Truthspresso

As I drive to work I give an overview of Galatians chapters 4-6 from studying the epistle the previous night.

Paul explains how Jesus came to fulfill the law. He makes an analogy of two very different covenants with Sarah and Hagar to contrast promise with bondage.

Paul shows how liberty via the fruit of the Spirit is better than bondage to circumcision and law-keeping for righteousness.

Those who are spiritual restore those who have faltered.

My wife Chelsea and I continue our series about marriage. In this episode we begin to tackle the taboo subject of divorce.

We open with some divorce statistics:

1. About 44% of marriages in the United States end in divorce.
2. The top three reasons for divorce roughly include "lack of commitment," "incompatibility and growing apart," and "communication problems."

We then look at how divorce is defined and prescribed in the law of Moses and how things shifted a bit by the New Testament. We observe two interesting facts:

1. The Old Testament only discusses how a husband can "put away" his wife. We talk about why the land promise to the tribes of Israel possibly explains the apparent patriarchal system of marriage, but also how the sphere of "marriage" may have been broader than we define it legally today.
2. Jesus mentioned the concept of a wife "putting away" her husband. We look at three possible interpretations of this with some likely examples in the New Testament of women who divorced their husbands.

Sources Consulted:

Glenn T. Stanton, "What Is the Actual Divorce Rate?" Focus on the Family, November, 4, 2015.

Shawn, "(2021 Divorce Rate In America) How Many Marriages End In Divorce Statistics," The Hive Law, May 21, 2021.

E.A. Gjelten, "What Causes Divorce? 8 Common Reasons Marriages End," DivorceNet, Accessed October 31, 2021.

Scriptures Referenced:

Deuteronomy 24:1-4

Mark 10:12

John 4:17-18

Mark 6:17-18

Other episodes in this series:

How God Wrote our Love Story

Thinking Biblically About Marriage

Tips for Singles Looking for a Spouse (part 1)

Tips for Singles Looking for a Spouse (part 2)

What Does "One Flesh" in Marriage Mean?

Let's Talk: How Communication is Key to a Healthy Marriage

Conflict Resolution in Marriage (part 1): Four Things You Should Never Do

Conflict Resolution in Marriage (part 2): Five Tips to Resolve a Conflict

Casting Pearls Before Swine (part 1)

Casting Pearls Before Swine (part 2)

Casting Pearls Before Swine (part 3)

A Biblical Definition of Divorce

The Biblical Grounds for Divorce

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As I drive to work I give an overview of Galatians chapters 1-3 from studying the epistle the previous night.

The Judaizers were wreaking havoc of the faith of the Galatian churches.

Paul recounts his conversion and how he dealt with the error personally.

He then explains why Abraham, the father of the faithful, was not given the law as a promise. The purpose of the law was never to save but to point us to the Savior.

Do the heavens declare the glory of God or do they show indifferent chance?

Special guest Dr. Hugh Ross from Reasons To Believe joins me to talk about science and the Bible.

Dr. Ross gives his testimony for how he became a Christian after searching for answers in other religions.

We discuss various reasons the universe is no accident:

1. Evidence for fine tuning is exploding in recent years.
2. The moon is but one of many evidences that the universe is fine-tuned.
3. The "zero energy" hypothesis doesn't prove the universe came from nothing.
4. A multiverse is a poor argument against fine tuning.
5. Humans are a special creation of God, not a product of macroevolution.

Some fun questions toward the end include the following:

1. What are black holes and what happens to things that get sucked in?
2. What about the anisotropic synchrony convention for the one-way speed of light proposed by Dr. Jason Lisle?

Dr. Hugh Ross

Dr. Hugh Ross is the founder and president of Reasons To Believe, a Christian apologetics organization founded in 1986 and dedicated to showing the harmony of science and the Bible.

Dr. Ross is an astrophysicist. He holds a BSc in Physics from the University of British Columbia and an MS and PhD in Astronomy from the University of Toronto. He also spent five years of postdoctoral work at Cal Tech studying quasars and galaxies.

Dr. Ross has written at least 18 books. The latest include Weathering Climate Change: A Fresh Approach, Always Be Ready: A Call To Adventurous Faith, and Improbable Planet: How Earth Became Humanity's Home. Perhaps his most popular book is The Creator and the Cosmos, originally published in 1993, now in its 4th edition in 2018.

Dr. Ross is an international speaker and has presented at hundreds of university campuses as well as at conferences and churches around the world.

Resources:

Reasons To Believe

Dr. Hugh Ross' Amazon author page.

Get free chapters of Hugh Ross' books at reasons.org/ross.

Watch the YouTube video of this episode

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On my drive to work I talked about the recent developments in the Texas Heartbeat Law status as Texas and federal justices battle over whether abortion is a "constitutional right."

At the end I look at a strange article claiming that Texas abortion controversy overlooks and especially hurts "non-cisgendered" "birthing people."

Sources Consulted:

Dan Berman, "CNN: Texas abortion law to remain in force, federal appeals court says," CNN, October 14, 2021.

Mabinty Quarshie, "Getting an abortion while trans was always hard. In Texas, a new law puts outsized burdens on them," USA Today, October 12, 2021.

This is the second of my two guest appearances on the Basic Bible Podcast with Kevin Thompson.

We talked about my 2021 book When the Watchtower Knocks: Discussing an Encounter with Jehovah's Witnesses that I coauthored with my brother John.

Our book narrates John's encounter with Jehovah's Witnesses as we give our commentary. I share with Kevin how I got into apologetics and my thoughts on how to control a conversation with Jehovah's Witnesses. We talk about how the Jesus that Jehovah's Witnesses serve cannot save them.

Check out the Basic Bible Podcast with Kevin Thompson

Original interview: Basic Bible Podcast Episode 188 - When the Watchtower Knocks

Also, snag a copy of our book When the Watchtower Knocks: Discussing an Encounter with Jehovah's Witnesses: Paperback or Kindle.

On my drive to work on this episode of Truthspresso Express I offer a challenge to fellow Christians to resist the temptation to bow to tyranny.

Jesus told Pilate the only authority he had came from God.

Jesus told His disciples that all authority is given to Him in heaven and earth.

Early Christians were persecuted because they would not offer a pinch of incense to Caesar.

What are some "pinch of incense" pressures we face today?

This is the first of my two guest appearances on the Basic Bible Podcast with Kevin Thompson.

We talked about my 2011 book Freedom To Give: The Biblical Truth About Tithing.

My book explains that, although Christians are not obligated to tithe according to the Bible, we should still give to meet needs and compensate ministers.

Listen to this episode to find out what this is all about!

Check out the Basic Bible Podcast with Kevin Thompson

Original interview: Basic Bible Podcast Episode 187 - Freedom To Give

Also, snag a copy of my book Freedom To Give: The Biblical Truth About Tithing: Paperback or Kindle.

As I drive to work on Thursday I briefly hit on five articles related to our favorite politicized virus.

1. Recent studies show the Pfizer vaccine's effectiveness wanes faster and greater than before (down to 20% after four months). Pfizer admits that natural immunity is much better than two dozes of their vaccine. And...
2. New studies from Israel and Qatar show statistically high adverse myocarditis in teenage boys getting the Pfizer vaccine. Yet...
3. A New York federal court enforced vaccine mandates for school teachers, but mayor Bill de Blasio isn't cracking down on government departments. And...
4. A New York school teacher tells his story of being laid off for a year without pay until he gets vaccinated, but he already has natural immunity. And...
5. A Colorado hospital denies a patient access to a kidney transplant until she and the donor are fully vaccinated.

Sources Cited:

Maggie Fox, "Studies confirm waning immunity from Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine," CNN, October 06, 2021.

Dror Mevorach, M.D., Emilia Anis, M.D., M.P.H., Noa Cedar, M.P.H., Michal Bromberg, M.D., M.P.H., et al., "Myocarditis after BNT162b2 mRNA Vaccine against Covid-19 in Israel," New England Journal of Medicine, October 6, 2021.

Chris Sommerfeldt, "De Blasio delays COVID vaccine mandate for NYC cops, firefighters: ‘I like to respect people’s intelligence,’" My Daily News, October 6, 2021.

Tom Fish, "New York Teacher Put on 'Leave Without Pay' for Refusing Vaccine," Newsweek, October 4, 2021.

"Patient, Donor Denied Kidney Transplant Surgery Over Being Unvaccinated," CBS Denver, October 6, 2021.

On my morning drive to work for this episode of Truthspresso Express I talk about the memorial service my wife and I attended this last Saturday for Bob Enyart who passed away on September 12. Bob Enyart was the pastor of Denver Bible Church and host of the radio show Bob Enyart Live. In the 1990's he hosted a midnight television show also named Bob Enyart Live.

Will Duffy chronicled the life of Bob Enyart at the end of the service. I recall some salient moments from the presentation.

Despite some doctrinal differences I had with Bob, his battles with the political left and his fight against abortion were impeccable.

View the Bob Enyart Memorial Service on YouTube.