Reconnect

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.

Jonathan Rutherford shares various advancements in biotechnology and where these new discoveries can lead humanity, both positively and negatively.  Biotechnology is changing so quickly that society will be drastically different withing a decade or two.  

He closes the episode with some great advice for Christians from Scripture as we respond and adapt to our ever changing world.  He also gives some practical advice on how the Church can help influence and guide society and the world through the Biotechnology Revolution.  

Podcast Feed: https://andywrasman.com/category/reconnect-podcast/

Reconnect on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/reconnect/id985076328

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.