Some ramblings to celebrate my 50th episode. Includes my favorites: food, all-time church, Bible-passage, and thing to do. My reflections on society: why are some so angry? Why do so many want to be controlling? An assorted reflection on the existentially tainted nature of time. Plus, I'll tell you some jokes along with some strange "bird" stories. Also share some information about my highest and lowest downloaded episodes. Come and think with me!
If God knows everything what is the point of praying? Won't he just make things happen regardless? But, what if God built the universe such that prayer is an integral tool for us? After all, God is a being who loves to share. What if prayer is less about work and more about sharing? Me? I believe prayer is part of our God-given toolbox to complete both the cultural mandate (Gen. 1) and the Gospel (Mt. 28:19). Even more? Prayer is just good for your soul!
My fourth episode on beauty. Did God make commandments forbidding rituals? Why did the Devil “tempt” us with rituals? Why, for billions of people, and millions of Christians, do rituals work? (Why are rituals so wonderful and important?) Was Jesus in any way ritualistic? Can God communicate to us without using words? Is any beauty to be found outside of words? Come an think through this important aesthetic category with me.
500 years ago the Reformation took a big billy club to beauty, nearly eliminating beauty from the Christian way of life. Why did that happen? Was it justified? Was it a good thing? Oh, and, what are the effects of the Reformation on our practice of Christianity today? What should we take, and what should we reject, from the Reformation? Lacking art in our churches, are we contemporary believers any less guilty of idolatry than ages past? This is part 3 in my 4-part series on Beauty.
Whereas our society is superficial and loud, beauty comes in depths and peace. What are the benefits of enjoying beauty? Or, just what is beauty? Why do so many Christians ignore beauty? Is society right when it tells us that pretty and handsome are the same as beautiful? Why does the U.U. love beauty so much? How is beauty like God? Why would God have created the world with such beauty? Those questions are woven into my reflections here on one of the most overlooked gifts on the planet: beauty!
Beauty is a gift from God, but we tend to keep that gift in the closet. Why do we do that? Or, do we really do that? Is beauty an idol? Are art and aesthetic always idols? What possibilities are there for employing beauty in the Christian mission? The beginning of a series on beauty, this is a quick hitter, so come and think with me for 10 minutes.
What's it like to run a marathon? What's the point of running a marathon? What was involved in earning my Ph.D.? Or, more broadly, what has caused us today to want things to be so easy? Why should you ever do something difficult? Come and laugh and think with me about something we do our diligent best to avoid: hard work.
What makes one a Christian? Good works? Being nice? Humility? Love? What is the core, the center, of the Christian life? Today there are all manner of pretender answers to that question. Come and think deeply with me about your identity in the Lord.
Christians commonly believe that all sins are equal, but does the Bible teach that? Did Jesus teach that? Why does God command harsher punishments for some crimes/sins than others? Why did Jesus say there would be greater punishments in the life to come for some sins more so than others? In the eyes of God, is lust equal to rape? In Roman Catholicism, what are mortal and venial sins?
This is a quick hitter. Do only philosophers have a worldview? Or do religious people have one, too? Is it normal to not have a worldview? How does understanding one's worldview help one understand oneself? Christians, do you know why you believe what you believe?
My third and final interview with Dr. Greg Austring about worldview. How should the Church and Christians engage Christian mission? Should we totally accommodate or entirely resist culture? On what things should we never compromise regarding Christ and his Gospel? Does the Church ever have anything to learn from society, or is society only to be learning from the Church? What was the original perfect form of the Gospel?
Today isn't today for no reason. All kinds of philosophies and turns and twists across western history landed us on this doorstep. In my second interview with Dr. Greg Austring, himself a missionary to Guatemala for 10 years, we will explore the Pre-Modern, Modern, and Postmodern eras and address how those unique eras affected Christianity. You might see your own self in a new light. Come and laugh with us!
What comprises a worldview? Don't people merely live based on their beliefs? How do behaviors shape our understanding of reality? How should we think about worldviews that are not our own? This humor-filled interview w/Dr. Greg Austring will address questions like those and help Christians think about their own worldview. Come and laugh with us.
The producers of the new Living Biblically sitcom have taken a pretty big risk. I like that they've brought religion into the public conversation. What do they get right? Where have the missed the point? Give this 8 minute podcast a listen.
Western society is in love with love. Yet how do we, should we, define love? If love is the bottom line for life-together, just what is love? Christians will want to know how the Bible defines love. 1 John 4:8 says, "God is love." What does that mean? What does that mean inside its own context? Come and think with me!
Does our brain control our sex or does our sex control our brain? Why are men and women at odds in the West? Why can't we see the beauty that is each, female and male? What happens to us regarding our sex during gestation? During puberty? Why is their such open hatred for male and female? How do the book of Genesis and genetics align? We are "sexed" beings from the moment of our conception, so why does the radical Left want to eliminate the sexes and their unique contributions?
The sexual revolution is moving ahead full-steam. Homosexual rights have morphed into transgender rights. How long has the transgender movement been around? Who is promoting it? What actual steps are taken in transgender morphing? What does a child undergo to change gender? What philosophy is driving transgenderism? What are some of its blatant contradictions? Whereas compassion is needed for many issues, it's a good time to stop and assess this totalizing movement. It is going to hurt women, most of all.
Christians seem leery of talking about homosexuality. And so they usually just get swept up by the larger cultural trends. Yet, Jesus called us to an often difficult way of life, one characterized by grace and truth. How do we live that out? How should Christians show love on sensitive matters? For instance, should one go to a homosexual wedding? What is the core issue for one's identity: sexuality or Christ? Or, can one be a Christian and a homosexual? Are people born gay? Is it possible that one's homosexual temptations are one's cross to bear? Is it wrong to have feelings for someone of the same sex? I ask and answer several uncomfortable questions in this episode.
The apostle Paul in Romans 1 is quite pointed about the violation he witnessed in his Gentile context. What did he see? What did he mean? Was he consistent with Jewish teaching thereon? Was he concerned with temple prostitution? Was he worried about cultural violations? What in the world did Paul mean in these passages? Did he go beyond what Jesus had taught? Let’s consider a foundational passage for a Christian worldview on sexuality.
