Stand to Reason Weekly Podcast

Nothing Is Wrong with the World if There Is No God

Greg talks about why atheists can’t say something is wrong with the world, then he answers questions about children going to Heaven, a good Bible for New Agers, repeating numbers in the Bible, medication in the Bible, and whether the church is really the “bride of Christ.”

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: Nothing is wrong with the world if there is no God. (00:00)
2. If children die before the age of accountability, do they go to Heaven? (05:00)
3. Can you recommend a Bible for someone who has been affected by New Age beliefs? (13:00)
4. How do I respond to those who say the Bible seems less true because there are so many repeating numbers in it? (33:00)
5. How does the Bible address the use of medication and pharmacies? (39:00)
6. Is the church really the “bride of Christ”? (49:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Street Smarts: Using Questions to Answer Christianity’s Toughest Challenges by Greg Koukl
• When a Baby Dies by Ronald Nash
• STR U Online Training
• Reality Student Apologetics Conference – September 13–14 in Los Angeles, CA; October 18–19 in Seattle, WA; November 8–9 in Minneapolis, MN; February 21–22, 2025 in Dallas, TX; March 21–22, 2025 in Philadelphia, PA

The Surprise of Death

Greg reflects on the surprise of death and the surprise of what many will experience on the other side, then he talks to callers about whether mental illnesses exist and whether dispensational and Reformed views teach the same gospel.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: The surprise of death (00:00)
2. Do mental illnesses exist? (26:00)
3. Do dispensational and Reformed views teach the same gospel? (44:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Is the Bible Sufficient? by Greg Koukl
• Driven to Distraction by Edward M. Hallowell and John J. Ratey
• The Bible: Fast Forward – DVD (Also available as a digital download)

Will Steak Be on the Menu in Heaven?

Greg answers questions about whether steak will be on the menu in Heaven, a Christian high school requiring students to use the Enneagram in a class, and questions to ask a New Ager who is big on “spirituality” but doesn’t like the cross or the forgiveness of sins.

 

Topics:

1. Will steak be on the menu in Heaven? (02:00)
2. How would you approach staff at a Christian high school where students are required to take a “life calling” class that uses the Enneagram? (29:00)
3. What questions should I ask a New Ager who is big on “spirituality” but doesn’t like the cross and the concept of the forgiveness of sins? (40:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Become a Strategic Partner
• Melissa Dougherty
• Not God’s Type by Holly Ordway

There’s No Silver Bullet

Greg talks about how some questions about how to reach people are just hard to figure out, then he answers questions about who created God, using apologetics with someone who is mentally ill and hostile towards Christianity, and the best way to do corporate prayer.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: There’s no silver bullet. (00:00)
2.  If the universe had to have a cause, then who created God? (17:00)
3. How do you recommend using apologetics with someone who is mentally ill and hostile towards Christianity? (37:00)
4. Do you have any thoughts on the best way to do corporate prayer so that it’s more effective and joyful? (48:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Become a Strategic Partner
• Street Smarts: Using Questions to Answer Christianity’s Toughest Challenges by Greg Koukl
• The Story of Reality: How the World Began, How It Ends, and Everything Important that Happens in Between by Greg Koukl

Related Links:

• Who Created God? by Amy Hall
• A Simple Explanation of the Cosmological Argument by Amy Hall
• Why You Shouldn’t Lose Heart When Prayer Is Difficult by Amy Hall (quoting John Newton)
• Prayer Begins with Hope in God by Amy Hall

How to Be a Good Ambassador for Christ to Muslims

Guest Host: Alan Shlemon

 

Alan Shlemon talks about how to be a good ambassador for Christ to Muslims, the largest unreached people group on the planet, explaining their foundational objection to Christianity and how to address it, three things you need to engage them, and more.

 

Topics:

1. Our identity and job as ambassadors for Christ (00:00)
2. Step one: Learn about Islam (12:00)
3. The three primary authoritative sources in Islam (14:00)
4. Muslim views on Jesus and jihad (22:00)
5. Step two: Engage Muslims—three things you need (38:00)
6. How to respond to the foundational objection that the Bible is corrupted (39:00)
7. Who the real enemy is and what our job is (48:00)
8. Q&A (50:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• A Closer Look at Islam by Alan Shlemon
• The Life of Muhammad by Ibn Ishaq
• The Ambassador’s Guide to Islam by Alan Shlemon

Related Links:

• Jihad and War in Islam and Christianity by Alan Shlemon
• How to Reach Your Muslim Neighbor by Alan Shlemon
• The Cross Is Good News for Muslims by Alan Shlemon

How Do We Connect with God in a Way That’s Biblically Sound?

Greg responds to a request for advice on how to move from a “listening for the voice of God” view to connecting with God in a way that’s biblically sound, discussing stages of Christian maturity and explaining how God matures Christians through suffering.

 

Topics:

1. What advice would you give to someone who’s transitioning from a “listening for the voice of God” view to connecting with God in a way that is biblically sound? (01:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• The Ambassador’s Guide to the Voice of God (booklet) by Greg Koukl
• Does God Whisper? Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 (online articles) by Greg Koukl
• Newton on the Christian Life by Tony Reinke
• A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis
• Newton on How You Can Be Deceived While Reading the Bible by Amy Hall
• Meaningful Suffering by Amy Hall (includes the hymn by John Newton on God’s use of suffering to mature Christians)

Related Links:

• Why You Shouldn’t Lose Heart When Prayer Is Difficult by Amy Hall (quoting John Newton)
• God’s Amazing Grace Could Only Have Been Revealed in a Fallen World by Amy Hall (on John Newton’s life)

Don’t Give Your Kid a Smartphone

Guest Host: Jonathan Noyes

 

Jon talks about the negative effects of social media on mental health and gives tips for raising kids in this culture, then he answers questions about why God redeemed humans and whether or not we still have a responsibility to preach the gospel to all nations.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: Don’t give your kid a smartphone. (00:00)
2. Why do you think God chose to redeem human beings when he didn’t need to? (27:00)
3. Do we still have a responsibility to preach the gospel to all nations, and was it wrong for the missionary who was recently killed along with his wife in Haiti to have brought her with him to a dangerous place? (26:00)
4. Commentary: More on how smartphones affect mental health and other societal problems (48:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt
• Reality Student Apologetics Conference – September 13–14 in Los Angeles, CA; October 18–19 in Seattle, WA; November 8–9 in Minneapolis, MN; February 21–22, 2025 in Dallas, TX; March 21–22, 2025 in Philadelphia, PA
• STR U Online Training
• Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren’t Growing Up by Abigail Shrier
• #STRask podcast with Greg and Amy
• STR Outposts

Action Beats Intention

Greg talks about the satisfaction of having done something useful, then he answers questions about advancing the truth with an unbelieving wife and whether withholding sex from a spouse is grounds for divorce.

 

Topics:

1. Commentary: Action beats intention. (00:00)
2. If you were in my situation, how would you advance the truth of Christianity with your unbelieving wife? (12:00)
3. Does Paul indicate that withholding sex from your spouse is a sexual sin that could be grounds for divorce? (31:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Submit a question on the Open Mic Line
• Sacred Marriage: What If God Designed Marriage to Make Us Holy More Than to Make Us Happy? by Gary Thomas

Related Links:

• The Beauty of Submission by Amy Hall
• The Beauty of Leadership by Amy Hall

Are Science and Faith Compatible?

Guest Host: Tim Barnett

 

Tim Barnett discusses the compatibility of faith and science by first defining “faith” and “science” and then exploring the three problems a naturalist has to overcome in order to explain how even a single, small protein could come about on its own by chance.

 

Topics:

1. What is faith? (05:00)
2. What is science? (13:00)
3. How do we explain the existence of functional proteins? (32:00)
4. The chirality problem for naturalists (37:00)
5. The bonding problem for naturalists (40:00)
6. The sequence problem for naturalists (45:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Are Science and Faith Compatible? by Tim Barnett – DVD
• “Kinesin protein walking on microtubule” – Animation

Related Links:

• Can Science Explain Everything? by John Lennox
• Why Intelligent Design Isn’t a God-of-the-Gaps Argument by Tim Barnett
• Why Intelligent Design Is an Argument from Knowledge, Not Ignorance by Amy Hall (quoting Stephen Meyer)
• Building a Protein by Chance by Tim Barnett

Don’t Participate in Pagan Ceremonies

Greg answers questions from callers about participating in “smudging ceremonies” at a pastor’s training session and whether an apparent contradiction could reach a level where it became evidence against that Gospel being an eyewitness account.

 

Topics:

1. Should Christians be participating in “smudging ceremonies” to release our bad energies (as we were asked to do in a pastor’s training session), and how should we be reaching out to indigenous people in places like Canada? (03:00)
2. If apparent contradictions offer evidence of authentic eyewitness accounts, is there a level of contradiction that would hurt the case, like Matthew 8 contradicting Mark 5 in the number of demoniacs helped by Jesus? (37:00)

Mentioned on the Show: 

• Submit a question on the Open Mic Line
• Smudging Protocols and Guidelines for Schools – Information on smudging
• Cold-Case Christianity: A Homicide Detective Investigates the Claims of the Gospels by J. Warner Wallace