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  • Podcast 350—What if Brian Thompson Was a Member of Your Church? Proverbs 22:16, 28:27; Ezekiel 16:49

    Podcast 350—What if Brian Thompson Was a Member of Your Church? Proverbs 22:16, 28:27; Ezekiel 16:49
    2025/01/07
    Is there moral equivalency in shooting someone in the street and using AI algorithms to deny medical care to thousands of patients, perhaps leading to untimely death? To start the new year, the fellows take up the topical concept of structural violence, the idea that organizations and institutions, just because of the way they work, can be as much a source of human suffering, injustice and harm as an angry man with a gun. The Bible says murder is a sin, but what about cold indifference? Is sin so pervasive it inevitably infects all worldly mechanisms? What do Luigi Mangione and Brian Thompson tell us about the human need for salvation?
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    1 時間 12 分
  • Podcast 349 -- There's Something About Mary Luke 1:27-56

    Podcast 349 -- There's Something About Mary Luke 1:27-56
    2024/12/17
    For our fifth annual Christmas podcast, we look at the Virgin Mary. Beneath the trappings of tradition and legend, we find a Biblical narrative of an ordinary young woman responding to extraordinary circumstances. We look at the arc of Mary's faith, from her skeptical question "How can this be?" to her courageous affirmation of God's promise of salvation and her resolve to move forward as mother of Christ. The fellows are joined by Ruth Opiyo, a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and currently a Christian marriage and family counselor.
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    1 時間 2 分
  • Podcast 348 -- True Gratitude vs. False Positivity Psalm 31:9-18, 21-22

    Podcast 348 -- True Gratitude vs. False Positivity Psalm 31:9-18, 21-22
    2024/12/10
    Scripture exhorts us to be grateful. But can well-meaning Christians apply the message of gratitude the wrong way or in the wrong situations? We discuss the idea of "dark gratitude," which instead of providing support, steers us away from confronting problems, difficulties and outright hardship we need to face. Hat tip to Elizabeth Bernstein, whose article "The Case for Being Ungrateful" in the Nov. 24 Wall Street Journal sparked this week's discussion.
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    49 分
  • Podcast 347 -- Dignity and Diversity 1 John 4:19-21, Galatians 3:26-29

    Podcast 347 -- Dignity and Diversity 1 John 4:19-21, Galatians 3:26-29
    2024/12/03
    Woke culture has made diversity a dirty word. Christians can reclaim it by rooting human diversity in the context of God's creation, not racial, ethic or sexual identity. Every human is made in the image of God, which alone confers dignity and value to every human life. Diversity follows, as Paul notes, but we remain united--and equal--by the claim God makes on us. Join us as we discuss another paradox: organizations, including churches, that set "diversity" as an end goal invariably fail at it. So, how do Christians allow diversity to bloom organically?

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    58 分
  • Podcast 346 -- The Promise of an Abundant Life Jeremiah 29:2-14, John 10:7-10

    Podcast 346 -- The Promise of an Abundant Life Jeremiah 29:2-14, John 10:7-10
    2024/11/19
    What is the Christian idea of a flourishing, abundant life? Can the Bible's metaphorical green pastures measure up to a 10.000-acre Texas ranch? And can people flourish in exile, as Jeremiah urges? Download and listen before you buy that next graduation card! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    53 分
  • Podcast 345 -- "Hey Google, Write My Sunday Sermon" Genesis 11:1-9

    Podcast 345 -- "Hey Google, Write My Sunday Sermon" Genesis 11:1-9
    2024/11/12
    We wrap up our study of Rod Dreher's The Benedict Option debating the author's contentious view of the Internet, social media and the accompanying cultural message to envelope oneself in a virtual world to escape the real one. We add a discussion of AI, which has exploded since Dreher published, and what ethical questions it raises for Christians. And is "Transhumanism," Raymond Kurzweil's vision of combining humanity with AI, an attainable goal or a false idol? Can we use technology to create a better human being or is it doomed to be a post-modern Tower of Babel?

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    1 時間 4 分
  • Podcast 344 -- Christians vs. Sex 1 Corinthians 7:1-7, Song of Songs 1:2-4

    Podcast 344 -- Christians vs. Sex 1 Corinthians 7:1-7, Song of Songs 1:2-4
    2024/11/05

    "To reduce Christian teaching about sex and sexuality to bare, boring, thou-shalt-not moralism is a failure of imagination," Rod Dreher writes in the The Benedict Option. Instead, Churches should strongly proclaim the stability Christian sexual ethics offer men and women who seek true intimacy, romance and fulfilling partnerships in their love relationships. Even as the media and elites attempt to glamorize hook-up culture, pornography and single parenthood, there is growing pushback from many young people, religious or not, who see something terribly wrong with these messages. Christians, in reaching out to those seeking deep and committed love, can provide the vocabulary they need to validate their countercultural decisions. Join us as we discuss the Bible's ringing endorsement of God's gift of human sexuality and physical intimacy.


    Past podcasts to check out: "Six Battles Every Man Must Win" (46 and 48), David and Bathsheba (110 and 111), "Does Adultery Still Matter" (212).


    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    1 時間 8 分
  • Podcast 343 -- Modern Witchcraft Deuteronomy 18:10-14, Ephesians 5:11

    Podcast 343 -- Modern Witchcraft Deuteronomy 18:10-14, Ephesians 5:11
    2024/10/29
    It's Halloween, so the fellows discuss what Bible authors might have meant when they condemned witchcraft and sorcery. Rather than supernatural black magic, were they pointing to talented manipulators whom today we would call narcissists and psychopaths--persons who know there is no greater human flaw than the ability to fool oneself? Jeffrey Epstein and the Sacker Family were welcomed within commanding heights of politics, business and culture while doing little to hide their heinous crimes. Upon their downfall, the excuse in these heady corridors of power was a 21st Century version of "He hath bewitched me!" Are Christians vulnerable to modern "spells" that use the psychology of gaslighting, rationalization and distorted facts to convince others that they don't see what's obvious? Or worse, make destructive choices of their own? If so, how do we fight for truth? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
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    57 分