The Faith Debate
The Faith Debate radio program began twenty years ago this month. I recorded and archived the majority of the early shows myself before the radio station began doing this for me (and hosting the shows as podcasts on the radio station’s website). However, WFMD changed ownership several times during these years, and staff changes also occurred throughout the years. The result was that many of the archive recordings were lost by WFMD.
In 2022 I began digging deep into computer files, cassette audio, and CD’s that might have been burned to contain former episodes. Whatever is found gets posted on the Household of Faith in Christ channels on SermonAudio.com and Odysee.com. Each day since January 1st, 2022 I have uploaded one audio or video file to these platforms. Eventually I will exhaust the resources for locating old shows; until then this process will continue.
Of course, WFMD does upload podcasts for the most recent editions of the show, but the historical archives are essentially gone from wfmd.com. My personal effort to preserve and make available all (if possible) of the shows has netted reasonably good results thus far. As of the date of this blog post, Household of Faith in Christ has 1,000 podcasts available on both Odysee.com and SermonAudio.com. The Faith Debate shows comprise 800 of these.
I am so thankful that we are taking control of our own podcast preservation (to the extent that this is possible). If we hadn’t already started doing this, then there would be a number of shows lost to the ages from even 2022, 2023, and 2024. In fact, one from last month would have been forever lost.
Facebook Nuggets
Much of my research for locating old show dates/topics/guests has involved mining my former posts on Facebook. This has proven to be an interesting exercise for me in a variety of ways. One, I can begin to appreciate just how many friends “unfriended” me because they couldn’t handle hearing the truth about all the lies the world has been fed since 2019 (and especially since 2020). Two, I can see myself through the lens of time-lapse-photography – it’s astounding the degree to which my thinking has been clarified over the past couple of decades. Three, I’m given a tangible reason to keep my Fascistbook page operational. Once I have plumbed the depths of the old Facebook posts, I will perhaps leave that platform 100%. As of late I don’t post anything there other than links to podcasts and blogs. For my more traditional social media activity, I do that on platforms such as MeWe, Gab, Twitter (X), Gettr, Truth, and Parler (plus one or two others).
Fourth, and finally, I run into a handful of random nuggets that suggest where my mind was focused at the time. For instance, here are posted items from about seven years ago:
“I tend to think the person’s spirit goes on to heaven for those professing Christ as Lord and Savior… Amen. And those trusting in Jesus receive a renewed and glorified body when He returns! Looking forward to that glorified body!!”
To these thoughts a woman (who has since unfriended me!) wrote “I wish I could talk to you about this!” The response to this was, “You sure can! Anytime. Weekends might work best; we can meet in Frederick or somewhere in Mt. Airy. Or, you know what would be fun? You should be a guest on my radio show. All you’d have to do is ask the questions that are on your mind, then see how well others are able to point to answers found in the Bible.” To this offer she wrote, “Hmmmm, I could do that!” So, I wrote, “Private message me, if you want to try to make this happen. It’d be fun!” She responded, “Ok, will do!” But she didn’t follow through. In fact, I’m not sure if she ever interacted with me again.
My shared thoughts on such matters didn’t go completely for naught. As the comment thread twisted and turned, someone else wrote, “I agree with you because when Jesus was resurrected He ate, drank and had scars. On the other hand He walked through walls and people didn’t quite recognize Him at first. An interesting concept to ponder.”
And then there’s always snark to save the day. When someone very randomly remarked, “Well, there it was, November 9th, the first Christmas commercial I have seen on TV. Ugh!” I couldn’t help myself – I responded, “Gee whiz, I saw my first Christmas commercial decades ago.”
Not a Total Loss
If you wonder why I’m pulling out all this information from the past? Well, anything posted online using third party platforms has a very limited shelf life. Do you recall all the posts removed by Fascistbook, YouTube, and Twitter (prior to Elon Musk’s X)? Do you recall the Leftists tearing down Parler (which has reemerged, but is a shell of its former self)? Anything I posted that might have a type of value, some sort of vague importance, a snapshot glimpse at recent history, or even sentimental value do due good humor and gentle relations with others – well, I want to preserve that somehow and somewhere. This blog can be that somewhere, and somehow I hope to journal my way through it all, hoping that you might enjoy taking the ride with me.
Not everything I’ve been reminded of had something to do with churchy stuff, by the way. There were exchanges about sports, lifestyle, and even music – like this:
Someone wrote, “’Here we stand, worlds apart, hearts broken in two’, in other words, the greatest lip sync of the ’80s.” This led to much debate about the music video for the song being referenced – Separate Ways (World’s Apart) by Journey.
Always wanting to be an advocate for sharing the truth, I clarified the facts with this addition to the comment thread: “Journey was never all that committed to doing music videos. In fact, for the album after the one containing “Separate Ways” (Frontiers) they announced that they wouldn’t even release a video at all (Raised on Radio). Ultimately there were some live in-concert videos that showed up on MTV, but no concept videos. Here’s the story as reported in Billboard magazine back in the day.
Our exchange after this –
Him: “The one journey fan greater than I.”
Me: “Not greater. Just older.”
Him: “By three years?”
Me: “I’m not sure by how many years, but if it is three… well, that’s like twenty-one in dog years. So, it’s a lot longer than one might think.”
Saving the Most Important for Last
A former colleague of mine asked, “If a Christian embraces incrementalism are they sinning?” This led to the following conversation:
Me:
I know what you’re really asking, and I’m with you in that fight. But in a broader context… the process of sanctification is incrementalism in motion. So, until fully glorified, yes the Christian continues to sin. However, when embracing the path of sanctification, and hence incrementally sinning less and less, this would be considered a good thing by the Christian.
Other guy:
Incrementalism by definition is compromise. How often has the Bible encouraged us to compromise with the world, look for common ground so to speak? I can’t think of any such time or reference. Also, incrementalism works two ways. For the pro-death hordes, it has worked so well in getting we the people used to the fact that abortion is something we may not like, but hey, we can at least live with it.
Me:
You’re correct that Christians are called to be in the world but not of the world. However, there are a number of positive examples of “looking for common ground” in the Bible. One of the most famous of these might be Acts 17:22-31.
Other guy:
Sorry but I was unable to make out what you said. Is it a Bible reference?
Me:
Yes, Paul’s “Sermon on Mars Hill” is built upon a foundation of common ground with the pagans who were there. This passage is often pointed to as an encouragement to “meet people where they are by finding common ground”. Expecting Christian behavior from non-Christians is something that is prescribed against in the New Testament. Heck, it’s hard enough expecting Christian behavior from Christians!
Other guy:
Good point, but I still have a problem in that Paul had a common ground from which to preach, the God they did not know. Biology tells us a human fetus is human and alive. The world fails to acknowledge this and many believers seem to be okay with this.
Me:
Many professing Christians hold to many views that do not square with biblical teaching. For example, there are some who would argue that: God did not actually create the universe (seeing the creation narrative as mere myth)… homosexual behavior is not sinful behavior… believers do not need to financially give to their church and/or the poor… gathering together with other believers for worship of the one true God is completely optional… divorce is really no big deal… pastors are under no obligation to proclaim the Gospel when preaching… God helps those who help themselves… and I could go on and on. It is obvious that we have a biblical illiteracy problem in the United States. This problem then impacts how we tackle societal ills around us, and hampers our ability to do so with wisdom. Using Paul as an illustrative example, trying to get non-Bible readers to listen to our biblical arguments is pretty tough to do. So, maybe we can find ways to speak their language by saying something like, “You’re firmly committed to protecting the rights of females. Guess what? There’s a God Who created the world and He agrees with you. In fact, He goes even further than most are willing to go, by saying that the rights of females extend even to those females who reside inside the belly of their mothers. So, do you advocate, as God does, for the protection of all females, or only those who have been in existence for more than nine months?” On Mars Hill, those who refused to accept the truth were left by Paul to answer an implied question: “Why do you reject and hate the God Who made you?” In our present debate, those who refuse to accept the truth are left by us to answer that question and another implied question: “Why do you reject and hate the female children (and the male children, too) who have yet to pass through the birth canal?”
If the other guy agreed or disagreed with the my salvo I do not know. He did not respond.
Many blessings to you,
Pastor Troy Skinner
