Search — Theology Explorer

online ministry BibleThinker ministry transparency

Introduction: Ministry update overview and video structure

Mike Winger opens a Tuesday livestream with an agenda covering ministry changes, church status, goals, and Q&A.

calling youth ministry Hosanna Christian Fellowship

Calling to online ministry: A strong sense of divine compulsion in 2012

Winger describes how in 2012 he experienced an unusual, intense sense that he had to do something in ministry beyond his local church.

BibleThinker atheist objections to Christianity YouTube ministry

Starting YouTube: Identifying a vacuum of quality Christian online content

Winger began experimenting with YouTube after feeling called to reach beyond his local church, motivated by the dominance of scoffing and misrepresentation of Christianity online.

BibleThinker Gary Ansdell ministry transition

December 2017: Senior pastor redirects Winger to prioritize online ministry

Pastor Gary challenged Winger with a hypothetical that forced a reckoning over ministry priorities.

verse-by-verse teaching Tuesday livestream Bethel Redding

Tuesday livestream purpose: Meeting online-specific needs rather than local church needs

Winger explains the distinct function of the Tuesday livestream format within his overall ministry strategy.

marketplace of ideas evangelism Paul the Apostle online ministry

Analogy: Paul would be doing online ministry today

Winger reflects on the scale and nature of online ministry as a modern equivalent to reaching the marketplace of ideas.

discipleship youth ministry ministry transition

Burnout and shedding responsibilities: Transitioning out of youth ministry

The combination of youth pastoring, online ministry, and other church roles became physically unsustainable.

Hosanna Christian Fellowship church staff volunteer ministry

Church and staff status: Volunteer again, not fired

Winger clarifies his church relationship in response to questions and misconceptions.

BibleThinker ministry funding free content

Funding model: Donation-supported free content

Winger explains how the ministry sustains itself financially and his commitment to keeping all content free.

hermeneutics Bible study interpretation

Q&A: Hermeneutics — advice for a new Bible student afraid of misinterpretation

Question from a student who has taken hermeneutics courses but feels intimidated to start studying.

Revelation 1:4 Revelation 4:5 Revelation 5:6 Revelation 1:4 Revelation 4:5 Revelation 5:6

Q&A: Revelation 1:4 — the seven spirits before the throne

Question from a confused listener asking what the "sevenfold Spirit" in Revelation 1:4 refers to.

women in ministry complementarianism egalitarianism

Q&A: Egalitarianism vs. complementarianism — Winger's position

Question from a listener whose Biola-educated cousin introduced egalitarianism, which conflicts with what the listener has been taught.

Mike Winger idea 2019-07-24

Calvinism is not a fellowship-breaking issue; call for brotherly engagement

Closing exhortation on tone and Christian unity.

James White James White Christian fellowship Calvinism

Mike Winger idea 2019-08-07

Q&A: When a pastor refuses reconciliation after theological disagreement

Viewer seeks pastoral counsel on a broken relationship with a church leader.

Romans 12:18 Romans 12:18 reconciliation pastoral counsel

Mike Winger idea 2019-08-07

Q&A: Severity of the Oneness doctrine — compromises the very nature of God

Viewer asks about the theological severity of the Oneness Pentecostal position.

Trinity Christology theological error

crucifixion cross early church history

Alexamenos Graffito: earliest known artwork depicting Christ on a cross shows a T-shaped cross

The Alexamenos Graffito is a piece of graffiti mocking a Christian named Alexamenos, dated between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD (possibly as early as 80 AD). It shows a person with a donkey's head on a T-shaped cross, and a man worshiping below.

Moses typology crucifixion

Epistle of Barnabas (early 2nd century) depicts the cross as a capital-T shape

The Epistle of Barnabas, written in the early second century (within ~100 years of Jesus's death), represents the cross of Christ using the capital letter T, implying a crossbeam.

apologetics crucifixion cross

Justin Martyr (2nd century) explicitly describes two beams on the cross

Justin Martyr, one of the earliest Christian apologists, writing in the second century, describes Christ's cross as having two beams — ruling out the single-stake theory.

crucifixion cross early church history

Early NT manuscripts (P75, P66) abbreviate stauros with Tau-Rho symbol depicting a cross with crossbeam

In some of the earliest New Testament manuscripts, the Greek word stauros is abbreviated using the letters Tau (T) and Rho (P-shape), superimposed on each other to form a visual symbol. This combination appears to depict a man on a cross with a crossbeam.

atonement idolatry worship

Christians worship God, not the cross symbol; cross use is a reminder, not icon worship

Winger clarifies that Christians do not worship the cross as an object. It serves as a reminder of what Christ accomplished. The pagan origin argument for the cross is irrelevant — pagans used Greek before the NT was written in Greek; usage context determines meaning.

1 Corinthians 11 head coverings 1 Corinthians 11 authority

Q&A: Head coverings in 1 Corinthians 11 — literal or metaphorical?

A viewer asks about 1 Corinthians 11 and head coverings. Winger gives his current tentative view without claiming certainty.

early church history crux decussata Constantine

Q&A: What did Constantine see — an X or a cross?

A viewer asks about Constantine's famous vision before the Battle of Milvian Bridge. Winger acknowledges the ambiguity without offering a firm answer.

1 Timothy 3:2 Genesis 2:24 Titus 1:6 1 Timothy 3:2 Genesis 2:24 Titus 1:6

Q&A: Polygamy is inherently sinful; one-flesh marriage precludes a second wife by definition

A viewer asks how to demonstrate that polygamy is sinful for Christians. Winger argues from the nature of marriage itself and from both Testaments.

Bill Johnson Bethel Church Jesus Culture

Upcoming content: critique of The Physics of Heaven (Bethel/Bill Johnson-connected book)

Winger previews his next Tuesday topic: a critique of The Physics of Heaven, a book promoted by Bethel Church, Bill Johnson, and Jesus Culture. He has read it without advance reviews and found the content disturbing.

Mike Winger idea 2019-10-02

Q&A: Are people who deny the Trinity but believe in salvation by grace through faith saved?

Viewer question from Devin Nicely

Trinity Holy Spirit apologetics

infant baptism paedobaptism believers baptism

Introduction and five-part outline for analyzing infant baptism biblically

Mike Winger opens the livestream by laying out the structure of his biblical analysis of infant baptism, listing the five areas he will cover.

1 Corinthians 1:16 1 Corinthians 16:15 Stephanas infant baptism household baptism

1 Corinthians 1:16 and 16:15 — Stephanas's household: all converts who devoted themselves to service, not infants

Examination of the Stephanas household baptism reference in Paul's Corinthian correspondence.

Mark 7:8 biblical authority church history tradition

Part 5: Church history arguments for infant baptism should not override Scripture

Winger addresses the appeal to church tradition as evidence for infant baptism.

Mark 7:8 biblical authority church tradition theological method

Sola Scriptura: tradition must be tested by Scripture, not used to trump it

Winger articulates his methodological principle for handling church tradition claims.

baptism infant baptism believers baptism

Practical pastoral counsel: baptized as infant → get believers' baptism; already baptized your child → let them choose later

Winger offers pastoral guidance for common situations arising from the infant baptism debate.

ecclesiology Sola Scriptura church practice

Institutionalizing infant baptism in a church normalizes a practice with no scriptural grounding

Winger closes his main argument by noting the ecclesiological stakes of adopting infant baptism as a church practice.

1 Corinthians 1 Corinthians discipleship Communion

Q&A: Women receiving Communion — implied by context of 1 Corinthians and the general gathered assembly

A viewer attempts a parallel argument: women are not explicitly shown receiving Communion in Scripture yet no one denies it.

baptism pastoral counsel local church

Q&A: Counsel for an adult believer who does not fully understand baptism — connect with a pastor and do it

A viewer aged 44 says they do not fully understand baptism and asks whether to wait.

John 16:13 church history tradition Sola Scriptura

Q&A: Church history argument (1,500 years) fails — selective, skips earliest centuries, and John 16:13 is misapplied

A viewer invokes 1,500 years of church tradition and Christ's promise in John 16:13 to argue for infant baptism.

church fathers church history tradition

Q&A: There was no uniformity in the early church on any topic — "church fathers" is a misleading term

A viewer notes that early church diversity undermines appeals to monolithic tradition.

Mike Winger idea 2020-01-29

Gospel-level error requires breaking fellowship; lesser errors require wisdom and church leadership

Q&A: pastoral guidance on when doctrinal disagreement becomes a fellowship-breaking issue

1 Corinthians 1 Corinthians church discipline fellowship

Mike Winger idea 2020-01-29

Christians without a local church should attend an imperfect one rather than stay home; Hebrews commands gathering

Q&A: pastoral guidance for Christians who cannot find a theologically sound local church

Hebrews ecclesiology Hebrews church attendance

healing false prophecy pastoral care

When a Christian falsely promises healing and the person dies, address the false prophet privately in love; be present for the sick person without making promises

Question from Alex M about how to speak to someone dying of cancer whose hope was falsely raised by another Christian claiming God said the cancer would not return.

Acts Matthew 28:18-20 Great Commission discipleship baptism

The Great Commission applies to all Christians at some level; discipleship includes both evangelism (initiation) and ongoing teaching

Question from Cass Magnuson about how Matthew 28:18-20 applies to individual Christians and what making a disciple involves.

discipleship personal testimony pastoral ethics

Mike declines to share his full personal testimony out of love for family members whose failures would be exposed publicly

Question from ZZ asking Mike to share his testimony and struggles as a new believer.

salvation ethics pastoral care

Suicide does not automatically mean loss of salvation; Christians can and do commit terrible sins — but suicide harms others profoundly

Question from Miguel about whether a true believer who commits suicide in a moment of weakness can still be saved.

Roman Catholicism church history marriage

Catholic claim that marriage outside the Church is invalid is wrong — it is not sacramental but is still a real marriage; the Catholic doctrine of 7 sacraments is historically late

Question from Lindsey whose husband's Catholic family claims they are not really married because they were not married by the Catholic Church.

1 Timothy 2:12-15 women in ministry hermeneutics complementarianism

1 Timothy 2:12-15 restricts women from the pastoral/authority role in the church, but does not prohibit co-ed Bible study or women's ministry generally

Question from Seanya about whether 1 Timothy 2:12-15 makes co-ed Bible studies unbiblical and how it affects women's ministry.

submission church leadership pastoral care

A church with a single pastor and no elders should seek plurality of leadership; address the concern privately and graciously with the pastor

Question from Michael Francisco about a church with one pastor who teaches everything and no elders — how to raise the concern.

Colossians Romans 14 Colossians Romans 14 Christian liberty

Romans 14 shows that observing the Sabbath is a matter of conscience, not universal Christian obligation; liberty must be exercised in love

Continuing the Sabbath question with a detailed reading of Romans 14.

1 Timothy 2:9 godliness 1 Timothy 2:9 jewelry

1 Timothy 2:9 is not a strict prohibition on jewelry but a tendency warning against valuing external beauty over godliness

Exposition of 1 Timothy 2:9 in the context of Paul's instruction to women about conduct in the church.

1 Corinthians 5 John 3:3 1 Corinthians 5 salvation sin

A Christian can struggle with addiction and still be born again; Christians struggle with sin

Q from Christian Liang about whether an addiction sufferer can be born again and saved.

repentance sanctification pastoral care

Pastoral counsel for Christians with habitual sin: radical repentance, not patchwork solutions

Q from Ariane Nisha about how to pray for a believer not walking with God due to habitual sin and lack of intimacy with God.