The Present-Day Saint

0048 - In this episode our friend David Halevy from Builders of Israel ( https://www.buildersofisrael.net/ ) joins us to discuss the topic of Universalism. I have recently been reading a book by Thomas Talbott called, "The Inescapable Love of God." It has challenged my in multiple ways and so I wanted to sit down with David to discuss this topic. In the episode we discuss the nature of H...

0047 - In this episode I interview Monique Duson, Racial Unity Advocate and Founder of The Center for Biblical Unity ( https://www.centerforbiblicalunity.com/ ). Monique spent two decades advocating for Critical Race Theory but ended up changing her position when she was confronted with the evidence (an act of intellectual strength). In this interview we talk about her history and how she changed...

0046 - In this episode I end up talking about a lot of things in a little bit of a stream of consciousness. The first thing I discuss is the suicide of Mike Adams, our former Ratio Christi Faculty Advisor at UNCW. I talk about how there wouldn't be a Ratio Christi chapter at UNCW if it were not for Mike. I also talk about the reality of suicide, especially in the Corona world. I also wanted t...

0045 - On this episode of the podcast I interview my friend Glen Levinzon who grew up nominally Jewish but converted to Catholicism a few years ago. We discuss Catholicism and Evangelicalism while also discussing a book I just read by Eric Metaxas, titled, "Martin Luther - The Man Who Rediscovered God and Changed the World." In the course of the interview we discuss some of the things th...

0044 - In this episode our friend David Halevy from Builders of Israel joins us to discuss our ministry vision. Both David and I have a vision to reach an unreached people group with the gospel - him in Israel and me in Utah. We also both also have a vision to train evangelicals in how to do apologetics and evangelism. What we realized is that these two visions match perfectly together. So our min...

0043 - This is the final episode of our Galatians study. We have walked through the entire book of Galatians verse by verse using "Galatians for You" by Tim Keller as our guide. In this final section Paul issues a final warning and then an invitation. His final warning is similar to the rest of the letter in regards to not going back to legalism. His invitation is to a life of peace and...

0042 - In this episode of our Galatians study we walk through the last verse of Chapter 5 and the first five verses of Chapter 6. Here Paul is challenging us to live out the implications of 5:13 - where he told us to love each other by serving each other. We talk about how we can't do that if I am focusing on myself. We discuss how insecurity and pride are really just two sides of the same co...

0041 - We continue our march through Galatians verse by verse by taking a look at Chapter 5, verses 16-25. In this section Paul talks about the works of the flesh and compares them to the fruit of the Spirit. We break down both lists. We also discuss what it means to walk in the Spirit vs. walking in the flesh. As always we use Tim Keller's, "Galatians For You" as our guide for the...

0040 - In this episode of the podcast we continue our march through Galatians verse by verse by looking at Chapter 5 - verses 1-15. As always we are using Tim Keller's "Galatians for You" as our guide through the epistle. In this section Paul begins to start applying the theological points he has been making in Chapters 1-4. He challenges us to walk in our Christian liberty but that...

0039 - In this episode we continue to walk through the book of Galatians verse by verse using Tim Keller's commentary, "Galatians for You" as our guide. In this section Paul challenges the Galatians that they can either live free in Jesus or put themselves back into bondage under the Mosaic Law. He uses Sarah and Hagar to represent those that are slaves and those that are free. Sara...

0038 - In this episode I got a chance to interview Chip Thompson, the Executive Director of Tri-Grace Ministries in Ephraim, Utah. In the interview Chip talks about why he moved his family here to Utah 30 years ago and he picked Ephraim, a small Mormon community in central Utah. He talks about starting a church and getting involved in the community in Ephraim. Eventually God led them to be engaged...

0037 - We continue our march through Galatians by taking a look at Chapter 4 - verses 8-20. As always we are using Tim Keller's "Galatians for You" as our guide through the book. In this section Paul discusses his changed relationship with the Galatians. They used to adore him and now they are angry at him. Why? Because he is challenging them with Gospel truth. The Judaizers are fla...

0036 - In this episode I interview Adam Tucker from Southern Evangelical Seminary about Epistemology!! Epistemology is just the study of how we know what is real. Many people think that we can't know anything at all or that we can't know anything for certain. If that is true then we certainly can't know if Christianity is true. In this episode Adam walks us through how we know thing...

0035 - We continue our walk through Galatians by taking a look at the end of Chapter 3 and the very beginning of Chapter 4. As always we are using Tim Keller's book, "Galatians For You" to walk through the book of Galatians verse by verse. In this episode we discuss what it means that those of us in Jesus are "all sons of God." We discuss what sonship means and why it matt...

0034 - In this episode I am joined again by David Halevy from Builders of Israel. In this episode we discuss what the Biblical Temple was and why it existed. We discuss the nature of the Temple in light of the Mosaic and Abrahamic Covenants. We talk about how the Temple was about the way we relate to Yahweh (God) and how the Temple showed us how unworthy we were. We then discuss how all that chang...

0033 - Welcome back to our walk through the book of Galatians using Tim Keller's book, "Galatians For You" as our guide. In this episode we examine what Paul has to say about the law. If we are under grace and not under law then what is the purpose of the law? Is the law bad? Was there two systems of salvation in the Bible - works in the Old Testament and grace in the New Testament?...

0031 - In this episode we continue our walk through Galatians verse by verse using Tim Keller's book, "Galatians for You" as our guide. In the second half of Chapter 2 we learn how Paul opposes Peter with the gospel and not just with condemnation. After just standing together at the Jerusalem Council in the first half of Chapter 2, Paul now opposes Peter to his face. Why does he do...

0032 - As we continue our march through the book of Galatians verse by verse we now come to Chapter 3 verses 1-14. In these verses Paul builds on what he has just challenged Peter with at the end of Chapter 2. The challenge is for all of us that are Christians. If we came to Christ through Faith then why are we now trying to finish the race through our own efforts. This is a very important message...

0029 - In this episode we walk through "41 Unique Teachings of the LDS Church" by Sandra Tanner. Sandra was a former Mormon who converted to Christianity when she and her husband began investigating the truth claims of the LDS church. In this book Sandra presents 41 unique teachings of the LDS church that separate them from Christianity. Many people ask me what the main differences are b...

0030 - In this episode we continue our walk through Galatians by looking at Ch.2:1-10. In this series we are walking through the book of Galatians verse by verse while using the book "Galatians for You" by Tim Keller as our guide. In episode we zoom in on the Jerusalem Council and the true gospel. The question at the council was whether the apostles were going to make Titus get circumcis...

0028 - This is the second episode of our Bible study through the book of Galatians. We are using the book "Galatians For You" by Tim Keller, as our guide to walk through Galatians verse by verse. In this show we examine the second half of Chapter 1. We discuss the nature of the gospel and Paul's conversion. We talk about what Paul did immediately after his conversion and why that is...

0026 - In this episode of the Present-Day Saint I update listeners on the upcoming plans for our ministry here in Utah. We have decided to stay in Utah for at least one more year to continue to build the Ratio Christi Chapters at The University of Utah and Utah Valley University. I am also going to try and start a Christian Study Center with a Cafe near the campus of BYU. I explain everything in t...

0027 - In this episode I begin a journey through the book of Galatians. We will walk through the book of Galatians verse by verse over the course of 13 podcasts. I will be using the book "Galatians for You" by Tim Keller as my main resource for this discussion. Please get a copy of this book for your own edification. In this first episode we see that Paul clearly states that there is onl...

0025 - In this episode Later-day Saint Kwaku El came on the show to discuss the recent debate he had with Evangelical Christian Aaron Shafovaloff ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMAKQ9g8zT8 ). In the beginning Kwaku shares a little about how and why he became a Mormon after converting from protestant Christianity. We then discuss each of the three main topics of the debate in detail. We discuss...

0024 - In this episode I discuss verses from the Bible that are commonly taken out of context. I start with Jeremiah 29:11 and demonstrate that this verse is not a promise to you. I discuss how the context of the whole chapter shows us who the verse is intended for and how we should properly interpret Scripture. I discuss how people have turned the Bible into a series of pithy sayings that we can...