Episodes
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A brand new podcast, a brand new book, and a little announcement about the future. These are exciting times! I love and appreciate you ALL. <3
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What is the CORRECT way to engage in discussions about our Christian convictions? Which apologetic methodology is true? Did Matt Walsh bomb his interview with Joe? All that and more this week!
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Missing episodes?
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One of the biggest problems in the church today is leaders and scholars who think the DETAILS of a passage can be divorced from the POINT of the passage. In this episode, we discuss this trend and see if there's any truth to it.
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This is God's world, and yet, many Christians are intimidated by science (the study of the natural world). But there are PLENTY of reasons not to be intimidated by it, and instead, EMBRACE it as Christians!
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I met God when I was 4 years old. This has often caused me to resent not having a radical experience of changing from an extraordinarily sinful lifestyle to a lifestyle of obedience to God's will. In this episode, I confront that resentment and offer 34 reasons to be thankful if you met God early and to pray for your children (and others) to do the same.
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It's common in biblical scholarship today to suggest that the biblical writers held the view that the earth is flat, there was a solid dome above the earth, etc. Is this true? What's the basis for this claim?
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As Christians committed to sharing our ideas in the public square, inevitably we will encounter difficult scenarios. Perhaps someone has offered a challenge to your convictions that you have never considered before, and this challenge begins to cause you spiritual and emotional anxiety. Today Iâd like to consider just five of the possible reasons why youâyes you!âcanât defend your faith or answer tough objections, and then leave you with some practical advice to get started.
Links:
https://www.steveschramm.com/objections-to-christianity/https://www.steveschramm.com/seed-soil-soul/ -
Quick update!
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Do you have trouble with emotional connection and/or practical application in your Christian life? May I ask suggest you try out "saved" mode? Learn all about it in this episode!!
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In this edition of the podcast, we're continuing our series in Dr. Kurt Wise's "Faith, Form, and Time" book. We talk about the floating forest theory and how it explains things in a creationist framework that only evolution seemed to explain just a short time ago.
Dr. Wise lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_LmhhL18U4
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Welcome to episode 200!!!!! I can't believe I've been doing this podcast for nearly 5 years now đ€Ż. In this episode, I reflect on the past 5 years and introduce you to an awesome new free resource.
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In a recent conversation, it became clear to me that most people's idea of the creationist enterprise has not aged well in the last couple of decades. Many still believe creationism just is "anti-evolutionism," when in reality, that's not the case at all. This week we talk about the difference and try to help folks understand why modern creationists are just trying to be good scientists.
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Many Christians misunderstand faith. While it seems like a simple concept, you might be surprised to discover that you have a view of faith different from the biblical writers. Check out this episode to learn more!]
Mentioned: https://www.steveschramm.com/facts-faith-feelings/
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Jonah is not a fish story---it's my story, and yours. Here's a take on the book of Jonah you've probably never heard that should really get you thinking.
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Hey friends, in this episode, I'm sharing a message with you that I recently preached at church on the subject of what happens when a Christian sins. I pray it helps you!
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In this episode, I want to talk to you about the fine boundary between transcendence (biblical) thinking and continuity (mythical) thinking. How can we simultaneously affirm the ancient Near Eastern situation of the biblical writers, while not caving to mythical nonsense? I think this is the way.
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How do you make a biblically based decision, confident that God will bless it and work it out for good? In this episode we discuss my thoughts from the book Decision Making and the WIll of God.
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Could genetic mutation, natural selection, and even animal carnivory be a GRACE from God? It might seem strange, but I think the biblical answer is yes. Take a listen to this episode continuing our series on Dr. Kurt Wise's Faith, Form, and Time.
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In this episode, we summarize much of the biological information we've been talking about in this series. As it turns out, creation theories of biology have quite a bit of explanatory power over and against the theory of evolution.
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In general, I am a fan of making modest claims. That is, the less I have to commit myself to in defense of a position, the better!
Not only does this give me an advantage in the conversation because I donât have to work hard defending things Iâm either not sure about or would rather not muddy with dialogue with, but it also forces my interlocutor to think more carefully. It gives me control.
However, this is a luxury that is hard to come by with respect to whether or not Christianity is ultimately true.
The kicker is, I believe thatâs actually a very good thing. Hereâs why.
Christianity Deals in Reality
There is a popular book by Dr. Michael Heiser that has been circulating for a few years now called The Unseen Realm. Itâs a great book, but thatâs beside my point. The original working title of the book was, The Myth That is True.
As Iâve contended in a book of my own, Christianity is a Story; not any story, but the Story of all stories. Other writers have traded on this idea as well, such as Greg Koukl and C.S. Lewis.
But this particular Story is one that is grounded in reality. Itâs the real deal.
This has some important implications that weâll discuss below.
If weâre not careful, weâll use unfortunate language when sharing our Story that casts doubt on it from the get-go. We live in a culture that does not understand âChristianese,â so when we share with others, weâd be well advised not to âmarketâ it as though it were a fairytale.
For example, when we talk about the resurrection of Christ, we need to learn how to articulate this as though it were a real, historical event, because it was!
As Iâve written elsewhere, I do not advocate for a âsetting asideâ of the Bible in these discussionsâhowever, neither do I advocate for a âsetting asideâ of the important scholarship that has been done to demonstrate this is a real event that happened in human history.
Christianity Offers Real Hope
I wonât pretend to know any statistics, but history and my own experience tell me that, while many do come to believe in Christ through an evaluation of the evidence and a desire to know the truth, most come by way of a broken heart or a broken life.
Christianity flourishes through times of persecution and brokenness.
Why is this? Why is that Christianity can take a life and turn it around, often during a time of great suffering and pain?
This is because of what Christianityâgrounded in realityâoffers. It offers real hope to the helpless, hopeless, and brokenhearted.
Through his resurrection, Christ demonstrated that he alone has victory over death, hell, and the grave. He has overcome, and promised that anyone who would believe in him and trust in his finished work to save them, could have eternal life.
Fortunately, we not only have the promise of eternal life then, but of abundant life now. Only Christ offers this because only Christ can offer this.
Christianity is Testable
Finally, because this Story is grounded in reality, we can test it! We can know itâs true!
The reason this matters is precisely because our backward, relativistic culture would have you believe Christianity is just one of many legitimate options.
It has good maxims and virtues to teach like any other religious system of thought (so the thinking goes), so it might be good for you to be a Christian, but thereâs no reason for them to be one too.
The problem with that thinking is that it divorces Christianity from reality, which is to say, it assumes Christianity is false. Christianity is exclusivist. Jesus said, âI am the wayâŠno man comesâŠexcept through me.â
So for the hope, virtues, and maxims that Christianity offers to be meaningful, it must be true, which means every other worldview must be false. This is why it matters that Christianity makes strong claims. (By the way, the Apostle Paul thought the same thing! See 1 Corinthians 15:17.)
In what ways is Christianity testable? Many, but two come to mind as the most important: History, and prophecy. In fact, we see these emphasized in 2 Peter 1: 16-21.
History is the domain of eyewitness verification, and what they recorded about what they saw. Our acceptance of Christâs historicity comes backed with lots of this eyewitness evidence; much more than would ever be expected of a first-century carpenter.
We have at least four independent sources found in the gospel traditions themselves, and around 17 extrabiblical sources that confirm various aspects of his life and work.
But we also have âa more sure word of prophecyââthat is, history recorded in advance.
Christâs arrival in history is not an isolated event. In fact, he was âslain from the foundation of the worldâ (Revelation 13:8), and many details of his life and work were written hundreds of years before his arrival. One prophecy concerning his death, found in Psalm 22, was written around 1,000 years before his birth, and even before the means of his deathâcrucifixionâwas invented.
So when we argue for the truth of Christianity, we make strong claims. We make claims to exclusivity. We make claims about historical events. We make claims about biblical consistency. We make claims that history has been recorded in advance.
But these claims are a good thing. They underscore the fact that Christianity is grounded in reality. And that means our faith is meaningful.
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