The Analytical Preacher - Bible Discussions For The Modern World

A number of parents have expressed confusion and concern over Proverbs 22:6. They feel as though they trained up their child to be a Christian yet as an adult, that child has departed from the faith. In this podcast we examine this Proverb to see what is means and how we are to apply it to our lives. 

Though there are a number of descriptors of God in scripture, what most of us mean when we ask "what is God like?" is can I know Him personally, can I have a relationship with God?  The answer is a resounding yes and we understand that because of the picture the Bible paints for us of Jesus.  In this podcast we break down the Bible verses that help us understand what God is like and discover we can have a meaningful relationship with Him. 

The Twenty Third Psalm is known as one of the most beautiful pieces of scripture in the entire Bible. But what if it is even more beautiful and powerful than we realize? In this podcast, we look at the Psalm in the context of the Psalms that come immediately before and after it and that allows us to see it in a more intriguing light. 

In answering any question about our faith, we want to first turn to the Bible and see what the scriptures say.  This helps to provide us with a more comprehensive answer than we might pull from our memory or common anecdotes. Answering the question of why did Jesus come to earth from the scriptures also helps us to keep our answer from becoming overly focused on the human point of view. 

The Good News of the Gospel is required because the bad news related to our judgment before God is that He requires consistent perfection from us.  One rebellious sin, any breaches by us of God's moral code brings the sentence of spiritual death and eternal separation from our Creator.  But scripture says the Good News of the Gospel is that God is both just and the justifier.  In this podcast, we examine this topic and explain the relevant verses that provide our answer. 

It is common to question whether humans need the teachings of the Bible to truly understand what is morally good versus evil. Stated differently: do we need to rely on the Judeo-Christian ethics of scripture or can we - using our rational and logical minds - objectively determine what is right and wrong without the structure of religion? In this podcast, we look at this question from the viewpoint of scripture itself as well as from an experiential and historical perspective. 

I have heard people challenge Christianity saying they can't justify belief in something based on a blind faith. Going further still, I have had individuals tell me that as they understand it, Christian faith requires one to believe facts that have been proven untrue or things that are simply logically and rationally impossible. In fact, neither of those concerns are accurate. In this podcast, I discuss what faith means and explain from the scriptures why Christianity is not a blind faith. 

With so many religions and each with their own set of scripture, why would one choose the Bible and Christianity?  In this podcast we cover a number of different reasons for why the Bible is the clear and unique choice when it comes to sacred literature. 

The account of the thief's interaction with Jesus on the cross was included in the Gospel of Luke for a reason. But what is the lesson we are to take from that brief interaction? In this podcast, we discuss what lessons should and which lessons should not be taken from that section of scripture. One of the main conclusions is that we can never get too far from God to return to Him through Christ and it is never too late to make our decision for Christ. #goodfriday 

Though we are not all called to be preachers or missionaries in another country, the Bible does directly state that we are all witnesses or ambassadors for Christ. But how does one go about being such a witness? As we discuss in this podcast, it is centered on the fact that in Christ, we are a new creation. And the change in us and the difference in how we choose to live our lives is the platform for our witness, not our Bible knowledge or our debating skills. As new creations in Christ, we simply need to be able to tell others that our thoughts, concerns and goals are different and we know it would be beneficial if they considered the same transformation. We are called to encourage people to seek God through Jesus. We are not called to win every debate or convert every individual with whom we have a conversation.