Reconnect

Reconnect is the podcast dedicated to sharing and defending the Good News of Jesus Christ hosted by Andy Wrasman, founder of Contradict Movement and author of Contradict - They Can't All Be True.

107. Godparents - What Are They For? 09/11/2019

106. Sharing the Gospel with 21st Century Technology 03/13/2018

105. Lutheran Theology Part 6 11/28/2017

104. Thanksgiving Special 2017 11/22/2017

103. Luther's 95 Theses (Reaction!) 10/31/2017

102. Lutheran Theology Part 5 10/10/2017

101. Are Scripture and Darwinian Evolution Compatible? 10/03/2017

100. Songs of Protest and Apocalypse 09/26/2017

99. Lutheran Theology Part 4 06/27/2017

98. Sharing the Gospel with Kids 06/13/2017

97. Lutheran Theology Part 3 05/23/2017

96. Christians Talking The Walking Dead 05/16/2017

95. Lutheran Theology Part 2 05/09/2017

94. Lutheran Theology Part 1 05/02/2017

94. Lutheran Theology Part 1 The Nature of God The doctrine of the Trinity states that there is only one God, yet God exists in three distinct persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (Deuteronomy 6:4; Isaiah 44:6; Matthew 28:19; and 2 Corinthians 13:14) All three persons of the Trinity are eternal, not created, nor made. The Father begets the Son. The Son is eternally begotten of the Father. The Holy Spirit eternally proceeds from the Father and the Son who send him. In addition to being eternal (Psalm 90:2; Exodus 3:14; John 1:1; Romans 1:20; and Revelation 22:13), all three person of the Trinity are each omnipresent (Psalm 139:7-13 and Jeremiah 23:23-24), omniscient (Psalm 139:1-5 and 1 John 3:20), omnipotent (Luke 1:37 and Ephesians 3:20), immutable (Numbers 23:29 and Malachi 3:6), and love (1 John 4:8). Concerning the character of the Triune Lord, all three persons are holy (Isaiah 6:3 and 55:8-9), good (Psalm 145:9), just (Deuteronomy 32:4), merciful (Micah 7:18 and Luke 1:50), gracious (Joel 2:13), and patient (2 Peter 3:9). The Origins of the Universe Scripture teaches that God created all things out of nothing by his spoken word (Genesis 1, Psalm 33:6, and Hebrews 11:3). Scripture teaches that God created all things in six days and that he rested on the seventh, which is the basis of the Sabbath command for man to work for six days and rest on the seventh. (Exodus 20:9-11; 31:15-17) Each day of creation was an evening and a morning. (Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, and 31) The immediacy of creation through God’s spoken word also supports a six day creation period. The LCMS rejects theistic evolution. Man came from God’s direct and intimate work of creation, not from his hand of involvement in millions of years of death in the animal kingdom. (Genesis 2) Scripture also teaches that death entered the world through one man’s sin (Romans 5:12), not through God’s process of creation. The Fall into Sin The doctrine of Original Sin teaches that all men are sinful, inheriting a sinful nature from the moment of their conception. David writes, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me” (Psalm 51:5, NIV). Every human inherits Adam’s guilt and the wrath that comes with it. Paul writes, “By our very nature we were subject to God's anger, just like everyone else” (Ephesians 2:3, NLT). God’s response to original sin is the new Adam, Jesus Christ. “For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God's grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many” (Romans 5:15, NIV)! /episode/index/show/reconnect/id/5309386

93. Why Don't Christians Care More About Their Sins? 04/25/2017

92. Presuppositions and Evidence in Christian Apologetics 04/18/2017

91. Holy Week 2017 04/10/2017

90. Contradictions in the Bible Quiz Show 04/05/2017

89. Re: You Are CONTRADICTing Jesus 03/28/2017

88. Was the Church Totally Wrong in the Crusades 03/21/2017

87. Surfing Sye Ten Bruggencate's Website 03/07/2017

85. Christianity in Five Verses 02/21/2017

85. Christianity in Five Verses Aaron Puls shares the Doctrine of Justification with Andy Wrasman and Jonathan Rutherford, using Dr. Rod Rosenbladt’s sermon “Christianity in Five Verses” as a guide. Justification is God’s declaration that sinners are innocent on account of Christ’s death on the cross that atones for all of our sins. This is pure gift! We are declared innocent, though we are guilty. Justice is still served, since the penalty for our sins were paid in full by Jesus of Nazareth. Objective Justification is a doctrine that states that Jesus died for all sins, past, present, and future, for all people. Individual receives the benefits of Christ’s saving work through faith, which is the doctrine of Subjective Justification. This means that though Jesus died for everyone only those who receive the grace he won for us through faith are saved. Another important doctrine is Sanctification. Unlike Justification, which is instantons, and a declaration of innocence for the sinner, Sanctification is a process. It is the process of becoming holy. Though we are declared holy, it does not mean that we are now sinless. In Justification, we are declared just though we are sinners. At the exact moment of Justification, the process of Sanctification begins, and it carries on throughout the life of the believer, completed at death, at which time the sinful nature is gone for the believer, once and forever. Sadly, many Christians look to their Sanctification as the assurance of their Justification. This is a mistake which plagues the believer with doubt of salvation, leading to utter despair or self-righteousness. The mingling of Sanctification and Justification points the believer away from Christ’s work inward to each man’s own heart and works. Aaron plays video clips from John MacArthur, Francis Chan, N.T. Wright, and John Piper. Do they get Justification right? Or do they mingle Sanctification and Justification? Do they point us to Christ for assurance of salvation, or do they point us to ourselves? /episode/index/show/reconnect/id/5099386

84. Muslims in America and One Nation Under Which God? 02/14/2017

84. Muslims in America and One Nation Under Which God? Part I – The Majority of Muslims in America are Concerned (Fearful?) about Islamic Extremism I read a recent article by Ken Chitwood, a guest on episode 16 of Reconnect, entitled, “What Does God Require of Us Amid Rising Islamophobia?” that exhorts us to defend the rights of Muslims, reach out to Muslims with compassionate friendship, and to be humble knowing that we cannot rebuild the brokenness of the world on our own (namely, we need God to wholly fix the world). These points are very good reminders to us for what we need to do and I affirm them throughout the episode, yet with caution. In the article Ken states, “A recent study by Public Religion Research Institute shows that people who interact with Muslims — even those who have just had a few conversations in the past year — hold much more positive views of Muslims and refugees.” It seems to be implied that if more Americans just knew Muslims personally and had more knowledge of Islam they wouldn’t be as fearful of Islamic extremism. However, according to a 2011 Pew Research study the majority of Muslims in the United States are concerned (is that the same as fearful?) about the rise of Islamic extremism within America, as well as a large number of Muslims in America (231,000) that say suicide bombings and violence against citizens can sometimes be justified to defend Islam, while ONLY 33,000 Muslims in America say such attacks on citizens is often times justified. The report also says, ““A significant minority (21%) of Muslim Americans say there is a great deal (6%) or a fair amount (15%) of support for extremism in the Muslim American community.” This means that one in five Muslim Americans say there is a great deal or fair amount of support for extremism in the Muslim American community? Really? So about 660,000 Muslim Americans say there is a great deal or fair amount of support for Islamic extremism in the Muslim American community. To support this perception within the Islamic community, the study also showed that 5% of the Muslims in America are favorable of al-Qaeda. That’s 165,000 American Muslims who are favorable of al-Qaeda. Since such answers come from the Muslims in America, it helps explain why there is a fear of Islam in America? I don’t think it is an irrational fear based on the numbers, especially when we ask how many would legitimately tell the truth about supporting al-Qaeda and suicide bombings while living in America. Then consider that the statistics on these points in Islamic states is extremely high, and the fear is very much understood among Americans. It shouldn’t be dismissed as white America simply not knowing Muslims or Islam, when the Islamic community in America itself has a majority concern for the rise of Islamic extremism in America too! But the Christian is exhorted to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly as Ken reminds us in his article. How do we then respond if we are fearful, or simply concerned about Islamic extremism as many of the Muslims in America are also concerned? Many of the examples Ken gives, we should follow, but I don’t think we ALL should follow them, depending on our family duties and responsibilities, which I explain in this first segment. Part II – In God We Still Trust I read quotes from the early founding fathers, statesmen, and presidents of America! If America is a nation under God, which God are we under? Wouldn’t the founding fathers’ words best tell us? The quotes are compiled by Dr. Richard G. Lee in his book, In God We Still Trust. As usual, both of these parts are connected to sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. /episode/index/show/reconnect/id/5084872

83. Evaluating the Best Evangelism Conversation Starters 02/07/2017

82. Keep the Kids in the Church Service? 01/31/2017

81. Eclectic Bullet #2 01/24/2017

80. Common English Sayings From The Bible 01/17/2017

79. Stop the Hateful Contradict Movement! 12/26/2016

78. The Evidence for the Christmas Star 12/20/2016

77. Seeing Christ In Your Christmas 12/12/2016

77. Seeing Christ In Your Christmas In the first segment, Andy shares his article, "Seeing Christ In Your Christmas," and in the second segment, John Campbell discusses why Christians shouldn't worry about celebrating Christmas out of fear that they are somehow endorsing paganism! “Seeing Christ in Your Christmas” by Andy Wrasman There are many simple ways to see Christ in Christmas. One way to accomplish this goal is by drawing Biblical parallels with the traditional Christmas tree décor. As long as Christians are not glorifying pagan beliefs and practices, or bowing at the altar of gluttonous consumerism through our American Christmas tree traditions, then there is freedom in Christ to take what has become a hallmark of the secular world at the time we celebrate the birth of our Lord, and point it all back to Jesus being the reason for the season. With no plea to reject Black Friday shopping as the day to get your Christmas season started off on the right foot, and with no “Bah Humbug” towards the secular spirit of Christmas, here’s a list to check twice to see Christ this Christmas. The Christmas tree is an evergreen tree, because it doesn’t lose its needles through the winter. Using this type of tree points to the eternal life that Jesus Christ offers to the world. Jesus is the one who was, and is, and is to come! (Revelation 4:8). The Christmas tree also harkens us back to the tree upon which Christ was slain, the tree by which eternal life has been given to the world. (Galatians 3:13) The traditional tree toppers – a bow, an angel, or a star – all point to the Christmas tree representing Jesus. Bows adorn gifts, and the coming of Christ into the world is a reminder that the Father gave Jesus as a gift out of his great love for us. (John 3:16) At Jesus’ birth, Luke records a great multitude of angels proclaiming the Good News of his arrival to shepherds who watched over their flock at night. (Luke 2:8-18) Matthew tells of wise men traveling from the east, following a star to the birth place of the awaited Messiah (Hebrew for Christ). (Micah 5:2, Matthew 2:1-12) The wise men from the east, who followed the star of Christ, brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, valuable gifts that were common to give to a king. If the Christmas tree is seen to represent Christ, the gifts at the foot of the tree draw us back to the gifts the wise men laid before baby Jesus as they worshiped him. (Matthew 2:11) Our gift giving at Christmas should serve to remind us that as we give to others who are in need, we are giving to Jesus. (Matthew 25:34-40) And if the gifts at the tree are seen to have come from Santa Claus, an all-knowing, all-loving, apparently all-powerful, and never dying father-figure who cares for children, it should point us to the true gift-giver, God our heavenly Father. (James 1:17) The lights that are held up by being draped across the Christmas tree’s branches are a final touch that point back to Christians, the Church. John begins his Gospel biography of Christ by saying that in Jesus “was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4, ESV). The light of Jesus shines in the darkness of this sin cursed world. (John 1:5) The light of Jesus enlightens men as to who God is. (John 1:9) Later in his Gospel, John directly quotes Jesus as having said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). As Christians know the Lord through Jesus, and possess eternal life and the light of Christ, we become just what Jesus calls us in his Sermon on the Mount, “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). When we look at the Christmas tree, we are reminded that Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us. The Light of the World has revealed himself, lighting the path to eternal life. As Christians are connected to Christ, we shine the light of Christ into a fallen world. The Church that is spread out across the world, and is still growing, shines as many dispersed beacons of hope in a fallen and depraved world. Jesus came, died for our sins, rose for our salvation, and is patiently waiting for more to come to know of his love and grace. This Christmas, remember that Jesus came once with angels and with a star as the ultimate gift of God to this world, and Jesus will come again; this time with the entire heavenly host with the falling of all the stars as he returns for his chosen and holy people. Let’s help the world see Christ this December, as we hold out the Good News of Jesus Christ in all that we say and all that we do in our Christmas celebration. /episode/index/show/reconnect/id/4904313

Reconnect

TOPICS