Reconnect

Andy and Wes discuss Law and Gospel. 0:30 – Law and Gospel Intro2:35 – What is God’s Law?5:20 – What is the Gospel?6:40 – When does a person need to hear Law? When does a person need to hear the Gospel?10:00 – Public preaching of God’s Word needs both Law and Gospel. 14:20 – Don’t weaken the Law of God. 18:30 – The Law found in the Sermon on the Mount20:55 – Can we meet God’s standard in this life?25:00 – God’s Law is written on all men’s hearts. 27:00 – Knowing that God’s Law is written on the hearts of men, most adherents of other religions are likely already in terror of God’s Law and need to hear the Gospel, not more Law. 31:20 – Christianity has both Law and Gospel. Other religions just have the Law. 35:00 – What is the Hermeneutical principle of distinguishing Law and Gospel in a Scriptural text?52:00 – Closing words

Psalms 32:6-7, 89-8-11, and 74:12-17 are some examples of raging sea images within Scripture. The raging sea is depicted as being chaotic becuase of a great sea monster! Andy connects this imagery and understanding of the sea with the Gospel of Mark's repeated references to the sea that contains multiple sea crossings that were marked with chaotic storms that were stilled by Christ. What occurred before and after these crossings is also significant. This episode's sermon is meant to encourage you as we are called to be fishers of men, entering into the chaotic sea of this world knowing that the sea will one day be turned to glass before the throne of God. The place where men from every nation, tribe, and language shall praise the Lord.

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Hangzhou International Christian Fellowship

Andy interviews Mary Eady, author of Letter to a Friend: Yoga, and staff member of TruthXchange. Mary takes a strong stance that Christians should not partake in Yoga. Listen to find out why! Will you be persuaded?

Andy is in the process of turning his book, Contradict - They Can't All Be True, into an audio version. Here's a sampling of the work in progress as he reads the first chapter. The influence of Hinduism in the West with its connections to religious pluralism is addressed, which leads perfectly into next week's episode asking the question, "Is it OK for Christians to do yoga?"

I (Andy) have recently noticed, on the Contradict Facebook page I administer and on other pages, that most posts on homosexuality speak just the Law of God ( i.e. his standards, commands, and expectations). The Gospel is typically missing. I took a photo of a gay wedding cake and then added the text, "Jesus died for this sin too!" off to the side of the image. With this single statement the Gospel is proclaimed, and at the same time homosexuality is still shown to be sinful.Jesus is the Savior of all adulterers. I am one of them. To clarify, in Jesus' "Sermon on the Mount", he defines adultery as any lust. He defines murder as hating anyone. Jesus essentially shows us that we all have broken God's Law, that we are all sinners in need of divine redemption. He provided that redemption through the shedding of his blood for our sins, through his life, death, burial, and resurrection. "To share or not to share?" That is the question. In this episode George shares why he chooses to abstain from sharing religious posts on social media sites, while I share why I am in full support of such posts. To close George shares four Facebook posts pertaning with homosexualty and wants to know if I'd share them or not. Putting the Law and Gospel principle into action, I decide to share or not to share. To learn more about Law and Gospel watch the videos with Law and Gospel in their titles in the following playlist I created on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLS-hGmUdPsUnbaRFbrhQqhy9zj-h5mwub

Christian apologists typically favor a specific approach to defending the Christian faith. These approaches, or methods, are numerous and each school of apologetics touts its top apologists as the best models to follow when training in apologetics. It’s not uncommon to see advocates for certain schools of apologetics debate why their chosen method is superior. J. Warner Wallace however argues that we don’t need to argue over which method is the best, but instead says we need to embrace and train in all of these various schools of apologetics. He calls this training in Mixed Martial Apologetics! Andy asks Wallace to name and explain some of the branches of Christian apologetics and when he thinks they are best utilized. Andy closes by sharing arguments he has heard against such a mix-bag approach to apologetics, asking Wallace to make a case for Mixed Martial Apologetics. J. Warner Wallace is the author of Cold-Case Christianity and God’s Crime Scene. Wallace’s many resources for training in Mixed Martial Apologetics are available at his site, coldcasechristianity.com.

George shares his paper, "Qoheleth: The Search for Meaning in Life", with Andy. Solomon's method for searching for meaning in life is one to consider. His conclusion is one we should all the more consider. With such an endearing topic, Solomon truly is a preacher for our day. George and Andy make some connections to how we can take Solomon's search for the meaning in life and use it as a tool to share the Gospel with those who are searching. Read George's paper at www.andywrasman.com in the show notes for this episode.

Andy brings Reconnect listener and Contradict Movement members’ questions to the show to answer them with George and Wes. 1:53 – Responding to the claim that the Gospel of Barnabus is the true Bible that prophesies that Muhammad will be the Messiah. 16:47 – Does Contradict Movement espouse the doctrines of “Lordship Salvation”? 24:07 – Responding to a post made by Mena Lee Grebin of Faithful Walk Healing Ministry. She advocates that we must work to maintain our relationship with Jesus. A Contradict follower, Nick, thinks Mena’s post is inserting our works into our salvation by her post. In particular Nick wants to know the meaning of the Parable of the Ten Virgins which Mena uses in her post, which we read in full and respond to in its entirety. 46:25 – If we are following Christ, why are we still cursed? 49:50 – Does God’s standards apply to our everyday life or just spiritual life? 51:25 – Feedback from Kurt Calloway on Reconnect Episode 15!

Who is a Christian? How do you become a Christian? And how do you know for sure that you are a Christian? If one is really a Christian, that person is really saved! But how would you know for sure that you really are a Christian and that you really are saved? In other words, where do you look for assurance that you are a Christian, that you are saved from eternal death? Kevin DeYoung wrote an article for The Gospel Coalition entitled, "How Do I Know That I'm A Christian?" He gave three signs that a person can use to have confidence that he or she is saved:1. The first sign is theological. You should have confidence if you believe in Jesus Christ the Son of God. 2. The second sign is moral. You should have confidence if you live a righteous life. 3. The third sign is social. You should have confidence if you love other Christians. Andy, George, and Wes discuss these three signs that DeYoung offers using verses from 1 John that should serve to give us confidence and not condemnation. All three of us disagree with DeYoung on the moral and social sign. We say that using such signs will only lead us to despair and utter lack of assurance of salvation. Turning inwards to our own morality and not outwards to the work of Christ for assurance of salvation can dangerously strip Christians of cetainty that they are saved, lead to a distortion of the Gospel, and lead many into Christian legalism. This is a dangerous road and we do our best to explain why we should not use these as signs that we are saved by looking at the Scripture verses DeYoung cites in his article. http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2015/05/12/how-do-i-know-im-a-christian/

Few places have a local Christian newspaper. Starting a Christian newspaper can be a very challenging yet rewarding ministry and hobby that can bring glory to the Lord in your local area. Chris Thompson started Life in His Hands Christian Newspaper from scratch. He shares why he did it and how he did it. He shares two things he recommends everyone to do if starting a paper and two things not to do. He shares the price of printing his paper, distribution tips, and so much more. Potentially, you could even use Chris' layout for his paper and just update a few sections with local ads and replace a few of the local articles each week. Maybe you are a writer, maybe you are a communications and media expert, maybe you are a graphic artist, maybe you are good at advertising and producing and sharing a product. Maybe this episode is intended for you.