Question Time Stamps for Quick Reference: 0:00 - Introduction 1. 1:11 [Grieving the death of the unsaved] How do we biblically grieve the death of a loved one who wasn't saved? Since we don't believe in purgatory, and therefore we don't pray for deceased people, what is an appropriate (but still loving) response in this situation? And how can we kindly correct those who make a well-meaning offer to pray for a dead loved one without being harsh? 2. 8:20 [Plato & Christianity?] What does Plato have to do with Christianity? I recently read that Plato had as much influence on Christianity as the Bible. 3. 11:29 [Does Christianity impede critical thinking?] Is/was Christianity guilty of impeding critical thinking and exploring the mysteries of the cosmos and physics of the natural world? How would you advise a believer involved in both worlds? 4. 17:06 [Does God have a sense of humor?] Deep theological and philosophical question: Does God have a sense of humor? 5. 21:18 [Should I be rebaptized?] Are there biblical examples of people being baptized more than once? I was baptized LDS but don't consider it to be a legitimate baptism. I want to be rebaptized now that I found Christ. Is this ok? 6. 26:16 [About ‘gods’ of other religions] In Numbers 33:3-4, YHWH never denies other ‘gods.’ Are we then to understand gods of other religions (Allah, Zeus, etc.) as very much real ‘gods,’ albeit demons? 7. 32:00 [Does God really forget sins? Should we?] After forgiveness, all sin is wiped clean. Can a person then claim to have never taken part in certain sin in his past? If the Lord remembers our sin no more, why should we? 8. 35:17 [Is it biblical to mandate traditions?] The church I grew up in had extrabiblical "traditions" (women wear dresses, men are clean shaven, etc.), and justified this using Proverbs 22: 28 & Matthew 18: 18. Is it biblical to mandate adherence to tradition? 9. 40:38 [Answering skeptics’ claims online] I've been trying to reach skeptics online, but they've told me belief in God is irrational and that I must believe rape & torture are o.k. since I'm a Christian. They also call God evil, a murderer, and a megalomaniac, and say Christians are wasting their time believing in "fairytales." How should I respond to these claims, and how can I tell when a debate is not even going to be fruitful? 10. 45:35 [Should we pray against “spirits” of sins?] Is it Biblical to pray against spirits (e.g., the "spirit of" offense, laziness, depression, confusion, etc.)? What is a "Jezebel spirit," and is it real? 11. 51:15 [Perpetual virginity of Mary?] Did Mary remain a virgin? I've heard that the brothers of Jesus that are mentioned were actually his cousins, and that if she had other sons, John wouldn't have needed to care for her (John 19:26). 12. 58:16 [Defining persecution] Can you please define "persecution" and speak to whether these pastors imprisoned or being penalized for defying public health orders are in fact being persecuted? 13. 1:00:35 [Can secular songs be turned into worship?] What are your thoughts on using secular music as a form of worship music where half of the lyrics are secular words and the other half is supposedly Jesus’ words? 14. 1:02:34 [Do real Christians stop sinning?] Does 1 John 3:4-10 mean your aren’t a real Christian if you still struggle with sin? At face value that’s how it sounds, but then nobody would qualify for Grace - so I’m confused. 15. 1:11:30 [Why did God command death?] My 12 year old daughter asked me after reading Exodus 32: 28 “If God gives us free will to worship Him, why did He have Moses command the Levites to kill those 3,000 people who chose not to?” 16. 1:14:29 [Did God make individuals & not just mankind?] Even though I know people (as a whole) were made by God, because God made Adam, how do I know that I/people (individually) are also made by God, especially when they are conceived out of sin? 17. 1:17:03 [How to rekindle passion for God] How would you counsel someone who feels their passion for the Lord dying? (Not praying anymore, not reading the Bible, etc.) 18. 1:19:35 [Inerrancy & preservation of Scripture] How do you bring together an inerrancy and preservation to modern translations which say verses have been added and taken away (end of Mark, Acts 8: 37)? 19. 1:21:53 [Reliability of Scripture when Jesus was alone] How do we know parts of the New Testament are reliable that narrate Jesus when He is alone without witnesses? (Ex: Being tempted in the wilderness or His prayer in the garden of Gethsemane.) 20. 1:23:29 [Leviticus, uncleanness, and the Temple] What happens to people who become unclean (impure) in Leviticus? When they’re unclean for the whole day, are they just not allowed in the Temple, or do bad, negative things happen to them as well?
@@johnernest1207 Hi John! You're definitely not blacklisted. Have you been following the guidelines listed in the video description? What was the subject of your question? In order to help as many people as possible, I will skip questions he's answered in past Q&A sessions. I'd be happy to search our system for you if you tell me what subject you're hoping to hear an answer about.
@@sarahfaith316 is the system is questions that answered are the first 20 questions asked (that still not answered), so if we come in little late like 15 minutes after streaming on, we have no chance our question be answered? Because there already tons of question asked.
@@chaniee2982 Hi there! No, we don't necessarily answer strictly the first 20 that are submitted; There are many factors we consider while selecting the questions. Most of them end up being toward the very beginning right when question time opens, but not all of them. God bless!
I used to spend Fridays drinking beer or getting high now I spend them looking forward to these videos God used some videos of yours Pastor Mike on the conscious and has delivered me from my need to self-medicate
Coming back to this video to say- I was the person who asked the question about being rebaptized after coming out of Mormonism and finding the real Jesus. I just signed up to be baptized next weekend. Thank you for your encouragement Pastor Mike! God bless you!
Yeah I don't actually agree that they were re-baptized in water, since the text only indicates that Paul laid hands on them, but they were baptized under John first, and John was definitely no false prophet. So God bless you for being baptized FINALLY in his church and family!
I'm in the military and being in isolation as we've been for the last 9 days has been rough. This video was a major blessing right now. Thank you so much God and thank you so much Pastor Mike. I've been a fan for a little over a year now and God has used your ministry in a radical way in my life. God bless you and your family.
I was struggling a bit until the question regarding 1 John 3 : 4 - 10 came up. I forgot all about this. I read someone’s thoughts on this a long time ago saying that it meant you can’t sin without it pricking you’re conscience. You can’t sin and not care. Of course the vitally important thing then which is to ask for forgiveness, is then detailed in the later verses. I feel so much better now. Thank you so so much and God bless , Mike.
Hey Mike, love your ministry, such a blessing, thank you…the binding and loosing is a Jewish idiom about legally binding and legally loosing 😊 God bless.
@@partoftheway4235 how so? If he's a false teacher, you have a Biblical obligation to warn people. I haven't noticed him say anything just totally against the Bible, so I'm curious.
@@jericawilson1484 I never said he is a false teacher or not. I said he don't teach the scriptures. "Teach" the "scriptures". "Teach precept upon precept in the "scriptures". He does what a lot of pastors nowadays do. They make a lot of statements without thoroughly backing them with the scriptures word per batum. And he claims to be an apologist. Well then he should be using the scriptures much much more. I don't listen to people that don't back what they say with the scriptures.
Thanks Mike, my grandmother died last year and I had very little hope that she repented of her animosity towards God before her death. Her life was Hellish, both in what was done to her and the way she treated others leading to burnt bridges and ongoing poison (I think there were unaddressed issues with mental health as well). I struggled with anger towards God and the idea that she was suffering in hell after much of her life being misery and torment and isolation. It was one of multiple reasons I decided to reject God in my life for most of 2020. Praise the Lord I am back with my first love, and that the spirit of God could remain with me even despite my blasphemies of God, seeing Jehovah as the villain for so long until I was humbled and feeling so empty. Your ministry has been a huge influence in strengthening my faith and apologetics. Appreciate you big time, man! And appreciate your willingness to answer the needed and difficult questions from a biblical standpoint. God bless you and keep you faithful and unspotted from the world. Praying for you to continue in a victorious life with Christ!
Me too, I blamed God for how poorly I was treated in the church, then I realized I was in a cult. Oops... I was lazy and did not do my research and relied on what they told me, that was on me not God, now I worry if God can forgive me for blaming him. I have been ready Job and feel even worse as Job refused to curse God but I didn't and it wasn't his fault for my choices. Best to follow Christ and no man.
@@rosiej.1473 God can and does forgive you. Also Job was such a righteous man that God himself was bragging about him, we definitely aren't all at that level of faith and that's ok. We say Lord we believe, but help our unbelief. Lord we are saved, help us live in the newness of life through your spirit and the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ, casting off the old self and the bondage to sin and the systems that enslaved us in being under law rather than under Grace through faith. I'll be praying for you Rosie, God's forgiveness is not limited and can reach even those who hated him and called him evil at one point. While we were still enemies with God, Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6-11).
God is just, trust in this. To those who have been given much, much will be required. Jesus said of Judas, "it would be better for him if he was never born.
Marcia, you ARE joy! Heavenly Father, I lift Marcia’s name to you in prayer. Let her be strengthened through her ailments, let her feel your overwhelming love and grace that she may find joy and motivation each morning that she wakes. Father, thank you for the beautiful Christian daughter Marcia that she shared with us her struggles that we might pray for her knowing that you love her personally and we rejoice in knowing he will grace her with eternal love. Amen. Marcia, be strong, be at peace, and know that you are being thought of and prayed over. Be well, my dear!
@@DanMowry thank you so much for the wonderful prayer and perfect timing for it is my birthday today and it was a great ending to the evening. I even took a screenshot
Thank you for serving in that manner and most of all still glorifying God and praying for them in you job! I truly pray that God blesses you at your work and continues to save lives.❤️❤️❤️
Hey Mike not sure if you'll see this but some of your answers to these questions helped with some serious doubts/struggles I've had for a while and your videos have really helped me have a new passion for seeking God and bringing Jesus to others!
Thank you Pastor Mike for the loving biblical teaching that you give us today, we need it more then ever in this darkness times where thruth is subjective..I lost my beloved son David 4 years ago, he was 25 years old, it was a sudden death..brain aneurysm, we went to church he listen the gospel but he never made a profession of faith on the Lord; this is hasn't been easy and it will go with me to the day I died...The Lord is good despite of what happen to us..thank you brother Mike.
Mike, You are a blessing for everyone that have the opportunity to learn from you. I greatly admire you for the great work you are doing spreading, defending, and teaching the true gospel of our LORD JESUS CHRIST. I am so proud of you and so confident to share your youtube videos with family and friends because you transmit your love for GOD and willingness to teach from the bible and about the bible!!!!!!. I really enjoy everything you do and thanks GOD for using your transparent, genuine, and humble personality to teach us HIS WORD. GOD blessed you and your family including your cats. Hortencia Aguirre, a 61 years old and former catholic
"I'm looking to understand what it says, not force it to say what I want." - Now THIS statement is something many people, particularly our brother Michael Jones of InspiringPhilosophy when it comes to the Book of Genesis, should take note of! ❤❤❤
Thank you Mike. I’ll catch up on this one. No doubt it will be insightful. I enjoy doing live Q&A myself, and always wanting to learn more from people like yourself! 👍🏼😊
Just a Pastor? How Humble.. GOD BLESS YOU Pastor Mike. GOD BLESSES What Your Doing Through HIM... You Serve Your Time for CHRIST Well.. I LOVE n Look Forward to YOUR VIDEOS.. You are such a Blessing to me n I Learned SOOO Much from You. THANK YOU!!!
Great insights here. Concerning the 2nd baptism, I was baptized again - once as an infant and once when I was born again in my early 40s. I believe we all need to be baptized again/born again.
Hey pastor Mike, thank you so much for answering my question during your video today. I know you get flooded with tons of questions all the time, so I really appreciate your taking time to answer mine in such a gentle and thoughtful way. I ran into this passage several months ago sort of by accident and it has been bothering me ever since. Your response made the passage make a lot more sense and it was very helpful. I greatly appreciate you and your ministry, and again, thank you for answering my question. God Bless 🙂
Elijah mocked the priests of Baal because he did not appear when they called to him. Elijah was like,... where is he? “Shout louder, for he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or occupied, or on a journey. Perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened!”
I was apart of the deliverance ministry and I agree 100%. We just don’t want to give up our sin. I got caught up on how NON-freeing it was when Jesus came to free us. I think there is a place for deliverance, but to blame all this other stuff on demons when we’re just not able to stop our sin, that’s a problem.
I love when you said “I’m gonna start fires. These are ways people avoid personal responsibility”. My husband is a trainer and has heard many of these responses as well . We have seen what denial does to people 😣
I so enjoy your question & answer days - I love the heart you have for God & his word & its shines through you with every video I watch !! Thank you for doing what you do !! Kim- ohio
Thank you very much Mike for your videos, I find more knowledge, wisdom, and Biblical information in your videos than I ever have in most of the churches or Bible studies I have attended, I enjoy your Q&A videos alot. Again, thanks.
I was kind of upset when you kind of mocked Christians who doubted Christianity due to sin in their life, but I just want to say that no matter what, I love you and I will always love you(in a good Christian way 😅). You're the one who got me to realize that Jesus is my Lord and Savior. Thank you for being you, Mike.
This was a fantastic shirt, Pastor Mike. Nice color and the collar was ironed. That was MY sense of humor 😂. Thanks so much for your ministry, and love of orange tic tacs.
I know this is an old video. This first question got to me, although I have seen many. My 1st born passed in my arms in 2021 from cancer, he could no longer talk & he shook his head admitting he did believe in God & Jesus was His Son, as I repeated John 3:16. He shed a tear that I wiped dry & he was gone. I believe he was saved. By brother passed in 2022, I dont believe he was saved, but only he & God know, he was gay, I hope he repented. He would not talk to me about it. He was curious as to why I did not fear death. I said I feared what was left behind, but I believed I knew where I was going because I repent, am forgiven & believe I am saved. I was holding his hand when he passed. In 2023, my 2nd born was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, I tried to talk to him about Jesus, he said, mom, I did this to myself, I believe & me & God are good, he passed 3 months later in my arms. My prayer is that they are okay, that they had their own personal encounter with God. I wonder, but pray they are with the Lord. Prayer, the Bible, & support give me comfort. Sorry for long post, that will probably never be seen since it is so old, but felt i needed to post for some reason. 😊🕊🙏 God Bless.
Hi Mike Love listening to your UA-cam videos I have learnt so much biblical teaching and there are great questions. I feel I learn more from these videos than I do from going to actual church.
My old church actually did an entire 6-8 week study on the 'spirit of Jezebel.' It was weird. They were constantly casting out this 'spirit of Jezebel.' It never sat right with my husband and I. It is nice to hear someone explain this more clearly.
Isaiah 12:2 “Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; ‘For Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.’ ” Therefore with joy you will draw water From the wells of salvation”
Great advice about internet debate and knowing if they want a genuine dialog or they just want to dump attacks. I like you will sometimes still engage if they aren't genuine but only for the sake of the audience listening in as they may be undecided and seeking real answers.
Yes use it always as a salvation message for all. Generalized is best. Pray for the loved ones in their grief. " God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked ( unsaved)".
This is a sincere question, because it asks something I have wrestled with over the years. Mike says, When God forgives our sin, He is never going to bring it up again. We will never be judged for it. What about the words of Jesus and others, which warn that we will be accountable for even our words as well as our deeds? Thanks for all your work and thinking things through, Pastor Mike. I also think you are not far from Dr. Heiser’s viewpoint. I’ve studied his evidence, which other scholars support, and it is significant. Your words did not seem incompatible with what I know of his studies. May God continue to bless your ministry.
I agree. When mentioned his own viewpoint it pretty much lined up with how I have understood Michael Heiser. When he was communicating how he understood Michael's explanation of the other gods, I went, "huh?" So. In the end that whole feeling of, "Oh no, he's going to find these viewpoints far stretched and I love listening to both these guys." It went away, and I feel relieved. I realize a certain stance on this question doesn't affect one's overall walk with Jesus, but I liked that they basically agree (even though Mike didn't realize), because to all the new agers, this understanding may be the only thing that breaks through to connect the dots as to why/where their beliefs and practices are coming from, and why it's a no no, and why they need Jesus. So, yayyyyyyyy!
Also, I want to say anyone who does have new age beliefs. I get why they seem to make sense, but once you are introduced to the bible to understand it as a whole and not through random verses and such, The big picture comes alive. It becomes like your newest favorite show/book. You can't wait to learn more of the story and see what happens or see how certain episodes referenced other episodes to get a better understanding. It's just wayyyyyy better, because it's actually real.
19:04 The teachings of Augustine of Hippo in a nutshell. He did more harm to Christianity unintentionally than Emperor Diocletian did deliberately. Augustine had been a pagan, who became a leading Christian theologian and was mostly responsible for pushing the "pleasure = sin" mindset that has poisoned many churches ever since.
On God having a sense of humor - I remember someone saying that when Jesus told Zacheus, "Today *salvation* has come to your home', it may have been a pun on Jesus' name (as the Aramaic Yeshua / Hebrew Joshua means 'Yahweh is salvation" / "Yahweh saves"). I plan to use this as justification for Dad-jokes if my family ever objects to them ;-)
@@wengel_eth From Wikipedia: "The name Yeshua is a shortened version of the name Yehoshua or Joshua and is the literal Hebrew word for *Salvation* ." (Yeshua comes into the Greek as Iesus which we transliterate into English as "Jesus"). Jesus had visited Zacchaeus' home, so when Jesus says, "Today *salvation* has come to your home" it could be a play on "Today *Jesus* has come to your home" - assuming Jesus was originally speaking in Aramaic / Hebrew.
Love your ministry Mike! I think God definitely used your comments about Jesus' brothers (regarding the viewer's question about the Disciple John being told by Jesus to look after His mother and the possible reasons why Jesus did not entrust his natural brothers to take on that role) to make me belly laugh!! I was only thinking earlier about what you said to someone else about God having a sense of humour as do we!!
I hope the lady, Deandra from the chat, sees this and hope someone can help her. She said she was suicidal. If you see this I feel the same way Deandra. I have been seeking God so long and I just can't get anywhere. Something keeps nagging at me that it'll never get better and to just go on. I pray for everyone feeling that way, in Jesus' name.
Definitely prayers for everyone who is feeling lost and without hope. Jesus, You are the Way, the Truth and the Life I pray that You send brothers and sisters to minister to the lost and hopeless, that they may come to know You and Your love and mercy towards all who are broken and seeking answers.
I am grateful for your responses, I think in regards to the critical thinking question your answer could have also referenced critical thinking within scripture. I think Christianity in the western practice does impede critical thinking about any thing that does not follow tradition or accepted dogma. This is where I think the person asking the question was trying to go. I don't think people fess up to how stifling the history of Christian practice hasbeen. Q and A such as this is a perfect example. Look back over the past 200 years and where can you see Q and A and critical thought being as present. In my mind CS Lewis and yourself are a rarity when it comes to critical thought regarding world phenomenon and scripture.
Mike. Great job on all you do. I heard you say Catholics have the right Jesus, however their Jesus is sacrificed at a mass every day in all their churches. He did die once for all and said it is finished.
For anyone going to the video about the issue "did Mary have other children with Joseph" that Pastor Mike linked below, you need to go to time stamp 45:30. It's near the end of that video.
It's definitely angels, although angels are not the right word for it. Been listening to Hiser and Sky watch TV and it fits so perfectly and explains a lot of Bible stories
My thoughts on the whole "Do christians stop sinning?" question is that it is a matter of intention and mindset. Are you saying you're a christian and desiring to pursue God and Christ and grow and change, but are stumbling and have things you struggle with and want to stop? Then I'd say you're a christian. However if you're somebody who deliberately sins, has no remorse, no desire to change, doesn't think about their motivations or behavior. Somebody who has no motivation to pursue God, then I'd say that person isn't a christian. Even if they claim to be.
On question 8(?) Concerning traditions. I think Colossians 2 (particularly 11-17 If I recall) speaks pretty directly to this. There is also a moment in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark ( Though I can't remember exactly which chapter.) In which Jesus rebukes the pharisees for trying to enforce the traditions of men over the traditions of God. Pastor Mike alluded to it. But I think this too would be a worth while pursuit for the perpose of this topic.
Thank you for your answering my question Pastor Mike. I’ve noticed that most of my engagement with skeptics is in UA-cam and Facebook comments sections on Christian videos. Why is this the case? The first time I engaged a skeptic was in the comments section or UA-cam video posted by Skip Heitzig verse by verse teaching on 2nd Peter. Was the debate ultimately fruitless? The original comment was made by Brandi Nicole716, my conversation with the skeptic begins after the 8th reply. The entire conversation is posted in the comments of Mike’s Facebook post about yesterday’s Q&A discussion.
1st question! Yes it's a tough thing but I've tried to say it this way. I've told it's not my call but from what I know he hadn't repented. If my Dad is Judged for his sin or if he's forgiven and with Jesus. Either way God is glorified.
I have a beef about using secular songs as worship, with that in mind, church has been doing this for centuries! How do I reconcile this? Music of the past I have no recollection of (the old bar songs of England for example) but current songs I do (for example the perverted hallelujah song). If the song is going to remind me of perversion, I cannot praise the Lord with this in mind. Does that make sense? Worship music is for pleasing God and not myself, not my flesh. The mega church mentality of trying to reach the unchurched is the opposite approach to how the apostles preached the gospel. These goals are more about these false teachers who want thousands who follow them and send them money. They get rich, the gospel never gets preached. So, I don't trust any worship leader attempting to redeem worldly music to please the crowd either, to me they are just tickling the ears to keep them there so that the money comes in.
With regards to taking secular music and rewriting it into Christian music - Charles Wesley did that for many of his hymns - hymns that are now in many hymn books today.
Here in Minnesota we have been in our churches normally for like 9 months we only had two months we couldn't go in the church and we've been back to normal for quite a while
My understanding is that Plato talked about the Realm of the Forms which has been used as an argument for the existence of a soul. This realm is where Platonic love comes from. It's the "form of love" or the essence of something. My understanding of this is that it brings us to a dualistic person made of body and soul rather than a triune human being, body, soul and mind.... I don't know all of this but this is how I've thought through that specific idea (It's been about 10 years since I finished college lol my second major focused on African American Studies, Religious Studies, and Philosophy, with a focus on the syncrenistic religions of the Diaspora....but I dabbled in the philosophy of religion...Like I said, 10 years lol ago)
17:15 I like to imagine god has the best jokes. Like just hearing one could have any of us laughing for weeks. Sometimes I like to imagine everyone in heaven doing whatever it is they do and all the sudden god just drops the like funniest joke that gets all of heaven into one big laughing fit.
I‘ve. always read the passage in the sense of “take care of Mary, John...she will need help in her grief ” so to speak. But, I’m going to dig into it....very good Q AND A. But the COVID thing is a hard one.... I don’t know if you can somehow see it like Luther nailing the thesis to the Catholic Church door.😏 now some have said there were bars allowed to be open in places but not churches.....if that is true, it would change the dynamic for sure and raise some questions.
I wonder if part of question 1 had to do with the horrible grief one feels about a loved one dying without any evidence of receiving Christ. I have felt this pain. I wasn't blaming God; I was simply tormented by the lingering thought of my loved one burning forever. I don't think that we should "play" God in claiming we know where everyone is. Is the last breath, the last chance someone has? I'm not sure.
I do agree with a Jezebel spirit, just not as loosely and towards everything that is common within the deliverance ministry. PLUS in our personal lives, we’re still Christians and there is very much the fruit of the spirit needing to be applied to the “jezebels” in your life. We can’t go around calling people “Jezebels.” It’s the end times spirit, everybody has attributes of Jezebel. But our calling is the same and so is how we ought to love one another.
I think, in the same way we see reference in the old testament to a king of something which actually refers to the spirit (demon fallen angel or whatever) behind that earthly ruler, the "Jezebel Spirit" would be in like manner. The rulers of darkness in heavenly places with which we war are organized, territorial, and likely specialized in their roles, not unlike how our military would work. In that sense the spirit behind the historical Jezebel is still at work in the world today sowing the same sinful ideas into people's lives.
@@andytpatt Agreed. I like how you took reference from the Old Testament as I call it the “end times” spirit. Or the “Harlot” pulled from Revelations. I feel mention of a some sort of ruling spirit, by name, in the NT is, as you said, references from OT. It has a number of applications and meaning. The thing about spiritual warfare as it is commonly known within the deliverance ministry tends to make a demon the excuse for everything. The learning about this or that “spirit” or demon, or the teaching that even Christians can be demonically possessed is dangerous. I believe absolutely, deliverance is necessary, but I don’t believe that in order for my prayer life to be affective, I must learn every spirit by name and function and pray/rebuke every spirit in correlation to the applicable demon per your circumstances. I felt it was a way to stay “me centric” and not in the Godly self reflective way. Deliverance ministries are the main ministries that I’ve heard taught, you must speak in tongues as evidence and proof of salvation or that of being born again. When I was ministering within that specific ministry, we had allot of people still chained in their sins because they just couldn’t get rid of their “demons.” Most of the time, it wasn’t a demon that was the issue. We developed some sort of a higher sin consciousness, opposite to the freedom we have in Christ. In order that we may fight against our “opening doors” or giving “legal rights.” I got out of the deliverance ministry once I started asking The Lord about this freedom we have and are supposed to be walking in. It just didn’t make much sense to me that we have freedom in Christ, but could be demon possessed or risk giving legal rights to a demon should I, for example, laugh at a dirty joke. The ministry brings in allot of elements of the New Age which I wasn’t thrilled about and tried to ignore but I just couldn’t after awhile. Especially if you’re ministering in mainly online forums and they advertise some sort of their shows as being ones to “call in and receive a word of knowledge” from whoever the guest speaker was who did that sort of thing. I just felt it entertained the flesh. That’s not to say that I don’t believe we can receive a word from The Lord, of course we can. I’ve seen it harm many who follow in that ministry and then everyone becomes an apostle, or a prophet. It certainly makes little “ministers” out of people who have no business in leadership position. Allot of pride; allot of “‘me centric” attitudes.
A note on purgatory: its only for the saved that aren't fully sanctified yet, so whether it's true or not isn't going to change people who aren't saved
I would love to hear a more in depth discussion of what Dr. Haiser calls the "Deuteronomy 32 Worldview". This is a reference to Deuteronomy 32:8-9, but the content from Dr. Haiser I have heard goes beyond that single excerpt.
1:02:36 is really a tricky topic, first off Mike is one of my favorite Bible teachers I've recently found here on YT so a personal thank you to Mike, God bless your ministry, you and your family brother! listening to Mike's position on that passage though, is honestly a bit concerning. I dont see how you can walk away from that passage with that interpretation, without believing that in order to be saved... one must keep the law (stop sinning) to SOME kind of extent, which would make works conditional for final salvation, and that salvation by grace would be merited and proved by ones obedience of the law (grace + works). My question, is what is the difference between someone who lives in sin, and someone who never goes a day without sinning? Cause I've trusted in Christ for almost half of my life now, and I cant confidently recall a day when I did not sin at all. So if I'm supposed to judge my salvation by my own law keeping, then it's not looking good is it? I mean I cant seem to even go 24hrs without sinning if I'm being completely honest here. The only thing that makes sense to me is the battle of the two natures here, the old sinful man (son of the devil) vs the new forever cleansed, sinless creation (son of God by adoption) I just dont know man, I'm trying to be as clear as I can on here, but idk if this comment will do any good, mabey I should not post it, but whatever, maybe it could do some good. Mike I would really like to know your answere on to these three questions.... 1. what is the difference between someone who lives in sin, and someone who sins every day? And 2. If we have to stop sinning to some capacity to know we are saved, how much sin can I commit per day before I have reason to doubt my salvation in Christ? 3. If it's not a quantity of sin that we are looking to judge our salvation upon, but rather an attitude towards sin, in terms of... did you look forward toward the sin, and did you take pleasure in it? What happens if the answere was yes? Cause personaly I have done that countless times, sure there's been times where I sinned and didn't realize it till later, but if I had to guess, it was more often times than not, that I did anticipate, and enjoy the sin, I knew it was wrong, and it grieves me, and there's part of me that just wishes God would would change me right now, so that I'll never sin again cause I know how bad it is, and I try to not sin, but I'm not always successful. So yeah hopefully I was able to tie up my comment and questions neat enough, these are just really challenging topics that can be hard to discuss, however God is good, always, God bless.
Not Mike and this is old, but what I have always understood is that the transformative work of the Holy Spirit in the believer WILL lead to a life of repentance and real change that will be noticeably different than someone who has not been transformed. So, if we see no change. No transformation. No repentance in our lives, we have to ask if the Holy Spirit has actually changed us into a new creation. John specifically says that "If we say that we do not sin, we are deceived and the truth is not in us." So, it seems clear that we ought to very seriously pursue righteousness and repentance and, by the transformation of the Holy Spirit, we can and do change to live less sin-filled lives. Working out our salvation with fear and trembling. BUT we cannot say we do not sin or the truth is not in us. And we are not forgiven (justified, as Paul frequently says) by our good deeds, but by Jesus's work. Dunno if any of that helps, but...yeah. God's forgiveness is not predicated on our good works or righteousness under the law, but the Holy Spirit that we receive as followers of Jesus WILL meaningfully transform our lives into lives characterized (though never fully so) by righteousness. and if we don't see that in any way, something is wrong.
The passage referring to practicing habitual sin, though professing the name of Christ, fits the actions of Ravi Zacharias to a tee. So does the first question, regarding mourning for the unsaved...
Please please please do a video on Isaiah 3:12 and how that correlates with the times today. With the neo Nazi 3rd wave feminism and children given discretion on having an abortion, getting the “day after” pill or receiving a government funded sex change all without parental consent. Women unable to forgive, driving agendas due to bitterness and hatred.
I did find Derek Prince very interesting and refreshing, listened to his sermons for many hours and heard from him, that while not every thing is a spirit, he was delivered from spirit of depression, to his own surprise. Also, there was a spirit of rotting teeth, which was a surprise for him as well
I think sometimes people use the 'spirit of this' or 'spirit as that' thing to help them focus, as a technique to help them sin. I have nothing against it though I don't do it myself.
"Hallelujah" was about a man whose wife went cold. I never considered it was perverse... atheistic, yes, and it was written by an atheist, but not sexually perverse. It definitely can't be viewed as a worship song. But it's a sad song that can take so many meanings for people who are suffering. It's often played at funerals.
@59:00 For anyone interested, I think Allie Beth Stuckey had a solid take on this on her podcast this week; I believe it's episode 381. She also had a great interview last week with Erin Coates, wife of the jailed pastor in Canada.
@@hopelovegood8131 I do too, even if this Pastor is wrong, his actions are not severely worse than some men that have been released having sexually assaulted children and women again and again.
@@Elvtow and what's worse is he is defying order from the government. But atleast he is not envading any person's body or.consent let alone children. These.people are choosing to go to church by their own discretion. And even though it's kind.of reckless, atleast it's by these people's choice. Unlike people who repeadetly not only sexual assults women, but children.
Hard questions I’ve received lately as a youth pastor: 1. If God is outside of time, and knows the future, can you pray for something in the past? I.e. I forgot to pray for my friend’s surgery last week, can I pray know knowing that God will see it back then? 2. Was sin in the garden of Eden prior to Adam & Eve’s fall? If not, how do we reconcile that Satan was in the garden and fell from Heaven because of his sin, and why didn’t that impact the garden?
Your first question spurrs on much excitement in me to discuss the topic of time and recent discoveries in quantum physics that grant so much understanding to many mysteries in the Bible, but I don't know if I'd ever come around to adequately answer that question. To your 2nd question however, this is a critical step to understanding and framing a correct biblical worldview. What we know from scripture is that all things were created in 6 days, In the beginning (time) God created the heaven (space) and the earth (matter.) We know from scripture that satan is a created being and must have been created in those 6 days. We also know he was created perfect and served God until iniquity was found in him, due to his pride. We DON'T know how long Adam and Eve were in the garden before they sinned. We know Adam was 130 when Seth was born, which was after cain and abel. All this means it could have reasonably been in the ballpark of 100 years sinless walking with God in the garden. Satan had to fall after the creation was complete at some point in that time before tempting Eve, and with the rapidity of which the story in Genesis progresses its easy to lose perspective on much time actually passed there. The critical component to this though, is that scripture clearly teaches that by Adam's sin, death entered the world, and without sin there was no death. To claim any worldview that would embrace evolutionary teaching is to deny this clear teaching. Evolution teaches death brought man into the world, billions of years of death and randomness, but the Bible says man brought death into the world. When God rested on the 7th day everything was very good, which means they weren't standing on billions of fossilized corpses nor was there a devil running around amidst it all. There was however plenty of time for satan to become prideful, seeing God walk with Adam and Eve, have fellowship and receive worship, look at himself and think he too deserved worship and become jealous of God and fall in pride.
29:00 Just to clarify Michael Heiser's view: elohim is the word used for spiritual beings in the OT. They are not ontologically different from angels and demons, but rather angels and demons are elohim, as is God; however, the Lord is a species unique elohim because he is the creator of all others. So all spiritual beings are elohim, but God is King Elohim, which seems to lineup with Christian theology. God created angels, but all of them are spiritual, non-material beings.
Regarding the question about the reliability of the new testament when it narrates something about when Jesus was alone without witnesses, I mean if we believe scriptures, we believe Genesis 1 and no one was there until Adam was created and written by Moses.
Hi Mike, I have a follow-up question on being rebaptized. I was baptized at 16 as a Christian believer. After I got married we moved to salt lake City and I was converted together with my husband and baptized into the LDS church. A few years later, we Read some history, and long story short we left the lds church. I have renounced everything that has to do with the LDS Church. And have found a good Christian church once again and have been learning and growing as a believer. My question is since I have been baptized once before, then rebaptized into the LDS church, do I need to be rebaptized again? I hope this makes sense. Thanks!
Concerning Q2, Paul's letters argue against gnosticism, ie neo-Platonism, such as the idea that the physical world is evil. It would be better to say that Aristotle later significantly influenced Christianity through Aquinas, etc. This was the same Aristotelianism that the Catholic church clung to against eg Galileo. But Aristotle's metaphysics is bunk.
On the science question, Psalms 19 and 24 put it perfectly. The whole of science testifies to the supremacy of the Creator. As a scientist my greatest goal is to go to heaven so I can have some of my life long questions answered by the master. imo you can't be a scientist and not be an awestruck Christian 🤷🏽♀️
It struck me as you were expounding on people blaming God when someone died and they were grieving; I feel like God tells me, No one knows the relationship another has with God, we can't.If we feel we do then that borders on judging.
Ya, John living longer then the others, and Jesus knowing this, ya that make perfect sense. And I think whether or not John could support her, she being the mother of the Son of God; I believe God supplied all her needs until her last day.
Question Time Stamps for Quick Reference:
0:00 - Introduction
1. 1:11 [Grieving the death of the unsaved] How do we biblically grieve the death of a loved one who wasn't saved? Since we don't believe in purgatory, and therefore we don't pray for deceased people, what is an appropriate (but still loving) response in this situation? And how can we kindly correct those who make a well-meaning offer to pray for a dead loved one without being harsh?
2. 8:20 [Plato & Christianity?] What does Plato have to do with Christianity? I recently read that Plato had as much influence on Christianity as the Bible.
3. 11:29 [Does Christianity impede critical thinking?] Is/was Christianity guilty of impeding critical thinking and exploring the mysteries of the cosmos and physics of the natural world? How would you advise a believer involved in both worlds?
4. 17:06 [Does God have a sense of humor?] Deep theological and philosophical question: Does God have a sense of humor?
5. 21:18 [Should I be rebaptized?] Are there biblical examples of people being baptized more than once? I was baptized LDS but don't consider it to be a legitimate baptism. I want to be rebaptized now that I found Christ. Is this ok?
6. 26:16 [About ‘gods’ of other religions] In Numbers 33:3-4, YHWH never denies other ‘gods.’ Are we then to understand gods of other religions (Allah, Zeus, etc.) as very much real ‘gods,’ albeit demons?
7. 32:00 [Does God really forget sins? Should we?] After forgiveness, all sin is wiped clean. Can a person then claim to have never taken part in certain sin in his past? If the Lord remembers our sin no more, why should we?
8. 35:17 [Is it biblical to mandate traditions?] The church I grew up in had extrabiblical "traditions" (women wear dresses, men are clean shaven, etc.), and justified this using Proverbs 22: 28 & Matthew 18: 18. Is it biblical to mandate adherence to tradition?
9. 40:38 [Answering skeptics’ claims online] I've been trying to reach skeptics online, but they've told me belief in God is irrational and that I must believe rape & torture are o.k. since I'm a Christian. They also call God evil, a murderer, and a megalomaniac, and say Christians are wasting their time believing in "fairytales." How should I respond to these claims, and how can I tell when a debate is not even going to be fruitful?
10. 45:35 [Should we pray against “spirits” of sins?] Is it Biblical to pray against spirits (e.g., the "spirit of" offense, laziness, depression, confusion, etc.)? What is a "Jezebel spirit," and is it real?
11. 51:15 [Perpetual virginity of Mary?] Did Mary remain a virgin? I've heard that the brothers of Jesus that are mentioned were actually his cousins, and that if she had other sons, John wouldn't have needed to care for her (John 19:26).
12. 58:16 [Defining persecution] Can you please define "persecution" and speak to whether these pastors imprisoned or being penalized for defying public health orders are in fact being persecuted?
13. 1:00:35 [Can secular songs be turned into worship?] What are your thoughts on using secular music as a form of worship music where half of the lyrics are secular words and the other half is supposedly Jesus’ words?
14. 1:02:34 [Do real Christians stop sinning?] Does 1 John 3:4-10 mean your aren’t a real Christian if you still struggle with sin? At face value that’s how it sounds, but then nobody would qualify for Grace - so I’m confused.
15. 1:11:30 [Why did God command death?] My 12 year old daughter asked me after reading Exodus 32: 28 “If God gives us free will to worship Him, why did He have Moses command the Levites to kill those 3,000 people who chose not to?”
16. 1:14:29 [Did God make individuals & not just mankind?] Even though I know people (as a whole) were made by God, because God made Adam, how do I know that I/people (individually) are also made by God, especially when they are conceived out of sin?
17. 1:17:03 [How to rekindle passion for God] How would you counsel someone who feels their passion for the Lord dying? (Not praying anymore, not reading the Bible, etc.)
18. 1:19:35 [Inerrancy & preservation of Scripture] How do you bring together an inerrancy and preservation to modern translations which say verses have been added and taken away (end of Mark, Acts 8: 37)?
19. 1:21:53 [Reliability of Scripture when Jesus was alone] How do we know parts of the New Testament are reliable that narrate Jesus when He is alone without witnesses? (Ex: Being tempted in the wilderness or His prayer in the garden of Gethsemane.)
20. 1:23:29 [Leviticus, uncleanness, and the Temple] What happens to people who become unclean (impure) in Leviticus? When they’re unclean for the whole day, are they just not allowed in the Temple, or do bad, negative things happen to them as well?
This is like the 6th or 7th time in a row that my question doesn’t get answered. Am I blacklisted or something?
@@johnernest1207 Hi John! You're definitely not blacklisted. Have you been following the guidelines listed in the video description? What was the subject of your question? In order to help as many people as possible, I will skip questions he's answered in past Q&A sessions. I'd be happy to search our system for you if you tell me what subject you're hoping to hear an answer about.
@Morgan My pleasure, friend! :)
@@sarahfaith316 is the system is questions that answered are the first 20 questions asked (that still not answered), so if we come in little late like 15 minutes after streaming on, we have no chance our question be answered? Because there already tons of question asked.
@@chaniee2982 Hi there! No, we don't necessarily answer strictly the first 20 that are submitted; There are many factors we consider while selecting the questions. Most of them end up being toward the very beginning right when question time opens, but not all of them. God bless!
I used to spend Fridays drinking beer or getting high now I spend them looking forward to these videos God used some videos of yours Pastor Mike on the conscious and has delivered me from my need to self-medicate
You just made my day Travis!
@@MikeWinger I should also thank Sarah for sending me the videos too
@@LTOR81 Wow, praise God brother! You're so welcome!!
@@sarahfaith316 Praise God indeed!
I love everything about this comment. Praise God, Travis, that you find your fulfillment in Him now. God bless you!
Coming back to this video to say- I was the person who asked the question about being rebaptized after coming out of Mormonism and finding the real Jesus.
I just signed up to be baptized next weekend. Thank you for your encouragement Pastor Mike! God bless you!
That’s great! God bless you Stephanie
Yeah I don't actually agree that they were re-baptized in water, since the text only indicates that Paul laid hands on them, but they were baptized under John first, and John was definitely no false prophet. So God bless you for being baptized FINALLY in his church and family!
I'm in the military and being in isolation as we've been for the last 9 days has been rough. This video was a major blessing right now. Thank you so much God and thank you so much Pastor Mike. I've been a fan for a little over a year now and God has used your ministry in a radical way in my life. God bless you and your family.
May God be with you as you are in the military! And thank you for your service! I'll pray for you❤️❤️
Why are you in isolation?
“I think these are ways for people to avoid responsibility for their own issues” subscribed immediately
I was struggling a bit until the question regarding 1 John 3 : 4 - 10 came up. I forgot all about this. I read someone’s thoughts on this a long time ago saying that it meant you can’t sin without it pricking you’re conscience. You can’t sin and not care. Of course the vitally important thing then which is to ask for forgiveness, is then detailed in the later verses. I feel so much better now. Thank you so so much and God bless , Mike.
Hey Mike, love your ministry, such a blessing, thank you…the binding and loosing is a Jewish idiom about legally binding and legally loosing 😊
God bless.
You are my favorite teacher of the Bible, your honesty and humility with wisdom is incredibly helpful ! ♥️
He don't teach the Bible!
@@partoftheway4235 how so? If he's a false teacher, you have a Biblical obligation to warn people. I haven't noticed him say anything just totally against the Bible, so I'm curious.
@@jericawilson1484 I never said he is a false teacher or not. I said he don't teach the scriptures. "Teach" the "scriptures". "Teach precept upon precept in the "scriptures". He does what a lot of pastors nowadays do. They make a lot of statements without thoroughly backing them with the scriptures word per batum. And he claims to be an apologist. Well then he should be using the scriptures much much more. I don't listen to people that don't back what they say with the scriptures.
It's been said here before but i appreciate the way the question showcased on the thumbnail is always addressed first.
Thanks Mike, my grandmother died last year and I had very little hope that she repented of her animosity towards God before her death. Her life was Hellish, both in what was done to her and the way she treated others leading to burnt bridges and ongoing poison (I think there were unaddressed issues with mental health as well). I struggled with anger towards God and the idea that she was suffering in hell after much of her life being misery and torment and isolation. It was one of multiple reasons I decided to reject God in my life for most of 2020. Praise the Lord I am back with my first love, and that the spirit of God could remain with me even despite my blasphemies of God, seeing Jehovah as the villain for so long until I was humbled and feeling so empty. Your ministry has been a huge influence in strengthening my faith and apologetics. Appreciate you big time, man! And appreciate your willingness to answer the needed and difficult questions from a biblical standpoint. God bless you and keep you faithful and unspotted from the world. Praying for you to continue in a victorious life with Christ!
Me too, I blamed God for how poorly I was treated in the church, then I realized I was in a cult. Oops... I was lazy and did not do my research and relied on what they told me, that was on me not God, now I worry if God can forgive me for blaming him. I have been ready Job and feel even worse as Job refused to curse God but I didn't and it wasn't his fault for my choices. Best to follow Christ and no man.
@@rosiej.1473 God can and does forgive you. Also Job was such a righteous man that God himself was bragging about him, we definitely aren't all at that level of faith and that's ok. We say Lord we believe, but help our unbelief. Lord we are saved, help us live in the newness of life through your spirit and the death and resurrection of your Son Jesus Christ, casting off the old self and the bondage to sin and the systems that enslaved us in being under law rather than under Grace through faith. I'll be praying for you Rosie, God's forgiveness is not limited and can reach even those who hated him and called him evil at one point. While we were still enemies with God, Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6-11).
@@josephreusch Thank you! You brought tears to my eyes. Thank you for your Christian love.
@@rosiej.1473 you are very welcome, God bless! :)
God is just, trust in this. To those who have been given much, much will be required. Jesus said of Judas, "it would be better for him if he was never born.
I have Parkinson’s which comes with depression and I often feel guilty for lacking motivation or joy. Thank you for clarifying that it’s not a sin
Marcia, you ARE joy! Heavenly Father, I lift Marcia’s name to you in prayer. Let her be strengthened through her ailments, let her feel your overwhelming love and grace that she may find joy and motivation each morning that she wakes. Father, thank you for the beautiful Christian daughter Marcia that she shared with us her struggles that we might pray for her knowing that you love her personally and we rejoice in knowing he will grace her with eternal love. Amen. Marcia, be strong, be at peace, and know that you are being thought of and prayed over. Be well, my dear!
@@DanMowry thank you so much for the wonderful prayer and perfect timing for it is my birthday today and it was a great ending to the evening. I even took a screenshot
@RejoicingSon thank you so much for the awesome prayer you said for me. It means a lot to me.
Happy Birthday!!
Marcia, still keeping you in my prayers. Be well, sister.
I work in hospice. I pray for my patients who do not know Christ before they die. After they die, my prayer focus is only on the grieving survivors.
Thank you for serving in that manner and most of all still glorifying God and praying for them in you job! I truly pray that God blesses you at your work and continues to save lives.❤️❤️❤️
Hey Mike not sure if you'll see this but some of your answers to these questions helped with some serious doubts/struggles I've had for a while and your videos have really helped me have a new passion for seeking God and bringing Jesus to others!
Thank you Pastor Mike for the loving biblical teaching that you give us today, we need it more then ever in this darkness times where thruth is subjective..I lost my beloved son David 4 years ago, he was 25 years old, it was a sudden death..brain aneurysm, we went to church he listen the gospel but he never made a profession of faith on the Lord; this is hasn't been easy and it will go with me to the day I died...The Lord is good despite of what happen to us..thank you brother Mike.
🙏🏼❤️
I may be a couple years too late but I love that shirt!
Mike, You are a blessing for everyone that have the opportunity to learn from you. I greatly admire you for the great work you are doing spreading, defending, and teaching the true gospel of our LORD JESUS CHRIST. I am so proud of you and so confident to share your youtube videos with family and friends because you transmit your love for GOD and willingness to teach from the bible and about the bible!!!!!!. I really enjoy everything you do and thanks GOD for using your transparent, genuine, and humble personality to teach us HIS WORD. GOD blessed you and your family including your cats. Hortencia Aguirre, a 61 years old and former catholic
"I'm looking to understand what it says, not force it to say what I want." - Now THIS statement is something many people, particularly our brother Michael Jones of InspiringPhilosophy when it comes to the Book of Genesis, should take note of! ❤❤❤
Thank you Mike.
I’ll catch up on this one. No doubt it will be insightful. I enjoy doing live Q&A myself, and always wanting to learn more from people like yourself! 👍🏼😊
I definitely look forward to Friday’s thanks to pastor Mike’s live streams!! So edifying and insightful
Just a Pastor? How Humble.. GOD BLESS YOU Pastor Mike. GOD BLESSES What Your Doing Through HIM... You Serve Your Time for CHRIST Well.. I LOVE n Look Forward to YOUR VIDEOS.. You are such a Blessing to me n I Learned SOOO Much from You. THANK YOU!!!
Great insights here. Concerning the 2nd baptism, I was baptized again - once as an infant and once when I was born again in my early 40s. I believe we all need to be baptized again/born again.
Hey pastor Mike, thank you so much for answering my question during your video today. I know you get flooded with tons of questions all the time, so I really appreciate your taking time to answer mine in such a gentle and thoughtful way. I ran into this passage several months ago sort of by accident and it has been bothering me ever since. Your response made the passage make a lot more sense and it was very helpful. I greatly appreciate you and your ministry, and again, thank you for answering my question. God Bless 🙂
Elijah mocked the priests of Baal because he did not appear when they called to him. Elijah was like,... where is he? “Shout louder, for he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or occupied, or on a journey. Perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened!”
@@matthewbauerle7153 LOLL!! I love Elijah.
@@matthewbauerle7153 That is my husbands favorite account in the Bible!
Thank you Pastor Mike, I always learn so much from you.
I was apart of the deliverance ministry and I agree 100%. We just don’t want to give up our sin. I got caught up on how NON-freeing it was when Jesus came to free us. I think there is a place for deliverance, but to blame all this other stuff on demons when we’re just not able to stop our sin, that’s a problem.
I really appreciate this format , brother Mike.
I love when you said “I’m gonna start fires. These are ways people avoid personal responsibility”. My husband is a trainer and has heard many of these responses as well . We have seen what denial does to people 😣
I so enjoy your question & answer days - I love the heart you have for God & his word & its shines through you with every video I watch !! Thank you for doing what you do !! Kim- ohio
Thanks Mike ; learning such a lot, and filling in the gaps of what I know, challenging what goes on in our church,
Always encouraging to hear people ask good questions and have a good discussion on them. Love you brother, appreciate the work you do.
Subscribed today, great way to fellowship...enjoyed your teachings & advise as follower of the Redeemer, Creator, Lord of all - Christ of the Bible
Thank you very much Mike for your videos, I find more knowledge, wisdom, and Biblical information in your videos than I ever have in most of the churches or Bible studies I have attended, I enjoy your Q&A videos alot. Again, thanks.
I love you bro God really sent this video for me, just looked through the questions and so many were pressing on my mind recently.
I was kind of upset when you kind of mocked Christians who doubted Christianity due to sin in their life, but I just want to say that no matter what, I love you and I will always love you(in a good Christian way 😅). You're the one who got me to realize that Jesus is my Lord and Savior. Thank you for being you, Mike.
This was a fantastic shirt, Pastor Mike. Nice color and the collar was ironed. That was MY sense of humor 😂. Thanks so much for your ministry, and love of orange tic tacs.
I know this is an old video. This first question got to me, although I have seen many. My 1st born passed in my arms in 2021 from cancer, he could no longer talk & he shook his head admitting he did believe in God & Jesus was His Son, as I repeated John 3:16. He shed a tear that I wiped dry & he was gone. I believe he was saved. By brother passed in 2022, I dont believe he was saved, but only he & God know, he was gay, I hope he repented. He would not talk to me about it. He was curious as to why I did not fear death. I said I feared what was left behind, but I believed I knew where I was going because I repent, am forgiven & believe I am saved. I was holding his hand when he passed. In 2023, my 2nd born was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, I tried to talk to him about Jesus, he said, mom, I did this to myself, I believe & me & God are good, he passed 3 months later in my arms. My prayer is that they are okay, that they had their own personal encounter with God. I wonder, but pray they are with the Lord. Prayer, the Bible, & support give me comfort.
Sorry for long post, that will probably never be seen since it is so old, but felt i needed to post for some reason. 😊🕊🙏 God Bless.
Great video, as always. Jesus bless you brother!
Hi Mike
Love listening to your UA-cam videos
I have learnt so much biblical teaching and there are great questions.
I feel I learn more from these videos than I do from going to actual church.
My old church actually did an entire 6-8 week study on the 'spirit of Jezebel.' It was weird. They were constantly casting out this 'spirit of Jezebel.' It never sat right with my husband and I. It is nice to hear someone explain this more clearly.
Isaiah 12:2 “Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; ‘For Yah, the Lord, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.’ ” Therefore with joy you will draw water From the wells of salvation”
Great advice about internet debate and knowing if they want a genuine dialog or they just want to dump attacks. I like you will sometimes still engage if they aren't genuine but only for the sake of the audience listening in as they may be undecided and seeking real answers.
Yes use it always as a salvation message for all. Generalized is best. Pray for the loved ones in their grief. " God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked ( unsaved)".
This is a sincere question, because it asks something I have wrestled with over the years. Mike says, When God forgives our sin, He is never going to bring it up again. We will never be judged for it. What about the words of Jesus and others, which warn that we will be accountable for even our words as well as our deeds? Thanks for all your work and thinking things through, Pastor Mike. I also think you are not far from Dr. Heiser’s viewpoint. I’ve studied his evidence, which other scholars support, and it is significant. Your words did not seem incompatible with what I know of his studies. May God continue to bless your ministry.
Exactly and what about the verse that says we will all stand before God in judgement.
I agree. When mentioned his own viewpoint it pretty much lined up with how I have understood Michael Heiser. When he was communicating how he understood Michael's explanation of the other gods, I went, "huh?" So. In the end that whole feeling of, "Oh no, he's going to find these viewpoints far stretched and I love listening to both these guys." It went away, and I feel relieved. I realize a certain stance on this question doesn't affect one's overall walk with Jesus, but I liked that they basically agree (even though Mike didn't realize), because to all the new agers, this understanding may be the only thing that breaks through to connect the dots as to why/where their beliefs and practices are coming from, and why it's a no no, and why they need Jesus. So, yayyyyyyyy!
Also, I want to say anyone who does have new age beliefs. I get why they seem to make sense, but once you are introduced to the bible to understand it as a whole and not through random verses and such, The big picture comes alive. It becomes like your newest favorite show/book. You can't wait to learn more of the story and see what happens or see how certain episodes referenced other episodes to get a better understanding. It's just wayyyyyy better, because it's actually real.
@@christastockwell6706 Yea, Christa! You speak for me! It is an ever deepening mine of treasure.
@@christastockwell6706My take exactly. I wish the two of them could just sit down for a few hours and talk it through.
19:04 The teachings of Augustine of Hippo in a nutshell. He did more harm to Christianity unintentionally than Emperor Diocletian did deliberately. Augustine had been a pagan, who became a leading Christian theologian and was mostly responsible for pushing the "pleasure = sin" mindset that has poisoned many churches ever since.
On God having a sense of humor - I remember someone saying that when Jesus told Zacheus, "Today *salvation* has come to your home', it may have been a pun on Jesus' name (as the Aramaic Yeshua / Hebrew Joshua means 'Yahweh is salvation" / "Yahweh saves"). I plan to use this as justification for Dad-jokes if my family ever objects to them ;-)
I don't think it was a pun...
That doesn't sound like a pun? Idk where you think that was a pun.
@@wengel_eth From Wikipedia: "The name Yeshua is a shortened version of the name Yehoshua or Joshua and is the literal Hebrew word for *Salvation* ." (Yeshua comes into the Greek as Iesus which we transliterate into English as "Jesus"). Jesus had visited Zacchaeus' home, so when Jesus says, "Today *salvation* has come to your home" it could be a play on "Today *Jesus* has come to your home" - assuming Jesus was originally speaking in Aramaic / Hebrew.
Love your ministry Mike! I think God definitely used your comments about Jesus' brothers (regarding the viewer's question about the Disciple John being told by Jesus to look after His mother and the possible reasons why Jesus did not entrust his natural brothers to take on that role) to make me belly laugh!! I was only thinking earlier about what you said to someone else about God having a sense of humour as do we!!
The devil continues to accuse us and remind us of our failings. Whom the Son sets free is free indeed
I hope the lady, Deandra from the chat, sees this and hope someone can help her. She said she was suicidal. If you see this I feel the same way Deandra. I have been seeking God so long and I just can't get anywhere. Something keeps nagging at me that it'll never get better and to just go on. I pray for everyone feeling that way, in Jesus' name.
I hope you find the Lord and some peace
I know it had me very worried I was going to see if I could talk to her but I think she disappeared
@@Melissa-C2023 Thank you ma'am and hope we can all pray for that lady.
@@addiedobbs2515 I hope she comes back to the comments or gets help somehow. Hope we all can pray for her.
Definitely prayers for everyone who is feeling lost and without hope. Jesus, You are the Way, the Truth and the Life I pray that You send brothers and sisters to minister to the lost and hopeless, that they may come to know You and Your love and mercy towards all who are broken and seeking answers.
I am grateful for your responses, I think in regards to the critical thinking question your answer could have also referenced critical thinking within scripture. I think Christianity in the western practice does impede critical thinking about any thing that does not follow tradition or accepted dogma. This is where I think the person asking the question was trying to go. I don't think people fess up to how stifling the history of Christian practice hasbeen. Q and A such as this is a perfect example. Look back over the past 200 years and where can you see Q and A and critical thought being as present. In my mind CS Lewis and yourself are a rarity when it comes to critical thought regarding world phenomenon and scripture.
Thank you so much...
There is hope. Hope in Jesus.
Thanks so much, this was so enlightening.
Just so anyone is aware. The above is *not* Mike Winger.
Redemption is avaiable up to your last breath
Mike. Great job on all you do. I heard you say Catholics have the right Jesus, however their Jesus is sacrificed at a mass every day in all their churches. He did die once for all and said it is finished.
For anyone going to the video about the issue "did Mary have other children with Joseph" that Pastor Mike linked below, you need to go to time stamp 45:30. It's near the end of that video.
It's definitely angels, although angels are not the right word for it. Been listening to Hiser and Sky watch TV and it fits so perfectly and explains a lot of Bible stories
There is control in blame and none in just death. Its rough but you need to greive in GOD and you know you cant say no when GOD calls you home.
My thoughts on the whole "Do christians stop sinning?" question is that it is a matter of intention and mindset. Are you saying you're a christian and desiring to pursue God and Christ and grow and change, but are stumbling and have things you struggle with and want to stop? Then I'd say you're a christian. However if you're somebody who deliberately sins, has no remorse, no desire to change, doesn't think about their motivations or behavior. Somebody who has no motivation to pursue God, then I'd say that person isn't a christian. Even if they claim to be.
This is how we grieve , if you don't hate those who deny compared go HIM then you can't follow HIM .
On question 8(?) Concerning traditions. I think Colossians 2 (particularly 11-17 If I recall) speaks pretty directly to this.
There is also a moment in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark ( Though I can't remember exactly which chapter.) In which Jesus rebukes the pharisees for trying to enforce the traditions of men over the traditions of God. Pastor Mike alluded to it. But I think this too would be a worth while pursuit for the perpose of this topic.
Thank you so much 🥰
Thank you for your answering my question Pastor Mike. I’ve noticed that most of my engagement with skeptics is in UA-cam and Facebook comments sections on Christian videos.
Why is this the case? The first time I engaged a skeptic was in the comments section or
UA-cam video posted by Skip Heitzig verse by verse teaching on 2nd Peter.
Was the debate ultimately fruitless? The original comment was made by Brandi Nicole716, my conversation with the skeptic begins after the 8th reply. The entire conversation is posted in the comments of Mike’s Facebook post about yesterday’s Q&A discussion.
Aaron's Blessing!!!!!!!! What a great way to end a post!
Be humble and find someone to read with and pray with, as well as soul searching
1st question! Yes it's a tough thing but I've tried to say it this way. I've told it's not my call but from what I know he hadn't repented. If my Dad is Judged for his sin or if he's forgiven and with Jesus. Either way God is glorified.
I have a beef about using secular songs as worship, with that in mind, church has been doing this for centuries! How do I reconcile this? Music of the past I have no recollection of (the old bar songs of England for example) but current songs I do (for example the perverted hallelujah song). If the song is going to remind me of perversion, I cannot praise the Lord with this in mind. Does that make sense? Worship music is for pleasing God and not myself, not my flesh.
The mega church mentality of trying to reach the unchurched is the opposite approach to how the apostles preached the gospel. These goals are more about these false teachers who want thousands who follow them and send them money. They get rich, the gospel never gets preached.
So, I don't trust any worship leader attempting to redeem worldly music to please the crowd either, to me they are just tickling the ears to keep them there so that the money comes in.
With regards to taking secular music and rewriting it into Christian music - Charles Wesley did that for many of his hymns - hymns that are now in many hymn books today.
Such A GREAT video!!!!
Here in Minnesota we have been in our churches normally for like 9 months we only had two months we couldn't go in the church and we've been back to normal for quite a while
My understanding is that Plato talked about the Realm of the Forms which has been used as an argument for the existence of a soul. This realm is where Platonic love comes from. It's the "form of love" or the essence of something. My understanding of this is that it brings us to a dualistic person made of body and soul rather than a triune human being, body, soul and mind.... I don't know all of this but this is how I've thought through that specific idea (It's been about 10 years since I finished college lol my second major focused on African American Studies, Religious Studies, and Philosophy, with a focus on the syncrenistic religions of the Diaspora....but I dabbled in the philosophy of religion...Like I said, 10 years lol ago)
17:15 I like to imagine god has the best jokes. Like just hearing one could have any of us laughing for weeks. Sometimes I like to imagine everyone in heaven doing whatever it is they do and all the sudden god just drops the like funniest joke that gets all of heaven into one big laughing fit.
😂
I‘ve. always read the passage in the sense of “take care of Mary, John...she will need help in her grief ” so to speak.
But, I’m going to dig into it....very good Q AND A.
But the COVID thing is a hard one.... I don’t know if you can somehow see it like Luther nailing the thesis to the Catholic Church door.😏 now some have said there were bars allowed to be open in places but not churches.....if that is true, it would change the dynamic for sure and raise some questions.
I wonder if part of question 1 had to do with the horrible grief one feels about a loved one dying without any evidence of receiving Christ. I have felt this pain. I wasn't blaming God; I was simply tormented by the lingering thought of my loved one burning forever. I don't think that we should "play" God in claiming we know where everyone is. Is the last breath, the last chance someone has? I'm not sure.
Good video as always, thanks :)
I do agree with a Jezebel spirit, just not as loosely and towards everything that is common within the deliverance ministry. PLUS in our personal lives, we’re still Christians and there is very much the fruit of the spirit needing to be applied to the “jezebels” in your life. We can’t go around calling people “Jezebels.” It’s the end times spirit, everybody has attributes of Jezebel. But our calling is the same and so is how we ought to love one another.
I think, in the same way we see reference in the old testament to a king of something which actually refers to the spirit (demon fallen angel or whatever) behind that earthly ruler, the "Jezebel Spirit" would be in like manner. The rulers of darkness in heavenly places with which we war are organized, territorial, and likely specialized in their roles, not unlike how our military would work. In that sense the spirit behind the historical Jezebel is still at work in the world today sowing the same sinful ideas into people's lives.
@@andytpatt Agreed. I like how you took reference from the Old Testament as I call it the “end times” spirit. Or the “Harlot” pulled from Revelations. I feel mention of a some sort of ruling spirit, by name, in the NT is, as you said, references from OT. It has a number of applications and meaning. The thing about spiritual warfare as it is commonly known within the deliverance ministry tends to make a demon the excuse for everything. The learning about this or that “spirit” or demon, or the teaching that even Christians can be demonically possessed is dangerous. I believe absolutely, deliverance is necessary, but I don’t believe that in order for my prayer life to be affective, I must learn every spirit by name and function and pray/rebuke every spirit in correlation to the applicable demon per your circumstances. I felt it was a way to stay “me centric” and not in the Godly self reflective way. Deliverance ministries are the main ministries that I’ve heard taught, you must speak in tongues as evidence and proof of salvation or that of being born again. When I was ministering within that specific ministry, we had allot of people still chained in their sins because they just couldn’t get rid of their “demons.” Most of the time, it wasn’t a demon that was the issue. We developed some sort of a higher sin consciousness, opposite to the freedom we have in Christ. In order that we may fight against our “opening doors” or giving “legal rights.” I got out of the deliverance ministry once I started asking The Lord about this freedom we have and are supposed to be walking in. It just didn’t make much sense to me that we have freedom in Christ, but could be demon possessed or risk giving legal rights to a demon should I, for example, laugh at a dirty joke. The ministry brings in allot of elements of the New Age which I wasn’t thrilled about and tried to ignore but I just couldn’t after awhile. Especially if you’re ministering in mainly online forums and they advertise some sort of their shows as being ones to “call in and receive a word of knowledge” from whoever the guest speaker was who did that sort of thing. I just felt it entertained the flesh. That’s not to say that I don’t believe we can receive a word from The Lord, of course we can. I’ve seen it harm many who follow in that ministry and then everyone becomes an apostle, or a prophet. It certainly makes little “ministers” out of people who have no business in leadership position. Allot of pride; allot of “‘me centric” attitudes.
A note on purgatory: its only for the saved that aren't fully sanctified yet, so whether it's true or not isn't going to change people who aren't saved
I would love to hear a more in depth discussion of what Dr. Haiser calls the "Deuteronomy 32 Worldview". This is a reference to Deuteronomy 32:8-9, but the content from Dr. Haiser I have heard goes beyond that single excerpt.
1:02:36 is really a tricky topic, first off Mike is one of my favorite Bible teachers I've recently found here on YT so a personal thank you to Mike, God bless your ministry, you and your family brother! listening to Mike's position on that passage though, is honestly a bit concerning. I dont see how you can walk away from that passage with that interpretation, without believing that in order to be saved... one must keep the law (stop sinning) to SOME kind of extent, which would make works conditional for final salvation, and that salvation by grace would be merited and proved by ones obedience of the law (grace + works). My question, is what is the difference between someone who lives in sin, and someone who never goes a day without sinning? Cause I've trusted in Christ for almost half of my life now, and I cant confidently recall a day when I did not sin at all. So if I'm supposed to judge my salvation by my own law keeping, then it's not looking good is it? I mean I cant seem to even go 24hrs without sinning if I'm being completely honest here. The only thing that makes sense to me is the battle of the two natures here, the old sinful man (son of the devil) vs the new forever cleansed, sinless creation (son of God by adoption) I just dont know man, I'm trying to be as clear as I can on here, but idk if this comment will do any good, mabey I should not post it, but whatever, maybe it could do some good. Mike I would really like to know your answere on to these three questions.... 1. what is the difference between someone who lives in sin, and someone who sins every day? And 2. If we have to stop sinning to some capacity to know we are saved, how much sin can I commit per day before I have reason to doubt my salvation in Christ? 3. If it's not a quantity of sin that we are looking to judge our salvation upon, but rather an attitude towards sin, in terms of... did you look forward toward the sin, and did you take pleasure in it? What happens if the answere was yes? Cause personaly I have done that countless times, sure there's been times where I sinned and didn't realize it till later, but if I had to guess, it was more often times than not, that I did anticipate, and enjoy the sin, I knew it was wrong, and it grieves me, and there's part of me that just wishes God would would change me right now, so that I'll never sin again cause I know how bad it is, and I try to not sin, but I'm not always successful. So yeah hopefully I was able to tie up my comment and questions neat enough, these are just really challenging topics that can be hard to discuss, however God is good, always, God bless.
Not Mike and this is old, but what I have always understood is that the transformative work of the Holy Spirit in the believer WILL lead to a life of repentance and real change that will be noticeably different than someone who has not been transformed. So, if we see no change. No transformation. No repentance in our lives, we have to ask if the Holy Spirit has actually changed us into a new creation. John specifically says that "If we say that we do not sin, we are deceived and the truth is not in us."
So, it seems clear that we ought to very seriously pursue righteousness and repentance and, by the transformation of the Holy Spirit, we can and do change to live less sin-filled lives. Working out our salvation with fear and trembling. BUT we cannot say we do not sin or the truth is not in us. And we are not forgiven (justified, as Paul frequently says) by our good deeds, but by Jesus's work. Dunno if any of that helps, but...yeah. God's forgiveness is not predicated on our good works or righteousness under the law, but the Holy Spirit that we receive as followers of Jesus WILL meaningfully transform our lives into lives characterized (though never fully so) by righteousness. and if we don't see that in any way, something is wrong.
8:30 I thought the question was play-doh. Made me very curious 😂
One of the church fathers said something to effect "What does Athens have to do with Christianity".
The passage referring to practicing habitual sin, though professing the name of Christ, fits the actions of Ravi Zacharias to a tee. So does the first question, regarding mourning for the unsaved...
Friday Q&A are better than TGIF tv series when I was a kid lol
Woohoo!!!!!Friday
Please please please do a video on Isaiah 3:12 and how that correlates with the times today. With the neo Nazi 3rd wave feminism and children given discretion on having an abortion, getting the “day after” pill or receiving a government funded sex change all without parental consent. Women unable to forgive, driving agendas due to bitterness and hatred.
a good start place for question 6 would be Psalm 82
I did find Derek Prince very interesting and refreshing, listened to his sermons for many hours and heard from him, that while not every thing is a spirit, he was delivered from spirit of depression, to his own surprise. Also, there was a spirit of rotting teeth, which was a surprise for him as well
I think sometimes people use the 'spirit of this' or 'spirit as that' thing to help them focus, as a technique to help them sin. I have nothing against it though I don't do it myself.
The spirit of rotting teeth is often found with his companion the hobgoblin of bad dental hygiene.
I have a question I cry out to God to help me save and help me to put away the evil in my life? Why do I keep getting worse!
"Hallelujah" was about a man whose wife went cold. I never considered it was perverse... atheistic, yes, and it was written by an atheist, but not sexually perverse. It definitely can't be viewed as a worship song. But it's a sad song that can take so many meanings for people who are suffering. It's often played at funerals.
@59:00 For anyone interested, I think Allie Beth Stuckey had a solid take on this on her podcast this week; I believe it's episode 381. She also had a great interview last week with Erin Coates, wife of the jailed pastor in Canada.
My main issue is them releasing men who abused CHILDREN, while keeping him in jail.
@@hopelovegood8131 I do too, even if this Pastor is wrong, his actions are not severely worse than some men that have been released having sexually assaulted children and women again and again.
@@Elvtow and what's worse is he is defying order from the government. But atleast he is not envading any person's body or.consent let alone children. These.people are choosing to go to church by their own discretion. And even though it's kind.of reckless, atleast it's by these people's choice. Unlike people who repeadetly not only sexual assults women, but children.
@@hopelovegood8131 A murderer was released over an innocent Jesus. So no big surprise there.
Hard questions I’ve received lately as a youth pastor:
1. If God is outside of time, and knows the future, can you pray for something in the past? I.e. I forgot to pray for my friend’s surgery last week, can I pray know knowing that God will see it back then?
2. Was sin in the garden of Eden prior to Adam & Eve’s fall? If not, how do we reconcile that Satan was in the garden and fell from Heaven because of his sin, and why didn’t that impact the garden?
Your first question spurrs on much excitement in me to discuss the topic of time and recent discoveries in quantum physics that grant so much understanding to many mysteries in the Bible, but I don't know if I'd ever come around to adequately answer that question.
To your 2nd question however, this is a critical step to understanding and framing a correct biblical worldview. What we know from scripture is that all things were created in 6 days, In the beginning (time) God created the heaven (space) and the earth (matter.) We know from scripture that satan is a created being and must have been created in those 6 days. We also know he was created perfect and served God until iniquity was found in him, due to his pride. We DON'T know how long Adam and Eve were in the garden before they sinned. We know Adam was 130 when Seth was born, which was after cain and abel. All this means it could have reasonably been in the ballpark of 100 years sinless walking with God in the garden. Satan had to fall after the creation was complete at some point in that time before tempting Eve, and with the rapidity of which the story in Genesis progresses its easy to lose perspective on much time actually passed there. The critical component to this though, is that scripture clearly teaches that by Adam's sin, death entered the world, and without sin there was no death. To claim any worldview that would embrace evolutionary teaching is to deny this clear teaching. Evolution teaches death brought man into the world, billions of years of death and randomness, but the Bible says man brought death into the world. When God rested on the 7th day everything was very good, which means they weren't standing on billions of fossilized corpses nor was there a devil running around amidst it all. There was however plenty of time for satan to become prideful, seeing God walk with Adam and Eve, have fellowship and receive worship, look at himself and think he too deserved worship and become jealous of God and fall in pride.
29:00 Just to clarify Michael Heiser's view: elohim is the word used for spiritual beings in the OT. They are not ontologically different from angels and demons, but rather angels and demons are elohim, as is God; however, the Lord is a species unique elohim because he is the creator of all others. So all spiritual beings are elohim, but God is King Elohim, which seems to lineup with Christian theology. God created angels, but all of them are spiritual, non-material beings.
Regarding the question about the reliability of the new testament when it narrates something about when Jesus was alone without witnesses, I mean if we believe scriptures, we believe Genesis 1 and no one was there until Adam was created and written by Moses.
Hi Mike, I have a follow-up question on being rebaptized. I was baptized at 16 as a Christian believer. After I got married we moved to salt lake City and I was converted together with my husband and baptized into the LDS church. A few years later, we Read some history, and long story short we left the lds church. I have renounced everything that has to do with the LDS Church. And have found a good Christian church once again and have been learning and growing as a believer.
My question is since I have been baptized once before, then rebaptized into the LDS church, do I need to be rebaptized again? I hope this makes sense. Thanks!
Concerning Q2, Paul's letters argue against gnosticism, ie neo-Platonism, such as the idea that the physical world is evil. It would be better to say that Aristotle later significantly influenced Christianity through Aquinas, etc. This was the same Aristotelianism that the Catholic church clung to against eg Galileo. But Aristotle's metaphysics is bunk.
Sin is removed as far as the east is from the west
On the science question, Psalms 19 and 24 put it perfectly. The whole of science testifies to the supremacy of the Creator. As a scientist my greatest goal is to go to heaven so I can have some of my life long questions answered by the master. imo you can't be a scientist and not be an awestruck Christian 🤷🏽♀️
It struck me as you were expounding on people blaming God when someone died and they were grieving; I feel like God tells me, No one knows the relationship another has with God, we can't.If we feel we do then that borders on judging.
love the shirt
Ya, John living longer then the others, and Jesus knowing this, ya that make perfect sense. And I think whether or not John could support her, she being the mother of the Son of God; I believe God supplied all her needs until her last day.
Those that "looky lou" are called lurkers. At least that's the term I've heard. Love the content brother.