Harold Camping in the news - it seems to never go away. Three days ago he posted a letter to his website in which he issued his latest statement. Today on the first segment of A PLAIN ANSWER we discuss this particular letter. We deal with what was posted, and more significantly what was missing! Harold Camping included his entire staff in this statement in which he admits that what Family Radio did was sinful in the setting of dates for Christ's return. Yes, that's right, he included everyone - that is, "the staff of Family Radio." What is most interesting is what he did NOT say in his letter. We also address his justification of spreading falsehoods and lies about the end of the world, under the guise of people hearing "for the first time the Bible's warning." In this letter of Harold Camping, as with others, there is no grace and no real repentance either. Perhaps you would like to hear other podcast downloads dealing with most of the Harold Camping heresies - you are invited to listen to these other free downloads, dated: 7/16/11, 7/09/11, 5/28/11, 5/21/11, 5/14/11, 3/05/11, 1/08/11, 11/06/10, 10/28/10, 3/27/10, and 9/19/09. Yes, this Harold Camping story is an on-going saga and from time to time we will comment on it. If you still need more to think about after the podcast, we invite you to visit our home page, and scroll down to the link: "A blog for Family Radio listeners or staff with questions" - just click on the link for a discussion of this important letter and the implications of it.

The second segment of today's discussion deals with the topic of "Natural Law." Finally we close with a quick comment about shame and the grace of God. Participants: Dr. John Vance, Rev. Mark Diedrich, Dan Elmendorf

Christian theology teaches that the guilt of Adam passed on to all future generations - is this fair? That is, suppose you grant the premise that God says all men are sinners from birth forward - is it a valid question to charge God with the "sin" of lack of fairness? What does the Scripture say? The Apostle wrote: "Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous" (Romans 5:18-19). If it is "unfair" that we inherited Adam's guilt, then should we presume that you think it is also unfair that Christ died for a people in their place (ie, substitutionary atonement)? Think about it. Participants: Dr. John Vance, Rev. Mark Diedrich, Dan Elmendorf

Culture. We hear of "multiculturalism" or "diversity." But what is the basis for meaningful culture in all of its loving relationships? The discussion this week stems from last week's topic of big government imposing their values on our families and religious and societal groups. Culture comes from the word "cultivate" (tilling the soil). Richard Niebuhr said that Culture is that secondary environment that we lay on top of nature. We talk about the Tower of Babel and the curse of God in confusing the languages, so that their culture would not be able to communicate among themselves. We also talk about the goodness of diversity. Abraham experienced the growth of a theocentric culture. We are very much part of the Judeo-Christian culture here in America. Multiculturalism as we know it today has some negative aspects as related to Christianity - please listen to find out more! Participants: Dr. John Vance, Rev. Mark Diedrich, Dan Elmendorf.

Suppose you were successful and have established your own health insurance company. You are a Christian and also as a hard working person established your health insurance company for the glory of Christ and to help people. Under the new mandate from the current Administration however, you will be required to provide contraceptives free of charge, including abortifacients! (ie, medicines which cause abortions). That's right, your constitutional rights are being run over roughshod and there appears to be nothing that you can do about it. Or is there? Join us for this non-partisan look at this major news item and its implications for freedom loving Christians - including Protestant, Roman Catholic and Orthodox. Participants: Dr. John Vance, Rev. Mark Diedrich, Dan Elmendorf

Why is it that we as Christians are so short sighted in modern 21st century America? In today's discussion we take a look at God's Redemptive plan in history. God's unfolding of His plan often takes much longer than we think with our puny understanding. We talk about having an eschatological perspective and frame that within the relative slowness of God's moving. We talk about Abraham, and the bondage of Israel for 400 years! The advance of God's kingdom takes time and we are to be encouraged as we diligently serve our Lord with keen focus. We know that God is on His throne and that His Kingdom will be successful. Participants: Rev. Kevin Chiarot, Rev. Mark Diedrich, Dan Elmendorf

The early church dealt with the gnostic heresy. This problem never really went away and reappeared at various times in the church's history. There is much pride involved in such secret knowledge. The followers of Harold Camping's heresies have demonstrated this. But that aside, are there not different genres to be observed in the Scriptures? Yes there are. So we have the case of not over reacting to the recent Camping scandal. We take a look at the book of Psalms, and in particular Psalm 1. We see simile as well as metaphor. When we get to the last book of the Bible, Revelation (which is apocalyptic literature), we see Jesus riding a horse with a sword coming out of His mouth! Obviously there are literary forms present. But as we observe the various forms, there are literal meanings in all of the Bible. We need to be careful as we approach the Scriptures. One of the HUGE safety nets for our understanding is to be in community. We need to be in fellowship with God's people in a church that is faithful to the Bible and is preaching it and exercising the keys and administering the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper. For personal devotions, we also recommend some particular books of the Bible to begin reading, particularly if you are new to Bible reading. Towards the end of our program we share some more about the Psalms and how they are of such profound help to the people of God. The Psalms are both a hymn book and a prayer book. Participants: Dr. John Vance, Rev. Mark Diedrich, Dan Elmendorf

As we approach this subject we first look at how a person comes to faith in Christ in our day. Was the Old Testament Saint saved in a different way? What does the Bible say about Abraham - what did He experience? The text says: "Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." We mention also, the Biblical idea of God working in families - the "promise is to you and your children," we are told. What does that mean? If you are like many American 21st century Christians, you may struggle a little with the meaning of that text. Participants: Dr. John Vance, Rev. Mark Diedrich, Dan Elmendorf

On January 22, 1973, the US Supreme Court handed down Roe v. Wade. It has been 39 years now, of legalized abortion, and the estimates are that 54 Million babies have been killed in America. Our guest Kevin Chiarot was one of the people who helped found the Crisis Pregnancy Center in New Paltz, NY in the early '80's. We discuss the battle of the words, such as: "choice", "women's rights", "reproductive rights", etc. These words make the pro-life people sound like we are tyrannical. Choice becomes an abstraction and obscures what is really chosen. The pro-abortion people ultimately defend their right to kill a child. Participants: Rev. Kevin Chiarot, Rev. Mark Diedrich, Dan Elmendorf

John came to the Jordan river inviting people to a baptism of repentance. Jesus was baptized to fulfill all righteousness. We spend some time early in the broadcast discussing the tremendously interesting person of John the Baptist. His diet and dress were very unique. He was an odd man who lived it the desert, surviving on a diet of locusts and wild honey! Then we discuss Jesus and how that he was baptized by John. Why was this necessary? In this baptism, Jesus was identifying with the people. He identified in their plight. He was not a sinner, and we are. As the people came to John, they confessed their sins. They knew they were sinners and were asking God to forgive them. Jesus was baptized with the baptism of sinners because He can take away the sins of the world - the very bad sins. Sins you would think that are so despicable, that they could never be forgiven. But Jesus would forgive even these sins. And so Jesus took part in the same sign to indicate that He would be providing for us sinners. He is closely identified to us in our sin and yet remained sinless. Just think, all of our sins are transferred to Jesus and all of His benefits are transferred to us! The Heavenly Father's love for Jesus is gifted to us! Praise be to God. This baptism of Jesus also hearkened back to the "baptism" that would have taken place for the Levitical priesthood. Jesus was therefore being anointed by His own Heavenly Father. Participants: Dr. John Vance, Rev. Mark Diedrich, Dan Elmendorf

The term epiphany means "to show" or "to make known" or even "to reveal." In Western churches, it commemorates the coming of the wise men bringing gifts to visit the Christ child, who by so doing "reveal" Jesus to the world as Lord and King. Jesus appeared to the world, and the church calendar lists January 6 as Epiphany day. We are reminded that Jesus came not only for the house of Israel, but for the whole world. Participants: Dr. John Vance, Rev. Mark Diedrich, Dan Elmendorf