Stand to Reason Weekly Podcast

What Would You Say to an Apathetic Person?

Greg answers questions about what Deuteronomy 13:11 means when it says that “all Israel will hear and be afraid,” whether we should “leave our offering at the altar” to reconcile with a bully, apathetic people, leading an Outpost as a woman, and accepting vs. resisting difficult situations.

 

Topics:

1. Does the phrase “All Israel will hear and be afraid” in Deuteronomy 13:11 refer to being afraid after hearing the punishment was carried out or being afraid after hearing what the prescribed punishment is for the crime? (02:00)
2. How does Jesus telling us to “leave our offering at the altar” to go reconcile with someone and to “take the log out of our own eye” apply to dealing with an evil bully? (11:00)
3. What would you say to an apathetic person or someone who compartmentalizes their religious life to help them see their need for the Lord? (24:00)
4. Do you have any guidance on how I could proceed to convince my pastor to let me lead an STR Outpost as a woman? (38:00)
5. Recognizing that we have personal responsibility and free will, and God is sovereign and all-knowing, how do we know if the difficult thing we’re going through is discipline from God and we should wait for his rescue or if it isn’t and we should try to resist it? (47:00)

 

Mentioned on the Show: 

• STR Outposts

Related Links:

• Should Women Teach in Church? by Greg Koukl

Isn’t Animal Death a Result of the Fall?

Greg answers questions about animal death before the fall, reaching adult children who are caught up in the culture’s political movements, whether Greg illegitimately dismisses claims of supernatural intervention, and advice for finding a Bible-believing, traditional church.

 

Topics:

1. When it comes to animal death, should we really think everything has been the same since the beginning when it seems like God fundamentally changed things after the fall? (02:00)
2. What are your thoughts on reaching adult children and grandchildren who are caught up in the culture’s political movements? (22:00)
3. Are you asking us to dismiss the idea of any supernatural intervention unless we have absolute proof just so we don’t look like “silly Christians”? (35:00)
4. I live in an area where many of the churches are problematic, and it seems impossible to find a Bible-believing, traditional church. Do you have any advice? (47:00)

What Things in Heaven Were Reconciled to God on the Cross?

Greg answers questions about what “things in Heaven” were reconciled to God through Jesus’ blood, numbers in the Bible, pro-choicers who won’t acknowledge the unborn is human, what approach to take with people who don’t think they need God, and a fallacy.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: More on inerrancy vs. infallibility (00:00)
2. What “things in Heaven” were reconciled to God through Jesus’ blood on the cross, per Colossians 1:20? (07:00)
3. Is it biblical to study the meaning of numbers in the Bible? (19:00)
4. Since it’s an irrefutable fact that the unborn is a human being, if an individual is unwilling to acknowledge this fact, can we assume it’s not possible to have a meaningful discussion with them? (25:00)
5. What approach should I take with people who think they don’t need God? (37:00)
6. How would you respond to someone who says we can’t know what’s true because it’s just everyone’s interpretation, and does this commit the fallacy of reification (applying concrete characteristics to something that’s abstract)? (47:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• The Fallacy Detective by Nathaniel Bluedorn and Hans Bluedorn

Interview: Natasha Crain – When Culture Hates You

Greg chats with Natasha Crain, author of When Culture Hates You: Persevering for the Common Good as Christians in a Hostile Public Square, about navigating conflicts with the culture, where our differences lie, Christian Nationalism, critical theory, and more.

 

Topics:

1. Interview: Natasha Crain, author of When Culture Hates You (00:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• When Culture Hates You: Persevering for the Common Good as Christians in a Hostile Public Square by Natasha Crain
• Natasha Crain’s website
• Natasha Crain’s books
• Wesley Huff on Joe Rogan

Infallibility vs. Inerrancy

Greg talks about infallibility vs. inerrancy, then he answers callers’ questions about using more Bible in pro-life argumentation, what happened to Old Testament saints when they died, and how to know when to witness and when to use tactics.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: Infallibility vs. inerrancy (00:00)
2. How would you respond to the objection that we need more Bible in pro-life argumentation since God’s Word will not return void? (22:00)
3. What happened to the Old Testament saints when they died? (31:00)
4. When do we witness, and when do we use tactics? (40:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• STR U Online Training
• Is the Bible Authoritative? by Greg Koukl, discussing John Warwick Montgomery’s retroduction
• A Ten-Minute Witness by Greg Koukl

A Little Knowledge Can Get You in Trouble

Greg responds to a TikTok star’s confusion about Jesus and the woman caught in adultery, then he answers questions about praying for God’s will, counseling a Christian who has same-sex attractions, and whether one can use “Jesus” and “God” interchangeably.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: A little knowledge can get you in trouble. (00:00)
2. Is it ever necessary to pray for God’s will in someone else’s life? (23:00)
3. How would you counsel someone who believes in the biblical sexual ethic but has same-sex attractions? (37:00)
4. Is it okay to use “Jesus” and “God” interchangeably when making a point from a passage of Scripture? (48:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Reality Student Apologetics Conference – February 21–22 in Dallas, TX; March 21–22, in Philadelphia, PA; April 25–26 in Dayton, OH
• Holy Sexuality and the Gospel: Sex, Desire, and Relationships Shaped by God’s Grand Story by Christopher Yuan
• Out of a Far Country: A Gay Son’s Journey to God. A Broken Mother’s Search for Hope. by Christopher Yuan and Angela Yuan

Related Links:

• What Motivates Sin (and How to Fight It) by Amy Hall
• Interview: Sam Allberry, How the Church Can Support Christians with Unwanted Same-Sex Attraction
• Sexuality, Identity, Sin, and Denying Ourselves to Follow Christ by Amy Hall

Interview: Melissa Dougherty – Happy Lies

Greg talks to Melissa Dougherty, author of Happy Lies: How a Movement You (Probably) Never Heard Of Shaped Our Self-Obsessed World, about how the 19th-century New Thought movement is still affecting the church today.

 

Topics:

1. Interview: Melissa Dougherty, author of Happy Lies: How a Movement You (Probably) Never Heard Of Shaped Our Self-Obsessed World (00:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Happy Lies: How a Movement You (Probably) Never Heard Of Shaped Our Self-Obsessed World by Melissa Dougherty
• Melissa Dougherty’s YouTube channel
• Melissa Dougherty’s website
• Greg’s previous interview with Melissa Dougherty
• Strange New World by Carl Trueman

Related Links:

• “The Secret”: A Fatal Attraction by Greg Koukl

Jesus Feeds the Dogs

Greg talks about how to understand what Jesus says to the Syrophoenician woman in Mark 7, answers a question about when to shake the dust off your feet when it comes to sharing the gospel with family, and responds to a request for clarity on the second coming of Christ.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: Jesus feeds the dogs. (00:00)
2. Is it ever appropriate to shake the dust off your feet when it comes to sharing the gospel with family? (25:00)
3. Can you help me clarify my understanding of the second coming of Christ? (35:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Reality Student Apologetics Conference – February 21–22 in Dallas, TX; March 21–22, in Philadelphia, PA; April 25–26 in Dayton, OH
• The Rap on the Rapture by Greg Koukl
• 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 Size of the Universe Doesn’t Mean We’re Insignificant

Greg talks about the assumption people make that we’re insignificant because we’re small compared to the universe, then he answers questions about whether Hebrews 6:4–6 means we can lose our salvation and how to deal with a situation where a pastor won’t submit to leadership.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: The size of the universe doesn’t mean we’re insignificant. (00:00)
2. Does Hebrews 6:4–6 mean you can lose your salvation? (13:00)
3. After leaving a church because the pastor wouldn’t submit to church leadership, how should I discuss this issue with a friend who is still at the church? (33:00)

 

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Why the Universe Is the Way It Is by Hugh Ross
• Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe by Peter Ward and Donald Brownlee
• Bully Pulpit: Confronting the Problem of Spiritual Abuse in the Church by Michael Kruger

 

Related Links:

• What Should We Learn from the Immensity of the Heavens? by Katie Hulse
• Why Would God Create a Massive Universe? by Amy Hall
• Why Is There So Much Wasted Space in the Universe? by Amy Hall

Wesley Huff’s Interactions Are a Tutorial on Being a Good Ambassador

Greg briefly discusses the Southern California fires, has more to say about Wesley Huff’s conversations with Billy Carson and Joe Rogan, then talks to callers about how God could have been merciful before mankind existed and whether there’s a biblical way to worship God.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: Wesley Huff’s interactions are a tutorial on being a good ambassador. (00:00)
2. How did God have the attribute of mercy before he created mankind? (37:00)
3. Is there a biblical way to worship God? (47:00)

 

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Wesley Huff’s website
• Wesley Huff’s YouTube channel
• Wesley Huff’s debate with Billy Carson
• Wesley Huff on Joe Rogan
• Reality Student Apologetics Conference – February 21–22 in Dallas, TX; March 21–22, in Philadelphia, PA; April 25–26 in Dayton, OH
• STR Outposts
• Dogmatic Theology by William G.T. Shedd, edited by Alan Gomes