Greg chats about some Christmas myths, recommends two films that capture the nativity well, then answers questions about whether day trading is a form of gambling, being a gardener vs. a harvester, and reconciling Greg’s view on decision making with Romans 12:2.   Topics:

1. Commentary: Christmas spoilers (00:00)
2. Commentary: Films that capture the nativity well (15:00)
3. Is day trading a form of gambling? (24:00)
4. Is it okay to not evangelize like Ray Comfort? (39:00)
5. How can I reconcile your view on decision making with Romans 12:2, which talks about God’s perfect will? (44:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• The Nativity Story – Film
• The Christ Child: A Nativity Story – Film (Warning: The statement at the end of this short film reflects the Mormon gospel.)

Related Links:

• Does God Whisper? Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 (on decision making) by Greg Koukl

Greg answers questions from callers about old earth vs. young earth and feeling guilty about not having the joy of the Lord during a long, difficult, dark time.   Topics:

1. What’s your opinion on old earth vs. young earth? (06:00)
2. Should I feel guilty for not having the joy of the Lord during a long, difficult, dark time? (37:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Donate to Stand to Reason by the 28th of this month and receive The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God: Why New Atheism Grew Old and Secular Thinkers Are Considering Christianity Again by Justin Brierley
• Seven Days that Divide the World: The Beginning According to Genesis and Science by John Lennox
• Reality Student Apologetics Conference – February 21–22 in Dallas, TX; March 21–22, in Philadelphia, PA; April 25–26 in Dayton, OH
• Spurgeon quote: “My witness is, that those who are honoured of their Lord in public, have usually to endure a secret chastening, or to carry a peculiar cross, lest by any means they exalt themselves, and fall into the snare of the devil.”

Related Links:

• Have Grace for Fellow Christians on the Age of the Earth by Amy Hall
• The Rightful Place of Suffering in the Life of the Christian by Amy Hall
• Christians, You Will Suffer by Amy Hall
• Why It Isn’t Naive to Trust God in Your Suffering by Amy Hall

Greg answers questions about his views on the rapture and whether there’s any middle ground between Reformed and Arminian theology.   Topics:

1. Can you elaborate on your views on the rapture? (02:00)
2. When it comes to salvation, is there any middle ground between Reformed and Arminian theology? (31:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• The Blessed Hope: A Biblical Study of the Second Advent and the Rapture by George Eldon Ladd
• The Church and the Tribulation: A Biblical Examination of Posttribulationism by Robert Gundry
• The Rap on the Rapture by Greg Koukl

Greg talks about the claim that the virgin birth is disproved by science, then he talks to callers about when the New Covenant started, how Jesus could have paid the penalty of being separated from God, Bonhoeffer’s views on the Bible, and pragmatism.   Topics:

1. Commentary: Science can’t disprove the virgin birth. (00:00)
2. When did the New Covenant start? (14:00)
3. If the wages of sin is separation from God, how could Jesus pay that? (26:00)
4. What are your thoughts on Bonhoeffer’s views on the Bible? (43:00)
5. Is it ever okay to be pragmatic, or is it always wrong to say the ends justify the means? (49:00)

  Mentioned on the Show: 

• Donate to Stand to Reason by the 28th of this month and receive The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God: Why New Atheism Grew Old and Secular Thinkers Are Considering Christianity Again by Justin Brierley
• Street Smarts: Using Questions to Answer Christianity’s Toughest Challenges by Greg Koukl
• Should Christians Tithe? by Greg Koukl
• Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas

  Related Links:

• The Troubling Truth About Bonhoeffer’s Theology by Richard Weikart

Greg answers questions about why God allows evil, whether denominations really matter, whether Matthew 16 says Peter was the first pope, and how Greg’s view on decision making and the will of God fits with passages in James, Ruth, and Esther.   Topics:

1. Why does God allow evil? (00:00)
2. Does the denomination of a church really matter, and should Matthew 16 be interpreted as saying that whoever says Jesus is the Christ is part of the church, or is it saying Peter was the first pope? (24:00)
3. Can you explain how your view on decision making and the will of God fits with passages in James, Ruth, and Esther? (42:00)

  Mentioned on the Show: 

• Donate to Stand to Reason by the 28th of this month and receive The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God: Why New Atheism Grew Old and Secular Thinkers Are Considering Christianity Again by Justin Brierley
• Submit a question on the Open Mic Line

  Related Links:

• If God Is Good, Why Is There Evil and Suffering? by Amy Hall
• What You Need to Know about Evil and Suffering by Amy Hall
• One Way or Any Way? Part 1 and Part 2 by Greg Koukl
• Does God Whisper? Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 by Greg Koukl

Greg talks about what we can learn from the account of David and Goliath, then he answers questions about the divide between men and women, whether a contractor should turn down work on a Buddhist temple, and determining if a passage is descriptive or prescriptive.   Topics:

1. Commentary: What we can learn from the account of David and Goliath (08:00)
2. Why does it seem like there’s such a divide between men and women today? (19:00)
3. Do you think I was right to turn down a request to build a large water feature for a Buddhist temple, in which there will be a Buddhist statue in the center of a reflection pool? (47:00)
4. When should passages be interpreted as descriptive rather than prescriptive (e.g., when it comes to head coverings)? (53:00)

  Mentioned on the Show: 

• Donate to Stand to Reason by the 28th of this month and receive The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God: Why New Atheism Grew Old and Secular Thinkers Are Considering Christianity Again by Justin Brierley
• Reality Student Apologetics Conference – February 21–22 in Dallas, TX; March 21–22, in Philadelphia, PA; April 25–26 in Dayton, OH

  Related Links:

• The Beauty of Submission by Amy Hall
• The Beauty of Leadership by Amy Hall
• The Toxic War on Masculinity: How Christianity Reconciles the Sexes by Nancy Pearcey

Greg talks to callers about how, when it comes to the teleological argument, we know the things we claim are complex are really complex, how to witness to someone who has consulted a spiritualist, and whether God values results or growth more.   Topics:

1. When it comes to the teleological argument, how do we know the things we say are complex are really complex? (01:00)
2. How can I witness to someone at work who consulted a spiritualist? (27:00)
3. Does God value results or growth more? (36:00)

  Mentioned on the Show: 

• Street Smarts: Using Questions to Answer Christianity’s Toughest Challenges by Greg Koukl

  Related Links:

• Decision Making and the Will of God by Greg Koukl

Greg talks to Robby Lashua about an announcement and discusses the value of saying “thank you” to everyone who does something for you, then he responds to a caller’s question about how God can be pro-life if he kills babies.   Topics:

1. Interview: An announcement from Robby Lashua (00:00)
2. Commentary: Say “thank you” to everyone who does something for you. (27:00)
3. Are Christians pro-life, and do they believe God is pro-life even though he kills babies? (46:00)

  Mentioned on the Show: 

• STR Outposts
• Reality Student Apologetics Conference – February 21–22 in Dallas, TX; March 21–22, in Philadelphia, PA; April 25–26 in Dayton, OH
• New Testament Prayer

  Related Links:

• Was God Pro-Life When He Sent the Flood? by Tim Barnett
• How Could God Kill All the Firstborn Babies in the Tenth Plague? – #STRask podcast
• Can God Kill the Innocent? by Greg Koukl
• If God Is Love, Why Did He Kill so Many People in the Old Testament? – #STRask podcast
• Be Careful with How You Define “Pro-Life” by Tim Barnett
• A God Who Told Me to Kill My Son Would Not Be the God for Me – #STRask podcast

Greg answers questions about the “He Gets Us” campaign from earlier this year, whether a property in the tree of the knowledge of good and evil gave Adam and Eve knowledge, the historicity of Job, and whether God will spend eternity in pain as he watches people suffer in Hell.   Topics:

1. What did you think of the “He Gets Us” foot washing ads earlier this year? (00:00)
2. Could the tree of the knowledge of good and evil have had some property that gave them this knowledge since the related tree of life seems to have had a property that would cause them to live forever? (17:00)
3. Why do you think Job isn’t a historical account? (29:00)
4. Since God loves everyone and Jesus died for everyone, if God is aware of what’s going on in Hell, does that mean he’ll spend eternity in pain as he watches his creation suffer? (41:00)

  Mentioned on the Show: 

• Submit a question on the Open Mic Line
• Here Comes the He Gets Us Campaign Again: Why Its Portrayal of Jesus is Still a Problem by Natasha Crain
• 7 Problems with the He Gets Us Campaign by Natasha Crain
• The Legend of the Social Justice Jesus by Greg Koukl

Greg talks to callers about online interactions, entropy as evidence for a beginning of the universe, whether someone could make up a story that sounds like eyewitness testimony, creating interactions that aren’t awkward, and the claim that the unborn is only a ”potential life.”   Topics:

1. Considering Jesus said, “Do not give what is holy to dogs,” should I not engage people online over and over again? (00:00)
2. A follow-up on a previous conversation about dealing with a problematic pastor. (12:00)
3. How could entropy be evidence for the beginning of the universe if the first law of thermodynamics says energy can’t be destroyed? (20:00)
4. How would you respond to someone who says anybody could make up a detailed story that sounds like eyewitness testimony? (26:00)
5. Would you ever do campus evangelism, and how do you create interactions that don’t make people feel awkward? (42:00)
6. What’s a powerful question to ask someone who insists an unborn baby is only a “potential life”? (49:00)

  Mentioned on the Show: 

• Bart Ehrman on the Existence of Jesus
• A Simple Survey to Help Initiate Spiritual Conversations by Greg Koukl
• Street Smarts: Using Questions to Answer Christianity’s Toughest Challenges by Greg Koukl

Greg answers questions about how Jesus can be God if God is in Heaven and Jesus was on earth, whether disordered desires are sinful and Satan puts thoughts in Christians’ minds, baptism of the Holy Spirit by laying on hands, and a challenge to Greg’s view on John 16:13.   Topics:

1. How can Jesus be God if God is in Heaven and Jesus was on earth? (04:00)
2. Are disordered desires sinful, and does Satan put sinful thoughts in Christians’ minds? (15:00)
3. Do Acts 8 and 19 teach that we only receive the Holy Spirit if someone lays hands on us? (30:00)
4. Does the fact that the apostles disagreed with each other at times refute the reason why you think John 16:13 doesn’t apply to us today? (44:00)