This is an interesting conversation.

That’s amazing! Praise God!

I completely agree with this, but yet I also completely agree with what Pastor Paul Washer said about us caring way too much about mental health. I think this is one of those “read the room” areas and only with God’s help will we know the right course of action.

I agree with this.

Wow, this is amazing! I agree with everything that he’s said about nothing changing since the day of Pentecost other than us.

Even more evidence that Benny Hinn is a false prophet.

I agree with all of this. Some of the tips on praying to God, I need to work on to expand my prayer life with God. Some experiences that they mention in this video, I’ve experienced firsthand. I remember one time I was at work with only 20 minutes left in my shift, a LARGE handful of things to put away before I could clock out, and I was tired and aggravated, and in pain and I just wanted to go home. I (half-jokingly) said out loud, “Can you help me find these before I have to clock out, Lord?” Immediately after I said that, started finding everything that I had in my hand. While I probably shouldn’t’ve prayed in jest like that, He still answered my prayer, and He showed me that He still has His hand on me, even when I don’t feel like it.

Mike answers some great questions here.

This is INCREDIBLE evidence for Christianity being true!

‭Mark 14:1-72 MSG‬
[1-2] In only two days the eight-day Festival of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread would begin. The high priests and religion scholars were looking for a way they could seize Jesus by stealth and kill him. They agreed that it should not be done during Passover Week. “We don’t want the crowds up in arms,” they said. [3-5] Jesus was at Bethany, a guest of Simon the Leper. While he was eating dinner, a woman came up carrying a bottle of very expensive perfume. Opening the bottle, she poured it on his head. Some of the guests became furious among themselves. “That’s criminal! A sheer waste! This perfume could have been sold for well over a year’s wages and handed out to the poor.” They swelled up in anger, nearly bursting with indignation over her. [6-9] But Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why are you giving her a hard time? She has just done something wonderfully significant for me. You will have the poor with you every day for the rest of your lives. Whenever you feel like it, you can do something for them. Not so with me. She did what she could when she could—she pre-anointed my body for burial. And you can be sure that wherever in the whole world the Message is preached, what she just did is going to be talked about admiringly.” [10-11] Judas Iscariot, one of the Twelve, went to the cabal of high priests, determined to betray him. They couldn’t believe their ears, and promised to pay him well. He started looking for just the right moment to hand him over. [12] On the first of the Days of Unleavened Bread, the day they prepare the Passover sacrifice, his disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and make preparations so you can eat the Passover meal?” [13-15] He directed two of his disciples, “Go into the city. A man carrying a water jug will meet you. Follow him. Ask the owner of whichever house he enters, ‘The Teacher wants to know, Where is my guest room where I can eat the Passover meal with my disciples?’ He will show you a spacious second-story room, swept and ready. Prepare for us there.” [16] The disciples left, came to the city, found everything just as he had told them, and prepared the Passover meal. [17-18] After sunset he came with the Twelve. As they were at the supper table eating, Jesus said, “I have something hard but important to say to you: One of you is going to hand me over to the conspirators, one who at this moment is eating with me.” [19] Stunned, they started asking, one after another, “It isn’t me, is it?” [20-21] He said, “It’s one of the Twelve, one who eats with me out of the same bowl. In one sense, it turns out that the Son of Man is entering into a way of treachery well-marked by the Scriptures—no surprises here. In another sense, the man who turns him in, turns traitor to the Son of Man—better never to have been born than do this!” [22] In the course of their meal, having taken and blessed the bread, he broke it and gave it to them. Then he said, Take, this is my body. [23-24] Taking the chalice, he gave it to them, thanking God, and they all drank from it. He said, This is my blood, God’s new covenant, Poured out for many people. [25] “I’ll not be drinking wine again until the new day when I drink it in the kingdom of God.” [26] They sang a hymn and then went directly to Mount Olives. * * * [27-28] Jesus told them, “You’re all going to feel that your world is falling apart and that it’s my fault. There’s a Scripture that says, I will strike the shepherd; The sheep will scatter. “But after I am raised up, I will go ahead of you, leading the way to Galilee.” [29] Peter blurted out, “Even if everyone else is ashamed of you when things fall to pieces, I won’t be.” [30] Jesus said, “Don’t be so sure. Today, this very night in fact, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” [31] He blustered in protest, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you.” All the others said the same thing. [32-34] They came to an area called Gethsemane. Jesus told his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took Peter, James, and John with him. He sank into a pit of suffocating darkness. He told them, “I feel bad enough right now to die. Stay here and keep vigil with me.” [35-36] Going a little ahead, he fell to the ground and prayed for a way out: “Papa, Father, you can—can’t you?—get me out of this. Take this cup away from me. But please, not what I want—what do you want?” [37-38] He came back and found them sound asleep. He said to Peter, “Simon, you went to sleep on me? Can’t you stick it out with me a single hour? Stay alert, be in prayer, so you don’t enter the danger zone without even knowing it. Don’t be naive. Part of you is eager, ready for anything in God; but another part is as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire.” [39-40] He then went back and prayed the same prayer. Returning, he again found them sound asleep. They simply couldn’t keep their eyes open, and they didn’t have a plausible excuse. [41-42] He came back…[Read more]

‭Mark 13:1-37 MSG‬
[1] As he walked away from the Temple, one of his disciples said, “Teacher, look at that stonework! Those buildings!” [2] Jesus said, “You’re impressed by this grandiose architecture? There’s not a stone in the whole works that is not going to end up in a heap of rubble.” [3-4] Later, as he was sitting on Mount Olives in full view of the Temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew got him off by himself and asked, “Tell us, when is this going to happen? What sign will we get that things are coming to a head?” [5-8] Jesus began, “Watch out for doomsday deceivers. Many leaders are going to show up with forged identities claiming, ‘I’m the One.’ They will deceive a lot of people. When you hear of wars and rumored wars, keep your head and don’t panic. This is routine history, and no sign of the end. Nation will fight nation and ruler fight ruler, over and over. Earthquakes will occur in various places. There will be famines. But these things are nothing compared to what’s coming. [9-10] “And watch out! They’re going to drag you into court. And then it will go from bad to worse, dog-eat-dog, everyone at your throat because you carry my name. You’re placed there as sentinels to truth. The Message has to be preached all across the world. [11] “When they bring you, betrayed, into court, don’t worry about what you’ll say. When the time comes, say what’s on your heart—the Holy Spirit will make his witness in and through you. [12-13] “It’s going to be brother killing brother, father killing child, children killing parents. There’s no telling who will hate you because of me. “Stay with it—that’s what is required. Stay with it to the end. You won’t be sorry; you’ll be saved. [14-18] “But be ready to run for it when you see the monster of desecration set up where it should never be. You who can read, make sure you understand what I’m talking about. If you’re living in Judea at the time, run for the hills; if you’re working in the yard, don’t go back to the house to get anything; if you’re out in the field, don’t go back to get your coat. Pregnant and nursing mothers will have it especially hard. Hope and pray this won’t happen in the middle of winter. [19-20] “These are going to be hard days—nothing like it from the time God made the world right up to the present. And there’ll be nothing like it again. If he let the days of trouble run their course, nobody would make it. But because of God’s chosen people, those he personally chose, he has already intervened. [21-23] “If anyone tries to flag you down, calling out, ‘Here’s the Messiah!’ or points, ‘There he is!’ don’t fall for it. Fake Messiahs and lying preachers are going to pop up everywhere. Their impressive credentials and bewitching performances will pull the wool over the eyes of even those who ought to know better. So watch out. I’ve given you fair warning. [24-25] “Following those hard times, Sun will fade out, moon cloud over, Stars fall out of the sky, cosmic powers tremble. [26-27] “And then they’ll see the Son of Man enter in grand style, his Arrival filling the sky—no one will miss it! He’ll dispatch the angels; they will pull in the chosen from the four winds, from pole to pole. [28-31] “Take a lesson from the fig tree. From the moment you notice its buds form, the merest hint of green, you know summer’s just around the corner. And so it is with you. When you see all these things, you know he is at the door. Don’t take this lightly. I’m not just saying this for some future generation, but for this one, too—these things will happen. Sky and earth will wear out; my words won’t wear out. [32-37] “But the exact day and hour? No one knows that, not even heaven’s angels, not even the Son. Only the Father. So keep a sharp lookout, for you don’t know the timetable. It’s like a man who takes a trip, leaving home and putting his servants in charge, each assigned a task, and commanding the gatekeeper to stand watch. So, stay at your post, watching. You have no idea when the homeowner is returning, whether evening, midnight, cockcrow, or morning. You don’t want him showing up unannounced, with you asleep on the job. I say it to you, and I’m saying it to all: Stay at your post. Keep watch.”

https://bible.com/bible/97/mrk.13.1-37.MSG

This has some great evidence for Luke’s gospel being true.

I certainly don’t agree with Denver Cheddie everything, his views on hell I believe are, while interesting, incongruent with the biblical view (though, I may be wrong), but I agree with him here.

I’ve posted the original video before. Wow, there’s so many things God does that we don’t know about!

I believe this is true, I can’t prove that it is, but with all of the evidence I’ve seen for demon possession and the spiritual gifts and all of this stuff, it’d be stupid of me to not believe.

There are only two things that I disagree with Paul Washer on in this entire sermon and it’s minor semantics, so this is absolutely NOT theology breaking stuff. Firstly, he says that in a trolley problem between saving your wife or your offspring, you should prioritize your wife. I, personally, would say it depends on the age of everyone involved, but I’d likely prioritize the children because that’s the future generation (again, I said I disagreed with him, not that I’m objectively correct; the trolley problem has been debated for centuries, neither me, nor Paul, has the right answer). Secondly, he says that our generation puts an incredible emphasis on our mental health and what feels good that would make the apostles, forgive the ironic expression, roll in their graves and I agree with that. However, he frames it as if all these people should simply just stop feeling this way. I believe this applies to SOME people, and some people need more stuff to deal with dumped on them so that they can just get used to it, but others simply need a SLOW detox from mental health care and have things SLOWLY introduced so that they can ease back into a life similar to how the apostles lived. Everything else in the sermon was wonderful.

This is a great teaching! Every time Pastor Washer tells the story of him canceling his flight to make sure the man who had a short time left to live fully understood the gospel, I start tearing up at the end.

I believe that these guys make the right points for baptism not being salvific, however, they also seem to contradict their own points sometimes. For example, the point they take from Acts 16:29-34 is that Paul, Silas, and the jailer do other things before baptism as opposed to scrambling to get the jailer baptized immediately, which is a great point and I agree, but later they say that baptism is urgent and should be prioritized. I think that they technically meant that somewhere between the two extremes is the truth, which I would agree with, but they never clarified, and I feel like if you’re in a Bible teaching position where every single syllable you say can be ripped apart or misinterpreted, that is quite important.

I agree with everything said here.

This is, unfortunately, what a lot of people in this generation struggle with.

‭Mark 12:1-44 MSG‬
[1-2] Then Jesus started telling them stories. “A man planted a vineyard. He fenced it, dug a winepress, erected a watchtower, turned it over to the farmhands, and went off on a trip. At the time for harvest, he sent a servant back to the farmhands to collect his profits. [3-5] “They grabbed him, beat him up, and sent him off empty-handed. So he sent another servant. That one they tarred and feathered. He sent another and that one they killed. And on and on, many others. Some they beat up, some they killed. [6] “Finally there was only one left: a beloved son. In a last-ditch effort, he sent him, thinking, ‘Surely they will respect my son.’ [7-8] “But those farmhands saw their chance. They rubbed their hands together in greed and said, ‘This is the heir! Let’s kill him and have it all for ourselves.’ They grabbed him, killed him, and threw him over the fence. [9-11] “What do you think the owner of the vineyard will do? Right. He’ll come and get rid of everyone. Then he’ll assign the care of the vineyard to others. Read it for yourselves in Scripture: That stone the masons threw out is now the cornerstone! This is God’s work; we rub our eyes—we can hardly believe it!” [12] They wanted to lynch him then and there but, intimidated by public opinion, held back. They knew the story was about them. They got away from there as fast as they could. [13-14] They sent some Pharisees and followers of Herod to bait him, hoping to catch him saying something incriminating. They came up and said, “Teacher, we know you have integrity, that you are indifferent to public opinion, don’t pander to your students, and teach the way of God accurately. Tell us: Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” [15-16] He knew it was a trick question, and said, “Why are you playing these games with me? Bring me a coin and let me look at it.” They handed him one. “This engraving—who does it look like? And whose name is on it?” “Caesar,” they said. [17] Jesus said, “Give Caesar what is his, and give God what is his.” Their mouths hung open, speechless. [18-23] Some Sadducees, the party that denies any possibility of resurrection, came up and asked, “Teacher, Moses wrote that if a man dies and leaves a wife but no child, his brother is obligated to marry the widow and have children. Well, there once were seven brothers. The first took a wife. He died childless. The second married her. He died, and still no child. The same with the third. All seven took their turn, but no child. Finally the wife died. When they are raised at the resurrection, whose wife is she? All seven were her husband.” [24-27] Jesus said, “You’re way off base, and here’s why: One, you don’t know what God said; two, you don’t know how God works. After the dead are raised up, we’re past the marriage business. As it is with angels now, all our ecstasies and intimacies then will be with God. And regarding the dead, whether or not they are raised, don’t you ever read the Bible? How God at the bush said to Moses, ‘I am—not was—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? The living God is God of the living, not the dead. You’re way, way off base.” [28] One of the religion scholars came up. Hearing the lively exchanges of question and answer and seeing how sharp Jesus was in his answers, he put in his question: “Which is most important of all the commandments?” [29-31] Jesus said, “The first in importance is, ‘Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.’ And here is the second: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment that ranks with these.” [32-33] The religion scholar said, “A wonderful answer, Teacher! So clear-cut and accurate—that God is one and there is no other. And loving him with all passion and intelligence and energy, and loving others as well as you love yourself. Why, that’s better than all offerings and sacrifices put together!” [34] When Jesus realized how insightful he was, he said, “You’re almost there, right on the border of God’s kingdom.” After that, no one else dared ask a question. * * * [35-37] While he was teaching in the Temple, Jesus asked, “How is it that the religion scholars say that the Messiah is David’s ‘son,’ when we all know that David, inspired by the Holy Spirit, said, God said to my Master, “Sit here at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.” “David here designates the Messiah ‘my Master’—so how can the Messiah also be his ‘son’?” The large crowd was delighted with what they heard. [38-40] He continued teaching. “Watch out for the religion scholars. They love to walk around in academic gowns, preening in the radiance of public flattery, basking in prominent positions, sitting at the head table at every church function. And all the time they are exploiting the weak and helpless. The longer their prayers, the worse they get. But they’ll pay for it in the end.” [41-44] S…[Read more]

This is such an expansive overview of New Age religions/Hinduism from the Christian viewpoint.

Cliffe and Stewart Knechtle and Ruslan have great responses to Logan Paul, here!

I agree with everything in this video.

Wow, one after another, I keep finding these great videos going through the Cliffe/Logan podcast. This is an extremely detailed list of points.

These are very hard things for nonbelievers to understand, but I believe that they are 100% true. The only way that I believe we could, at the very least, perceive not having free will and obey God 100% of the time (everything beyond this point of this paragraph is my interpretation, there is no way to prove it, and I could very easily be wrong) is if Adam and Eve would have resisted and rebuked Lucifer in the garden of Eden. They likely would have, at some point, eaten of the tree of Life first, then God would have either allowed them to eat of the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, or gotten rid the tree altogether because there would be no need for it. Eden would have likely been (the start of) the New Heaven/New Earth/New Jerusalem and everything would’ve been perfect! However, since they did sin, God decided to still give us the perfect end that He wanted to in the beginning, sin just caused more steps for that to be possible; say, several millennia worth of steps.

I agree with Nick 800,000,000%. Literally every piece of information that we could possibly consume has a spectrum of how much it helps/harms depending on the person consuming it

This testimony is crazy! Praise God!

This is a great sermon!

This, I believe, is proof that the spiritual gifts are active today. This is not sweeping prophetic words that apply to 100’s of people and it is nothing like Benny Hinn’s or Kenneth Copeland’s prophetic revelations. This will not be enough evidence for a LOT of people, but those who have eyes to see let them see. Those who have ears to hear, let them hear. This is amazing! Mike Winger made a YouTube community post responding to this video. It will be below this post.

This is a great example of why we need to read the Bible in context.

I never knew that people went through this much trouble to disprove Christianity.

Firstly, when Mike says, \”There was a time in history past where Jesus was fully divine and zero human, he was not human at all\”, this guy responds with, \”Yup, same with us.\” This is off base entirely because what Mike is referring to is that Jesus was on the Earth BEFORE Jesus was born in the form of God walking through the garden of Eden looking for Adam and Eve, Melchizedek receiving the spoils of war from Abram, the 4th man in the furnace with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego who was \”as the Son of God\”, and other places in the OT. Mike\’s point is that the deity of Jesus can exist outside of the humanity of Jesus. This DOES NOT apply to any other human.
This guy also complains a lot about Mike not being confident with his answers and saying \”maybe\” or \”I don\’t know\” a lot. For one thing, if you are handling the Word of God you need to be ABUNDANTLY clear that you are just trying to help others understand your interpretation, not that your interpretation is OBJECTIVELY correct. At ANY time God could send an angel to clear up your theology, and at ANY time you\’d better be able to change how you interpret scripture based on what God has told you. For another thing, a good chunk of the times that Mike says \”maybe\” in his videos, he\’s giving an example of what someone else could theorize is true. \”But where I think we get into maybe [as in this is a very slippery slope] scary territory is when we push forward and go, okay, maybe [as in a hypothetical person having this hypothetical opinion] upon Jesus\’s death every bit of Him that is humanity is dead and disappears\”.
On top of all of this, the guy is making jump cuts in his video to make Mike sound incoherent.

This is 100% true. I\’ve experienced this firsthand.

I disagree with most of this. This is going off of a COMPLETELY literal understanding of the text and does not allow for symbolism, metaphors, or poetry in the Bible.

Wow, this is awesome!

I\’ve never read these scriptures in parallel. Wow, that\’s cool!

This is an amazing testimony!

This poor guy is, unfortunately, swooned by Mr. Hinn. I would never say that he is untrustworthy/any testimonies that he gives are wrong because he supports Benny, however, it is a red flag. I believe that people like Hinn have caused there to be two major camps regarding the gifts of the Holy Spirit, one camp sees his claims of miracles as proof that the gifts have ceased, and the other camp is so gullible that they believe that all claims of the spiritual gifts being present are true 100% of the time. So unfortunate.

‭Mark 10:1-52 MSG‬
[1-2] From there he went to the area of Judea across the Jordan. A crowd of people, as was so often the case, went along, and he, as he so often did, taught them. Pharisees came up, intending to give him a hard time. They asked, “Is it legal for a man to divorce his wife?” [3] Jesus said, “What did Moses command?” [4] They answered, “Moses gave permission to fill out a certificate of dismissal and divorce her.” [5-9] Jesus said, “Moses wrote this command only as a concession to your hardhearted ways. In the original creation, God made male and female to be together. Because of this, a man leaves father and mother, and in marriage he becomes one flesh with a woman—no longer two individuals, but forming a new unity. Because God created this organic union of the two sexes, no one should desecrate his art by cutting them apart.” [10-12] When they were back home, the disciples brought it up again. Jesus gave it to them straight: “A man who divorces his wife so he can marry someone else commits adultery against her. And a woman who divorces her husband so she can marry someone else commits adultery.” * * * [13-16] The people brought children to Jesus, hoping he might touch them. The disciples shooed them off. But Jesus was irate and let them know it: “Don’t push these children away. Don’t ever get between them and me. These children are at the very center of life in the kingdom. Mark this: Unless you accept God’s kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you’ll never get in.” Then, gathering the children up in his arms, he laid his hands of blessing on them. [17] As he went out into the street, a man came running up, greeted him with great reverence, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to get eternal life?” [18-19] Jesus said, “Why are you calling me good? No one is good, only God. You know the commandments: Don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie, don’t cheat, honor your father and mother.” [20] He said, “Teacher, I have—from my youth—kept them all!” [21] Jesus looked him hard in the eye—and loved him! He said, “There’s one thing left: Go sell whatever you own and give it to the poor. All your wealth will then be heavenly wealth. And come follow me.” [22] The man’s face clouded over. This was the last thing he expected to hear, and he walked off with a heavy heart. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and not about to let go. [23-25] Looking at his disciples, Jesus said, “Do you have any idea how difficult it is for people who ‘have it all’ to enter God’s kingdom?” The disciples couldn’t believe what they were hearing, but Jesus kept on: “You can’t imagine how difficult. I’d say it’s easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for the rich to get into God’s kingdom.” [26] That got their attention. “Then who has any chance at all?” they asked. [27] Jesus was blunt: “No chance at all if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you let God do it.” [28] Peter tried another angle: “We left everything and followed you.” [29-31] Jesus said, “Mark my words, no one who sacrifices house, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, land—whatever—because of me and the Message will lose out. They’ll get it all back, but multiplied many times in homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land—but also in troubles. And then the bonus of eternal life! This is once again the Great Reversal: Many who are first will end up last, and the last first.” [32-34] Back on the road, they set out for Jerusalem. Jesus had a head start on them, and they were following, puzzled and not just a little afraid. He took the Twelve and began again to go over what to expect next. “Listen to me carefully. We’re on our way up to Jerusalem. When we get there, the Son of Man will be betrayed to the religious leaders and scholars. They will sentence him to death. Then they will hand him over to the Romans, who will mock and spit on him, give him the third degree, and kill him. After three days he will rise alive.” [35] James and John, Zebedee’s sons, came up to him. “Teacher, we have something we want you to do for us.” [36] “What is it? I’ll see what I can do.” [37] “Arrange it,” they said, “so that we will be awarded the highest places of honor in your glory—one of us at your right, the other at your left.” [38] Jesus said, “You have no idea what you’re asking. Are you capable of drinking the cup I drink, of being baptized in the baptism I’m about to be plunged into?” [39-40] “Sure,” they said. “Why not?” Jesus said, “Come to think of it, you will drink the cup I drink, and be baptized in my baptism. But as to awarding places of honor, that’s not my business. There are other arrangements for that.” [41-45] When the other ten heard of this conversation, they lost their tempers with James and John. Jesus got them together to settle things down. “You’ve observed how godless rulers throw their weight around,” he said, “and when people get a little po…[Read more]

‭Mark 9:1-50 MSG‬
[1] Then he drove it home by saying, “This isn’t pie in the sky by and by. Some of you who are standing here are going to see it happen, see the kingdom of God arrive in full force.” [2-4] Six days later, three of them did see it. Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain. His appearance changed from the inside out, right before their eyes. His clothes shimmered, glistening white, whiter than any bleach could make them. Elijah, along with Moses, came into view, in deep conversation with Jesus. [5-6] Peter interrupted, “Rabbi, this is a great moment! Let’s build three memorials—one for you, one for Moses, one for Elijah.” He blurted this out without thinking, stunned as they all were by what they were seeing. [7] Just then a light-radiant cloud enveloped them, and from deep in the cloud, a voice: “This is my Son, marked by my love. Listen to him.” [8] The next minute the disciples were looking around, rubbing their eyes, seeing nothing but Jesus, only Jesus. [9-10] Coming down the mountain, Jesus swore them to secrecy. “Don’t tell a soul what you saw. After the Son of Man rises from the dead, you’re free to talk.” They puzzled over that, wondering what on earth “rising from the dead” meant. [11] Meanwhile they were asking, “Why do the religion scholars say that Elijah has to come first?” [12-13] Jesus replied, “Elijah does come first and get everything ready for the coming of the Son of Man. They treated this Elijah like dirt, much like they will treat the Son of Man, who will, according to Scripture, suffer terribly and be kicked around contemptibly.” [14-16] When they came back down the mountain to the other disciples, they saw a huge crowd around them, and the religion scholars cross-examining them. As soon as the people in the crowd saw Jesus, admiring excitement stirred them. They ran and greeted him. He asked, “What’s going on? What’s all the commotion?” [17-18] A man out of the crowd answered, “Teacher, I brought my mute son, made speechless by a demon, to you. Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, grinds his teeth, and goes stiff as a board. I told your disciples, hoping they could deliver him, but they couldn’t.” [19-20] Jesus said, “What a generation! No sense of God! How many times do I have to go over these things? How much longer do I have to put up with this? Bring the boy here.” They brought him. When the demon saw Jesus, it threw the boy into a seizure, causing him to writhe on the ground and foam at the mouth. [21-22] He asked the boy’s father, “How long has this been going on?” “Ever since he was a little boy. Many times it pitches him into fire or the river to do away with him. If you can do anything, do it. Have a heart and help us!” [23] Jesus said, “If? There are no ‘ifs’ among believers. Anything can happen.” [24] No sooner were the words out of his mouth than the father cried, “Then I believe. Help me with my doubts!” [25-27] Seeing that the crowd was forming fast, Jesus gave the vile spirit its marching orders: “Dumb and deaf spirit, I command you—Out of him, and stay out!” Screaming, and with much thrashing about, it left. The boy was pale as a corpse, so people started saying, “He’s dead.” But Jesus, taking his hand, raised him. The boy stood up. [28] After arriving back home, his disciples cornered Jesus and asked, “Why couldn’t we throw the demon out?” [29] He answered, “There is no way to get rid of this kind of demon except by prayer.” [30-32] Leaving there, they went through Galilee. He didn’t want anyone to know their whereabouts, for he wanted to teach his disciples. He told them, “The Son of Man is about to be betrayed to some people who want nothing to do with God. They will murder him. Three days after his murder, he will rise, alive.” They didn’t know what he was talking about, but were afraid to ask him about it. [33] They came to Capernaum. When he was safe at home, he asked them, “What were you discussing on the road?” [34] The silence was deafening—they had been arguing with one another over who among them was greatest. [35] He sat down and summoned the Twelve. “So you want first place? Then take the last place. Be the servant of all.” [36-37] He put a child in the middle of the room. Then, cradling the little one in his arms, he said, “Whoever embraces one of these children as I do embraces me, and far more than me—God who sent me.” * * * [38] John spoke up, “Teacher, we saw a man using your name to expel demons and we stopped him because he wasn’t in our group.” [39-41] Jesus wasn’t pleased. “Don’t stop him. No one can use my name to do something good and powerful, and in the next breath slam me. If he’s not an enemy, he’s an ally. Why, anyone by just giving you a cup of water in my name is on our side. Count on it that God will notice. [42] “On the other hand, if you give one of these simple, childlike believers a hard time, bullying or taking advantage of their simple…[Read more]

I don\’t know a lot about Hebrew Israelites, but it certainly does not sound like something that God is pleased with.

This has taken my understanding of this teaching of Jesus and filled in several gaps of understanding. Really good explanation.

Wow, this is absolutely crazy that people could decide that it\’s okay to do this!

This guy is awesome, and he explains the evidence for Christianity being true very well!

I need to learn a TON from him.

I have a true fear that my desire for any non-believer I come across to become a believer will combine with my ignorance on a specific topic and the discussion will end up mirroring this discussion. I am trying very hard to work on not only my breadth of knowledge, but also not being so desperate to prove that what I believe is correct. The former, while still hard, is WAY easier than the latter.