If Jesus is the Messiah, why don't Jews believe in Him? This has been a question since the days of the apostles … who were Jews by the way. In fact, this really is the question that lies behind Romans 9-11.  And how can a loving forgiving God condemn people for following the "wrong religion" with strong faith and morality? Are people actually condemned for "following the wrong religion"?    Book: The Case for Christ    Want to get more out of your Bible reading? Free Resource: 7 Ways to Immediately Get More Out of the Bible  https://www.johnwhittaker.net/seven-ways   Support this ministry: Set up a one-time or monthly donation at the link below. http://worldfamilymissions.org/john-whittaker/   The Listener’s Commentary - In-depth teaching through books of the Bible to help you learn the Bible for yourself:  https://www.listenerscommentary.com   Connect with me: Social Media- connect on facebook and instagram Email - john@johnwhittaker.net   As always, if you appreciate this teaching leave a review and share freely - on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, via email.   Note: some links are affiliate links

On Questions of Doubt, pt. 6 (More Questions about the Bible), one of the the things we touched on was inspiration meaning that God supervised the writing of the Bible. In response, one listener had several questions:  If the Bible is inspired or “supervised by God” then does He still do that?  Why is Scripture complete? Why are other works (both ancient and modern texts) not considered inspired scripture? What if they don’t contradict scripture? If God supervised scripture, does that have to mean it has no prescriptive errors that aren’t necessarily sinful but cultural? Would God have compelled the authors to edit those things out? These a good questions and at the heart of most of them lies the question of the canon - that is, the official books of the Bible. Why are there only these books of the Bible? Why do some Bibles have more books? How were the books decided upon?    Want to get more out of your Bible reading? Free Resource: 7 Ways to Immediately Get More Out of the Bible  https://www.johnwhittaker.net/seven-ways   Support this ministry: Set up a one-time or monthly donation at the link below. http://worldfamilymissions.org/john-whittaker/   The Listener’s Commentary - In-depth teaching through books of the Bible to help you learn the Bible for yourself:  https://www.listenerscommentary.com   Connect with me: Social Media- connect on facebook and instagram Email - john@johnwhittaker.net As always, if you appreciate this teaching leave a review and share freely - on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, via email.

Prayer. If we're honest, prayer is a mixed bag. Sometimes wonderful ... incredible connection with God and God's goodness is poured out. Other times it's confusing, even frustrating. Where is God? Why doesn't He listen to me?  Miracles. It seems like they're all over the place in the Bible, but not any more. Why not? What happened?  These two topics can be very discouraging and troubling, so let's explore these together.    Want to get more out of your Bible reading? Free Resource: 7 Ways to Immediately Get More Out of the Bible  https://www.johnwhittaker.net/seven-ways   Support this ministry: Set up a one-time or monthly donation at the link below. http://worldfamilymissions.org/john-whittaker/   The Listener’s Commentary - In-depth teaching through books of the Bible to help you learn the Bible for yourself:  https://www.listenerscommentary.com   Connect with me: Social Media- connect on facebook and instagram Email - john@johnwhittaker.net As always, if you appreciate this teaching leave a review and share freely - on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, via email.

The Bible is central to the christian faith. Can we actually trust it? Isn't the Bible full of errors and mistakes? Has the Bible been edited and changed from when it was originally written?  Isn't the Bible written by imperfect men... so how can it be trustworthy? Can I really I trust a book that thousands of years old? These are some of the questions we explore on this episode of the Bible in Life.  Want to get more out of your Bible reading? Free Resource: 7 Ways to Immediately Get More Out of the Bible  https://www.johnwhittaker.net/seven-ways   Support this ministry: Set up a one-time or monthly donation at the link below. http://worldfamilymissions.org/john-whittaker/   The Listener’s Commentary - In-depth teaching through books of the Bible to help you learn the Bible for yourself:  https://www.listenerscommentary.com   Connect with me: Social Media- connect on facebook and instagram Email - john@johnwhittaker.net   As always, if you appreciate this teaching leave a review and share freely - on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, via email.

Can I actually trust the Bible? That's a fair and honest question. The bible is an old book. At times it can be an odd book. Or at least a foreign book. And there are things in it that don’t make sense.  So is it really trustworthy? Some of the reasons often expressed for doubting that the Bible is trustworthy are: Why should I trust a book that thousands of years old? It’s full of contradictions. It’s been changed and rewritten so many times. It’s full of errors and mistakes. it teaches hurtful, hateful things… In this episode, I encourage to focus on Jesus and thus explore if the witnesses to Jesus can be trusted. Next week, we'll get into some of the other questions.    Want to get more out of your Bible reading? Free Resource: 7 Ways to Immediately Get More Out of the Bible  https://www.johnwhittaker.net/seven-ways   Support this ministry: Set up a one-time or monthly donation at the link below. http://worldfamilymissions.org/john-whittaker/   The Listener’s Commentary - In-depth teaching through books of the Bible to help you learn the Bible for yourself:  https://www.listenerscommentary.com   Connect with me: Social Media- connect on facebook and instagram Email - john@johnwhittaker.net As always, if you appreciate this teaching leave a review and share freely - on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, via email.  

If God is real and is who the Bible says He is, why is there so much pain and suffering in the world? Often times this question arises when we’re experiencing some sort of pain or suffering … and it feels like we should curse the world as stupid rather than trust in God. This can be especially painful if we’re a praying person and we’ve prayed and prayed and the pain and suffering still persists.  If there really is a god and he really did care, then he’d never let this happen to me.  This question has also gained force as the global community has gotten smaller and we now know what’s happening all around the world all the time. And since the news feeds off the negative, we are constantly made aware of the pain and suffering all around the world. And the enormity at times seems overwhelming.  So how could God, especially the supposedly loving and powerful God of the Bible, really exist?!   Want to get more out of your Bible reading? Free Resource: 7 Ways to Immediately Get More Out of the Bible  https://www.johnwhittaker.net/seven-ways   Support this ministry: Set up a one-time or monthly donation at the link below. http://worldfamilymissions.org/john-whittaker/   The Listener’s Commentary - In-depth teaching through books of the Bible to help you learn the Bible for yourself:  https://www.listenerscommentary.com   Connect with me: Social Media- connect on facebook and instagram Email - john@johnwhittaker.net   As always, if you appreciate this teaching leave a review and share freely - on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, via email.

Does God really exist or is He just a fairy tale?  In this episode, I look some of the reasons I think it's reasonable to believe God exists. There are actually a good number of reasons and there's no way I could cover them all in this one short podcast. But I do cover some of the key ones and provide a framework for how to approach the question.    Want to get more out of your Bible reading? Free Resource: 7 Ways to Immediately Get More Out of the Bible  https://www.johnwhittaker.net/seven-ways   Support this ministry: Set up a one-time or monthly donation at the link below. http://worldfamilymissions.org/john-whittaker/   The Listener’s Commentary - In-depth teaching through books of the Bible to help you learn the Bible for yourself:  https://www.listenerscommentary.com   Connect with me: Social Media- connect on facebook and instagram Email - john@johnwhittaker.net As always, if you appreciate this teaching leave a review and share freely - on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, via email.

What is the goal of facing our doubts? Why does that matter?  If we're someone else deal with their doubts, what should our approach be like?  Is faith blind?  What is truth?  How does faith relate to truth?  These are some of the questions I address in this episode.    Want to get more out of your Bible reading? Free Resource: 7 Ways to Immediately Get More Out of the Bible  https://www.johnwhittaker.net/seven-ways   Support this ministry: Set up a one-time or monthly donation at the link below. http://worldfamilymissions.org/john-whittaker/   The Listener’s Commentary - In-depth teaching through books of the Bible to help you learn the Bible for yourself:  https://www.listenerscommentary.com   Connect with me: Social Media- connect on facebook and instagram Email - john@johnwhittaker.net   As always, if you appreciate this teaching leave a review and share freely - on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, via email.

Faith. Doubt.  The apostle Paul reminds us that "we walk by faith, not by sight" (2 Corinthians 5:7). And sometimes walking by faith is hard. Sometimes it's confusing. Sometimes we have questions that nag at our confidence in God or Jesus of the Bible.  In this episode, I begin a new series on questions of doubt by telling my own story of doubt, a time when I really struggled to know for sure whether I believed the story of Jesus or not.  Got a question of doubt you'd like me to address? Email me at john@johnwhittaker.net   Want to get more out of your Bible reading? Free Resource: 7 Ways to Immediately Get More Out of the Bible  https://www.johnwhittaker.net/seven-ways   Support this ministry: Set up a one-time or monthly donation at the link below. http://worldfamilymissions.org/john-whittaker/   The Listener’s Commentary - In-depth teaching through books of the Bible to help you learn the Bible for yourself:  https://www.listenerscommentary.com Connect with me: Social Media- connect on facebook and instagram Email - john@johnwhittaker.net   As always, if you appreciate this teaching leave a review and share freely - on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, via email.

When asked about why he teaches in parables, Jesus says that He teaches in parables "so that while seeing they may see, and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear, and not understand, otherwise they might return and it would be forgiven them." - Mark 4:12. Doesn't Jesus want people to understand his teaching? Doesn't he want them to be forgiven?  In this episode of the Bible in Life podcast, we explore Mark 4, its connection to Isaiah 6, and why Jesus taught in parables.  Mark 4:10-12 10 As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve disciples, began asking Him about the parables. 11 And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but for those who are outside, everything comes in parables, 12 so that while seeing they may see, and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear, and not understand, otherwise they might return and it would be forgiven them.” Isaiah 6:8-10 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!”  9 And He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening, but do not understand; And keep on looking, but do not gain knowledge.’ 10 Make the hearts of this people insensitive, Their ears dull, And their eyes blind, So that they will not see with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their hearts, And return and be healed.”   Want to get more out of your Bible reading? Free Resource: 7 Ways to Immediately Get More Out of the Bible  https://www.johnwhittaker.net/seven-ways   Support this ministry: Set up a one-time or monthly donation at the link below. http://worldfamilymissions.org/john-whittaker/   The Listener’s Commentary - In-depth teaching through books of the Bible to help you learn the Bible for yourself:  https://www.listenerscommentary.com   Connect with me: Social Media- connect on facebook and instagram Email - john@johnwhittaker.net   As always, if you appreciate this teaching leave a review and share freely - on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, via email.