BibleThinker

My goal here is to give you a set of tools, some of which you may find truly helpful. While I have very little to say about medication I think that scripture does offer us some guidance to really help us with the sadness of our souls and looking at several biblical passages that give examples of dealing with and processing depression can help us to better deal with our own. I don't want you to thi...

A study on the tragic end of John the Baptist. This is the only passage in Mark that isn't directly about Jesus and it records the sad reality of how pride, corruption and lust lead to the murder of John the Baptist. In addition to the discussion on what lead to John's murder under the orders of Herod we will also get into some apologetics issues surrounding the death of John that skeptics bring u...

This is the Old Testament Passage that most clearly shows that Jesus died in our place as a substitutionary sacrifice for us because of our sins. It shows that Christ was our sin bearer and our sin offering and that His sacrifice justifies us. It's also the passage most often ignored by those who deny Penal Substitutionary Atonement. In other words, it's important. We will look at how this passage...

In an attempt to help you learn how to better analyze and apply commands to the 12 apostles we look at when Jesus sent the Twelve out two by two, telling them to take no money and no extra supplies. We'll see that this command does not apply directly to us but we'll also see that there is still a simply and biblical way to apply it into our lives, a way that I think the Holy Spirit intended for us...

Sola Scriptura is the idea that the Bible is the final authority on what Christians believe and how we live. In this video I’ll explain it simply, give some biblical reasons to support Sola Scriptura and deal with some Catholic rebuttals to it. I’m hoping this is a charitable and gracious experience for everyone even though I know it will be hard stuff for some people to hear. I am convinced this...

Was Nazareth fake? Was Mary a perpetual virgin? And what can we learn from Jesus being rejected in His hometown of Nazareth? I admit that today's study may seem a bit random but I think you will find it interesting and have some insights that will bless you. Rene Salm wrote a book suggesting that Nazareth was a myth and even though it has been debunked it still shows up on popular atheist web stie...

The idea that Jesus died in our place, suffering the penalty for our sins, is under serious attack. We need to understand where we can find Penal Substitutionary Atonement ideas in the Bible, starting with the Old Testament. This is part of a series explaining and defending Penal Substitutionary Atonement. I'll cover biblical data, historical data, moral objections and more so that you will unders...

In the best example of a "Markan sandwich" we see two remarkable healings which are meant to teach us some remarkable and needful lessons. Jesus meets our deepest fear with a call to faith that calms our hearts and changes the way we see death forever. I hope and pray that the beautiful truths of this passage of Scripture will get stuck in your head and heart. Here's a link to the whole series thr...

A lot of leaders who reject Penal Substitution will say that it was invented by Calvin or Anselm and that the early church held to Christus Victor or Ransom theories of the atonement. This turns out to be a painful distortion of history. I mean, this is pure historical revisionism in the name of teaching bad theology! I was shocked to find out how badly church history has been twisted by progressi...

Expand this for time stamps (also in the first comment for mobile users) Question Time Stamps for Quick Reference: 1. 1:04 Can a wife or mom have a job outside of the house? 2. 4:43 Is profanity ever acceptable? E.g. "I _-ing love you, man!" (not in anger) 3. 8:21 Can you talk about the relationship between obedience and faith? 4. 9:28 What purpose does prayer serve for an all-powerful God? How do...

Get insights about demonology, the identity of Christ, the hope Jesus gives to even the most broken life, and some apologetics about a geography issue in Mark 5 related to the location of the region of the Gerasenes. I got a questions after this study about why Matthew says "Gadarenes" instead of Gerasenes. I forgot to mention it during the study but Gadara was a well known city about 6 miles from...

It's worse than nonsense. It's destructive. I think this is one of the most common bad ideas people have about God and religion. Let's thoughtfully analyze the idea that all roads lead to God and see why this incredibly common viewpoint couldn't possibly be true. Here's a list of other slogans we'll deal with today. "All roads lead to God" "How can you say that Jesus is the only way? How rude! How...

Let's get a handle on the various passages where the Bible says that God repents, relents or changes His mind. Personally, I found this study very rewarding and I hope it blesses you as well. Someone came up after I taught this study and shared something with me that I think might add to the content in this message. They said something like, "God is jealous, but not like man's jealousy. God has wr...

Tips on how to prepare a message, how to maximize your gifting, good software to use to make your study time more efficient, how to think about failures, how to stay true to the Bible, how to process insecurities and nervousness, how to avoid pitfalls of pride, and much more. Free, and very useful, Bible study resources - NetBible has good insights into textual issues and some stuff commentaries o...

I've heard whole Bible studies through the passage where Jesus calms the storm where the teacher fails to identify a key point in it. When Jesus commanded the storm to cease it revealed something of the divinity of Jesus that had the apostles in awe and reverence for Jesus in a whole new way. Even though they had previously seen Jesus cast out demons and heal the sick, this act of commanding a sto...

Suicide is a big issue that most of us haven't thought about very carefully. I'm not going to pretend to have all the answers, or easy answers. But what I can do is analyze some of the issues related to suicide from a biblical worldview and try to point you toward biblical help. I need to offer a disclaimer though. Some of what I share here is going to be based not just on the plain teaching of sc...

I hope this helps you understand the parables better than ever before. These four parables are found in Mark 4:21-34 and they include the parable of the lamp on a stand, the parable of the measuring scales, the parable of growing seed, and the parable of the mustard seed. Unlocking the parables of Jesus depends simply on learning the pattern of interpretation Jesus established when he explained th...

A detailed description of the crucifixion of Jesus was written hundreds of years before it happened! Let's analyze this Old Testament passage and respond to objections from an atheist and a Jewish Rabbi. Does Psalm 22 really support the idea that God inspired the Bible and planned ahead of time for Jesus to die for us? Can it stand under careful examination and scrutiny from contrary sources? I th...

The Parable of the Sower helps us understand all parables from Jesus. Learn it's meaning and some principles for interpreting the parables of Jesus from this study in Mark 4:1-20. I also encourage you to really consider how to apply this passage to your own life. This is part 13 in the Mark series. Here's the whole paylist. https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ3iRMLYFlHuGenHwUdeiQ5M-uj5XW4sF I...

I've compiled historical evidence to respond to Jehovah's Witness claims that Jesus died on a "torture stake". We will look at the Greek word "stauros" and it's meaning, ancient images of the cross, historical documentation about the shape of Jesus' cross and give some time to examine how the Watchtower abuses sources to teach false things. Christianity does not stand or fall on the shape of the c...

The blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is probably not what you're thinking of. This is a careful study of the unforgivable sin and it will seek to answer a bunch of specific questions about the topic. What is it? Have you committed it? Is it possible for a believer to commit it? Can someone repent after they have done it? Should Christians try to label people with this sin? I hope that this study...

I've never done this before. Here's my conversation with a former New Age/New Thought woman. We talk about specific Bible verses that are often used to support New Age as well as Word of Faith teaching and I do my best to respond with a careful explanation of each of those verses. If you are New Age, New Thought or Word of Faith then I'm hoping this video will bless you and change your life. If yo...

Here’s how Psalm 16 predicts Jesus’ resurrection… and more. This Psalm was quoted by both Peter and Paul in the New Testament as speaking prophetically of the resurrection of Christ. It turns out that there is some support for this sort of view in ancient rabbinic writings as well! Here’s the whole “Jesus in the Old Testament” playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWlpQauXiTU&list=PLZ3iRML...

Time Stamps Here (and in 1st comment for mobile users) Question Time Stamps for Quick Reference: ~ 1. 3:26 A lot of people think the Bible is not clear about divorce and remarriage. Are there some “gray areas”? ~ 2. 6:20 My fellowship did a salvation prayer which didn’t involve any confessing or repenting, just believing. Does this mean those who prayed the prayer were not really saved? ~ 3. 11:21...

Why did Jesus have 12 apostles? Why did Jesus sometimes ignore crowds or even purposely diminish them? What is it that these "seekers" didn't understand? We'll cover this as well as a survey of each of the 12 apostles trying to see what we can learn from them individually. Oh yeah, and some great apologetics stuff too! Don't forget to check out the brand new BibleThinker app! Search "Mike Winger"...