Ted asks about apologetics and the connection to the day Epiphany in the church year. Rod talks about how Epiphany is the time when Jesus officially ‘went public’ with His ministry, starting with a miracle, and that the early church always argued that the truth of the Gospel was based on fulfilled prophecy and on miracle.

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Ted asks about what it is about Christmas that causes Christians everywhere to make such a big deal out of it. Rod talks about the beginning of the story of our redemption and what Jesus later said he came to do, and that if the Christian faith is true, this is the happiest news of all time. “The story begins and ends in joy”, says C.S. Lewis.

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Ted asks about what the true connection is between what is considered pagan mythology and symbols and some things Christians enjoy during Christmas. Rod talks about C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien and the work they did in myth and storytelling, and where the burden of proof lies regarding the connection between the Christianity and mythology, and the potency of the evidence of the Christian claims in the New Testament.

SHOW NOTES: “History, Law and Christianity” by Dr. John Warwick Montgomery - https://shop.1517.org/products/historylawandchristianity?_pos=1&_sid=1f5f08099&_ss=r

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Ted asks about what hope there is for those who have failed Jesus’ admonition in Luke 9:62. Rod talks about the reality of all sinners’ condition, and the truth that all sinners are not ‘fit for the kingdom of God’, but that there is yet hope in Christ for all such unfit sinners.

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Ted asks about who God is and what He wants for us. Rod talks about what he learned in his training at Springfield Seminary about what God tells us in Scripture about what matters to Him, and that we should be able to see it in a simple reading of the New Testament, and what the ‘normal Christian life’ looks like. Some discussion occurs about earthly fathers, Rod as father, his own father, and pictures of grace given by faithful men who model Christ for their children.

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Ted asks about looking to our self improvement to determine the status of our salvation. Rod talks about where we look for the truthfulness of the Gospel, what Luther said on the matter, and examines the real Source of our consolation and peace versus what is in our sinful hearts and behavior.

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Ted asks about what the doctrine of vocation is and how it is helpful for people, particularly in relationship to the church. Rod talks about the doctrine of vocation, as dealt with by the reformers, was a way of thinking practically about the sanctification of the Christian, or the place where we’re called by gifts given to us at creation.

SHOW NOTES: Gene Veith, “God at Work” - https://www.amazon.com/God-Work-Redesign-Christian-Vocation/dp/1433524473/ref=sr_1_2

John Warwick Montgomery, “Sensible Christianity” - https://shop.1517.org/products/sensible-christianity-mp3

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Ted asks about how it can be difficult, being a sinner, to give up some things in my life that I should, and what good news there is for us sinners who struggle with that. Rod talks about Romans 7 and how Paul struggled, that these things will be with us until death or Christ’s return, and how even the disciples failed regularly, and yet how great Jesus’ forgiveness is for us sin addicts.

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Ted asks about how Lutherans view the bible and the ages that we think there are. Rod describes the differences between the Lutheran view and other views, and how easy it is for us sinners to worry about the future, finally referencing C.S. Lewis’ final book “The Last Battle” in his Narnia series and the images that Lewis put in it.

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Ted asks about where we sinners can look to find forgiveness in light of Jesus’ parable of the talents. Rod talks about reading all of the Bible through ‘the analogy of faith’, which is that the overall message of the Bible is ‘a messiah was promised to sinners’, which is Christ, and Luther said it’s all about Him, implicitly and explicitly. Dad reads from Matthew 25.

SHOW NOTES: Robert Capon on the Parables, in 3 books - https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B001H6IISC?_encoding=UTF8&node=2656022011&offset=0&pageSize=12&searchAlias=stripbooks&sort=author-sidecar-rank&page=2

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