Biblecia

I had the dubious pleasure of debating with Mr. Nadir Ahmed on the Modern-Day Debate Platform on YouTube. This debate aired on 31 May 24. It went from about 8:00 PM (EST) to 10:30 PM. In this debate, I’ll present the case for how the Bible speaks accurately regarding all the sciences yet is not a science book and respond to Mr. Ahmed’s futile attempts to establish the Quran’s claims on a few subjects as correcting those of the Bible. There are ten-minute opening statements, two minutes of back and forth for about an hour and then a good bit of time back and forth with some online chat questions. We’ll discuss Jesus’ parable of the mustard seed, handwashing, alcohol, and meat consumption. We were supposed to discuss divorce as well, but we didn’t really get there. I did a debate review last night mainly focused on the subject of marriage, but also went over some of the things we did discuss as well. You can find that audio message linked below. Mr. Ahmed repeatedly and wantonly disregards context to frame his reductionist arguments to his liking, cherry picks very loose support for his views via some online atheists and even select snippets of various online articles that he’ll say support Islam by telling you it’s a good idea to wash your hands as he presents to us the house of cards he erroneously calls a better scientific basis for Islam than what Christianity teaches. It would take anyone about 30 minutes to present the kind of case he presented on anything. By the end of the debate, we’ll see him on his heels in frustration as he demonstrates that he too has to do interpretation with the Quranic text and with the hadith while he all the while calls it nutty when anyone else does it. I learned a lot during this debate and I’m so privileged to have had the opportunity to present a brief biblical case on these matters. The audio message I linked you to here above expands a bit more. The Bible speaks far more accurately, and communicates, of course, far greater truths, than what Muslim leaders copied from it to produce the Quran. My thanks to Mr. Ahmed for inviting me and to Modern-Day Debate for hosting us. Debate review: https://bibleciacom.subspla.sh/6p4w2bd. God bless!!! (If this has been a blessing to you, would you please share it with someone else? Come by Biblecia.com anytime for new stuff).

We are gonna chew the cud some more on the philosophy of evolution today. What people need is to consider this subject from an overview stance. When we do, we see how thin a case can be made for it. It is not “denying science” to deny Darwinism. To deny Darwinism is to affirm science against its science fiction. We’re going to talk about bias in research, homology, DNA, reductionism, the fact that time doesn’t solve the naturalist’s problems and more. We hope it’s an eye-opening talk for you. Christian, do not fear the opinions of the naturalists. In today’s talk, I reference a video of Dr’s James Tour and Hector Zenile discussing the errors (if not lies or intentional misrepresentations) of Dr. Lee Cronin. It was an important discussion that talked about safeguards needed against the false claims of researchers in the origins of life world. Here’s a link to that video. God bless!!! (If this has been a blessing to you, would you please share it with someone else? Come by Biblecia.com anytime for new stuff).

All Christians have to wait on the Lord. It’s his world, his timing, his plans, his works. We all have to wait. The only question is whether or not we will wait well or not. We hope this message encourages you to wait well as you consider God’s works in your life. God bless!!! (If this has been a blessing to you, would you please share it with someone else? Come by Biblecia.com anytime for new stuff).

Today, we have the pleasure of hearing from Mr. Matt Walter, the founder and president of the International Muslim Outreach. Matt is a phenomenal brother with years of experience in evangelism specifically to Muslim people around the world. We’ll get to hear all about Matt and IMO, we’ll hear about Islam, discuss textual issues, examine theological differences, and talk all along about how to reach out to our Muslim friends and neighbors with the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ. Learn more about IMO and get involved at: imuslimoutreach.org God bless!!! (If this has been a blessing to you, would you please share it with someone else? Come by Biblecia.com anytime for new stuff).

We really need to talk about the philosophy of evolution in our day. God bless!!! (If this has been a blessing to you, would you please share it with someone else? Come by Biblecia.com anytime for new stuff).

Rome released “Fiducia Supplicans” on 18 Dec 23 on the blessing homosexuals and others in “irregular relationships.” It built on some of Frances’ work from 2021’s “Responsum” about same sex couple blessings. Many people are saying that the Roman Catholic Church is now performing same sex marriages. They can see many priests around the world, who are in fact priests still in communion with Rome, performing homosexual marriages already. LGBT activists are applauding Fiducia Supplicans as a great leap forward toward full marriage equality, but what is the Dicastery’s actual position on gay marriage? What are they saying by Fiducia Supplicans? Are they now performing gay marriages or is it something else? And what does all this teach us about the Roman church as a whole and its claims to infallible unity? In this video, I’ll go through many highlights from Fiducia Supplicans and we’ll also look at a response to it from Bishop Martin Anwel Mtumbuka on 24 Dec 23. Bishop Mtumbuka is the head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Karonga in Malawi, Africa. I sincerely hope it’s instructive. Links to resources mentioned- -Fiducia Supplicans: https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_ddf_doc_20231218_fiducia-supplicans_en.html -Responsum of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to a dubium regarding the blessing of the unions of persons of the same sex: https://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20210222_responsum-dubium-unioni_en.html -Bishop Martin Anwel Mtumbuka’s full video address: https://youtu.be/pdBaVNeKJT8?si=PuWl1q99WP5Do8sL God bless!!! (If this has been a blessing to you, would you please share it with someone else? Come by Biblecia.com anytime for new stuff).

Today, we’re on the campus of the University of South Florida to discuss the idea of exclusivity or absolute truth. Can the message of Christianity be true if there is in fact even just one other truth on earth? We say no. We’ll also briefly broach the subject of evolution as a tenet of the trendiest new religion of our day called secularism. We have the privilege of having a few talks on camera with a few students. We also had some great conversation off camera as well that we obviously can’t show you. Going out to this venue should become a regular thing. You can check out Carlos on his podcast on YouTube called, “Married on a Mission” anytime. https://youtu.be/gyQ64ZVA0PE?si=GX7nUhDJMIz6LFnY. Our special thanks also to Faith T. and Ratio Christi as well for letting us use her table today in partnership with her outreach at the school! You can learn more about Ratio Christi here: https://ratiochristi.org/. If you’d like information on the USF group, you can reach out to us here and we’ll happily connect you. God bless!!! (If this has been a blessing to you, would you please share it with someone else? Come by Biblecia.com anytime for new stuff).

What is the doctrine of “Scripture Alone” or “Sola Scriptura” and what is it not? This is a very helpful answer to a question Christians need to be constantly revisiting. Here’s a link to the whole video I cite from in this talk: https://youtu.be/RIeYlktTaU4?si=qN75rVSJLJEY_Vlj God bless!!! (If this has been a blessing to you, would you please share it with someone else? Come by Biblecia.com anytime for new stuff).

We have to go and preach against the religion of death on every front. We have to go for the root, the heart of the matter. It is the Gospel alone that redeems. It’s not politics, family, rudeness, kindness, or activism. It’s the Lord himself who fights against evil. It’s the Lord himself who draws people to himself. God bless!!! (If this has been a blessing to you, would you please share it with someone else? Come by Biblecia.com anytime for new stuff).

Happy Easter 2024! The church worldwide is celebrating the victory of her head again this very day. We have as much reason to celebrate any day of the year, but today is Easter and I’d like to take a few minutes today to bless you with an Easter message. Christ is the last Adam, the Creator and if you will re-Creator soon of all things. The master gardener. He is risen. Of this I have no doubt! God bless!!! (If this has been a blessing to you, would you please share it with someone else? Come by Biblecia.com anytime for new stuff).

The LDS Church, or Mormon Church, spends a lot of money on marketing. And it’s very effective. They market themselves as Christians, but are they? Do you know any Mormons? Do you think Mormonism is a Christian denomination? In this brief video we’ll talk a bit about some of the core beliefs that forever separate Christianity from the so-called “Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.” God bless!!! (If this has been a blessing to you, would you please share it with someone else? Come by Biblecia.com anytime for new stuff).

I had the privilege of addressing the members of Chin Community Church in Temple Terrace, FL on the Baptist Faith on the 14th and 15th of March in 2024. We talked about the essential theology that makes us Christians as Baptists and several Baptist distinctives within Protestantism as well. We talked about history and went over the development of Baptist theology from the Protestant Reformation to today. Using the preamble to the Baptist Faith and Message of 2000, I talked about the purpose and intent of the BFAM itself. We talked about what it means to be a Baptist, the importance of the essential doctrines of the Christian religion, and, of course, talked about the Gospel. This message is also available in audio format: https://biblecia.com/video/where-we-baptists-came-from-2-of-2/. God bless!!! (If this has been a blessing to you, would you please share it with someone else? Come by Biblecia.com anytime for new stuff).

Everyone except those distributing it laments the sad near deification of Mary in Rome these days. But Romanists are not the only ones who’ve espoused the idea that Mary never had any other children other than Jesus. Many Protestants and others have also held the view that Mary remained a virgin her whole life. I do not dare condemn anyone on this. All Christians affirm that Mary was a virgin when she miraculously conceived the Son of God in her womb. All Christians agree that she was a virgin when she gave birth to Jesus. Some Christians believe that she never had any other children with her husband Joseph afterward. Other Christians believe that she did. Some condemn others who don’t hold to their group’s developed ideas on Mary. Today, we’ll take a deep dive into Perpetual Virginity (PV). We’ll look at the pertinent Bible passages (see list below), we’ll look at the languages a bit, we’ll look to history and what some have said about it (please remember that my references are by no means exhaustive). Is PV something we must divide over? Some say yes. What about you? Let’s talk about it. I will go beyond PV a little bit to talk about Mariology/Mariolatry as a whole, but I’ll come back to PV throughout. X personalities mentioned in the video who’ve brought this matter to my attention recently: @buzzsaws1990, @jeff_palouse, @calvinrobinson, @jjco42, and @oliverburdick (who posted the OP we responded to). Bible verses examined in this video in the order examined: Luke 1:26-35; Matthew 13:55–56; Galatians 1:19; Acts 1:12-14; Matthew 1:24–25; Luke 14:12; Matthew 4:21; Luke 11:27-28; Matthew 12:46-50; Luke 2:22-24; Luke 1:46-47; John 2:5. God bless!!! (If this has been a blessing to you, would you please share it with someone else? Come by Biblecia.com anytime for new stuff).

I had the privilege of addressing the members of Chin Community Church in Temple Terrace, FL on the Baptist Faith on the 14th and 15th of March in 2024. We talked about the essential theology that makes us Christians as Baptists and several Baptist distinctives within Protestantism as well. We talked about history and went over the development of Baptist theology from the Protestant Reformation to today. Using the preamble to the Baptist Faith and Message of 2000, I talked about the purpose and intent of the BFAM itself. We talked about what it means to be a Baptist, the importance of the essential doctrines of the Christian religion, and, of course, talked about the Gospel. This message is also available in audio format: https://biblecia.com/audio/where-we-baptists-came-from-1-of-2-115-min/. God bless!!! (If this has been a blessing to you, would you please share it with someone else? Come by Biblecia.com anytime for new stuff).

This debate was held at the University of South Florida on 17 Jan 24. It was open to the public. It was a debate centered on the thesis: “Sin and Salvation in Islam and Christianity.” Sheikh Fahad Tasleem flew in from Houston, TX for a few days and part of his time here in town was this debate. My thanks to Sh. Tasleem for debating me. It was very enlightening, sir. At the start of my cross examination of Sh. Tasleem, I offer him copy of the book, “The Gospel According to Jesus” by Pastor John MacArthur. It is an amazing book that I recommend every Christian read. I would also recommend it to any Muslim who wants to better understand the Protestant position on the role of works in the Christian life. I offer many resources on this subject on Biblecia.com as well. Also during the debate, I believe during one of my rebuttals, I mentioned an audio message that I had just posted the night before about the role of works in the Christian life. Here’s a link to that audio message: https://biblecia.com/audio/works-glorious-works-a-protestant-examination-of-the-role-of-works-in-the-christian-life-71-min/. This debate is also available in audio format: https://biblecia.com/audio/pittano-vs-tasleem-debate-sin-and-salvation-in-islam-and-christianity-134-min/. The debate’s timeline is as follows- -Introduction of the speakers (with a few venue photos) at the start. -Opening Remarks for Sheikh Tasleem: 00:02:30. -Opening Remarks for Reverend Pittano: 00:22:00. -Rebuttal 1 for Sheikh Tasleem: 00:41:52. -Rebuttal 1 for Reverend Pittano: 00:49:00. -Cross Examination 1. Sheikh Tasleem questioning Reverend Pittano: 00:58:42. -Cross Examination 2. Reverend Pittano questioning Sheikh Tasleem: 01:13:20. -Audience Q&A. 01:29:44. -Closing Remarks for Reverend Pittano: 01:53:55. -Closing Remarks for Sheikh Tasleem: 02:03:57. This was my first public moderated debate. I pray it will not be the last. Thank you to all to the hundreds of people of all faiths who were in attendance. Thank you all for coming. SDG! God bless!!! (If this has been a blessing to you, would you please share it with someone else? Come by Biblecia.com anytime for new stuff).

“Lordship Salvation” is both a wonderful and necessary doctrinal area to explore. Jesus commands obedience, but what role do our works play in our lives as Christians? What does the life of a Christian look like? Where does true assurance come from? Since we’re all still sinners, what do we say of our hearts when we consider the sin in our lives that remains after Christ saves us? Is there such a thing as a “Carnal Christian” at all? Does it rob us of rest in Christ and assurance to say that we must bear fruit? If not, why not? If so, how? These are all worthy questions. And these are just some of the questions we’ll consider in our talk tonight. We originally planned to talk for only about 45 minutes, but there was just too much to say. We hope that ultimately this talk will help anyone who wants to understand the Gospel better to know why they can indeed rest in Christ…just as we do. I’ve had two previous discussions with D.J. before back in 2022 and 2021, both of which were mentioned early on in our talk tonight. Here are the links to those talks both on Biblecia.com and on YouTube- 1. “A Discussion on Natural Law.” December of 2021. On Biblecia.com: https://biblecia.com/video/a-discussion-on-natural-law/. On YouTube: https://youtu.be/r6Sq744Tx9c. 2. “John Piper and Justification by Faith Alone.” December of 2022. On Biblecia.com: https://biblecia.com/video/john-piper-and-justification-by-faith-alone-a-talk-with-dj-keesee/. On YouTube: https://youtu.be/lpuRIk0odt8. This message is also available in audio format: God bless!!! (If this has been a blessing to you, would you please share it with someone else? Come by Bibecia.com anytime for new stuff).

There is a good, bad, and sinful ugly to anger. And the latter is surely an issue for a great many people. Christians are certainly nowhere near exempt from it. Today, pastor Kofi Adu-Boahen (Redeemermedford.org; or on X @AKofiCup joins me to talk about it. His insights on the passages of Scripture we’ll consider together are wonderful. We’re so happy to share this talk with you. We want to talk about anger and talk about the remedy for it that leads to joy and peace. This message is also available in audio format: https://biblecia.com/audio/anger-a-talk-with-pastor-kofi-adu-boahen-65-min/ God bless!!! (If this has been a blessing to you please consider sharing it with someone else).

I want to talk about what Revelation 21:1-5 means: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” This is a forward glance. The Christian has a great future ahead. What Christ has done is not a joke. God plays for keeps. Jesus’ works being planned from before the world by the triune God to atone for sinners does not just bring any single offender from “red to black” in the ledger of his justice (though it does). If any creature ever asks God, “How dare you forgive them? How dare you bring in that new creation for them?!” God’s justified answer is, “Have you considered what Jesus did?! That is enough!” For the triune God, Jesus’ atonement is able to literally bring in a new heaven and new earth where righteousness dwells! There is a cosmic size and an individual level to the atonement of Christ. Whenever a person is born again, they partake of something much larger than we often imagine. Let’s consider more of it tonight. And I hope it’s a blessing to you. God bless! This message is also available in audio format: https://biblecia.com/audio/the-size-and-scope-of-the-atonement-39-min/ (If this has been a blessing to you, would you please share it with someone else? Come by Bibecia.com anytime for new stuff).

The cardinal doctrine of the Christian religion is our doctrine of God. If we get this wrong everything’s wrong. Jesus fully revealed to the world who he is. It’s in the light of his life and teachings that we can truly know and enjoy God as he is. Why have Christians taught the truth of what’s been called in our history “The Doctrine of the Trinity” since the start? Where does this truth come from? Does it matter? Are you able to define God’s tri-unity biblically? What if a false brother comes to you and says it’s not biblical? Could you give a defense? My hope is to walk through the biblical doctrine with you in short and digestible parts. This is a truth that needs to be communicated again and again in each generation of Christ’s church. I hope you’ll be blessed and that you’ll share these messages with someone else. This message is also available in audio format: http://biblecia.com/audio/trinity-part-8-33-min/ Additional resources for study are abundant. John Calvin’s “Institutes of the Christian Religion.” James White’s “The Forgotten Trinity.” Millard Erickson’s “Christian Theology.” Wayne Grudem’s “Systematic Theology.” The London Baptist Confession of Faith: http://www.vor.org/truth/1689/1689bc00.html God bless!

The cardinal doctrine of the Christian religion is our doctrine of God. If we get this wrong everything’s wrong. Jesus fully revealed to the world who he is. It’s in the light of his life and teachings that we can truly know and enjoy God as he is. Why have Christians taught the truth of what’s been called in our history “The Doctrine of the Trinity” since the start? Where does this truth come from? Does it matter? Are you able to define God’s tri-unity biblically? What if a false brother comes to you and says it’s not biblical? Could you give a defense? My hope is to walk through the biblical doctrine with you in short and digestible parts. This is a truth that needs to be communicated again and again in each generation of Christ’s church. I hope you’ll be blessed and that you’ll share these messages with someone else. This message is also available in audio format: http://biblecia.com/audio/trinity-part-7-31-min/ Additional resources for study are abundant. John Calvin’s “Institutes of the Christian Religion.” James White’s “The Forgotten Trinity.” Millard Erickson’s “Christian Theology.” Wayne Grudem’s “Systematic Theology.” The London Baptist Confession of Faith: http://www.vor.org/truth/1689/1689bc00.html God bless!

Derrik was a pleasure to speak to today. I enjoyed our discussion. In it we’ll explore some Bible passages together, we’ll debate some of the finer points of both of our philosophical and/or theological systems, and we’ll challenge one another on several points. It gets heated in the way it should. On both ends of our talk we take the time to affirm our common Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We pray you find this talk edifying. This message is also available in audio format here: http://biblecia.com/audio/testing-reformed-theology-a-talk-with-mr-derrik-behler-146-minutes/ You can find Derrik on Twitter @DPGBehler or on YouTube at: @Deak2112. Some things referenced in the talk: One of my recent sermons called, “The Song of the Church.” You can find that here: http://biblecia.com/video/the-song-of-the-church/ John Piper’s book “Spectacular Sins and Their Global Purpose in the Glory of Christ.” An essay by JI Packer that I’d like to suggest anyone read in full: https://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/sdg/packer_deathintro.html God bless!

The cardinal doctrine of the Christian religion is our doctrine of God. If we get this wrong everything’s wrong. Jesus fully revealed to the world who he is. It’s in the light of his life and teachings that we can truly know and enjoy God as he is. Why have Christians taught the truth of what’s been called in our history “The Doctrine of the Trinity” since the start? Where does this truth come from? Does it matter? Are you able to define God’s tri-unity biblically? What if a false brother comes to you and says it’s not biblical? Could you give a defense? My hope is to walk through the biblical doctrine with you in short and digestible parts. This is a truth that needs to be communicated again and again in each generation of Christ’s church. I hope you’ll be blessed and that you’ll share these messages with someone else. This message is also available in audio format: http://biblecia.com/audio/trinity-part-5-32-min/ Additional resources for study are abundant. See John Calvin’s “Institutes of the Christian Religion.” James White’s “The Forgotten Trinity.” Millard Erickson’s “Christian Theology.” Wayne Grudem’s “Systematic Theology.” The London Baptist Confession of Faith: http://www.vor.org/truth/1689/1689bc00.html I said in today’s talk (part 5) that I’d also give you a link to a message I did on “The Hypostatic Union.” Here it is: http://biblecia.com/audio/the-hypostatic-union-83-min/. God bless!

The cardinal doctrine of the Christian religion is our doctrine of God. If we get this wrong everything’s wrong. Jesus fully revealed to the world who he is. It’s in the light of his life and teachings that we can truly know and enjoy God as he is. Why have Christians taught the truth of what’s been called in our history “The Doctrine of the Trinity” since the start? Where does this truth come from? Does it matter? Are you able to define God’s tri-unity biblically? What if a false brother comes to you and says it’s not biblical? Could you give a defense? My hope is to walk through the biblical doctrine with you in short and digestible parts. This is a truth that needs to be communicated again and again in each generation of Christ’s church. I hope you’ll be blessed and that you’ll share these messages with someone else. This message is also available in audio format: http://biblecia.com/audio/trinity-part-6-40-min/ Additional resources for study are abundant. See John Calvin’s “Institutes of the Christian Religion.” James White’s “The Forgotten Trinity.” Millard Erickson’s “Christian Theology.” Wayne Grudem’s “Systematic Theology.” The London Baptist Confession of Faith: http://www.vor.org/truth/1689/1689bc00.html I said in today’s talk (part 6) that I’d also give you a link to a series I did though the Book of Hebrews. It's a 30-part study beginning here: http://biblecia.com/audio/hebrews-study-part-1-introduction-to-the-text-68-min/ God bless!

The song of the church is one of redemption. A song of praise to the God who rescued his people from sin by his own supernatural power. God is the God of the living. The songs of the church are the songs of the living. Christian salvation is no accident, it is not random, and it was not because of anything any one of God’s people did. We owe it all to God. Question: do you believe that salvation is a miracle? I do. I’ll work to prove why today. To understand why it’s a miracle, we only have to understand what the Bible says SIN has done to us all. Adam’s and our own. Today’s message takes a closer look at some of the songs of the people of God. We’ll consider passages from Exodus 15, Deuteronomy 32, Hebrews 2, Revelation 5 and 15, and more to hear the songs of the church. My goal in this is to remove every bit of false assurance possible and to bring you to understand where true assurance always comes from—Christ’s love and Cross. This sermon is also available in audio format: http://biblecia.com/audio/the-song-of-the-church-62-min/ God bless!

The cardinal doctrine of the Christian religion is our doctrine of God. If we get this wrong everything’s wrong. Jesus fully revealed to the world who he is. It’s in the light of his life and teachings that we can truly know and enjoy God as he is. Why have Christians taught the truth of what’s been called in our history “The Doctrine of the Trinity” since the start? Where does this truth come from? Does it matter? Are you able to define God’s tri-unity biblically? What if a false brother comes to you and says it’s not biblical? Could you give a defense? My hope is to walk through the biblical doctrine with you in short and digestible parts. This is a truth that needs to be communicated again and again in each generation of Christ’s church. I hope you’ll be blessed and that you’ll share these messages with someone else. This message is also available in audio format: http://biblecia.com/audio/trinity-part-4-31-min/ Video mentioned in the talk: http://biblecia.com/video/a-cosmic-cleansing/. On YouTube also: https://youtu.be/Pw8ibazIoHU Additional resources for study: See John Calvin’s “Institutes of the Christian Religion.” James White’s “The Forgotten Trinity.” Millard Erickson’s “Christian Theology.” Wayne Grudem’s “Systematic Theology.” The London Baptist Confession of Faith: http://www.vor.org/truth/1689/1689bc00.html God bless!