Questions about how to know if we’re a “gardener” or a “harvester,” how to engage an apathetic person who says “I don’t know” to everything, and whether Christians are making an unfalsifiable claim and fruitlessly discussing something that can’t be proven or disproven. How do I know if I’m a “gardener” or a “harvester”? How do you engage an apathetic person who says “I don’t know” to everything? Are Christians committing a fallacy by making an unfalsifiable claim? What value is there in discussi...
Mar 28, 2024•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about how to start conversations with postmodernists about the need for repentance and what question one can use to put a stone in the shoe of a Buddhist friend. In a postmodern world, what tools can believers use to start a conversation about the need for repentance? What question can I use to put a stone in the shoe of my Buddhist friend?
Mar 25, 2024•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about what constitutes a marriage, at what point God considers a committed relationship to be a marriage, whether the freedom to pursue marriage is a natural right (and what restrictions would be inappropriate), and how to decline an invitation to an unbiblical wedding. What constitutes a marriage? At what point does God consider a committed relationship to be “marriage”? Is the freedom to pursue marriage a natural human right, and are there any any inappropriate restrictions that shou...
Mar 21, 2024•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about how to reconcile Romans 6:12–14 (where Paul talks about victory over sins) with Romans 7:21–25 (where Paul bemoans sins he still commits) and why Paul uses the Mosaic Law as a starting point for moral instruction if believers aren’t under any part of the Law. Please help me reconcile Romans 6:12–14 (where Paul seems to be saying we can have victory over our sins) with Romans 7:21–25 (which sounds like Paul is bemoaning sins he still commits). How do you reconcile Paul’s use of th...
Mar 18, 2024•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about whether there is something a person can do to develop love for Christ if they are emotionally detached and whether one should stay in a church that is slowly drifting away from historic Christianity. How is a person supposed to love Christ if they are emotionally detached? Is there a way to do something about it? Should I stay in a church that is slowly drifting away from historic Christianity and seems to question basic beliefs such as the authority of the Old Testament, Heaven,...
Mar 14, 2024•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about why atheists get angry when someone brings up belief in God, how to reconcile God’s sovereignty and Satan being the prince of the world, and why the Lord’s Prayer says, “Lead us not into temptation,” when God would never lead us into temptation. What is the source of the anger I encounter from atheists when I bring up belief in God? How does one reconcile God’s sovereignty and Satan being the prince of this world? Why does the Lord’s Prayer say, “Lead us not into temptation,” whe...
Mar 11, 2024•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about whether we’re only interpreting the Bible according to authorial intent because of our post-Enlightenment way of thinking and whether Zephaniah 3:17 is being taken out of context when someone takes comfort in it. How should I respond to someone who says, “The only reason you interpret the Bible by going back to authorial intent is that you live in a post-Enlightenment way of thinking, and others might interpret it differently”? Am I taking Zephaniah 3:17 out of context when I tak...
Mar 07, 2024•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about how to defend the claim that marriage was created by God and what to say to someone who doesn’t want her daughter to grow up Christian because she thinks Christianity is harmful to women. How can we defend the claim that marriage was created by God if marriage has been in non-Judeo-Christian civilizations throughout time? What should I say to someone who doesn’t want her daughter to grow up Christian because she thinks Christianity is harmful to women?...
Mar 04, 2024•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about whether the existence of evil points to the existence of multiple gods and why God needs to slowly improve our character here on earth if he’s going to make every Christian sinless at the resurrection regardless of how long each one was a Christian. Would the existence of multiple gods, some good and some evil, explain the existence of evil better than the existence of one God who allows evil? If, after death, God will give the thief on the cross the same sinless character as the...
Feb 29, 2024•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about how to make sure we will honestly consider people’s arguments and why God doesn’t give more evidence to the “non-resistant non-believers” who are seeking truth. It’s frustrating when someone doesn’t seem to be honestly considering a persuasive argument. How can I make sure I don’t make that same mistake? Why doesn’t God give more evidence to the “non-resistant non-believers” who are seeking truth?
Feb 26, 2024•28 min•Transcript available on Metacast Question about advice for debating an atheist. If I were to debate an atheist one day, what advice would you give?
Feb 22, 2024•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about whether one can argue from the existence of evil straight to the Christian God or if more arguments are required to get there and whether Abraham sacrificing Isaac would be considered a good action since God commanded it. Does the existence of evil argue for the God of the Bible or only for a monotheistic God in general? If Abraham sacrificed Isaac, would the action be considered good since God commanded it?
Feb 19, 2024•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about whether sin still would have entered the world if only Eve had eaten the fruit, the theological explanation for why Jesus did not inherit a sinful nature from Mary, and what the idea that nothing good can come from evil would mean for children born as a result of rape. If only Eve had eaten the fruit and Adam refused, would sin still have entered the world? What is the theological explanation for why Jesus did not inherit a sinful nature from Mary? If nothing good can come from e...
Feb 15, 2024•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about how to evaluate whether you are “doing enough for the Lord,” whether Ezekiel 3:18 indicates you will be in trouble on judgment day if you didn’t tell someone the gospel before they died, and whether it’s okay for a Christian to use Latter-day Saint resources to do family research. What advice would you give me as an average believer to evaluate whether I am doing enough for the Lord and serving him enough? Since God tells Ezekiel in Ezekiel 3:18 that if he doesn’t warn people, an...
Feb 12, 2024•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about how to discern between our own inner voice and the Holy Spirit telling us what we are supposed to say if, according to Matthew 10:20, “it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you” at the right moment and whether Acts 11:17 indicates we can get in God’s way when he is speaking to us. If “it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you” at the right moment, as Matthew 10:20 says, how do we discern the difference between our own inner voice of our previous training and the H...
Feb 08, 2024•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about how to apply the Bible to our lives if we’re supposed to read it in context and not insert our circumstances into it and how to respond to someone who says the Great Commission was given to the apostles and not to the church writ large (similar to how Jeremiah 29:11 was given to the exiles). If we’re supposed to read the Bible in context and not insert our lives or circumstances into it, how do we then apply the ancient Word to our current lives? How would you respond to someone ...
Feb 05, 2024•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about whether Christianity is about following Jesus rather than a story of reality, what John the Baptist meant when he said, “He must increase, but I must decrease,” and why John the Baptist seemed confused about whether or not Jesus was the Messiah after he had already confessed he was. You said Christianity is a story of reality, and I agree that the Bible is a story of reality (it helps lead our lives), but isn’t Christianity about following Jesus? What did John the Baptist mean wh...
Feb 01, 2024•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about how one can use the moral argument and also say we can’t impose a moral standard from one period of time on another and responding to someone who says she would never follow a God who killed his own son. If you say we can’t impose a moral standard from one period of time on another, then how does the moral argument fit into this way of thinking? How would you respond to someone who says she would never follow a God who killed his own son?
Jan 29, 2024•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Question about an objection to grounding objective morality in God that states that if God has a morally perfect nature, and he either engaged in or directly allowed genocide, slavery, and torture, then that means genocide, slavery, and torture are objectively good. How would you address this atheist challenge to grounding objective morality in God: If God has an unchanging, morally perfect nature, and he either engaged in or directly allowed genocide, slavery, and torture, then doesn’t that mea...
Jan 25, 2024•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about how concerned one should be and what to do about a spouse who now believes in annihilationism and how to navigate differences in doctrine with those who take strong stands on their distinctives. My wife has changed her view on Hell to annihilationism, and I feel betrayed and worried for her and how she’ll influence our kids. How should I think about this and deal with it? How do you navigate differences in doctrine with those who take strong stands on their distinctives?...
Jan 22, 2024•27 min•Transcript available on Metacast Question about whether Romans 5:18, 1 Corinthians 15:22, and 1 John 2:2 support the idea that everyone will be saved (universalism) as a New York Times opinion piece by David Bentley Hart claims. Do Romans 5:18, 1 Corinthians 15:22, and 1 John 2:2 support universalism (i.e., the idea that everyone will be saved and the doctrine of Hell is incorrect) as a New York Times opinion piece by Dr. David Hart claims?
Jan 18, 2024•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about how to respond to the claim that consent to sex is not consent to pregnancy and what to say to a Christian who argues that the law should give women a choice about abortion because God allows us to have free will and doesn’t force us to follow his commands. How would you respond to the claim that consent to sex is not consent to pregnancy? How should I respond to a Christian who argues that the law should give women a choice about abortion because God allows us to have free will ...
Jan 15, 2024•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about how to respond to someone who says we should stop saying that attempting to speak to ancestors is demonic, how to answer a Sikh who doesn’t understand why a Christian wouldn’t marry a non-Christian, and a response to the claim “God is not out there; he is in here.” How would you respond to someone who says from an African spirituality perspective we should stop saying that listening to or attempting to speak to ancestors is demonic? How would you answer a Sikh who is questioning ...
Jan 11, 2024•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about whether we should provide our preferred pronouns during jury duty when a judge asks for them and how to respond to a Christian who says it’s kind to use a person’s preferred pronouns and that not using them is unkind, unloving, and judgmental. When a judge asks me to provide my preferred pronouns in a courtroom during jury duty, is that the wrong place to resist providing them? How should I respond to a Christian who says it’s kind to use a person’s preferred pronouns, that by no...
Jan 08, 2024•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about whether the Christian liberty described in Romans 14 is the same thing as making up our own rules, weaker and stronger Christians in Romans 14 and 1 Corinthians 8, and the claim that once a person accepts Jesus as Savior, he is redeemed and no longer a sinner. How can we explain the idea of Christian liberty as found in Romans 14 to someone who claims it’s just the same thing as making up our own rules? Regarding the “weaker” and “stronger” Christians Paul talks about in Romans 1...
Jan 04, 2024•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about whether Jesus thought Moses was wrong for giving a law to accommodate the hard hearts of the people, whether our civil laws should reflect the ideal or take into account man’s brokenness, and how to counsel someone who has “lost his joy in the Lord” because of sin. In Mark 10:2–9, is Jesus reprimanding Moses or claiming Moses was wrong for giving a law regulating divorce to accommodate the hard hearts of the people? Should civil laws reflect God’s good will or take into account m...
Jan 01, 2024•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about whether feelings should have any epistemological weight in our decision making and how to interpret several verses in Acts in light of Greg’s views on being led by the Spirit. Should feelings have any epistemological weight in our decision making? For example, should a pastoral candidate who has a “check in his spirit” reject a church job even if there are no objective biblical or wisdom reasons to do so? In light of your views on being led by the Spirit in your decision making m...
Dec 28, 2023•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about how to respond to a formerly Muslim friend who is unwilling to pay the price for becoming a Christian and doesn’t want to respond to challenges or discuss differences and whether Acts 17:23 implies that people who never hear the gospel will be judged differently. How should I respond to a formerly Muslim friend who is unwilling to pay the price for becoming a Christian and doesn’t want to respond to challenges because his philosophy in life is to love and help, not discuss differ...
Dec 21, 2023•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about what to ask a strict empiricist who claims he only believes in things he can see, the purpose behind God making people with senses that can’t find him, and thoughts on whether a particular way of introducing the topic of objective truth is adequate. What questions should I ask someone who claims he only believes in things he can see? What is the purpose behind God making animals and people with senses that can’t find him? Does my way of introducing the topic of objective truth en...
Dec 18, 2023•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast Questions about whether we should call a man’s partner his husband if they’re legally married and whether it’s appropriate to remove kids from a middle school youth group where a male high schooler who has socially transitioned to female is serving. What are your thoughts on calling a man’s partner his husband or a woman’s partner her wife if they have had a same-sex wedding? A male high schooler who has socially transitioned to female is serving in our church’s middle school ministry. If I pull...
Dec 14, 2023•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
