Not Forsaken Ministries Podcast

About Not Forsaken Ministries Podcast

The Mission of Not Forsaken Ministries is to foster lasting peace, confidence, and purpose in the lives of those we serve by addressing spiritual doubts, strengthening faith, and empowering discipleship. blog.notforsaken.us (https://blog.notforsaken.us?utm_medium=podcast)

Publisher

Not Forsaken Ministries

Category

religion & spirituality · religion & spirituality

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

30 Jan 2026

Latest episode

7 Jul 2026

Latest episodes

7 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   7 Jul 2026

   Not Forsaken Podcast - Episode 6

   We grew up watching “The Ten Commandments” and reading the story of Exodus, and a lot of us walked away with the same impression: that is a lot of judgment simply for not letting the people go. But when you read the plagues in their Ancient Near East context, a very different story emerges. In Part 2 of our series on the polemics of the Bible, we go deeper into the book of Exodus and discover that the ten plagues were never random. They were a divinely orchestrated, escalating series of judgments, each one aimed at a specific Egyptian god or goddess. From the Nile turned to blood against Hapi, to the darkness that silenced the sun god Ra, to the death of the firstborn that struck at Pharaoh himself, Yahweh systematically dismantled the entire religious system of Egypt to prove his absolute supremacy, both to the Egyptians and to his own people. Before we get to the plagues, we set the stage. We look at Deuteronomy’s severe warnings against idolatry, the mocking way the Psalms expose idols as lifeless and powerless, and the crucial fact that Pharaoh understood himself to be divine. That context transforms his challenge in Exodus 5, “Who is the LORD?”, from political defiance into a direct theological confrontation. We also stop to notice something people often miss. This is not a cruel God lashing out. Again and again, He warns before he acts, offering a way of escape, which is exactly what He does for us through Jesus Christ. And as the blood goes over the doorposts in that final plague, we catch a glimpse of where this whole story has been heading all along. We close where the Bible closes the loop: with idolatry today. Because the definition has not changed. An idol is still anything we put ahead of God, and understanding these ancient counter-narratives helps us build a robust, Christ-centered worldview in a culture that keeps offering us substitutes. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.notforsaken.us (https://blog.notforsaken.us?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

2. 

   19 Jun 2026

   Not Forsaken Podcast - Episode 5

   Have you ever heard someone claim the Bible just borrowed its creation and flood stories from older ancient Near East myths? In this episode, Andy unpacks what scholars call polemical theology, the deliberate strategy biblical writers used to take familiar ANE concepts and reorient them entirely around Yahweh, the one true God. We compare the Genesis creation account with the Babylonian Enuma Elish, and the flood narrative with the Epic of Gilgamesh, and we discover that the similarities people point to actually reveal how radically different the Bible's theology really is. A God who is holy, just, transcendent, and who makes humanity in his image is nothing like the bickering, limited deities of the surrounding cultures. This is Part 1 of a series. Come away with a deeper respect for Scripture and a real answer for why you believe what you believe. We are Not Forsaken. Epic of Gilgamesh Referenced: http://l-adam-mekler.com/epic_gilgamesh.pdf (http://l-adam-mekler.com/epic_gilgamesh.pdf) This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.notforsaken.us (https://blog.notforsaken.us?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

3. 

   15 May 2026

   Not Forsaken Podcast - Episode 4

   Did God harden Pharaoh’s heart, or did Pharaoh harden his own? The answer, surprisingly, is yes to both. And understanding how that works might change the way you read the entire book of Exodus. In this episode, we tackle one of the most controversial passages in the New Testament: Romans 9:13-18. Paul’s words about God showing mercy to some and hardening others have troubled Christians for centuries. But Paul is not making this up out of thin air. He is quoting the Old Testament. So we are going to follow him back to Egypt, walk through the ten plagues, and dig into a piece of Hebrew grammar that most Christians have never heard of but that completely reframes the story. Along the way, we will look at 1 Samuel 23, talk about the difference between foreknowledge and predestination, draw on insights from scholars like Michael Heiser, J.P. Moreland, and William Lane Craig, and finish with a pastoral word for anyone who has ever felt forgotten while watching the ungodly seem to prosper. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.notforsaken.us (https://blog.notforsaken.us?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

4. 

   3 Apr 2026

   Not Forsaken Podcast - Episode 3

   An intro to a short study on Romans 9 that focuses on Paul’s use of the Old Testament. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.notforsaken.us (https://blog.notforsaken.us?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

5. 

   6 Mar 2026

   Not Forsaken Podcast - Episode 2

   This podcast is adapted from a sermon I preached in May of 2025 on the sin of pride. While we might be familiar with the sin, we are probably not as familiar with the Scripture discussed in this episode. This episode also lays the groundwork for future episodes of the podcast that build off of the Scipture covered. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.notforsaken.us (https://blog.notforsaken.us?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

6. 

   20 Feb 2026

   Not Forsaken Podcast - Episode 1

   What does a guy with five college majors, a failed video game idea, and a custom apparel company have to do with biblical ministry? More than you’d think. In this first episode, Andy introduces himself and the story behind Not Forsaken Ministries. This is a journey that winds through Hurricane Harvey, the loss of his father, a string of careers he never planned, and a moment of complete surrender that changed everything. It’s not the tidy, straight-line calling story you might expect. And that’s exactly the point. Along the way, Andy unpacks the verse that gave the ministry its name, 2 Corinthians 4:9, and why Paul’s words to a fractured church in ancient Corinth speak just as powerfully to the fractured church of today. If you’ve ever wondered whether God is still at work when life feels like it’s falling apart, this episode is for you. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.notforsaken.us (https://blog.notforsaken.us?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

7. 

   30 Jan 2026

   The Bible and Inerrancy

   If you have been in church for any amount of time, you have probably heard something mentioned about the inerrancy of Scripture. This idea of inerrancy basically means that the Bible is true in all that it affirms and contains no errors, and serves as a foundational doctrine for understanding biblical authority. We hold to this idea because God doesn’t lie or make mistakes. What you might not know is that there are different types of inerrancy. When we talk about inerrancy, we say that God inspired Scripture, so what Scripture says is trustworthy. Since God inspired Scripture, the Bible is without error in what it affirms. The problem comes when people make some assumptions that can lead to misunderstandings in how biblical inerrancy is applied, so I would like to offer some clarifications and distinctions that help frame the doctrine accurately within its proper scope. Inerrancy is speaking about the original writings Most people holding to an inerrant view of Scripture say that the Bible is inerrant in the original manuscripts, which were the first versions of Scripture written by the biblical authors. We need to make this distinction because when you read our copies of Scripture today, we are reading copies that were produced by scribes and copyists over many centuries. These copies may contain minor variations or scribal errors. However, most of these differences are insignificant and consist of spelling errors or word order variations, and although there are many variations, they do not change the core meaning or doctrine of Scripture. Inerrancy does not mean that everything is literal. Biblical inerrancy doesn’t force us to take every sentence literally. If you read the Bible, you understand that it contains different genres of writing. When we read poetry like the Psalms, we recognize that there is figurative language, such as metaphors. “The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety” (Psalm 18:2, New Living Translation). When we read this verse, we understand that God is not a physical rock, a fortress, or a shield. David is using a metaphor here to help us understand the nature of God and the role He plays in our lives. Inerrancy says that the truthfulness applies to the intended meaning of the text within its specific literary form. Inerrancy is not a wooden literalism that ignores how authors use imagery, metaphors, and other literary devices to convey spiritual truths. Inerrancy holds that this text is true in the way the author intended. Inerrancy does not mean that the Bible is a modern-day science textbook. I don’t want to get too into the weeds here, but people use the Bible to answer scientific questions. This is a challenging topic, but I briefly want to touch on it. We see this a lot in the debate about the age of the Earth. Some Christians who believe in the idea of absolute inerrancy treat the Bible as though it is making definitive scientific claims about our physical world. They read Genesis chapters 1 and 2 as providing a precise chronology and the mechanism for creation. We see this by taking and adding up the various genealogies to calculate the Earth’s age to be around 6,000 or so years old. When we look at the Bible as teaching science, we can run into an issue that if science contradicts a plain reading of Scripture, then science must be wrong or incomplete. As I said, this is not something I want to get too deep into because there are people on both sides of creation who are wonderful, dedicated, and smart Christians who differ on the age of the earth, and that is okay. I bring this up because biblical inerrancy allows the Bible to describe natural phenomena using language that describes things as they appear to human observation, not necessarily by providing technical scientific explanations for things. Inerrancy usually focuses on what the Bible asserts, not every detail someone says When we are reading and studying Scripture, we must be aware of the context. For example, if the Bible records someone telling a lie, inerrancy doesn’t mean the lie is true simply because it is in the Bible. Inerrancy means that the Bible accurately reports that the person lied. Again, the distinction I am making here serves to ensure that biblical inerrancy applies to the truthfulness of the author’s assertions rather than the factual accuracy of every statement recorded within the text. These distinctions help us understand how different people approach the idea of inerrancy, leading to various interpretations of the doctrine itself. When many of us think about inerrancy, we tend to think about it in terms of absolute inerrancy. Absolute inerrancy is the idea that the Bible is fully true. This would include all the details regarding matters that are both scientific and historical. The idea here is that the biblical writers did intend to give exact scientific and historical data. The issue with this view is that it can then lead to conflicts that arise when looking at the text, and force us to solve problems. An example of this tension can be found in 2 Chronicles 4:2. “Then he cast a great round basin, 15 feet across from rim to rim, called the Sea. It was 7½ feet deep and about 45 feet in circumference.” If you hold to absolute inerrancy, the math doesn’t hold up. Mathematically, if you have a diameter of 15 feet, the circumference would need to be about 47.1 feet, not 45 feet. We find the circumference by multiplying the diameter by pi, so 15×3.14=47.1. This suggests that the biblical author was using rounded and approximate measurements, not precise technical specifications. This example, although it seems minor in isolation, powerfully illustrates the interpretive challenges that can arise with absolute inerrancy. I believe the Bible is God’s Word and is without error. Although I believe the Bible is inerrant, I find myself holding more to the definition of full inerrancy rather than absolute inerrancy. According to Millard Erickson, “Full inerrancy also holds that the Bible is completely true. While the Bible does not primarily aim to give scientific and historical data, such scientific and historical assertions as it does make are fully true.” What strikes me most about this definition is that when discussing scientific and historical references, “full inerrancy regards these references as phenomenal; that is, they are reported the way they appear to the human eye. They are not necessarily exact; rather, they are popular descriptions, often involving general references or approximations. Yet they are correct.” For me, this seems to be the most reasonable position to hold, knowing that religious, theological, and spiritual messages are entirely true while being able to account for the descriptions provided by the Biblical authors that would not necessarily line up with modern thinking on a scientific and historical basis. This also lines up with Walter Elwell’s definition of inerrancy, being that “when all the facts become known, they will demonstrate that the Bible in its original autographs and correctly interpreted is entirely true and never false in all it affirms, whether that relates to doctrine or ethics or to the social, physical, or life sciences.” Why does inerrancy matter? You might be wondering why inerrancy matters. I don’t know if you were like me, but before I took my first systematic theology course, I did not realize there were different types of inerrancy. I thought the Bible was either inerrant or it was not. When I began to study the different types of inerrancy, it was eye-opening to me. One of the reasons why some people struggle in their study of Scripture is that they have difficulty with some of the historical and descriptive things in the Bible. When I began to think about how I view Scripture, I was fl… This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit blog.notforsaken.us (https://blog.notforsaken.us?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_1)

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