Core Christianity

Episode 562 | Adriel Sanchez and Bill Maier answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com 1. My parents have recently converted to the Russian Orthodox church and they say that every other denomination has apostatized. I am not sure if I should believe them or if I should believe what everyone else seems to say. Can you help? 2. What does the bible mean when it talks about the anti-Chri...

Episode 561 | Adriel Sanchez and Bill Maier answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com 1. I'm relatively new in my serious walk with Christ and I'm working on figuring out this new belief system. With that said, I'm not too sure what the scriptures say about man-run politics, how do Christians navigate engaging with those aspects of life, or is the area of church and state only a gra...

Episode 560 | Adriel Sanchez and Bill Maier answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com 1. Can we take communion at home, and are we meant to do this once a week? 2. Is there a biblical mandate to be a single-issue voter? It seems that neither political party cares about all image bearers and we end up having to choose between one or the other. 3. I know I should forgive, but how do I...

Episode 559 | Adriel Sanchez and Bill Maier answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com 1. I am feeling really burnt out serving in ministry. I am an elder in my church, I work full time, and I feel like I am constantly giving and giving to others without any break or time to regroup. I know scripture commends us to sacrificially serve the church, but I am just feeling exhausted by it...

Episode 558 | Adriel Sanchez and Bill Maier answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com 1. Can you help me understand how God's Sovereignty fits into the story of King Saul? The Bible says that if he would have obeyed, then his kingdom would have been established forever. But instead God "sought out another." Doesn't that seem like an argument against God's sovereignty? It looks like...

Episode 557 | Adriel Sanchez and Bill Maier answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com 1. In 1 Samuel 21, David pretends to be insane in front of the king of Gath so he wouldn't be recognized. Was this sinful since he was concealing the truth and trying to deceive the king with his actions? I've always thought he was just using his wit to get out of a bad situation, especially since...

Episode 556 | Adriel Sanchez and Bill Maier answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com 1. How do I answer objections against the supposed violence in the Old Testament? 2. Do bishops and elders have to be married people, or can you be single and still be an elder or deacon in a church? 3. What would you say to a Christian who has been waiting years for an answer to a specific prayer...

Episode 555 | Adriel Sanchez and Bill Maier answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com 1. What book of the Bible should I introduce to the youth group that I am a leader in? 2. I know as a Christian we should read the bible ourselves but what do you do when you're scared that you will interpret it wrong? What do you do when you have trouble navigating your bible for answers as well?...

Episode 554 | Adriel Sanchez and Bill Maier answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com 1. Why did Jesus curse the fig tree? 2. Is Islam a false religion? 3. Is the 3rd-use of the law legitimate? It seems that if people have a good sense of justification by faith alone that the 3rd use of the law is not necessary. 4. If Moses's sister Miriam received leprosy from God in the Old Testam...

Episode 552 | Adriel Sanchez and Bill Maier answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com 1. Does  John 9:2  teach that it is possible to sin in the womb? 2. Do denominations matter? I'm a Christian that trusts in Jesus alone but I can't decide on a church because of so many different beliefs, which scares me because I'm worried about being misled. 3. Is it a sin to enjoy alcohol? 4. Ho...

Episode 552 | Adriel Sanchez and Bill Maier answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com 1. Reading  2 Timothy 2:15 , how do I rightly "divide the word" and handle it rightly when it seems so easy to take scripture out of context? 2. I recently have been laid off due to COVID. I realize that God generally promises to save and redeem us and that that does not mean we will live successfu...

Episode 551 | Adriel Sanchez and Bill Maier answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com 1. Did the Pharisees reject Jesus because he did not meet what they were expecting or because they did not have the ability to see Him as the Son of God? 2. What happened to the Tree of Life in the garden after the Fall? Did it die, or just go away, what was its significance? 3. Can you go more in...

Episode 550 | Adriel Sanchez and Bill Maier answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com 1. When someone becomes a Christian, at what point should they be baptized, immediately after conversion, or should there be a long process? 2. What resources do you recommend I use to share with my friends who are Roman Catholic? 3. Recently people have shared that they are not going to come back...

Episode 549 | Adriel Sanchez and Bill Maier answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com 1. How do we reconcile the Lord's Prayer, where it says, "Lead us not into temptation," with James 1, where it says, "no one should say, 'God is tempting me'"?  2. Recently I refused to give money to a panhandler, and I feel guilty about it. Should I feel this way, or was I justified in refusing hi...

Episode 548 | Adriel Sanchez and Bill Maier answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com 1. What does  Deuteronomy 29:29  mean when it says, "The secret things belong to the LORD our God"? 2. How do we harmonize  John 19:14  when Jesus stood before Pilate at the sixth hour and the timing of Christ's crucifixion commencing at the third hour in the synoptic gospels? 3. If someone is bein...

Episode 547 | Adriel Sanchez and Bill Maier answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com 1. How do I deal with a Christian friend who has fallen for a lot of false teaching and who is not teachable and gets offended if I don't agree with them? 2. If God will blot out our sins, why do we have to give an account for every word that we speak?  3. What is the biblical distinction between t...

Episode 546 | Adriel Sanchez and Bill Maier answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com 1. In Mark 9, after Jesus freed a boy from a demon that his disciples couldn't command, he tells them that it would only come out through prayer and fasting. Can Christians really get rid of demons through prayer and fasting? 2. If God is sovereign over all things, how can we not also say he is sov...

Episode 545 | Adriel Sanchez and Bill Maier answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com 1. I have many good Christian friends who say that the mark of the beast is an actual physical mark of your body. My view is that it's simply a figurative way of speaking about the devil's ownership, much like being sealed with the Spirit refers to our security in belonging to Jesus. I tried to exp...

Episode 544 | Adriel Sanchez and Bill Maier answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com 1. Could you explain to me what it means to pray in the Holy Spirit? 2. Will people in an ongoing homosexual relationship go to heaven, even if they confess that they are Christians? 3. Why are churches still separated by race? We all say we are Christians, so why don't we go to church together? 4....

Episode 543 | Adriel Sanchez and Bill Maier answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com 1. I have a coworker who is an atheist. I invited her to church, but she said that she had bad experiences as a child because she is also lesbian. She said Christians told her God hates gay people and gay people aren't welcome in church. How do I continue to show Jesus to her without seeming too pu...

Episode 542 | Adriel Sanchez and Bill Maier answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com 1. I find myself struggling with the balance between being dedicated to growing in my faith and recognizing that I cannot fix myself. I'm wondering, how can I find peace in that tension that I am still growing? 2. I go to a church where a lot of people speak in tongues. I don't understand it, and b...

Episode 541 | Adriel Sanchez and Bill Maier answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com 1. I grew up in a church that would go into a lot of details about the book of Revelation, trying to discern if we were living in the last days and what it all meant, but I never understood the point or the big picture of what the book is about. What is the main thing I should get from reading Reve...

Episode 540 | Adriel Sanchez and Bill Maier answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com 1. I was wondering why it is that I always feel unsaved? How do I rely on the promise that I have been redeemed? I also struggle with sin very much. How do I find a good balance between resting on the idea that I'm already saved but I still live in the flesh and to fight sin to death? 2. Where does...

Episode 539 | Adriel Sanchez and Bill Maier answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com 1. I've noticed a lot of books in the Bible are named after people who supposedly wrote them even if the books never claims that. The gospels are an example of this. I'm wondering why this wouldn't affect our trust in Biblical inerrancy? 2. How do we respond to movies that are promoted as Christian...

Episode 538 | Adriel Sanchez and Bill Maier answer caller questions. Show Notes CoreChristianity.com 1. We're struggling to decide whether we should go to a church where we don't feel as comfortable or to one that we can agree with theologically. Do you have any advice? 2. If God exists, does that mean we have to assume everything that happens is what he wants to happen? 3. How do you understand ...