The Analytical Preacher - Bible Discussions For The Modern World

Evangelical Christians know that all people are sinners and every political party has (major) faults.  Though we must cast our vote for a single individual in each election, we understand that all politicians are imperfect.  But Evangelical Christians do tend to associate more with the Republican party and many people have asked why, especially since much of the Democrat's platform (assisting the most vulnerable in society, for example) seems to agree with biblical principles.  In this podcast, Andy explains why so many Christians tell him they have historically favored the Republican Party (and exposes where they disagree with them as well).

Many atheist claim the problem of teleological suffering and evil is a slam dunk against the existence of a loving God.  If an animal unintentionally evolved to where it must infect, eat the eyes of or kill a human host to reproduce, then that is just part of the world we have to live with.  But if a "god" intentionally created such parasites and the suffering they cause, he either isn't much of a god or certainly isn't a very nice one, they say.  Christian and atheist philosophers have gone round after round on this issue, essentially drawing to a stalemate.  But how does the Bible address such questions?  In this podcast, we study the scriptures for exactly that answer.

What does the Bible mean when it says not to argue with a fool?  How do I apply that proverb to my life as a Christian today?  Perhaps even more important, how do I know if I am one of the fools of which scripture speaks?  In this podcast we explore those verses in the book of Proverbs and answer these questions.

Exploring the purpose and significance of guilt, this podcast challenges the belief that guilt is merely a form of manipulation. It discusses the difference between guilt and shame, and the potential consequences of not addressing guilt. The podcast also explores how guilt can motivate confession and behavior change, the significance of acknowledging and accepting wrongdoing when guilt arises, and the nature of guilt as an emotion and its value in our lives.

The Old Testament tells us that God is a jealous God.  But what exactly does that mean?  Isn't jealousy listed as a sin in scripture?  In this podcast, we breakdown how the Bible uses this term in relation to God and how it differs from the sinful human covetousness that the Bible criticizes.  There is a beautiful love behind the concept to God being jealous for us and we uncover and explain it all in this episode.

Was the purpose for the miracles Christ performed simply to help out a few folks in need 2000 years ago?  As we read scripture and see how it defines those acts - which are usually called signs in the New Testament - we get a fuller picture of what was going on.  Though individuals certainly benefited from the miracles Jesus performed on and around them, each of those signs points to a number of other important elements as well, including lessons for us today.  In this podcast, we look at how scripture defines the purpose of Christ's miraculous acts and provide five major reasons for why the occurred.

Explore deep Bible study methods beyond surface reading, focusing on understanding God's nature and our response. Understand believers' role in God's family, serving without prejudice, and witnessing with love and responsibility.

Do Christians need to go to church?  Can believers worship God alone and grow in their faith without formal religion?  Does the Bible directly tell us to go to church?  Many believers have a standard set of arguments they employ when challenged about their church attendance but are those arguments Bible based or opinion based?  Are our reasons for not attending church logical and consistent or more reactionary and emotional?  In this podcast, we look at what the Bible says about the origin, importance and purpose of the church.  We will consider examples of early Christians found in the book of Acts and explore what scripture points to as the unique place each of us is to have in a local church body.  Rather than argue over church attendance, this podcast seeks to have us truly examine our past behavior and motives to see if we need to create new patterns of behavior in the future.

At Christmas we celebrate the birth of Jesus as a baby to a human mother, Mary.  But why did Jesus need to be born as a human in the first place?  In this Christmas sermon, Andy explains the necessity and benefits of Christ being born and living as fully human, though He was also fully God.

If Jesus had to die to pay the sin debt of humanity, then how were people saved before Jesus came to earth and died on the cross?  For example, how were people in the Old Testament saved, how could they go to heaven if not through Jesus?  In Genesis, God told Abraham that his faith had been counted to him as righteousness. What does that mean?  In what did Abraham have faith?  And how did that faith save him? God explains this mystery in the New Testament portion of the Bible. In this podcast, Andy discusses those scriptures to fully explain the answers to these questions.