Question Time Stamps for Quick Reference: 0:00 - Intro 1. 0:56 {Self-Loathing vs. Self-Love?} As Christians, how do we deal with self-loathing without indulging in and practicing too much self-love? 2. 26:19 {Evolved from Monkeys?} From a biblical standpoint, is there any reason that Christians believe we evolved from monkeys? I'm confused why some Christians believe that, and I’m curious if it’s purely a worldview standpoint? 3. 37:50 {Who Are God’s Chosen People?} I had a debate with a friend about Israel still being God's chosen people. Doesn't Romans 9:6-8 and Galatians 3: 28-29 communicate that God's chosen people are anyone who places their faith in Jesus? 4. 48:20 {Do Animals Sin?} Are animals able to sin? They kill for food and sometimes it appears this may be likened to murder, but what does the Bible say about this? 5. 51:28 {Should our Main Focus be Evangelism?} John Wesley says, “You have one business on this earth: to save souls.” Is Christlikeness or spiritual maturity chiefly a means to an end - of bringing people to Christ (Romans 8: 29, 2 Corinthians 3: 18, 2 Peter 3: 18)? 6. 55:00 {Setting Biblical Boundaries as Parents} I had a domestic violence upbringing, and I now have a son of my own. I have fears of family telling me how to parent my son. How do I set healthy biblical boundaries that protect my son and honor Christ? 7. 59:19 {Bored in the OT!} How do I read the Old Testament without getting bored and distracted 2 minutes in? 8. 1:02:13 {How to be a Worthwhile Servant} What makes a servant worthwhile to Christ? It seems like in Matthew 25, the servant was cast into outer darkness because he did not DO enough. 9. 1:09:29 {Understanding a Difficult Passage} I'm struggling to interpret Judges 19:2, 25 on why the concubine suffered abuse. Some have said God was punishing her for adultery. How do I understand this without reading into the text? 10. 1:23:18 {Who Sinned First?} I have been asked, "Was Adam's sin the first sin?" Something along the lines of: “Wasn't Satan the first one that sinned?” Thoughts? 11. 1:25:00 {How to “Work Out Our Salvation…”} What does it mean to "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling"? Is that a literal statement? 12. 1:28:07 {Is Nepotism Sinful?} Is nepotism a sin? My church was founded by my grandpa, my dad is the senior pastor, and my brother is a youth leader. I do believe they legitimately earned these roles, but others at my church don’t. 13. 1:35:16 {Repentance After Death?} Can someone repent after death? Hebrews 9: 27 seems to say “no,” BUT Revelation 2: 21-27 seems to suggest “yes” for it is the “unwillingness” to repent that condemns. I really hope the latter is true. 14. 1:41:23 {Did Adam Know Right from Wrong?} I was talking to an atheist and they asked, “If Adam had not yet eaten of the tree of knowledge, therefore not knowing disobedience, how can God hold him accountable and judge him for it?” 15. 1:46:09 {The Waters “Above the Expanse”} What do you think the waters “above the expanse” are in Genesis 1:6-8? 16. 1:49:01 {How to Biblically Process Grief} How do we deal with grief in the right & biblical way? I lost my dad months ago by sudden death. I feel worried, I’m angry, and I cry. I’m so tired of the rollercoaster feelings. 17. 1:53:07 {About Foul Language} What makes language foul? Is it the words themselves, or the context? Like if I use a word in a friendly way, is it still considered foul language? 18. 1:57:37 {Can Evolution be Plausible?} Do you think evolution is plausible theologically? I have never heard a good response to how there would have been death before the fall. 19. 2:01:39 {How Could Satan Stand in God’s Presence?} If sin cannot enter God's presence, how could Satan present himself before God in the book of Job? 20. 2:06:12 {Witnessing to Strangers} What’s your favorite way to witness to strangers?
I think the common denominator between “self love” and “self loathing” is that they’re both “self focused/absorbed.” Hard to pay attention to God or my neighbor if I’m just paying attention to me whether it’s positive or negative attention. So grateful for Mike Winger’s service to The Lord and to all of us!
I was going to say this exact thing. I spoke to a person once who had a self-loathing issue, and I reminded him about the story in the gospel where Peter rushed out of the boat to greet Jesus and was for a moment walking on water like Jesus was. Then when he took his eyes from Christ and placed them on his situation, he began to sink. We must keep our eyes on Jesus, not on ourselves. If we focus on following Him, the rest will take care of itself.
I was born again in 1982, at Rhema Bible College in 83-85. I was a missionary and itinerant minister. I prayed for the sick with a tangible anointing. Then my 3 year old daughter was struck with aggressive Leukemia. After 11 years of chemo and radiation, she was in remission, but had many side effects (paralysis, brain injury, etc.) I was left alone during this time and she died at 15. Not only was I devastated, but blamed myself (inwardly). I felt I had failed in faith, my own family! I have been a pastor for over 30 years, but the self condemning was brutal. I didn't blame God, in my heart, I blamed myself. For 20 years! It is crippling, the self condemning or loathing... I have to focus on the Love of God, still! Which is a good thing! Thanks for addressing this issue!
When my dad died, despite my prayers and hope, I thought I had failed. Something ove never told anybody, I tried walking to his house once a couple days before he passed because I thought God was telling me to. But I realized as I was walking that no such thing was true and that whatever I could do there I could so right where I was at. My point is get in tune with what he's saying. Hearing comes BY the word, not in the word. He speaks to us for our hearing, even if we don't hear because he is our ever present help in time of need. And by his speaking cones faith. And whether he says so or no, he will tell us and we will be okay with that.
This is a terrible ramification of the Word of Faith movement. People blame themselves and their faith. Didn't Jesus say that you only need a mustard seed? Then I don't get how those pastors are teaching that if your miracle doesn't happen it's because of lack of faith. Really, that is putting all of the effort on the human and taking it away from Jesus.
About Q17: As a kindergarten teacher I like to listen in to my students’ conversations. Once I overheard some 5 year olds trying to decide if the word “baby” is a bad word. Here is the consensus they reached. If you call a real baby a baby, then that is not bad. If you call a big kid a baby, then it is a bad word because it is mean, but if you see Miss _____(a pretty young teacher ) walking down the hall and you say, “Heeeey, Baaaaby” then it is really bad word! So in some cases context matters. 😂
In French, there's this popular saying : "Truth comes out the mouth of the children". Here you are ! Thanks for the cute contribution of your pupils to the topic about the meaning of words ! Blessings.
Thank you to Mike's mods for a civil and professionally managed chat, which can be very difficult some weeks. (I wonder if some people just say controversial things to get attention and self-promote.) You show grace, and give people a chance, but don't continue to tolerate nonsense. Once again, you are appreciated.
Mike, I appreciate you so much! You have an endearing sense of humor and your teaching is right on the mark! I love that you show scripture on the screen while you teach. Thank you.
Brother mike, I love how you approach the Bible, your an anomaly, most preachers teach in absolute and leave the other scripture alone. You offer different perspectives and let us pray about it.
I've learned so much from you over the years, and am still impressed when I hear you say "I just don't know". Wish more pastors were like this and admit when they have "unresolved questions" Thanks for everything you do God bless!
Been working on this for a while and realized that my self loathing was no different than the flagellants during the black plague. Whipping themselves in the street and dreading the disease in the name of Gods glory. I asked myself is that glorifying God? Or is it self obsessed? God doesn’t want you to beat yourself in the street. Who does that help? I’ve been hating myself since I was 11, and my OCD started. I hated being a girl, I hated being alive sometimes. It stayed like that for so long. I thank God He showed me what it was!! I still struggle but everyday He teaches me to put myself aside. Deny myself, and everytime I buck against it I’m reminded not to whip myself. Just DO what He wants. Read His Word and see what He has commanded.
Blessings, when young I felt this way too. Now at 80 and knowing God so much to better, I am so glad to be alive, though sometimes very homesick for heaven. God is the great deliverer, so faithful.
Given how much depression, suicide, and addiction seems to be more and more common today, this issue of self hatred and self loathing needs to be addressed in the Christian faith.
Hey Mike, I have actually had someone at work approach me and say; “You’re one of those Christians, aren’t you?”. I had some great discussions with him and some after he left the workplace he came to faith. So I’m much more aware of how my words and actions are noticed by other people. That’s a double-edged sword.
Amen brother! Always be aware of the Holy Spirit. If He is telling you something, make sure you heed it. Write it down, even, if you think that it's something you may forget. The Holy Spirit can always remind you of what you need, when you need it; but if you are contemplating writing down the knowledge imparted on you, then consider that it is possibly the Holy Spirit TELLING YOU to write it down. He led me to write down some notes from a sermon podcast that my family was listening to on our way to a memorial. Every bit of biblical guidance He led me to write was used to teach more on God to the siblings of the husband of the person who passed away.
I think a good sign of understanding that Mike is speaking from truth and the word of God is the fact that he thinks before he speaks. Just watch how he speaks. He pauses and thinks first. Those are moments of discernment.
WOW! You have SUCH A GIFT! Thank you so much for this video! It’s my first time watching but I just subscribed! The Lord has given you an incredible gift of teaching and I’m SO blessed you share it with all of us on TH-cam! Everything you said was so powerful. And I can tell you’re such a genuine man of God. You have so much wisdom. THANK YOU AGAIN!!! I can’t wait to go back and watch more of your videos!
Hi Amanda! You are right This is a gold mine for believers seeking good teaching. So much treasure stored up here. Enjoy! I recommend binging on the series. Like the Gospel of Mark or the Jesus in the Old Testament. Really wholesome.
Aww thank you both so much! I will, Sonja! Thank you for recommending this to me! And I know L Klein, just from the very short time I’ve been listening I’ve learned SO much!!
Hey Mike was listening to you and got to it is well with my soul. He actually did not lose his wife. His wife made it to England and wrote back and told him that they had lost their four daughters. Still absolutely tragic. Love what you're doing and love how you do it. Gentle and easygoing with love, I can tell brother. Keep up the Lord's work.
Man this was an intense stream. Some really interesting questions. Great job Mike. I thank God for your ministry. You’re a blessing to the body of Christ
Thanks for a very good exposition on self-loathing Mike. Im often given to a self-pity amidst my battles with sin and it is not healthy. Thanks for the tough and also encouraging word
I’m very happy for you that you have quiet ac in your studio. However, I’ve listened to almost every one of your 20 questions and I think I’ve heard your ac once or twice. It has never been an issue. But yay for ac!!
I’m not even religious and I’m listening to 2 hour seminars in something I don’t even believe in 😂. Just shows you the power of a good teacher Edit: and also shows that I’m a a nerd lol
I only wished I had known about guys like Mike Winger, RedPen Logic, Sean McDowell, J. Warner Wallace, Frank Turek, etc. I might have converted from agnostic atheism to Christianity sooner.
I’d suggest channel One Hour One Book or, same person teaching, Dr. Randall Smith’s playlist on Kerugma Productions channel. Fantastic teacher, great delivery, lots of nerdy information woven in. That guy spent two weeks hanging out with shepherds in Israel just to be able to give more context for the metaphors used in Psalm 23. Like, apparently, sheep are afraid of running water; hence “He leadeth me by still waters.”
I absolutely love this episode! When you watch it after the How to Know You're a Genuine Christian video, you see another way (or more!) to identify where your own or another's heart is.
Thank you Mike, I love your teachings. I have a friend who is a self proclaimed Wiccan. And she knows I’m a Christian. And she’s a HS classmate, (we are both 66!) which makes this friendship special. And this journey with her is so deep and special and funny! We crack up every day, lol! And I have a sense this is going somewhere spiritually, but I’m not sure where. She needs prayer please. So do I, about how to handle this. Because by nature I’m a 🤡 😂…who loves the Lord with everything I got. Oh! You can’t tell by my SN, but I’m a female. Thanks for reading this! Bless all of you❤️🙏🏼
In terms of the working out your salvation with fear and trembling, see parallel: Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. ... for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. (Heb 4:1, 10-11 ESV)
The wicked servant in the parable of the talents...sounds a lot like the 3rd type of soil in the parable of the sower. The seed took root but because of the thorns (cares of this world) choked out the seed and smothered it...he stopped caring about the master's call and walked off into the world and sought after pleasure. I love how you can draw all sorts of distinctions and references of the Bible together like this. It just shows the depth and amazing wisdom of God. The Bible is unlike any other book and flows in such a way that it would be impossible for man to write it without the divine inspiration of God. The profound knowledge and wisdom in the Bible amazes me and pins human nature down so hard that you can look at the Bible and observe humanity and be like...yup this checks out. I am so glad that God had mercy and grace on me. I was an atheist/agnostic heading down the quick road to ruin. He opened my eyes back in 2021 and helped me to understand where things were going and headed. I realized I had put my faith wrongly in foolish things and after the pandemic that faith was shaken...I sought after Jesus because I was afraid of where things were headed. I remember going to bed every night holding a small cross (at the time I hadn't read much of the Bible) to comfort me because it made me think that Jesus was with me. As time went on I did much research and watched a lot of sermons and read a lot of the Bible. My confidence in Christ has grown so much but I know I still have such a long way to go. I know God is in control and He has a plan and that Lucifer has no chance of winning. He may look like he is winning for a short time but God will crush Him under heel. Praise be to God! Praise be to Jesus for dying for us and being committed to us despite our adulterous and sinful ways! We truly don't deserve His mercy or grace! All glory and praise be to the King of Kings!
@@Hepta.Asteras It was a number of things honestly. Hard to exactly explain but I take medicine to live and without it I die. So judging on where the country was headed and how the vast majority of pharmaceuticals are manufactured by China and I could already kind of tell tension was ramping up between China and the U.S. If something happened that my medicine could eventually run out and I could die. It was a life contemplation event. What happens if it plays out the way it seems to play out (keep in mind my faith wasn't in Christ yet). I became fearful along with many other events. I grew up in the 90s and remember distinctly what life was like before cell phones and the push for all this craziness we see today. I realized I could no longer tell that this was the country I grew up in. Something was definitely wrong. I had always been skeptical of things before and of our government but I always figured I had decades ahead of me so there was no rush. The pandemic was a wake up call that at any point life could change suddenly without warning. I had already been concerned with where the country was headed for awhile anyways. Also my life had fallen apart completely in my mid to late 20s. I felt hollow and lost and depressed after the woman I was supposed to marry cheated on me and most of the people I called friend turned their backs on me. I am sure the Holy Spirit was pushing me towards Christ because I remember even when hanging out with my pagan and wiccan friends feeling an emptiness and thinking I was missing something. Their pagan beliefs just seemed like something they were influenced into by different media like video games and movies and stuff like that. The lesbian wiccan loved Harry Potter and kind of wanted to be all "witchy" so she was all into crystals and the moon goddess and stuff like that. The other pagan friend was a big dude that was in love with Viking lore and had become a Norse pagan with an altar to Odin and everything. The Wicca girl told me she had an altar as well. They practiced but again it seemed more make believe to me. I grew up being made to go to church by my great grandmother. She died in 99 and after that I stopped going to church as a kid. She was one of the examples I look back on. She was a wonderful woman that would help even if it meant giving the shirt off her back. She had lived through World War 1 as a child and then the Great Depression and World War 2. She had seen so much in her life and was really the only reason my parents were able to get to where they are today. But her and my great uncles and great aunts were all Christian and the Holy Spirit used those memories, that empty void feeling and depression, and the contemplation of current events lead me to Christ eventually. I basically broke down and cried out for peace and comfort.
@@arcguardian That is entirely possible. There are many that don't care. He could be like the kind of guy that goes to church just to look holy to everyone else but then is enjoying his life of sin in the shadows. The Pharisees were well known for that. Or he could be like the Judas Iscariots that pretend to serve but are ultimately just there for themselves and to make easy money off the followers. There are many examples that person could be of. The point was that when he was given much...he did nothing with it and instead pursued his own goals instead of caring about carrying out his responsibilities to the master. It shows his selfish nature and the nature that is in all of us to do what we want over putting God first. So much wisdom that can be gleaned from Jesus's words.
Mike Jones aka Inspiring Philosophy must be breaking onto a lot of peoples radar with all these evolution questions. I've heard these questions popping up on other channels as well lately one mentioning Mike by name.
#7 for real!!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Our society needs that answer, especially in an age where worship has been relabeled “experience”. Our constant entertainment-seeking has greatly weakened us mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
Over 2 hours of Mike Winger Q and A?? Oh my, if I get a 'cat cam' moment too my cup will truly runneth over! Edit : Oh we get a picture of a cat in a box and it's Micah for a change! I love seeing her, Moxie too of course but the little grey tabby is a rarer treat.
Your humility in answers to questions that you're able to admit that you don't know is as inspiring as the questions you point to scriptural context. Keep it up
Thanks for keeping a balanced and biblical view on the book of Judges! I've read and debated some strange commentary on various events in Judges, because people feel they need to somehow "redeem" what is presented when God seems to be showing clearly that all of us, even those who have faith, can fall very far in their own flesh.
Same here. I tried talking to another believer about it and they actually asked me to think about whether or not I could be a false convert. It just made me want to sink down even lower. It’s so difficult dealing with something that other believers usually don’t understand…
Thank you Pastor Mike. Greetings from South Australia 🇦🇺. I have been following your channel/podcasts/teachings. I am learning a lot. Mentally, erasing all the false doctrines/heresies is taking a while to do. But, I/we will get to the truth of God's word. Thank you Pastor Mike for your help.
These are all my principles I took from the Bible to help my healing journey of extreme low self esteem, severe depression, anxiety and PTSD, people pleasing. Love thy neighbour as you love thy self. Let your yes mean yes and your no mean no. Self love in my opinion is learning who you are, accepting your strengths and your weaknesses. God says he is teaching us what we need to benefit ourselves. What you do for others should be done with gladness and not with a heavy heart, because you represent faith in Jesus. The journey of learning about self love/care is extremely hard, because you look for wounds behind your actions. Then you examine the scriptures to see if this is attuned with the teachings of Jesus. And I speak to the Holy Spirit to remove all that is not of God within me. I believe the scripture that says we shouldn’t be lovers of self is relating to humbling ourselves. Accepting what God sees in you and doing what ever you can to help others in their journey where possible. Without sacrificing your relationship with God. In my opinion this is demonstrating self love and the love of God and his word.
God bless you Pastor Mike, may God continue to speak through you with the Holy Spirit! Thank you for giving me more understanding on self-loathing and how it can properly be implemented in our lives. When I will have grief for my sin I will turn to God for His grace and mercy, because I know He can save me.
The point on self loathing really opened my eyes to how much my self loathing is rooted in pride. I would rather engage in self flagellation than humble myself before my Father. Realizing that self loathing is a mechanism to repentance is deeply helpful. It becomes a sign post instead of a headstone.
My general rule on foul language: would I feel comfortable speaking/acting that way if Jesus was physically there right in front of me. If I’m being completely honest with my self, 99% of the time the answer is clear. And of course this is appropriate because while Jesus may not be there physically, he is every bit as aware
On the 1st question: I thought Mike did an excellent job. I'm someone learning how to deal with an insatiable self-loathing, which admittedly I handle so poorly that I don't know what to do. Mike helps, with these scriptural references to Judas Iscariot, Cain, and Moses. They were very helpful examples of "when self-loathing goes wrong" as well as the contrite tax collector being justified. It encouraged me to pray to Jesus for help which i desperately need
Hi Mike, you quoted in question 16, the story of George Spafford who wrote, "It is well with my soul". As I understood the story, his children were lost at sea but his wife survived, so she was able to send him a telegram stating that she was, "Saved alone." If I'm wrong, I apologize. Bible Thinker is great!! Heather, a complementarian from the UK.😊
I needed to hear the self loathing answer from you Mike, it has really opened my eyes. I have been running away from God because of that. My fire and thirst to know God have been dead because of this bad self loathing dark hole i dug for myself. I'm always so quick to give up but I cannot give up on God.
Wow! God is good. I've been watching some of your q&as and had some questions but you already answered them and thank you because the word of God never changes so what was relevant to years ago is still relevant today. Thank you pastor Mike for what you do
When it comes to self loathing, and I find those thoughts going through my head, I think back on a specific moment years ago when I was going through some particularly harsh feelings of self hatred and a single question popped into the back of my mind, "how can you hate what I love?" Every time I feel that way now I remember that question and smile. Makes those feelings go away faster these days.
Mike, great video as always! I’d add Jonah to the list of self-loathers (maybe the worst). He is so disappointed in Nineveh’s repentance and revival, he claims he’d rather die.
My algorithm will play you all day, I leave TH-cam on when I leave for work in the morning and when I get home at 7pm EST, you are still playin, I fall asleep watching TH-cam playing another channel and when I wake up, your channel is playing. Its wild.
What you just described pastor mike when talking about self loafing at the end was the fruits of the spirit hope faith love i hope alot of people understood if they havent before thats probably the single most important thing youve said on your channel
1Timothy 6:20-21 “…avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee….” 2Timothy 2 striving about words or questions can lead to the overthrow of the faith of some. Science and evolution in practice just change the answer as the decades roll on. The questions stay the same but the answers are always “evolving”. But the Word of God remains. We should always be ready to give a reason for why we believe the gospel….. but what we say should be handled with caution when dealing with topics that are left out of the scriptures like this thing called evolution “science so called “. Thank you to those that are willing to line up and tackle it. God bless you
When it comes to self loathing I am reminded of Adam and Eve after they sinned. They felt ashamed of their nakedness. God asked them "who told you you were naked." God knew the problem was just in their own heads. And yet God still sacrificed an animal to make clothing to cover the shame they felt. God's sacrifice has dealt with the biggest problems about you. Anything left is just in your own head. But God loves you anyway and help you get past it if you let him.
That is not what that passage is about, god asked “who told you were naked” bc they simply had the knowledge and awareness of being naked and felt ashamed about it. that alone meant they are the fruit and god knew that. Has nothing to do with them committing sin and feeling guilty and ashamed by that sin and self loathing about it.
@@doms5755 then why did they hide? There are multiple things we can learn from this passage. Yes, God recognised they ate the fruit but also they felt convicted.
@@doms5755 yes, but why did they hide? The story explains that they were naked but not ashamed and then, after eating the fruit, hid from God because they were afraid. The implication is that they felt ashamed, perhaps not of nakedness but of having been disobedient. Either way, a sacrifice was made to cover what they said was wrong, not God. So while there is a bigger picture of self awareness there is also other messages such as God's compassion for us and our flawed thinking.
I particularly appreciate your openess regarding questions about evolution, young earth theory, as well as your confidence in the book of Genesis, itself, as reliable and trustworthy.
Hi Mike, I have had the same discussion about the Replacement Theology issue and I look at Galatians 3:28 and if people want to say that this verse proves that there’s no distinctions between Jews and Gentiles, then to be consistent they are forced to insist that there are no distinctions between males and females.
Kudos to Taylor Evans for recognizing her past abuse could affect her present life, all around. Just recognizing and admitting it could become an issue, presently or in the future, is such a blessing. May God bless you and your little one and give you wisdom❤️
It is good to have faith, but have you asked yourself why this matters so much to you that you would proclaim it here? I Noticed how you *believe* it from science but do not *know* it.
@@jeanettepretorius589 @jeanettepretorius589 you mean that the universe is maximizing entropy, which is not inconsistent with either a young or old earth
I loved your handling of the first question. I struggle with self-loathing and insecurities sometimes. It was encouraging to hear a biblical thought process about it. I plan to listen again. Could you make that entire first question its own video so I can share it?
On Question #2 Personally I never believed the narrative of universal common decent. I did sit on the fence for a while about the Earth’s age, and the pastor at my last church introduced to me the idea of what’s called the Gap Theory, that between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 there could be room for an older Earth that God restarts (which helps account for dinosaur fossils and such). And at one point I held to that even after finding Answers in Genesis, finding the explanations initially lacking, or least not understanding them well. I though Bill Nye had raised some tough objections in his debate with Ken too that I did not think at the time he had answered well (on which my opinion has changed some). But then I listened to the arguments in more depth and the scientists that they have speak at Answers in Genesis. Not only did an Old Earth begin to sound implausible (death and sickness and thorns prior to the fall of man), but a Young Earth started sounding more and more plausible to me (scientific discoveries matching up with Young creationists models and/or challenging assumptions of universal ancestry evolutionary models) in addition to what seemed to me a more sound use of hermeneutics making a case for a Young Earth as the only theologically sound teaching between the two (Young vs Old)
Great tip: when reading old testament, use an audible app like youversion to read it for you as you follow along and highlight alllll the gold nuggets of truth the Lord has for you. I did this and it was enjoyable. I had dreaded it before because of so many names I couldn't pronounce. This helped me a lot!!!
When you're talking about self-loathing, my mind is drawn to Romans 7, where Paul is talking about not doing the things he knows he ought to, and doing the things he knows he shouldn't, how his sin nature continually drags him in the wrong direction, and he ends up calling himself a wretched man because of it.
Thank you, Mike, for holding onto decent language. I'm glad to speak with people who can communicate in a way that is inoffensive to all. Men used to differentiate between women and children and their buddies. No one seems to care at all or moderate their language for the sake of others anymore. It's a loss to our culture.
I work in a high school and one of the sadist things to me is how filthy most girls talk. even many nicetype girls through the f word around. its so ugly.
I tend to liken Adam not knowing right and wrong, and yet knowing what not to do, to a dog. Growing up on a farm, one problem with my dog would be that He would chase the chickens, or the cows, etc. I could teach my dog not to do something, and yet, if He did it and got caught, He immediately knew He had been a 'bad dog', and His behaviour would reflect that. He knew what not to do, but was completely oblivious as to why He shouldn't. Like Adam. He knew it was wrong, based on God's command, but not knowing sin, Adam failed to see the moral reason as to why He shouldn't eat the fruit.
My father allowed his guilt for the things he did to my brother and me to slowly kill him. He went to church and became very active, and asked me for my forgiveness which I gave. The pastor told me there was a sin my father would not ask forgiveness for and I know it was his sxual abuse of me. Pastor never said if he knew what that sin was. I was still young in my Biblical walk with Christ but I told my father Jesus forgave all sins. I wish I had the words to remind him that no sin is bigger than His forgiveness. The last time I was home visiting he told me not freak out but gave me his dog tags, and I knew that was the last time I'd see him alive, though I was in some denial about it. Just a few months later he collapsed at home and regained consciousness in the ER where the nurse asked him if he knew Jesus. She said he light up and said he thought he did before, but now he really understood. I have that comfort. I was sure by the time I got to Ga from ME he would be back to normal and instead he died of sepsis, slipping away very quietly to my dismay after they turned off the machine and the pastor prayed and I held his left hand and Mama held his right. I kept expecting him to sit up and start talking, but I realized that everything in him that wanted to live and be here had died years ago and his body finally caught up with him. I was angry with God. I distanced myself from Him. After a few years I was hearing how the heart attack he'd had was causing him to do things that were actually causing such serious problems that they were going to have try to have him declared incompetent and take away his car keys, which would have just broken him. I understood then God knew what he was doing and begged Him to forgive my small picture mentality and now when something bad happens I remind myself "farther along" I'll understand. I've learned to trust Him.
Well said Mike! 👏☝️ Wonderful example of what is like to be Christ like. Great teachings brother! A few items I differ but overall wow agreed well done sir! 👏👏👏❤️
It implies that we already do love ourselves in some sense. Here's a small example: When we are hungry, we naturally want to eat. When we are tired, we naturally want to sleep. We want to receive a fair deal from those around us. Those are just a few of the ways that we can love others "as ourselves". We can try to help them be well fed, well rested, and treated fairly. I believe that is the sense of "loving ourselves" that this is talking about. I make the distinction because unfortunately these days, we often hear people given "self-care" advice that equates to receiving our validation from ourselves (very difficult to do) as opposed to God (freely given unconditional love), and doing what we want, rather than what is right and good and helpful for us, in God's wisdom. Also, that advice feels like a way out of obedience... "well, I can't possibly be expected to love my neighbour, because I don't really think I even love myself well enough yet."
@bella-bee My comment was more coming out of things I've heard from other people, and cautioning against that. As another person who has at times had difficulty liking myself, the way that I learned to do so was in understanding the value that God places on me. If God says that we are valuable, then who are we to dispute that? He is the highest judge, so He should know best. Once I understood that I could be confident in the unchanging value He placed on me, it helped me to avoid placing my value too high or too low, or even concentrating on it too much. And I could better value others, knowing God put that same value on them. :) God sees you as being of great value. He paid the ultimate price for you, and in Jesus He sees you as righteous. So don't get too down on yourself either.
@@Brian_L_A adaptation was proposed to explain the evidence. Extrapolating that to provide an explanation for the origin of species was done to compete with the Genesis account. There is no way it is true. There's no explanation for where the first cell came from, where the first DNA came from, how that first cell could read that DNA, or why the DNA described how to build the cell. It's just too much of a coincidence. And since mutations of that first DNA is what produced all DNA on the planet the rest of the conjecture just doesn't work.
@@dahelmang I wish you would learn science. Evolution has nothing to do with the origin of life. I agree that life is miraculous and of divine origin. Really, it is foolish to doubt that. Even now after a good hundred years of thousands of scientists sweating it out in the labs we have more questions than answers on life. When Christians speak of Evolution, they are speaking of theistic evolution, or that God designed life with more ability to adapt to changing environments than just variation of species.
Hmm, Q2 on evolution and young earth etc. Check the basis for Sabbath observance in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:11), which God places in parallel conjunction with the six-fold pattern of creation. I see this as supporting the Genesis 1 account being of six 24-hour days ("evening and morning the nth day"). Thus, I hold to the authority of Scripture authored by the Omniscient God over mankind developing theories based on imperfect knowledge of past events. And since the process of creation or evolution is effectively unrepeatable it is a matter of semantics to describe evolution as "scientific" in contrast to the "mythical creation account." Both are trying to explain past events, so both are in fact historical rather than scientific.
Problem is, evolution and new species have been observed. In the lab and in the wild. The Bible is full of figures of speech, metaphors, plays on words etc. The Hebrew word for 'Day' is 'Yom' which is used about a third of the instances it is found describing something other than a single daytime or 24 hour period. So our English minds betray us into forcing it to mean 24 hours. Just look at Genesis 2:4.
This is very relatable for me , surprisingly so , I did not think of the first part of this video like this.Alsodoes it worry you how many Christian’s tied along with this mixing in of the theory of evolution are falling in line more with the line of thinking that the Bible is more allegorical than actually true? Ruslan recently did a video with inspiring philosophy and I felt there were a lot of concerning things in that video especially now with people like Jordan Peterson who pretty clearly sees the Bible as just a really good intersection of old mythological ideas, anyway I have just noticed this thinking seems to stem from evolutionary thinking and I think it’s poisonous and may cause a bad divide among Christian’s as the rhetoric is beginning to almost demonize more traditional Christian’s
Anyone who thinks the OT is boring isn’t actually listening to what they are reading!😳 the stories in OT are amazing & bizarre is many cases. Sure the genealogy stuff is slow & the sacrifice description & ceremonial laws are detailed & repetitive but you have to see to see the bigger picture.
RE QUESTION 10 (Who Sinned First?) Paul tells us in Romans 5:12 that sin came into the world through one man (Adam), even though he says in 1 Timothy 2:14 that, in spite of Eve eating first, Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. There are two things to note (1) Eve was deceived but Adam wasn't, making his transgression all the more serious; and (2), it was only as a result of Adam's transgression that sin entered the world. When you refer to Adam's representative role, you slip into the Augustinian doctrine of Original Sin (i.e. imputation of Adam's sin/guilt to and the inheritance of Adam's 'sin nature') - upon which Calvinism depends. There is no scriptural support for the doctrine, which is a plain contradiction of Deuteronomy 24:16 and Ezekiel 18:20 & 24. See also Ecclesiastes 7. The doctrine of Original Sin was developed by Augustine c.400 for the sole purpose of defending paedobaptism, which appears to have been introduced to the church c.200. For example, the _Apology of Aristeides_ (c.125, 15.11), the _Epistle of Barnabas_ (c.130, 6:11), and the _Shepherd of Hermas_ (c.100-c.160, 27:1; 101:1-3) all expressed the conviction that children are born innocent of sin. There is also no evidence at this early stage of paedobaptism. Indeed, the _Didache_ (aka _The Lord's Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations_ , c.90-150, 7:1-4) reserved baptism for persons old enough to have received instruction and to have fasted for at least the day before. Justin Martyr (c.100-c.165) viewed baptism as rendering the Christian "spiritually regenerated as new-born babes" ( _First Apology_ 34) and restricted it to those who "are persuaded and believe that what we teach and say is true, and undertake to be able to live accordingly, are instructed to pray and to entreat God with fasting, for the remission of their sins" acquired when they were "brought up in bad habits and wicked training" ( _First Apology_ 61). Had Justin believed infants were born in a sinful state, he would hardly have thought that being "spiritually regenerated as new-born babes" was a worthwhile outcome. Note, too, how Justin viewed one's sinful state as resulting from one's upbringing, not as something inherited. Irenaeus of Lyons (c.130-202) expressed the view that Christ sanctified infants and children: “becoming an infant for infants, thus sanctifying infants; a child for children, thus sanctifying those who are of this age” ( _Against Heresies_ II, 22.4) and that faith in Christ was necessary for the remission of sins ( _Against Heresies_ III, 12.2, 7). Concerning the ‘Slaughter of the Innocents’, Irenaeus wrote: _For this cause, too, He suddenly removed those children belonging to the house of David, whose happy lot it was to have been born at that time, that He might send them on before into His kingdom_ ( _Against Heresies_ III, 16.4) It is difficult to argue these infants were regarded by Irenaeus as being in a sinful state. Clement of Alexandria (c.150-c.215) wrote “For so also we lie under Adam’s sin through similarity of sin” (Fragments 2.4, c.195). Note that there is no hint of inherited sin in this allusion to Romans 5:12. The first steps towards the development of a doctrine of original sin as it later came to be understood were recorded by Tertullian (c.160-220). Writing c.205-210, Tertullian objected to what appears to have been the newly-introduced practice of paedobaptism. His objection was, not only that were infants innocent but also that they were incapable of ‘coming’ of their own volition (cf. Luke 18:16) to express faith or to confess or repent from any supposed sins ( _On Baptism_ , 18). Instead, baptism was to be preceded by prayer, fasting, night-long vigils, and the confession of all past sins ( _On Baptism_ , 20). In _The Apostolic Tradition_ (c.215), Hippolytus of Rome (c.170-c.235) endorsed paedobaptism (21.16) but gave no theological justification for the practice. Origen of Lyons (c.185-254) thought souls had a pre-incarnate existence ( _De Principiis_ 1.7.3-5) and people were born into a state reflecting the relative departure from good done by them during that existence ( _De Principiis_ 2.9.1-7). Hence, everyone was born in a state of sin ( _Homilies on Leviticus_ 8:3, Commentaries on Romans 5:9). Nevertheless, they shared with Adam only physical descent and the mortality with which he was punished ( _Against Celsus_ 4.40). Quoting Romans 5:12-21, Origen rejected the existence of a sinful state inherited from Adam ( _Commentaries on Romans_ 5:1). Perhaps the first Christian theologian to formally posit the inheritance of the sins and guilt therefore from Adam was Cyprian of Carthage (c.200-258). Cyprian said infants were contaminated by descent from Adam and baptism provided forgiveness for any sins thus inherited ( _Epistle_ 58.5; 64.5). Personal repentance (cf. Acts 2:38) was not a prerequisite for paedobaptism: which was considered efficacious for salvation in its own right ( _Epistle_ 73.7). Gregory of Nazianzus (c.329-390) regarded infants as being born morally neutral but, because salvation required positive righteousness, were eligible to be baptized so as to acquire it; otherwise they would be left in a state of limbo. Conversely, Christians who desired baptism but died beforehand were lost ( _Oration_ 40.17, 22-23). Therefore, baptism was crucial to salvation. Conversely, Gregory of Nyssa (c.335-c.395) argued that, not only are infants born innocent, they’re born in a state of grace such that “in the case of infants prematurely dying … they pass to the blessed lot at once” ( _On Infants’ Early Deaths_ ), negating any presumed necessity for paedobaptism. John Chrysostom (c.349-407) expressed the firm view that infants are born innocent, writing “the soul of a little child is pure from all the passions” ( _Homilies on the Gospel of St. Matthew_ 62.4). The _Apostolic Constitutions_ (c.375-380) implied that infants are born innocent, saying: _ye have “been baptized into the Lord’s death,” and into His resurrection, as “new-born babes”._ (5.3.16) The only mention of paedobaptism was in the context of a criticism of those who would delay their own baptism till they were approaching death (so as to avoid compromising the perceived efficacy of their baptism) but would hypocritically baptize their infants, thus denying those infants the same opportunity (6.3.15). Paedobaptism was neither approved or disapproved in this passage. Elsewhere, however, baptism was restricted to those who had fasted and received instruction beforehand (7.2.22, 7.3.34). Jerome (c.347-420) held the view that all sins are forgiven at baptism ( _Letter_ 64.2, 4, 7; _Letter_ 123.11), which even children require ( _Letter_ 85.6) for inherited guilt - for which he cited Cyprian and Origen as authorities ( _Against the Pelagians III_ 18-19) - and in spite of noting scriptures opposing that stance (e.g. Ezekiel 18:4, 20) ( _Letter_ 39.4). Augustine of Hippo (354-430) argued that the sin of Adam - including the guilt for it - is inherited by all humans ( _Letter_ 55.8; _Letter_ 164.6, 19; 250.2). Fundamental to Augustine’s hermeneutics was his belief that the practice of paedobaptism necessarily evidenced a tradition based on revelation to the church through Scripture and it was his job to identify the relevant Scriptures. The core of Augustine’s argument supporting paedobaptism was that Adam’s sin was inherited, an argument he largely based on an interpretation of what he _knew_ from Ambrosiatser's _Commentaries on Romans_ to be a Latin mistranslation of Romans 5:12b, which construed Adam as the one ‘in whom’ all sinned ( _A Treatise Against Two Letters of the Pelagians_ 4.7). Coupling this with an interpretation of poorly-translated texts of Psalm 51:5a and Job 14:4-5a, Augustine argued that even infants are held guilty because of Adam’s transgression ( _On the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and On the Baptism of Infants_ I.34, III.13). Hence, according to Augustine, having inherited Adam’s sin, infants needed baptism for its remission ( _Letter_ 158.1). So, until Augustine, the only early church writers claiming infants were born in an inherited sinful state were Cyprian of Carthage and Augustine’s contemporary, Jerome. Against these three, Aristeides of Athens, the writer of the _Epistle of Barnabas,_ Hermas of Rome, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa, John Chrysostom and the writer of the _Apostolic Constitutions_ all viewed infants as being born innocent. When we come to the Reformation, we find Luther (an Augustinian monk) uncritically adopting Augustine’s teaching and Calvin endorsing Luther. What has passed down to us from Adam is the collateral consequences of Adam's sin. This is no different than if you or I were to be convicted of a crime and imprisoned for it; we would be punished but our dependents would also suffer as a result. What Adam’s descendants inherited from Adam as a result of his sin was his mortality and what they lost was access to the Tree of Life.
Thank you for this comment. I also noticed the slightly Augustinian nature of Mike’s answer. I hope he studies the doctrine of original sin in more depth. And Augustine as a whole.
7. 59:19 {Bored in the OT!} You know the old Bible stories you heard as a kid; Start with those like David, Moses, Jonah, Samson and Elijah. Learn these stories, just this time when you read them, look a little deeper to know them and their relationship with God. When I started to read the OT, it was pure research. Then I got to know the characters and fell in love. Good luck on your quest to know the people of God. God bless
Question Time Stamps for Quick Reference:
0:00 - Intro
1. 0:56 {Self-Loathing vs. Self-Love?} As Christians, how do we deal with self-loathing without indulging in and practicing too much self-love?
2. 26:19 {Evolved from Monkeys?} From a biblical standpoint, is there any reason that Christians believe we evolved from monkeys? I'm confused why some Christians believe that, and I’m curious if it’s purely a worldview standpoint?
3. 37:50 {Who Are God’s Chosen People?} I had a debate with a friend about Israel still being God's chosen people. Doesn't Romans 9:6-8 and Galatians 3: 28-29 communicate that God's chosen people are anyone who places their faith in Jesus?
4. 48:20 {Do Animals Sin?} Are animals able to sin? They kill for food and sometimes it appears this may be likened to murder, but what does the Bible say about this?
5. 51:28 {Should our Main Focus be Evangelism?} John Wesley says, “You have one business on this earth: to save souls.” Is Christlikeness or spiritual maturity chiefly a means to an end - of bringing people to Christ (Romans 8: 29, 2 Corinthians 3: 18, 2 Peter 3: 18)?
6. 55:00 {Setting Biblical Boundaries as Parents} I had a domestic violence upbringing, and I now have a son of my own. I have fears of family telling me how to parent my son. How do I set healthy biblical boundaries that protect my son and honor Christ?
7. 59:19 {Bored in the OT!} How do I read the Old Testament without getting bored and distracted 2 minutes in?
8. 1:02:13 {How to be a Worthwhile Servant} What makes a servant worthwhile to Christ? It seems like in Matthew 25, the servant was cast into outer darkness because he did not DO enough.
9. 1:09:29 {Understanding a Difficult Passage} I'm struggling to interpret Judges 19:2, 25 on why the concubine suffered abuse. Some have said God was punishing her for adultery. How do I understand this without reading into the text?
10. 1:23:18 {Who Sinned First?} I have been asked, "Was Adam's sin the first sin?" Something along the lines of: “Wasn't Satan the first one that sinned?” Thoughts?
11. 1:25:00 {How to “Work Out Our Salvation…”} What does it mean to "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling"? Is that a literal statement?
12. 1:28:07 {Is Nepotism Sinful?} Is nepotism a sin? My church was founded by my grandpa, my dad is the senior pastor, and my brother is a youth leader. I do believe they legitimately earned these roles, but others at my church don’t.
13. 1:35:16 {Repentance After Death?} Can someone repent after death? Hebrews 9: 27 seems to say “no,” BUT Revelation 2: 21-27 seems to suggest “yes” for it is the “unwillingness” to repent that condemns. I really hope the latter is true.
14. 1:41:23 {Did Adam Know Right from Wrong?} I was talking to an atheist and they asked, “If Adam had not yet eaten of the tree of knowledge, therefore not knowing disobedience, how can God hold him accountable and judge him for it?”
15. 1:46:09 {The Waters “Above the Expanse”} What do you think the waters “above the expanse” are in Genesis 1:6-8?
16. 1:49:01 {How to Biblically Process Grief} How do we deal with grief in the right & biblical way? I lost my dad months ago by sudden death. I feel worried, I’m angry, and I cry. I’m so tired of the rollercoaster feelings.
17. 1:53:07 {About Foul Language} What makes language foul? Is it the words themselves, or the context? Like if I use a word in a friendly way, is it still considered foul language?
18. 1:57:37 {Can Evolution be Plausible?} Do you think evolution is plausible theologically? I have never heard a good response to how there would have been death before the fall.
19. 2:01:39 {How Could Satan Stand in God’s Presence?} If sin cannot enter God's presence, how could Satan present himself before God in the book of Job?
20. 2:06:12 {Witnessing to Strangers} What’s your favorite way to witness to strangers?
Hjh
Thank you!
How can common descent be true!! Look at science. How do you ADD information to DNA?
Not possible.
Thanks Sarah. Great work as usual
@@davidfayfield6594 Thank you!
I think the common denominator between “self love” and “self loathing” is that they’re both “self focused/absorbed.” Hard to pay attention to God or my neighbor if I’m just paying attention to me whether it’s positive or negative attention. So grateful for Mike Winger’s service to The Lord and to all of us!
I was going to say this exact thing. I spoke to a person once who had a self-loathing issue, and I reminded him about the story in the gospel where Peter rushed out of the boat to greet Jesus and was for a moment walking on water like Jesus was. Then when he took his eyes from Christ and placed them on his situation, he began to sink. We must keep our eyes on Jesus, not on ourselves. If we focus on following Him, the rest will take care of itself.
In a way, self loathing is selfish
@@gabriellameattray9778 TYPE BIBLE CRITICISM ONLINE AND LEARN THE BIBLE IS FICTION AND THE HEBREW MYTHS ARE MYTHS, GABE.
TYPE BIBLE CRITICISM ONLINE AND LEARN THE BIBLE IS FICTION AND THE HEBREW MYTHS ARE MYTHS, SILLY GOOSE. HOW EDUCATED ARE YOU, SERGIO?
Yes, but how do we help fellow Christian’s out of living in such a way?
I was born again in 1982, at Rhema Bible College in 83-85. I was a missionary and itinerant minister. I prayed for the sick with a tangible anointing. Then my 3 year old daughter was struck with aggressive Leukemia. After 11 years of chemo and radiation, she was in remission, but had many side effects (paralysis, brain injury, etc.) I was left alone during this time and she died at 15. Not only was I devastated, but blamed myself (inwardly). I felt I had failed in faith, my own family! I have been a pastor for over 30 years, but the self condemning was brutal. I didn't blame God, in my heart, I blamed myself. For 20 years! It is crippling, the self condemning or loathing... I have to focus on the Love of God, still! Which is a good thing! Thanks for addressing this issue!
My heart goes out to you and your family for the bodily loss of your daughter. She was a pure being and gone back to our father.
I pray peace and comfort for you and Gods nearness everyday
When my dad died, despite my prayers and hope, I thought I had failed. Something ove never told anybody, I tried walking to his house once a couple days before he passed because I thought God was telling me to. But I realized as I was walking that no such thing was true and that whatever I could do there I could so right where I was at. My point is get in tune with what he's saying. Hearing comes BY the word, not in the word. He speaks to us for our hearing, even if we don't hear because he is our ever present help in time of need. And by his speaking cones faith. And whether he says so or no, he will tell us and we will be okay with that.
This is a terrible ramification of the Word of Faith movement. People blame themselves and their faith. Didn't Jesus say that you only need a mustard seed? Then I don't get how those pastors are teaching that if your miracle doesn't happen it's because of lack of faith. Really, that is putting all of the effort on the human and taking it away from Jesus.
@@sarahmoffett1296💯
About Q17: As a kindergarten teacher I like to listen in to my students’ conversations. Once I overheard some 5 year olds trying to decide if the word “baby” is a bad word. Here is the consensus they reached.
If you call a real baby a baby, then that is not bad. If you call a big kid a baby, then it is a bad word because it is mean, but if you see Miss _____(a pretty young teacher ) walking down the hall and you say, “Heeeey, Baaaaby” then it is really bad word!
So in some cases context matters. 😂
😂 That is extremely cute! Smart kids too!
Cute!
Love it, leave it to the young ones to figure out such a concept.
These bright little fellers are really onto something.
In French, there's this popular saying : "Truth comes out the mouth of the children". Here you are ! Thanks for the cute contribution of your pupils to the topic about the meaning of words ! Blessings.
Thank you to Mike's mods for a civil and professionally managed chat, which can be very difficult some weeks. (I wonder if some people just say controversial things to get attention and self-promote.) You show grace, and give people a chance, but don't continue to tolerate nonsense. Once again, you are appreciated.
Thank you so much Andrew! We appreciate you as well!
Thank you so much, brother! That means a lot. Have a blessed weekend!
I agree. They are very kind and informative
Very much appreciated. I wish I had MW Bible teaching videos as a youth. But unfortunately he was probably in diapers then!😂
A moderator who is like Christ is very blessed. God bless you for pointing it out.
Mike, I appreciate you so much! You have an endearing sense of humor and your teaching is right on the mark! I love that you show scripture on the screen while you teach. Thank you.
Brother mike, I love how you approach the Bible, your an anomaly, most preachers teach in absolute and leave the other scripture alone. You offer different perspectives and let us pray about it.
The Self-Loathing part rebuked me greatly. Praise God for this.
I've learned so much from you over the years, and am still impressed when I hear you say "I just don't know". Wish more pastors were like this and admit when they have "unresolved questions" Thanks for everything you do God bless!
Been working on this for a while and realized that my self loathing was no different than the flagellants during the black plague. Whipping themselves in the street and dreading the disease in the name of Gods glory. I asked myself is that glorifying God? Or is it self obsessed? God doesn’t want you to beat yourself in the street. Who does that help? I’ve been hating myself since I was 11, and my OCD started. I hated being a girl, I hated being alive sometimes. It stayed like that for so long. I thank God He showed me what it was!! I still struggle but everyday He teaches me to put myself aside. Deny myself, and everytime I buck against it I’m reminded not to whip myself. Just DO what He wants. Read His Word and see what He has commanded.
Blessings, when young I felt this way too.
Now at 80 and knowing God so much to better, I am so glad to be alive, though sometimes very homesick for heaven.
God is the great deliverer, so faithful.
I've hated myself most of my life, but the more I started to go after God, the more I realized I can't be an effective witness by wallowing.
Given how much depression, suicide, and addiction seems to be more and more common today, this issue of self hatred and self loathing needs to be addressed in the Christian faith.
Hey Mike, I have actually had someone at work approach me and say; “You’re one of those Christians, aren’t you?”.
I had some great discussions with him and some after he left the workplace he came to faith.
So I’m much more aware of how my words and actions are noticed by other people. That’s a double-edged sword.
Amen!
This is great to hear
Amen brother! Always be aware of the Holy Spirit. If He is telling you something, make sure you heed it. Write it down, even, if you think that it's something you may forget. The Holy Spirit can always remind you of what you need, when you need it; but if you are contemplating writing down the knowledge imparted on you, then consider that it is possibly the Holy Spirit TELLING YOU to write it down.
He led me to write down some notes from a sermon podcast that my family was listening to on our way to a memorial. Every bit of biblical guidance He led me to write was used to teach more on God to the siblings of the husband of the person who passed away.
Amen and God bless you for your servi e to the whole body of Christ.
What a great ministry this is. Thank you Mike.
Pastor Mike is definitely the new hardest workin man in show business!
😂😂 ❤
I think a good sign of understanding that Mike is speaking from truth and the word of God is the fact that he thinks before he speaks. Just watch how he speaks. He pauses and thinks first. Those are moments of discernment.
"Expand your tolerance for not being entertained" - That could be a motto for bible study.
WOW! You have SUCH A GIFT! Thank you so much for this video! It’s my first time watching but I just subscribed! The Lord has given you an incredible gift of teaching and I’m SO blessed you share it with all of us on TH-cam! Everything you said was so powerful. And I can tell you’re such a genuine man of God. You have so much wisdom. THANK YOU AGAIN!!! I can’t wait to go back and watch more of your videos!
Hi Amanda! You are right
This is a gold mine for believers seeking good teaching. So much treasure stored up here. Enjoy! I recommend binging on the series. Like the Gospel of Mark or the Jesus in the Old Testament. Really wholesome.
YUP and he is so humble and gracious and thorough and deep and I've leaned so so much here ... oh and funny... etc !
Aww thank you both so much! I will, Sonja! Thank you for recommending this to me! And I know L Klein, just from the very short time I’ve been listening I’ve learned SO much!!
Hey Mike was listening to you and got to it is well with my soul. He actually did not lose his wife. His wife made it to England and wrote back and told him that they had lost their four daughters. Still absolutely tragic. Love what you're doing and love how you do it. Gentle and easygoing with love, I can tell brother. Keep up the Lord's work.
Thank you for the clarification. :)
Man this was an intense stream. Some really interesting questions. Great job Mike. I thank God for your ministry. You’re a blessing to the body of Christ
Thanks for a very good exposition on self-loathing Mike. Im often given to a self-pity amidst my battles with sin and it is not healthy. Thanks for the tough and also encouraging word
Same here
The highlight of my Friday! Love all the content Mike, it has really helped me think biblically about everything!
I’m very happy for you that you have quiet ac in your studio. However, I’ve listened to almost every one of your 20 questions and I think I’ve heard your ac once or twice. It has never been an issue. But yay for ac!!
“For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.”
- 2 Corinthians 7.10
Thank you so much for time stamping things I really love your videos. I've been watching them for a couple years now. Very informative
purpose of life is 2 fold - *to bring Glory to God and *reflect His Glory to the world
I’m not even religious and I’m listening to 2 hour seminars in something I don’t even believe in 😂. Just shows you the power of a good teacher
Edit: and also shows that I’m a a nerd lol
I only wished I had known about guys like Mike Winger, RedPen Logic, Sean McDowell, J. Warner Wallace, Frank Turek, etc. I might have converted from agnostic atheism to Christianity sooner.
I’d suggest channel One Hour One Book or, same person teaching, Dr. Randall Smith’s playlist on Kerugma Productions channel. Fantastic teacher, great delivery, lots of nerdy information woven in. That guy spent two weeks hanging out with shepherds in Israel just to be able to give more context for the metaphors used in Psalm 23. Like, apparently, sheep are afraid of running water; hence “He leadeth me by still waters.”
And the power OF GOD..😊
Don't loath the self, loath the flesh!
I absolutely love this episode! When you watch it after the How to Know You're a Genuine Christian video, you see another way (or more!) to identify where your own or another's heart is.
Thank you Mike, I love your teachings. I have a friend who is a self proclaimed Wiccan. And she knows I’m a Christian. And she’s a HS classmate, (we are both 66!) which makes this friendship special. And this journey with her is so deep and special and funny! We crack up every day, lol! And I have a sense this is going somewhere spiritually, but I’m not sure where. She needs prayer please. So do I, about how to handle this. Because by nature I’m a 🤡 😂…who loves the Lord with everything I got. Oh! You can’t tell by my SN, but I’m a female. Thanks for reading this! Bless all of you❤️🙏🏼
In terms of the working out your salvation with fear and trembling, see parallel: Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. ... for whoever has entered God's rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. (Heb 4:1, 10-11 ESV)
The wicked servant in the parable of the talents...sounds a lot like the 3rd type of soil in the parable of the sower. The seed took root but because of the thorns (cares of this world) choked out the seed and smothered it...he stopped caring about the master's call and walked off into the world and sought after pleasure. I love how you can draw all sorts of distinctions and references of the Bible together like this. It just shows the depth and amazing wisdom of God. The Bible is unlike any other book and flows in such a way that it would be impossible for man to write it without the divine inspiration of God. The profound knowledge and wisdom in the Bible amazes me and pins human nature down so hard that you can look at the Bible and observe humanity and be like...yup this checks out. I am so glad that God had mercy and grace on me. I was an atheist/agnostic heading down the quick road to ruin. He opened my eyes back in 2021 and helped me to understand where things were going and headed. I realized I had put my faith wrongly in foolish things and after the pandemic that faith was shaken...I sought after Jesus because I was afraid of where things were headed. I remember going to bed every night holding a small cross (at the time I hadn't read much of the Bible) to comfort me because it made me think that Jesus was with me. As time went on I did much research and watched a lot of sermons and read a lot of the Bible. My confidence in Christ has grown so much but I know I still have such a long way to go. I know God is in control and He has a plan and that Lucifer has no chance of winning. He may look like he is winning for a short time but God will crush Him under heel. Praise be to God! Praise be to Jesus for dying for us and being committed to us despite our adulterous and sinful ways! We truly don't deserve His mercy or grace! All glory and praise be to the King of Kings!
Hi, was there anything specific in 2021 that happened to open your eyes?
@@Hepta.Asteras It was a number of things honestly. Hard to exactly explain but I take medicine to live and without it I die. So judging on where the country was headed and how the vast majority of pharmaceuticals are manufactured by China and I could already kind of tell tension was ramping up between China and the U.S. If something happened that my medicine could eventually run out and I could die. It was a life contemplation event. What happens if it plays out the way it seems to play out (keep in mind my faith wasn't in Christ yet). I became fearful along with many other events. I grew up in the 90s and remember distinctly what life was like before cell phones and the push for all this craziness we see today. I realized I could no longer tell that this was the country I grew up in. Something was definitely wrong. I had always been skeptical of things before and of our government but I always figured I had decades ahead of me so there was no rush. The pandemic was a wake up call that at any point life could change suddenly without warning. I had already been concerned with where the country was headed for awhile anyways.
Also my life had fallen apart completely in my mid to late 20s. I felt hollow and lost and depressed after the woman I was supposed to marry cheated on me and most of the people I called friend turned their backs on me. I am sure the Holy Spirit was pushing me towards Christ because I remember even when hanging out with my pagan and wiccan friends feeling an emptiness and thinking I was missing something. Their pagan beliefs just seemed like something they were influenced into by different media like video games and movies and stuff like that. The lesbian wiccan loved Harry Potter and kind of wanted to be all "witchy" so she was all into crystals and the moon goddess and stuff like that. The other pagan friend was a big dude that was in love with Viking lore and had become a Norse pagan with an altar to Odin and everything. The Wicca girl told me she had an altar as well. They practiced but again it seemed more make believe to me.
I grew up being made to go to church by my great grandmother. She died in 99 and after that I stopped going to church as a kid. She was one of the examples I look back on. She was a wonderful woman that would help even if it meant giving the shirt off her back. She had lived through World War 1 as a child and then the Great Depression and World War 2. She had seen so much in her life and was really the only reason my parents were able to get to where they are today. But her and my great uncles and great aunts were all Christian and the Holy Spirit used those memories, that empty void feeling and depression, and the contemplation of current events lead me to Christ eventually. I basically broke down and cried out for peace and comfort.
There doesn't seem to be an indication he cared about the master's call in the first place.
@@arcguardian That is entirely possible. There are many that don't care. He could be like the kind of guy that goes to church just to look holy to everyone else but then is enjoying his life of sin in the shadows. The Pharisees were well known for that. Or he could be like the Judas Iscariots that pretend to serve but are ultimately just there for themselves and to make easy money off the followers. There are many examples that person could be of.
The point was that when he was given much...he did nothing with it and instead pursued his own goals instead of caring about carrying out his responsibilities to the master. It shows his selfish nature and the nature that is in all of us to do what we want over putting God first. So much wisdom that can be gleaned from Jesus's words.
Mike Jones aka Inspiring Philosophy must be breaking onto a lot of peoples radar with all these evolution questions. I've heard these questions popping up on other channels as well lately one mentioning Mike by name.
Me checking and seeing 2 hour video of Mike Winger..yay!! So excited.
#7 for real!!! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Our society needs that answer, especially in an age where worship has been relabeled “experience”. Our constant entertainment-seeking has greatly weakened us mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
I only wish you were a pastor in the Maryland area. I really like the way you tackle with godly wisdom even the hardest of questions.
Over 2 hours of Mike Winger Q and A?? Oh my, if I get a 'cat cam' moment too my cup will truly runneth over!
Edit : Oh we get a picture of a cat in a box and it's Micah for a change! I love seeing her, Moxie too of course but the little grey tabby is a rarer treat.
Your humility in answers to questions that you're able to admit that you don't know is as inspiring as the questions you point to scriptural context. Keep it up
Thanks for keeping a balanced and biblical view on the book of Judges! I've read and debated some strange commentary on various events in Judges, because people feel they need to somehow "redeem" what is presented when God seems to be showing clearly that all of us, even those who have faith, can fall very far in their own flesh.
TYPE BIBLE CRITICISM ONLINE AND LEARN THE HEBREW MYTHS ARE MYTHS AND THE BIBLE IS FICTION, STUPID. HOW EDUCATED ARE YOU, AARON?
As someone with extreme social anxiety Moses is relatable.
A fellow introvert understands moses. Thats why God brought up Aaron to be the spokes person.
I love it when Mike takes a half hour to get through Question #1
Nice mini bible study at the start of the livestream.
I think this guy will become one of the great Biblical scholars of his generation
Thank you! Your explanation of self loathing is so helpful. I have really been struggling with it. You have given me something to meditate on.
Same here. I tried talking to another believer about it and they actually asked me to think about whether or not I could be a false convert. It just made me want to sink down even lower. It’s so difficult dealing with something that other believers usually don’t understand…
Thank you Pastor Mike. Greetings from South Australia 🇦🇺. I have been following your channel/podcasts/teachings. I am learning a lot. Mentally, erasing all the false doctrines/heresies is taking a while to do. But, I/we will get to the truth of God's word. Thank you Pastor Mike for your help.
what heresies would those be? just curious
These are all my principles I took from the Bible to help my healing journey of extreme low self esteem, severe depression, anxiety and PTSD, people pleasing.
Love thy neighbour as you love thy self.
Let your yes mean yes and your no mean no.
Self love in my opinion is learning who you are, accepting your strengths and your weaknesses.
God says he is teaching us what we need to benefit ourselves.
What you do for others should be done with gladness and not with a heavy heart, because you represent faith in Jesus.
The journey of learning about self love/care is extremely hard, because you look for wounds behind your actions. Then you examine the scriptures to see if this is attuned with the teachings of Jesus. And I speak to the Holy Spirit to remove all that is not of God within me. I believe the scripture that says we shouldn’t be lovers of self is relating to humbling ourselves. Accepting what God sees in you and doing what ever you can to help others in their journey where possible. Without sacrificing your relationship with God.
In my opinion this is demonstrating self love and the love of God and his word.
Very interesting take. Thank you for sharing!
God bless you Pastor Mike, may God continue to speak through you with the Holy Spirit! Thank you for giving me more understanding on self-loathing and how it can properly be implemented in our lives. When I will have grief for my sin I will turn to God for His grace and mercy, because I know He can save me.
Have to say, I'm loving the mini bible studies at the beginning of you Q&As.
The point on self loathing really opened my eyes to how much my self loathing is rooted in pride. I would rather engage in self flagellation than humble myself before my Father. Realizing that self loathing is a mechanism to repentance is deeply helpful. It becomes a sign post instead of a headstone.
My general rule on foul language: would I feel comfortable speaking/acting that way if Jesus was physically there right in front of me. If I’m being completely honest with my self, 99% of the time the answer is clear. And of course this is appropriate because while Jesus may not be there physically, he is every bit as aware
Amen!🍃⚖️🍃
On the 1st question: I thought Mike did an excellent job. I'm someone learning how to deal with an insatiable self-loathing, which admittedly I handle so poorly that I don't know what to do. Mike helps, with these scriptural references to Judas Iscariot, Cain, and Moses.
They were very helpful examples of "when self-loathing goes wrong" as well as the contrite tax collector being justified. It encouraged me to pray to Jesus for help which i desperately need
Hi Mike, you quoted in question 16, the story of George Spafford who wrote, "It is well with my soul". As I understood the story, his children were lost at sea but his wife survived, so she was able to send him a telegram stating that she was, "Saved alone." If I'm wrong, I apologize. Bible Thinker is great!! Heather, a complementarian from the UK.😊
I needed to hear the self loathing answer from you Mike, it has really opened my eyes. I have been running away from God because of that. My fire and thirst to know God have been dead because of this bad self loathing dark hole i dug for myself. I'm always so quick to give up but I cannot give up on God.
Awhhh I'm so sad to have missed this live this one is so good still watching replay ...God bless you Mike your family and channel 💯💞👍🙏
Wow! God is good. I've been watching some of your q&as and had some questions but you already answered them and thank you because the word of God never changes so what was relevant to years ago is still relevant today. Thank you pastor Mike for what you do
Thanks Mike for a job well done😊 Appreciate your ministry!
When it comes to self loathing, and I find those thoughts going through my head, I think back on a specific moment years ago when I was going through some particularly harsh feelings of self hatred and a single question popped into the back of my mind, "how can you hate what I love?" Every time I feel that way now I remember that question and smile. Makes those feelings go away faster these days.
Mike, great video as always!
I’d add Jonah to the list of self-loathers (maybe the worst). He is so disappointed in Nineveh’s repentance and revival, he claims he’d rather die.
My algorithm will play you all day, I leave TH-cam on when I leave for work in the morning and when I get home at 7pm EST, you are still playin, I fall asleep watching TH-cam playing another channel and when I wake up, your channel is playing. Its wild.
Great live mike. Thnx to the mods aswell. God Bless.
What you just described pastor mike when talking about self loafing at the end was the fruits of the spirit hope faith love i hope alot of people understood if they havent before thats probably the single most important thing youve said on your channel
1Timothy 6:20-21
“…avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: which some professing have erred concerning the faith. Grace be with thee….”
2Timothy 2 striving about words or questions can lead to the overthrow of the faith of some.
Science and evolution in practice just change the answer as the decades roll on. The questions stay the same but the answers are always “evolving”. But the Word of God remains. We should always be ready to give a reason for why we believe the gospel….. but what we say should be handled with caution when dealing with topics that are left out of the scriptures like this thing called evolution “science so called “. Thank you to those that are willing to line up and tackle it. God bless you
Recently found your channel, love it!
Thank God for your nuanced teaching, humility and sensitivity as well as your great sense of humor!
When it comes to self loathing I am reminded of Adam and Eve after they sinned. They felt ashamed of their nakedness. God asked them "who told you you were naked." God knew the problem was just in their own heads. And yet God still sacrificed an animal to make clothing to cover the shame they felt.
God's sacrifice has dealt with the biggest problems about you. Anything left is just in your own head. But God loves you anyway and help you get past it if you let him.
That is not what that passage is about, god asked “who told you were naked” bc they simply had the knowledge and awareness of being naked and felt ashamed about it. that alone meant they are the fruit and god knew that. Has nothing to do with them committing sin and feeling guilty and ashamed by that sin and self loathing about it.
@@doms5755 then why did they hide? There are multiple things we can learn from this passage. Yes, God recognised they ate the fruit but also they felt convicted.
@@Theinternalrewrite the bigger picture was the fact that they were self aware not because they felt ashamed that they were naked.
@@doms5755 yes, but why did they hide? The story explains that they were naked but not ashamed and then, after eating the fruit, hid from God because they were afraid. The implication is that they felt ashamed, perhaps not of nakedness but of having been disobedient. Either way, a sacrifice was made to cover what they said was wrong, not God. So while there is a bigger picture of self awareness there is also other messages such as God's compassion for us and our flawed thinking.
I particularly appreciate your openess regarding questions about evolution, young earth theory, as well as your confidence in the book of Genesis, itself, as reliable and trustworthy.
Hi Mike, I have had the same discussion about the Replacement Theology issue and I look at Galatians 3:28 and if people want to say that this verse proves that there’s no distinctions between Jews and Gentiles, then to be consistent they are forced to insist that there are no distinctions between males and females.
Praise God thanks pastor Mike. I've only listened so far to the first answer and I'm so grateful 🕊 😊
Kudos to Taylor Evans for recognizing her past abuse could affect her present life, all around. Just recognizing and admitting it could become an issue, presently or in the future, is such a blessing. May God bless you and your little one and give you wisdom❤️
Thank you Mike, a lot to reflect on over your explanations on self-loathing. Need to pray on this.
I am totally a young earth believer and I believe it from science.
I’m glad you believe from science what the Bible has stated. Thank you for sharing:)
It is good to have faith, but have you asked yourself why this matters so much to you that you would proclaim it here? I Noticed how you *believe* it from science but do not *know* it.
@@hatoffnickelbecause the universe is running out of usable energy, so it could not be billions of years old and that is according to scientists.
@@jeanettepretorius589 @jeanettepretorius589 you mean that the universe is maximizing entropy, which is not inconsistent with either a young or old earth
Not edifying 😢@@hatoffnickel
I loved your handling of the first question. I struggle with self-loathing and insecurities sometimes. It was encouraging to hear a biblical thought process about it. I plan to listen again.
Could you make that entire first question its own video so I can share it?
On Question #2
Personally I never believed the narrative of universal common decent.
I did sit on the fence for a while about the Earth’s age, and the pastor at my last church introduced to me the idea of what’s called the Gap Theory, that between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 there could be room for an older Earth that God restarts (which helps account for dinosaur fossils and such). And at one point I held to that even after finding Answers in Genesis, finding the explanations initially lacking, or least not understanding them well. I though Bill Nye had raised some tough objections in his debate with Ken too that I did not think at the time he had answered well (on which my opinion has changed some).
But then I listened to the arguments in more depth and the scientists that they have speak at Answers in Genesis.
Not only did an Old Earth begin to sound implausible (death and sickness and thorns prior to the fall of man), but a Young Earth started sounding more and more plausible to me (scientific discoveries matching up with Young creationists models and/or challenging assumptions of universal ancestry evolutionary models) in addition to what seemed to me a more sound use of hermeneutics making a case for a Young Earth as the only theologically sound teaching between the two (Young vs Old)
Am with you on this issue.
Great tip: when reading old testament, use an audible app like youversion to read it for you as you follow along and highlight alllll the gold nuggets of truth the Lord has for you. I did this and it was enjoyable. I had dreaded it before because of so many names I couldn't pronounce. This helped me a lot!!!
When you're talking about self-loathing, my mind is drawn to Romans 7, where Paul is talking about not doing the things he knows he ought to, and doing the things he knows he shouldn't, how his sin nature continually drags him in the wrong direction, and he ends up calling himself a wretched man because of it.
I hear no fan noise. Blessings and thanks for your continued service to our Lord and for our benefit.
Meekah is the bomb 🎉
Very powerful insight. Thank you for opening my eyes. I didn’t even realize I was doing this.
I really enjoy your humor Mike. Thank you for these lives.
Thank you, Mike, for holding onto decent language.
I'm glad to speak with people who can communicate in a way that is inoffensive to all.
Men used to differentiate between women and children and their buddies. No one seems to care at all or moderate their language for the sake of others anymore. It's a loss to our culture.
I work in a high school and one of the sadist things to me is how filthy most girls talk. even many nicetype girls through the f word around. its so ugly.
I tend to liken Adam not knowing right and wrong, and yet knowing what not to do, to a dog.
Growing up on a farm, one problem with my dog would be that He would chase the chickens, or the cows, etc.
I could teach my dog not to do something, and yet, if He did it and got caught, He immediately knew He had been a 'bad dog', and His behaviour would reflect that. He knew what not to do, but was completely oblivious as to why He shouldn't. Like Adam. He knew it was wrong, based on God's command, but not knowing sin, Adam failed to see the moral reason as to why He shouldn't eat the fruit.
9:20 self-loathing: could we call it the pride to not forgive yourself and thus refuse God's mercy?
My father allowed his guilt for the things he did to my brother and me to slowly kill him. He went to church and became very active, and asked me for my forgiveness which I gave. The pastor told me there was a sin my father would not ask forgiveness for and I know it was his sxual abuse of me. Pastor never said if he knew what that sin was. I was still young in my Biblical walk with Christ but I told my father Jesus forgave all sins. I wish I had the words to remind him that no sin is bigger than His forgiveness. The last time I was home visiting he told me not freak out but gave me his dog tags, and I knew that was the last time I'd see him alive, though I was in some denial about it. Just a few months later he collapsed at home and regained consciousness in the ER where the nurse asked him if he knew Jesus. She said he light up and said he thought he did before, but now he really understood. I have that comfort. I was sure by the time I got to Ga from ME he would be back to normal and instead he died of sepsis, slipping away very quietly to my dismay after they turned off the machine and the pastor prayed and I held his left hand and Mama held his right. I kept expecting him to sit up and start talking, but I realized that everything in him that wanted to live and be here had died years ago and his body finally caught up with him. I was angry with God. I distanced myself from Him. After a few years I was hearing how the heart attack he'd had was causing him to do things that were actually causing such serious problems that they were going to have try to have him declared incompetent and take away his car keys, which would have just broken him. I understood then God knew what he was doing and begged Him to forgive my small picture mentality and now when something bad happens I remind myself "farther along" I'll understand. I've learned to trust Him.
Thank you for delivering to us the message of self-loathing. It was very helpful in affecting my walk with God going forward. Many blessings to you.
When Mike wears a graphic tee, he needs to show us the whole thing. LOL - but really
Found it - "Middle Earth's Annual Mordor Fun Run. One does not simply walk". Love it
@@jparker6351 what's up with the weird eye on his tee?
Can't say thank you enough for this ministry!
The cat banners get me every time 🤣
Well said Mike! 👏☝️
Wonderful example of what is like to be Christ like. Great teachings brother! A few items I differ but overall wow agreed well done sir! 👏👏👏❤️
We are commanded to love others as ourselves. That implies we should love ourselves in some sense, or others are not going to get loved, are they?
It implies that we already do love ourselves in some sense.
Here's a small example:
When we are hungry, we naturally want to eat. When we are tired, we naturally want to sleep. We want to receive a fair deal from those around us. Those are just a few of the ways that we can love others "as ourselves". We can try to help them be well fed, well rested, and treated fairly.
I believe that is the sense of "loving ourselves" that this is talking about. I make the distinction because unfortunately these days, we often hear people given "self-care" advice that equates to receiving our validation from ourselves (very difficult to do) as opposed to God (freely given unconditional love), and doing what we want, rather than what is right and good and helpful for us, in God's wisdom.
Also, that advice feels like a way out of obedience... "well, I can't possibly be expected to love my neighbour, because I don't really think I even love myself well enough yet."
@@AndrewJohnH I certainly didn’t mean anything like that! You are speaking to someone who doesn’t like herself and hopefully does love others.
@bella-bee My comment was more coming out of things I've heard from other people, and cautioning against that.
As another person who has at times had difficulty liking myself, the way that I learned to do so was in understanding the value that God places on me. If God says that we are valuable, then who are we to dispute that? He is the highest judge, so He should know best. Once I understood that I could be confident in the unchanging value He placed on me, it helped me to avoid placing my value too high or too low, or even concentrating on it too much. And I could better value others, knowing God put that same value on them. :)
God sees you as being of great value. He paid the ultimate price for you, and in Jesus He sees you as righteous. So don't get too down on yourself either.
Thank you very much Mike. Question number 1 was very much for me.
In my opinion, Evolution was originally proposed to disprove God. I would probably automatically reject the theory of evolution because of that? 🤷♀️
Actually, Evolution was proposed to explain the evidence.
@@Brian_L_A adaptation was proposed to explain the evidence. Extrapolating that to provide an explanation for the origin of species was done to compete with the Genesis account. There is no way it is true. There's no explanation for where the first cell came from, where the first DNA came from, how that first cell could read that DNA, or why the DNA described how to build the cell. It's just too much of a coincidence. And since mutations of that first DNA is what produced all DNA on the planet the rest of the conjecture just doesn't work.
@@dahelmang I wish you would learn science. Evolution has nothing to do with the origin of life. I agree that life is miraculous and of divine origin. Really, it is foolish to doubt that. Even now after a good hundred years of thousands of scientists sweating it out in the labs we have more questions than answers on life. When Christians speak of Evolution, they are speaking of theistic evolution, or that God designed life with more ability to adapt to changing environments than just variation of species.
The windows of water above the expanse like the "shing" window that opens in Time Bandits😂 that was a wonderful explanation ❤
Hmm, Q2 on evolution and young earth etc. Check the basis for Sabbath observance in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:11), which God places in parallel conjunction with the six-fold pattern of creation. I see this as supporting the Genesis 1 account being of six 24-hour days ("evening and morning the nth day"). Thus, I hold to the authority of Scripture authored by the Omniscient God over mankind developing theories based on imperfect knowledge of past events. And since the process of creation or evolution is effectively unrepeatable it is a matter of semantics to describe evolution as "scientific" in contrast to the "mythical creation account." Both are trying to explain past events, so both are in fact historical rather than scientific.
💯
Problem is, evolution and new species have been observed. In the lab and in the wild. The Bible is full of figures of speech, metaphors, plays on words etc. The Hebrew word for 'Day' is 'Yom' which is used about a third of the instances it is found describing something other than a single daytime or 24 hour period. So our English minds betray us into forcing it to mean 24 hours. Just look at Genesis 2:4.
I LOVEEEEEEE any conversation about the genre of Genesis 1-11, thanks so much for going there!! I will check out Craig's stuff.
This is very relatable for me , surprisingly so , I did not think of the first part of this video like this.Alsodoes it worry you how many Christian’s tied along with this mixing in of the theory of evolution are falling in line more with the line of thinking that the Bible is more allegorical than actually true? Ruslan recently did a video with inspiring philosophy and I felt there were a lot of concerning things in that video especially now with people like Jordan Peterson who pretty clearly sees the Bible as just a really good intersection of old mythological ideas, anyway I have just noticed this thinking seems to stem from evolutionary thinking and I think it’s poisonous and may cause a bad divide among Christian’s as the rhetoric is beginning to almost demonize more traditional Christian’s
"Hey Zack, May Our Beloved Lord GOD bless you always my beloved brother, great seeing you"!!! Love you guys profoundly!!! ❤😊 Shalom
Aw man. I thought I made it on time because it said it was live on the app.
Pastor Mike, use your AC as much as you need to, don’t worry about us ! You needed to be comfortable, we love you.😻
Anyone who thinks the OT is boring isn’t actually listening to what they are reading!😳 the stories in OT are amazing & bizarre is many cases. Sure the genealogy stuff is slow & the sacrifice description & ceremonial laws are detailed & repetitive but you have to see to see the bigger picture.
Love this much bettter than Soteriology 101. Good to hear another side of you.
RE QUESTION 10 (Who Sinned First?)
Paul tells us in Romans 5:12 that sin came into the world through one man (Adam), even though he says in 1 Timothy 2:14 that, in spite of Eve eating first, Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor. There are two things to note (1) Eve was deceived but Adam wasn't, making his transgression all the more serious; and (2), it was only as a result of Adam's transgression that sin entered the world.
When you refer to Adam's representative role, you slip into the Augustinian doctrine of Original Sin (i.e. imputation of Adam's sin/guilt to and the inheritance of Adam's 'sin nature') - upon which Calvinism depends. There is no scriptural support for the doctrine, which is a plain contradiction of Deuteronomy 24:16 and Ezekiel 18:20 & 24. See also Ecclesiastes 7.
The doctrine of Original Sin was developed by Augustine c.400 for the sole purpose of defending paedobaptism, which appears to have been introduced to the church c.200.
For example, the _Apology of Aristeides_ (c.125, 15.11), the _Epistle of Barnabas_ (c.130, 6:11), and the _Shepherd of Hermas_ (c.100-c.160, 27:1; 101:1-3) all expressed the conviction that children are born innocent of sin. There is also no evidence at this early stage of paedobaptism. Indeed, the _Didache_ (aka _The Lord's Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations_ , c.90-150, 7:1-4) reserved baptism for persons old enough to have received instruction and to have fasted for at least the day before.
Justin Martyr (c.100-c.165) viewed baptism as rendering the Christian "spiritually regenerated as new-born babes" ( _First Apology_ 34) and restricted it to those who "are persuaded and believe that what we teach and say is true, and undertake to be able to live accordingly, are instructed to pray and to entreat God with fasting, for the remission of their sins" acquired when they were "brought up in bad habits and wicked training" ( _First Apology_ 61). Had Justin believed infants were born in a sinful state, he would hardly have thought that being "spiritually regenerated as new-born babes" was a worthwhile outcome. Note, too, how Justin viewed one's sinful state as resulting from one's upbringing, not as something inherited.
Irenaeus of Lyons (c.130-202) expressed the view that Christ sanctified infants and children: “becoming an infant for infants, thus sanctifying infants; a child for children, thus sanctifying those who are of this age” ( _Against Heresies_ II, 22.4) and that faith in Christ was necessary for the remission of sins ( _Against Heresies_ III, 12.2, 7). Concerning the ‘Slaughter of the Innocents’, Irenaeus wrote:
_For this cause, too, He suddenly removed those children belonging to the house of David, whose happy lot it was to have been born at that time, that He might send them on before into His kingdom_ ( _Against Heresies_ III, 16.4)
It is difficult to argue these infants were regarded by Irenaeus as being in a sinful state.
Clement of Alexandria (c.150-c.215) wrote “For so also we lie under Adam’s sin through similarity of sin” (Fragments 2.4, c.195). Note that there is no hint of inherited sin in this allusion to Romans 5:12.
The first steps towards the development of a doctrine of original sin as it later came to be understood were recorded by Tertullian (c.160-220). Writing c.205-210, Tertullian objected to what appears to have been the newly-introduced practice of paedobaptism. His objection was, not only that were infants innocent but also that they were incapable of ‘coming’ of their own volition (cf. Luke 18:16) to express faith or to confess or repent from any supposed sins ( _On Baptism_ , 18). Instead, baptism was to be preceded by prayer, fasting, night-long vigils, and the confession of all past sins ( _On Baptism_ , 20).
In _The Apostolic Tradition_ (c.215), Hippolytus of Rome (c.170-c.235) endorsed paedobaptism (21.16) but gave no theological justification for the practice.
Origen of Lyons (c.185-254) thought souls had a pre-incarnate existence ( _De Principiis_ 1.7.3-5) and people were born into a state reflecting the relative departure from good done by them during that existence ( _De Principiis_ 2.9.1-7). Hence, everyone was born in a state of sin ( _Homilies on Leviticus_ 8:3, Commentaries on Romans 5:9). Nevertheless, they shared with Adam only physical descent and the mortality with which he was punished ( _Against Celsus_ 4.40). Quoting Romans 5:12-21, Origen rejected the existence of a sinful state inherited from Adam ( _Commentaries on Romans_ 5:1).
Perhaps the first Christian theologian to formally posit the inheritance of the sins and guilt therefore from Adam was Cyprian of Carthage (c.200-258). Cyprian said infants were contaminated by descent from Adam and baptism provided forgiveness for any sins thus inherited ( _Epistle_ 58.5; 64.5). Personal repentance (cf. Acts 2:38) was not a prerequisite for paedobaptism: which was considered efficacious for salvation in its own right ( _Epistle_ 73.7).
Gregory of Nazianzus (c.329-390) regarded infants as being born morally neutral but, because salvation required positive righteousness, were eligible to be baptized so as to acquire it; otherwise they would be left in a state of limbo. Conversely, Christians who desired baptism but died beforehand were lost ( _Oration_ 40.17, 22-23). Therefore, baptism was crucial to salvation.
Conversely, Gregory of Nyssa (c.335-c.395) argued that, not only are infants born innocent, they’re born in a state of grace such that “in the case of infants prematurely dying … they pass to the blessed lot at once” ( _On Infants’ Early Deaths_ ), negating any presumed necessity for paedobaptism.
John Chrysostom (c.349-407) expressed the firm view that infants are born innocent, writing “the soul of a little child is pure from all the passions” ( _Homilies on the Gospel of St. Matthew_ 62.4).
The _Apostolic Constitutions_ (c.375-380) implied that infants are born innocent, saying:
_ye have “been baptized into the Lord’s death,” and into His resurrection, as “new-born babes”._ (5.3.16)
The only mention of paedobaptism was in the context of a criticism of those who would delay their own baptism till they were approaching death (so as to avoid compromising the perceived efficacy of their baptism) but would hypocritically baptize their infants, thus denying those infants the same opportunity (6.3.15). Paedobaptism was neither approved or disapproved in this passage. Elsewhere, however, baptism was restricted to those who had fasted and received instruction beforehand (7.2.22, 7.3.34).
Jerome (c.347-420) held the view that all sins are forgiven at baptism ( _Letter_ 64.2, 4, 7; _Letter_ 123.11), which even children require ( _Letter_ 85.6) for inherited guilt - for which he cited Cyprian and Origen as authorities ( _Against the Pelagians III_ 18-19) - and in spite of noting scriptures opposing that stance (e.g. Ezekiel 18:4, 20) ( _Letter_ 39.4).
Augustine of Hippo (354-430) argued that the sin of Adam - including the guilt for it - is inherited by all humans ( _Letter_ 55.8; _Letter_ 164.6, 19; 250.2). Fundamental to Augustine’s hermeneutics was his belief that the practice of paedobaptism necessarily evidenced a tradition based on revelation to the church through Scripture and it was his job to identify the relevant Scriptures. The core of Augustine’s argument supporting paedobaptism was that Adam’s sin was inherited, an argument he largely based on an interpretation of what he _knew_ from Ambrosiatser's _Commentaries on Romans_ to be a Latin mistranslation of Romans 5:12b, which construed Adam as the one ‘in whom’ all sinned ( _A Treatise Against Two Letters of the Pelagians_ 4.7). Coupling this with an interpretation of poorly-translated texts of Psalm 51:5a and Job 14:4-5a, Augustine argued that even infants are held guilty because of Adam’s transgression ( _On the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and On the Baptism of Infants_ I.34, III.13). Hence, according to Augustine, having inherited Adam’s sin, infants needed baptism for its remission ( _Letter_ 158.1).
So, until Augustine, the only early church writers claiming infants were born in an inherited sinful state were Cyprian of Carthage and Augustine’s contemporary, Jerome. Against these three, Aristeides of Athens, the writer of the _Epistle of Barnabas,_ Hermas of Rome, Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa, John Chrysostom and the writer of the _Apostolic Constitutions_ all viewed infants as being born innocent.
When we come to the Reformation, we find Luther (an Augustinian monk) uncritically adopting Augustine’s teaching and Calvin endorsing Luther.
What has passed down to us from Adam is the collateral consequences of Adam's sin. This is no different than if you or I were to be convicted of a crime and imprisoned for it; we would be punished but our dependents would also suffer as a result. What Adam’s descendants inherited from Adam as a result of his sin was his mortality and what they lost was access to the Tree of Life.
Thank you for this comment. I also noticed the slightly Augustinian nature of Mike’s answer. I hope he studies the doctrine of original sin in more depth. And Augustine as a whole.
7. 59:19 {Bored in the OT!}
You know the old Bible stories you heard as a kid; Start with those like David, Moses, Jonah, Samson and Elijah. Learn these stories, just this time when you read them, look a little deeper to know them and their relationship with God. When I started to read the OT, it was pure research. Then I got to know the characters and fell in love. Good luck on your quest to know the people of God. God bless