Did you know that about 26% of all pregnancies end in miscarriage? That means, you probably know someone who has experienced a miscarriage and baby loss – or maybe, you’ve gone through one. Or more than one. In this podcast, we discuss the difficult topic of miscarriage and baby loss and what that means when you’re a Christian. Miscarriage isn’t an easy thing even though many people have experienced this type of loss and grief. Sadly, miscarriages are common but each person and family experiences it in their own unique way. We might feel a loss of control, fear, confusion, stress, and heartbreak. God’s voice may seem far away during these times. Even as Christians, it can be difficult to know how to pray and care for those grieving losses…
Question: Did Adam Have to Work in Eden? Answer: Scripture plainly answers that he did. (Genesis 2:15) Did he also have more work after the Fall and his exclusion from the garden? Certainly. But a misconception here reflects, I believe, a bigger issue of how the Fall changed man's relation to the natural world. The change was certainly profound. The question is: in what way? We need to be careful not to materialize things and miss the fact that spiritual, mental, or attitudinal changes may be much more important. So, the work issue may be a good and simple one to examine and the other issues may be seen to follow the same pattern. We need to remember “it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and…
Question: Does a Christian go to heaven when he dies? And, when does he receive his “body of glory” (Phil. 3:21)? Answer: The quick and perhaps easy answer is that when Christians die we are “with the Lord” as the apostle tells us: “Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.” (2 Cor. 5:8; Phil. 1:23) There are a number of passages that emphasize that we are “with the Lord” when we die. But, what does it mean to “be with the Lord” and giving a more detailed answer requires that we consider what words like “heaven” and “paradise” mean? The second question is answered generally by “when the Lord comes for us.” (Phil. 3:21 with Jn. 14:1–3) Yet, we…
Concluding our Be a Witness series, our conversation today includes Peter, Roy, Patricia and guest Rob Lederer talking about reaching out to the STEM audience. Our "Be a Witness" podcasts are a mini-series we've done to talk about how we can be a witness to people who have experienced Church Hurt, Sexual Abuse and the LGBTQ+ community. Reaching the STEM audience is our final installment in the series, and if you haven't yet, be sure to check out the previous episodes. Rob, a retired high school chemistry teacher who studied evolutionary biology, Roy a PhD in psychometrics and someone fascinated with astronomy and particle theory, Peter a pharmacist and teacher of pharmacy students, and today's host Patricia dig into a fairly intimidating group of people to witness to (or so…
Welcome back to another Patterns of Truth podcast! Joining Patricia at the mic today are Roy, Krista, and Lars as they continue a discussion we had in a previous podcast. Our last podcast on this topic, "What's a Good Argument?" dealt with the question should Christians argue, and how to argue well—check it out if you haven't heard it yet! This podcast deals more specifically with the logic behind it—the argumentation. Our team will also touch on some of the struggles a Christian will face in the course of an argument, and share Jesus as a Scriptural example of how powerful a logical answer can be. Roy starts us off with a statement many of us have heard, and may even believe; that Christians don't have strong arguments because blind…
Question: What are the different effects of the Word of God in 2 Timothy 3:16. Answer: Second Timothy 3:16 reads All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, The original question that prompted this post was: “What is the difference between ‘teaching’, ‘reproof’, ‘correction’, and ‘training’ in 2 Timothy 3:16.” So, we have very similar terms, yet they must reflect important differences. We believe God’s Word to be authoritative, inerrant, and free of superfluous detail. So, this is an important question. Various modern translations are largely in agreement regarding the actual words. With a question such as this, it is important to first check a few translations to see if translators had difficulty translating the original Greek text…
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. (Matt. 5:4) This verse brings to my mind two individuals from the Old Testament. Both had similar reasons to mourn, but Jehovah answered each one differently. I am thinking of Nehemiah and Daniel. We get the relevant parts of their stories in Nehemiah 1:4–11; 2:2–6 and Daniel 9:3–22, respectively. The first and most important thing to notice is that both of these men had deep-felt affection for the people of God and for the dishonor done to God through the shame brought upon the people. In spite of the fact that the distress was deserved by the unbelief and rebellion of these people, they still felt the dishonor to God brought by the distress and prayed on behalf of these…
