a male infant’s life. (Wikipedia)
• ἡ διαθήκη: a will, covenant, contract
  • Καινή Διαθήκη: new testament
• where do we have covenants in our society?
  • marriage, homeowner associations, airports

Abraham (Land Promise)

Gen 12.1-4: the pre-covenant

• 1 Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.  3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  4 So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
• move to this land and I will
  • bless you
  • make your name great
  • bless those who bless you and curse those who dishonor you
  • all families of earth will be blessed in you

Gen 12.5-7

• 5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people that they had acquired in Haran, and they set out to go to the land of Canaan. When they came to the land of Canaan, 6 Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak of Moreh. At that time the Canaanites were in the land.  7 Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, “To your offspring I will give this land.” So he built there an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
• Abram obeyed: this is the key to everything
• v7 is the first land promise

Gen 17.1-12, 23-27: the blood covenant

• 1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.”  3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him,  4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations.  5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.
• Abram gets renamed Abraham (a father of a multitude of nations)
  • ironic that the first Hebrew is “the father of many peoples”
• 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.
• v7 everlasting covenant!

The prophet Isaiah spoke more about the kingdom than any other prophet in the Hebrew bible. Consequently, his book is a phenomenal place to begin developing our understanding of what the kingdom will be like.  Stitching together his various snapshots, we encounter a magnificent collage detailing a new world full of peace, justice, and healing.

This is lecture 3 of the Kingdom of God class, originally taught at the Atlanta Bible College.  To take this class for credit, please contact ABC so you can do the work necessary for a grade.

Notes:

God will make everything wrong with the world right.

Isaiah 2.1-4

• all nations will go to God’s mountain to learn how to live
• God will settle disputes between nations and peoples
• weapons of war will turn into tools of agriculture
• no more learning or waging war

Isaiah 9.2-7

• human child will shoulder the government
• no end to the increase of his government
• he will reign on the throne of David
• uphold kingdom with justice forever
• Yahweh’s zeal will get this done

Isaiah 11.1-10

• the spirit of God will rest upon the king
• his delight will be in the fear of Yahweh
• he won’t judge by eyes and ears
• he will make just decisions for the poor and meek
• with the “rod of his mouth” and “the breath of his lips” he will kill the wicked
• he will be righteous and faithful
• animals will live in peace w/ each other and humanity
• no one will hurt or destroy in God’s holy mountain
• the earth will be full of the knowledge of Yahweh as waters cover the sea
• the nations will inquire of the “root of Jesse”

Isaiah 25.6-9

• reach feast of well-aged wine and choice meats
• he will swallow up death forever
• the Lord Yahweh will wipe away tears from all faces
• he will wipe away the reproach of his people from the earth
• people will be glad and rejoice in his salvation

Isaiah 35.1-10

• desert will blossom abundantly
• they will see the glory and majesty of our God
• God will come with vengeance and recompense
• he will come and save you
• the disabled will find healing (blind, deaf, lame, mute)
• singing and “everlasting joy” coming to Zion
• sorrow and sighing will flee away

Isaiah 51.3-8

• God will make Zion’s waste places like Eden, the garden of Yahweh
• thanksgiving and voice of song will be found in Zion
• God’s salvation and righteousness will be forever

Isaiah 60.1-22

• wealth of the nations will come to Jerusalem
• foreigners will build up Jerusalem’s walls
• Jerusalem’s gates will be open continually (24/7)
• any nation that refuses to serve Jerusalem will perish, utterly laid waste
• Yahweh will be Jerusalem’s everlasting light instead of the sun
• all the people will be righteous
• they will possess the land forever
• all so God might be glorified

Isaiah 61.1-7

• good news to the poor
• liberty to the captives
• comfort those who mourn
• call people oaks of righteousness to God’s glory
• repair ruined cities
• strangers/foreigners will tend flocks and work land
• you will be priests of Yahweh
• possess a double portion

Isaiah 65.17-25

• create new heavens and earth
• God will rejoice in Jerusalem and his people
• no more will people hear the sound of weeping or the cry of distress
• mortals will live very long lives (no more infant deaths)

Let’s face it; it’s difficult to talk about pornography, especially among Christians.  We get overwhelmed with feelings of shame and embarrassment while fearing how others will regard us with disgust or disdain.  However, this issue is a huge struggle for a ton of Christians (and non-Christians) in the world today.  Drawing on some of what he shared last week about spiritual disciplines, Blake Cortright joins us once again to tackle this sensitive topic.  He explains why porn is so hard to quit as well as reasons why it’s worth it to gain freedom from this taskmaster.  In a remarkable display of courage and honesty, Cortright also shares his own 10+ year struggle with pornography and what measures he took that finally liberated him.

Warning, if children are around, although we do not discuss any graphic content, the general topic is probably inappropriate, depending on the ages.

Notes and Links:

• Follow Blake Cortright on Twitter @blakecortright
• Check out Interview 19: Spiritual Disciplines
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

Are you interested in online ministry?  Would you like to reach more people?  Ryan Maher shares what he’s learned about combining his love for God and graphic design into his bible lock-screen app.  Once Instigram came out, he jumped on board and developed a following that numbers around a million people.  In this interview Maher talks about his journey of faith, how he’s found success in reaching people online, as well as some tips on how to be more effective on social media.

Notes and Links:

• Get more info about Ryan Maher’s bible lock screen app
• Check out his daily encouragement blog at ryanmaher.net
• Subscribe to his podcast
• Follow him on twitter @RyanMaher
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

Last time we looked at the kingdom prophecies in Isaiah.  Today we’ll examine Amos, Micah, Zephaniah, Zechariah, Ezekiel, and Daniel to continue developing a biblical picture of the age to come.

This is lecture 4 of the Kingdom of God class, originally taught at the Atlanta Bible College.  To take this class for credit, please contact ABC so you can do the work necessary for a grade.

Notes:

We’ve already looked at God’s promises to Abraham and David as well as the richest kingdom book of the bible—Isaiah.  Now we will examine several other key prophecies and psalms.

Amos 9.11-15

• 11 “In that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins and rebuild it as in the days of old, 12 that they may possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called by my name,” declares the LORD who does this.
  • restoration of Davidic throne
• 13 “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed; the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it.
  • what does it mean, “the plowman will overtake the reaper?”
  • look at how tactile this kingdom vision is!
    • plowing, reaping, treading grapes, wine
    • how far is this from floating on a cloud or “polishing rainbows”
• 14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit. 15 I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given them,” says the LORD your God.
  • rebuilding the cities
  • enjoying the produce of the land

Micah 4.6-8

• Micah 4.6-8 6 In that day, declares the LORD, I will assemble the lame and gather those who have been driven away and those whom I have afflicted; 7 and the lame I will make the remnant, and those who were cast off, a strong nation; and the LORD will reign over them in Mount Zion from this time forth and forevermore.  8 And you, O tower of the flock, hill of the daughter of Zion, to you shall it come, the former dominion shall come, kingship for the daughter of Jerusalem.
  • lame, outcasts, afflicted will live in Mount Zion w/ God forever

Zephaniah 3.8-20

• 8 “Therefore wait for me,” declares the LORD, “for the day when I rise up to seize the prey. For my decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them my indignation, all my burning anger; for in the fire of my jealousy all the earth shall be consumed.
  • does anyone remember the catch phrase from last lecture that encapsulates the kingdom?
    • everything wrong with the world made right
  • part of what’s wrong with the world is human rebellion and wickedness
  • two sides to the kingdom coin
    • judgment
    • restoration
  • many of the majestic kingdom restoration passages come after macabre judgment prophesies
• 7 Be silent before the Lord GOD! For the day of the LORD is near; the LORD has prepared a sacrifice and consecrated his guests. 8 And on the day of the LORD’s sacrifice– “I will punish the officials and the king’s sons and all who array themselves in foreign attire.  9 On that day I will punish everyone who leaps over the threshold, and those who fill their master’s house with violence and fraud. 

Simply put, restorationism is the approach to Christianity that seeks to compare accepted doctrines and practices against the bible to see if they are valid.  Our intention is to recover authentic New Testament Christianity and live it out today.  We hold God’s inspired scriptures above traditions, creeds, and clergy.  The time is ripe for us to reach over denominational lines and dialogue with each other about our differences in a respectful and constructive manner.  We are restorationists and this is our manifesto.

Notes and Links:

• Read the Restorationist Manifesto here
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

Sir Anthony Buzzard has led a fascinating life.  He grew up in the Church of England in the 1930s and 40s.  While at Oxford, he attended a “get saved” meeting and went forward.  Next he joined Herbert Armstrong’s Worldwide Church of God, but then left and studied with the Christadelphians, before joining the Church of God General Conference.  He’s written seven books, publishes a monthly magazine, co-founded the annual Theological Conference, initiated a thriving mission in Africa, trained dozens of current pastors, launched a radio program, and produced nearly a thousand YouTube videos.  He’s tirelessly promoted Jesus’ gospel of the kingdom and the simple truth that the Father is the only true God (biblical unitarianism).  In this interview, you’ll learn about Buzzard’s journey of faith as well as his hopes for the future of the movement.

Notes and Links:

• Visit Sir Anthony Buzzard’s website: focusonthekingdom.org
• Subscribe to Restoration Fellowship’s YouTube channel
• Check out Podcast 71: What Good Is Jesus without His Gospel?
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

While working in a casket factory as an upholsterer, one day Jeremy Bowders reflected on the fact that he would be in one eventually. He began asking the big questions about his life’s purpose. He began reading the bible and became a Christian. In the course of researching open theism, he read an article by William Lane Craig that mentioned Dale Tuggy. He came to trinities.org and began listening to Tuggy’s podcast, specifically episode 6 where a Muslim, a biblical unitarian, and a trinitarian debated Jesus’ identity.  Strangely enough, he found himself agreeing with the biblical unitarian!  According to Bowders, understanding that the Father is the only true God and that Jesus is his human messiah was like finding the decoder ring in a cereal box.  Suddenly the bible made much more sense to him.

Notes and Links:

• Other faith stories from Theological Conferences
• More information about Restoration Fellowship’s Theological Conference available here.
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

Having overcome his desire to remain in the background, Jonathen Favors boldly shared his testimony of coming to understand who God is.  After a severe football injury, he had a lot of time to spend time with and think about God.  While attending BIOLA University, he had learned that the title “Son of God” is a messianic title, but he didn’t understand how God could be three in one.  He began reading through scripture to discover Jesus’ conception of God.

Notes and Links:

• Other faith stories from Theological Conferences
• More information about Restoration Fellowship’s Theological Conference available here.
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

What happens when you die? Is there an intermediate state? What does the bible teach about the dead before resurrection? These questions are important for our study of the kingdom of God.  If you go straight to heaven when you die, you’re not going to care very much about what happens when Jesus returns.  You may find it marginally interesting, but it’s what’s next for you.  In this way, the doctrine of heaven-at-death eclipses Jesus’ gospel of the kingdom.  However, as it turns out, the bible teaches that the dead are asleep until the resurrection on the last day.  In this lecture you’ll learn the primary texts that support conditional immortality and you’ll see how this Hebrew notion compares to what other cultures and religions say about the afterlife.

This is lecture 6 of the Kingdom of God class, originally taught at the Atlanta Bible College.  To take this class for credit, please contact ABC so you can do the work necessary for a grade.

Notes:

difference between conditional immortality and natural immortality

• natural means immortality is part of nature
• conditional means immortality is conditioned on God giving it

death is sleep (sleep = not awake)

• RIP = rest in peace

sleep is the dominant metaphor the bible uses to talk about death

• David slept with his fathers
  • 1 Kings 2.10 10 Then David slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David.
• Solomon slept with his fathers
  • 1 Kings 11.43 43 And Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.
• Jeroboam slept with his fathers
  • 1 Kings 14.20 20 And the time that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years. And he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his place.
• death is lying down, quietly in sleep, and at rest
  • Job 3.11, 13-14, 17, 19 11 “Why did I not die at birth, come out from the womb and expire?…13 For then I would have lain down and been quiet; I would have slept; then I would have been at rest, 14 with kings and counselors of the earth who rebuilt ruins for themselves…17 There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest…19 The small and the great are there, and the slave is free from his master.
• the dead know nothing and do nothing
  • Ecclesiastes 9.5, 10 5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten…10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.
• no remembrance or praise of God in sheol
  • Psalm 6.4-5 4 Turn, O LORD, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love.  5 For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?
• help me or else I’ll sleep the sleep of death
  • Psalm 13.3 Consider and answer me, O LORD my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
• the dead do not praise the LORD
  • Psalm 115.17 The dead do not praise the LORD, nor do any who go down into silence.
• breath [ruach/spirit] departs, return to earth, plans perish
  • Psalm 146.3-4 3 Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.  4 When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.
• Jesus calls Lazarus asleep when he is dead
  • John 11.11-14 11 After saying these things, he said to them, R

Danny Tanner grew up in the Lutheran Church and later got heavily involved with the Brethren in Christ group.  He’s served as a worship pastor, an associate pastor, and an executive pastor.  Currently he’s involved in a church plant.  Over the years he’s questioned his faith, but never let himself dive in deep enough to reconsider his core beliefs.  He didn’t want to give himself permission to reconsider any of them, because he was worried he might end up renouncing his faith.  After hearing about biblical unitarianism from Jeremy Bowders, he began working through his understanding of God and Christ.  The bible starting making sense and coming alive in a fresh way for him.

Notes and Links:

• Other faith stories from Theological Conferences
• More information about Restoration Fellowship’s Theological Conference available here.
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

Even though he grew up in the Calivinist Reformed tradition as a pastor’s kid, Jouke Elsinga was not sure he believed in God’s existence.  After reading Frank Turek’s I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist, he came to believe in God and started searching for apologetics.  He came across my apologetics class on youtube (also available on podcasts 50-65) and deepened his reasons for believing in the bible.  Next he began digging into theology, trying to discern the teachings of the bible.  He came to believe in conditional immortality (the sleep of the dead), but still held to the doctrine of the trinity.  However, after researching a little more he came across the Trinity Delusion website and youtube channel and found the arguments there very convincing.

Notes and Links:

• Other faith stories from Theological Conferences
• More information about Restoration Fellowship’s Theological Conference available here.
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

Steve and Phyllis Carouthers have attended many churches throughout their Christian journey.  A couple of years ago Phyllis was researching the gifts of the spirit and came across an article on the Truth or Tradition website and saw that they were biblical unitarians.  Initially she found this quite disturbing as she associated all unitarians with the very liberal Unitarian Universalist denomination.  However, after learning that biblical unitarians actually hold to the inspiration and authority of scripture, she began considering the idea that the Father is the only true God.  She searched around online and began watching the free classes from Living Hope International Ministries.  After much study she came to agree that Jesus is not God the Son, but the Son of God.  She shared this with her step son, Thomas Brewer who had been studying with the Jehovah’s Witnesses for a year.  (He could never quite bring himself to join them because of their opposition to blood transfusions.)  He came to see the light and attended the Theological Conference in 2016.  This year the whole family came.

Notes and Links:

• Other faith stories from Theological Conferences
• More information about Restoration Fellowship’s Theological Conference available here.
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

After a bad divorce, Chad Hoffman became a Christian.  He attended a number of different churches and something didn’t sit right at each.  In 2006, he was diagnosed with a inoperable tumor on his brain stem.  After some treatment it shrank and grew back.  During this tumultuous time, he started considering what he believed about the afterlife.  He took some seminary courses to get more information and learned about hermeneutics (how to interpret the bible).  Armed with these tools, he began understanding that the bible taught that the dead are asleep until resurrection.  He continued in his studies and discovered more about God’s nature and his coming kingdom.  He still battles cancer, but since this recording a recent mri has revealed this his tumor is currently stable.  Please pray for the Hoffmans as they continue in the walk with the Lord.

Notes and Links:

• Other faith stories from Theological Conferences
• More information about Restoration Fellowship’s Theological Conference available here.
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

Nicholas Hlifka grew up as an atheist until a Christian teacher shared his faith with him in high school.  While attending the State University of New York at Fredonia, he took a class with Dale Tuggy.  When he found out that Tuggy was a biblical unitarian, he was immediately wary of such a heretical belief.  Over time, he challenged Tuggy, his best trinitarian proof-texts to him.  Tuggy explained the various texts and eventually Hlifka felt compelled to follow the evidence where it was leading.  Next, in an online coversation with Kegan Chandler, he learned about how God plans to establish his kingdom on earth (rather than going to heaven at death).  Once again Hlifka didn’t balk at the challenge, but embraced the biblical teaching.

Notes and Links:

• Other faith stories from Theological Conferences
• More information about Restoration Fellowship’s Theological Conference available here.
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

Now that we’ve looked at many of the kingdom texts from the Old Testament, today we’ll get into the New Testament and see what Jesus and the apostles taught about the kingdom.  We’ll examine the titles of Jesus, a couple of his parables, some texts from Paul and James, and conclude in Revelation.  In this lecture, we’ll restrict our focus to just those verses that speak of the kingdom as future.  We’ll come back to the other kingdom scriptures in the New Testament in subsequent lectures.

This is lecture 5 of the Kingdom of God class, originally taught at the Atlanta Bible College.  To take this class for credit, please contact ABC so you can do the work necessary for a grade.

Notes:

My goal is to cruise through the New Testament and look at texts pertaining to the coming kingdom (Matthew to Revelation)

defining Messiah/Christ: the one God anoints to rule over the kingdom

• Mark 15.32 32 Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.

defining Son of Man: the one Daniel saw in a vision to whom God gave the kingdom

• Daniel 7.13-14 13 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.  14 And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

defining Son of David: the promised descendant to rule on the throne of David forever

• triumphal entry
• Matthew 21.9 “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”
• Mark 11.9-10 “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! 10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”
• Luke 19.38 “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
• John 12.13 “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”

defining Son of God: same as God’s messiah (2 Sam 7.14) and God’s creation (Luke 1)

• John 1.49 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
• Luke 1.35 35 And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy– the Son of God.

Jesus clearly believed in a coming (future) kingdom

• Matthew 5.3-5 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.  5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
  • “kingdom of heaven” is only in Matthew (32x) and is identical to “kingdom of God” cf. Mat 19.23 vs. 24
  • this is as powerful as it is terse
  • bottom line: if you inherit the earth, you aren’t floating around in heaven

Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

They [the meek] show by every word and gesture that they do not belong to this earth.  Leave heaven to them, says the world in its pity, that is where they belong.  But Jesus says: “They shall inherit the earth.”  To these, the powerless and the disenfranchised, the very earth belongs.  Those who now possess it by violence and injustice shall lose it, and those who here have utterly renounced it, who

What is the gospel of the kingdom of God? It’s not about Jesus dying for your sins or going to heaven when you die. In fact, Jesus’ gospel of the kingdom is not new at all; it’s the message the prophets of old proclaimed–that one day God was going to make everything wrong with the world right and extend his reign from heaven to earth. In this lecture, you’ll see how John the Baptist, Jesus Christ, the twelve, the seventy, and Philip the evangelist, and Paul the Apostle all preached about God’s coming kingdom.

This is lecture 7 of the Kingdom of God class, originally taught at the Atlanta Bible College.  To take this class for credit, please contact ABC so you can do the work necessary for a grade.

Notes:

first off, what is the gospel?

• τό εὐαγγέλιον (to evangelion): good message
• holding this message results in salvation
  • 1 Corinthians 15.1-2 Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you– unless you believed in vain.
  • 2 Timothy 1.10 and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
  • Romans 1.16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
• thus, getting the gospel wrong is huge!
• since believing in the gospel results in salvation, getting the gospel right is absolutely paramount!

begin by looking at an interesting incident (why did Jesus rebuke peter?)

• Matthew 16.21-23 21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.  22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.”  23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”
• Why in the world did Peter rebuke Jesus?
  • he had told him he was going to suffer and die
• Why was this so shocking to Peter? Surely he had heard Jesus preaching the gospel!
  • note v. 21: “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples…”
  • this was the first time they heard about it
  • how did they react? outrage
• if he didn’t talk about his crucifixion prior to this, what was he preaching for 16 chapters!?!?!?

John the Baptist preached the kingdom gospel

• Matthew 3.1-2 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,  2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
• what is the “kingdom of heaven?” (same as kingdom of God)
  • heaven probably substitutes as a circumlocution for God or else it derives from Dan 2.44 “And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed”
  • this OT verse may account for the two phrases (kingdom of heaven AND kingdom of God)

Jesus preached the kingdom as gospel

• Mark 1.14-15 14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospe

J. Dan and Sharon Gill are part of a growing movement of bible students who have concluded that the Father of Jesus is the only true God.  They’re so passionate about this truth that in 2008, they launched their website, called Twenty-First Century Reformation (21stcr.org).  To date they’ve received over 700,000 views on YouT ube, not to mention visitors to the site.  In this interview you’ll here a bit about the Gill’s journey of faith from oneness to one, why they decided to launch 21st century reformation, how Sharon became “the most tech savvy grandma in America,” how they came up with the name, and their vision for the future.

Notes and Links:

• Visit 21st Century Reformation
• Subscribe to 21st Century Reformation’s YouTube channel
• Get J. Dan Gill’s book, The One: In Defense of God
• Also check out these audios, featuring J. Dan Gill
  • One God, One Message  (sermon)
  • Is the Trinity Necessary for Salvation? (interview)
  • From Oneness to One (testimony)
• Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.

How does your belief in the God’s coming kingdom affect your life now? Now that we’ve looked at the kingdom as hope (what we look forward to) and gospel (what we preach to others), we’ll examine how God calls us to embody the kingdom now.  Taking our cue from Jesus’ kingdom-saturated ministry, we’ll see how he enacted the future in the present as a testimony and a taste of what’s to come.

This is lecture 8 of the Kingdom of God class, originally taught at the Atlanta Bible College.  To take this class for credit, please contact ABC so you can do the work necessary for a grade.

Notes:

three dimensions of the kingdom

1. kingdom hope (including, judgment and restoration)
2. kingdom gospel (message preached)
3. kingdom way (lifestyle, motivation, allegiance)

Jesus was obsessed w/ the kingdom

• we’ve already established that Jesus was a kingdom preacher
• that Jesus believed he was messiah—God’s anointed king of the kingdom
• that Jesus chose 12 disciples and promised them 12 thrones in the kingdom
• his parables were all about the kingdom
  • parable of the sower: responding to the “word of the kingdom” seed
  • parable of the tares & wheat: righteous and wicked grow together until the kingdom age when judgment occurs
  • parable of the minas: teaches how to steward what God has given you so as to be rewarded in the kingdom
  • parable of the sheep and the goats: treat those in need well so when the son of man sits upon his throne he will grant you entrance to kingdom
• you wanna tell me you can understand Jesus w/o understanding the kingdom?
• he was obsessed with it
• it was his hope, his destiny, his dream, his sermon,
• he gave his life for it (Rev 5.9-10)
• he called the kingdom a treasure in a field and a pearl of great price (Mt 13.44-46)—something worth selling everything to get
• as for priorities, Jesus said, “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.  33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Mt 6.31-33) (on quiz: in what verse does Jesus tell his disciples to seek first his kingdom?)
• but, he doesn’t stop here
  • his whole ministry, including preaching, healing, exorcisms, dinner parties all enacted the kingdom
  • I want to look at three incidents
    • his inaugural sermon
    • his answer to John’s delegation
    • an exorcism

1. inaugural sermon

• Luke 4.16-21 16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read.  17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,  18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed,  19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”  20 And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him.  21 And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”
• Isaiah 61.1-11 1 The Spirit of the Lord G