Talks with Dad Rod

Ted asks about apologetics and the connection to the day Epiphany in the church year. Rod talks about how Epiphany is the time when Jesus officially 'went public' with His ministry, starting with a miracle, and that the early church always argued that the truth of the Gospel was based on fulfilled prophecy and on miracle. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about what it is about Christmas that causes Christians everywhere to make such a big deal out of it. Rod talks about the beginning of the story of our redemption and what Jesus later said he came to do, and that if the Christian faith is true, this is the happiest news of all time. "The story begins and ends in joy", says C.S. Lewis. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about what the true connection is between what is considered pagan mythology and symbols and some things Christians enjoy during Christmas. Rod talks about C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien and the work they did in myth and storytelling, and where the burden of proof lies regarding the connection between the Christianity and mythology, and the potency of the evidence of the Christian claims in the New Testament. SHOW NOTES: "History, Law and Christianity" by Dr. John Warwick Montgomery - https://shop.1517.org/products/historylawandchristianity?_pos=1&_sid=1f5f08099&_ss=r Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about what hope there is for those who have failed Jesus' admonition in Luke 9:62. Rod talks about the reality of all sinners' condition, and the truth that all sinners are not 'fit for the kingdom of God', but that there is yet hope in Christ for all such unfit sinners. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about who God is and what He wants for us. Rod talks about what he learned in his training at Springfield Seminary about what God tells us in Scripture about what matters to Him, and that we should be able to see it in a simple reading of the New Testament, and what the 'normal Christian life' looks like. Some discussion occurs about earthly fathers, Rod as father, his own father, and pictures of grace given by faithful men who model Christ for their children. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about looking to our self improvement to determine the status of our salvation. Rod talks about where we look for the truthfulness of the Gospel, what Luther said on the matter, and examines the real Source of our consolation and peace versus what is in our sinful hearts and behavior. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about what the doctrine of vocation is and how it is helpful for people, particularly in relationship to the church. Rod talks about the doctrine of vocation, as dealt with by the reformers, was a way of thinking practically about the sanctification of the Christian, or the place where we're called by gifts given to us at creation. SHOW NOTES: Gene Veith, "God at Work" - https://www.amazon.com/God-Work-Redesign-Christian-Vocation/dp/1433524473/ref=sr_1_2 John Warwick Montgomery, "Sensible Christianity" - https://shop.1517.org/products/sensible-christianity-mp3 Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about how it can be difficult, being a sinner, to give up some things in my life that I should, and what good news there is for us sinners who struggle with that. Rod talks about Romans 7 and how Paul struggled, that these things will be with us until death or Christ's return, and how even the disciples failed regularly, and yet how great Jesus' forgiveness is for us sin addicts. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about how Lutherans view the bible and the ages that we think there are. Rod describes the differences between the Lutheran view and other views, and how easy it is for us sinners to worry about the future, finally referencing C.S. Lewis' final book "The Last Battle" in his Narnia series and the images that Lewis put in it. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about where we sinners can look to find forgiveness in light of Jesus' parable of the talents. Rod talks about reading all of the Bible through 'the analogy of faith', which is that the overall message of the Bible is 'a messiah was promised to sinners', which is Christ, and Luther said it's all about Him, implicitly and explicitly. Dad reads from Matthew 25. SHOW NOTES: Robert Capon on the Parables, in 3 books - https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/entity/author/B001H6IISC?_encoding=UTF8&node=2656022011&offset=0&pageSize=12&searchAlias=stripbooks&sort=author-sidecar-rank&page=2 Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about how Lutherans can say such a thing as 'baptism saves sinners'. Rod talks about when he would teach his students to go and read all the passages in Scripture that talk about baptism and report back what they found. He points students to Scripture since it is very clear about what baptism is and what benefits God delivers there through His word. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about how Jesus' sacrifice can be enough for such a great sinner as me. Rod talks about how common such a perspective is, that a sinner can feel his or her sin is so great that he or she is not savable—but in Scripture, God tells us He knows the true depth of our sin and that His perfect work IS sufficient, even when we doubt. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about the idea of being centered on Christ. Rod talks about different how non-Lutherans sometimes perceive 'Christ-centered' to mean vs. the Lutheran perspective, and what a Christian SHOULD be hearing and where the focus SHOULD be in a Christian church. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about who Dad's favorite (or second-favorite) Christian apologist is and why. Rod talks about C.S. Lewis and his history and how he became a believer and how those things affected Lewis' theological views and desire to defend the Christian faith, and what his work has meant for the world. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about how we hear the Good News that Jesus brought to us when the model in our earthly fathers is a dark one. Rod talks about the substantial, even if imperfect, grace we can receive from good men and women around us which lifts us up and shows us a significantly different model, pointing toward Him Who is the Author of grace and ever loving kindness. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about the idea that after conversion to the Christian faith, the believer doesn't need the Gospel anymore. Rod talks about the law, and how it has nothing in itself to help the sinner satisfy it, and the paradox of those who struggle with their sin being closer to Christ than those who seem to be 'winning', and that Christ's perfect works satisfy His own law. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about defending the truth of Christianity from one's own experience and heart. Rod talks about the 'apologia' Christians are called in Scripture to be prepared to give, what that means, and how emotional responses to questions about the truth of Christianity can come across to unbelievers. There is strong evidence that the claims in the Gospels in the Bible are true. SHOW NOTES: "Sensible Christianity" by Dr. Montgomery - https://shop.1517.org/products/sensible-christianity-mp3 "History, Law and Christianity" by Dr. Montgomery - https://shop.1517.org/products/historylawandchristianity Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about pastors who aren't overtly preaching legalism, but aren't focused on the Gospel, either. Rod talks about how the law is in us sinners by nature, and the Gospel isn't and sounds strange to our ears and is harder to accept, and the seduction of using our improvement as a 'test case' proving the truth of the Gospel. SHOW NOTES: "Sensible Christianity" by Dr. Montgomery - https://shop.1517.org/products/sensible-christianity-mp3 "History, Law and Christianity" by Dr. Montgomery - https://shop.1517.org/products/historylawandchristianity Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about what it means that we continue in our sins in the face of the law. Rod talks about where the verification of the Christian faith comes from and where to look, and what power the law has to improve sinners, and what value improvement has for Christians. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks where we can expect trouble to start in an organization. Rod talks about how decisions made at the top of companies and organizations and churches cause the effects we experience at the lower end of the hierarchy, and the problems unchecked lack of wisdom so often causes. SHOW NOTES: "Sensible Christianity" by Dr. Montgomery - https://shop.1517.org/products/sensible-christianity-mp3 "History, Law and Christianity" by Dr. Montgomery - https://shop.1517.org/products/historylawandchristianity Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about how our fear and doubt affects our salvation. Rod talks about the theme the reformers dealt with, "incurvatus in se", or "curved in on self", and how the 'self' is the enemy, and their answer: Christ. Christ, His person and His work, redeeming the world. SHOW NOTES: "How to Read a Book", Mortimer Adler - https://www.amazon.com/How-Read-Book-Classic-Intelligent/dp/0671212095/ref=sr_1_3?crid=8FV8L6WOKG74 Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about how our fear and doubt affects our salvation. Rod talks about, when it comes to assurance, we know from 1 John that the intent of Scripture is that we KNOW we are saved, and not be in doubt. And what our pastors are called to do—what they are called to give to us and bring to us. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about how you can have certainty that you're saved as a Christian. Rod talks about, from the Lutheran perspective, what do the Scriptures say about baptism and the sacraments, and how it can help to know the culture into which we're born—our present culture is a 'therapeutic' one which puts great weight on our feelings, but for centuries prior, the generations instead looked to the written Scriptures and the promises of God with questions like these. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about Dad's long-used email signature and what it means. Rod talks about the history of how the Catholic church spoke of justification in the 16th century, and what Luther and Melanchthon began to focus on at the beginning of the Reformation—imputed righteousness—and how it's the only righteousness that saves, and that it is enough for us sinners. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about the similarities between God's grace in Jesus Christ and presents we receive under the Christmas tree. Rod talks about Ezekiel in the valley of the dry bones and how it's a perfect picture of how dead we are in our sin, and how it reveals how much we need the Gospel preached to us constantly, both for conversion, and for repentance and consolation in our faith. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about what it means when Christians repeat sins that they've already repented of. Rod talks about the concept of repentance in the passive voice, in which case our repentance is a gift as well, and how sinners can discover the real depth of their sin through the law and the true extent of God's forgiveness for sinners, in part through absolution, over and over and over. The Gospel is for Christians, too. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about struggling with how often and how frequently he sins. Rod talks about how sinners are truly 'stuck' in their sinful condition, and that we are truly condemnable under the law. But also, how God is SO gracious that—through His Son Who was sent to die to save sinners—He has no limitation on how repetitively He forgives us of our sin, even as Christians, even ones committed consciously and willfully, and for our whole lives long. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about the possibility of Lutherans delivering hard-hitting sermons. Rod talks about what Lutheran pastors are called to do, contrasts that with what can be preached in other churches, and discusses the differences between the law and the Gospel and what Scripture calls preachers to deliver to Christian believers. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about the struggle with the effects of sin in our lives, even though we have been forgiven of those sins in and through Christ. Rod talks about how hard the struggle can be, in part because it's not the same concern as receiving God's forgiveness. Rod also again tells us the story of his car accident and his dad when he was young, and how sometimes we can have miraculous grace modeled for us in this kingdom. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about the idea of reaping rewards for our good works in this life. Rod talks about holding to Solus Christus (Christ Alone), and not adding to that, recognizing that Christ's dying does the saving, and nothing from the sinner, and how the book of Galatians addresses those who are tempted to add to Christ's death and resurrection as though they weren't sufficient. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about where Lutherans are in relationship to Roman Catholicism and other denominations. Rod talks about a number of different denominations, particularly in relation to Roman Catholicism, and what makes Lutherans unique among the set. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about the idea that God communicates directly with us in these days after Jesus came to us. Rod mentions a verse in Jude, "contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all time handed down to the saints", and talks about that idea vs. "the yearning of God to talk to me", which is our yearning for direct revelation from God separately from His word in Scripture. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about 'failing' in the Christian faith and seeming to sometimes get worse. Rod talks about American pragmatism and how we tend to measure our faith and the status of our salvation by measuring how close we're getting to achieving perfection, and contrasts that with the Christian life focused on Jesus Christ instead of ourselves. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about the concept of 'blind faith', having faith in something with little to no evidence to support it. Rod talks about how the idea is alien to the Christian faith, and why it's important that the Biblical understanding of Christianity makes it possible to argue for it being true, making Christianity stand out among other religions. SHOW NOTES: https://shop.1517.org/products/sensible-christianity-mp3 Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about how the state of my faith, and particularly struggling with doubt, affects God's willingness to forgive me, a sinner. Rod talks about God's promises connected to the Lord's Supper and baptism, and how He grants His forgiveness even while we're doubting, which is our natural (fallen) condition. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about the possibility of deriving spiritual help from the things we touch, smell and taste. Rod talks about the idea that Christians are betting their salvation on the death of a particular Man at a particular place and time and the actual blood that flowed from His body, and the assurance and consolation we can receive from that Object of our faith, outside of ourselves. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about struggling with sin in the Christian faith and what it could mean, even eventually. Rod talks about St. Paul and what he says about the Christian life in Romans, and what the reality is regarding 'progress' or 'growth' in one's faith, out of the Reformation, in spite of what our fears tempt us to believe. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about struggling with feelings of our faith in Jesus Christ getting weaker. Rod talks about how easy it is to get mired in feelings which don't reflect the unchanging nature of the Object of that faith, and the factual truth of it, and what we can look to for assurance to remind us that the Author of our faith is not ourselves. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about the cynical question posed by Pontius Pilate prior to Jesus' crucifixion. Rod talks about how Christianity is unique in a number of ways, one critical one being what the incarnation of God in Jesus Christ reveals about God to us physically, that He made Himself knowable, and the proof of His amazing claims takes place at Jesus' resurrection, witnessed by hundreds. SHOW NOTES: https://shop.1517.org/products/sensible-christianity-mp3 Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about what it means that Jesus' disciples did as Jesus foretold and scattered, coming to the idea of 'backsliding' in our present day. Rod talks about whether the believer is hearing the Gospel preached to them FOR them, and was baptized, and is going to receive the Lord's Supper, which is where we are absolved and receive Christ's forgiveness. Christ rescues you at your worst. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about what it means that Christianity is falsifiable. Rod talks about what it means that certain claimed events can be tested to be true or not, and how we can know Christianity is one of the most testable claims in human history, that we are able to verify whether the Christian claims are factually accurate or not. SHOW NOTES: https://shop.1517.org/products/sensible-christianity-mp3 Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about the concept of dying to sin and how much is needed for salvation. Rod talks about how Scripture talks about the necessity of dying to our sinful selves, the realities of what sinners are incapable of doing, and offers the Good News for those who struggle which is Jesus Christ crucified for sinners. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks his dad about his experiences while he studied under Dr. H.C. Leupold. Rod talks about what the man was like and tells a couple particular stories from his time with him. SHOW NOTES: Books by H. C. Leupold - https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AH.+C.+Leupold Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about the idea that we need to cleanse ourselves and be 'pure' enough to approach the altar to receive Christ's forgiveness. Rod talks about the truth of our sinful state and the reality of how we sinners come to Him for His gifts at His altar, and what good news there is for us to focus on before and after, even imperfectly. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about forgiveness vs struggling with showing up at church. Rod talks about what God created the church for, what He gives us sinners there and why that's important, yet still recognizing why that is a struggle for some whose experiences in church have pushed them away. Dad uses the word "oblique": diverging from a given straight line or course; not straight or direct, as a course. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks if the history of Bible translations means that we can't know what the original text actually said. Rod talks about the history of historical texts in general, particularly the classics, the great wealth of supporting information behind Christianity, and what present day scholars are able to do with original texts. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about what God meant when He spoke of David being a man after His own heart. Rod talks about the kinds of rough material God prefers to work with, from the beginning of creation, and how far He is willing to go to save those He loves even while we are sinning against Him. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about the real condition of the believing sinner and what he or she needs. Rod talks about the Christian faith vs. moral improvement and a true view of the sinner, that their condition is 'dying', not imperfect-and-needs-fixing. What is a pastor called to deliver to dying sinners? SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about noticing how children reflect their parents' sins back at them. Rod talks about the necessity of understanding the truth of the human condition, the depth of our sin, and how that affects our view of the value of the Good News of the Gospel. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate

Ted asks about why we sinners always seem to need something new and get bored in the worship service so easily. Rod talks about what a liturgical service is, that it is pulled directly from Scripture, and what God's word, used in a liturgical setting, delivers to sinners. SHOW NOTES: Support the show - https://www.1517.org/donate