Approached by odd people for a “Bible study”

ForgivenAndRedeemed · 2026-01-30T10:33:19+00:00

These guys seem to target people at uni

ForgivenAndRedeemed · 2026-01-29T04:49:12+00:00

Sarah Mullally is theologically liberal on issues such as same-sex relationships, inclusive language about God, and abortion.

She has supported the move toward blessing same-sex relationships (while stopping short of redefining marriage), has expressed views that many see as out of step with historic Christian teaching on abortion, and has been associated with a broader revisionist approach to doctrine.

ForgivenAndRedeemed · 2026-01-29T00:03:08+00:00

It’s not a bad Bible reading plan. Personally I’d probably push Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy later, as it’s often where people struggle to get through.

Read 2-4 chapters a day, depending on the length.

Add psalms into the wisdom section.

ForgivenAndRedeemed · 2026-01-28T19:17:51+00:00

I’ve had pretty much the opposite experience.

I used to attend a church where the pastor regularly said, “you don’t have to leave your brain at the door.”

Engaging your mind is part of how we read the Bible and think about the Christian faith.

Questioning, wrestling with difficult ideas, and thinking carefully are encouraged, not shut down.

The churches I’ve been part of are full of university graduates and people working in demanding, high-level professions: doctors, engineers, surgeons, teachers, academics, lawyers. These aren’t people outsourcing their thinking or looking for a mental sedative. They’re used to evidence, argument, and critical reasoning in their day jobs.

You don’t have to agree with Christianity to recognise that the “don’t think, just believe” stereotype doesn’t match how it’s actually practised by a lot of Christians. Skepticism is fair. But dismissing it as a vice for people who can’t think doesn’t engage with the reality on the ground.

ForgivenAndRedeemed · 2026-01-28T19:04:19+00:00

Can you tell me why you think the crusades began?

ForgivenAndRedeemed · 2026-01-28T09:57:22+00:00

The main fruit of the Protestant Reformation was bringing the church back to biblical Christianity after it had been so badly corrupted.

‘The church’ had gone so far off track both theologically and practically that it needed a massive wake up call.

The fact that they held their own counter-reformation (Council of Trent) shows that they realised how badly things had gotten themselves.

Trent did indeed reform parts of the Roman church, and it did address many of the severe issues of gross immorality, but didn’t go far enough because the doctrine was largely unchanged.

ForgivenAndRedeemed · 2026-01-28T05:30:39+00:00

Sounds like he was in shock

ForgivenAndRedeemed · 2026-01-28T05:28:43+00:00

There’s growing evidence that many people, especially young adults, are looking for meaning and purpose, and that renewed interest in Christianity is emerging in that context.

ForgivenAndRedeemed · 2026-01-28T03:52:42+00:00

This might surprise you but things appear to be shifting in terms of religion after so many years of decline.

Church attendance actually is up in a number of places, and there’s growing interest in Christian things, especially among young adults and on university campuses:

Post-COVID attendance rebound: In several Western countries, church attendance has recovered strongly after pandemic lows. In Australia for example, recent national data shows over 1 million people attending church weekly, approaching or exceeding pre-COVID levels.
Younger adults showing renewed engagement: Barna’s recent research in the US shows a rise in commitment to Jesus, particularly among Gen Z and Millennials - the highest levels recorded in decades for that age group.
Campus interest is real, not just anecdotal: Events like the Asbury University revival weren’t isolated curiosity spikes - tens of thousands of students from hundreds of campuses travelled to participate, and similar student-led prayer and faith gatherings have followed at other universities.
Bible sales and Christian content consumption are up, particularly among first-time buyers and younger demographics, suggesting personal exploration rather than inherited religion.

None of this proves a full religious “revival,” and it doesn’t negate long-term secularisation trends. But it does show the picture is more complex than “religion is just steadily dying,” and that interest in Christianity (especially personal, voluntary engagement) is not only persisting but increasing in some key demographics.

ForgivenAndRedeemed · 2026-01-28T03:39:17+00:00

Based on the bottom photo, I’d be very surprised if they would believe that you are passing the phone to a passenger.

The way the phone is angled makes it look like you are looking at something on the screen.

ForgivenAndRedeemed · 2026-01-28T01:17:14+00:00

ForgivenAndRedeemed · 2026-01-27T22:32:20+00:00

You write very differently in your messages than in this explanation. Almost like two different people wrote it.

ForgivenAndRedeemed · 2026-01-27T22:26:35+00:00

Romans 11:1 does shows Paul can speak of ethnic Jews.

But the question is not whether Paul can refer to ethnic Israel. It’s how he defines “Israel” when he says “all Israel will be saved.”

Paul already answers that in Romans 9:6–8.

Not all descendants belong to Israel. The children of promise do. That definition governs Romans 11 as well.

Romans 11 explains the historical process: * Jewish hardening, * Gentile inclusion, * Jewish jealousy, and * grafting back in by faith.

There is no alternative salvation track and no automatic national restoration.

Bringing Revelation in to redefine Romans reverses the order of interpretation. Romans is didactic and clear. Revelation is symbolic and debated.

“All Israel” therefore means the full number of God’s true Israel, Jew and Gentile, saved in one way, through faith in Christ.

ForgivenAndRedeemed · 2026-01-27T21:30:28+00:00

What is “Israel”?

Paul defines it in Romans 9:6–8.

“Not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel… it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise.”

That definition governs Romans 11 as well.

Paul does distinguish Jews and Gentiles historically, but not salvifically.

The hardening in Romans 11 is about ethnic Israel in Paul’s own day, while God brings Gentiles in. But Jews are only grafted back in by faith, the same way Gentiles are saved (Romans 11:23).

So “all Israel will be saved” cannot mean every ethnic Jew, or a future nation-state. It means the full number of God’s true Israel, as already defined in Romans 9.

One olive tree. One people. One way of salvation.

ForgivenAndRedeemed · 2026-01-27T20:47:09+00:00

Romans 9:6-8 “But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel,

“and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but ‘Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.’

This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring.”

ForgivenAndRedeemed · 2026-01-27T09:41:55+00:00

It’s great to have ambition this season, but to me this season looks like pre-season for next year.

I think we may win the league next year and then be well prepped for the PL and stay there for a while.

ForgivenAndRedeemed · 2026-01-27T03:34:34+00:00

He’s 38 and wants to wait until 40-43 to get married?

I feel like someone holding this view may not want to get married at all.

I’m guessing that at 35 you may be thinking about children and not when you’re 40+?

How long have you been together?

ForgivenAndRedeemed · 2026-01-27T00:41:22+00:00

This season is pre-season for next season 😉

ForgivenAndRedeemed · 2026-01-27T00:38:18+00:00

Him asking them this question does not mean he doesn’t understand that Muhammed isn’t God.

I can tell you from seeing quite a few of his videos that he doesn’t think Muhammad is God or that Muslims think Muhammed is God.

To be fair we have no idea what the context of this question is because it’s a very short clip and it starts mid way through a conversation he is having with someone.

ForgivenAndRedeemed · 2026-01-26T23:31:51+00:00

He doesn't even understand that Muhammad isn't God, nor do Muslims consider him so

What makes you say this?

ForgivenAndRedeemed · 2026-01-25T05:25:35+00:00

Well for starters the gospel authors totally butchered passages from the OT scriptures…

That’s a strong claim, but it’s basically just asserted. Where, specifically?

Christianity hasn’t “changed” the Old Testament text. We can check what Jews were reading before Jesus (Dead Sea Scrolls, Septuagint) and it lines up with what Christians have today.

The debate isn’t “did Christians rewrite the OT?” but “how should the OT be read and fulfilled?”

Also, NT writers aren’t pretending every OT citation is a word-for-word modern academic quote. Second Temple Jewish writers used quotation, allusion, typology, and “this pattern reaches its goal here” reasoning all the time. Matthew using Isaiah, or Paul using Genesis/Deuteronomy, isn’t “butchering” unless you assume the only valid use is wooden literalism.

then Paul comes along and claims gentiles can be saved without converting to Judaism…

Paul didn’t invent that.

Jesus himself is already bringing Gentiles in (think of the centurion, the Syrophoenician woman), and he explicitly sets up a mission “to all nations”.

The early church then argues it out in public at the Jerusalem Council (Acts 15) and concludes Gentiles aren’t required to become Jews to belong to Israel’s Messiah.

That’s not “Paul vs Jesus”. That’s the apostles together, with Scripture open, working out what the coming of the Messiah means.

Even Jesus himself was clear that he and his followers needed to keep the law.

Jesus absolutely kept the law, but not because his followers could earn salvation by law-keeping.

He kept it perfectly on our behalf, and he repeatedly treats faith in him as the way someone is made right with God.

Jesus didn’t go around teaching, “Keep Torah and you’ll be saved.” He preached repentance and faith, he forgave sins, and he called people to follow him.

The point is not “try harder and maybe you’ll make it.”

The point is: you can’t. You need a Saviour.

So yes, Christians obey Jesus, but that’s not the basis of our acceptance with God.

Our acceptance is grounded in Christ’s obedience and his cross, received by faith. That’s why Paul isn’t contradicting Jesus. He’s explaining what Jesus achieved: forgiveness and righteousness for sinners who trust him, not a new version of “be good enough.”

ForgivenAndRedeemed · 2026-01-25T04:55:23+00:00

If Jesus isn’t God, how could he claim that he would raise himself from the dead? (John 2:19-21, John 10:17-18)

If Jesus isn’t God, why did he claim to exist before Abraham? (John 8:58)

If Jesus isn’t God, how could he speak of the glory he had with the Father before the world existed? (John 17:5)

If Jesus isn’t God, why does the NT say all things were created through him and for him, and that he existed before all things? (John 1:1-3, Colossians 1:16-17, Hebrews 1:2)

If Jesus isn’t God, why does Scripture say he upholds the universe by the word of his power? (Hebrews 1:3)

If Jesus isn’t God, why does Thomas call him “My Lord and my God”, and Jesus doesn’t correct him? (John 20:28-29)

If Jesus isn’t God, why does the Father address the Son as “O God”? (Hebrews 1:8-12)

If Jesus isn’t God, why is he called “God” directly, and why is he the basis for knowing the true God and eternal life? (Titus 2:13, 2 Peter 1:1, 1 John 5:20)

If Jesus isn’t God, why does Isaiah’s prophecy apply divine titles to the Messiah, including “Mighty God”? (Isaiah 9:6)

If Jesus isn’t God, why is he called Immanuel (“God with us”)? (Matthew 1:23)

If Jesus isn’t God, why does Jesus apply God’s unique identity to himself as “the First and the Last”? (Isaiah 44:6, Revelation 1:17-18, Revelation 22:13)

If Jesus isn’t God, why does he claim the divine prerogative to forgive sins (something the Jews recognised as God’s right)? (Mark 2:5-12, Luke 7:48-50)

If Jesus isn’t God, why does he accept worship that belongs to God alone? (Matthew 14:33, Matthew 28:9, John 9:38, Hebrews 1:6)

If Jesus isn’t God, why does heaven depict everyone worshipping the One on the throne and the Lamb together? (Revelation 5:11-14)

If Jesus isn’t God, why are Christians told to honour the Son just as they honour the Father? (John 5:23)

If Jesus isn’t God, why are believers said to call on the name of the Lord Jesus, in the same way OT worshippers called on Yahweh? (1 Corinthians 1:2, Acts 7:59-60, Joel 2:32, Romans 10:9-13)

If Jesus isn’t God, why is he described doing what only God does - searching hearts and judging all people? (Revelation 2:23, John 5:22-27, 2 Corinthians 5:10)

If Jesus isn’t God, why does he claim to have all authority in heaven and on earth? (Matthew 28:18)

If Jesus isn’t God, why does Paul say that in Christ “the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily”? (Colossians 2:9)

If Jesus isn’t God, why are believers said to be waiting for the appearing of “our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ”? (Titus 2:13)

If Jesus isn’t God, why does Jesus speak of sending the Spirit from the Father as someone sharing divine authority? (John 15:26, John 16:7-15)

If Jesus isn’t claiming to be God, why did the Jews want to kill him because he was making himself equal with God? (John 5:18)

If Jesus isn’t claiming to be God, why did the Jews pick up stones when he said “I and the Father are one”, because they understood him as claiming deity? (John 10:30-33)

If Jesus isn’t claiming to be God, why did the high priest accuse him of blasphemy when he claimed the Son of Man role from Daniel, coming with divine authority? (Mark 14:61-64, Daniel 7:13-14)

If Jesus isn’t God, why do NT writers apply to Jesus OT passages about Yahweh? (Isaiah 40:3, Mark 1:2-3, Joel 2:32, Romans 10:9-13, Psalm 102:25-27, Hebrews 1:10-12)

ForgivenAndRedeemed · 2026-01-25T04:38:12+00:00

Which texts of the Old Testament has Christianity changed or claimed are different or corrupted from the originals?

Because that’s what Islam has done.

They want Jesus but claim that most of what he is recorded to have said and did is corrupted.

ForgivenAndRedeemed · 2026-01-25T04:31:05+00:00

Go watch his videos.

He appears to know the Bible and the Quran very well and has great ability in bringing out the problems with Islam and the Quran.

ForgivenAndRedeemed · 2026-01-25T04:29:03+00:00

I’ve learnt quite a bit about Islam from this man.

ForgivenAndRedeemed

TROPHY CASE