Prepared to Answer Podcast

When departing those we love, the last thing we say is usually the most important. What were Jesus’ last words for us? The answer is found in Jesus’ final prayer to his Father for us. In it he makes several requests, but the last one is this: Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me ; for You loved Me before t...

In 2015, The Pew Research Center reported that for every individual who becomes a Christian four leave ( source ). More recently a chain of very public and prominent Christians has emerged, declaring that they too have decided to leave Christianity.  What are we to make of such phenomena, and how should we react to them? In this episode, Scott and Shawn discuss the seemingly growing trend of “deco...

How can fountains and rivers help you understand the walk of faith? And what your faith walk can be like? Fountains are on a loop. The water goes nowhere. Actually, it goes right back where it came from. In contrast, rivers are always moving and changing. They never turn back, but always move ahead. In this video, Matt explains the importance of moving from comfortable to risk-taking . And how you...

What do you do when you find yourself in a season of doubt? How do you process the questions that can threaten to overwhelm your faith? What about when you find yourself wrestling with faith questions on an ongoing basis? Listen in as Scott asks Matt, our newest team member, about his past experience in dealing with doubt in his faith walk.  Matt unpacks the journey that led him through a crisis o...

Christians believe that God answers prayer. But if we’re honest, we don’t always see God’s answers, or if we do it isn’t until much, much later.  That’s why it’s so thrilling when God miraculously supplies a clear, direct, and obvious answer to prayer. It can leave you with a sense of wonder, and renew your faith in exciting ways. In this special podcast episode, Scott and Shawn sit down with Matt...

No words could be more painful or create greater panic than your teen declaring their departure from faith in Christ. Our greatest desire is to see our children grow into mature and committed followers of Jesus. When those dreams appear to burst into flames before our eyes it can seem devastating. My wife and I are still in the parenting years. We can certainly empathize with these feelings. Throu...

One evening after Bible reading and prayer, my son asked yet another good kid question: “Dad, how come I can’t see God?”  I’m not sure why it’s always at bedtime that kids ask the hardest questions. Perhaps it’s because that’s when we finally slow down long enough for them to feel like it’s a good time to talk.  Whatever the reason, we can be thankful for these God orchestrated encounters, and jus...

Everywhere you look, everyone else is bending over backwards to show how inclusive they are. From businesses to banks, schools and charities, inclusion is our culture’s highest good and woe to you if you aren’t "included among the inclusive".  There's great pressure, especially for Christian youth, to denounce anything that would not affirm everything. This is especially true around...

Have you ever wondered why God made male and female? Today more than ever, this is an important question. There is so much cultural pressure to deny or relativize gender distinctions.  Wouldn’t you like to have a clear, biblically-based understanding of why God made us as men and women and how it fits in with his eternal purpose?  There is a simple reason why Christians cannot conform to society’s...

The doctrine of the Trinity is one of the most important teachings of the Christian faith, and yet admittedly one of the most difficult to understand, especially for kids. In the history of the church, no one has been able to completely explain the Trinity. That’s because the finite (us) cannot fully grasp the infinite (God). Nothing caused me more trepidation during nightly Bible reading with my...

Let’s face it, we’re addicted to our smartphones.  What is it about them that’s so irresistible? Research demonstrates how they affect our brains in addiction-forming ways. Their real addictive power, however, doesn’t come from the phones themselves but what they feed: our addiction to distraction. We’re distraction addicts because distraction lets us avoid the truths we don’t want to face. And to...

Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are often referred to as the three Abrahamic faiths. Each traces its historical roots to the Old Testament patriarch, Abraham. They also share many similar beliefs about God, causing many to conclude that, notwithstanding their differences, Christians, Jews, and Muslims all worship the same God. But is this really true? Is the God who is worshipped by Christians, J...

Being a Christian isn’t a matter of thinking vs. not-thinking. It’s a matter of where our thinking starts from. Ultimately there are only two places where thinking can start:  Either believing truth begins with God, or truth begins with us. Either God’s truth is true, or mine is. These are our only two options. Learning to think like Jesus, then, begins with trusting that God is the starting point...

Christians who love Jesus desire to live like him. But so often the sin that remains in us causes us to fail and fall short. Does this mean living like Jesus is an impossible goal? Since sin entered the world through the embrace of a lie (Romans 1:25 ), victory over sin comes as the Holy Spirit re-shapes our minds according to God's truth revealed in Jesus. In this episode, Scott discusses th...

Christians can sometimes be accused of cherry picking the Bible, especially from among Old Testament laws and commands. For example, quoting commands that prohibit homosexual behaviour (Leviticus 18:22), but then completely ignoring commands that prohibit weaving two different fabrics together. (Leviticus 19:19). In truth, Christians can be guilty of selective Bible reading. We dismiss some comman...

A while back we published a couple articles about whether Jordan Peterson was a Christian , or if his message could point us to Christ . Jordan since suffered a severe health crisis and was forced for a time to withdraw from the public stage. Thankfully, he’s resurfaced. And so has his considerable influence in attracting people to the Bible and Christianity. Further still, he continues to attract...

If Christians were honest, there are some commands in the Old Testament that we wish weren’t there. This is especially true when it comes to commands given to Israel regarding the keeping of slaves. Recently we conversed with a skeptic who challenged the goodness and truth of the Bible by pointing these commands out. “There you have it! The Bible endorses slavery. How can you worship a God like th...

Sometimes life can seem so unfair. We face suffering that we feel we don't deserve, or are deprived of the good that we feel we do deserve. The seeming unfairness of life can challenge our faith like nothing else. Needless to say, it’s very difficult to comprehend inside of grief what we never took time to understand outside of it. Why does God allow such injustices? Why can wicked people som...

John 3:16 is arguably the best known verse in the Bible. It shows up on signs, cards, posters, billboards, t-shirts and even at football games.  But could it be that for all its familiarity, we have been blinded to its meaning?  As a pastor I would stand to the side of the pulpit, stretch my arms out wide and say, “Jesus’ outstretched arms on the cross was God’s way of saying that he loves us ‘thi...

Previously, in episode 10 and episode 11 , we looked at the issues around the proposed anti-conversion therapy legislation in Canada under Bill C-6. While controversy surrounds the debate about the specific language of Bill C-6, the bill in its present form supplies Christians with a window of understanding into the worldview that lies behind it. By taking time to understand the way people in our...

One of the church’s earliest and greatest thinkers and theologians, after the Apostles, was a man by the name of Augustine. His father was a pagan, but his mother was a devout Christian woman, Monica, who sought to raise her son in the Christian faith. Despite her best efforts, Augustine drifted from his mother’s teaching into a promiscuous life of adolescent sinful indulgence. He transgressed fur...

Part of Christian witness is not only declaring the truth found in Jesus, but exposing the lies that would keep that truth hidden from people. Like any idol, laws like Bill C-6 are a reflection of our culture’s ultimate beliefs.  Without laying aside our concerns such laws pose to civil liberties, we ought to reflect on what they tell us about the deceptive, false beliefs that Satan is using to ho...

Bill C-6, an act to ban conversion therapy, awaits final vote in Canada’s Parliament. The stated purpose of the bill is to protect people from harmful or coercive practices to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.  The problem with Bill C-6, however, is how it defines “conversion therapy”. The wording is so vague that many fear it being used to deny even beneficial therapeutic p...

Bill C-6 was introduced to the Canadian House of Commons on October 1, 2020. The stated purpose of the bill is to criminalize conversion therapy practices in Canada.  While the stated intention is to be against any coercive practice or treatment that would seek to alter a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity against their will, the legislation contains language and definitions that are s...

Are you feeling burdened or overwhelmed by our rapidly changing society? The culture changes we’re experiencing don’t just affect news headlines. They impact real relationships with the people we love and care about most. Join me, Scott Stein, for The Gospel and Culture, an immersive and practical video study that will show you how to think critically and biblically about identity, gender, and spi...