Unshaken Faith

Whether you’re a Christian, a secular humanist, a Muslim, a Mormon, or anything else, you almost certainly agree that love is one of the most important values for humans. In recent years, love has taken such pride of place in the American culture that it has ousted pretty much every other value. People have boiled everything in life down to a singular focus on love, and in a very practical sense they have made it their religion, effectively claiming that if everyone would just choose love, the world would leave behind all its current divisions. Today, Natasha and Alisa respond to several quotes and memes around the theme that love is all that matters—particularly because it’s a claim that people often use to oppose biblical doctrine, morality, and Christianity in general.

Jesus often clashed with members of a Jewish sect called the Pharisees, who were strong opponents of His ministry. The Pharisees strictly kept the law given to Moses centuries earlier and followed an elaborate system of oral tradition to help them do so. Today, many people have an inclination to label a Christian a “modern day Pharisee” when they don’t like what that person has to say. The Pharisees are trotted out for all kinds of claims that have nothing to do with the problems Jesus actually had with them. Natasha and Alisa talk about several of these myths to clarify what the problem actually was with the Pharisees and how that’s very different than how many people speak of them today.

Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, has over 147 million subscribers, and is a favorite among American families everywhere. Until recently, Jimmy has remained fairly neutral when it comes to politics and religion. That all changed when one of his best friends and costars Chris Tyson, recently announced that he is transitioning from male to female. Since then, Jimmy has ardently defended his friend’s choices and his Wikipedia page now describes him as an “American YouTuber, philanthropist, and transgender rights activist.” Today, Natasha and Alisa discuss what it looks like to talk with our kids about sensitive issues like transgenderism, and when their favorite youtube celebrity goes woke.

The Orange organization may be the most influential organization you’ve never heard of when it comes to church curriculum for the next generation. According to the Orange website, at thinkorange.com, they have 10,000+ partner churches, influence over 1 million kids and teens per year, and serve over 80 denominations. They also report that 49 percent of the fastest growing churches use Orange. We have long had concerns that this widely used curriculum is primarily moralistic (meaning it’s focused more on so called good values rather than on the Gospel) and that it’s becoming increasingly progressive. In today’s episode, we’ll focus on three recent events which we think demonstrate our continued concern—particularly about progressivism—and bring awareness to these issues.Why is the Gospel Good News? Orange Leaders Dan Scott, Director of Orange 252 Kids & Preteen CurriculumOrange Resources on RacismNeil Shenvi's review of "How to Be an Antiracist"

Today, Natasha and Alisa respond to a social media comment that read, “In my opinion, red letters/Jesus’ words are the most important in all the Bible.” Some progressive Christians will say that the word of God is Jesus himself, not the Bible. For Christians who are trying to live their lives according to God’s word, this can be incredibly confusing…especially if they can’t even agree on who or what the “Word of God” even is. Are the Red Letters more important than the black letters?

What happens when one person refuses to bow their knee to the cultural gods? Others tend to follow because courage is contagious. That’s exactly what has been happening in the world of professional hockey. It all started back in January, when Ivan Provorov, a defenseman for the Philadelphia Flyers decided that he would not join his team in the warmups while they wore Pride-themed jerseys and wrapped their hockey sticks in rainbow-colored tape. After some significant backlash, his team and the NHL actually stood by him. Since then, entire teams have opted to not wear the pride jersey. What does this all mean? We’ll break it down in today’s podcast.

Russell Moore, David French, and Curtis Chang are coming out with a small group curriculum for churches called "The After Party." In anticipation of the presidential election cycle next year, they say they want to counter the "dangerous trend" of evangelicals having their political identity "formed by partisan forces, not by true Biblical faith." Russell Moore says that this After Party Curriculum was originally going to be titled, "The Post-Partisan Church." But should that be the goal? Should the church be post-partisan?

Theological conversations can be stopped in their tracks if someone simply pulls out the old, “Don’t put God in a box!” The most common way this phrase is used is by those who don’t want to be confined by the moral teachings of the Bible. Today, Natasha and Alisa discuss the implications and logical inconsistencies of this conversation stopper.

A public school district in Arizona recently terminated a contract with a Christian University who provided free labor for the past 11 years. Why? Not because any complaints or incidences had involved the Christian students. It's because school board members claimed the University's religious beliefs about biblical marriage and sexuality would make local students feel "unsafe." Today, Natasha and Alisa dig into the implications of this very important story, as well as unpack why woke culture thinks Christians are unsafe.

There is so much information available online. From where to find good Thai food to how to find a good pediatrician to how to fix your dishwasher, there is no end to the tutorials, websites, and social media platforms just waiting to answer all your burning questions. People also turn to the internet for church recommendations. It can be tricky to discern what’s going on at churches from looking at their online presence. Whether you’re looking for a new church for yourself, helping a friend evaluate churches in another city, looking for a church in your college student’s new town, or anything else, we hope today’s episode will give you some guidance on what to look for online…and what to watch out for.