Ted asks about what is true about what the Lord’s Supper is and what it does. Rod talks about when Luther went to Marburg to debate with Zwingly, how he made the case for what the Lord’s Supper actually is, what the first Christians considered it to be, the historical discussion about it, and what spiritual benefits it sounds like sinners receive f…

Ted asks about what it means that God has been born in the flesh, a baby in our presence. Rod talks about what C.S. Lewis calls “the grand miracle” and what Jesus showed us His true vocation is and why it was necessary for Him to come. Produced by: Rick Ritchie SHOW NOTES: Support 1517 - https://www.1517.org/donate Explore more 1517 podcasts - http…

Ted asks about C.S. Lewis’ Father Christmas in Narnia, and reads the scene in which he shows up. Rod talks about how Lewis was such a good communicator, what we see in the Narnia scene and how it points to Christ, and the joy of God’s promises fulfilled in His Son, Who was born in a manger. Produced by: Rick Ritchie SHOW NOTES: Support 1517 - https…

Ted asks about the shepherds who received the heavenly announcement of the birth of Jesus Christ. Rod reads from Ezekiel 34 and talks about the shepherd’s vocation, and with regard to any fear Christians have that Jesus’ work isn’t sufficient to save, what God does for us and says to us about how it is He Who saves. Produced by: Rick Ritchie SHOW N…

Ted asks about the long wait for Jesus’ prophesied arrival, reading from the hymn “Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus”. Rod talks about what ‘the factual story’ is in Scripture, the prophesies of Jesus, those prophesies’ fulfillment in Jesus Christ’s birth, and Who He is. Produced by: Rick Ritchie SHOW NOTES: https://www.hendricksonrose.com/reference-s…

Ted asks about what Paul meant when he spoke about justification by faith, reading a quote from author F.F. Bruce. Rod talks about how we see in the writings of Paul that Jesus’ words divide, Jesus’ connection to the Old Testament, what was expected of the Messiah when He arrived, and the contrast between Who Jesus is and His claims and actions ver…

Ted asks about how Paul describes himself in Philippians vs what we learn in Romans that the law does with sinners. Rod talks about Paul’s (when Saul) ‘flawless’ striving toward works of the law, that the law is correct to condemn what sinners are, think, and do, and that works cannot and do not save, what (Who) saves, and where faith is directed. …

Ted asks about C.S. Lewis’ rhetorical comment in one of his letters, in which he mentions dogs and arithmetic. Rod talks about critical thinking, what Lewis faced when he made claims with his mentor, William Kirkpatrick, and the difference between making simple assertions versus making an evidence based argument for a position, such as with Christi…

Ted asks about how well we are able to figure out the status of someone’s faith, reading from Matthew 13:24-29. Rod talks about Jesus’ efforts to first include people, rather than exclude, and who Jesus brings His ‘invite’ to, how badly the church has counseled on the subject, and whose job the whole concern actually is. Produced by: Rick Ritchie S…

LIVE FROM ‘HERE WE STILL STAND 2023’! (Audio Only) Ted asks a question about C.S. Lewis’ book, “The Great Divorce”. Rod talks about “objective justification”, who gets the credit for our salvation, free will, Who pursues whom, and who Jesus says ‘went home justified’. Produced by: Rick Ritchie SHOW NOTES: ** WHAT’S NEW FROM 1517 ** FREE 2023 Advent…

Ted asks about how my struggles in my Christian faith and walk reflects on my eternal salvation. Rod talks about the story in Scripture about the Pharisee and the Publican, and which man went home justified, and studying words connected to the cross during the church year season of Lent. Produced by: Rick Ritchie SHOW NOTES: “The Apostolic Preachin…

Ted asks about how Lutherans speak of the idea of ‘being saved’. Rod talks about sola fide (faith alone), the idea that baptism saves sinners (1 Pet 3:21), what our contribution to our salvation is, and what our condition is when Christ and His gifts are given to us. Produced by: Rick Ritchie SHOW NOTES: ** WHAT’S NEW FROM 1517 ** HWSS Hosted Lives…

Ted asks about what the law means for us sinners regarding accusation and condemnation. Rod talks about how the law does accuse, what role the third use of the law has in the Christian life (from the Lutheran “Book of Concord”), how greatly many believers are buried under the burden of the law, and how good the news of the Gospel actually is. Produ…

Ted asks about Rod regularly putting Christian actions in the passive voice. Rod talks about the sinners impotence to do some things, what repentance means, the idea that God’s command implies that we are capable of doing what is commanded, and, in contrast to what we are tempted to believe, the utter inability of sinners to do so, from the Reforme…

Ted asks about what the focus of Christian education should be. Rod talks about ‘thinking Christianly’ or ‘thinking Biblically’, the history of our Ivy universities, the teaching paradigms used by American churches as well as grade schools and colleges, and how the church can assist with solutions for the coming generations. Produced by: Rick Ritch…

Ted asks about why Rod speaks of Romans 4:5 so much. Rod talks about our sinful nature, and the imputation of Christ’s righteousness to the wicked, the mystery of the Gospel going ‘around self’ & being gifted anyway, and how God works, contrary to our fallen sense of fairness. Produced by: Rick Ritchie SHOW NOTES: “The Gospel for Those Broken by th…

Ted asks about what things, exactly, comprise the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Rod talks about the simplicity of the Gospel, the value of hearing Christ crucified for my rescue every Sunday morning, the sinner ‘being turned’ away from self (passively—as in Jeremiah 31:18) and toward Jesus Christ, and what people consistently confess after spending long …

Ted asks about what maturity looks like (Hebrews 6:1) after having come to have faith in Jesus Christ, and reads from Ephesians 1:17-23. Rod reads a quote from John Calvin’s Institutes, and speaks about how much we sons of Adam and daughters of eve are drawn to look to our works for assurance and confirmation of salvation, and yet what a good pasto…

Ted asks about the idea that the Christian life should be relatively smooth after the gift of the Holy Spirit. Rod talks about what the New Testament tells us about Christianity, what saves sinners, and using some imagery from C.S. Lewis, what we learn from Jesus about how much God loves us so that He would save us even as we sin against Him. Produ…

Ted asks about Christians struggling with doubt about the faith and walking away from it. Rod talks about learning from the New Testament that such struggles are ‘not weird’, how people are not trained to know why Christianity is true, what we should expect and what ‘normal’ Christianity looks like, and how myth in storytelling connects us to what …

Ted asks about feeling like being a Christian is difficult when it seems like others aren’t struggling. Rod talks about what diet I’m getting that can cause such a struggle to occur, or make an existing struggle worse, and asks why St. Paul had hope while writing Philippians from jail, how the law is ubiquitous but that it was fulfilled for us by J…

Ted asks about the idea of ‘knowing that you know’ regarding your salvation. Rod talks about how a Lutheran answers, “How do you know [you are saved]?”, that different churches (denominations) should be able to tell you what they confess with regard to the question of assurance, and what the pastor’s job is to help sinners know, from Scripture. Pro…

Ted asks about how serious God is about the law in light of Jesus’ Gospel. Rod talks about closing with ‘let us’, whether the law is a good motivator for believing sinners to go each week and do what the law commands, and what St. Paul describes is our sinful reaction to the law—how the law stirs up our sin. Produced by: Rick Ritchie SHOW NOTES: “T…

Ted asks about how God’s law in the Ten Commandments still applies to Christian believers. Rod talks about how rough God’s law is for sinners, the relationship between the law and Christ’s Gospel, and points to the book of Galatians to help clarify a healthy balance for sinners in light of Jesus’ perfect fulfillment of the law. Produced by: Rick Ri…

Ted asks about struggling with sin in the faith. Rod talks about what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is and why His Gospel is important for sinners who also confess ongoing sin in the faith as St. Paul did in Romans 7, and who Jesus died and rose from the dead for. Produced by: Rick Ritchie SHOW NOTES: Support 1517 - https://www.1517.org/donate https:/…

Ted asks about what it would mean for sinners to hear their sins absolved in the sermon every week. Rod talks about what pastors are called to do from the pulpit, the truth of the relationship between sinners and God’s law, and the hope of God’s answer to our failure. Produced by: Rick Ritchie SHOW NOTES: Support 1517 - https://www.1517.org/donate …

Ted asks about how sinners should perceive the law and the Gospel. Rod talks about the claims of the law and what it does to all sinners’ standing before God, across all cultures, St. Paul’s teachings about the works of Jesus Christ, and who the good news of Christ’s Gospel is for. Produced by: Rick Ritchie SHOW NOTES: Support 1517 - https://www.15…

Ted asks about struggling to determine God’s plan for my life and for work. Rod talks about ‘talking to God’ and getting answers back, how Reformation thinkers approached questions like these, and the idea of ‘breaking through’ to a transcendent God in some kind of mystical experience to determine His secret will for me. Produced by: Rick Ritchie S…

Ted asks about Rod’s path of faith after becoming an agnostic after his church experience. Rod talks about going to the University of Washington as an agnostic, what turned him back to the idea of theism, the idea of a conflict between science and the Christian faith, and how his connection to the hard sciences affected his path to being a Christia…

Ted asks about Rod’s experience in church in his youth and what it did to his faith. Rod talks about Lutheran pietism and how law-focused and improvement-focused teaching and preaching affected him, and how that church experience affected his view of God and the Christian faith even when he was older in college as a pre-med student. Produced by: Ri…

Ted asks about the idea of having a vocation related to our faith along with our regular vocations. Rod talks about the Lutheran doctrine of vocation, and how freeing it can be for people to learn that God is pleased with our daily (secular) God-honoring vocations for our neighbors. Produced by: Rick Ritchie SHOW NOTES: Gene Veith, “God at Work” - …

Ted asks about people’s skepticism and struggle to consider the truth of Christianity. Rod talks about the kinds of experiences people may have in their pasts that influence their perspective, and what we learn from St. Paul about engaging with some people, and what is helpful to speak about. Produced by: Rick Ritchie SHOW NOTES: Support 1517 - htt…

Ted asks about the value of exhortation. Rod talks about what exhortation is, and what value it has for us sinners, and what our focus should be for our neighbors. Produced by: Rick Ritchie SHOW NOTES: Gene Veith, “God at Work” - https://www.amazon.com/God-Work-Redesign-Christian-Vocation/dp/1433524473/ref=sr_1_2 Outline of Gene Veith’s “God at Wor…

Ted asks about how we can know we’re doing precisely what God wills for us. Rod references the old Magic 8-Ball toy about how we are tempted to approach our understanding of God’s will for us, and talks about Reformation theology in opposition to our naturally mystical inclinations. Produced by: Rick Ritchie SHOW NOTES: Gene Veith, “God at Work” - …

Ted asks about who the Gospel is for. Rod talks about what Christians should expect their faithful lives to look like, from Scripture, what church is for, and how most seminaries are not properly preparing future pastors to deliver what Jesus intends for them to give to His flock. Produced by: Rick Ritchie SHOW NOTES: Support 1517 - https://www.151…

Ted asks which statement of our sinful condition is accurate. Rod talks about inherited sin versus the sins we commit, what the difference is, how deep our sin really is, and what the Good News is for us and what ‘The Great Exchange’ is. Produced by: Rick Ritchie SHOW NOTES: “Sensible Christianity” by Dr. Montgomery - https://shop.1517.org/products…

Ted asks whether lusting for someone is adultery, reading Matthew 5:27-28. Rod talks about self-justification, what Jesus’ words reveal to sinners about the truth of the law when we try to find a loophole, and what sinners’ natural desires are versus being given a savior. Produced by: Rick Ritchie SHOW NOTES: Support 1517 - https://www.1517.org/don…

Ted asks about what it meant for Jesus to appear to His disciples and lead with blessing them with peace, twice. Rod talks about how the Christian claims turn on the resurrection, and discusses the question of what could cause him as a Christian to give up his faith. Produced by: Rick Ritchie SHOW NOTES: “Sensible Christianity” by Dr. Montgomery - …

Ted borrows a question from a hymn title that asks why Jesus has to die, as if He sinned. Rod talks about how the Bible testifies throughout that Jesus, the Spotless Lamb, would come to take our punishment in our place, and how Scripture affirms that Jesus’ sacrifice was the only way to save us. Produced by: Rick Ritchie SHOW NOTES: https://hymnary…

Ted asks about whether we should pray for time to amend our lives. Rod talks about what sinners contribute to their salvation, the idea of a ‘mulligan’ confession, what gifts we are to receive in church, and where our true hope lies. Produced by: Rick Ritchie SHOW NOTES: Support 1517 - https://www.1517.org/donate https://www.1517.org/videos-playlis…

Ted asks about good news when we can’t seem to shake sinful, even blasphemous, thoughts. Rod talks about which prevails in the end, Jesus Christ or our sins, the true difficulty we sinners can have with dark thoughts, who we are given to talk to, the confession and absolution service in a Lutheran hymnal, and the comfort we can receive in the promi…

Ted asks about the idea of attending a church where the Gospel isn’t being preached. Rod talks about what Jesus Christ intends for sinners to receive in His church, what obligation we are under to attend a church where those gifts are not being delivered, and what confusion there is in modern churches regarding law and Gospel. Produced by: Rick Rit…

Ted asks if we as Christians need to get busy in order to gain or maintain our salvation. Rod talks about sanctification versus justification (using a two-column idea), what weight believers’ works have regarding their salvation, and how Reformation theology is different than what many churches in America are teaching and preaching. Produced by: Ri…

Ted asks about if our Christian faith is purely a gift of God. Rod talks about how the Reformation began with a doctrine of sin that was solidly Biblical, and what God speaks into the darkness of the human heart. Produced by: Rick Ritchie SHOW NOTES: Support 1517 - https://www.1517.org/donate https://www.1517.org/videos-playlist/talks-with-dad-rod …

Ted asks if believers should expect their sinning to lessen after coming to faith in Christ. Rod talks about what the law demands of sinners, whether sinners can meet those demands, recognizing the terrors the law can create, and what Good News there is for sinful believers. Produced by: Rick Ritchie SHOW NOTES: Support 1517 - https://www.1517.org/…

Ted asks about correcting others when we feel like we are right and they are wrong. Rod talks about being in a church of Germans, and how Germans perceive things, how we sinners are tempted to treat each other, how we Christians (and by extension Jesus Himself) are often perceived when we do that, and what we are actually called to bring to our nei…

Ted asks about our role in accepting salvation and having faith in Jesus Christ. Rod talks about the truth of the sinner’s role in their salvation and coming to faith in Jesus Christ, and what God does for and to us and in us from outside of ourselves. Produced by: Rick Ritchie SHOW NOTES: Support 1517 - https://www.1517.org/donate https://www.1517…

Ted asks about looking to our own fruit and seeing that it’s bad, and what does that mean. Rod talks about how sinners incline to moralism and synergism, how we are natural fruit-measurers who prefer to look to ourselves, and what good news there is for people who struggle with fears that their fruit is revealing that he or she is a ‘bad tree’, as …

Ted asks about what it means if our pastor goes through struggles of faith. Rod talks about how he perceives a pastor who is always ‘winning’, versus a pastor who is ‘assaulted’, and speaks of his memories and experiences with his friend and peer, James Nestingen, who died recently, and some experiences with his own father. Produced by: Rick Ritchi…

Ted asks about the value of the idea of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’. Rod talks about how shifting toward ethics and moralism can poison the Gospel, references what we see Jesus do when He made wine for the wedding at Cana, and asks what if it was in that spirit that our culture perceived Christianity. Produced by: Rick Ritchie SHOW NOTES: Support 1517 - ht…