Search — Theology Explorer

congregational testing eldership function doctrinal guardianship

Problems with the 'everyone judges prophecy' view

Mike argues against congregational testing of prophecy.

eldership doctrinal testing church governance

Elders have a natural role in judging prophecy due to their doctrinal guardianship function

Mike builds the case that elders must have been prominent in testing prophecy.

Acts 14:23 Titus 1:5 Acts 14:23 Titus 1:5 elder/overseer/bishop

Elders as the only universal biblical ongoing office with authority

Mike provides scriptural evidence for the elder/overseer role as the primary authority structure in the church.

Titus 1:9 eldership function Titus 1:9 rebuking false teaching

Titus 1:9 -- elders must hold firm to trustworthy teaching and rebuke those who contradict it

Mike shows the elder's role explicitly includes correcting false teaching.

role differences egalitarianism authority

Definition of egalitarianism as one of three positions in the debate

Mike defines the three sides of the debate, starting with egalitarianism.

Proverbs 31 Ephesians 6:1 Proverbs 31 Ephesians 6:1 women as bosses

Proverbs 31 woman as entrepreneur and boss with male employees

Mike uses the Proverbs 31 woman to address women as bosses.

Titus 2:5 Titus 2:5 working at home Industrial Revolution

Working at home (Titus 2:5) means taking care of home responsibilities, not being confined to the house

Mike addresses the 'women should work at home' argument.

youth ministry defining manhood puberty

When does a boy become a man? Puberty too young, 18 workable, adulting principle preferred

Mike works through the age/manhood question for ministry application.

Mike Winger idea 2018-02-14

Book of Job handled dismissively by the Bethel movement: Johnson's position is 'Job is the question, Jesus is the answer'

Mike discusses how the movement deals with the theological challenge posed by the book of Job

Bill Johnson hermeneutics healing theology

Mike Winger idea 2018-02-07

Todd White's refusal to call people to repentance — arguing that is the Holy Spirit's job — is critiqued using Revelation 22:17: 'the Spirit and the bride say come,' showing the bride (the church) also calls people to Christ.

Critique of Todd White's evangelism methodology regarding repentance.

Revelation 22:17 evangelism Todd White Holy Spirit

Mike Winger idea 2018-08-29

Aaron Ra's bold claim: 'Everything the Bible says about any field of science is laughably wrong'

Ra makes a sweeping claim that nothing in the Bible is scientifically accurate

Genesis 1 Job - water cycle Hebrews 11 Genesis 1 Bible and science Job - water cycle

Mike Winger idea 2018-11-14

Proverbs 25:28 — a man without self-control is like a city with broken walls; anger is the enemy that raids it.

Seventh Proverbs passage; illustrated with a statistic about job loss.

Proverbs 25:28 self-control anger character

Mike Winger idea 2018-11-14

Q&A: Malice toward God means you've gotten something wrong — Job's model is to acknowledge speaking without knowledge and pray for your own heart.

Q&A on feeling bitterness toward God.

Job prayer faith Q&A

Mike Winger idea 2019-02-13

Job's friends argued he deserved his suffering; God rebuked them at the end

Viewer asking for help understanding Job's friends in the book of Job

Job Job suffering and theodicy Elihu

Mike Winger idea 2019-02-13

Books like Job belong in the canon because Jesus accepted the Old Testament, and apostles were commissioned to teach

Viewer asking why books like Job are in the Bible if we don't know the author

Job apostolic authority biblical canon Job

Mike Winger idea 2019-03-27

The SE tactic in practice: be friendly, don't disclose your agenda, and ask "how do you know that?" repeatedly

Mike describes the practical method of Street Epistemology

Peter Boghossian Street Epistemology Socratic method

Mike Winger idea 2019-04-24

Millennial and Gen Z church return: life-stage markers like marriage and children are happening later or not at all, making the expected return uncertain

McDowell addresses the question of whether lapsed young people will return

marriage gospel Millennials

Mike Winger idea 2019-05-08

It is not the Christian's job to change minds; our responsibility is to present truth and build a case, while God holds unbelievers accountable for their own response

Sidebar comment after discussing apologetic prophecies

evangelism apologetics human responsibility

Mike Winger idea 2019-05-08

Multi-step biblical strategy for overcoming lust: believe 1 Cor 10:13, make no provision for the flesh, remove high-value stumbling blocks, and fight temptation at its earliest stage not its peak

Response to question about being enslaved to the sin of lust

Romans 14 Romans 6 1 Corinthians 10:13 Romans 14 temptation sanctification

Mike Winger idea 2019-07-03

Job 2:10 confirms ra as calamity: Job receiving evil = loss of children, livestock, health

Job passage used as a concrete example of ra meaning bad circumstances, not moral evil

Job 2:10 moral evil ra calamity vs moral evil

Mike Winger idea 2019-07-03

Three biblical causes of natural evil: divine judgment, spiritual warfare, and the greater good

Mike surveys biblical reasons for calamitous suffering

Job John 9:1-3 spiritual warfare Job problem of evil

Mike Winger idea 2019-07-03

Q&A: Proverbs 16:33 and divine sovereignty — layered sovereignty model, not hard determinism

Audience question about whether God meticulously controls all things

Proverbs Job Proverbs 16:33 Proverbs free will Job

Mike Winger idea 2019-07-31

Spurgeon's debate anecdote: using an irrelevant text proves nothing

Winger illustrates the Luke 18 exegetical error through the famous Spurgeon debate story.

Luke 18:15-16 Job 1:1 biblical interpretation infant baptism Luke 18:15-16

Mike Winger idea 2020-09-25

Proverbs 18:21 teaches the practical real-world consequences of speech, not speaking things into existence

Interpretation of Proverbs 18:21

Proverbs 18:21 Proverbs 18:21 word of faith tongue and speech

Mike Winger idea 2020-10-30

Job as example of God's sovereignty over Satan: Satan required permission to afflict Job

Supporting biblical example for the model of divine sovereignty.

Job Satan Job sovereignty of God

Mike Winger idea 2018-09-26

Preferred pronouns — Mike cannot use false pronouns because it constitutes dishonest support of a delusion

A viewer asks whether Christians should use preferred pronouns as this becomes a larger cultural issue.

Christian ethics cultural engagement gender identity

Mike Winger idea 2021-01-08

Whether a Christian can work for the CIA or NSA involves the question of whether all deception is always wrong

Question from Mick Making Oreo1113 about whether Christians can work in intelligence agencies where lying is part of the job

Joshua Rahab Christian ethics deception

Mike Winger idea 2021-01-08

Moral limits apply in every job; a Christian working in intelligence may face a moment requiring resignation

Concluding thought on Christians in intelligence work

vocation Christian ethics moral accountability

Mike Winger idea 2018-10-31

Mike discusses Old Earth Creationism and whether it is biblical, arguing that the age of the earth is not clearly specified in Scripture and that he holds a flexible position, though he finds an ancient Adam and Eve much harder to reconcile biblically.

Response to viewer question about Old Earth Creationism

Genesis 1 Genesis 1 Adam and Eve creation

Mike Winger idea 2018-10-31

Mike offers pastoral advice on controlling anger in traffic, recommending a practice of redirecting the impulse to complain into prayer, focusing on controlling one’s own reactions rather than others’ behavior.

Response to viewer asking for counsel on road rage/anger

prayer sanctification pastoral counsel

Mike Winger idea 2021-02-19

Translation debate: harmful vs. evil vs. distressing spirit in 1 Samuel 16

Different English translations render the Hebrew term differently, reflecting genuine exegetical ambiguity.

1 Samuel 16 ESV NASB NKJV

Mike Winger idea 2021-01-22

Dinosaurs and the age of the earth: three intra-Christian views summarized

Madison Torres asked how dinosaur fossils fit with Adam and Eve and the biblical timeline.

Genesis 1 Job 40-41 Genesis 1 young earth creationism age of the earth

Mike Winger idea 2021-03-26

When were angels created? Scripture does not say explicitly, but Job 38:7 implies angels were present and rejoicing during the creation of the earth.

Joanne Garabe asks whether angels were created on Day One, citing Nehemiah 9:6.

Genesis 1 Nehemiah 9:6 Job 38:7 Genesis 1 creation angels

Mike Winger idea 2021-03-19

How to determine transcultural vs. culturally-bound biblical instructions

Anonymous listener (username: "hi pastor mike") asks how to distinguish timeless biblical commands from culturally-specific ones.

Ephesians Acts 15 Ephesians Acts 15 Proof-texting

Mike Winger idea 2020-02-26

Q&A: On vaccines containing cells from aborted babies — morally wrong if true. Job 14:4 ("who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?") is about Job's mortal condition, not vaccines. Jesus DID bring clean from unclean. The health safety of vaccines is a separate question from the abortion ethics question.

Q&A — vaccines and abortion

Job 14:4 Job 14:4 vaccines and abortion

Mike Winger idea 2020-03-04

Q: Is speaking in tongues real today? Yes, probably, but it's easily faked. Churches practicing it should follow 1 Corinthians 14's restrictions. Three categories: (1) biblical understanding of tongues, (2) personal experience, (3) discerning others' practice — #3 isn't really your job unless it violates 1 Cor 14.

Q&A — speaking in tongues today

1 Corinthians 14 1 Corinthians 14 1 Corinthians 14 speaking in tongues 1 Corinthians 14

Job 38:14 flat earth Job 38:14 cylinder seal

Refuting Dean Odel's claim that Job 38:14 describes a flat earth stamped like clay under a signet ring. Problems: (1) the seal is a cylinder seal rolled over clay, not a ring pressed flat; (2) the missing word "changed" shows this is about daily sunrise revealing contours, not cosmological design; (3) the context is about wicked hiding at night and being exposed at dawn.

Job 38:14 — cylinder seal, not flat stamp

1 Samuel 2:8 1 Samuel 2:8 pillars of the earth poetic language in scripture

Pillar verses (1 Samuel 2:8, Job 26:10, Psalm 75:3) are all in poetic contexts. In 1 Samuel 2:8, "pillars of the earth" are leaders whom God exalts — the context is about God raising the poor to sit with princes. In Psalm 75:3, pillars are leaders God supports during upheaval. "Pillars of heaven" (Job 26) may just refer to mountains poetically.

Pillars of the earth — leaders, not literal supports

Job 38:4-10 Job 38:4-10 poetic language in scripture wooden literalism

Job 38:4-10 (foundations, cornerstone, bases) is a poem comparing creation to a building project. If taken literally, you must also believe God used a literal measuring line, that oceans have literal bars and doors, and that the earth has a literal cornerstone. These are obviously poetic — God made the earth secure. That's the point.

Job 38 foundations and cornerstone — building poem