20 Questions with Pastor Mike (Episode 16)

Introduction and ministry update for 2021

Opening of first livestream of 2021 (New Year's Day)

Goal: teach people to think biblically, not just memorize answers

Ministry philosophy discussion

Experimenting with interviews: open candid dialogue over polished preparation

2021 plans announcement

Announcement: upcoming deep-dive study on women's roles and gender in the church

2021 ministry plans

Divorce and remarriage study as model for deep-topic research projects

Ministry methodology

BibleThinker.org website improvements: searchable timestamp database

Website and ministry infrastructure plans for 2021

Q2: Can the dead be aware of what happens on earth? Ecclesiastes 9:5 examined

Response to viewer question citing Ecclesiastes 9:5 ("the dead know nothing")

Samuel called up by Saul: evidence that the dead may not be actively aware of earth until summoned

Discussion of dead awareness; 1 Samuel 28

Revelation: saints in heaven concerned for earthly events, asking "how long, Lord?"

Continuing discussion on dead's awareness of earth

Ecclesiastes as internal critique of atheist/godless worldview, not normative theology

Explaining why Ecclesiastes 9:5 ("the dead know nothing") does not define the dead's actual state

Q3: Why did God reject Cain's offering? Reading Genesis 4 for textual clues

Response to viewer asking about Cain and Abel's sacrifices

Typological reading of Cain/Abel: works vs. faith — valid typology but not the cause of rejection

Analysis of Cain's offering rejection

Hebrews 11:4: Abel's sacrifice was better because it was offered by faith

Resolving the Cain/Abel question using Hebrews 11

Q4: Soul sleep, resurrection, and the problem of personal continuity

Response to question about whether resurrection is "snatching" someone from paradise/hell

Q5: Do Christians sin every second? Distinguishing temptation from sin

Response to question about frequency of sin in the Christian life

Galatians 6: distinction between living in sin vs. occasional sin

Continuing Q5 on Christian sin frequency

Q6 (wrong week): Advice for someone leaving a cult (JW) and finding a church; overcoming spiritual abuse

Response to question about choosing a church after leaving JW (note: Mike realized partway through this was from a previous week's questions)

Q7: Daniel prayed without a temple — praying toward the temple as access to God (OT parallel to praying in Jesus' name)

Response to question about Mark 11:22-25 and temple-based prayer

Believers as the temple — the astonishing access to God available through Christ

Continuation of Q7; reflection on prayer and access to God

Q8: Pastoral advice for engaging a friend who has pursued a gay lifestyle — understanding before fixing

Response to viewer whose Christian friend came out as gay

Love does not require approval of behavior — Jesus dying for sin, not approving sin

Continuing Q8 on engaging gay friend

Diagnosing the root belief driving a gay-identifying Christian friend — four possible positions

Continuing Q8 — strategy for engaging friend

Q9: Is it sinful to not want to marry? Singleness is a gift, not inferior to marriage

Response to viewer asking about call to singleness

Gift of singleness: a choice, not only a sovereign assignment

Continuing Q9 on singleness

Q10: Dangers of treating positivity/negativity as moral categories — New Age/New Thought origins

Response to question about "happy church" culture where positivity = moral good

Blanket positivity thinking leads to rejection of God's judgment and Jesus' exclusivity

Continuing Q10 on positivity as moral category

Q11: Most notable OT leader — Moses

Response to question on biblical leadership study

Q12: Fear of studying theology — not studying is not safer; intellectual humility in study

Response to viewer afraid of making mistakes when studying eschatology

Eschatology as the field most prone to overconfident errors; lessons from misapplied messianic expectation

Continuing Q12 on fear of theological error

Q13: Anxiety about salvation and blasphemy of the Holy Spirit — prayer and resource recommendation

Response to viewer ("Spazzy Jazzy") anxious about salvation and blasphemy of Holy Spirit

Q14: "Don't lean on your own understanding" (Prov 3:5) — using understanding vs. leaning on it

Response to question about how to know truth when you can't trust your own understanding or tradition

Trusting man vs. trusting God: the distinction is priority, not binary rejection of human sources

Continuing Q14 on trusting man vs. God

Many ways to interpret the Bible — but the most important truths are plainly clear

Continuing Q14 on Bible interpretation and despair

Calibrated theological humility: hold beliefs with appropriate confidence, expect some error, keep learning

Continuing Q14 on following heart vs. conscience vs. Scripture

Q15: Does God love us unconditionally? Love requires some conditionality; relational nature of love

Response to multi-part question about God's unconditional love

God's hardening of hearts: temporary, judgment-related, not arbitrary — non-Calvinist reading

Continuing Q15 — part about those God hardens, blasphemers, and people in hell

Does God love those who go to hell? Yes — but love stopped by rejection; holiness demands judgment

Continuing Q15 — part about God's love for the damned

Q16: Bart Ehrman's claim that John 3 "born again" wordplay couldn't have occurred in Aramaic — Jesus spoke Greek

Response to viewer citing Bart Ehrman's argument about John 3 and language

Evidence Jesus spoke Greek: Nazareth as Roman construction site, Greek inscription found there, multilingual Galilee

Continuing Q16 on Jesus speaking Greek

Nicodemus likely spoke Greek to Jesus for secrecy — eliminating the Ehrman problem

Concluding Q16 on John 3 and Greek

Q17: Christian practices at parties/weddings — drinking and dancing are fine in moderation

Response to question about Christian behavior at weddings

The garter toss as an inappropriate sexualization of the bride — cultural critique

Continuing Q17 on Christian wedding practices

Q18: Did the apostles teach imminence of Christ's return? Balancing readiness with long-term planning

Response to question on the doctrine of imminence in eschatology

Q19: 1 Corinthians 11:10 and Ephesians 5:23 — no biblical grounds for a husband disciplining his wife

Response to question about whether husbands have authority to discipline wives based on headship texts

Ephesians 5: husband's model is Christ dying for the church on earth, not Christ ruling as Lord in heaven

Continuing Q19 on husband-wife authority

Wives submit vs. children obey — different words, different authority structures; discipline is for children not wives

Continuing Q19 on husband-wife authority vs. parent-child authority

Q20: Is hell a literal place of fire and gnashing of teeth, or metaphorical? Open question, research project planned

Response to question about the nature of hell

Bonus Q: Children's books on evolution — recommendations for teaching children multiple worldviews

Response to parent who received evolution children's books as Christmas gifts

Closing: upcoming content — Mark series, Douglas Moo on Passion Translation Romans, next Q&A

Closing remarks