In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss how to keep the focus of the Christmas season on Jesus, as the birthday celebration it should be. “Keeping Christ in Christmas” has become almost a mantra in response to the ever-increasing consumerization of Christmas and how far we've seemed to drift from the historical event of Jesus's birth. And this has implications beyond how to tangibly keep Christ in Christmas. We also have to find ways to keep Christ in our giving and in our gatherings at Christmastime - the relationships that can make the holidays challenging for so many people and can take away from the joy this season is meant to hold.

There are a couple messages series that you may want to check out related to today's conversation. The first shares the title of today's episode, “Keeping Christ in Christmas.” It will help you take an even deeper dive into the various ways to keep Jesus as the focus of the Christmas season, with installments that look at: Keeping Christ in Your Celebrating, Keeping Christ in Your Relating and Keeping Christ in Your Giving. The installment on “relating” is particularly helpful if the holiday season brings more anxiety than joy. There was a book that he noted as well written by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend called Boundaries that would be a good one to read. Dr. White also touched on the significance of the season of Advent and all that can hold for our lives. For this, we'd encourage you to look at “The Advent Conspiracy.”

When talking about the idea of giving being a key way to keep Christ in Christmas - particularly by beginning our gift-giving with Jesus - Dr. White mentioned an annual effort that was launched by Mecklenburg Community Church in 1994. You can read more about the “Giving to Christ at Christmas” effort in a recent blog that Dr. White wrote HERE.

Finally, you heard Dr. White mention something called the Daily Headline News at Church & Culture - a collection of headlines from around the globe that are curated by Dr. White each weekday. The news stories shared here are to help give you a better picture of what's happening within our culture today, and how many of these cultural events impact the Church.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss near-death experiences (NDEs) - profound experiences people have when they have been clinically dead and then resuscitated. Studies over the years of those who've had an NDE share similar characteristics or common denominators. And they can provide a powerful testimony on what we might experience in the life to come.

1440, a group that strives to provide “a fact-driven news and knowledge resource that respects your time and intelligence,” produced an interesting video on NDEs. You can watch “Understanding Near-Death Experiences” HERE.

Dr. White discussed several books you may be interested in checking out pertaining to NDEs. The one that he would most recommend is The Case for Heaven written by Lee Strobel. He also mentioned a book written by Dr. Raymond Moody, who was one of the first to study NDEs and released his pioneering work called Life After Life. Another resource you may be interested in exploring is One Minute After You Die written by Erwin Lutzer.

There are a couple of podcasts that we would recommend you go back and listen to that are related to today's conversation: CCP107: On Hell and CCP77: On Angels. The first dives into whether Hell is real and what happens after we die, and the second looks at the spiritual realm, including the demonic.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.

In this week's conversation between Dr. James Emery White and co-host Alexis Drye, they discuss a question that has been debated quite a bit within the church: Can someone lose their salvation? While there are some Christians who would say, “once saved, always saved,” the Bible clearly points to cases of apostasy, defined as “the abandonment or renunciation of a religious or political belief.” Jesus Himself even said that, at the end of time, “many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other” (see Matthew 24:10, NIV).

As Alexis mentioned at the top of the podcast, this year marks the 10th anniversary of the release of Dr. White's book The Rise of the Nones. The “nones” represent people who, when asked to define their religious affiliation, simply respond by choosing "none of the above". Since the release of the book, the nones have only continued to rise. This was the topic of a past podcast episode that we'd encourage you to go back and listen to: CCP32: On a Non-Christian America. There has also been a growing trend with people “deconstructing” their faith - the process of rethinking foundational stances related to lifestyle, associations and beliefs, and usually in relation to a previously held spiritual faith. For more on this topic, again we'd suggest that you listen to CCP28: On Deconstructing or check out a series delivered by Dr. White at Mecklenburg Community Church called “The Deconstruction Zone.”

Many who argue against the possibility that people can lose their salvation point to the idea of election - that God has decreed already those who will (or will not) be saved. This is one of the central doctrines of Calvinism, yet another past podcast episode. In fact, this has been one of the most popular episodes of the Church & Culture Podcast, and you can find CCP59: On Calvinism HERE.

Finally, if you know of someone who has walked away from the faith, someone who has essentially returned the free gift of their salvation, Dr. White encouraged us to continue to try to evangelize them. There are a number of series that Dr. White has given at Mecklenburg Community Church that may help you to be able to share with someone wrestling with their faith. They are gathered under the category of “Evangelism & Apologetics” HERE.

For those of you who are new to Church & Culture, we'd love to invite you to subscribe (for free of course) to the twice-weekly Church & Culture blog and check out the Daily Headline News - a collection of headlines from around the globe each weekday. We'd also love to hear from you if there is a topic that you'd like to see discussed on the Church & Culture Podcast in an upcoming episode. You can find the form to submit your questions at the bottom of the podcast page HERE.