Wretched Radio with Todd Friel

It’s Mailbag Friday! You’ve got questions, we’ve got answers. Segment 1 • How do I respond when family blames my pain on a lack of faith? — Anna • Should a Baptist attend a Lutheran church? — Sylvia Segment 2 • Was it answered prayer or coincidence? — Hallie • When should churches address conspiracy theories? — Noah Segment 3 • Can an interlinear Bible help if I don’t know Greek or Hebrew? — Gordon • Can past sexual sin disqualify me from church leadership for life? — Stuart Segment 4 • How do I respond to “Christians don’t need church”? — Anonymous • How do I question my church’s Beth Moore study? — Josh • How can I tell if someone from a nominal church is saved? — Rochelle ___ Thanks for listening! Wretched Radio would not be possible without the financial support of our Gospel Partners. If you would like to support Wretched Radio we would be extremely grateful. VISIT https://fortisinstitute.org/donate/ If you are already a Gospel Partner we couldn’t be more thankful for you if we tried!

It’s Witness Wednesday! At Georgia State University, Todd talks with the president of the communist club, a student comparing religions, and a Baptist hoping to earn heaven. Segment 1 • Todd steps into a debate about free will. • Jay says there’s no evidence for God. • Todd presents God’s law, then leaves Jay to consider judgment. Segment 2 • A student cites Ecclesiastes to argue that death is the end. • He thinks being better than others gets you into heaven. • He respects the Gospel, but does that mean he accepts it? Segment 3 • A student raising money for cancer research is pro-choice. • A Baptist believes he can earn his way to heaven. • He says he repents regularly, so why does Todd press further? Segment 4 • Todd returns to Jay with the intention of sharing the Gospel. • Jay challenges him over morality, prophecy, and Scripture. • When does evangelism become casting pearls before swine? ___ Thanks for listening! Wretched Radio would not be possible without the financial support of our Gospel Partners. If you would like to support Wretched Radio we would be extremely grateful. VISIT https://fortisinstitute.org/donate/ If you are already a Gospel Partner we couldn’t be more thankful for you if we tried!

Spiritual trends come and go. How do you spot the ones your church should avoid? Todd examines claims of hearing from God, mindfulness, Christian nationalism, and the debate over capital punishment. Segment 1 • John Mark Comer’s 21-day retreat nearly broke him. • Do you need silence to hear from God? • Does Scripture need a supplement? Segment 2 • Someone brings you a “word from the Lord.” Now what? • A meditation researcher finds more than she expected. • Is mindfulness as harmless as it sounds? Segment 3 • What should you say when a false teacher dies? • Does being polite mean softening the truth? • Is Christian nationalism dividing your church? Segment 4 • Is Christian nationalism distracting from the Great Commission? • Would you lose every election to see one soul saved? • Can you be pro-life and support the death penalty? ___ Thanks for listening! Wretched Radio would not be possible without the financial support of our Gospel Partners. If you would like to support Wretched Radio we would be extremely grateful. VISIT https://fortisinstitute.org/donate/ If you are already a Gospel Partner we couldn’t be more thankful for you if we tried!

Todd sits down with Dr. Jerry Wragg to tackle a troubling question: Why do pastors keep falling into scandal, and what can your church do before it’s too late? Segment 1 • Why are more pastors falling into moral failure? • Is social media creating celebrity pastors who aren’t qualified to shepherd? • What warning signs might your church be overlooking? Segment 2 • How do you confront a pastor without making reckless accusations? • Can a great preacher actually be a terrible shepherd? • What should genuine pastoral humility look like? Segment 3 • Does your pastor actually care about you—or just his sermons? • Should churches investigate a pastoral candidate’s phone, marriage, and private life? • What if a gifted preacher simply isn’t qualified to pastor? Segment 4 • How much accountability is too much for a pastor? • Why do pastors fall into sexual sin after decades of faithful ministry? • Could small character flaws be warning signs of a much bigger problem? ___ Thanks for listening! Wretched Radio would not be possible without the financial support of our Gospel Partners. If you would like to support Wretched Radio we would be extremely grateful. VISIT https://fortisinstitute.org/donate/ If you are already a Gospel Partner we couldn’t be more thankful for you if we tried!

Todd and Jimmy have a stack of stories guaranteed to raise your blood pressure. Which one deserves the title of “most agitating”? Segment 1 • Can James Talarico’s liberal policies really be defended as “biblical”? • A pastor questions the resurrection and compares communion to goddess worship. Segment 2 • A transgender priest claims Jesus is trans and God is non-binary. • Adults are bringing Toys R Us back. Is that a problem? • Parents wouldn’t call their daughter a boy—so the state took her. • More Canadians are dying by assisted suicide than Americans by gun homicide. • More than 500 million Christians face restrictions on Bible access. • Could Democrats override state pro-life laws? Segment 3 • Why are we so obsessed with superheroes? • Meryl Streep is playing Aslan—and C.S. Lewis’s family isn’t happy. • Michigan removes more than 20,000 people from its sex-offender registry. • Can the death penalty actually affirm the value of human life? Segment 4 • Could a firing squad actually be more humane? • LGBTQ identification among young people is plummeting. Why? • Is TikTok making you dumber? • What was being preached inside a London mosque? • Are there really more witches than Presbyterians? • How extreme are Democrats becoming? ___ Thanks for listening! Wretched Radio would not be possible without the financial support of our Gospel Partners. If you would like to support Wretched Radio we would be extremely grateful. VISIT https://fortisinstitute.org/donate/ If you are already a Gospel Partner we couldn’t be more thankful for you if we tried!

Church can be messy. Todd tackles what happens when you feel invisible at church, disagree with your spouse on a major theological issue, or face a moral dilemma where someone else’s life is on the line. Segment 1 • Feeling ignored or left out at church? Should you stay or start looking elsewhere? • Could church cliques be driving young people away? • If persecution comes, will you be equipped to stand firm? Segment 2 • Should men serve in the nursery? • How much should your parents’ example shape the way you live now? • When does biblical wisdom go beyond finding an explicit verse? Segment 3 • Who should actually have the final say in a church—the elders or the congregation? • Should Christians say “namaste”? • Should Christians support rebuilding the temple in Jerusalem? Segment 4 • What if you discover after marriage that you disagree about female pastors? • Someone threatens to kill a loved one unless you deny Christ. What do you do? • Do you need to understand an atheist’s worldview before you can effectively share the Gospel? ___ Thanks for listening! Wretched Radio would not be possible without the financial support of our Gospel Partners. If you would like to support Wretched Radio we would be extremely grateful. VISIT https://fortisinstitute.org/donate/ If you are already a Gospel Partner we couldn’t be more thankful for you if we tried!

It’s Witness Wednesday! Todd Friel and Greg Gifford take questions from college students who aren’t afraid to ask about the issues Christians actually wrestle with—from therapy and anxiety to spiritual dryness and suffering. Segment 1 • Does a Christian need Jesus and therapy? • What’s the real difference between Christian counseling and biblical counseling? • Can the Bible really address trauma, addiction, and pornography? Segment 2 • If Jesus changed your anxiety or depression, how do you talk about that without confusing it with the Gospel? • What do you do when trusting God feels harder than it sounds? • Can suffering actually expose what you’re depending on? Segment 3 • How do you help a struggling friend without trying to become their counselor? • What does it actually look like to surrender anxiety to God? • Could believing your own thoughts be part of the problem? Segment 4 • Is there a better way to read your Bible than just checking off chapters? • What do you do when the cross starts to feel familiar instead of amazing? • Is your media diet killing your appetite for God? ___ Thanks for listening! Wretched Radio would not be possible without the financial support of our Gospel Partners. If you would like to support Wretched Radio we would be extremely grateful. VISIT https://fortisinstitute.org/donate/ If you are already a Gospel Partner we couldn’t be more thankful for you if we tried!

Greg Gifford fills in for Todd to challenge the way we think about missions—and show how your job, skills, and even your season of life could open doors you haven’t considered. Segment 1 • Why are fewer young Christians heading to the mission field? • Could parents be unintentionally discouraging their kids from missions? • What if you could serve overseas without quitting your career? Segment 2 • Could biblical counseling be one of the most overlooked opportunities in missions? • You may already have skills desperately needed around the world. • What if your job could become part of your missions strategy? Segment 3 • What if you could serve people across the world without leaving your home? • Your language skills, career, or discipleship experience may be more useful than you think. • Before quitting your job for missions, Greg has a very different suggestion. Segment 4 • Think God may be leading you toward missions? Where do you start? • Why your pastor should be one of the first people you talk to. • Don’t know exactly how it would work? That may not be a reason to stop pursuing it. ___ Thanks for listening! Wretched Radio would not be possible without the financial support of our Gospel Partners. If you would like to support Wretched Radio we would be extremely grateful. VISIT https://fortisinstitute.org/donate/ If you are already a Gospel Partner we couldn’t be more thankful for you if we tried!

Todd sits down with Brad Bigney to tackle some of the marriage advice that sounds completely backward to our culture—and maybe even to you. What if the things you’re holding onto are the very things keeping your marriage from thriving? Segment 1 • What if your expectations of your spouse are actually hurting your marriage? • The surprisingly ordinary things that can make—or break—a marriage. • Some popular Christian marriage advice may be reinforcing the problem. Segment 2 • What are you afraid will happen if you really give yourself to your spouse? • Brad reveals the seemingly good thing that nearly wrecked his own marriage. • There’s a line struggling couples have to cross. Have you crossed it? Segment 3 • You moved out years ago—but have you actually left Mom and Dad? • When does honoring your parents start interfering with your marriage? • Your kids can become too important. Here’s how to know if they have. Segment 4 • Why do some couples divorce after 30 years together? • Staying married and building a marriage aren’t necessarily the same thing. • What do you do when you keep giving—and your spouse doesn’t give back? ___ Thanks for listening! Wretched Radio would not be possible without the financial support of our Gospel Partners. If you would like to support Wretched Radio we would be extremely grateful. VISIT https://fortisinstitute.org/donate/ If you are already a Gospel Partner we couldn’t be more thankful for you if we tried!

You can be completely convinced you’re right—and still be wrong. Todd and Dr. Adam Tyson tackle what happens when personal convictions become biblical mandates, Christian liberty starts dividing the church, and obeying the government conflicts with obeying God. Segment 1 • Being completely convinced about something doesn’t make it a biblical conviction. • How do you know when Scripture gives a command—and when you’re turning a preference into one? • Could your “convictions” actually be hurting unity in your church? Segment 2 • Vaccines, masks, homeschooling, vacations—what happens when your thing becomes everyone else’s thing? • If the Bible doesn’t make a law, are you allowed to? • You’ll never find the perfect church if everyone has to make the same decisions you do. Segment 3 • When should Christians submit to the government—and when should they refuse? • What if obeying the government means disobeying something Scripture commands? • Where does the government’s authority end and the church’s authority begin? Segment 4 • Should Christians try to influence government—or try to Christianize it? • What happens when political priorities begin competing with the church’s actual mission? • Your view of the end times may shape your politics more than you realize. ___ Thanks for listening! Wretched Radio would not be possible without the financial support of our Gospel Partners. If you would like to support Wretched Radio we would be extremely grateful. VISIT https://fortisinstitute.org/donate/ If you are already a Gospel Partner we couldn’t be more thankful for you if we tried!

It’s Mailbag Friday! You’ve got questions, we’ve got answers. Segment 1 • What questions should I be asking if I’m interested in dating a girl who’s a Messianic Jew? — Jonathan • My church’s music is showy and the preaching isn’t very exegetical. Is that enough reason to leave? — Ryan Segment 2 • How does a wife biblically submit to a husband who has proven himself foolish with finances? — Anonymous • When should the men and elders of a church step in to protect and care for a woman struggling in her marriage? Segment 3 • I suffer from a debilitating condition that makes it nearly impossible to work or keep up with things around the house. Am I the sluggard Scripture warns about? — Tom • When you physically can’t do what you want to do, how should the church come alongside you? Segment 4 • My epilepsy medication keeps me from feeling joy. If I can’t experience the joy of Christ, am I still saved? — Joe • Is it wrong to turn the Bible into a sport through Bible quizzing? — Anonymous • Should churches ask someone with disruptive Tourette’s to leave the sanctuary during the service? — Anonymous Preorder Todd Friel’s new book, Go Serve Your King: The Key to Extraordinary Purpose in Everyday Life, available December 1. Preorder your copy at https://FortisInstitute.org/King ___ Thanks for listening! Wretched Radio would not be possible without the financial support of our Gospel Partners. If you would like to support Wretched Radio we would be extremely grateful. VISIT https://fortisinstitute.org/donate/ If you are already a Gospel Partner we couldn’t be more thankful for you if we tried!

It’s Witness Wednesday at Georgia Tech! Todd talks with students about faith and politics, whether science could eventually disprove Christianity, and why an emotional response to the gospel isn’t necessarily conversion. Segment 1 • Should your faith shape your politics, or should the two stay separate? • What does your everyday life reveal about what you actually believe? • Being sorry for your sin isn’t the same as being saved. So what is? Segment 2 • If science explained what ancient religions attributed to gods, could Christianity be next? • How would you answer someone who asks, “Why is your religion right and everyone else’s wrong?” • What makes Christianity radically different from every works-based religion? Segment 3 • Can you actually prove to someone that God exists? • Your conscience tells you something about yourself you may not want to admit. • If everyone deserves judgment, how can God forgive anyone and still be just? Segment 4 • Wearing a cross doesn’t mean you understand what happened on it. • Think you’re good enough for heaven? Here’s the problem with that. • Why Todd won’t lead someone in a sinner’s prayer, even when they appear ready to respond. Preorder Todd Friel’s new book, Go Serve Your King: The Key to Extraordinary Purpose in Everyday Life, available December 1. Preorder your copy at https://FortisInstitute.org/King ___ Thanks for listening! Wretched Radio would not be possible without the financial support of our Gospel Partners. If you would like to support Wretched Radio we would be extremely grateful. VISIT https://fortisinstitute.org/donate/ If you are already a Gospel Partner we couldn’t be more thankful for you if we tried!

What makes a sermon truly powerful? Todd reflects on Tim Challies’ preaching, explains where he differs with John Mark Comer on spiritual disciplines, and shares an important lesson from Challies about trusting God when suffering doesn’t make sense. Segment 1 • What gives a sermon real “oomph”—powerful delivery, great writing, or something more? • Tim Challies shows how a soft-spoken preacher can still deliver a sermon with serious impact. • The goal of preaching isn’t impressive oratory—it’s to help you see Christ more clearly and love Him more. Segment 2 • Todd compares Go Serve Your King with John Mark Comer’s Practicing the Way. Where do their approaches differ? • Should spiritual disciplines produce an integrated Christian life—or should knowing and loving Christ drive those disciplines? • What’s the difference between systematic, biblical, and historical theology, and how should theology actually change you? Segment 3 • When someone is suffering, even good theology can be delivered at the wrong time. • Tim Challies shares lessons learned through the devastating loss of his son about grief, comfort, and simply being present. • You may never see the good God brings from your suffering in this life—do you still have reason to trust Him? Segment 4 • Do you constantly wonder, “Am I really saved?” or “Have I repented enough?” • Your feelings aren’t a reliable measure of your salvation—so what biblical signs should you look for? • How trusting Christ and leaning on your local church can help break the cycle of constantly questioning your salvation. Preorder Todd Friel’s new book, Go Serve Your King: The Key to Extraordinary Purpose in Everyday Life, available December 1. Preorder your copy at https://FortisInstitute.org/King ___ Thanks for listening! Wretched Radio would not be possible without the financial support of our Gospel Partners. If you would like to support Wretched Radio we would be extremely grateful. VISIT https://fortisinstitute.org/donate/ If you are already a Gospel Partner we couldn’t be more thankful for you if we tried!