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All (2527) Mike Winger (2527)

Mike Winger idea 2020-12-18

Mike's own primary gift is teaching, not worship leading — he did worship leading for years out of necessity but recognized it was not his strongest gift; leaning into actual gifts maximizes ministry impact.

Personal illustration of the spiritual-gifts-discernment principle.

Spiritual Gifts Calling and Gifting Teaching Gift

Mike Winger idea 2020-12-18

For the felony question: Mike refuses to give definitive advice without knowing full details and directs the questioner to a local mature pastor or wise Christian leader for personal counsel.

Q: I got away with felonies years ago, no one got hurt, confessed to God and repented — is the godly thing to do to turn myself in? I have OCD and can't tell if it's OCD or conviction.

Mike's own primary gift is teaching, not worship leading — he did worship leading for years out of necessity but recognized it was not his strongest gift; leaning into actual gifts maximizes ministry impact.

For the felony question: Mike refuses to give definitive advice without knowing full details and directs the questioner to a local mature pastor or wise Christian leader for personal counsel.

Angels could fall but redeemed humans in eternity will not — Scripture promises 'with him forever'; the mechanisms likely include: prior choice already made, maximum Holy Spirit indwelling, perfected environment, and crucially the removal of the sin nature.

When handling online 'heresy hunters' who badger a minister, evaluate whether you are responding from self-defense or from genuine capacity to help — then use time for maximum ministry impact.

Two issues with heresy hunters: (1) a divisive uncharitable attitude over secondary issues needing gentle correction toward unity; (2) the real possibility they are right — total openness to correction with zero self-defensiveness is required.

Why Jesus allowed Simon of Cyrene to carry his cross: possibly to display the depth of his physical suffering, and Simon and his sons apparently came to faith — suggesting the encounter introduced him more fully to Jesus.

Church fathers have historical value — especially the earliest second-century writers — but should not be granted extra theological authority; they are windows into early church history, not infallible teachers.

Church fathers are routinely quoted out of context to proof-text doctrines — Gustaf Aulén's Christus Victor is a prime example, misrepresenting patristic sources to argue against penal substitutionary atonement.

Practical guidance on reading church fathers: read whole works from start to finish rather than isolated quotes — this prevents the proof-texting problem the same way it prevents biblical proof-texting.

Christus Victor is a beautiful and biblical doctrine, but Aulén's treatment is total anachronism that butchers both Christus Victor and penal substitutionary atonement by falsely presenting them as competing alternatives.

Passion Translation project update: Mike has hired multiple scholars to review the Passion Translation — Tremper Longman (Song of Songs, already published), Nijay Gupta (Galatians, days away), Darrell Bock, Douglas Moo, Craig Blomberg are upcoming.

Introduction and ministry update for 2021

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

Experimenting with interviews: open candid dialogue over polished preparation

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

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

BibleThinker.org website improvements: searchable timestamp database

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Q11: Most notable OT leader — Moses

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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