315 Secular vs. Sacred (5) Blinded by Science!

There is a shared public imagination: all science is peer-reviewed, all scientists are empty of bias, scientists work in labs, labs are sterile and pure. So all science is, itself, objective, impartial, and pure. But none of that is true. Science is, and scientists are, pre-loaded with bias, supposition, and philosophical coding. (If the Covid hysteria doesn't clarify that I don't know what would.) I describe how scientists (many, not all) try to blind us with the authority of their discipline. But their logic doesn't hold.

314 Secular vs. Sacred (4) His Truth, Her Truth, Zir Truth

Like a big-plumming hat drum major marching out a steady beat for the entire band, secularism's facts-values dichotomy has been drummed down into every facet of life. Sadly that includes too much of the Church. More, that dichotomy helps us understand why so many confessing Christians can give their hearts to Jesus but then keep him entirely out of their intellectual processing. They've agreed with drum-major-secularism that religion is subjective, private, and something to be kept out of the public square. But, is that even true? Who lives as though there is no meaning in life? Or, who lives as though science is their ultimate guide?

313 Secular vs. Sacred (3) Mangling Marriage, Fracturing Family

I enjoy listening to Sirius XM radio. They have a couple comedy stations that crack me up. But when a comedian starts shredding marriage, "that ol' ball and chain!", I flip the channel. They are, like most of society, captured by the secular view of marriage as an impediment, an occlusion, an unnecessary obligation. I explore how philosophers' ideas creep into popular culture, and then how that shapes our views of both marriage and family. We also unpack the biblical view of marriage. The contrast between the secular and the sacred on marriage and family is stark indeed!

312 Secular vs. Sacred (2) Real Jobs in the Real World

Most Protestants are products of the secular-sacred split. We believe there are realms that belong solely to God (our hearts, church, prayer, bible reading, evangelism) and realms that belong to not-God (our minds, and every single thing else in life!). No wonder then we do life mostly as do secularists. Worse still, we have jobs that we believe are less-than fully Christian. How to rectify this? Bring healing to this bad philosophy? I also talk about how a recent Jordan Peterson speaking engagement impacted me. And I discuss what to do about your non-Christian, even Christ-hating, friends and family.

311 Secular vs. Sacred (1) Pulling Back the Curtain

Unaware, most Christians do life through a secular-sacred prism. We believe there are arenas that are isolated to the secular and others given to the sacred. Along similar lines we believe there things reserved for our minds to do and other, more private things, for our hearts to do. None of this is biblical and none of it is helpful. Most Christian colleges fall prey to this same schism and all politicians are chained to the secular-sacred split. In this ground-laying episode I clarify my own presuppositions and define important terms. Come think and laugh with me!

310 Legal Victories for Faith & Freedom-Greg Cox

Reading the daily news one could easily be overwhelmed by the darkness. And yet there are significant ongoing developments that promote religious liberty and individual freedom from governmental coercion. Greg Cox, VP of Strategic Partnerships at Liberty Council, shares with me about several recent court rulings that sustain the free practice of the Christian faith. Liberty Council, driven by an expressly Christian worldview, is a dynamic presence on behalf of Gospel mission and personal liberty! 

309 The Cult of Culture, 212-0 Women's Softball Team


From whence does culture come? Well, directly, from a cult. I explore and explain how cult and culture are related in this U.U. shotgun. Variously, I also work through the recent lingual faux pas of the Dali Lama, a very funny church-joke, Ukraine's president and his skimming money from the USA, a statue to honor a pedophile's dream, the United Nation's new policy on pedophilia, the significance of Tucker Carlson's recent firing at FOX, and the recent non-defense of Title 9 by House Democrats. I finish the show with a reflection on how humans are greater than angels.

308 Nefarious movie review, The spirit of mutilations

In this UU shotgun I plow through Twitter's new state-label accounts, a review of the new horror movie Nefarious, the recent horror-show of an election for Chicago's mayor, and some excellent college recommendations. Then I think through how progressivism is not only mutilating both bodies and reason, but celebrating that; and demanding that we celebrate that! I end the show with a reflection on Jesus' parable of the talents. Was he teaching a divine embrace of capitalism? Was he teaching we can earn our salvation? Come laugh and think with me! 

307 Demon possessed Christians?, IN the world but not OF?

Can a Christian be demon possessed? I walk through theology and experience on that matter. In this UU shotgun I also discuss tolerance, cell phone culture's effects on the brain, how the transgender movement is being challenged, Budweiser marketing ploys, and how Christian parents ought to evaluate movies for their kids. In the second half of the show I work through, at a 2K' macro level, what "in the world but not of" it means. To top off that theme I note three dominant positions the Church has taken vis-a-vis culture in the Modern era. Let's probe more deeply into our faith.

306 Ukraine War, Asbury Revival

The war in Ukraine is 14 months old and 250,000 people have been killed. It's time for peace, so I pray to that end. I also work through why the Whitehouse wants to shut down natural gas. Then, as an act of humility, I confess three errors of prediction I made two years ago; you gotta own when you are wrong! Across the last half of the show I discuss the recent Asbury revival and frame it in light of America's history of revivals. Our national imagination has been deeply shaped by huge revivals! Then I both affirm and critique revivals.

305 History's Wicked Playbook

Former president Donald Trump has been indicted and will be arrested before this podcast is issued. It seems so loud, so ill-fitting for civilized times. But Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago shows this extensive playbook has been successfully used before. We are not, as conservative journalists tell us, merely watching a kind of nincompoopish incompetence: "poor ol' Joe!" This is a strategy, the implementation of a historic playbook. How so? Let me work through the specific ways. Let's turn on our spiritual discernment.

304 Prophets as Ancient Comedians, Masking NYT, Return of Ancient gods

Shotgunned UU topics: quickest thing in the world, prayer for a young couple, praying with biblical words, the result of the Twitter hearings, pastor Timothy Keller's third way reflection, comedic humor and ancient prophets, our having attended a live Babylon Bee show, uncomfortable truths about EVs, social contagions in history, cell-phone culture, a NYTimes article about masks, tone-splaining, Deacon Calvin Robinson's Oxford speech, the strategy inside the Russian gulag, and secular-Jew Naomi Wolf's reflections on the spirits at work in America. Come think and laugh with me!

303 Shotgun: State Hatred, UFOs, Healing the Racial Divide

Under Joseph Stalin there was intense hatred from the State toward the Russian citizenry. Today we are witnessing the same here in America. How did that then, and how does that today, manifest? I also variously work through what I think about UFOs, the Southern Poverty Law Center's having targeted Latin Rite Catholics, the effects of tolerance, and why the Church needs to put critical-cooperation into practice. Come think theologically and laugh heartily with me! 

302 Who Hates the Atonement?, Relaxed Evangelism

My friends grew concerned when their church changed its vocabulary and stopped preaching both forgiveness of sin and Jesus as sacrificial Savior. It made me wonder, who hates the atonement and why? Was it really only St. Paul who emphasized Jesus' atoning death? In this episode I also discuss Adam Curry's presence on Joe Rogan's podcast, whether tolerance is a Christian virtue, recent revelations about January 6, and I share poignant things I've learned reading The Gulag Archipelago. Come think and laugh with me!

301 Me: Hypocrite & Theologian, Why Biblical Influence Endures

What drove me to becoming a theologian? How did my youth play into that? What is the benefit of being a sinner? I also comment on several contemporary events including the Nordstream 2 pipeline explosion, the acquittal of Mark Houck, La County's deadliest-ever shooting, and local Spudlandia news stations' calls to end misinformation. If this epoch is the devil's punchbowl, what is our calling? Along the way I reflect on why it is that the bible endures, what is different about it compared to other books. Come think and laugh with me!

300 Anti-Sloganeering, Sisyphus You, Theological Amnesia

Shotgun: prayer for sore throats (w/a gross story), 300th episode!, why I don't like slogans or live according to pet slogans, my regular and constant prayers, Facebook's "most relevant" listings, Australian heart attack numbers, who Trump blamed for the 2022 election slotch, Dr. Russ Spittler's death, and you carrying the weight of the world. The last half of the show is spent on examining Jesus vis-å-vis Jewish tradition. The gloss goes that Jesus hated religion, stood against Jewish tradition, and offered a free-floating spirituality. More carefully? Well, we take a look.

299 God's Salvation Strategy; Tradition—Democracy of the Dead

Concerning how God worked (works) in history, what is the constant biblical pattern? Will everyone be saved no matter what? Will only the pure in heart be saved? I examine both Genesis and John to discern the biblical template. Along the way I variously pray for children who have spurned the faith, teach about prayer using ancient words, note G.K. Chesterton's definition of tradition, muse aloud about a-historical and rootless believers, and work through some theological humor. Come think and laugh with me.

298 Hypocritical Jesus?, Color and Beauty

In this shotgun podcast I work through Jesus and his take on tradition, whether or how Christianity is a tradition, the strange phenomenon of Christians who don't want to be Christian, a prayer for traumatized folks, how teaching college compared to teaching adult Sunday School, what kinds of things will keep the Statist government from finally overwhelming the citizenry, and beauty. God loves beauty! In a sharing act he gave us beauty to love, too! Come e-hang out with me for a while and enjoy some laughter! 

297 Pope Benedict & the Anti-Christ, Human Mirrors of the Divine

Before he died Pope Benedict wrote about the presence of the anti-Christ. What did he say? What did he say that I affirm? How did the anti-Christ appear to Jesus? In what form will the same devil appear to us that he had appeared to Jesus? I also work through four principles given to us by Benedict for conducting spiritual warfare. In the show's beginning I also think out loud about operating out of a Christian worldview. What does that look like? Let's turn our brains on for the mission and glory of Christ.

296 "He Gets Us," Cessationism, God and Distinctions

In this shotgun episode I discuss the ongoing "He Gets Us" tv ads. What are they about? From whom did they come? What critical elements do they omit? I also work through the Reformed perspective of Cessationism: that the gifts of the Holy Spirit ceased when the apostles died out. Is that true, accurate, or theologically helpful? Then I work through the whys and whats of the Christian worldview on distinctions. What is the theological root for all those distinctions? What does distinct mean for us today? Along the way I mix in irony and humor. Come think and laugh with me!