Christian Questions Bible Podcast

Chaos rules. Just look around at the world’s social, political and moral condition. We all want what we want, and we seem to now go to greater lengths than ever before to demand that we have it. Having what we want doesn’t stop there, as we now more often than not demand that what I want is accepted by all. This chaos is not merely limited to my social media presence. Oh no, it expands into my per...

To claim the name of Christ and call ourselves Christians means we are claiming ourselves to be separate from the world. This sounds like a noble claim – and it is – though sometimes you’d never know it. Think about how many people make this claim and bear the Christian label but seem to be just like everyone else. This is a sad testimony to how, over time, Christian practices have bee...

As we have discovered from Parts I and II of this series, God is the Mighty One who has power and authority. He is the Self-Existing One who created humanity in His image for the purpose of having a personal relationship with them. Planet Earth was and is to be the eternal habitation of this human family. As God revealed Himself through man’s experiences, many aspects of His character became evide...

So many people believe God is a man-made myth. They see Him as a figment of the imagination of religious zealots who desperately seek some kind of higher power. When you look at mythological gods or the gods of some religious factions, you can certainly see the reasoning for that point. However, when we look at the God of the Bible, it has to be an entirely different story. What other book, what o...

Whether we like it or not or believe it or not, the presence of powers higher than our human understanding cannot be denied. The debate begins and rages when we try to label these powers. Our human perspectives, belief systems and even how we claim to apply science all come into play here. As Christians, we by definition believe God is the ultimate source of power. We believe Him to be wise, just...

When Jesus ascended to heaven, he told his disciples in Matthew 28, “Go and make disciples of all the nations.” He told them to baptize these disciples and teach them all that he had taught and commanded them to know and do. Ten days later, God’s spirit came upon the apostles, and this is where the Christian church had its beginning. Fast forward 2,000 years, and we find Christianity divided...

In our last episode, we talked about many big-picture aspects of how the humbling and amazing privilege of prayer works. We learned that, as is usually the case with true Christian discipleship, there is much more to praying than talking to God about things and letting him know what we need and want. Today we will focus on the details of our prayer life. We will look at many of those simple questi...

Prayer is an incalculably awesome privilege, and yet it is massively misunderstood. Prayer can easily become a ritual, an almost automatic activity like brushing our teeth. We know we need to do it because we know it’s really good for us. So, we do it at what we think are the appropriate times and in the appropriate ways. Prayer can also become a time of wishful thinking, a time when we essentiall...

It is a natural human response to want to be recognized for who we are and for what we contribute. This is easy to observe. Just look at a small child who does something to be helpful or obedient. When their parent recognizes and praises their behavior, their face beams with delight! While it is positive and nurturing to praise growth and maturity, we also need to be wary. As with anything else th...

In our last episode , we spoke with our good friend and brother in Christ, Howie Clare, from New Zealand. We met him through our Christian Questions ministry several years ago. Howie’s life had forever changed when his wife of 12 years left him with no explanation. To try and help him cope with his profound sorrow and loss, his son suggested he listen to Christian podcasts, and that’s how he...

Today we want to talk about freedom. Not freedom in the sense of being released from some form of physical captivity, and not freedom in the sense of being able to express yourself without fear. No, the freedom we want to focus on is bigger and deeper. It is the freedom we can be given when we are drawn to God through Christ and find our way to becoming a true disciple. True discipleship does have...

Israel. Just say the name and likely if anyone listening follows anything about events on the world stage, they will have a strong opinion one way or another. This is fascinating because the nations of Togo and Honduras, while not well-recognized in world events, have about the same population as Israel. What is it about this tiny nation on this tiny sliver of land that draws such attention? Bibli...

We have all been wronged by someone. Sometimes the wrong is especially deep and hurtful, and we are debilitated by it. We have all also heard the saying “forgive and forget.” The forgiving part sounds like a really magnanimous Christian thing to do. However, it can be deeply challenging, depending upon the hurt we have suffered. The “forgetting” part? Well, that can be overwhelmingly difficu...

If we make promises, we should keep them. This statement seems simple enough, and yet when we look around, how much confidence do we have in it? Do we see an unequivocal keeping of promises in our political leadership? Do we see it in the business world? The world of advertising or education? Do we even see it in our family and social interactions? In our last episode , we spoke extensively about...

As Christians, our faith in God should translate into an unquestionable loyalty and trust. If God says something will be so, it is a guarantee it will happen. While this deep faith in the word of God should bring a powerful comfort to our lives, it’s also capable of bringing us serious doubts and concerns. How can this be? If God is as good as His word (and He is), then where do the doubts c...

Patience is one of the most understated yet powerful characteristics any human being can have. Most of us think of patience as simply waiting things out – it’s raining and we can’t start the game until it stops, so let’s be patient. While this is one true facet, biblical patience goes much further. The Bible teaches us the kind of patience one needs when going through a hard and perhaps painful ex...

The Lord’s Prayer in Matthew chapter 6 is perhaps the most commonly quoted teaching of Jesus. This prayer is simple and pointed in its focus. “Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name.” This beginning teaches us not only to acknowledge God as Father but to hallow, to reverence, His very name. The next phrase is also simple, perhaps too simple, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in ear...

It seems like it would be a no brainer to say that following Christ and following Christianity today are synonymous. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Imperfect human beings have always been very adept at creating alternative interpretations and approaches to most everything. Christianity is no exception. In Part I of our 2-part series, we began looking at some specific teachings of Jesus. We b...

When someone says they are a Christian, their claim can be easily interpreted in a variety of ways. Unfortunately, following the name of Christ has been a dramatically devalued description of religion over many centuries. Think back to the Dark Ages when the church mercilessly hunted, tortured and killed non-believers for the sake of “saving souls” in the name of Christ. Think about the smorgasbor...

As a Christian, taking the time to understand what we think about is a worthy and necessary investment of our time and effort. When you look at anyone who is truly successful at any endeavor, you will always find that one of the common denominators of their success is controlling their minds. In Part I of this two-part series, we spent considerable time piecing together the groundwork the Apostle...

Most of us don’t realize just much of our lives come down to our own personal choices. We have far more power over how we handle our everyday experiences than we give ourselves credit for. Why wouldn’t we claim this power so we can better influence our path? Because we subtly and regularly fall into habits of thinking that lull us into a lukewarm and compliant attitude of submission. The Apostle P...

The thought that God is a God of anger – especially in the Old Testament – is alive and well. It’s a very convenient thought. All one has to do is select from the many passages in the Old Testament that show God commanding the destruction of this or that people. It’s easy to say He has anger issues and therefore should not be worshipped. The only problem is that this conclusion is in d...

We all know someone who has been in some kind of altercation that didn’t end well. When we go back and look at the events, we always want to know who started it. What we are looking for is who initially provoked the other party to cause the chain of events that led to someone on some level being hurt. The point is, provoking one another is not usually looked at as a good thing as we think of thing...

Christian faith is a big deal. The Bible tells us that faith is a gift from God. It tells us the just live by faith. It tells us that faith without works is dead, and that without faith, it is impossible to please God. It tells us that we can be of little faith needing more and then it tells us that if we have faith like the grain of a tiny mustard seed, we can move mountains. With all of these va...

In all of recorded history since Adam, there has never been a time when humanity did not know pain, sorrow, trauma and death. Never. These things are so ingrained into the fabric of our lives that the very idea of not knowing pain and suffering is a pipe dream. And death? It’s a given. Everybody has death touch those around them, as we all eventually will be swallowed up by it. If we try and have...