Thor Carden

11 hrs

Atheist Attack: "Matthew 22:39 commands 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself,' but in 1st Corinthians 5:13 it says to 'Purge the evil person from among you.' It is pretty easy to love your neighbor if you make sure none of your neighbors are someone you don't like. What sort of God are you following anyway?" (Quotes from ESV)

Christian: "Why is removing someone from within a Christian church unloving?"

Atheist: "So you like it when people throw you out of a place?"

Christian: "No, of course not. I don't like it when a doctor gives me a shot either, but I don't question his motives just because I don't like it."

Atheist: "So, you think it is OK to give someone the boot?"

Christian: "Sure. Doesn't everyone?"

Atheist: "I don't."

Christian: "You wouldn't have the police remove a rowdy, uninvited drunk from your daughter's wedding?"

Atheist: "Certainly I would, but I wouldn't be so hypocritical as to think I was loving the drunk."

Christian: "So, if you were most interested in the drunk's welfare, you would leave him alone and allow him to disturb everyone else?"

Atheist: "How does it help the drunk to call the police on him?"

Christian: "I used to be a jail chaplain. Lots of the men I met in there were grateful someone called the police and stopped them from going further down the wrong path."

Atheist: "I don't believe you. Most of those people just do it over and over again. Jail doesn't help anyone; it just gets them out of the way for a while. It is like a penalty box at a hockey game to them."

Christian: "That is a common misconception, because most of the people in jail have been there multiple times. What you don’t realize is that most people wise up after one trip to jail. If you look at the statistics for recidivism rates, you will see that even for sexually based crimes, which are famous for extremely high recidivism, most people do not re-offend after the first prison term. Jail is very unpleasant and most people learn their lesson. They do what it takes to avoid it.

"You do make one good point. For a few people jail is equivalent to a hockey player in a penalty box. They have no shame, regret or remorse for their actions or are so unthinking that they can not see the relationship between their behavior and their consequences. Those folks seldom change. But there is no way to know which people fall into what category.

"So, to your point, jail is still the best thing for those people. At least there they can not harm anyone. Perhaps eventually they will grow to be grateful for being stopped, just as I have seen many others in their situation. That is the idea Paul is talking about in the 1 Corinthians passage you quoted. Look at the context."

"You are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord." (1 Corinthians 5:5 ESV)

The idea isn’t vengeance but restoration through discipline — removing him from fellowship so he feels the loss and repents. Later, in 2 Corinthians 2:6–8, Paul urges the church to forgive and comfort the man once he’s repented, 'lest he be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow.'

I think somewhere during the last five paragraphs the atheist quit listening.

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Matthew 18:17 “If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” ESV

Matt 18:17 & 22:39 are not a contradiction. Church discipline can be loving when it protects others and aims to awaken repentance, not inflict vengeance. Exclusion is temporary and should give way to forgiveness, comfort, and restoration when the offender repents. (2 Cor 2:6-8)

1 d

PAUL THE BAPTIST

Atheist Attack: "Peter supposedly says that Paul's writings are part of scripture in 2 Peter 3:15-16, but Paul did not obey Jesus' own words, so how could he be a reliable author of the New Testament? Paul did not baptize as commanded: In 1 Cor. 1:17 ('For Christ sent me [Paul] not to baptize but to preach the gospel' NASB Paul is saying Jesus was wrong when He said in Matt. 28:19 'Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them....' NASB So how can we believe Peter or Paul?"

Christian: Paul makes it clear in other places that (1) he did sometimes baptize and (2) Christians are to carry out the Great Commission as a team. Different people have different gifts from the Spirit and can contribute in different ways. If I financially support a missionary and never baptize anyone, I am fulfilling the Great Commission. All Paul is saying is that he mainly preached while others on his team baptized.

Atheist: "But the fact remains that Paul didn't baptize personally."

Christian: "How do you interpret 1 Cor 1:14-16 where Paul says he baptized so many people he can't even remember them all?"

Atheist: "Don't change the subject. I'm talking about 1 Corinthians 1:17."

Christian: "Classic case of ignoring the context. In 1 Corinthians 1:14-16, Paul says, "I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, so that no one would say you were baptized in my name. Now I did baptize also the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized any other." Paul lists at least four people that he baptized, indicates that he has baptized so many people that he can not remember them all, and that is just at Corinth. Your argument is a simple assertion contrary to fact."

Atheist: "You are missing the point. In verse 14, Paul is thankful he baptized so few, and then in verse 17, he says the Great Commission, as you call it, does not apply to him."

Christian: "So, if you are a medic in the military, under heavy fire with an infantry unit behind the lines, and barely escape with your life, you don't get combat pay?"

Atheist: "One thing has nothing to do with the other!"

Christian: Matt 28:19- 20 says, "[A] Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, [B] baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, [C] teaching them to observe all that I commanded you…" NASB Paul goes with a team of people and does all three of these things. But recognizing God has gifted him more for A and C, he concentrates on those and lets others take care of B for the most part. For somebody who thought it did not apply to him, he sure did a good job of it. So, have you been baptized?"

2 d

Blood or Wine
What was in the cup?

Atheist Attack: "Leviticus 17:12 says, 'None of you may eat blood,' but Jesus says in John 6:54, 'Whoever ... drinks My blood has eternal life.' So, which one is right? Moses or Jesus?"

The error in the unbeliever's thinking: He is unable or unwilling to distinguish between literal and figurative language.

Christian: "That is a complicated question. Can I ask you a couple of questions, and then come back to yours? I think it will help."

Atheist: "I suppose."

Christian: What does "blood" mean in Matthew 27:25? "And all the people answered, 'His blood be on us and on our children!'" (ESV)

Atheist: "The responsibility for his execution."

Christian: "I agree. What does the word 'blood' mean in Genesis 49:11, 'He ties his donkey to the vine, his colt to the choicest branch. He washes his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes.' (NIV)?"

Atheist: "Grape juice."

Christian: I agree. You have answered your own question! In Matthew 26:27-28, it says, "Then He took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, 'Drink from it, all of you. This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.'" (NIV) When Jesus said in John 6, "My blood has eternal life," He was talking about the wine used in the Lord's Supper, or Communion as some churches call it.

Atheist: "'Cup' doesn't help your case. It doesn't say 'cup of wine.' Jesus could have meant his own actual blood in both those places."

Christian: "Not in Matthew 26, because He goes on to say in verse 29, 'I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in My Father's kingdom.' (NIV) That means He almost certainly meant wine in John 6 as well. Would you like to know how you, too, can participate in eternal life?"

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, help me understand Your words faithfully, receive Your sacrifice with gratitude, and trust You for eternal life. Amen

Summary:
John 6:54 and Leviticus 17:12 point us past a surface clash: Christ's cup speaks in covenant signs, and His sacrifice gives eternal life.

4 d

Question about Mark Chapter 13: What do you believe about End Times?

For most of my early Christian life, I had a lot of curiosity about the end times and read a lot about them. When I was at Liberty University from 2004-2005, I took a course focused on it, in hopes of getting my questions answered. Rapture? Pre-trib? Post-trib? Mid-tribulation? Millennial reign? Final Judgement? Etc., etc., etc. After looking at the pertinent scripture in some detail and studying the various theories, I realized that none of these points of view could be upheld without ignoring, and/or going through torturous, awkward explanations of some of the associated scriptures.

What then? Two things. First, I’m content with not knowing. If we needed to know to the level of detail that would satisfy our curiosity, it would have been revealed in Scripture. It is not.

Second, I have come to strongly suspect that there are two possible ways it can go. We can fulfill the Great Commission, and the world can receive her returning King peaceably, or things are going to get very, very bad for us all. I got this idea from Deuteronomy 27 and 28, when God lays out for His chosen people two possible futures based on their behavior.

Lord, help me wait patiently for the future to unfold. No sense borrowing trouble. Place trust in my heart that no matter what happens, You are in control. Amen.

5 d

Mark 13:9-11, 34 help explain Spirit-enabled witness and varied service within Christ's body. Some disciples testify before rulers; the Holy Spirit gives fitting speech. In Jesus' closing picture, the master leaves his house, "put each servant in charge of his own task," and assigns the doorkeeper to watch. Different roles share one loyalty. No servant owns the house, and no task is trivial because every assignment comes from the Master.

Modern churches should honor varied callings, equip witnesses, avoid envy, and measure ministry by faithfulness rather than visibility. Purpose is personal but never private: each serves, all watch, and together they await the Master.

"It is like a man going on a journey who left his house, put each servant in charge of his own task, and instructed the doorkeeper to keep watch." (Mark 13:34 BS

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, help me honor the task You have entrusted to me. Keep me humble, faithful, watchful, and ready to serve by the power of Your Spirit. Amen

Summary:
In Mark 13:9-11, 34, each has a task and all keep watch. Quiet or public, every faithful service matters when one Master guides the house.