Defending and Commending the Faith With Dr. Joe L. Mott, inviting the atheist, agnostic and skeptic to examine for themselves the evidence for the Christian faith

References: (1) “Decision Making and the Will of God” by Garry Friesen with J. Robin Maxson. (2) The expression “the WILL of God” is used in the Bible in 4 different ways: God’s SOVEREIGN will, His REVEALED will, and under the heading of the revealed will I have affirmed that God has a will for INDIVIDUAL BELIEVERS. The fourth is His MORAL WILL. (3) For the last sever...

References: (1) Wisdom in Scripture always means knowledge of the course of ACTION that will PLEASE God. (2) You may know already that the whole of the Bible gives the unfolding story of redemption. But another great theme of the Bible is the will of God. I intend to show that each testament portrays that theme throughout. (3) In the OT several groups of books are distinguishable partly by their S...

References: (1) The 11th fundamental parameter: The Christian faith is OTHER-WORLDLY. (2) “God’s Ultimate Purpose: An Exposition of Ephesians 1” by David Martin Lloyd-Jones. (3) “Ephesians: An Expository Commentary “ by James Boice Montgomery. (4) Review of 3 keys. This is episode 156.

References: (1) Although God’s plans and directions for each believer are not found in Scripture per se, the general foundational parameters/essential guidelines are there, and if we operate within those boundaries we can be confident we are operating in concert with what pleases Him. (2) God has His sovereign will and His revealed will. (3) Deut. 29:29 tells us that the “secret things...

References: (1) “Ephesians” by John MacArthur. (2) God’s will is for you to be SUBMISSIVE. (3) God’s will may include SUFFERING. (4) Believers in Christ will discover an UNCOMPROMISING TRUTH that the world DOESN’T WANT to hear, namely, that the NATURE of God to whom “each of us shall give an account of himself to God” [Rom. 14:12], the predicament of human...

References: (1) I begin by addressing the foundational parameters, that is, essential GUIDELINES for every Christian to discern God’s will for an individual. (2) We know without a doubt that God DESIRES all people to be saved, but some are NOT SAVED. This fact is totally CONTRARY to the idea of UNIVERSALISM. (3) According to the Greek scholar Kenneth Wuest the verb “filled” is in...

References: (1) The Greek word [dokimazo] for “prove” signifies to APPROVE after a CAREFUL EXAMINATION, to arrange and execute a TEST, and to ACCEPT and HEED the results of a test. (2) To be able to discern the will of God rests on 2 FUNDAMENTAL FACTS: first, the REALITY that God has a PLAN for His children ; second, the ABILITY of God to COMMUNICATE that plan to us. (3) In their book...

References: (1) Paul is saying there must be a RADICAL CHANGE in the inner man for one to live rightly in this age. (2) The 1966 edition of the Random House Dictionary of the English Language. (3) A working definition of radical as it applies to human behavior: Radical describes an expression of “strict adherence to a worldview that is at EXTREME ODDS with the cultural NORM.” (4) Jesus...

References: (1) We conclude Christians need to be GUIDED and DIRECTED by a compelling desire to DO the will of God. I would say that this is the most FOUNDATIONAL and ESSENTIAL PURSUIT in Christian living — doing the will of God. (2) Erroneous concepts regarding the will of God. (A) People l say that they were SEARCHING FOR and trying to FIND the will of God. That may indicate that they thin...

References: References: (1) The followers of Jesus were generally spoken of in those days as “the Way.” (2) Saul of Tarsus was accosted by the resurrected Jesus. (3) This is the SUPREME QUESTION each follower of Christ must confront and answer: Am I really operating in the will of God? (4) The 1995 book “Finding the Will of God” written by Bruce Waltke, professor emeritus o...

References: (1) Voddie Baucham says every person who has ever lived or will ever live are dealing with what he narrows down to the 4 questions: 1) Who am I? That goes to the nature of man and points to our origins. 2) Why am I here? Or what is the meaning of life? 3) What is wrong with the world? It obvious to practically everyone that there is something dramatically wrong with the world. 4) How c...

References: (1) Secular humanism is a philosophy (a worldview in other words) that embraces human REASON, secular ETHICS, and philosophical NATURALISM while specifically REJECTING ANY RELIGIOUS DOGMA. It is a form of ATHEISM that elevates humanity and its achievements to the SUPREME position in the universe. (2) In his book “A Reasonable Faith” Tony Campolo listed 4 primary characteris...

References: (1) “Soul Searching” by Christian Smith with Melinda Lundquist Denton. (2) The Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is about belief in a particular KIND of God: one who exists, created the world, and defines our general moral order, but NOT ONE who is personally involved in one’s affairs. (3) his book “Wordviews in Conflict,” the philosopher Ronald Nash says, &ldq...

References: (1) “The Future of Religion: Secularization, Revival, and Cult” by William S. Bainbridge and Rodney Stark. (2) TIME magazine joined the bandwagon with the April 8, 1966 issue with the red on black cover gut- punch question on the cover asking: Is God Dead? (3) Near the end of the 19th century Friedrich Nietzsche started his “God is dead” movement. (4)“Radi...

References: (1) 5 Minute Videos on Prager University on “Judeo-Christian Values” by Dennis Prager. (2) The foundations of the Judeo-Christian values can be summarized in the “Golden Rule” which Jesus taught in Matt. 7:12, “So in everything, do unto others what you would have them do to you, for THIS sums up the Law and the Prophets.” (3) The apostle Paul gives a...

References: (1) “The Black Book of the American Left” and “Dark Agenda, the War to Destroy Christian America” by David Horowitz. (2) In the “Dark Agenda” Horowitz warns that the that the attacks on Christians and their beliefs threaten all Americans. (3) The left is using a huge eraser to remove all VESTIGES of the Christian faith on those who founded our nation...

References: (1) The term “linguistic theft” refers to the HIGHJACKING of the ORDINARY meaning of a word, changing its definition, and then using the NEW MEANING as a tool for political PROPAGANDA. (2) It seems to me that when a person has no rational argument in opposition to my avowed stand against “same-sex marriage” or “abortion,” the left resorts to name-cal...

References: (1) The 2022 Barna Survey that disclosed that 80% of the young people of ages 18-29 are leaving the church, and of the teenagers parents only 2% live by a biblical worldview. (2) The 5 most consequential questions in life. 1. Origin: Where did I come from? 2. Identity: Who am I? 3. Meaning: Why am I here? 4. Morality: How should I live? 5.Destiny: Where am I going? (3) The answer to th...

References: (1) I intend discussing some of the things that contribute to the turmoil, in particular, the woes of Communism and that of the philosophy of postmodernism. (2) Our educational system in America also contributes to the turmoil. (3) Our educational system has gone downhill for some time, and I think NEA is partly to blame. (4) Everything in life has the potential of being a benefit or a...

References: (1) Islam’s 5 claims against Christianity. (2) The third claim: Jesus is not divine. (3) Islam completely ignores the many New Testament passages which testify to the deity of Jesus. (4) Allah as absolute unity. (5) Islam’s claim # 4: God is not triune, but polytheistic. (6) Some of the early church councils adopted the unfortunate language speaking of Mary as the “Mo...

References: (1) “Christian Apologetics” by Douglas Groothuis. (2) Islam makes 5 major claims against Christianity: (a) The Bible has been corrupted. (b) Jesus was not crucified. (c) Jesus is not divine. (d) God is not triune. (e) Jesus was merely a prophet of Islam. (3) Website got questions.org. (4) Gary Habermas on YouTube gives fundamental facts about the resurrection of Jesus inclu...

References: (1) 5 Pillars of Islam, the fundamental practices and duties of all Muslims. (2) Jihad, or holy war which some radical groups have exalted to the level of a pillar of Islam. (3) Apparently more moderate Muslims think of jihad as being a sacred struggle with the word rather than with the sword. (4) In Islam salvation, then, is ultimately dependent on works, contrary to the Christian dec...

References: (1) “Answering Islam” by Norman Geisler and Abdul Saleeb. (2) The central proclamation of Islam, called the Shahada, is: “There is no God but Allah, and Muhammad is His messenger.” (3)”Seeking Allah Finding Jesus” by Nabeel Quresh. (4) “Christian Apologetics” by Douglas Groothuis. (5) 6 Articles of Faith, the fundamental Muslim beliefs. (...

References: (1) The United States Marine Anthem includes the phrase “From the halls of Montezuma to the shore of Tripoli.” That phrase refers to 2 campaigns for which the US Marines and the Army were engaged in victory. The first was when piracy was overcome in Tripoli, and the second refers to the Battleof Chapultepec, during the Mexican-American War in 1847 where the US Marines and A...

(1) Voddie Baucham’s 4 questions to test the quality of worldviews. (2) “A World of Difference” by Kenneth Richard Samples gives 9 tests for a worldview. (3) “What’s Your Worldview?” by James N. Anderson. (4) Islam: A Short History” by Karen Armstrong. (5) Islam (meaning surrender). (6) A Muslim was a person who made this submission of their entire being t...