Truth & Circumstances: Recent Episodes
Providence Bible Fellowship
Highlights: John uses the word “world” in different ways, many times not intending to mean “every individual without exception.” John 1:10, 6:33 “…whoever believes…” does not communicate that all people are able to believe. Rather, all who do believe will be saved.
Highlights: The bible assumes man loves self and exhorts man to love others. Mark 12:31; Phil 2:3-4 The NT does exhort us to confidence…in the Lord. Phil 3:3; 2 Cor 3:4-5
Episode Highlights: The passage describes a ritual test for adultery. The connection some have made to abortion is based upon a poor translation by the NIV, which mistakenly makes a reference to miscarriage. The passage has nothing to do with pregnancy, miscarriage, or abortion.
Episode Highlights: It appears from the NT that it is not essential to know your gift in order to exercise it. As our gifts are manifestations of the Spirit (1 Cor 12:7), we should walk in submission to Him that we might be used in whatever way He chooses (Gal 5:16, Col 3:16, Rom 8:13, […]
Episode highlights: Chapter and verse divisions are not original to the biblical text. The verse divisions are tied to a Greek edition (Textus Receptus) that is based upon relatively few, relatively late manuscripts. Our modern translations are based upon many more manuscripts, some dating to the 2nd century AD. These better manuscripts indicate that some […]
The biggest issue is the spiritual test that comes from no longer having parents as a pressing influence toward church involvement/membership.
We’re taking a brief Summer hiatus from posting new episodes. Lord willing, we’ll be back with new content on Tuesday, August 2!
Episode Highlights: The Bible assumes a change in the parent/child relationship at adulthood. Prov 22:6; Eph 6:4 A key guidelines is to treat adult children as we would any other adult. We should: allow them to make their own mistakes; love them enough to prevent catastrophic mistakes; and, confront their sin as we would that […]
Episode Highlights An ectopic pregnancy results when a fertilized egg implants outside the uterus, virtually dooming the baby, and seriously imperiling the life of the mother. Some in the pro-life camp have found this to be a situation where a biblical love of life necessitates preserving the life of the mother by ending the doomed […]
Episode highlights: The NT indicates that introspection should be occasional, not vocational. As we spend time with the Lord, He will expose our hearts. Morbid introspection can be counteracted with some simple guardrails.
Episode Highlights: Does this friendship keep God at the center? Does this friendship image God through unity? Does this friendship entail service unto mutual sanctification?
Episode Highlights: We’re told explicitly to forgive the repentant. Luke 17:3 Forgiveness is distinct from emotional baggage handling. Eph 4:26-27 Forgiveness is inextricably bound to reconciliation. 2 Cor 7.
Episode highlights: A man should lead his children by bringing them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Eph 6:4 Our discipleship should utilize intentional observation and individual interaction.
Episode Highlights: Distinguish between venting and seeking counsel. Gently steer her away from venting by offering to pray with her or asking if she needs counsel. If the wife needs counsel, be sure to only give counsel about how to handle her own heart since you don’t have all the information (Prov 18:13, 17)
Episode Highlights: The Bible calls a man to give special care and attention to loving, knowing, and protecting his wife. Some influences from which a man can and should protect his wife are sin, ungodly influences, and over-commitment.
Episode Highlights: Understand your multi-faceted role as a Christian wife Model stewardship in your own life Give plenty of space on non-essential issues Frame everything in love
Episode Highlights: Stuart Scott: “Biblical Counseling is the Spirit-empowered process of one Christian coming along side another with words of encouragement, admonition, comfort and help, drawn from Scripture and presented in the context of relationship towards both God and man.” Biblical counseling is founded upon the convictions that the Word is sufficient (2 Tim 3:16-17), […]
Episode Highlights: Pursuit of the destination is a corporate activity, not a solitary one. Pursuing the destination with others entails stirring one another up to love and good deeds. (Heb 10:24-25) Regular meetings with other men, centered on stirring one another up, are an essential component of a man’s spiritual wellbeing and his ability to […]
Episode Highlights: The biblical method of change requires “putting off” and “putting on” (Eph 4:22-24) We should turn our thoughts from the offender’s character and works to the Lord’s character and works. We should put off any desire to repay evil for evil and instead proactively love the offender.
Episode Highlights: Lust is a broad issue pertaining to all kinds of aberrant desires. Everyone in the church could use equipping on this issue, whether as a help for themselves or to come alongside others. Come to “Directing Desire: Looking to Jesus in the Battle Against Lust” May 14, 8:00a-12:45p at PBF.
Episode Highlights: Prayer is an essential means of pursuing fellowship with the Lord. Meaningful participation in the church is an essential means of pursuing fellowship with the Lord. The spiritual disciplines are not ends in themselves, but conduits through which we enjoy the Lord.
Episode Highlights: Spiritual leadership requires a man to pursue the destination personally. The spiritual health of the head of the household is a crucial factor the health of the household. A man’s personal fellowship with the Lord is the well from which he will lead his family. A man pursues the destination through practicing the […]
Episode 224: Is gambling a sin? Episode Highlights:
- Gambling is nowhere explicitly forbidden in Scripture, but there are sufficient principles to discourage it.
- The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. 1 Tim 6:9-10
- Gambling is incompatible with biblical stewardship.
- Hastily gained wealth is the domain of the fool. Prov 13:11, 28:19-20
Episode 223: How do I lead spiritually? Episode Highlights
- Spiritual leadership requires me to know the destination to which I am leading, which is loving God (Deut 6:4-5; Matt 22:37).
- Spiritual leadership requires using God’s tools to get my family to the destination.
- Spiritual leadership requires using God’s power to get my family to the destination.
Listening Well Episode Highlights:
- Understand and embrace the biblical connection between listening and wisdom.
- Understand the biblical juxtaposition of listening and speaking.
- Understand and embrace listening as a function of loving well.
Episode 221 Episode Highlights:
- A woman married to a man who is not obeying the Lord should focus on her own heart, understanding that there may be something the Lord wants to teach her.
- She should also focus on her God, understanding that her hope is in Him, not her husband.
- Husbands must recognize the great blessings or burden of their spiritual condition on their families.
Episode 220 Episode Highlights:
- A major obstacle to sexual intimacy is the pervasive adoption of cultural ideas about sex.
- God’s design for sex is mutual serving in marriage, understanding the delightful responsibility to help one another with sexual temptation.
- A godly sexual relationship takes place in the context of vibrant conversational, spiritual, and emotional sharing.
Episode 219 Episode Highlights:
- Paul has in mind children still living in home.
- The grammar indicates that the qualification pertains to the submissive behavior–not the conversion–of the children.
- The parallel passage in 1 Tim 3:4-5 confirms that the concern is that a man manages his household well.
Episode 218 Episode Highlights:
- The Bible seems to expect that those who can have children will. Gen 1:28; Psa 127:3-5
- Parents should prioritize their one-flesh relationship. Gen 2:24
- Parents should pursue unity in parenting.
- Parents should honor one another, and thereby teach their children to honor parents. 1 Peter 3:7; Eph 5:33, 6:2
- Parents should commit to raising their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Eph 6:4
Episode 217 Episode Highlights:
- Have a straightforward conversation.
- Reach a diagnosis: is one or both spouses not pursuing the Lord?
- Recognize the dangers: what could happen if we do nothing?
- Make a plan: what do we need to do to remedy the situation?
Episode 216 episode highlights:
- any marriage should begin with shared biblical financial principles (Prov 6:6-11; 22:7; Matt 6:24-34; 2 Cor 9:6-8; 1 Tim 6:10; Jas 1:17)
- Each person should know their own financial tendencies and those of their spouse and seek to balance/help one another.
- Budgeting is a wise way to accommodate numerous biblical principles.
- The more financially gifted of the two likely should handle the finances.
Episode 215 episode highlights:
- We should consider God’s design for sexual delight in marriage and how that informs the situation.
- We should be aware of the biblical responsibility to make ourselves available to meet the sexual needs of our spouses.
- We should pray that God would bring our hearts and desires in line with His Word.
Episode 214 Episode highlights:
- We should commit to timely reconciliation (Eph 4:26-27)
- We should commit to righteous motivations (Matt 22:36-39)
- We should commit to prayerful examination (Matt 7:3-5)
- We should commit to a godly approach (Jas 1:19-20)
- We should commit to full understanding (Prov 18:13, 17)
Episode Highlights:
- Much miscommunication could be avoided if we were determined to eradicate assumptions. Prov 18:13
- Wrong assumptions are the cancer of relationships.
- One way to eradicate assumptions is to commit together to ask and answer “dumb questions.”
Episode 212 Episode Highlights:
- Devotionals, to the extent that they are biblically faithful, are just biblical teaching, which the Bible assumes we need. 2 Tim 3:16-4:4; Eph 4:11-12
- The average Christian can grow to delight in the Scriptures. Psa 1:1-2; 119:14, 47, 92, 97
- One could use a devotional as a catalyst to deeper reading/study, by going deeper into the passage covered by the devotional.
- Other ways to grow in delight of the Word: meditation, learning to study, reading the Bible with others.