Reconnect: Recent Episodes
Andy Wrasman
Andy interviews his pastor, Arthur Andrews from Hephatha Lutheran Church.
Andy finds out why Pastor Andrews wants to start a podcast and explores other means by which Pastor Andrews has shared the Gospel using 21st century technology.
Andy and Wes close the series on Lutheran Theology discussing worship, the Church, and ministry.
Topics:
Liturgy
Contemporary Worship
Invisible Church
Visible Church
Marks of the Church
Luther's Two Kingdom Theory
Priesthood of All Believers
Office of the Public Ministry
Office of the Keys
First Reconnect Thanksgiving Special.
Andy reads an article by Eric Metaxes that was published in 2015 in the Wall Street Journal entitled, "The Miracle of Squanto's Path to Plymouth".
He also shares the top 7 Bible verses for Thanksgiving which are compiled and explained by Kristi Winkler of ShareFaith.
Andy is a Lutheran, meaning that he believes the Book of Concord (The Lutheran Confessions) accurately represent the teachings of Scripture. However, he has never read Martin Luther's 95 Theses that he posted on the church door in Wittenberg on Oct. 31st, 1517.
In this episode, he reads them for the first time, start to finish on the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Many of these have some historical particularity that fully escapes him. Much is still to be learned.
Andy continues the series on Lutheran Theology. This time Wes is back and together they discuss the formal principle of Lutheran theology and the nature of Law and Gospel.
Sean Pino interviews Andy to see if he thinks Scripture and Darwinian Evolution are compatible. The literary nature of Genesis is discussed, the source and origin of physical death in creation, the interplay between scientific discovery and theory with Biblical interpretation, and why some Christians are adamant in their refusal to adapt Darwinian teaching into Christian Doctrine.
For episode 100 of Reconnect, Andy interviews Joe Joe Bongiorno, about his illustrated rock lyric book, Black Sabbath The Illustrated Lyrics, Vo1. 2: Songs of Protest and Apocalypse. Bongiorno’s book explains the lyrics of Black Sabbaths’ 2nd album, Paranoid. Some listeners might be shocked to hear about a Black Sabbath themed episode of a podcast dedicated to sharing the good news of Jesus Christ, and if that is the case, please go back to episode 68 where Andy interviewed Joe about Volume 1.
Bongiorno explains how Paranoid is a collection of songs that are “ultimately polemics infused in the discourse of apocalyptic literature (with implications both ancient and modern), there is the every-present reminder that there is hope and a greater purpose at work.”
Sabbath challenges us to consider the nature of war, evil, depression, addiction, the failures of transhumanism, and the warns us against aligning ourselves with Satan, but instead points us to hope in the supernatural king that will take earth under his wings. As Bongiorno demonstrates that the imagery of Geezer Butler’s lyrics is knowingly derived from the Bible, it becomes clear that Black Sabbath’s album Paranoid is calling us to repentant, a turning from a sin and a turning to God and the salvation that he alone can bring.
Andy is joined by Wes, Jonathan, and Robby to continue the series on Lutheran Theology. This time the focus is on the means of grace, a term that is particularly Lutheran, and is used to describe the Gospel, baptism, and communion.
You'll learn why Lutherans call baptism and communion a means of grace. Not all Christians would do this, and many would deny that they are ways in which God delievers his grace to individuals. Most Christians won't deny the Gospel being a means of grace, so the bulk of the episode is focused on baptism and communion. Lutherans baptize babies and believe that Jesus' body and blood is physically present in communion and is consumed along with bread and wine. Why do Lutherans believe these things? Listen and find out.
Wes is back to continue the Lutheran Theology series with Andy. This episode of Reconnect covers the Material Principle of Lutheran Theology (Justification), The Work of the Holy Spirit (Sanctification), Good Works, and the Doctrine of Election.
Andy sits down with one of the campus pastor's at Concordia University Irvine, Jonathan Ruehs, to discuss a show they both really love, The Walking Dead!
Andy answers some listener questions about Lutheran theology that really are about the the divisions of Lutheranism in America. Also a question about Lutherans and their lack of focus on end time teachings was addressed. He then closes with more points on the Teachings of the Lutheran Church he created to be recognized as being qualified to teach Theology in the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod: Christian Identity, The Bondage of the Will, and The Doctrine of Christ.
The Nature of God
The doctrine of the Trinity states that there is only one God, yet God exists in three distinct persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 44:6; Matthew 28:19; and 2 Corinthians 13:14) All three persons of the Trinity are eternal, not created, nor made. The Father begets the Son. The Son is eternally begotten of the Father. The Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son who send him.
In addition to being eternal (Psalm 90:2; Exodus 3:14; John 1:1; Romans 1:20; and Revelation 22:13), all three person of the Trinity are each omnipresent (Psalm 139:7-13 and Jeremiah 23:23-24), omniscient (Psalm 139:1-5 and 1 John 3:20), omnipotent (Luke 1:37 and Ephesians 3:20), immutable (Numbers 23:29 and Malachi 3:6), and love (1 John 4:8). Concerning the character of the Triune Lord, all three persons are holy (Isaiah 6:3 and 55:8-9), good (Psalm 145:9), just (Deuteronomy 32:4), merciful (Micah 7:18 and Luke 1:50), gracious (Joel 2:13), and patient (2 Peter 3:9).
The Origins of the Universe
Scripture teaches that God created all things out of nothing by his spoken word (Genesis 1, Psalm 33:6, and Hebrews 11:3).
Scripture teaches that God created all things in six days and that he rested on the seventh, which is the basis of the Sabbath command for man to work for six days and rest on the seventh. (Exodus 20:9-11; 31:15-17) Each day of creation was an evening and a morning. (Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, and 31) The immediacy of creation through God’s spoken word also supports a six day creation period.
The LCMS rejects theistic evolution. Man came from God’s direct and intimate work of creation, not from his hand of involvement in millions of years of death in the animal kingdom. (Genesis 2) Scripture also teaches that death entered the world through one man’s sin (Romans 5:12), not through God’s process of creation.
The Fall into Sin
The doctrine of Original Sin teaches that all men are sinful, inheriting a sinful nature from the moment of their conception. David writes, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me” (Psalm 51:5, NIV).
Every human inherits Adam’s guilt and the wrath that comes with it. Paul writes, “By our very nature we were subject to God's anger, just like everyone else” (Ephesians 2:3, NLT).
God’s response to original sin is the new Adam, Jesus Christ. “For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many” (Romans 5:15, NIV)!
Andy received a Facebook message from a follower of his Contradict - They Can't All Be True page that asked his thoughts on how to respond to the question, "Why Don't Christians Care More About their Sins?" This episode of Reconnect gives a lengthy response to this question, weaving in various Youtube videos that feature Alistair Begg, R.C. Sproul, and Paul Washer.
David Pratt is back on Reconnect to further discuss his love of Presuppositional Apologetics.
His brother, Jonathan Pratt, and Andy Wrasman have lots of questions for him, especially Andy, who prefers to lead with the Gospel and defend the message of the Gospel using historical evidence for the historicity of the New Testament.
The following questions are discussed (not in the particular order of the video):
Did the Apostles ever try to convince someone that God exists?
Did the Apostles ever use presuppositional apologetics?
Did the Apostles ever use evidential apologetics?
What does 1 Peter 3:15 tell us to be able to prepared to give a defense for?
Does Scripture teach that everyone knows that the Triune Lord exists or just that a Creator God exists?
So Atheists are lying when they say there is no God, because they actually know there is a God? Do you find it helpful to tell Atheists, you’re not an Atheist, you know God exists? Then more specifically tell them that they know the Christian God?
Is Presuppositional Apologetics an argument from natural knowledge or revealed knowledge? If it is an argument from natural knowledge, then how does it show Christianity to be true?
Isn’t evidence beyond the existence of truth, knowledge, and logic needed to show that Christianity is true?
When would you, if ever, use evidence for the historical reliability of the Gospels and the evidence of the resurrection? Are you opposed to it?
Segments:
Intro
The Jews Expected Rambo Jesus
What Romans Said About Crucifixion
Has the Cross Lost Its Punch?
The Crucifixion - A Medical Perspective
Bit of Christology Talk
Did Jesus Die on the Cross?
Closing
First Segment: Andy responds to a reader's email about his use of Contradict for evangelism.
Second Segment: Andy responds to a video an atheist sent him that entertainly uses a game show setting to demonstrate what the video maker claims are contradictions in the Bible.
Andy responds to an email he received from a lady claiming that he is CONTRADICTing Jesus by saying other religions are wrong.
Here's the email:
"Hello! My name is Summer; I'm a woman from Oregon. After reading about the Contradict movement, I do have a couple comments/questions for you. I do believe that you are CONTRADICTing the teachings of Jesus; it seems that you are saying Christianity should be the only religion on planet earth. Thing is, Jesus taught that we need to coexist with everyone on the planet. Matthew 22:39 says to love your neighbor as you love yourself. That's just one verse out of many of the teachings of Jesus that says to not persecute others based on the things that they have done or are currently partaking in.
If you truly wanted to convert people to Christianity, you would have patience with those that do not agree. Shunning them and telling them their way of thinking is wrong is not how to break through to anyone.
It is very confusing to me that after reading the Bible, and the words of Jesus, that you think "it would be wonderful if you could simply (and legally) replace all those COEXIST bumper stickers with another that reads CONTRADICT." That's the opposite of what is expected of Christians.
Christians are "persecuted" because of things like this; it makes it look like you think you are better and above everyone else.
Also, the fact that some people never found Jesus' skeleton is NOT proof that he ascended into the heavens."
Contradict Movement: https://www.contradictmovement.org
Andy Wrasman: https://www.andywrasman.com
Andy speaks with high school senior Morgan Lunsford about the Church's involvement in the Crusades.
Does the Church need to get off its high horse when addressing Islamic invasions, Islamic terrorism, and the many Islamic nations that treat women far from equal because of the Church's involvement in the Crusades?
What are the Crusades? Why did they start? Were there any good reasons that the Church was involved in the Crusades? Why does the Church get such a bad wrap about the Crusades? Did leaders in the Church condemn any of the evil actions done by members of their side during the time of the Crusades, or only centuries later?
Check out Morgan's notes at Episode 88 accessed at www.andywrasman.com.
Ben Fisher’s back from his Reconnect sabbatical and he guides three high school seniors through Sye Ten Bruggencate’s website, “Proof That God Exists.” The website has an interactive questionnaire that uses presuppositional apologetics to guide visitors to the conclusion that God exists based on the visitor’s admission that absolute truth exists, that you know things to be true, that logic exists and that it is universal, not made of matter, and does not change. If visitors don’t come to the conclusion that truth, knowledge, and logic exist in absolute, unchangeable, immaterial terms, then they are eventually redirected to Disneyland’s ticket ordering web page.
Aaron Puls shares the Doctrine of Justification with Andy Wrasman and Jonathan Rutherford, using Dr. Rod Rosenbladt’s sermon “Christianity in Five Verses” as a guide.
Justification is God’s declaration that sinners are innocent on account of Christ’s death on the cross that atones for all of our sins. This is pure gift! We are declared innocent, though we are guilty. Justice is still served, since the penalty for our sins were paid in full by Jesus of Nazareth.
Objective Justification is a doctrine that states that Jesus died for all sins, past, present, and future, for all people. Individual receives the benefits of Christ’s saving work through faith, which is the doctrine of Subjective Justification. This means that though Jesus died for everyone only those who receive the grace he won for us through faith are saved.
Another important doctrine is Sanctification. Unlike Justification, which is instantons, and a declaration of innocence for the sinner, Sanctification is a process. It is the process of becoming holy. Though we are declared holy, it does not mean that we are now sinless. In Justification, we are declared just though we are sinners. At the exact moment of Justification, the process of Sanctification begins, and it carries on throughout the life of the believer, completed at death, at which time the sinful nature is gone for the believer, once and forever.
Sadly, many Christians look to their Sanctification as the assurance of their Justification. This is a mistake which plagues the believer with doubt of salvation, leading to utter despair or self-righteousness. The mingling of Sanctification and Justification points the believer away from Christ’s work inward to each man’s own heart and works.
Aaron plays video clips from John MacArthur, Francis Chan, N.T. Wright, and John Piper. Do they get Justification right? Or do they mingle Sanctification and Justification? Do they point us to Christ for assurance of salvation, or do they point us to ourselves?
Part I – The Majority of Muslims in America are Concerned (Fearful?) about Islamic Extremism
I read a recent article by Ken Chitwood, a guest on episode 16 of Reconnect, entitled, “What Does God Require of Us Amid Rising Islamophobia?” that exhorts us to defend the rights of Muslims, reach out to Muslims with compassionate friendship, and to be humble knowing that we cannot rebuild the brokenness of the world on our own (namely, we need God to wholly fix the world).
These points are very good reminders to us for what we need to do and I affirm them throughout the episode, yet with caution.
In the article Ken states, “A recent study by Public Religion Research Institute shows that people who interact with Muslims — even those who have just had a few conversations in the past year — hold much more positive views of Muslims and refugees.”
It seems to be implied that if more Americans just knew Muslims personally and had more knowledge of Islam they wouldn’t be as fearful of Islamic extremism. However, according to a 2011 Pew Research study the majority of Muslims in the United States are concerned (is that the same as fearful?) about the rise of Islamic extremism within America, as well as a large number of Muslims in America (231,000) that say suicide bombings and violence against citizens can sometimes be justified to defend Islam, while ONLY 33,000 Muslims in America say such attacks on citizens is often times justified.
The report also says, ““A significant minority (21%) of Muslim Americans say there is a great deal (6%) or a fair amount (15%) of support for extremism in the Muslim American community.” This means that one in five Muslim Americans say there is a great deal or fair amount of support for extremism in the Muslim American community? Really? So about 660,000 Muslim Americans say there is a great deal or fair amount of support for Islamic extremism in the Muslim American community.
To support this perception within the Islamic community, the study also showed that 5% of the Muslims in America are favorable of al-Qaeda. That’s 165,000 American Muslims who are favorable of al-Qaeda.
Since such answers come from the Muslims in America, it helps explain why there is a fear of Islam in America? I don’t think it is an irrational fear based on the numbers, especially when we ask how many would legitimately tell the truth about supporting al-Qaeda and suicide bombings while living in America. Then consider that the statistics on these points in Islamic states is extremely high, and the fear is very much understood among Americans. It shouldn’t be dismissed as white America simply not knowing Muslims or Islam, when the Islamic community in America itself has a majority concern for the rise of Islamic extremism in America too!
But the Christian is exhorted to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly as Ken reminds us in his article. How do we then respond if we are fearful, or simply concerned about Islamic extremism as many of the Muslims in America are also concerned? Many of the examples Ken gives, we should follow, but I don’t think we ALL should follow them, depending on our family duties and responsibilities, which I explain in this first segment.
Part II – In God We Still Trust
I read quotes from the early founding fathers, statesmen, and presidents of America! If America is a nation under God, which God are we under? Wouldn’t the founding fathers’ words best tell us?
The quotes are compiled by Dr. Richard G. Lee in his book, In God We Still Trust.
As usual, both of these parts are connected to sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.
In Episode 83 of Reconnect, Wes and Andy kick around some thoughts on a list of spiritual conversation starters compiled by Southern Nazarene University. To frame the discussion of this list of questions, they use three evaluation points for evangelism conversation starters as laid out and described by J. Warner Wallace in his article, “The Best Question To Ask When Starting A Conversation About God?”: Diagnostic, Disarming, and Directed. In other words, does the question let us know what the other person believes when he answers the question (Diagnostic), is the question easily received and doesn’t cause the person to put his guard up and make him want to flee the conversation (Disarming), and is it a question that has a trajectory set on sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ (Directed)?
Andy has David Rueter, the Director of the Director of Christian Education Program at Concordia University Irvine, and Jonathan Pratt as guest on this episode of Reconnect to share their thoughts on why it's beneficial to the Body of Christ to have kids in church services, no matter how young, or how noisy they might be, and why it's detrimental if we keep them separated.
Anna Mussmann’s article, “Four Reasons It Is Good Your Kids Are Being Too Noisy In Church,” provides a framework for their conversation, as well as research data from David’s Concordia Publishing House book, Teaching The Faith At Home: What Does This Mean? How Is This Done?.
Andy brings another eclectic bullet episode that touches on public prayer with mixed religious adherents and how Christians should respond when put such a situation, the Women’s March, the March for Life, the messages of the movie Boyhood, and the reality of La La Land.
First Topic: Trump's Inauguration – Praying with Adherents of Other Religions in Public
Second Topic: The Women’s March Compared to the March for Life in the Media
Third Topic: Boyhood – A Very Real Depiction of How Broken Families Impact Children and the Need we all have for God’s Design for Marriage and Family
Fourth Topic: La La Land – Being a Shooting Star without God is Meaningless, Hopeless, and Unfulfilling
Ellie, Robby, and Andy discuss some common English sayings that originate from the Bible! They were all shocked to see many of these phrases to be from the Bible. Andy for instance thought, “Can a leopard change its spots?” came from a Dr. Seuss book and that “how the mighty have fallen” was somehow a reference to “Mighty Casey at Bat”. They discuss which ones they hear most often, which ones they use the most personally, and how we could take advantage of the Biblical origin of these common sayings for the purpose of evangelism, or at least take advantage of the easy opening to be able to naturally turn a conversation towards God’s Word! A few of these sayings are virtually incomprehensible apart from the Biblical context, so Christians can really take advantage of the popularity of such Biblical phrases in our day to day conversations.
Andy has a website called Contradict Movement, where he sells stickers that spell Contradict using various religious symbols. He also sells Contradict Gospel tracts to accompany these stickers and his book, Contradict - They Can't All Be True. Links are also given to his blog, Youtube channel, and Reconnect Podcast. All of these resources are purposed to equip Christians to defend the good news of Jesus Christ in a pluralistic age.
Periodically, Andy receives messages that call for him to stop Contradict Movement, because it is a distortion of what Coexist actually is and that Contradict is a hateful movement!
In this episode, he shares the following email and the several back and forth replies that followed:
"I'm not sure I understand your message or your goal for this "movement". The Coexist Movement is simply a call for peace among religions. Pointing out that different religions are different seems to be a mute point. Why go against a peaceful movement to point out our differences? No one is claiming that all religions are the same. We know that all religions are diverse and different from one another, we are just trying to coexist peacefully and respectfully. Will you please stop this movement? You are making a bad name for Christians everywhere, making Christianity the "hateful religion". Please stop."
“After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.” (Matthew 2:1-2)
This star is often depicted as a bright, roaming globe that shines a spotlight directly on the house of Mary and Joseph for the magi to follow. If this star actually appeared in this fashion, wouldn’t it be obvious to everyone, not just wise men from the east who studied the stars? If this star didn’t exist, what would that mean for the truthfulness about the entire Gospel narrative? Is there evidence outside of the Bible that this star existed?
These questions prompted Andy Reese to dig deep into astronomy, historical records, and the bread crumbs left in God’s Word concerning the historicity of this special star phenomenon. In this episode he will answer these questions and many more.
Andy Reese is a church leader, teacher, and writer. His website is andyreese.org.
In the first segment, Andy shares his article, "Seeing Christ In Your Christmas," and in the second segment, John Campbell discusses why Christians shouldn't worry about celebrating Christmas out of fear that they are somehow endorsing paganism!
“Seeing Christ in Your Christmas” by Andy Wrasman
There are many simple ways to see Christ in Christmas. One way to accomplish this goal is by drawing Biblical parallels with the traditional Christmas tree décor. As long as Christians are not glorifying pagan beliefs and practices, or bowing at the altar of gluttonous consumerism through our American Christmas tree traditions, then there is freedom in Christ to take what has become a hallmark of the secular world at the time we celebrate the birth of our Lord, and point it all back to Jesus being the reason for the season. With no plea to reject Black Friday shopping as the day to get your Christmas season started off on the right foot, and with no “Bah Humbug” towards the secular spirit of Christmas, here’s a list to check twice to see Christ this Christmas.
The Christmas tree is an evergreen tree, because it doesn’t lose its needles through the winter. Using this type of tree points to the eternal life that Jesus Christ offers to the world. Jesus is the one who was, and is, and is to come! (Revelation 4:8). The Christmas tree also harkens us back to the tree upon which Christ was slain, the tree by which eternal life has been given to the world. (Galatians 3:13)
The traditional tree toppers – a bow, an angel, or a star – all point to the Christmas tree representing Jesus. Bows adorn gifts, and the coming of Christ into the world is a reminder that the Father gave Jesus as a gift out of his great love for us. (John 3:16) At Jesus’ birth, Luke records a great multitude of angels proclaiming the Good News of his arrival to shepherds who watched over their flock at night. (Luke 2:8-18) Matthew tells of wise men traveling from the east, following a star to the birth place of the awaited Messiah (Hebrew for Christ). (Micah 5:2, Matthew 2:1-12)
The wise men from the east, who followed the star of Christ, brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, valuable gifts that were common to give to a king. If the Christmas tree is seen to represent Christ, the gifts at the foot of the tree draw us back to the gifts the wise men laid before baby Jesus as they worshiped him. (Matthew 2:11) Our gift giving at Christmas should serve to remind us that as we give to others who are in need, we are giving to Jesus. (Matthew 25:34-40) And if the gifts at the tree are seen to have come from Santa Claus, an all-knowing, all-loving, apparently all-powerful, and never dying father-figure who cares for children, it should point us to the true gift-giver, God our heavenly Father. (James 1:17)
The lights that are held up by being draped across the Christmas tree’s branches are a final touch that point back to Christians, the Church. John begins his Gospel biography of Christ by saying that in Jesus “was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4, ESV). The light of Jesus shines in the darkness of this sin cursed world. (John 1:5) The light of Jesus enlightens men as to who God is. (John 1:9) Later in his Gospel, John directly quotes Jesus as having said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). As Christians know the Lord through Jesus, and possess eternal life and the light of Christ, we become just what Jesus calls us in his Sermon on the Mount, “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14).
When we look at the Christmas tree, we are reminded that Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us. The Light of the World has revealed himself, lighting the path to eternal life. As Christians are connected to Christ, we shine the light of Christ into a fallen world. The Church that is spread out across the world, and is still growing, shines as many dispersed beacons of hope in a fallen and depraved world. Jesus came, died for our sins, rose for our salvation, and is patiently waiting for more to come to know of his love and grace.
This Christmas, remember that Jesus came once with angels and with a star as the ultimate gift of God to this world, and Jesus will come again; this time with the entire heavenly host with the falling of all the stars as he returns for his chosen and holy people. Let’s help the world see Christ this December, as we hold out the Good News of Jesus Christ in all that we say and all that we do in our Christmas celebration.
Should some Christian worship songs and hymns not be song in corporate, public worship? Are some songs good or at least OK songs, for personal worship in your car driving to work, but not for congregational singing?
Jonathan Pratt says, “Yes!” He has compiled and edited a list of criteria for discernment in hymn selection. If you have never asked yourself, “What types of songs are sung in your church’s services and gatherings and why?” this episode of Reconnect is a must listen for you. If you are a pastor or worship leader in charge of selecting your congregation’s music and you can’t explain why each and every song was picked for the service, and if you do have the answers, but your answers don’t contain theological reasons, you should definitely listen to this episode!
Jonathan Pratt lays out six categories of criteria for song selection in congregational singing while Tyler Dawson and David Pratt critique or confirm Jonathan’s list. Andy Wrasman for the most part just moderates and asks questions for this episode.
“Criteria for Discernment in Hymn Selection” as compiled and edited by Jonathan Pratt
Theology
Christ-Centered
Biblically Grounded
Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel
Theology of the Cross
Linguistic
Doctrinal Precision
Poetic Integrity
Corporate Nature of the Text
Musical
Music Serving the Text
Proper Union of Text and Tune
Musical Integrity of Tune and Setting
Churchly Character of the Tune
Liturgical
Church Year and Lectionary Appropriate
Sacramental Focus
Supportive of Daily Devotional Life
Ability of Text and Tune to Withstand Repeated Usage
Pastoral
Catechetical Use
Cultivating Faith and Piety
Provides Comfort to the Believer
Church Historic Catholicity
Ethnic Catholicity
Scripture mentions John’s baptism, Jesus’ baptism, baptism of water, baptism in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, baptism by fire, and baptism of the Holy Spirit.
Some of these descriptions are just different ways of describing the same type of baptism, and certainly most Christians would agree with this.
One particular denomination, the Assemblies of God, hold specific teachings about Baptism in the Holy Spirit. Their denomination confesses that Baptism in the Holy Spirit is distinct and separate for water baptism and the new birth of a believer. This baptism is the bestwoal of the Holy Spirit upon a believer that gives the believer certain spiritual gifts and a boldness to share the Gospel and an overflowing joy, or sense of the Spirit’s presence. This baptism according to the Assemblies of God is recognized by the physical sign of speaking in tongues. So if you haven’t spoken in tongues, it would mean you haven’t been baptized in the Holy Spirit.
Andy lays out what he thinks is the proper Scriptural understanding of Baptism in the Holy Spirit to Jonathan Bennet and Jonathan Pratt. This is a type of baptism that many Christians circles typically associate with water baptism (washing in the name of the Triune Lord) or the moment a person’s conversion. Andy however sees something entirely different from the Assemblies of God and most other Christian groups!
To present his understanding of what he calls, Spirit-Baptism, for short, Andy answers the following two questions:
-
Is there a difference between having the Holy Spirit and the filling of the Holy Spirit?
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Is there a difference between having been baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and having been baptized in the Holy Spirit?
Check the Scriptures used in this episode and see what you think. Is Andy properly interpreting Scripture?
Show Links:
Spirit-Baptism by Andy Wrasman
Contradict - They Can't All Be True by Andy Wrasman
The presidential election for 2016 is over!
So it’s time to talk about a different kind of election, the election of sinners by God to salvation. Andy shares the five points of Calvinism and Arminianism, the two common theological systems that are debated and compared when discussing God’s role in salvation. But then the curveball comes, the Lutheran position on election is presented, a position which rarely discussed in the predestination debate among Christians. The Lutheran understanding of single-predestination is by far a different election from Calvin’s double-predestination.
Some show notes:
Five Points of Calvinism
T – otal Depravity
U – nconditional Election
L – imited Atonement
I – irresistible Grace
P – reservation of the Saints
Five Points of Arminianism
- Free-will, human-ability
- Conditional Election (Election is Foreknowledge)
- General Atonement (Objective Justification)
- The Holy Spirit can be resisted.
- Falling from Grace
Lutherans hold to 1.5 points of Calvinism and 3 Points of Arminianism–
Total Depravity and Predestination for Salvation
General Atonement, Grace is Resistible, and Falling from Faith
We are saved by grace through faith.
John 3:16
Ephesians 2:8-9
Romans 4:5
Faith is not our work but the work of the Holy Spirit.
Titus 3:5
1 Corinthians 12:3
John 1:13
Ephesians 2:8-9
Ephesians 2:5 “God makes us alive.”
Romans 9:16
John 6:29
We are incapable of deciding to have faith.
1 Corinthians 12:3
Ephesians 2:1 “We are dead in our sins and trespasses.”
John 1:13
John 6:441 Corinthians 2:14 “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”
Any verse about being born again indicates this also, for what role do we play in our natural birth? None!
Since faith is purely a gift of God and we play no role in our conversion, then it could be assumed that God then chooses who will be saved, and also chooses who will not be saved.
Here’s what Scripture says on the matter:
God elects/predestines to salvation!
Ephesians 1:3-13, 4:3-5
John 1:13
Ephesians 2:4-5 “God made us alive (spiritually).
Romans 8:29-30
2 Timothy 1:8-9
It is the will of God that no man should perish!
1 Timothy 1:3-4
2 Peter 3:8-9
Andy is flying ranting solo for this episode of Reconnect.
This episode was released on Sunday, earlier than the typical Tuesday release. The Friday of the release week is Veterans Day, so Andy shares some thoughts on Christian vocation and quotes from Martin Luther to illustrate how soldiers are loving God and their neighbors through their calling in the military.
The rest of the episode is an eclectic bullet that covers the following topics, fit for Election Week:
10 questions Andy received that are to be answered by a pro-life candidate running for federal office
The damaging consequences of homosexuality and why the government shouldn’t approve gay marriage
Health Care is a commodity not a right.
Common Core
Ben Carson Quote
Students at Berkley protesting for spaces on campus that are to only be for students of color and students who are LGBTQAZB+ and how they kept white students from entering the campus – No Liberal, Social Justice Warrior outrage – WHY?
There is only one race – the Human Race!
Trey Gowdy – “I hate relativism!”
The Gospel – Christ died for all sins!
Jesus said that he came to give life and to give it the full. He also said that the thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. (John 10:10) It should be pretty obvious which side of the abortion debate Jesus stands and which side the devil hides.
In this episode, James Conrad shares his family's personal experiences with multiple abortions and the tragic aftermath that these murders have left for the survivors in his family. The good that has arisen from these horrendous loses of lives is that James' mother started a pro-life activism group who has fought relentlessly for the rights and lives of the unborn.
James shares why all lives matter and why everyone has equal rights to life and how abortions are very harmful to women. He also responds to the argument that abortions should be legal to save the life of the mother and gives some important advice on responding to several political questions that pro-life advocates often times encounter.
Andy and Tony discuss an article written by Sara Benincase entitled, "A Gentile Reminder That Jesus Was A Brown Skinned Middle Eastern Refugee Who Would Not Have Voted For Trump."
Sticking the Reconnect dedication of sharing and defending the Good News of Jesus Christ, Andy and Tony do share the Gospel in this episode, but there is a large focus on a broadened use of the term Gospel that refers to the Gospel biographies, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
The article they are discussing claims that Jesus was a refugee, that he started free healthcare, that he was killed by conservatives, and that he certainly wouldn't have voted for Donald Trump, so Andy and Tony focus on discussing if Sara's article accurately portrays what is revealed about Jesus in the Gospel biographies. They also spend a good bit of time discussing if Sara's article accurately portrays the things Donald Trump has said about Mexicans and women.
Finally, they discuss how and why many Christians do plan to vote for Donald Trump and how it's possible for them to do so with a clear conscience.
Show Links:
Show Links:
“A Gentle Reminder That Jesus Was A Brown Skinned Middle Eastern Refugee Who Would Not Have Voted For Trump” by Sara Benincasa
“Women’s Healthcare Will be Vastly Improved if Planned-Parenthood is Defunded” by Arina Grossu
“Donald Trump’s History of Empowering Women” excerpts from a Washington Post Article
Did Donald call all Mexicans rapists? Check the actual quote that Andy read on the episode for yourself.
Hillary Clinton: Career Criminal – Must Watch Video If You Are Voting For Hillary
“I wrote about Max and Beth to Defend Christian Trump Supporters” by Mario Murillo
All Christian church congregations and denominations read God’s Word and have baptism and communion. However, baptism and communion are both divisive within God’s Church. In this episode, Wes and Andy discuss what Scripture says about baptism. In particular, they address the questions:
- Does Baptism save you?
- Does a person have to be baptized to be saved?
The answers to these questions are important since they involve salvation and they have divided the Church for centuries.
Please look up the Bible verses they share as you listen. Ask yourself if the verses convey promises of forgiveness of sins in baptism or promises of being connected to Christ’s death and resurrection in the waters of baptism. Ask yourself if the verses they share emphasis the work of the believer in his or her baptism or the work of God through baptism. Ask yourself how the forgiveness of sins that Christ won on the cross is delivered to people today.
Show Links
“Does Baptism Save You?” by Andy Wrasman
“Means of Grace Questions” by Andy Wrasman
“What is Baptism?” by Andy Wrasman
Contradict Movement Video Production Donation
Scripture reveals that Jesus, from the time of his incarnation, is both fully God and fully man.
The Council of Chalcedon in 451 AD produced the Chalcedonian Creed to counter the false explanations of the union of the two natures of Christ and the down-right heretical teachings concerning the incarnation of Christ. Four key statements can be drawn from this creed:
- Christ is fully (perfectly) God.
- Christ is fully (perfectly) human.
- The divine nature and human nature are united in the person of Jesus Christ.
- Jesus Christ is one person.
These four statements can be placed along each side of a box. This box is the Chalcedonian Box. As long as any teaching, anecdote, or analogy of the person and work of Christ maintains that Jesus is fully God, fully man, one person, with two natures, it lands within this box. When one of these doctrines is distorted, or worse, erased, the teaching lands outside of the box is appropriately labeled a heresy.
Alan Shlemon, a speaker, teacher, and writer, for Stand to Reason, created a slide for a presentation he gave on the incarnation of Christ. At the center of the slide is the Chalcedonian Box with a clipart image of Jesus in the middle of the box. Outside of the box lies DC’s Batman and Superman and Marvel’s the Hulk and Spider-Man.
Wes and Andy discuss this excellent image Shlemon created! Jon Pratt sits like a fly on the wall once again.
How are Batman, Superman, the Hulk, and Spider-Man not good analogies to use to explain how Jesus can be one person with natures? Why does it matter if we are missing the mark of Scripture with these comic book analogies? Also, more importantly, what Christological heresies align with these modern day comic book superhero analogies to let us know that people have actually taught Christ in these throughout history, and in some cases still do!
Joe Bongiorno is the owner and operator of The Royal Publisher of Oz. He serves as the guest for the 2016 Reconnect Halloween Special to discuss Supernatural Horror in Music, the subtitle for his book, Black Sabbath The Illustrated Lyrics Volume 1.
For many Reconnect listeners, it might come as a shock that a podcast dedicated to sharing and defending the Good News of Jesus Christ has an entire episode devoted to the lyrics of Black Sabbath, much less a Halloween special episode, however, Bongiorno took a surprising approach on how to start his eight volume anthology. Even before the inside title page, publisher information, copyright listings, ISBN numbers, and table of contents, the first words are from the Bible. Bongiorno chose to start Black Sabbath The Illustrated Lyrics by quoting, Acts 26:17-18: “I am sending you to them to open their eyes so that they may turn away from darkness to the light, away from the power of Satan and to God.” This is not what most people would think about to describe a rock n roll band, and certainly not what they would first think of for Black Sabbath.
Bongiorno shares the distinctions between supernatural horror and natural horror and explains examples of supernatural horror within Black Sabbath’s first album. The horrors and consequences of the occult are revealed, a Christ-like figure emerges as a wizard that demons fear, the devil woos a woman he loves (or is it all deception?), while the wicked world spins on a man receive omens in the sky that he ignores to his and our peril, while all along at the center of the album, the “wall of sleep is lying broken” as the “sun shines in, you have awoken.” There is hope. There is light.
The centerpiece message of "Behind the Wall of Sleep" contains what Bongiorno thinks is the underlying philosophy of Black Sabbath's full body of work: “Now from darkness, there springs light.” Over, and over, and over again, light triumphs over darkness in metanarative of Black Sabbath's lyrics. Paul echoes this sentiment pointing us back to creation and the renewal of man that comes through Jesus Christ: “For God who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6).
Show Links:
Black Sabbath The Illustrated Lyrics
The Royal Publisher of Oz
The Star Wars Expanded Universe Timeline
Black Sabbath Live in Paris 1970 (Full Show)
Andy again takes a look at Francis Chan’s book, Crazy Love. Chan, like many Christians, desires to see Christians living godly lives that demonstrate a radical transformation, lives that should be drastically distinct from those of everyone else’s who is not Christian by demonstration of crazy generosity, crazy humanitarian aid, crazy devotion to the Lord and to all people, crazy abstinence from all forms of sinful desires, short Christians should love crazily, just as God has crazily loved us. But how often and consistently do Christians truly and sincerely exhibit such crazy love?
If such love is the standard of being a Christian, then many of us are not saved, by Chan’s presentation of this crazy love mark of a Christian. Where would David or Solomon fit with this standard? Where would the chief of all sinners, Paul, who did not do the good he desired to do, but instead did the evil he hated, stand before an almighty God? Would they be called friend? Will they receive the praise, “Well done, good and faithful servant?” Will any of us?
Judging our salvation by our adherence to the Law of God is devastating to one’s faith in Christ. It takes our trust off of Jesus Christ crucified. Instead of boasting in Christ, we are turned inwards towards our own deeds. We must point to our works to demonstrate our crazy justifying love. However, Scripture demonstrates that it’s from God’s love for humanity that he sent Christ who demonstrates that love for us by dying for all of our sins. The penalty for all of our sins is paid in full. That’s where our assurance of salvation comes, from an alien righteousness, a righteousness from outside ourselves that is imputed on us. It is not an infused righteousness.
Show Links:
What is Law and Gospel?
Discerning Law and Gospel when Interpreting a Text
Reconnect Episode 27: Law and Gospel
Reconnect Episode 23: Law and Gospel on Facebook
Reconnect Episode 19: How do I Know I am a Christian?
You Shall Recognize Them by Their Fruits – Judging Other Christians
Andy listens to Chapter 4 of Francis Chan's book, Crazy Love.
Chan teaches that a crazy love from God demands a crazy response from us. But... too many people who claim to be Christian are responding in lukewarm ways.
In Chapter 4 of Crazy Love, Chan details the profile of a lukewarm person. The lukewarm person is not the good soil of Jesus' "Parable of the Sower and Soils." The lukewarm person is not a lukewarm Christian, since lukewarm Christian is an oxymoron.
The kicker though is that we all have elements of lukewarmness in our lives, and even Chan admits this, so wouldn't that mean none of us our saved? How would we know if we have too much lukewarmness in our lives to be counted among God's people?
The biggest problem is that Chan is pointing us towards ourselves for assurance of our justification and not to Christ and his saving work. He is saying that a fulfillment of the Law on our part is how we can know if we are really saved or not.
Crazy Love is an immensely popular book and Andy knows someone who doubted his salvation after reading Crazy Love. Whenever we are pointed to look at ourselves and not to Christ, we will inevitably doubt our salvation if we are are not deceiving ourselves concerning our sinfulness.
Adam Ford is the man behind the prolific and often viral producing online comic-strip Adam4D. He’s a Christian, a husband, and father of three young boys. Back in 2014, he quit his job to create comic strips full-time.
Since launching the Contradict – They Can’t All Be True Facebook page to help promote my book by that title, I have regularly found myself sharing Ford’s work. Those posts generally draw many likes and shares. His strips are often times found on many other Christian social media pages, typically groups or individuals who accept that the Bible is the inerrant, inspired Word of God. Groups and individuals who are not labeled as liberal Christians or heretics!
When he’s not using presuppositional apologetics to tear down false-worldviews, or picking apart the lies of Darwinian Evolution, Ford is typically highlighting the pitfalls of legalism and self-justification within Christian circles, or the way verses are often times ripped out of their context and twisted to mean something that was never implied within the text.
The Gospel typically had predominance in his doctrinal and homiletical comic strips, so he gains many fans who recognize that we truly are saved solely by the work of God that faith really is a gift and work of the Holy Spirit.
But sometimes, even when we are pointing to Jesus as the author and perfecter of our faith, the only one who works in our conversion and salvation, we can still twist Scripture. And when Jesus and his saving work is front and center, it’s easier for us conservative mongergists to clap, clap, clap and share, share, share, when we shouldn’t.
I think Adam Ford took a misstep when he was taking a swing at the prosperity Gospel preachers in his strip entitled, “Good News: We Are Not David.” I saw many people share this strip, people I personally know, but I couldn’t hit the like button this time, and I couldn’t hit the share button without posting a critique.
For this episode, I gathered Conni Schramm, back from episodes 7 and 64, Jon Rutherford, back from some recent episodes, and Jonathan Platt, who was sitting on the wall like a fly, but kept hopping on a mic to interject questions.
http://adam4d.com/david/
Andy, Conni, and Jonathan discuss the importance of church choirs from their Biblical support and historical role in the Church. Jonathan Aigner's blog post, "9 Reasons to Keep the Church Choir Alive" serves as a guide for the discussion topic too. As always on Reconnect, the church choir theme is tied to sharing the Gospel.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/ponderanew/2014/09/23/9-reasons-to-keep-the-church-choir-alive/
Andy was a guest on Fear Knot Radio, where he got to share Contradict Movement with Vincent and Cynthia Hill, the hosts of Fear Knot Radio.
This episode is short. It's an update for the state of the podcast. Andy's taking two months off from releasing any new episodes.
In the meantime, he hopes to finish a process of being a called Theology teacher in the LC-MS and get some Sunday School curriculum made that will be available on the Contradict Movement website.
A gorilla was recently killed at the Cincinnati Zoo to save the life of a toddler that had fallen into the gorilla's cage.
The result was a social media uproar! There was immense outrage that the gorilla was shot. Many suggested that the child should be the one to have died or that the parents should be charged with the death of the gorilla. At stake in such backlash to the zoo's decision to kill the gorilla to save the child is the value of human life in comparison to that of animals. Is all life equally valuable? Are some species more valuable than others? Is human life more valuable than the life of all other species? Would the zoo have killed 10,000 gorillas to save the life of one toddler? Where is the value of life derived? Where does human value find its grounding?
Wes, Ben, and Andy discuss all of these questions from a Christian worldview, while trying to get inside the inner workings of some other belief systems.
Andy received the following email in response to a Contradict tract a man was handed:
Hey Andy Wrasman,
Someone handed me a pamphlet about your movement! I read through it and I noticed a few problems. You say, "In light of these contradictions, all religions simply can't be true. They could all potentially be false, but they can't all be true" and I'm inclined to agree! However, if this statement about contradictions is true, how do you reconcile all of the contradictions among the Gospels like Joseph having different genealogies in Matthew and Luke, the date of the Last Supper which differs from the others in John, and the nature of Judas' death in Matthew and Acts? By your own logic, shouldn't the Gospels be viewed as false?
Secondly, you say in your pamphlets that "the original Gospels were written by eyewitnesses, or written by people who wrote using eyewitness testimony." The earliest Gospel, Mark, was written 30-40 years after Jesus died, allowing plenty of time "for myths to have crept into the accounts."
I know you're probably just trying to take advantage of fundamentalists who want to buy cool and edgy shirts and bumper stickers, but come on dude, you should be able to do better than this.
Best,
Jim
In this episode, Andy gives his response!
Andy watches an episode of CrashCourse, an educational channel on Youtube, that answered "The Problem of Evil". The answers from the show focus on a Theistic response to evil and the existence of God, which utterly fail to present the answer to the problem from a Christian worldview. Enjoy!
How can all-good and all-powerful God allow evil to exist?
Listen along as Jon takes a quiz that Andy created to help facilitate a conversation to answer this common and difficult question against the consistency of the Christian worldview.
Visit www.andywrasman.com and see the post for Episode 57 to access show links.
Episode 16 of Reconnect featuredguest, Ken Chitwood, sharing an article he wrote entitled,“Building Bridges: Toward Constructing a ChristianFoundation for Inter-Religious Relationships in the Shift fromReligious Privilege to Spiritual Plurality”. Thekey points for inter-religious dialog that Ken suggests are: payattention, find, and form, friendships, listen and learn, dine,dialog, and do together, discern, and witness to the worldview.
While I agree with many of Ken’s points to approachinginter-religious dialog, I have a different application of the term“building bridges”. I explain this approach in an articlethat I wrote for Reformation 21: “Embracing Religious Contradictions to ProclaimChrist Crucified: Tolerance andCoexistence”. Looking at Acts 17, I see how Paul knew thebeliefs and culture of those he was sharing the Gospel ofJesus. He made the presentation of the Gospel from startingwithin their belief system with a point of contact that he coulduse to make a connection to the Biblical narrative ofsalvation. I was given the opportunity to share this approachto evangelism at Brookfield Lutheran Church in Brookfield,Wisconsin. This episode contains that sermonmessage.
Senior pastor at Brookfield Lutheran Church, Robert Mrosko, was a guest onReconnect Episode 39, discussingStar Wars.
The building bridges technique I am advocating for is alsoshared in Episode 34: “Storytelling Evangelism”.
David Pratt has been a Lutheran high school teacher for twelve years. In his theology classes, no matter the course title, he constantly sprinkles apologetics into the lesson plans. After listening to episodes 22 and 29 of Reconnect, which both explained and critiqued the use of various approaches to Apologetics, he had a lot of feedback to provide. In this episode, David shares his commentary on those episodes, correcting what he thought was not always an accurate depiction of presupositional apologetics in those episodes. Hopefully, you’ll learn as much from his feedback as I did. His explanation and use of presuppositional apologetics has certainly given me a much better understanding of the usefulness and tactful approach to take with presuppositional arguments for the purpose of sharing both the Law and Gospel of God’s Word. – Andy Wrasman
Show Links:
Episode 22: Mixed Martial Apologetics with J. Warner Wallace
Episode 29: What’s up with Presup? with Andy and Ben
David’s School: Faith Lutheran Middle School and High School in Las Vegas
Andy likes to surf the New Age shops to see the new lingo and directions of the oneist, pagan lefties. He discovered a sticker that read, “Christianity Has Pagan DNA.” Andy snatched one (after purchasing it) and used it as a centerpiece for a small group church discussion guide. Ben and Jonathan join Andy for this episode of Reconnect to discuss this sticker. Hopefully you like the conversation that ensues and if so be sure to go to Episode 54 at www.andywrasman.com to access the guide Andy created so you can have this same discussion with your local small group Bible study, Sunday school class, or youth group.
Christianity Has Pagan DNA! Questions
Who is a pagan? What’s paganism?
Does the Bible give any indication that there is pagan DNA within Christianity?
Even if there are real and intentional connections to pagan mythology and beliefs in the Bible do these connections in any way discredit the Christian message?
Do you we have any pagan practices, imagery, or carry-overs from pre-Christian culture within modern day expressions of Christianity? How do you respond to these?
What do you think this sticker means by pagan DNA within Christianity?
Show Links
Christianity Has Pagan DNA Sticker Group Discussion Guide
Episode 43 of Reconnect: Jesus’ Plagiarized Resurrection Myth
Episode 12 of Reconnect: Faith, Hope, Love, and the Club
Episode 13 of Reconnect: God is Too Big to Fit into One Religion
Blue Letter Bible
Contradict Movement
Christians believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Eyewitness testimonies attest to the truth of this belief, testimonies that are reliable on account of the witnesses’ willingness to die for their claims, as well as the solid physical evidence of the empty tomb with a corpse that was never found. However, many non-Christian skeptics assert that it is more likely these eyewitnesses were lying, or that we have no eyewitness testimonies at all, but instead the New Testament is simply plagiarized by the apostles or imposters in the second century who applied resurrection narratives of other gods to the man, Jesus of Nazareth.
This episode of Reconnect presents both sides of the arguments through the use of multiple audio clips downloaded from Youtube with Andy giving commentary throughout the show.
The central claim of Christianity is that Jesus died for sins, was buried, and rose from the dead for our salvation. Episodes 50 and 51 of Reconnect shared 14 evidences that indicate that Jesus did in fact rise from the dead confirming his claims to be God in the flesh, the savior of all men.
When faced with these evidences, not everyone comes to the conclusion that Jesus did rise bodily from the dead. Alternative theories are thus offered to naturally explain the evidences. Sometimes these theories offer evidence also. This episode looks at an elaborate explanation for the empty tomb of Jesus that involves the theft and reburial of Jesus’ corpse in a different location, a location that that is speculated to have been found by the discovery of a family tomb that contained an ossuary with the name, “Jesus, Son of Joseph”, inscribed on it.
This theory was put forth by The Lost Tomb of Jesus, documentary that was produced by James Cameron. Andy Wrasman plays audio clips from this documentary and offers rebuttals to the documentary’s claims.
If Jesus rose from the grave, Christianity is true. If Jesus did not rise from the grave, Christianity is false.
To make a case that the resurrection of Christ occurred, it needs to be shown that Jesus died, was buried, his tomb was found empty, and people interacted with him alive again.
Robert Bowman of Credo House made a list of fourteen evidences to support the resurrection claim of the apostles and early Christian Church. This episode of reconnect focuses on the last seven evidences Bowman listed. With the help of Ben Fisher, Andy Wrasman provides details to flush out Bowman’s brief summaries of these strands of evidence.
Evidences for the Resurrection 8-14
8. Paul and Luke’s Independent Testimonies
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Cleopas and that Other Guy
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Brother James
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John’s Eyewitness Testimony
12. Ancient Skepticism
13. Paul’s Conversion
- Paul’s Mission to the Gentiles
Go back to Episode 50 to hear evidences 1-7.
Visit www.andywrasman.com and see the show notes for this episode.
If Jesus rose from the grave, Christianity is true. If Jesus did not rise from the grave, Christianity is false.
To make a case that the resurrection of Christ occurred, it needs to be shown that Jesus died, was buried, his tomb was found empty, and people interacted with him alive again.
Robert Bowman of Credo House made a list of fourteen evidences to support the resurrection claim of the apostles and early Christian Church. This episode of reconnect focuses on the first seven evidences Bowman listed. With the help of Ben Fisher, Andy Wrasman provides details to flush out Bowman’s brief summaries of these strands of evidence.
Evidences for the Resurrection 1-7
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Jesus’ Existence
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Jesus’ Death
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A Crucified Messiah
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Joseph’s Tomb
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Women Witnesses
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Ancient Theories
Tune in for Episode 51 to hear evidences 8-14.
Show Links
Robert Bowman’s “14 Evidences for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ”
Reconnect Episode 7 – “Did Jesus Fulfill All Messianic Prophesies?”
Reconnect Episode 31 – “Tattooing and Flying Drones for Jesus”
Chad Williams – “Proof the Bible is the Word of God” Video
Free Excerpt Featuring 25% of Andy Wrasman’s Book, Contradict – They Can’t All Be True
Total depravity is a divisive doctrine within the Christian Church. This doctrine teaches that since the Fall of Man, all of mankind is in a state of complete corruption by sin. Our minds, bodies, spirit, emotions, desires, will, relationships – OUR EVERYTHING – is ruined by sin. The wreckage is so great that we can do nothing whatsoever to please God, draw near to him, or to please him. We are truly dead in our sin.
If we can do nothing to accept God, then that must mean our salvation is purely a gift. Scripture teaches that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ. (Ephesians 2:8) Most Christians recognize that grace is pure gift, but total depravity necessitates that the faith of believers must also be solely a gift, the work of God alone.
If faith is a gift of God, then why are some saved and the multitudes damned? Did God not love them? Did Christ not die for them? Did God not choose to save them?
These questions and many more rightly flow from a proper understanding of the doctrine of total depravity. Before addressing these questions, we must ask, “Does the Bible teach total depravity?” If this teaching can’t be found in Scripture alone, we should reject the doctrine. But if total depravity is in Scripture, we must address the questions of predestination, and we must do so from Scripture alone.
1 out of 6 adults will experience depression at some point in their life. Depression affects about 16 million Americans every year. Christians are not immune. For those who haven't suffered with depression, the many devastating symptoms aren't known or even understood when they are.
Adam Cumpston shares his bouts with depression and anxiety and how out of desperation, after trying all other options, he turned to God for healing, and he was healed.
Adam does a good job of taking his experience and making it applicable to everyone, since we all will face some sort of "storms" in our lives. Scripture speaks volumes to what Christians can gain from difficult times of sufferings and how even if we don't experience healing in this life, God's grace is sufficient for us.
As a take away for Reconnect, since this podcast is dedicated to sharing and defending the Good News of Jesus Christ, Adam spoke about the importance of memorizing Scripture so that we can defend ourselves against the lies of Satan with the truth of God's Word. Typically, when we think of defending the Gospel, we might run to historical arguments, archaeological discoveries, philosophical arguments, or in-depth exegetical studies, but Adam reminds us that defending God's Word can simply be knowing God's Word so well that we can quote it when lies from our sinful nature, the world, and devil assault us.
Show Links:
Adam Cumpston's Website
Adam's book, 30 Days to Overcoming Depression and Anxiety
CDC - Mental Health Conditions: Depression and Anxiety
A blog post Andy wrote, "Praying for God's Healing"
Are religions falsifiable? How would you go about testing a religious truth claim? They typically aren't observable or repeatable? So the scientific method is out. In fact, most of life's important realities aren't subjectable to the scientific method. However, we aren't limited to the scientific method for gleaning knowledge and discerning truth. We also have historiographic testing. Andy reads Chapter 4 of his book, Contradict - They Can't All Be True, to explain the historiographic method and it's three tests.
Andy closes by sharing listener feedback for the past four episodes.
Ben Fisher riffs on "12 Arguments Evolutionists Should Avoid" that he shares with his high school class. Answers in Genesis created the list of bad arguments. Do you agree? Are these bad arguments that evolutionists should avoid?
Show Links:
12 Arguments Evolutionists Should Avoid
"Busting a Myth about Columbus and the flat Earth" by The Washington Post
Is government redistribution of wealth stealing?
Show Links:
"A Fork to Feed, a Scapel to Heal, or a Sword to Protect?" by Wes Bareford
Martin Luther's Large Catechism - "The Seventh Commandment"
"A Voter's Guide to the Ten Commandments" by Bryan Wolfmueller
Virtue in the Wasteland - a podcast co-hosted by Wes' professor for Theology 565, Jeff Mallinson.
"How Do I Know I am a Christian?" - Reconnect Episode 19 with Wes and George
Maybe when you see a fill-in the blank about God not being something, or someone, your mind runs to fill it in with something akin to the title of the 2007 Christopher Hitchens’ book, God is not Good. Maybe you’d fill in the blank by saying something like “God is not a merciful, forgiving God.” This is certainly what Richard Dawkins thinks, as he wrote in his bestselling book, The God Delusion: “The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully.” But that’s not what this episode is about at all! This episode looks at false views of God emerging from within the Church. Christians, in our sinfulness, far too often approach God in ways that are contrary to how he is revealed to us in Scripture. Sometimes, these presentations might come from people who claim to be Christians, but are really not! They might be false teachers, or people who think they are followers of Christ, but in reality they are far from God, based upon their confessions of who he is, and, or, their approach to interacting with him in their day to day life. In this episode, Stephen Puls, joins me again; this time to discuss some false views and approaches to God that we far too often see in the Church. For instance, we might approach God as a Black Hawk helicopter God. We expect him to swoop in and save us from all of our trials and tribulations. But is such deliverance from all earthly afflictions promised in Scripture? No, it’s not. God is not a Black Hawk helicopter God. Another example of a false approach is treat God as a magic genie! We simply approach him again and again for things that we need and want, and that’s it. That’s the bulk of our interaction with him. What happens when such prayers are not answered in the affirmative? Will our faith be shaken? Will others who are not Christians, laugh and mock our God for not responding to our prayers as we expect him to? Sometimes we treat God as a vending machine. We expect to get blessings from him, but they come at an expense! We have to pay in some fashion to receive God’s gifts. We treat all of our dealings with God in transactional terms: I prayed; I went to Church; I went on that mission trip; so I expect x, y, or z, from you in return, God! Stephen shares these and many more false views and approaches to God in this episode. And most importantly, he shares a true view and approach to God: God is an anchor God! Show Links: Another episode featuring Stephen Puls: “Religions, Atheism, and Wars!” Andy Wrasman’s Blog Posts on “Who is God?” Order Andy Wrasman’s book, Contradict – They Can’t All Be True
Wil Hunemuller wrote a blog post entitled, “Smoking to the Glory of God”. I shared it to my Facebook page, Contradict – They Can’t All Be True. The comment section exploded! Many Christians on my page argued that smoking is a sin. The arguments that smoking is addictive and harmful to one’s health were the two most recurring arguments to support the sinfulness of smoking.
The verse that was often cited for smoking being a sin due to the bodily harm it is known to cause was 1 Corinthians 6:19, “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?”
No verse was supplied by the commenters who said smoking was sinful because it’s addictive. The verse I think that shows us that addiction can be sinful is 1 Corinthians 6:12, which says, “"I have the right to do anything," you say--but not everything is beneficial. "I have the right to do anything"--but I will not be mastered by anything.” I believe the closing line about not being mastered by anything can describe what occurs when a person has an addiction.
Do these two verses put the nail in the coffin that smoking is sinful and no Christian should partake in any smoking, at any time, for any reason, unless he or she sins?
To address the addiction argument, I ask the question, “Are all addictions sinful?”
I would also state, “Just because something is addictive, that doesn’t mean a person must be addicted to whatever that thing is.”
Are any of us not addicted in some way? Aren’t we all addicted to sin? I mean, can any of us stop sinning? Even when we really want to stop? Isn’t that the definition of addiction? And if you say, you don’t have that problem, I’m afraid you are deceiving yourself.
To the argument that smoking is sinful because it causes harm to one’s body, I simply ask the question, “Do we really want to go down that route?”
As the discussion was unfolding on my Facebook page, I received a message from Joel Oesch, a guy who I have played basketball with and who now teaches Theology at my Alma mater, Concordia University Irvine. He shared with me an article he had just published on his blog entitled, “Thank you for smoking!”. Joel’s arguments for Christian smoking were similar to Hunemuller’s, namely, smoking can serve as a means to build authentic Christian community. Such a concept will likely come as a shock to many Christians, so for this episode I invited Joel to respond to the arguments posted about smoking being a sin.
Joel does a great job of bringing us to see the problem that is bigger than smoking – our sinful nature. He also does a great job explaining our current difficulty of being a part of embodied community – you are after all reading this online! Smoking helps bring us into embodied community and it breaks down all sorts of social barriers – have your doubts? Please give a listen to this episode and hear Joel out. He provides great arguments and explanations. Listen with an open mind and Bible. We visit 1 Corinthians 6 and look at the context of those two key verses at the top of this post, and we also take a look at Romans 14. We unpack an important word that describes the “sin” or “not sin” debate concerning smoking and other issues like it that are divisive in the Body of Christ and how we should navigate them together –adiaphora. If you don’t know what adiaphora is, then you must listen!
I welcome all feedback in the comments section. If I don’t reply, I apologize, but I will read it.
Show Links
“Smoking to the Glory of God” by Wil Hunemuller
“Thank you for smoking!” by Joel Oesch
Fishing for Leviathan – Joel’s Website
The Christian Gentlemen’s Smoking Companion
Health Benefits to Smoking
The Bible teaches that God created all things. The Bible also teaches that his existence is known by everyone from what he has made, but men have exchanged this truth for a lie. (Romans 1) The beauty and design evident within nature screams for there to be a Creator. Looking beyond intelligent design, observation tells us that life does not come from non-life. There must be a God.
Primal Pastures is a family run farm in Murrieta, CA. They are one of many farms that are growing crops and raising livestock following God’s plan for farming. Andy’s guest for this episode, Paul Greive, one of Primal Pastures’ farmers shares more about this design for growing food that God has built into his creation.
Since Reconnect is a podcast dedicated to sharing and defending the Good News of Jesus Christ, there is a connection to sharing the Christian faith that Paul shares often arises on Primal Pastures’ farm tours.
Show Links:
Primal Pastures
Paul Greive’s Concordia University Irvine Bio and Primal Pastures Article
Primal Pastures’ Online Store
Primal Pastures’ Resources Page
Polyface Farms
Articles Against Theistic Evolution:
- Theistic Evolution Articles (answersingenesis.org)
- "Is it Necessary to Believe in a Literal Adam and a Literal Fall?" (blog.answersingenesis.org)
- "Couldn't have God Used Evolution?" (answersingenesis.org)
- "Why Shouldn't Christians Accept Millions of Years?" (answersingenesis.org)
Articles For Theistic Evolution:
- "Is Evolution a 'Salvation Issue'? The Bible is Clear, Despite Young Earth Creationist's (YEC's) Attempt to Muddy its Message"(godofevolution.com)
- "Is Evolution Unworthy of the God of the Bible and the Christian Faith?" (godofevolution.com)
Analysis Questions:
- What is theistic evolution?
- Can you be saved and go to heaven if you believe in theistic evolution?
- What dangers/theological problems is there in believing in theistic evolution?
- Is it possible that God could have used evolution to eventually create man?
- How does the following statement apply to the issue of theistic evolution? "Filling in where the text doesn't speak and speculating is not interpreting Scripture. Interpretation is to give the meaning of what is written."
- Is it possible to preach the message of the cross and the Gospel without a literal interpretation of the Book of Genesis?
There are in fact twelve days of Christmas. In the Western Church calendar, the twelve days of Christmas start on Dec. 25th and end on January 5th. A break down of the days are as follows:
Dec. 25 - Christmas
Dec. 26 - The Feast of Stephen
Dec. 27 - John the Baptist’s martyrdom
Dec. 28 - Feast of the Holy Innocents
Jan. 1 - Feast of the Name and Circumcision of Jesus
Jan. 5 - Day of the Magi
This means that the famous song, "The Twelve Days of Christmas" is connected to the Church calendar, and some people have certainly made some deeper connections to the meaning of the gifts from the "True Love" of the song by finding Biblical parallels. Was this song intentionally written as code to teach the Christian faith? And even if it wasn't, can these Biblical connections add a new sense of wonder to the song and help remind us that we have way more to celebrate and remember in the Church calendar for the Christmas Season? I think so. Listen and find out more!
Show Links:
12 Days of Christmas Show Notes
St. Paul's Lutheran Church of Irvine
The Force Awakens this Friday, December 18th. Star Wars will likely dominate many families' Christmas gatherings. With this in mind, Andy sought advice from Pastor Rob Mrosko, who has been a fan of Star Wars since seeing Episode 4 in 1977 when he was six years old.
Pastor Rob shares why he thinks the Star Wars franchise has been so popular before sharing ways that the series connects with Biblical themes that Christians can use in conversations to share the Gospel.
Pastor Rob also addresses two approaches Christians often times take when approaching secular films like Star Wars: approaching it just as entertainment with no discernment or avoiding it all together due to certain elements that oppose Scriptural truths.
Andy also asks if the Star Wars series has a Christ-like figure and who the hero actually is since it appears that the Dark Side has a popularity in toy and clothing marketing and products.
Finally, Pastor Rob gives some pastoral advice for Christians to consider when entering into this new trilogy.
George and Andy apply the Reconnect theme of sharing and defending the Gospel and apply it to the Christmas season.
Together they answer the following three questions:
1. Do you have any ideas for sharing the Gospel during the Christmas season?
2. Any particular Christmas movies that you think do a good job of sharing the Gospel message?
3. What's your response to this year's Starbucks red cup and the "movement" that was attempted by Joshua Feuerstein?
Show LinksLinus Explains the Meaning of Christmas
Bad Religion's Christmas Songs
Merry Christmas Starbucks in the News
Andy, Wes, and Jesse take an online quiz to find out what Christian denomination they should be. This is all the more fun because Jesse doesn't have a denomination!
Take the quiz for yourself here: http://www.selectsmart.com/FREE/select.php?client=christiandenom
For this episode of Reconnect, Andy is sharing an episode of Cross Defense, in which he joined host Rev. Rod Zwonitzer as they discuss the different opinions people have of Jesus… A Myth? A Liar? A Lunatic? A Pantheist? From The Future? A Prophet, but Not God? A Demon? or the Messiah?
For more Cross Defense episodes, click here.
Andy and Wes take a quiz to find out what Christian denomination they should join, but Andy mistakenly had a quiz that asked "What Kind of Christian are You?" instead, so they don't hear what denomination they should be, but they hope you still get some good doctrinal insights from this episode. Sticking with the Reconnect theme of sharing and defending the Gospel, they share how they think different answers could affect what the Gospel message really is. Enjoy.
Take the quiz if you dare:
What Kind of Christian Are You?
George interviews Andy about his MA research project, THE USE OF CHINESE LITERATURE AS A CULTURAL STARTING POINT TO PRESENT THE GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST.
Abstract
Common methods of Christian evangelism present a list of facts about man’s depravity and God’s act of salvation for mankind. These methods are problematic in today’s mostly postmodern world that does not accept absolute truths. These methods also use terminology and concepts unknown outside of the Christian faith, furthering the difficulty of communicating the Gospel. This research project then seeks to find a well-known piece of Chinese literature that Christians can use as a cultural starting point when presenting the Gospel in China, eliminating the problems of a facts-based presentation of the Gospel.
Key List of Words
Chinese folktales, Chinese literature, Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, monomyth, and storytelling evangelism.
Many religions teach that the soul is eternal and that it passes on from one life to the next, being incarnate in a new body each time. This teaching is called reincarnation. It contradicts the teaching of resurrection that says this life is the only life humans have before a bodily resurrection of all the dead at the final judgment of the Lord.
Mike Shreve of Shreve Ministries shares why he used to believe in reincarnation, how he used to teach others about reincarnation, how the Lord saved him and brought him to embrace the resurrection of Christ and the future bodily resurrection of all the dead, and how he explains that reincarnation isn't logically consistent.
Show Links:
Shreve Ministries
Free Download of Mike's Testimony: Encountering God
Website for Mike's Book, In Search of the True Light: The True Light
A 2005 Gallup poll revealed that 37% of Americans believe houses can be haunted and 21% believe they can personally communicate with the dead.
In a 2009 Pew Research Center survey, it was discovered that 29% of the American population believes they have been in touch with the dead. Among those who identify as Christians, the percentage was the exact same! 18% of Americans claim to have had a ghostly experience (17% among Christians).
In light of such results, is the Church ready to respond to an increasing population that embraces a paranormal worldview? This is a drastic shift from countering the typical Atheistic naturalism. There is a cultural shift occurring in which the non-religious are open to a reality that exists beyond our natural world. However, are Christians prepared to address the many facets of this growing belief system and fascination with the spirit world?
In the first Reconnect Halloween Special, Andy interviews Daniel Jenkins, a Christian paranormal investigator. Daniel has been on 1000s of “ghost-hunts” as a member of a Christian paranormal investigation team. As a Christian team interacting with non-Christian investigators and scared home-owners who thought their homes were haunted, Daniel and his team were able to share the hope of the Gospel, give explanations to what was being experienced, and personally pray for those who were scared and in need of God’s love and truth.
Questions Answered:
How did Daniel get involved in the paranormal world?
What makes a Christian paranormal team different from any other team?
What does the typical investigation consists of?
Is there usually a natural explanation found through the investigations?
What has Daniel experienced that couldn’t be explained naturally?
What does the Bible say concerning ghosts? Are they just demons, or could they be the spirits of the dead?
How has Daniel been able to share the Gospel through his involvement in paranormal investigations?
How has Daniel’s paranormal involvement been received by other Christians and his pastors?
Show Links:
Cris Putnam’s site: The Supernatural Worldview
Calico Ghost Tours
Daniel Jenkins’ employer: Lutheran Hour Ministries
Men’s Network from Lutheran Hour Ministries
WhatDoesThisMean.Org: "Ghost Stories" by Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller
Andy Wrasman’s Contradict – They Can’t All Be True
Jake Wells is a Flesh Pilot. He's a tattoo artist and a DIY RC POV Helocopter enthusiast.
Tattoos are taboo in most Christian circles. Jake is covered in them and he covers others with them too.
Remote controlled helicopters are a booming hobby, though a controversial one due to the fact that most people call them drones and some pilots fly them in illegal spaces or over private property while filming from them!
Despite the controversy, Jake uses his job as a tattoo artist to share the Gospel and he has been dubbed the "world's first RC (Remote Control) Christian Minister".
Andy interviews Jake to find out more about how he became a Christian and how he shares Christ through his work and hobbies in the hope that Jake's boldness to share the Gospel through his every day endeavors will excite others to do the same in their jobs and recreational pursuits.
Show Links:
Jake's Ministry Site - Flesh Pilot
Jake's Coptor Frames for Sale - Black Arm Workshop
VICE's Motherboard Article on Jake - "The Born-Again Christian Who Flies a Drone for God"
Nadov Assor's Documentary with Jake - "Lesson on Leaving Your Body"
Jefferson Bethke's Video - "Are Tattoos Sinful?"
We can approach a church service as our opportunity to serve the Lord through what we are doing during our gathering, or we can go to a church service with the expectation that we are going to be served by the Lord. We usually hold one approach as our predominant understanding of what is occurring when we gather. There is a church service order called the Divine Service. This is an order of service typically used within Lutheran traditions. Its name was mentioned in Episode 28, but not much was shared about what actually transpires in a Divine Service. So for this episode, Andy interviews Pastor Jaime Nava of Good Shepherd Lutheran in Yucaipa, CA, to learn more about what the Divine Service is and why Jaime thinks it is the best approach to sharing the Gospel during our church services.
Show Links:
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church - Yucaipa
Episode 28 of Reconnect which Sparked the need for this Episode
Jaime Shares that Law and Gospel is a Lutheran Distinctive and Episode 27 of Reconnect Explains both of These Terms
The Divine Service - An Explanation at Steadfast Lutherans
An Explanation of the Divine Service for Laypeople by Lutherans Online
Andy and Ben take a look at a video God or Absurdity posted that demonstrates what they call" an excellent summary of presuppositional apologetics".
The video is a splice of two episodes of "On the Box" featuring Mark Spence answering the question: "What is presuppositional apologetics and how is it used?" In the process of answering this question, Mark discredits the use of evidential apologetics. He does this because he says the nonbeliever will discredit all evidence that is presented for the existence of God.
Andy and Ben disagree with Mark Spence on some of his points about evidential apologetics and they agree with him on some of his points about presuppositional apologetics. Together, they make a case for using both presuppositional and evidential apologetics when sharing and defending the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Show Links:
God or Absurdity
"On the Box" Video on Presuppositional Apologetics
"Martyrs Read Joel Osteen Tweets" Video
God or Absurdity - "Other Religions" Page Featuring Contradict!
George and Andy take a quiz from ChurchPop that makes them decipher if a selection of lyrics are from a secular love song or a contemporary worship song.
This quiz leads them to ask if it’s a problem if the lyrics to a song intended to be sung to Jesus could just as easily be sung to your girlfriend.
Other questions are also addressed:
Why is there music and singing in worship services? Is there a Scriptural reason to support singing when Christians gather for worship?
What should we expect to see in the lyrical content of songs intended for worship?
Should worship be viewed as a time that God comes and serves us, or a time that we come together to worship and praise God?
Should there be a different standard of lyrical content when singing to God corporately or by one’s self?
Andy has noticed what appears to be a thrust to have the songs and bands in services be something non-Christians or non-Church-goers wouldn't mind hearing. This means the band in a way has become an outreach component. Is this a good approach to sharing the Gospel? And if this is the intent of some services, are the “Jesus is my Girlfriend” songs missing the mark of their intent for evangelism?
George and Andy both pick a song they have heard recently in a worship setting that has rubbed them the wrong way lyrically and they explain why. Their intent with this podcast is to promote Christians to evaluate what the purpose is of singing as a body of believers and to lead them to think about what they are singing when they gather in their local church bodies.
Visit AndyWrasman.com and check out the post for Reconnect Episode 28 to access show links to the quiz they took and the songs they discuss.
Andy and Wes discuss Law and Gospel.
0:30 – Law and Gospel Intro
2:35 – What is God’s Law?
5:20 – What is the Gospel?
6:40 – When does a person need to hear Law? When does a person need to hear the Gospel?
10:00 – Public preaching of God’s Word needs both Law and Gospel.
14:20 – Don’t weaken the Law of God.
18:30 – The Law found in the Sermon on the Mount
20:55 – Can we meet God’s standard in this life?
25:00 – God’s Law is written on all men’s hearts.
27:00 – Knowing that God’s Law is written on the hearts of men, most adherents of other religions are likely already in terror of God’s Law and need to hear the Gospel, not more Law.
31:20 – Christianity has both Law and Gospel. Other religions just have the Law.
35:00 – What is the Hermeneutical principle of distinguishing Law and Gospel in a Scriptural text?
52:00 – Closing words
Psalms 32:6-7, 89-8-11, and 74:12-17 are some examples of raging sea images within Scripture. The raging sea is depicted as being chaotic becuase of a great sea monster!
Andy connects this imagery and understanding of the sea with the Gospel of Mark's repeated references to the sea that contains multiple sea crossings that were marked with chaotic storms that were stilled by Christ. What occurred before and after these crossings is also significant. This episode's sermon is meant to encourage you as we are called to be fishers of men, entering into the chaotic sea of this world knowing that the sea will one day be turned to glass before the throne of God. The place where men from every nation, tribe, and language shall praise the Lord.
Show links:
Hangzhou International Christian Fellowship
Andy interviews Mary Eady, author of Letter to a Friend: Yoga, and staff member of TruthXchange.
Mary takes a strong stance that Christians should not partake in Yoga. Listen to find out why! Will you be persuaded?
Andy is in the process of turning his book, Contradict - They Can't All Be True, into an audio version. Here's a sampling of the work in progress as he reads the first chapter. The influence of Hinduism in the West with its connections to religious pluralism is addressed, which leads perfectly into next week's episode asking the question, "Is it OK for Christians to do yoga?"
I (Andy) have recently noticed, on the Contradict Facebook page I administer and on other pages, that most posts on homosexuality speak just the Law of God ( i.e. his standards, commands, and expectations). The Gospel is typically missing.
I took a photo of a gay wedding cake and then added the text, "Jesus died for this sin too!" off to the side of the image. With this single statement the Gospel is proclaimed, and at the same time homosexuality is still shown to be sinful.
Jesus is the Savior of all adulterers. I am one of them. To clarify, in Jesus' "Sermon on the Mount", he defines adultery as any lust. He defines murder as hating anyone. Jesus essentially shows us that we all have broken God's Law, that we are all sinners in need of divine redemption. He provided that redemption through the shedding of his blood for our sins, through his life, death, burial, and resurrection.
"To share or not to share?" That is the question. In this episode George shares why he chooses to abstain from sharing religious posts on social media sites, while I share why I am in full support of such posts. To close George shares four Facebook posts pertaning with homosexualty and wants to know if I'd share them or not. Putting the Law and Gospel principle into action, I decide to share or not to share.
To learn more about Law and Gospel watch the videos with Law and Gospel in their titles in the following playlist I created on Youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLS-hGmUdPsUnbaRFbrhQqhy9zj-h5mwub
Christian apologists typically favor a specific approach to defending the Christian faith. These approaches, or methods, are numerous and each school of apologetics touts its top apologists as the best models to follow when training in apologetics. It’s not uncommon to see advocates for certain schools of apologetics debate why their chosen method is superior. J. Warner Wallace however argues that we don’t need to argue over which method is the best, but instead says we need to embrace and train in all of these various schools of apologetics. He calls this training in Mixed Martial Apologetics!
Andy asks Wallace to name and explain some of the branches of Christian apologetics and when he thinks they are best utilized. Andy closes by sharing arguments he has heard against such a mix-bag approach to apologetics, asking Wallace to make a case for Mixed Martial Apologetics.
J. Warner Wallace is the author of Cold-Case Christianity and God’s Crime Scene. Wallace’s many resources for training in Mixed Martial Apologetics are available at his site, coldcasechristianity.com.
George shares his paper, "Qoheleth: The Search for Meaning in Life", with Andy.
Solomon's method for searching for meaning in life is one to consider. His conclusion is one we should all the more consider. With such an endearing topic, Solomon truly is a preacher for our day. George and Andy make some connections to how we can take Solomon's search for the meaning in life and use it as a tool to share the Gospel with those who are searching.
Read George's paper at www.andywrasman.com in the show notes for this episode.
Andy brings Reconnect listener and Contradict Movement members’ questions to the show to answer them with George and Wes.
1:53 – Responding to the claim that the Gospel of Barnabus is the true Bible that prophesies that Muhammad will be the Messiah.
16:47 – Does Contradict Movement espouse the doctrines of “Lordship Salvation”?
24:07 – Responding to a post made by Mena Lee Grebin of Faithful Walk Healing Ministry. She advocates that we must work to maintain our relationship with Jesus. A Contradict follower, Nick, thinks Mena’s post is inserting our works into our salvation by her post. In particular Nick wants to know the meaning of the Parable of the Ten Virgins which Mena uses in her post, which we read in full and respond to in its entirety.
46:25 – If we are following Christ, why are we still cursed?
49:50 – Does God’s standards apply to our everyday life or just spiritual life?
51:25 – Feedback from Kurt Calloway on Reconnect Episode 15!
Who is a Christian? How do you become a Christian? And how do you know for sure that you are a Christian?
If one is really a Christian, that person is really saved!
But how would you know for sure that you really are a Christian and that you really are saved?
In other words, where do you look for assurance that you are a Christian, that you are saved from eternal death?
Kevin DeYoung wrote an article for The Gospel Coalition entitled, "How Do I Know That I'm A Christian?" He gave three signs that a person can use to have confidence that he or she is saved:
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The first sign is theological. You should have confidence if you believe in Jesus Christ the Son of God.
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The second sign is moral. You should have confidence if you live a righteous life.
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The third sign is social. You should have confidence if you love other Christians.
Andy, George, and Wes discuss these three signs that DeYoung offers using verses from 1 John that should serve to give us confidence and not condemnation.
All three of us disagree with DeYoung on the moral and social sign. We say that using such signs will only lead us to despair and utter lack of assurance of salvation. Turning inwards to our own morality and not outwards to the work of Christ for assurance of salvation can dangerously strip Christians of cetainty that they are saved, lead to a distortion of the Gospel, and lead many into Christian legalism. This is a dangerous road and we do our best to explain why we should not use these as signs that we are saved by looking at the Scripture verses DeYoung cites in his article.
http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2015/05/12/how-do-i-know-im-a-christian/
Few places have a local Christian newspaper. Starting a Christian newspaper can be a very challenging yet rewarding ministry and hobby that can bring glory to the Lord in your local area. Chris Thompson started Life in His Hands Christian Newspaper from scratch. He shares why he did it and how he did it. He shares two things he recommends everyone to do if starting a paper and two things not to do. He shares the price of printing his paper, distribution tips, and so much more. Potentially, you could even use Chris' layout for his paper and just update a few sections with local ads and replace a few of the local articles each week. Maybe you are a writer, maybe you are a communications and media expert, maybe you are a graphic artist, maybe you are good at advertising and producing and sharing a product. Maybe this episode is intended for you.
We should be evangelists first and apologists second. When defending the Christian faith, we should always strive to incorporate the Gospel into our defense. Why should we do this? How can we do this? Andy gives a brief explanation at the start of this episode, before reading an excerpt from his book Contradict - They Can't All be True to answer these questions, before running these concepts through in practice on Cross Defense, a radio show hosted by Rod Zwonitzer on KFUO out of St. Louis, Missouri! Enjoy.
Andy interviews Ken Chitwood about his article, "Building Bridges: Toward Constructing a Christian Foundation for Inter-Religious Relationships in the Shift from Religious Privilege to Spiritual Plurality" The key points for inter-religious dialog that Ken suggests are: pay attention, find, and form, friendships, listen and learn, dine, dialog, and do together, discern, and witness to the worldview. The article can be found linked within this episode's page at andywrasman.com.
First Reconnect July Fourth Special! Andy discusses the concept of "Christian Freedom" with Pastor Samwise Praetorius (Samuel Schuldheisz) by addressing the eucatastrophes of fairy stories and the Gospel connections that can be made with rock songs. They both share their top three favorite rock songs to use to share the Gospel. To see all the show links be sure to visit Episode 15 on the Reconnect Podcast feed at andywrasman.com.
Two high school students discuss the similarities and differences between Hinduism and Christianity with Andy. A slew of links are available on Episode 14's blog post at andywrasman.com.
God is big! But is God too big to fit into one religion? Andy discusses a bumper sticker that makes this claim with two colleagues, Theology teacher, Wes Bareford, and, Biology teacher, Ben Fisher. Get a copy of the discussion guide we used for this episode at the andywrasman.com's Reconnect Episode 13 blog post.
Andy found a bumper sticker at a New Age trinket shop in Ashville, NC. The sticker reads, "In the end, there are three things that shall last, faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of these is love." This statement comes from the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13:13 to be precise. However, the sticker has no citation to the Bible verse, and faith, hope, and love are spelled using various religious symbols. What do the makers of this sticker intend to convey stripping the Bible citation and incorporating all of these religious symbols? Andy has created a dicussion guide for this episode, accessible at andywrasman.com . He uses this guide to discuss this sticker with two of his high school students.
Andy saw a Morpheus meme that read, "What if I told you, you didn't have to dress a certain way to go to church." With a slew of Facebook comments on this image, Andy brings the feedback to Reconnect to discuss church attire with George.
There were way too many topics, stories, and scenarios pertaining to church attire that were critiqued, questioned, and addressed to be able to give a brief summary description for this episode. Just press PLAY.
Go to andywrasman.com and look up Reconnect Episode 11 to see a replica of the meme that Andy created for Reconnect.
All too often religions are said to cause evil and to cause wars. The Crusades are often times mentioned to support this claim. Andy interviews Stephen Puls, a Lutheran high school history teacher, who explains what the Crusades were, why they started, and what went wrong.
In the second segment, they turn towards looking at the role of Atheism in connection with wars!
By the end of this episode, you'll have some great talking points whenever such an argument against religion arises. And of course, the goal is to use these talking points to present the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Some suggested ways of making this connection are also mentioned in this episode.
Have you seen the movie Footloose? It's about a youth who just moved into a very strict Christian community where he is signaled out as a troublemaker, almost instantly because he didn't adhere to the "Christian" principles of the town. He was essentially "shunned" because of it. That movie is based on real scenarioes that have occured for some poeple, becuase there are certainly Christian communities that stress certain rules and regulations amongst their members, such as don't drink, don't gamble, don't dance, don't be associated with known sinners, and etc.
These religious expectations amongst some Christian circles have led many nonChristians who have interacted with such groups to assume that these rules are the norm amongst all Christians. They have thus become Christian stereotypes. Brett Shoemaker has made a list of ten Christian stereotypes that he hates. Andy grills him to find out if these stereotypes are in fact things that Christians should uphold and obey as commands from God, or if these Christian stereotypes fall into the realm of Christian freedom. If these stereotypes are NOT in fact mandated by Scripture, and if these stereotypes have become unnecessary burdens or divisions for nonChristians to hear and receive the Gospel, then how should Christians respond who DON'T fit these stereotypes? And if a Christian DOES fit these stereotypes, how should he or she respond to them if they aren't in fact Scriptural mandates for everyone. Andy shares many comments from Christians who disagree with Brett's list of stereotypes, many of whom thought Brett was a nonChristian mocking Christianity when he wrote this list.
For more information and links for this show, visit the Reconnect Episode 9 blog post at andywrasman.com.
George and Andy, discuss a series of articles from Credo House entitled: 21 Things Christians Say to Hurt Their Credibility. In this episode they have time to discuss three of these statements:
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"You can't use the Bible to prove the Bible."
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"Good question. I'll find the answer and get back to you."
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"One white lie will send you to hell for all eternity."
Andy and George agree that some of these statements really do hurt the credibility of our Christian witness and should be avoided, but they come to disagree with at least one of these articles, because they think the statement is in fact Scriptural, thus should be spoken, but maybe there is a better way of presenting the truth to a nonbeliever.
Other questions and topics emerge as they discuss these articles, such as: how do we know the Bible is the Word of God, how should we respond to questions we don't know the answers, is it possible for Christians to have all the answers to life's questions, what exactly is revealed to us in Scripture and why, how should we approach preparing answers to difficult questions raised against or about the Christian faith, why should churches teach apologetics, and the very controversial topic of varying degrees of punishment in hell!
If you want to chime in on any of these topics or give a short review of any episode of Reconnect, record a short 30 second to one minute long audio clip, stating your name and the episode number you are addressing, and send it to Andy at andy@contradictmovement.org as an mp3 file. If you have any questions you want addressed on the show, send them there via email as well. Thanks. Reconnect us, Oh Lord.
Andy Wrasman received an email from an angry man who had encountered someone wearing a Contradict T-Shirt. This gentlemen lets Andy know that the Messiah is prophesied to:
A. Build the Third Temple (Ezekiel 37:26-28).
B. Gather all Jews back to the Land of Israel (Isaiah 43:5-6).
C. Usher in an era of world peace, and end all hatred, oppression, suffering and disease. As it says: "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall man learn war anymore." (Isaiah 2:4)
D. Spread universal knowledge of the God of Israel, which will unite humanity as one. As it says: "God will be King over all the world on that day, God will be One and His Name will be One" (Zechariah 14:9).
This gentlemen explains that Jesus has not met any of these Messianic prophesies. He goes onto to state that because the Bible claims that Jesus was born of a virgin, he cannot be of the line of David from his father's side, which he claims is required in Scipture. He also states other ways in which Jesus contradicts the Hebrew Bible.
Andy seeks help from Old Testament teacher, Conni Schramm, to address all of the objections this gentlement raises.
The email can be read in full at www.andywrasman.com.
Andy Wrasman, George Allen III, and Adam Stetson discuss how they came to use a Contradict poster for evangelism at University California Irvine. What were their previous evangelism efforts? Why did they decide the Contradict evangelism table method was their favorite? How do they use the poster to spring into sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ? What tips do they have to share from their outings? What are their most memorable encounters and relationships formed via their Contradict outings? What do they appreciate the most about each others' personality and approach to sharing the Gospel? Answering all of these questions, they hope to inspire and encourage you to consider a similar approach to sharing the Gospel in public spaces.
Tags/Keywords: Contradict, Coexist, Campus Evangelism, Contradict Movement