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All (434) Mike Winger (434)

Mike Winger idea 2021-02-19

Romans 9:20-23 — the potter/clay passage as Calvinist proof-text on election

Romans 9 is the parallel passage using the same potter/clay imagery but in a different theological context — election and salvation, not Christian conduct.

Romans 9:20-23 election Calvinism total depravity

Mike Winger idea 2021-02-19

Question: Do people go to hell for sin or for not believing in Jesus?

Viewer Phil Agape asks whether hell is the penalty for sin or for unbelief; references Ephesians 5:5-6 and Colossians 3:5-6.

Ephesians 5:5-6 Colossians 3:5-6 soteriology sin unbelief

Mike Winger idea 2021-02-19

Question: How do you interpret Genesis 1-2 given the evidence for evolution?

Viewer Johnny Quick cites the scientific consensus for evolution and asks how Mike interprets Genesis 1-2.

Genesis 1-2 Genesis 1-2 hermeneutics evolution

Mike Winger idea 2020-12-04

Tips for an atheist starting to believe: gather intellectual reasons for God, practice spiritual disciplines, and make choices that shape belief.

Question from Emil Codrin about how to start believing after a lifetime of atheism.

Evidence for God Christopher Hitchens Spiritual disciplines

Mike Winger idea 2021-01-22

Isaiah 9:6 — "Everlasting Father" as a title for Jesus: representational fullness of God

Leslie Johnson asked why Isaiah 9:6 calls Jesus "Everlasting Father" if he is not the Father within Trinitarian theology.

Isaiah 9:6 John 14:16 Trinity Christology incarnation

Mike Winger idea 2021-02-26

New Christians' obligation to evangelize and defend faith — know your limits

Stephanie, a new Christian and former LDS member, is being actively challenged by LDS family and friends on the Trinity and other doctrines. She asks whether new Christians are obligated to defend and evangelize.

evangelism Trinity apologetics

Mike Winger idea 2021-02-26

God's timelessness and sequential thought — divine omniscience outside time

Jason and Alana ask how a timeless God could have sequential thoughts, especially the decision to create time.

incarnation omniscience William Lane Craig

Mike Winger idea 2021-02-26

How can God love the world and also hate sinners? Psalm 5:5 and Proverbs 6:16-19

Fly Serve Disciples asks how God can love the whole world (John 3:16) while Psalm 5:5 says God hates evildoers.

John 3:16 Psalm 5:5 Proverbs 6:16-19 God's love God's wrath John 3:16

Mike Winger idea 2021-03-26

Jerome's Latin Vulgate mistranslated "mystery" (mysterion) as "sacrament" in Ephesians 5:32, contributing to the Roman Catholic doctrine of marriage as a sacrament.

Mark H asks about doctrinal changes Jerome introduced in the Vulgate around 400 AD.

Ephesians 5:32 Reformation Jerome Latin Vulgate

Mike Winger idea 2021-03-26

Isaiah's monotheistic declarations that God alone is Savior and Rock are not contradicted by Jesus being called Rock and Savior — Jesus is God.

Taylor Paris asks why Isaiah declares God knows of no other rock/savior while Jesus is called a rock.

Isaiah 40-48 John 1:3 Colossians 1:16 Trinity monotheism deity of Christ

Mike Winger idea 2021-03-12

Responding to online skeptics who call God evil and Christianity irrational: focus on one argument, watch for dumping tactics

Q9 from Dora Ashby: Skeptics say belief in God is irrational, that Christians must approve of rape and torture, and that God is evil. How to respond?

apologetics atheism debate strategy

Mike Winger idea 2021-03-12

Free will does not mean freedom from consequences — the golden calf judgment illustrates this

Q15 from Jill Sworzel-Stix: If God gives us free will to worship him, why did he have Moses command the Levites to kill 3,000 people who chose not to (Exodus 32:28)?

Exodus 32 Moses Aaron covenant

Mike Winger idea 2021-03-19

Introduction: Friday Q&A format and purpose

Mike Winger opens the livestream, explaining the format of the Friday Q&A (formerly Tuesday). He positions himself not as an authority but as a fellow observer of Scripture.

Friday Q&A Scripture as guide Epistemological humility

Mike Winger idea 2021-03-19

Kalam leads to God with biblical attributes via conceptual analysis

Continuation of the Kalam answer, explaining the conceptual analysis step.

Genesis 1 Hebrews 11 John 1:1 Genesis 1 Hebrews 11 John 1:1

Mike Winger idea 2021-03-19

Kalam as a bridge to Christianity; deism rebutted; Mormonism incompatible

Wrapping up the Kalam answer, addressing deism and Mormonism.

Mormonism Joseph Smith Kalam Cosmological Argument

Mike Winger idea 2021-04-30

Apparent contradiction between Stephen's speech (Acts 7:4) and Genesis chronology of Terah and Abraham.

Question 2 from Rod D about Acts 7:4 vs Genesis 11:26, 32 and Genesis 12:4.

Acts 7:4 Genesis 11:26 Genesis 11:32 Stephen Abraham Acts 7:4

Mike Winger idea 2021-04-30

Admitting ignorance builds trust rather than undermining pastoral credibility.

Transition comment between questions; Mike reflecting on his own practice.

intellectual honesty pastoral integrity

Mike Winger idea 2021-04-30

Putting out a fleece (asking God for a sign) is not inherently wrong but carries dangers of presumption and heart projection.

Question 5 from AZF Stories about whether Christians should ask for signs like Gideon's fleece.

Judges 6 Gideon signs Judges 6

Mike Winger idea 2021-04-30

Overcoming laziness requires creating structured tasks, improving energy through exercise and diet, and reading Proverbs.

Question 6 from Sherry Lynn about overcoming laziness at home after hard work-days.

Romans 9:20-23 — the potter/clay passage as Calvinist proof-text on election

Question: Do people go to hell for sin or for not believing in Jesus?

Question: How do you interpret Genesis 1-2 given the evidence for evolution?

Tips for an atheist starting to believe: gather intellectual reasons for God, practice spiritual disciplines, and make choices that shape belief.

Isaiah 9:6 — "Everlasting Father" as a title for Jesus: representational fullness of God

New Christians' obligation to evangelize and defend faith — know your limits

God's timelessness and sequential thought — divine omniscience outside time

How can God love the world and also hate sinners? Psalm 5:5 and Proverbs 6:16-19

Jerome's Latin Vulgate mistranslated "mystery" (mysterion) as "sacrament" in Ephesians 5:32, contributing to the Roman Catholic doctrine of marriage as a sacrament.

Isaiah's monotheistic declarations that God alone is Savior and Rock are not contradicted by Jesus being called Rock and Savior — Jesus is God.

Responding to online skeptics who call God evil and Christianity irrational: focus on one argument, watch for dumping tactics

Free will does not mean freedom from consequences — the golden calf judgment illustrates this

Introduction: Friday Q&A format and purpose

Kalam leads to God with biblical attributes via conceptual analysis

Kalam as a bridge to Christianity; deism rebutted; Mormonism incompatible

Apparent contradiction between Stephen's speech (Acts 7:4) and Genesis chronology of Terah and Abraham.

Admitting ignorance builds trust rather than undermining pastoral credibility.

Putting out a fleece (asking God for a sign) is not inherently wrong but carries dangers of presumption and heart projection.

Overcoming laziness requires creating structured tasks, improving energy through exercise and diet, and reading Proverbs.

Mike Winger introduces the livestream on evidence for God's existence, framing it as a resource video covering one strong argument simply, then in detail, then defending against objections.

Guest Braxton Hunter (president of Trinity Seminary, PhD) introduces the Kalam cosmological argument and explains its ultimate payoff: reasoning toward what the cause of the universe must be like.

The cause of the universe must be timeless, spaceless, and non-material, because the universe itself consists of time, space, and matter — the cause cannot be made of the things it created.

Abstract objects like numbers are timeless and immaterial but lack causal powers; a mind fits the criteria of being spaceless, timeless, non-material, AND capable of causing something.

The conceptual analysis points toward a spaceless, timeless, non-material, incredibly powerful, exceedingly wise mind — matching what Jews and Christians have always understood from Genesis 1:1.

The Kalam cosmological argument stated formally: Premise 1 — whatever begins to exist must have a cause; Premise 2 — the universe began to exist; Conclusion — the universe has a cause.

The Kalam conclusion (the universe has a cause) doesn't mention God explicitly, but the conceptual analysis that always follows leads to theistic conclusions about the nature of that cause.

Objection to Premise 1: "Who made God?" (Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion). Response: the premise says whatever BEGINS to exist needs a cause, not whatever EXISTS needs a cause.

Timeless beings don't have beginnings or endings — these are temporal concepts. God, existing timelessly, doesn't need a cause. This also rules out pagan deities and the Mormon concept of God.

Objection to Premise 1: the composition fallacy — just because every part of the universe has a cause doesn't mean the whole does. Response: this misunderstands the argument; it's about a CLASS of things (things that begin to exist), not parts composing a whole.

Nothing means NOT ANYTHING — no possibilities, no properties, no potentialities. Some atheist physicists (Lawrence Krauss) equivocate by treating "nothing" as a quantum vacuum with energy, gravity, and space.

Objection: quantum physics shows things can come into existence uncaused. Response: quantum events are not truly uncaused or from nothing; the quantum vacuum is something, not nothing.

Isaac Asimov memorial panel discussion: Lawrence Krauss and Neil deGrasse Tyson debated "what is nothing" for two hours. The philosopher on the panel was visibly frustrated, saying nothing means NOT ANYTHING.

Objection: the multiverse avoids the need for God. Response: everything said about our universe needing a cause applies equally to the multiverse — you're just kicking the can back.

Objection to Premise 2: maybe the universe is infinite in the past. Response: an actually infinite past is impossible — you could never traverse infinite moments to arrive at the present.

Objection to the conclusion: equivocation between material cause and efficient cause in the premises vs. conclusion. Response: both premises and conclusion refer to efficient causation.

Objection: the argument doesn't mention God, so it's irrelevant. Response: the Kalam is always the beginning of a case, not the end — it forces you into the conceptual analysis that points to God.

Objection: the cause could be a teacup orbiting Saturn or universe-creating pixies instead of God. Response: they're just describing God's attributes and labeling it something else; Occam's razor reduces pixies to one being.

Objection: this is just a God-of-the-gaps argument. Response: the Kalam provides POSITIVE evidence for what the cause is, not merely an appeal to ignorance.

Objection: what if science one day explains the universe without God? Response: Christians welcome continued scientific inquiry; this objection is "naturalism of the gaps" — hoping naturalism will eventually explain it with no current evidence.

Why the cause must be PERSONAL: (1) a mind uniquely fits spaceless/timeless/immaterial yet has causal powers, (2) state-event causation from timelessness requires a decision to act, (3) absence of determinism in nothingness requires libertarian free will.

A fourth reason the cause is personal: the universe began in a way that permits life, suggesting planning and intent — connecting the Kalam to the fine-tuning argument.

Objection: this only gets you to generic theism, not the Christian God. Response: each attribute (spaceless, timeless, etc.) was justified, not ad hoc; the Kalam is meant to be followed by evidence for the resurrection to identify the God.

Classical apologetics typically combines the Kalam with design arguments and a moral argument (showing God has moral principles and loves people), building a cumulative case before presenting Christ.

Q&A: John 8:1-11 (woman caught in adultery) is very likely a true story/memory of Jesus but probably not originally part of John's Gospel. It appears in different locations in manuscripts. Most translations bracket it.

Q&A: A sermon claiming that struggling with addiction or fearing hell means you're not a Christian is unbiblical. Paul rebuked the Corinthians for sin without denying their faith; 1 John 4:18 says fear indicates incomplete realization of God's love, not absence of salvation.

Q&A: How to test if a financial blessing is from God. Look at whether it came through godliness, follow biblical prayer principles (asking in God's will, not selfish motives), and use money to seek God's kingdom first.

Q&A: Is it okay to mock atheists? Mike and Braxton both lean toward cordial conversation. Mockery has a legitimate place biblically but easily leads to responding "in the flesh." Most people aren't discerning enough to mock wisely.

Q&A: Revelation 21:1-2 and time in heaven. Heaven will involve time — months, sequential experiences — in physical resurrected bodies in the new creation. "Time will be no more" is poetic for everlasting, not literal timelessness.

Q&A: An infinite universe causing our universe in a "bounce" still faces the same problems — an infinite past of cycles can't be traversed, and a meta-timeline outside ours would need its own cause.

Q&A: When a Christian feels static in their walk, the answer is to fall in love with Jesus again rather than legalistically checking boxes. Pray for increased love and dedication; remember first works (Revelation 2, Ephesus).

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