Restitutio

Are you sold out for God?  Would you move to a foreign land if he called to the mission field?  Well, Stan and Pam Chee of Australia have done just that.  In this interview, they share about their lives of service to God and Christ.  They grew up in Australia but have been serving in Toronto, Canada for the last decade.  Of particular note is how they started and continue to do college outreach at...

Abortion has been and remains a hot-button issue in our culture at large and even within some corners of Christianity.  In this episode Jerry Wierwille will explain the issues with the only biblical text that directly addresses this subject (Exodus 21.22-5).  In addition to exegeting this confusing passage, Wierwille also draws on evidence from Psalm 51 before discussing some of the big picture et...

Scott Shay is an interesting man.  He’s a succesful business man and banker who co-founded a bank in 2001.  He even has a TEDx talk where he spoke on Wall Street on the theme, “More Banks, Fewer Problems.”  However, he’s also an orthodox Jew who is passionate about his faith.  In this interview we talk about his book, In Good Faith, including why he wrote it, why monotheism...

Jesus once said, “The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here” (Luke 11.31).  In our wisdom series so far, we’ve looked at the wisdom of Solomon from Proverbs and Ecclesiastes.  We’ve also delved...

Like Job, the book of Ecclesiastes wrestles with anomalies to the general principles of wisdom contained in much of the bible.  Sometimes our world functions in chaotic and unpredictable ways.  Sometimes the race is not won by the swift, nor the battle by the strong, nor bread harvested by the wise, nor riches acquired by the intelligent, nor favor gained by those with knowledge (Ecclesiastes 9.11...

The Hebrew Bible contains different kinds of wisdom literature.  For example, wise sayings in Proverbs typically express general principles, providing guidance for what to do when the world is working the way it’s supposed to.  However, Job deals with just the opposite issue.  What happens when you do everything right and still face extraordinary loss and suffering?  In this teaching we&#821...

What is the book of Proverbs all about and what can this book teach you about wisdom?  Join Jerry Wierwille as he leads you through Proverbs to gain key insights to be able to read it and benefit from it on your own.  Proverbs are not merely cutesy clever sayings, but helpful insights into how to act in a given situation.  Although you may think of the bible’s proverbs as unconditional promi...

Have you ever heard the saying, “doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results is the definition of insanity?”  It certainly sounds foolish to try the same approach over and over, thinking something different will happen.  So often, what we need is not more education or life hacks, but bona-fide wisdom.  Today we are beginning a series on wisdom.  Stan Chee of th...

I’ve got a fascinating interview for you with Becket Cook. Now some of you may recognize his name from the interview I did with him two years ago ( Interview 18 ). In that episode Cook shared his amazing testimony of how he went from a committed gay production set designer in Hollywood to experiencing God in a church service so deeply that it completely changed his life forever. Here’s...

This is the third and final part of our series, God at Work in Kenya with Maurice Chahilu of Kingdom Life Ministries.  We’ve come to see so much about what is going on over there, but there’s still more to learn.  Last time I had asked bishop Maurice about his greatest challenges and what he is doing to overcome them.  He shared about a number of concerns, but the last of them was abou...

Maurice Chahilu and Rebekah Martin This is part two of our series on God at Work in Kenya with a focus on Kingdom Life Ministries and Maurice Chahilu.  In our last episode we saw how Maurice got started in his ministry.  (If you haven’t listened to that episode yet, go back and listen to it first).  Today, we’ll hear about some of his major challenges, his emphasis on the great commiss...

God is doing something in Kenya and churches are forming and growing rapidly.  Today we are beginning a series of shows on the work of Kingdom Life Ministries and the visionary who began the work there, Maurice Chahilu. A few weeks ago I went to Africa to visit Maurice and the churches he oversees.  I was part of a team of missionaries who were going over to support the work that has been going on...

Today is the second and final part of my interview with Leah Fronczek on detoxing your brain.  See part one here .  We begin by talking about the importance of free will in effecting change before getting into the specifics of how to combat toxic thinking.  Learn about multitasking, daydreaming, community, forgiveness, and honesty as ways to combat negativity.  This episode will help you in your q...

At the beginning of each year, we have a young adult event called Revive in Connecticut.  This year Leah Fronczek was one of the workshop leaders.  Her topic was detoxing your brain and I asked her to come on Restitutio to share with you what she learned in studying this topic.  This is so important for us as Christians, because God expects us to be able to control our thinking (Romans 12.2).  How...

Last Saturday while I was attending a Christian festival in Ohio, a 21 year-old man entered a Walmart in El Paso, TX and murdered 22 people, injuring 24 more, making it the 7th deadliest shooting in modern US history.  What’s so crazy about this, is that walking into a huge store like Walmart and shooting a semi-automatic assault rifle and hitting 46 people is only 7th!  Can you agree with m...

Bill Schlegel lived in Israel for 34 years, much of that time spent studying and then teaching about the geography of the scriptures.  In this interview he provides three reasons why every bible-student should study the land of Israel: historical accuracy archeological accuracy geographical accuracy He also talks about his upcoming tour to Israel (March 19-April 2).  Get more information about tha...

An Antique Map of Palestine What do you know about Palestinians?  In this eye-opening interview with Gloria Olivier, we discuss the plight of Palestinians today.  Did you know that thousands of Christians live in the West Bank today under Israeli occupation?  In this interview, you’ll learn a little about the history of this conflict as well as what conditions are like on the ground.  Now I...

In our last episode , we laid the theological foundation for a new covenant doctrine: Christ fulfilled the Law and ratified the new covenant, which opened a new way of relating to God apart from obedience to Torah.  Now we will discuss a number of texts that sometimes confuse Christians into thinking the Law is still in effect today.  We’ll cover Jesus’ obedience to Torah, several scri...

We are now in our second-to-last episode in this 24-part theology class, covering the major biblical doctrines as well as various counterarguments.  Today we will focus our time on the New Covenant.  We’ll make our way through biblical history in order to understand the grand sweep of the bible, paying special attention to the old and new covenants.  Of special note for this lecture is what...

Pull up a chair and listen in as we discuss and wrestle with some verses that proponents of eternal security use to make their case.  Now there will be some overlap here with our last episode, but also some new content as well.  We’ll discuss texts that seem to imply that salvation has nothing to do with works, that we already have eternal life, that salvation is permanent, and lastly that t...

We’ll delve into the multifaceted theology of salvation (aka soteriology).  We’ll look at all three tenses of salvation: how we were saved, are being saved, and will be saved.  Now, I realize this can be a very sensitive and controversial subject, depending on what your preexisting doctrinal commitments are.  However, I simply ask that you listen carefully and test what I say here agai...

Finally, we arrive at practical theology or Christian ethics.  Although, we could easily spend fifteen lectures together building up a full edifice of how God wants us to live, in this episode we’ll simply lay the foundation stones of following Jesus.  What I mean by follow is to read his words and do them, especially when what he says conflicts with our sensibilities, comfort, or common sen...

In this lecture, you’ll learn what Jesus and the book of Acts have to say about conversion.  From Jesus, we will examine his parable of the Sower with special focus on the good soil–those who hear the message, understand it, accept it, hold it fast, and bear fruit.  Next we’ll work through all of the conversions in the book of Acts to discover the four elements of conversion: bel...

Last time we looked at the major categories the scriptures use to answer the question, “Why did Jesus die?”  This time, we’ll take a journey through church history, making stops along the way to see how our forebearers have made sense of the crucifixion of our Lord. You’ll learn about these seven theories: Ransom Christus Victor Moral Exemplar Satisfaction Penal Substitutio...

Why did Jesus die? Historically, we could say it was because the Roman Empire perceived him as a threat or the religious leaders in Jerusalem feared he would ignite an unwinnable revolution. Even so, the bible offers a number of theological answers that go far beyond the immediate circumstances of his crucifixion. In this lecture you’ll learn about the eight main biblical reasons why Jesus d...