The Present-Day Saint

0053 - In this episode we discuss some tests we can apply to our worldview to determine if our worldview is correct. We first discuss how everyone has a worldview and how each worldview has to answer the same fundamental questions. They all can give very different answers to those questions. We walk through some tests we can use to examine our worldview to determine if it is true or not. In the end there is only one correct worldview and that is the one that we want to have. In the episode I show how atheism and Mormonism cannot answer the most important questions of reality and thus cannot be the true worldview. Which worldview is correct --- BIBLICAL CHRISTIANITY!!!

0052 - In this episode we talk about faith. What is biblical faith? So many people think that faith is believing things we don't have evidence for. They think faith is what you have when you don't have reason. That is simply not what Biblical faith is. In this episode we define what Biblical faith actually is and what that looks like in a believers life. I also talk about how the LDS miss the boat on faith as they root everything in a subjective feeling. I show how that isn't a good test to determine what truth is. I hope that you will have a better understanding of Biblical faith after listening to this episode. 

0051 - In this episode we start our Classical Apologetics series where we will walk through a classical apologetics argument over the course of many podcasts. In this first episode I talk about what apologetics is, why we do it and what it can and cannot do. Many people have a false understanding of apologetics or have never heard of it. In this series we want to help correct your understanding of apologetics so that you can give a defense for the truth claims of Christianity with gentleness and respect. 

0050 - On this episode I review two recent conversations I had with LDS students from BYU. I talk about how to enter into the conversation and how to avoid making it awkward. I discuss the five main areas that I want to focus on in conversations with LDS (and anyone really). We talk about two questions that should be ingrained in your subconscious for these conversations and virtually every conversation you ever enter into!!! I hope that this will take some of the nervousness off engaging with people in spiritual conversations and encourage you to get out there and share the gospel!!

0049 - On this episode I interview Rob Bowman (https://robertbowman.net/) about his new book, "Jesus' Resurrection and Jospeh's Visions: Examining the Foundations of Christianity and Mormonism." In the book Dr. Bowman looks at the evidence for the foundational truth claim in Christianity - the resurrection of Jesus - and the evidence for the foundational truth claims in Mormonism - Joseph Smith's visions. In the interview we go through the highlights of the book. We look at the evidence that points overwhelmingly to the resurrection of Jesus. We then look at the lack of similar evidence for the first vision and visions of Moroni that Joseph Smith claimed. If these visions did not take place then Mormonism cannot be true. Dr. Bowman meticulously examines the evidence and has come to the conclusion that they probably did not happen. There is so much good information in this podcast you will want to listen to it twice and then go grab his book!!!

0048 - In this episode our friend David Halevy from Builders of Israel (https://www.buildersofisrael.net/) joins us to discuss the topic of Universalism. I have recently been reading a book by Thomas Talbott called, "The Inescapable Love of God." It has challenged my in multiple ways and so I wanted to sit down with David to discuss this topic. In the episode we discuss the nature of Hell, God's Sovereignty, Man's Free will and responsibility and many other issues. This topic has direct relatability to the LDS conversation since they are basically universalists. I appreciate David's thinking on this topic and I think you will as well. I hope you enjoy. 

0047 - In this episode I interview Monique Duson, Racial Unity Advocate and Founder of The Center for Biblical Unity (https://www.centerforbiblicalunity.com/). Monique spent two decades advocating for Critical Race Theory but ended up changing her position when she was confronted with the evidence (an act of intellectual strength). In this interview we talk about her history and how she changed her mind on this issue. We talk about Critical Race Theory and why she thinks it is destructive in the church. We also talk about what the church should be doing on racial issues and how the church has failed in the past. We also talk about how we can engage with people in the church that disagree with us on this issue and how we can work towards bringing more light than heat on this issue. This was a great interview and I hope it will bless you.

0046 - In this episode I end up talking about a lot of things in a little bit of a stream of consciousness. The first thing I discuss is the suicide of Mike Adams, our former Ratio Christi Faculty Advisor at UNCW. I talk about how there wouldn't be a Ratio Christi chapter at UNCW if it were not for Mike. I also talk about the reality of suicide, especially in the Corona world. I also wanted to talk about how easy it is for apologists to lose their first love. How easy it is for us to focus on loving facts about Jesus and not actually loving Jesus. I know that Corona, and the isolation of the last few months, has shown me how dry my relationship with Jesus really was. I talk about the Christian response to suicide and how I think many people just miss the mark. Finally I talk about a short book Francis Schaeffer wrote called, "Two Contents, Two Realities." This book really sums up what I am wrestling through now and how Christians (Apologists!!) need relationships with Jesus and other people. I hope this episode will bless you and challenge you. Praying for the friends and family of Mike Adams. 

0045 - On this episode of the podcast I interview my friend Glen Levinzon who grew up nominally Jewish but converted to Catholicism a few years ago. We discuss Catholicism and Evangelicalism while also discussing a book I just read by Eric Metaxas, titled, "Martin Luther - The Man Who Rediscovered God and Changed the World." In the course of the interview we discuss some of the things that led Luther away from Catholicism and then get deep into the weeds on multiple issues in the discussion. In the course of the interview we discuss multiple things that have a bearing on evangelicalism and mormonism. I hope you enjoy this interview with my buddy Glen. 

0044 - In this episode our friend David Halevy from Builders of Israel joins us to discuss our ministry vision. Both David and I have a vision to reach an unreached people group with the gospel - him in Israel and me in Utah. We also both also have a vision to train evangelicals in how to do apologetics and evangelism. What we realized is that these two visions match perfectly together. So our ministry vision is that we can partner together to bring mission teams to Israel and Utah. We will collaborate on the curriculum that the mission participants will go through before, during and after the trips. The goal will be that evangelicals will be more comfortable sharing their faith and handling objections from non-christians. We discuss all of this and more in this episode. I hope you enjoy!