Reconnect

How can all-good and all-powerful God allow evil to exist? Listen along as Jon takes a quiz that Andy created to help facilitate a conversation to answer this common and difficult question against the consistency of the Christian worldview. Visit www.andywrasman.com and see the post for Episode 57 to access show links.

Episode 16 of Reconnect featuredguest, Ken Chitwood, sharing an article he wrote entitled,"Building Bridges: Toward Constructing a ChristianFoundation for Inter-Religious Relationships in the Shift fromReligious Privilege to Spiritual Plurality". Thekey points for inter-religious dialog that Ken suggests are: payattention, find, and form, friendships, listen and learn, dine,dialog, and do together, discern, and witness to the worldview.

While I agree with many of Ken's points to approachinginter-religious dialog, I have a different application of the term"building bridges". I explain this approach in an articlethat I wrote for Reformation 21: "Embracing Religious Contradictions to ProclaimChrist Crucified: Tolerance andCoexistence". Looking at Acts 17, I see how Paul knew thebeliefs and culture of those he was sharing the Gospel ofJesus. He made the presentation of the Gospel from startingwithin their belief system with a point of contact that he coulduse to make a connection to the Biblical narrative ofsalvation. I was given the opportunity to share this approachto evangelism at Brookfield Lutheran Church in Brookfield,Wisconsin. This episode contains that sermonmessage. Senior pastor at Brookfield Lutheran Church, Robert Mrosko, was a guest onReconnect Episode 39, discussingStar Wars.

The building bridges technique I am advocating for is alsoshared in Episode 34: "Storytelling Evangelism".

David Pratt has been a Lutheran high school teacher for twelve years. In his theology classes, no matter the course title, he constantly sprinkles apologetics into the lesson plans. After listening to episodes 22 and 29 of Reconnect, which both explained and critiqued the use of various approaches to Apologetics, he had a lot of feedback to provide. In this episode, David shares his commentary on those episodes, correcting what he thought was not always an accurate depiction of presupositional apologetics in those episodes. Hopefully, you’ll learn as much from his feedback as I did. His explanation and use of presuppositional apologetics has certainly given me a much better understanding of the usefulness and tactful approach to take with presuppositional arguments for the purpose of sharing both the Law and Gospel of God’s Word. – Andy Wrasman Show Links:

Episode 22: Mixed Martial Apologetics with J. Warner Wallace Episode 29: What’s up with Presup? with Andy and Ben

David’s School: Faith Lutheran Middle School and High School in Las Vegas

Andy likes to surf the New Age shops to see the new lingo and directions of the oneist, pagan lefties. He discovered a sticker that read, “Christianity Has Pagan DNA.” Andy snatched one (after purchasing it) and used it as a centerpiece for a small group church discussion guide. Ben and Jonathan join Andy for this episode of Reconnect to discuss this sticker. Hopefully you like the conversation that ensues and if so be sure to go to Episode 54 at www.andywrasman.com to access the guide Andy created so you can have this same discussion with your local small group Bible study, Sunday school class, or youth group. Christianity Has Pagan DNA! Questions Who is a pagan? What’s paganism? Does the Bible give any indication that there is pagan DNA within Christianity? Even if there are real and intentional connections to pagan mythology and beliefs in the Bible do these connections in any way discredit the Christian message?

Do you we have any pagan practices, imagery, or carry-overs from pre-Christian culture within modern day expressions of Christianity? How do you respond to these? What do you think this sticker means by pagan DNA within Christianity? Show Links Christianity Has Pagan DNA Sticker Group Discussion Guide Episode 43 of Reconnect: Jesus’ Plagiarized Resurrection Myth

Episode 12 of Reconnect: Faith, Hope, Love, and the Club

Episode 13 of Reconnect: God is Too Big to Fit into One Religion

Blue Letter Bible

Contradict Movement

Christians believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. Eyewitness testimonies attest to the truth of this belief, testimonies that are reliable on account of the witnesses’ willingness to die for their claims, as well as the solid physical evidence of the empty tomb with a corpse that was never found. However, many non-Christian skeptics assert that it is more likely these eyewitnesses were lying, or that we have no eyewitness testimonies at all, but instead the New Testament is simply plagiarized by the apostles or imposters in the second century who applied resurrection narratives of other gods to the man, Jesus of Nazareth. This episode of Reconnect presents both sides of the arguments through the use of multiple audio clips downloaded from Youtube with Andy giving commentary throughout the show.

The central claim of Christianity is that Jesus died for sins, was buried, and rose from the dead for our salvation. Episodes 50 and 51 of Reconnect shared 14 evidences that indicate that Jesus did in fact rise from the dead confirming his claims to be God in the flesh, the savior of all men. When faced with these evidences, not everyone comes to the conclusion that Jesus did rise bodily from the dead. Alternative theories are thus offered to naturally explain the evidences. Sometimes these theories offer evidence also. This episode looks at an elaborate explanation for the empty tomb of Jesus that involves the theft and reburial of Jesus’ corpse in a different location, a location that that is speculated to have been found by the discovery of a family tomb that contained an ossuary with the name, “Jesus, Son of Joseph”, inscribed on it. This theory was put forth by The Lost Tomb of Jesus, documentary that was produced by James Cameron. Andy Wrasman plays audio clips from this documentary and offers rebuttals to the documentary’s claims.

If Jesus rose from the grave, Christianity is true. If Jesus did not rise from the grave, Christianity is false.To make a case that the resurrection of Christ occurred, it needs to be shown that Jesus died, was buried, his tomb was found empty, and people interacted with him alive again.Robert Bowman of Credo House made a list of fourteen evidences to support the resurrection claim of the apostles and early Christian Church. This episode of reconnect focuses on the last seven evidences Bowman listed. With the help of Ben Fisher, Andy Wrasman provides details to flush out Bowman’s brief summaries of these strands of evidence.Evidences for the Resurrection 8-148. Paul and Luke’s Independent Testimonies9. Cleopas and that Other Guy10. Brother James11. John’s Eyewitness Testimony12. Ancient Skepticism13. Paul’s Conversion14. Paul’s Mission to the GentilesGo back to Episode 50 to hear evidences 1-7.Visit www.andywrasman.com and see the show notes for this episode.

If Jesus rose from the grave, Christianity is true. If Jesus did not rise from the grave, Christianity is false. To make a case that the resurrection of Christ occurred, it needs to be shown that Jesus died, was buried, his tomb was found empty, and people interacted with him alive again. Robert Bowman of Credo House made a list of fourteen evidences to support the resurrection claim of the apostles and early Christian Church. This episode of reconnect focuses on the first seven evidences Bowman listed. With the help of Ben Fisher, Andy Wrasman provides details to flush out Bowman’s brief summaries of these strands of evidence.

Evidences for the Resurrection 1-7

1. Jesus’ Existence 2. Jesus’ Death 3. A Crucified Messiah 4. Joseph’s Tomb 5. Women Witnesses 6. Ancient Theories Tune in for Episode 51 to hear evidences 8-14.

Show Links Robert Bowman’s “14 Evidences for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ” Reconnect Episode 7 – “Did Jesus Fulfill All Messianic Prophesies?”

Reconnect Episode 31 – “Tattooing and Flying Drones for Jesus” Chad Williams – “Proof the Bible is the Word of God” Video Free Excerpt Featuring 25% of Andy Wrasman’s Book, Contradict – They Can’t All Be True

Total depravity is a divisive doctrine within the Christian Church. This doctrine teaches that since the Fall of Man, all of mankind is in a state of complete corruption by sin. Our minds, bodies, spirit, emotions, desires, will, relationships – OUR EVERYTHING – is ruined by sin. The wreckage is so great that we can do nothing whatsoever to please God, draw near to him, or to please him. We are truly dead in our sin. If we can do nothing to accept God, then that must mean our salvation is purely a gift. Scripture teaches that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ. (Ephesians 2:8) Most Christians recognize that grace is pure gift, but total depravity necessitates that the faith of believers must also be solely a gift, the work of God alone. If faith is a gift of God, then why are some saved and the multitudes damned? Did God not love them? Did Christ not die for them? Did God not choose to save them? These questions and many more rightly flow from a proper understanding of the doctrine of total depravity. Before addressing these questions, we must ask, “Does the Bible teach total depravity?” If this teaching can’t be found in Scripture alone, we should reject the doctrine. But if total depravity is in Scripture, we must address the questions of predestination, and we must do so from Scripture alone.

1 out of 6 adults will experience depression at some point in their life. Depression affects about 16 million Americans every year. Christians are not immune. For those who haven't suffered with depression, the many devastating symptoms aren't known or even understood when they are.

Adam Cumpston shares his bouts with depression and anxiety and how out of desperation, after trying all other options, he turned to God for healing, and he was healed.

Adam does a good job of taking his experience and making it applicable to everyone, since we all will face some sort of "storms" in our lives. Scripture speaks volumes to what Christians can gain from difficult times of sufferings and how even if we don't experience healing in this life, God's grace is sufficient for us.

As a take away for Reconnect, since this podcast is dedicated to sharing and defending the Good News of Jesus Christ, Adam spoke about the importance of memorizing Scripture so that we can defend ourselves against the lies of Satan with the truth of God's Word. Typically, when we think of defending the Gospel, we might run to historical arguments, archaeological discoveries, philosophical arguments, or in-depth exegetical studies, but Adam reminds us that defending God's Word can simply be knowing God's Word so well that we can quote it when lies from our sinful nature, the world, and devil assault us.

Show Links:

Adam Cumpston's Website

Adam's book, 30 Days to Overcoming Depression and Anxiety

CDC - Mental Health Conditions: Depression and Anxiety

A blog post Andy wrote, "Praying for God's Healing"