Theology For the Rest of Us | Quick Answers to the Questions About God and the Bible

There are more than 40,000 Christian denominations in the world today. But this wasn't always the case. For the first several centuries of the church, there was only one branch of Christianity. But in 1054 the Great Schism took place, separating the eastern churches from the western churches. This formed the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church, and the beginning of major factions within Christianity. In this episode, Kenny gives us a "mini history lesson" about the development of the Roman Catholic Church and its evolution away from quality Christian doctrine. This drift away from orthodoxy eventually causes certain priests and church leaders to rebel against the church, which turns into the Protestant Reformation, ignited mostly by Martin Luther, a German monk and Catholic priest seeking to bring reforms to the Catholic Church. Kenny outlines Luther's impact and explains how the launching of the Lutheran Church eventually led to the launching of many other denominations within Christianity.

Praying in the name of Jesus is extremely powerful. Through prayer, we can literally change the course of human history. Unfortunately, most people do not understand what it means to pray "in Jesus' name." Most people just say a prayer and then simply tack on the words "in Jesus' name" at the end of the prayer, but this is done out of ritual, and becomes a form of legalism. In this episode, Kenny explains that praying "in the name of Jesus" means to pray in the manner Jesus would pray and to pray for things that Jesus would pray for. If you are asking God for the things that Jesus Himself would have asked for, when He was on planet Earth, and you pray with the same attitudes and sentiments with which Jesus would have prayed, then you are praying "in his name" even if you don't actually say those words at the end of the prayer. Highlighted Passages: John 14:14 1 John 5:14-15

Our friend Mike Adams returns to the podcast for a second time to talk about God's affection for us. In our previous episode with Mike, we talked about "performance based" Christianity. In this episode, Mike talks about our fear of embracing grace and our misunderstanding of God's love. Mike spends time making clear to us that God's affection is always "full on" for us. So often, we as Christians struggle to really believe that God loves us. We struggle to really believe that God is not mad at us. And we often have a very hard time embracing the unconditional grace that God has made available for us. But Mike's message is very clear: God likes you, God delights in you, God loves spending time with you, God has made unconditional grace available for you.

Discipleship is the process of becoming a better disciple of Jesus and the process of intentionally building and cultivating relationships with others in order to help them become better disciples of Jesus. Tragically, discipleship is often misunderstood and simply relegated to a Sunday school class or curriculum, but discipleship is learning how to live a life fully engaged with the God, not just learning information about God. In this episode, Kenny unpacks the origins of the word disciple, tracing its roots back to the first-century-BC rabbinical system where rabbis recruited disciples to preach and teach their methods, theology, and philosophy. We are to take the principles of the rabbinical system and apply them to our local contemporary context. In discipleship we do two things: - We seek to know Jesus well - We seek to mentor others so that they will know Jesus well

In this episode, guest host Ricky Jones talks about the Trinity being a "spiral of delight" between three distinct Divine persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) wherein they are absolutely in love with one another, gushing over one another, crazy about one another. Ricky paints the picture of incredible love between the members of the Trinity. In addition, Ricky makes clear that God's mission was to invite us into that spiral of delight, so that we can experience the love and affection God has for us. Furthermore, understanding the depth of this spiral of delight helps us see how much God loves us. God was willing to rupture the spiral of delight for a period of time, sending Jesus to Earth, so that we could be saved. The members of the Godhead love each other desperately, and hate being separated, but were willing to be separated for a brief moment in history (the time that Jesus was on Earth), to make a way for our sins to be forgiven. God was willing to rupture the perfect harmony that He has been experience for all of eternity past, so that Jesus could accomplish a task on our behalf. God loves us so much, He was willing to break Himself apart, so that we could be rescued. God's affection for us is so great, He would do anything to bring us into the spiral of delight. Without understanding the nature of the Trinity, it is impossible to see and understand how much God loves us. Understanding the Trinity gives us insight into understanding just how far God was willing to go to bring us into the spiral of delight. Follow Ricky Jones on Twitter: @revrickydean Find Ricky Jones on Facebook: facebook.com/ricky.jones.923

Jesus didn't say, "It is MOSTLY Finished!" Of course, most Christians know that Jesus actually proclaimed: "It is finished!" while He was hanging on the cross, but so many of us sometimes live as if He didn't finish the job; like we've got to come up with the finishing touches. Many Christians believe they must "perform" for God. Many of us can accept the fact that we need Jesus to secure our salvation, but we often then move into feeling like we must "do" something to make ourselves into good Christians. However, when we begin to believe or feel this, it always leads us into legalism. In this episode, our guest host Mike Adams talks about the different forms of legalism, and spends time unpacking the common trend of many Christians falling into a "legalism of do" that is devastating to our lives, our relationships, our spiritual health, and always leads us to being "fake" with other people. Mike says this happens when we jump into sanctification without focusing on our justification. He tells us that performance-based Christianity is "sanctification gone wild." Mike also talks about the antidote to the problem: Embracing God's true love and affection for you! Mike Adams was a pastor and church planter for more than 20 years. Today he focuses on blogging and podcasting.

Sanctification is the process that God takes us through to make us more like Jesus. The goal of sanctification is that we will live and love the way Jesus did. This process is ignited when we place our faith in Christ, which is the moment that God fully justifies us and also fully transforms us and indwells us with the Holy Spirit. The process of sanctification continues in our lives as the Holy Spirit continually works in our hearts and minds. In this episode, Kenny clearly explains what sanctification actually is, how it works itself out in our lives, and he highlights the promise that God has made to complete the work of sanctification in our lives. Kenny also outlines several different views on sanctification (the traditional Protestant view, the Wesleyan view of achieving Christian perfection, and the "new mystics" view of instant sanctification). Highlighted Passages: – Romans 8:29-30 – Philippians 1:6 Recommended Books: - Five Views on Sanctification (various authors, published by Zondervan)  

Justification is the central doctrine at the heart of the Gospel message. Justification is the act of God whereby God chooses to completely remove the guilt sin. Justification was the central doctrine by which the entire Protestant Reformation was ignited, and brought massive change and revival across Europe in the 16th century. Justification is much greater than merely a pardon. A pardon is declaring that a guilty person does not have to suffer the consequences of his guilt, but justification is something different and greater. Justification says that the guilt itself has been removed, declaring the person innocent and therefore not deserving of any penalty whatsoever. In this episode, Kenny clearly explains what justification actually is, and makes the point that justification is not progressive. Kenny also outlines how we can receive justification (by faith alone, not by works we do), and he explains how justification tangibly impacts our lives.   Highlighted Passages: - Romans 4:20-5:1 - Romans 5:10 - Galatians 2:16   Recommended Books: - Redefined (by Kenneth Ortiz)

If you've been around Christian circles for a while, at some point you've probably heard someone talk about legalism, or at minimum you've probably heard someone mention something they found to be legalistic. Legalism is relying upon your own effort to get God to like you more or make yourself feel more spiritual. Legalism can take several different forms. Regardless of the form, legalism can be devastating to our emotional and spiritual health. In this episode, Kenny defines "legalism" and unpacks the different forms of legalism we face. By highlighted the words of the Apostle Paul in Galatians and by examining some contemporary Christian trends, Kenny clearly explains how legalism impacts our lives in a negative manner. Kenny also talks about how we often fall into legalism and he gives us some insights as to how we can avoid it. Recommended Books: - Scandalous Freedom (Steve Brown) - Ragamuffin Gospel (Brennan Manning) - What's So Amazing About Grace (Philip Yancey)

We've all heard someone say, "Don't judge me!" Should we follow that request? Or we've heard someone say, "Only God can judge me!" But is this true? What does the Bible say? In this episode, Kenny defines the word "judge" and points out how the words of Jesus have often been manipulated. Some people claim that we should never judge, but the truth is judging is both appropriate and expected, as long as we judge righteously. There is an RIGHTEOUS form of judgment and there is an UNRIGHTEOUS form of judgment. It is essential that we know the difference. Highlighted Passages: Matthew 7:1-5 John 7:24

In this short episode, Kenny answers a few simple questions about the word "Amen"? Kenny also makes several jokes, talks about his love for Chick-fil-a sauce, and there's even an appearance from the Beetles. For centuries, it has been the tradition of Christians to say "Amen" quite often. Many times we say it after a prayer, and sometimes we say it when we agree with the pastor's "good preaching" in church. But what does this word mean? And why do we say it? This episode answers those questions.

In this episode, Kenny continues his interview with author and speaker Blaise Foret, talking about the power and importance of discovering and embracing grace. When we truly see grace, it greatly impacts our lives. In this interview, Blaise talks about fear-based church ministry cultures, his journey away from the mainstream Charasmatic church, and his discovery of grace-filled ministry. Blaise challenges listeners to always remain "open minded" and objective when evaluating doctrines, and reminds us that focusing on Christ is always greater than focusing on our specific doctrines. Connect with Blaise Foret at www.blaiseforet.com  

In this episode, Kenny talks with author and speaker Blaise Foret about seeing people the same way Jesus saw people. Blaise has often been accused of being a "hyper-grace" preacher, but Blaise feels that he's simply trying to get Christians to view all people through the lens of love and grace. In this interview, Blaise makes the point that many Christians have fallen into the trap of seeing people as "projects" that need to be fixed instead of humans that long to be loved. Connect with Blaise Foret at www.blaiseforet.com

This episode is a response to a comment that was left on our website. The comment challenged Kenny's thoughts on masturbation, outlined in episode 14: Is Masturbation Really Sin? In the previous episode, Kenny outlined his opinion that masturbation is not necessarily sinful, but that it could be harmful, therefore it ought to be avoided. However, the comment/charge (to which we are responding) sought to make the case that Genesis 38 does indeed condemn both masturbation and birth control. So, does Genesis 38 actually condemn masturbation & birth control? Or not? In Genesis 38, God labels Onan wicked and eventually puts him to death. What was Onan's sin? Why did God kill him? Some commentators and preachers might say it appears that God is angry with Onan for "wasting his semen" on the ground, so this has caused some people to condemn masturbation. Onan was also having sex in a way to avoid pregnancy, which has led some Christians to say that birth control is sinful. But is that what the passage is actually talking about? In this episode of the podcast, Kenny addresses these thoughts and concerns, and he points out that Genesis 38 is actually pointing to something much larger and grander; and that is the importance of men fulfilling their responsibilities and duties as men. Highlighted Passages: - Genesis 38:8-10 - 1 Corinthians 10:23  

Many people would verbally claim to believe that the Holy Spirit is fully God, but yet there is still a lot of confusion about the nature of the Holy Spirit. Some people seem to believe the Holy Spirit is some sort of "cosmic force" like we see in the Star Wars movies. But Christian orthodoxy tells us that the Holy Spirit is far greater than that. God exists in three co-equal persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Each member of the Godhead is distinct and unique from each other, but they are each fully God. In this episode, Kenny specifically focuses on the divinity of the Holy Spirit, clearly making the case that the Holy Spirit is God.   Highlighted Passages: Acts 5:3-4 Psalm 139:7-8 1 Corinthians 2:11-12 1 John 2:27 John 14:26 John 14 & 15 Job 33:4 Psalm 104:30